embellish, embellish, embellish

my buddy maeve sent me this really cute blog called love forever and the writer kayte terry seems AMAZING at embellishing--whether sewing, embroidering, using layers of paper etc...as I go through her archives, you would have thought all of her projects are done by different people! she has also written a book which i definitely want to read. her projects included this sweater which looks incredibly beautiful and super comfortable.

lotta rainy nights

it's pouring again, but i'm listening to the shins (wincing the night away) and getting ready to do some crafty business in my pj's so it's actually kind of nice to hear the storm through all the open windows. i finally have all the supplies i need to get started on my tote bag for craft swap beta! i won't ruin the surprise, but the pattern can be found in this GREAT lotta jansdotter book. she writes that sewing is fun and simple enough anyone can do it, then points out how none of the patterns in this book have zippers or functional buttons...so there IS hope!

lotta jansdotter's book lotta prints is also really great--she is an amazing print designer and i always love her simple style. chris gave me her postcard box one year as a present and i've still never used any of them--i can't bear to disrupt the set!

NOTCOT makes my day

i couldn't sleep this morning because there was a tremendous storm happening about 3 feet from my head, so here i am on the computer. again.

another one of my absolute favorite blogs is NOTCOT and their post last night did not fail to disappoint! you have to read their post here to get the full story, but basically there is a store called tad in san francisco that not only sells high tech raincoats and knives, but also sells collectible vinyl toys and prints by rocket world i.w.g. my favorite was the links page which ranged from herman miller furniture to knife forums--it was so great how they listed so many different types of websites all together.

pictures of food

i am about to go to bed now in an attempt to not feel like a train wreck in the morning as i scramble to get to work on time. (who decided the workday had to start at 8am? and do you like how i'm going to bed now, PAST 11pm and THAT is my attempt? nice.) as most my friends know i LOVE pictures of food, so i wanted to share one of my most favorite blogs in the world. it's called simply breakfast and i think the author jen literally takes 1 picture a day of her breakfast. every time i go to her blog it makes me feel like i could magically transport myself to her cozy kitchen and have a tasty meal.

happy wednesday when you read this! (because unlike me, you should be in bed :)

i love new music

i just got the beirut cd i wanted and i am so very happy right now.

screech owl design

i saw these GREAT cards today by screech owl design on poppytalk and i thought they were SO beautifully drawn--plus had great texture and coloring too. i wish i had this style of drawing, actually realistic but with an obvious hand drawn feel to it. plus, they come in these beautiful boxes and you know if i had them, i would save the box FOREVER and add them to my "packaging collection." their website has great photography and i like all the pictures of their product on the rough wood--i like to imagine they have this amazing majestic wooden table somewhere to use for their great photo shoots...well, i mean i imagined it for the last 10 minutes or so since i looked at their site :)

trumpets and ukuleles

if you have any free time, i highly recommend watching my cousin trân's video on her blog...it makes me wish i lived in europe and got to go on amazing road trips with my friends during the summer! also, the 1st song on the video is "nantes" by the band beirut and i have been listening to them all weekend and AM IN LOVE. (so if you don't have a lot of time--at least watch the first 3 minutes just to hear this great song ;) i read about their history on wikipedia, and it's interesting--the main guy, zach condon, had a wrist injury and therefore mainly plays trumpet and ukulele instead of a traditional guitar due to the inability to wrap his hand fully around a guitar neck...! their music makes me think of lovely summer evenings and reminds me a lot of the movie amelie which is one of my most favorite movies EVER, so you can see why i would like them.

this image is a screen shot from their website linked above--the entire illustration on the homepage is really great, and even has a little animations every so often too.

dead bunnies

my super cute cousin trân (also rhymes with fun!) made these little bunnies as part of her portfolio review when she was applying for ecal university of art and design (in lausanne, switzerland) a few years ago. she had made a bunch at the time and i got a little dead bunny for me, and a totally NERDY one for chris (his funny buck teeth are so cute). i would have posted pics of them sooner, but it took me this long to find them in my messy house! sad...

ps. and of course she made it in with flying colors--she is one of the most talented designers i know!

baked items in ovens

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for the news of soon-to-come baby brouchoud!!! i only wish i was there in person to give you a great big hug, michie! CANNOT WAIT for our cali trip(s) to come see you guys + baby!!!

ok, hope the labels help because my first attempt chris looked and said "NO--not a loaf of bread in a pan!" poor baby...promise i'll draw you even cuter as you get bigger.

i like days off...

indie craft weekend (cont. again)

today i went to the kingfield neighborhood for brunch with my friend janet, and except for it being extremely hot out, it was a really nice morning! we walked from her (cute!) house to the restaurant la chaya where we enjoyed breakfast outside on their shaded patio. afterwards we walked to i like you which is the CUTEST little store that stocks great items designed by local artists as their owners "share a love of art and the handmade." the store had everything from knitted/crocheted little guys to screenprinted tees, cute stationery, and great jewelry. i even got to meet sarah, one of the owners, and i totally want to come back regularly and see what new items they get in.

all in all, it was a very inspiring and motivating weekend. yay for crafts and minneapolis fun!

poster by adam turman (amazing illustrator/screenprinter/nice guy (i think so...))

indie craft weekend (cont.)

after perusing crafty planet we stopped next door at rewind, this cute vintage store that my friend keegan recommended and it DEFINITELY lived up to expectations. cute jewelry, fun bags, and fabulous clothes. the girl there even tried to help me find a wooded cuff bracelet to use as a coffee sleeve (i saw this AMAZING design by bentwood on a trend board, but just can't afford it right now...) and even left the store to try and find me a coffee cup to use! sadly, she couldn't find a coffee cup nor cuff bracelet that might work (but thanks for putting so much effort into it!), and my allergies were so bad we ended up leaving shortly after. i have concluded that brentwood's design is so ingenious that no vintage cuff bracelet can even come close to it, so i am leaving you with some images so you can wish you had one too...

indie craft weekend

saturday bff dana and i finally checked out crafty planet...which was craft heaven!!! walls of beautiful yarns in all different variations of color and texture, how-to books, embroidery sets, patterns, and craft kits galore. PLUS, bolts and bolts of cute and lovely fabrics--ranging from amy butler prints to imported japanese fabrics. all contained in this really homey atmosphere with pleasant light blue walls and white shelves. some of my favorites were these robot designs imported from japan, and this lightning bugs vw bus print! i can't wait to come back again to get inspired...

quaint cabinet

i sent this out to a bunch of friends already, but i wanted to post about it too--yesterday design*sponge featured cindy from quaint handmade and her AMAZING fabric cabinet and i just love the photo she posted! not only is it a cute snapshot but her fabric is in beautiful color order too. i just love to see things so organized...especially since my house never is!

so far i have only read cindy and scott's "about us" and their post about the cabinet (well, and the post about design*sponge posting about the cabinet) but i love the blog already.

cupcakes galore

i got an email from my friend melissa today with this CUTE link to a post about cupcakes on the softies blog. not only is everything adorable but looks good enough to eat! (or at least display on a really nice cake stand) i have one of the softies books and the projects all make me smile. i wish images of ALL inanimate objects had happy faces on them!

this sweet treat was inspired by melissa's love of purple...

nighttiming

my friend sarah at work just told me about her blog and i love all of her AMAZING photos!!! she also traveled to the west coast earlier this year and has posted the most beautiful pictures of her many stops. (i LOVE california)

i hear coconut records "nighttiming" all the time, and i think chris has passed along his love of nighttime scenery to me. so i picked some of sarah's photos that made me think of that feeling of driving with the windows down, a cool breeze on your face, damn good tunes, and in that ONE moment not thinking about anything but how good life is.

from top to bottom: uptown minneapolis, san diego, big sur, san francisco

vroom vroom

i got an email from Blu Dot last week that featured these little cars by Floris Hovers that are so simple--yet super cute, well-designed and amazing! i wish i could collect them all and line them up on a shelf that ran around my living room. here are some of my favorites, i LOVE the camper and tent set!!!

the furniture design of this company is pretty great too--you can see their regular website here

no, the other jill

jill sent me HER friend jill's cute blog called show and tell and i love it! not only are her designs super cute and happy, her writing style is fun to read too. it's always interesting to hear what other people think of their end results knowing everything they went through to get there. isn't it funny that no matter how much thought and energy you put into something that when someone else sees it in its final state they just say "cute!" and then you feel like "oh...really? that's it?"

since i LOVE cupcakes, i had to post this design she just put up. SOOO cute!

spool sewing

my friend elisa A! (that's how she's in my phone since there is more than one elisa) showed me this CUTE blog today called spool about fun fabrics and sewing. it's also really neat because on the left hand side they have have some PDFs of free patterns you can print out--including a little bird and even a sewing machine cozy! here's a picture of their workroom with all the covered machines (so cute):

ps. it was really funny because when elisa was telling me the name of the website, she accidentally read it as "spools ewing" since their website is www.spoolsewing.com but doesn't that make you think of sheep then? haha.

craft swap beta!

yesterday i finally emailed my secret friends who will be testing out a craft swap i'm organizing based on this intelligence group email. project #1 is a tote bag, and the only specifications were: minimum size, liner or sturdiness requirement, minimum 1 embellishment, and i made an inspiration board to get everyone motivated too.

i'm SUPER excited!!!!! more to come...
etsy crafters row 1, left to right: loopd, gutentag, (i looked through over 200 etsy pages and cannot find this gray & yellow tote bag anymore...if anyone figures it out i will update the post!!! sorry!!!)
etsy crafters row 2, left to right: YuriMiku, vitamini, reiter8
etsy crafters row 3, left to right: acajou, sarahminshall, MissPixley

cute stuff

this morning i bought the book cute stuff: let's make cute stuff by aranzi aronzo and i'm excited to make some cute tote bags and crafty things! the book itself is great because it has all these hand drawn steps and wording, so it feels like you're reading someone's fun doodled sketchbook.

i looked up aranzi aronzo, and their website is super cute [stuff] too. here are some of my favorite things you can buy in their store and also the cover of the book (which i actually bought at borders, but barnes & noble had a visual so i linked to them instead...)

robot paper

i forgot to take a picture of the lil yellow bunny i made dana as part of her belated birthday present, but here's the wrapping paper i designed for her gift...i think it turned out pretty cute :) i'm really excited to have a weekend with almost no plans. hopefully i can find time in between doing nothing to post more soon.