Arranging flowers is an art form. There are so many varieties of flowers, with so many colors and aromas, that one would never run out of combinations. However, the simplest of floral designs is always the best, and when it comes to silk floral designs, Upside Living offers the most delicate designs and elegant arrangements that you will find.

Our silk floral designs, are created by Laurie Burke, of Immortalis Botanicals. An appropriate name, since her creations will not wither and die but will instead live on forever, to be used time and againas accent pieces for your parties, or simply for your everyday living space.

Each piece comes with one or two types of flowers, delicately juxtaposed so that one shape of flower sets off the other, as one color of flower sets off the other.

Take, for example, the design of lavender lilacs and white roses, set off in a cut-glass Baltic vase.

Or pink peonies and white calla lillies in a clear gourd vase.

Indeed, the vase is just as important as the flowers in these arrangements. Use the wrong shape of vase and the entire design of the flowers is thrown out of kilter.

Picture the oriental beauty of four Calla Zantedeschias in a flair square vase, or a floral flask vase with floral flask with yellow forsythia and twig vine arranged within.

And what better vase for apink dendrobium orchids then a tall crystal flute
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If you’re feeling jaded with clear glass vases, regardless of their elegant shape, consider a ram’s horn vase of white, with white water lilies, orange pincushion proteas and wetland grass.

Simplicty and elegance: those are the hallmarks of the classic silk floral designs.

There’s nothing quite as pleasant as sitting on a deck, gazing out at a large and pleasant garden, accompanied by the friendly crackle of fire, well controlled and safe in a sturdy, thick copper fire pit.

Evenings are a particularly lovely time for friends to gather around a fire pit, as the golden flames are set off nicely in the gatherng darkness. Both charcoal or wood can be burned in the pits, each offering their own delightful aromas.

And because the copper fire pits have a firescreen (sold separately), they are perfectly safe.

Copper fire pits are ideal for gatherings of friends, and even better for romantic evenings for two. Just imagine the flicker of flames and the crackle and pop as you sip your drinks and nibble on appetizers. And on cool nights, they provide a welcome source of warmth, but not enough warmth that you won’t have an excuse to cuddle together with your significant other.

For a little extra ambience, consider adding a Tiki torch or two to the mix. Also made of copper, these torches reflect sunlight or moonlight, and add the perfect touch to your sybaritic getaway from the cares of the day.

Copper fire pits and tiki torches don’t just look good when they’re in use, of course. Copper, with its classic red-gold color looks good at any time… even if you don’t use these items for their intended purpose they make great conversation pieces and accent pieces just as they are.

We don’t need to tell you that the economy is tough right now. People are reluctant to spend money as they don’t know if they’ll still have their job in another month or so.

But just because money is tight these days doesn’t mean that your home decor should suffer.

In times of stress, having a soothing home environment to return to each day is critical. And with Upside Living, you can find quality home decor for the best prices.

Let us take silk flowers for example. Beautiful floral designs make a pleasing accent for any room. They look so real that you’ll be tempted to cup a flower in your hand to smell the aroma. But because they’re silk, of course they will never wither and die.

Pillows of soft sheepskin provide a luxurious place to lay your head…and area rugs in a variety of designs are a pleasure to the feet as well as the eye.

And let’s not forget curios and collectibles that delight the eye and the senses, such as table top weathervanes suitable for guy or gal. For the aircraft enthusiast, think about a copper biplane desktop weathervane, or one of a golfer with his club at the top of his swing. Sailing enthusiasts aren’t forgotten, either. You may not be able to fly, golf or sail as much as you’d like these days, but these conversation pieces will cheer you up every day.

Deruta is a small town in Italy of some 8,000 people. It’s also a town that was founded in the 11th century, making it well over nine hundred years old. Located in central Italy, in the province of Perugia, the town is justly famous for its ceramics — including its Biscotti jars– which are imported all over the world.

Visitors to Deruta will walk through fortifications that date from the 12th century. On the Piazza dei Consoli can be found the Gothic church of San Francesco, built in 1388, and the Palazzetto Municipale (Town Hall), which dates from about 1300.

Visitors to the municipal hall will find a Museum of Ceramics, an art gallery (the Pinacoteca), and an atrium in which houses a variety of archaeological finds, dating from Neolithic times onward.

But what visitors really come for is to see the ceramics… the Biscotti jars, serving platters, jugs, and so on.

Much of the ceramics in Deruta is made as a cottage industry. Artisans create clay plates, bowls and other objects, which they bring to central ovens to be baked. Once their material is baked, the artisans take them back to their workshops to hand paint them with their speciality designs. After decorating, the artisans bring their wares back to the ovens once again to be glazed.

Travellers through Italy can do no better than to pick up some hand-crafted ceramics in Deruta, but if travel plans aren’t in your future, order genuine Biscotti jars, imported from Italy, from Upside Living.

The vast variety of flowers from around the world can be breath-taking in their beauty, and there’s no feeling quite like planting seeds and watching the subsequent plant grow from seed to seedling to ultimately, the blooming flower. But…that takes time.

Folks with allergies can’t enjoy certain flowers. Then there’s the cost to have fresh flowers weekly to brighten your home. Even in summer, depending on what kinds of flowers you like, the cost can add up. And of course, in winter, snow typically covers your garden with a mantle of white, preparing it for the next season of growth.

That’s where the craft of Silk Flower Arrangement comes in.

With Silk Flower Arrangement, you can have the beauty of flowers in your home — any kind of flower — without having to wait for them to grow, without having to pay every week for fresh flowers, and perhaps best of all, you will never have to watch them wilt and die.

Of course there’s no point in having a Silk Flower Arrangement if the flowers don’t look real. But what could be more special than having vibrant calla lillies or or madonna lillies in pristine white vases in rooms throughout your home.

Everyone knows how much roses cost. A lilacs and roses flower arrangment looks just as beautiful and will last forever.

Pink peonies, white tulips, water lilies and forsythia… tastefully displayed in an elegant glass vase…the possibilities are endless. And everyone knows how difficult orchids are to grow. Yet with a wave of the hand (well, of the pocketbook) you can have lady slipper orchids, or pink or orange dendrobium orchids.

Silk Flower Arrangement: the key to a beautiful, colorful home.

For an elegant touch of oriental beauty, consider adding Thai silk pillows as accent pieces. In addition to acquiring these hand-crafted silk pillows imported directly from Thailand, you are also helping indigenous people to earn a livelihood – in danger these days as soul-less machine-made items, that may be cheaper but most definitely lack that care and unique beauty that hand-crafters bring to their art, are flooding the market.

The Lao Song, also known as the Tai Song, Lae Song Dam or the Song, are an ethnic group of Thailand. They have preserved their traditional dress, language, and culture to the present day, in the face of attempts by the dominant Thai culture (in central Thai) to assimilate them. There are approximately 34,000 Lao Song spread out over Central Thailand, and their chief economies are farming crops and handcrafts. Indeed, the villlage of Sa Si Moom — where UpsideLiving pillows come from — has the largest number of cottage industries for textile, knitwear, and clothing handicraft.

These pillows are created by twenty women, home-makers, who have formed their own cottage industry and are preserving the tradition of Lao Song applique.

A variety of Thai silk pillows are offered, from round, tufted pillows to square batik pillows.

Thai silk is noted for its beauty and its sturdiness. Silk is acquired from the silk worm…which no longer exist in the wild, by the way. They are completely dependent upon human beings for their reproduction, and are allowed to exist only to make silk. First, a batch of eggs are laid. These take about ten days to hatch. Afterwards, the hatchlings and larva eat day and night. They prefer White Mulberry but will eat other things.

After they have molted four times, the larvae enclose themselves in a cocoon of raw silk, which is produced in their salivary glands. The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 1,000 to 3,000 feet long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, 1/2,500th of an inch in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk. According to those individuals who like to figure out such things, ten unraveled cocoons could theoretically extend vertically to the height of Mount Everest.

At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion pounds of mulberry leaves of food to do so. And again, according to those number crunchers, the annual world production of silk filamanet represents 70 billion miles, a distance well over 300 round trips to the sun.

Appreciate your silk…for the silkworm gave its life for it. Since allowing the silkworm to leave the cocoon as a moth would destroy the silk, it must be boiled instead, which allows the cocoon to be easily unraveled. The deceased silkworm is then consumed as a delicacy.

Looking back from the vast expanse of years, what does one remember about the summer days of one’s childhood? The coldness of the winter season has given way to the heat of summer days, bikes and skateboards have been dusted off and put to use, outdoor games are played intently, and after a hot day, the sprinklers are turned on and screaming kids in swimsuits run through them, back-and-forth, back-and-forth, wearing themselves out. Then, it’s time for a picnic meal. Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and corn on the cob, dripping with butter!

Corn on the cob is one of those foods that are easy to cook and easy to eat. Whether you want to boil them in water, or put them on the grill, they always taste great. Then, apply a liberal amount of butter, some salt, insert the corn holders in either end, and have at them like they were an edible typewriter ribbon.

It’s also a tradition meal at state fairs and even Renaissance fairs. Who hasn’t walked around, munching on a juicy corn on the cob impaled by a long skewer – indeed, other terms for corn include “pole corn”, and “sweet pole.” Although that’s not so much because corn on the cob is typically skewered, but just because it resembles a pole itself!

Although we all call corn, corn; the technical term for this cereal grain is maize. It’s the most widely grown crop in the Americas, including the United States. There are about 50 different types of corn. The three most often grown are white, plata and yellow.

So make sure you cultivate those summertime memories. Don’t think for a second that, as an adult, it wouldn’t be fun running through that sprinkler! And then relaxing with corn on the cob and an ice-cold drink. Lovely!

People who had the time and the inclination have been collecting glassware of all kinds since the craft was first invented over 3,500 years ago. In the United States, the hobby took off in the early 1900s, and people collected, and continue to collect, hand painted glassware of the modern day or classic antique pieces. Fun, whimsical art on glassware has always been popular. (Well, whimsical art is popular regardless of on what medium it is bestowed! Poker-playing dogs, anyone?)

Practically every modern museum you visit has displays of glass, from the Chrysler Museum, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Toledo Museum of Art. The Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, NY, has the world’s largest collection of glass art, with more than 45,000 objects in its collection which runs the entire 3,500 gamut of glass history.

One of the most famous types of hand-painted glassware is that created in Murano, Italy. Glassmakers have worked there since almost the 9th century. Since it was a highly skilled craft, and one which was kept secret and jealously guarded by glass-making guilds, the glassmakers invariably prospered. By the 14th century, these glassmakers were prominent citizens. They were allowed to wear swords (a privelege not granted the common folk), had immunity from prosecution by the Venetian state. Their daughters were ecen able to marry into Venice’s most affluent families. Today, Murano’s rich tradition of glassmaking continues.

Hand painted glassware is easy to collect. Just choose the style of art you like, and collect away. Artists can paint anything on glassware, from abstract designs to realistic replicas of famous paintings. Whimsical art, from the painting of glorious fireworks to holes of golf to a birthday cake can brighten any home.

When the average individual thinks of sheepskin rugs, he or she thinks of fluffy white rugs with long, soft hair that’s a joy to feel. But sheepskin designer area rugs come in more colors than just white, and more shapes than just the roughly circular, natural shape of a sheepskin. Bowron sheepskin rugs, for example, come in a variety of colors and are offered in rectangular shapes of various sizes, and runners – by using two or more expertly-matched skins, appropriately died in chocolate brown and a variety of colors such as grey, blue and so on, and in perfectly-matched stripes as well as in solid colors.

In addition to sheepskin rugs, UpsideLiving also offers designer area rugs by Rags Designer Rugs, an American designer Mike Ragan. Originally from Orlando, Florida, Ragan has been creating custom designs for discerning clients since the 1990’s.

Ragan’s When the average individual thinks of sheepskin rugs, he or she thinks of fluffy white rugs with long, soft hair that’s a joy to feel. But sheepskin designer area rugs come in more colors than just white, and more shapes than just the roughly circular, natural shape of a sheepskin. Bowron sheepskin rugs, for example, come in a variety of colors and are offered in rectangular shapes of various sizes, and runners – by using two or more expertly-matched skins, appropriately died in chocolate brown and a variety of colors such as grey, blue and so on, and in perfectly-matched stripes as well as in solid colors.

UpsideLiving offers Ragan’s designer area rugs in a variety of designs. For example, the rug below is an example of a design called Tropical Aruba.

Another tropical scene is offered in a design called Watering Hole, featuring a peaceful scene of flamingos enjoying calm water. Tropical fish dart in and out of tendrils of seaweed in the design called simply, Aquatic. Other rugs have simple geometric designs.

Ragan’s designer area rugs make a perfect accent piece in any room.

Designer ~ Mike Ragan

It’s time to enjoy some upside living, and you can do that at the Luxury spa Château Élan, located just 40 minutes north of Atlanta. Set amongst the north Georgia foothills. A resort inn, guests of the Chateau can visit the European health spa, play on two golf courses, or visit the winery that started it all.

The Château Élan began in 1981 as a winery. Twenty years later the winery has expanded into what it is today, a top-class conference and leisure destination, and in particular a Luxury spa.

This Luxury spa offers more treatments, in a la carte fashion, than you can shake an exfoliating brush at. There are treatments designed specifically for men, women and for couples as well.

With the luxury spa located right next to the winery, it’s no coincidence that they offer a a wine bath, which infuses the body with the anti-oxident power of grapeseeds, a Crush Body Scrub which exfoliates your skin and leaving it feeling as smooth as silk ,and a De-Vine Mudwrap which re-hydrates the entire body.

And you have not had a massage until you have had a hot stone massage!

Couples can receive a hot stone massage, the “ultimate couples facial,” or the most luxurious event of all: a Champagne and Chocolate Caviar Pedicure with Parafin. Or, you and your significant other can spend an entire half-day with a Tropical Island Rendezvous, which begins with a relaxing exfoliant massage. Then you slip into a soothing Caribbean fragrance delight dream bath. A full body massage follows, then a warmed Avocado oil scalp treatment. Alone time is then provided in-suite while you sip Cool Caribbean Cocktail and juicy Tropical Fruits.

After a visit to a Luxury spa, you’ll be refreshed and rejuvenated.