I am such a cat person. I know it and completely embrace it. I have three: Smokey, Cosmo, and Jullio (or just JuJu) and I am totally crazy for them. So it wasn’t suprising when I came across m a v’s Animals set on Flickr that I totally fell in love with it. I especially love those sleeping shots!
{images shown belong to mav}
Typically, I stick with a simple solid colored bedroom (for the last 5-8 years it’s always been some shade of green), but I love what Jennifer from Jen Loves Kev did with her bedroom walls and am feeling so inspired by them. While her husband was away on a business trip, she created a tree mural on the walls by use of a projector and tracing, and the results are gorgeous. The colors are muted and calm, creating a serene little forest in their home.
Hmm… what was I babbling about painting just a few weeks ago (how it would be another full year before I ever attempted it again)… I can’t seem to remember what I said now…
(ps: love the design of Jen’s blog too!)
{images shown belong to Jen Loves Kev via Design*Sponge}
Oh my goodness!! I am fawning over Jordan’s recent post on Project Wedding on how to have an old fashioned soda bar at your next event. How cute are those striped paper straws? Do I really need them – no, but I have to get them. And, I have no idea what type of event to have an excuse to use this idea, but I have got to figure something out for this summer… How about just an old fashioned BBQ to go with the soda bar?
{images shown via Oh Happy Day via Project Wedding}
Just came across some very lovely seaweed drawings via The Snail and The Cyclops. The images were scanned from a very old book (get this for a title), The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839-1843, Under the Command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, Kt. Did I even quote that correctly? In any case, the book is from 1844 and the illustrations are great. I love the organic shapes of seaweed. The color washes in the illustration are very well done, and I love that pale red. This is actually inspiring me for some letterpress projects for this summer…
{images shown via The Snail and The Cyclops}
Have you been reading Lobster and Swan recently? Her and her husband just came back recently from a trip to Paris, and she’s been posting the most beautiful photos of her holiday. I have not yet visited Paris, but am moving it up a notch or two on my “cities to visit” list. Le sigh, I wish I had some frequent flyer miles to use up!
(check out her images on her Flickr too!)
{images shown belong to Lobster and Swan}
It’s here! It’s finally here. This past weekend, Jeffrey and I woke up very early Saturday morning and made the trek out to Letterpress Things to pick up the tabletop press I had on hold from John Barrett. John was great and explained all that I need to know to operate and keep good care of my new cast iron friend. After picking up the press and a few accessories, we loaded everything into the car (thank god for a hatchback) and visited two consecutive family birthday parties before bringing the letterpress loot home (thank you Jeff for carrying everything in the house at midnight). I still don’t have a table ready, but I might be working with a friend who can build a custom one for me.
After unpacking everything and setting up the press on it’s temporary stand, I stood back and looked at it… against the pale, pink walls that took me what seemed like forever to paint, it hit me… it’s here. Finally (it had not dawned on me before, even though Jeff kept asking, “Are you excited? I’m excited!”). I cannot explain in words the path that I’ve traveled from taking my first letterpress class to having my own press, realizing in that moment that all those weeks and months of simply wishing and thinking “someday it will happen,” to now having that goal actually materialize into becoming real. Sure, there’s a lot more I need to buy and a lot more I need to do, but this can finally be crossed off my long term goals list. So I stood there, quietly smiling with warm contentment, knowing how much it meant to me. It’s been a long time coming, but my press is finally here.
Last night I accompanied my husband, Jeffrey, to an opening at the Tufts University Gallery at the Aidekman Arts Center. He was one of the 36 chosen artists participating in the Sixth Annual Juried Summer Exhibition. This was his second time in the show (he particpated in the Third Annual Juried Summer Exhibition) and it was a great turnout. There was lots of meeting and greeting, conversing with many artists, and mingling with the crowd. The show was laid out according to themes, such as time and memory, abstract, and patterns and systems. The show will be up from now until August 2nd. If you have a chance, please stop by and check it out.
Tufts University Gallery
Aidekman Arts Center
40 Talbot Avenue
Medford, MA 02155
617-627-3518
{for more of my outings & experiences photos, please check out my Flickr}
Just a little garden update… Everything is in full bloom: Irises, Catmint, Baby’s Breath, Jacob’s Ladder, among many others. There is also a quiet hum to be heard; busy little honeybees are everywhere and it’s fantastic to just stand and listen to their buzz-buzz and watch them hover from bloom to bloom. It’s also the start of strawberry season, and luckily this year the bunnies have apparently found something else to nibble on for we have had several perfect strawberries each day lately (last year we’d wait for them to get perfectly ripe, only to find them half eaten). I have decided for now not to build raised garden beds for veggies this year, it’s just too much work and a little expensive for me right now. Instead I’ll be supporting my local farm and buying from farmers markets.
What’s happening in your garden right now?
As a proud auntie of 2 nephews (soon to be 3) and a niece, I’ve done some research online when it comes to cool kids crafts for when I need to babysit. Unfortunately most of the little ones are still too young to do crafts, but the ones that are old enough love playing around with stickers, crayons, pom-poms, and paint. I signed myself up for a great email newsletter called Kids Craft Weekly, which sends out an email with ideas for crafts that are economical, educational, and fun. It was started by a stay-at-home mom who wanted to do some fun crafts with her two girls and every newsletter usually has photos of them working on that week’s craft ideas. The emails come in theme form, so there’s several craft ideas for the same theme. Some of the past fun emails were about pirates, ladybugs, and dinosaurs. For anyone that wants to do some fun crafts with kids but isn’t sure what to do, I highly recommend signing up.
{images shown via Kids Craft Weekly Flickr pool group}
Just came across this amazing wedding via Chelsea’s {frolic}, and I am in heaven. The photos are by Rachel Thurston, and she did such a great job. I love finding weddings that make me sigh and wish I could do it all over again, design to my heart’s content and flush out every detail of a wedding and reception. Or at the very least wish I could’ve been there in person to soak it all up. Tess and Adam look like they had such a lovely time. Loving that meringue mushroom cake and the terrarium centerpieces!
{images shown were taken by Rachel Thurston}