olivia jeffries: fortune teller

i'm wild about this beautiful fortune telling game made by olivia jeffries. it looks like it was dug out of someone's attic, in that perfectly antique-y and mysterious way. i love it.

another thing i'm loving is susy jack's blog, hey susy, where i found this gem by olivia.
if you are thinking about applying to the national stationary show at some point in the future, susan (of susyjack) wrote a terrific post about the how-to's of getting yourself to the show for the first time and everything that goes into it. it is seriously helpful. and the best part is that this is the first in a series of 3 posts (next will be during-the-show and after-the-show), so stay tuned for more!

anyway, back to olivia jeffries, her work is just beautiful. i'm crazy about the muted colors, and it makes me want to tone down my normally bright palette. don't you love being inspired by other people? :)

Mankind Mag-- and I'm in it!

i am beyond thrilled to be part of the first ever issue of mankind mag!! erin asked me if she could use some of my drawings for a calendar in the magazine, but i had NO IDEA it was going to look so dang CUTE!!!! you absolutely have to check it out-- and the best part is that you can check out the magazine as a pdf (save the trees!), or, if you have to have a real life copy like i do, you can order one right here at mag cloud. erin, as ever, did an unbelievably amazing job with the magazine, as she does with everything!

thank you, erin, THANK YOU a thousand times. i am honored and excited to be part of the first ever issue. i know it's going to be a wild success!!

{here's a little preview of the drawings.....}

print & pattern book!!

have you heard the exciting news? print & pattern, the blog, is going to be turned into a BOOK!
and bowie, the author of the blog, is calling for submissions!!

she's looking for any form of surface design (patterns, cards, papergoods, scrapbooking, textiles, ceramics, etc.), from any form of designer (professionals, students, crafters, etc.)

i can't wait to submit some work! how amazing would that be to be included in the book? wow. it would be a dream come true.

check out the details here.

oh, to have lived in the seventies.

i think this is adorable. oh, how times have changed!! the outfit on that boy is a riot. i have no idea where this image originally came from, but i saw it on the free people blog and couldn't resist...

clever. so clever.

i just saw this on simply olive (it was also posted on treehugger today....) and i had to post it.
no clues. you just have to watch it.
(read more about it here)

design your own textiles: at the victoria and albert museum website

i thought this was pretty fun-- you can create your own repeating textile pattern on the victoria and albert museum website! since i have repeating pattern on the brain these days, i thought i'd give it a whirl. and while it didn't teach me anything about actually creating the patterns, it was a fun little distraction from my work!! check it out right here.

{found via love forever}

ps: if you have not been to the victoria and albert museum, go there! i went several years ago while in london and saw a 'radical fashion' exhibit which was incredible.

the altered page-- fun artist survey

hey, i thought you might like to check out the altered page blog. i was part of a survey that seth, the blogger behind the altered page, conducted. each day this week (beginning today) he is posting the answers to 7 questions that he asked 35 artists. the questions were really fun to answer, and today's answers are inspiring!

check it out right here.

thanks to seth for inviting me to participate!

the 12 craft days of christmas

this is pretty darn cute....

have you heard of a holga camera?

i couldn't help myself. after seeing these photos (and others in the past few days) taken with a holga camera, my fingers had a mind of their own when they ordered one from amazon this morning.

i cannot wait to have this camera in my possession. a holga is a cheap cheap cheap medium-format (read: square photos!) plastic camera made in china, and there is absolutely no quality control, so each camera is different and produces unique photographs.

hopefully it'll come soon and i can start playing with it as soon as possible!
stay tuned for photos to come......

photo credits:

1. benny no pals
2. photo media center
3. picasa web album

halloween cuteness

i thought this was pretty darn cute! (made out of chocolate, so you can eat the bones!)
i found this via k-style blog, who found it via hostess with the mostess. the chocolates are available online at red envelope, and while browsing their site i also found these chocolates:

not for halloween, but adorable nonetheless!

jess goes for a facial and makeover

now, there are times that i just don't feel like a real girl. i am not all that into shopping, i really cannot justify spending a ton of money on clothes or shoes or purses, and my hair routine consists of a quick wash and air dry. i didn't even have my first pedicure just a few months ago. i have certainly never been the type of girl to peruse the makeup counters or shop for the perfect concealer or lipstick shade. in fact, i had never even visited the lovely ladies at the makeup counters at the mall. until yesterday.

while on an errand to pick up some laura mercier creme brulee bubble bath (which is apparently addictive) for someone at the lenox mall in atlanta, i was sucked into the magic of the makeup counters. oh yes. i never thought it would happen. i was sucked in so much so that i scheduled myself for a free facial and makeover with the licensed aestheticians that, i got the impression, are not there very often giving away free services. and i'm excited! i wanted to be one of those girls with perfect hair and nails and makeup and clothes.... and, alas, while my free makeover will probably not end up being this ultimate transformation (which i probably wouldn't actually be all that happy about anyway), perhaps it'll inspire me to do something different with my "look." heaven knows i could use it!

i'll keep you posted, as the makeover will go down tomorrow at 4:00....

ps: this stuff smells *delicious*, and i can see why it could be addictive. although i tend to go for the all-organic, paraben-free type of beauty products, this smells so delicious i think it might counteract all the stuff that's in it that probably isn't the best for you... it also smells so delicious that i feel like i'll be talked into spending $40 on it tomorrow, even though i don't ever take baths.... maybe it's a good excuse to start!!

the secret language of sleep

after a couple of interrupted nights of sleep (ryan sure likes to wiggle!), this book could be of use to me. the book interprets the way that you and your partner sleep, and gives insight into what it means about you! fun, huh?

learn more about the book here and order it here.

{via pinkshirtsandcarwrecks}

ugliest pillow contest-- PLEASE VOTE!!!

i am a finalist in the ugliest pillow contest on design*sponge. i'm so excited. i knew these would come in handy for something. :)

please please please visit design*sponge and *vote* for which pillow you think is the absolute worst-- the winner gets 2 brand new pillows by thomas paul! voting closes tomorrow morning at 9 am.

(ps- i'd be really happy if you voted for mine...)

happy voting!!

cool model... jessica stam

i don't know that i've ever posted about fashion or model sin my life, but for some reason i am enamored with model jessica stam. i just think she is beautiful. she looked familiar to me when i saw this image, and i realized i saw her sometime last year in an issue of harper's bazaar in an amish-esque photo shoot, but i forget what it was for.

anyway, i was checking out go fug yourself (a daily read, i admit!), and came across these photos from ny magazine, and thought i'd post about them. i've never wanted to be a model, but this for some reason makes me think it would be a rather fun and glamourous life. all those great clothes, and the fabulous makeup!! what fun...

*loving* the biobanger!

i've always had a thing against hand-painted cars. i'm not sure why- i think it has something to do with the fact that it usually looks like a really artistically untalented person went at it with some acrylic paint, and i don't know how they're not completely embarrassed to drive it around. that being said (sorry to anyone that has done this by the way..... don't take it personally, i'm just not a big fan!), i loooove this car. i love the elephant pointing his trunk at the vegetable oil "gas" tank, and i love that the folks that created it are driving it to rome. this is not a car to be embarrassed about driving around in! i love that they're promoting a more eco-friendly, gas-free car, all over europe.

check out more from candeo collective, the creators of this fine vehicle- they are all illustrators and pattern designers.

{via print & pattern}

piggy banks of a grown-up variety

i think this is a pretty darn clever idea. how it works: decide what you want to save money for, write it on the outside of your bomb-shaped money bank. save save save. save some more. when you're ready, break it open! throw it on the ground! then go buy your special item. sounds fun, eh?

{designed by art. lebedev studio via 2modern design blog}

be a simpson's character!

you can now create your own simpson's character! i guess there's a simpson's movie coming out at the end of the month (i wasn't aware of this), and they must be trying to promote it, and creatively at that! you can visit the website right here, and create your very own simpson's character! i think this is pretty darn funny.

my character is named jessica simpson. (he he he! get it? since my name is jessica..... a little jokey joke!)

{via re:makeables, via bloesem}

Lip Dub- Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger

this is pretty funny. sort-of makes me wish i worked in an office-y type place with a bunch of people my age! friday afternoon lip synching-- what could be better?? :)

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo

memorial day festivities

every year on memorial day weekend, boulder turns into complete mayhem. the boulder creek festival attracts thousands of people, and then to finish off the weekend the bolder boulder 10k race begins first thing monday morning. as i was walking downtown yesterday, i took some photos of the craziness-- i saw a girl running in a hot pink 80's prom dress, a band of 8 year olds singing their hearts out outside the fire station and in front of a long row of port-o-potties (and they sounded good!), i visited the carnival (which was endlessly fascinating... ryan said he thinks i was probably a carnie in a past life :) he might be right...), corn dogs galore, and much much more. what fun!

and then, as always, it rained in the afternoon, and probably soaked thousands of festival-goers. all part of the fun of boulder on memorial day! ryan and i decided to risk a bbq in our backyard and got a little damp ourselves... due partly to the rain, and partly to the sprinklers that came on just as it started raining. how ridiculous.

here's ryan in the rain:

your personal dna

this is sort-of fun. you can get your personal dna (which is really just a profile based on how you chose some images about different areas of your life), and then you get an analysis at the end.

try it right here for yourself...

my answers were sort-of off, but some of them were right on. the fun part, too, is that they give you the percentage of people that had the same answers as you-- cool!

{via silk felt soil}