The Craft Begins

I love hotels.  There’s the whole get-out-of-town feel, and the fresh sheets and the room service and all of the other lovely things that go with staying in a hotel.  Those are all great, but I also love hotels for their design.  It’s a wonderful chance to experience a setting that you wouldn’t necessarily want to live in, but find appealing all of the same.  It’s an opportunity to take big risks and create real atmosphere.  Ace Hotels have this skill in spades.  They have locations in Portland, Seattle and New York but their hotel in Palm Springs really appeals to me, and I’ll show you why!

1.  I love the hazy, ethereal quality of this room.  The elements are natural and modern, and strike a good balance between the masculine and feminine.  That dresser is to die for as well.

2.  If I could design my dream outdoor space, it might look something like this.  I love the covered fireplace, and the rug is a nice cosy touch to an otherwise austere setting.

3.  I like the indoor camping feel of this room.  It’s like fort building for grown-ups.  Or maybe a really, really posh summer camp.

4.  I feel like this style is along the lines of what stores like Abercrombie and Fitch or Hollister want to be when they grow up.  Sophisticated, yet laid back, with nice lines, neutral colors and wonderful little surprise elements.  Thankfully, I’m sure this hotel doesn’t smell like too much cheap cologne.

The best part about this hotel is that it’s somewhat affordable (at least at the low end).  $90 a night for a room isn’t bad, especially when I’ve seen motel 8′s that go for that much.  Their other properties are worth having a look at as well, and their website looks about as good as their rooms.

1.  I inherited a bunch of my great-grandmother’s buttons last year.  My mother and her sisters used to spend rainy afternoons digging through the big bin of buttons.  There’s been some great finds, including a heap of hand-carved (what looks like) ivory buttons that must be at least 100 years old, if not older.  I’ve been trying to organize them in my type cabinet drawers which is very soothing for my OCD tendencies.

2.  I love how bright and cheery all of the colors are.  I especially love the yellow and blue buttons in the top part of the photo- the yellow ones have little deer on them, and the blue are race horses.

3.  I’m excited to see that my orange tree looks like it’s going to survive.  I thought it was going to die over the winter, but it has come back in full force.  And these aren’t any oranges, mind, but blood oranges.  I’m excited to get some actual fruit off of this some day.

4.  I moved here in September so it’s been a surprise to see what’s come out of the ground in the spring.  We have a wonderful rose bush in the back that has blooms so fragrant, you can smell them down the street.  The lilac bush (surprise!) has been a great attraction for butterflies.  And I couldn’t live without my beautiful yellow ranunculus.

5.  This is a beautiful pet I got to photograph.  Those blue eyes are so stunning.  And she was super-friendly, so that was a real treat.

6.  The owner of the cat also had a pet Nile Monitor.  I loved this shot – a little abstract, but it lets you focus on the scales and beautiful textures.

I’m not really having a lazy Sunday -  I’m going to Colorado for 6 weeks and I have tons of packing/cleaning/arranging to do.  However, if you’re having a lazy Sunday, and would like some awesome content to be brought to you, here’s some links you should be checking out.

1.  I think I might be a late bloomer with this New Math blog, but I think it’s fantastic.  Plus, I love pirates, so it’s a win-win.  A great place to check out for some wry, geeky, math-related humor.

2.   If you like comedy, and all things ec0-friendly, check out Dave Burdick.  He’s the Business and Green editor at the Huffington Post.

(The real trouble, incidentally, came when I later had a few Guinnesses at a show later; never mix carbon-neutral wine with imported beer. The hypocrisy hangover is not pleasant.)

His articles are witty and interesting, and usually get around to making a good point.  This article is about how not eating meat one day a week can save the earth.  Really!  You should try it.  It’s magic.

3.  If you have any appreciation for farmer’s markets, farmers, locally grown food, etc.  you really need to check out this legislation that’s heading through the tubes.  It’s possible that they will be taking all of that away, and your only choices will be to a) buy things approved by Monsanto or b) grow all your produce yourself.  Yikes.  Check out the article here.

4.  Here’s a great tutorial on how to make something more interesting with Easter Eggs.  Instead of using food coloring, why not use an old silk tie?  I love the patterns that it produces and the great watercolor-like effect.

5.  I love this blog.  Colorful and cheerful, and it’s really well designed.  I know that’s sort of a weird thing to geek out about, but all of her blog posts have custom images identifying them, and they all work together.  You can tell that she’s put a lot of thought and effort into it.   I’m also a big fan of her Etsy shop for all of the same reasons.

6.  I am totally enamored with the incredibly fresh and modern paper products from SusyJack*.  Bright colors, big fun.  Check it out for yourself, and you’ll see what I’m talking about!

7.  (not pictured) I just found out about Zilok, and I couldn’t believe how brilliant it was.  Its potential to make life much easier is amazing.  Say you need a power sander to refinish that dresser, or an extra bike because you have a friend coming to town.  Instead of buying one, or begging around in the hopes that someone you know might have one, you can rent whatever you’re looking for from members of your community.  You can rent motorcycles, a loft in New York, or a mechanical wave machine.  How cool is that?  I think it’s a great idea for those of us who put things off forever because we can’t justify buying whatever we need to finish a project.

That’s all for right now.  Hope you enjoy checking out some new things.  Please feel free to share what you’ve found – I’m always on the lookout for some new great stuff!

In the current economic climate, I’ve found myself shying away from purely aesthetic items to things that are a little more…practical.  Still beautiful, but at least I can justify the expense because it’s something that I can actually “use”.  So here are some of my favorites that I can see justifying right about now!

1.  These vegetable bags from Wonder Thunder solve an ecological debate that I’ve had going on forever.  I hate the plastic bags that you get at the grocery store (talk about eco-guilt) but aside from lugging in your own containers, there’s really no practical way of buying bulk foods or veggies.  These solve the problem!  Plus they’ve got great style and are sure to make everyone smile.  Their shop has some other excellent, funny prints – I highly encourage stopping by!

2.  These notebooks from Paper and Twine delight that part of me that loved buying school supplies.   Although I love the grown-up touch of the Eames Rocker Chair (my notebooks always had Lisa Frank on them).  Plus the craft paper covers and lovely twine ties really give it that eco-feel.  And I’ll admit – I’m a bit of a sucker for the blackboard backdrop.

3.  I just recently stumbled across ekaminsk‘s shop, and I have to say, I am delighted.  Instead of trying to fruitlessly preserve your corsage or boutonniere, why not get something that will last forever, and will be far more unique than whatever you can get at the florist’s?  Lovely colors, beautiful details like pearls and jewels, and a big helping of feathers will set your big day apart.

Yeah, so, I’ll admit it.  I have a love for all things paper.  And these great notebooks from jedgell really scratch that itch.  My favorite time of year was always back-t0-school, but not because of school itself.  Buying school supplies was always so much fun!  New crayons, pencils, notebooks and the like.  Maybe I’m biased because my dad was in office supplies, but I can’t help what I love.  These pocket size notebooks are like a grown-up school shopping trip.  And best of all, you can justify it because, well, who doesn’t need to write things down?

Thanks to this week’s lovely contributors!

Also, for those who are reading and interested, I set up a flickr group for the blog – if you’re a photographer, artist, crafter, collage artist, whatever, and would like the opportunity to be featured on this blog, please post your items to the group.  If I like what I see, you might just make it onto the blog!  Check out the group here, or click the get exposed button in the sidebar.

I’m an avid book collector.  I’m not ashamed of it – if I had all of the money in the world, I would buy all sorts of books and have a house full of big beautiful bookshelves filled to the brim with volumes of all shapes, sizes, and subjects.  However, I don’t have all of the money in the world, and so, I love the library.  I mean, it’s a great place to check out books and CD’s and all, but libraries are also beautiful in an architectural and design-related way.  My sister sent me some awesome pictures of “library porn” so I thought I would share some of them here, for those who are similarly inclined.

There’s more images to be found here (which is where these come from).

I love the books, but I find the giant spiral staircases to be equally compelling.  It’s funny, I live in this crappy little town and the library is SO NICE compared to every other building in the county.  It makes me happy that they put importance on something like that.  Also, a wonderful thing for the broke among us – unlimited CD’s.  My library has a pretty funny and eclectic mix.  Yesterday, I checked these out (in case you wanted to know)

The Decemberists, John Lee Hooker, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Irish Folk Songs, Nickle Creek, Depeche Mode, Cafe Tacuba, Willie Nelson, and some bird song collections (I’m going to figure out what has been terrorizing my front yard).  Rock on!

I’ve had the exact same bed frame since I was in the 3rd grade.  Sure, it may have been a little excessive for a 3rd-grader (albeit a big one) to be sleeping in a queen size bed, but I like to think that my parents had the foresight to realize that I was going to be a tall one and get only one bed that would last me for the rest of my life.  It was a typical light-wood-with-decoration deal (I think I most recently saw it on Everybody Loves Raymond – :sigh:) which suited me well as a child, as I had no taste.  In high school, I did a wicked-sweet faux finish on the thing and left it at that.  When I moved out of the house, the bed frame followed me, this time upholstered in white canvas.  After getting married I was hoping to move onto something a bit more…elegant, but alas, it’s followed me again.  Which leads me to my newest obsession – building a headboard.

1.  I saw this awesome one in Ready Made a few years ago and it stuck in my head.  I’m still thinking about trying to do something like this, but I’m concerned that it may turn out to be a little too Urban Outfitters.  I like the concept though, especially sawing a side table in half for nightstands and using old lighting fixtures as lamps.  Problem is, we move a lot, and this baby doesn’t look easy to move.

2. and 3.  I love everything West Elm has to offer.  They are affordable, stylish and modern, and I’m always into the really dark woods (light woods are too Ikea for me).  I love the simplicity of the top one, and the bottom one has a beautiful design.  However, I worry that the look would be too ethnic and wouldn’t age well.

4. Domino to the rescue!  They have some beautiful ideas for upholstered headboards that I think I could probably tackle if I took the initiative.  I’ve done far stranger things (car and motorcycle seats, for instance…) at least these are square.  Now this one’s more my style.  Earthy meets modern.  And I love the yellow canisters.

5.  I love the color an exuberance, but I think for me, it might be trying too hard to be boho.  It reminds me of my dorm room a little too much (it was the coolest dorm room in school, let me assure you).  I do really enjoy all of the textures and colors however.

6.  These are the kinds of pretty things that I see in a magazine, and love, and then think about it for a little bit, still think it’s pretty, and decide that it’s a little too “done” for me – I like polish, but I’m not good at keeping it up.

What do you think?

I took a ton of pictures yesterday, but these stood out in my mind.  It’s amazing – I don’t know if it is actually true, but if you ask me, dogs have a pretty distinctive smile.  Here are the 4 dogs I got to shoot yesterday, and my favorite smiles from each of them!

And while I was shooting, the neighbor’s dog  just popped by to say hi. :)

I wasn’t going to start taking dog photos until today – I have a few appointments lined up (A great dane, a golden retriever, a german shepherd and a big fat lab) but I was some friends-of-friend’s house yesterday and they had these gorgeous pups and I just had to practice a picture or two.  Not too many turned out but it was a good learning experience and I hope to get better today!

I read a news article the other day that said the Obamas were planting a kitchen garden at the White House.  That gets me really excited.  Now, if they could only compost, I think my head might explode.

I think they are setting the right example, however.  I think growing your own food is really important, and for several reasons.  It makes you really think about where your food comes from, and how much work it is to grow, and how when you look at $2 tomatoes at the grocery store you realize that maybe that’s not that expensive after all.  I think the food tastes better when you grow it yourself.  And you have the ability to try foods that aren’t available commercially, like a whole mess of heirloom tomatoes.  Plus, think about how much you’ll save on groceries! On top of that, instead of wasting water on grass (which I love, by the way) use that water wisely and you’ll be able to get some food out of it.

I think it would be great if we instituted a modern-day Victory Garden.   Eating fresh and local is the new trend, and what’s more fresh and local than what’s in your backyard?  You could even get your neighbors in on it, and everyone could grow one thing that grew best in their yards and then trade with everyone else.  Not owning a home doesn’t even prevent you from doing this – I had a pretty good bumper crop of tomatoes last year, and they were all just growing in pots on my little apartment patio.

If you’re interested in taking that leap, I suggest you also check out the worm farm.  It’s a totally contained, smell-free composting bin that takes all of the work out of composting.  The different trays sort the organic matter and the worms do all the work, and in the end you end up with what is called “worm tea” that drains out of the spigot at the bottom.  This worm tea is like magic – all of my tomatoes last year doubled in size in a week with a little bit of this spread on them.  Plus it’s an easy way to get rid of kitchen waste without all the guilt of throwing it away.

There are tons of great resources out there, so start your victory garden today!

We have a winner for my March giveaway!  Congratuations to the winner – I’ve sent an email, so you know who you are!  And thanks to everyone who entered – I will be doing giveaways fairly often so check back soon for more details!

I’ve been working on the inside of a 1972 pickup truck so that’s taking a lot of my time this weekend (I’ll share pictures soon) so instead of posting what I’m doing, I thought I’d post what I’m loving instead.

1.  I think that I’m doing to keel over and die from how much I love Candice Stringham’s photography.  She has been shooting these amazing pictures of beautiful ladies with umbrellas, “flying” all over New York.  She has such a sense of whimsy and a touch of humor, I just can’t keep from going back for more.

2.  Purl Soho might indeed have the best collection of high-end crafty goodness that I have ever seen.  Plus, the online shop is great for people like me who live in a tragically unhip place with no access to the wonder that is their fabric collection.  They have wonderfully hip patterns as well, definitely worth checking out.

3.  Erin Jang’s blog is a great place for graphic design and craft inspiration.   I love her custom wedding ideas, and there’s something that’s wonderfully handmade, yet still professional about her designs.

4.  I’ve been looking at lots of flowers lately, as I’m doing all of the flowers for a friend’s wedding in June.  I stumbled upon Wild at Heart and I love their gallery – full of inspiration.  The flowers are romantic, yet modern, and there’s something about a huge ball of matching flowers that is just so striking.

5.  Sometimes, I get a little down about the world, and I just need to read something funny.  I’m not much of a joke person, and my humor personality seems to be most akin to that of Eddie Izzard.  Which makes it difficult to find things that make me laugh.  Puppet Pie, however, might be the best blog out there for putting a smile on your face.  Words cannot even describe.  You’ll have to see it for yourself.

6.  And because I can never get enough of beatiful photography, I find myself drawn to Bloom, Grow, Love‘s blog.  An amazing photographer, her images are captivating and have a wonderful dream-like quality to them (if only my dreams were this beautiful).  If I’m ever able to create photos this gorgeous, I think I’ll be able to die happy.

That’s all for today.  I’m embarking on a new project taking pictures of people’s pets, and I’m excited to see where it will take me.  There’s all sorts of things that qualify as pets down here – dogs, cats, lizzards, goats.  ;)  I’ll be posting photos as soon as I get them!

Here’s a list of favorites for this week!

1.  I’ve always admired the work of Feaverish.   A welcome sight in the age of digital everything, his photographs are taken with various old formats of cameras – 35mm, polaroid, and the like.  I’ve taken a lot of photographs with an old 35mm camera that I love and there’s just no creating the sort of exposure that you can get with a real camera.  A collection of whimsical and everyday photographs mean that there’s something for everyone.

2.  I read about Who Made It on someone’s blog (I can’t remember, sorry) but I was instantly struck by the originality of their products and the clever re-use of a material that we see everyday.  Their jewelry stands are the pinnacle of pretty shabby chic (I could see Anthropologie jumping all over this idea).  Since all of my jewelry ends up finding itself in containers all over the house, this makes clutter look classy.

3.  I’ve been following Modesign since I first signed up for Etsy.  I love the interesting re-use of vintage lace.  The dye jobs are gorgeous and the interesting lace patterns are always paired with beautiful stones.  I think this would be great for someone who liked feminine things with a little bit of spunk.

4.   Atelier BB has recently come to my attention.  I love handmade ceramics, and I love color, and she combines the two oh-so-well.  All sorts of cute little plates and interesting patterns and bright, happy colors.  This would be the ideal accessory for any kitchen (all of my plates and kitchenware is white and wood for a reason).

So one of my best friends is gorgeous and talented, and needed to take some fashion-type photos for her portfolio (she’s an actress and a model).  I recently got a great studio lighting set-up and was eager to practice, especially on such a willing participant!   The whole shoot was especially fun because of the resources that we had.  Her grandmother was the most stylish person I’ve  ever met, and had dedicated her life to all things wearable and beautiful.  So we raided the closet and came up with some fun looks.  Here’s a sample of some of the pictures we got!

Many thanks to Lauren for letting me put her hot face all over my blog!  Also, don’t forget to enter for the Beanie Baby Hunting Trophy giveaway, a few posts down!  You only have until Friday, and then it’s too late!  In case you want to know more about them, here’s an excellent customer testimonial.

“Second, I fully support the killing and mounting of Beanie Babies for sport as well as ornamentation.  They are overpopulated and their natural preditors (small children and collectors) tend to lack the necessary killer instinct. It is a question of sustainability.” (the lovely ms. Marigold)

1.  These salt shakers came from the flea market this weekend.  I usually manage to make it out without buying anything, but these were calling to me.  So cute and woodsy.

2.  The neighbors have some beautiful, giant, succulents in their yards.  I had to take the picture and get out before they thought  I was strange.

3.  The absolutely adorable, thoughtful tag that came on my little pouch from Made By Hank.  I love tough ruffles.  I actually can’t say how much I love this little purse, it’s that great.  From opening the package to deciding what to do with it (I still haven’t decided).

4.  It’s kind of depressing, all of the palm trees everywhere.  They’re beautiful, but they make you think you’re in the tropics and on vacation but wait…there’s no beach.  I guess a kiddie pool in the yard will have to do for now.

5.  A strange picture of a new kind of knitting I’m working on.  This one’s a purse.  Thinking about listing it.  Thoughts?

So I’m doing the Sampler again this month (I’m an addict – not only do I get to give products away to people who might like them, but I also get to get some inventory out of my house!) and I thought that I would do a freebie for you lovely readers out there.  This month, I’m concentrating on my Maleficent shop.  This shop rotates around a theme, but we’re still doing Beanie Baby Hunting Trophies!

So, leave a comment here by Friday, March 20th.  I’ll draw a name on Saturday morning, and the lucky winner will receive one hunting trophy!  You can pick one from my shop, or I’ll send you a list of specimens waiting to be mounted and you can choose from them.  Good luck everyone!

I’ve seen these altered photographs all over the web, but the instructions were always too maddening for me.  I love the way they take a scene and make it look like it’s miniature, and now a new web site has popped up to make it easy for you to tilt-shift your very own photographs!  Here are a few of my favorites.

1.  I love this one, it looks like the tiny Colosseum is made out of paper!

2.  This one is some buffalo in Yellowstone National Park, but it looks like the whole scene was made from a model train set or something you could get at a hobby shop.

3.  This one was sent to me by a reader – the real Colosseum in Rome!

4.  This is one of my favorites!  It’s a lovely town in Amalfi but it looks like it’s just a little toy!

Visit the website and make your own – I’d love to see what you do, so please let me know!