happy holidays!

well friends, i am off to my sweet hometown tomorrow morning, bright and early.

boulder, colorado, here i come! i am so so excited. this will be the first time i've been back since i moved to georgia in august, and i am practically jumping out of my seat. i *love* boulder at christmas time, and this will be a particularly lovely holiday, because one of my sisters and i both moved away from boulder at about the same time over the summer, and my family will all be back together again for a week!

i'll be blogging sporadically though the holidays.......
can't wait for 2008! i think it's going to be a good year. lots of good things in store.....

*wishing you a happy holiday full of love, cuddling, and lots christmas snow. :)*

christmas gifts galore

well, i've been busy busy busy making gifts for my family as usual this year-- here are some photos of what i've been working on:

i think my work might be moving in a new direction! i have discovered the joys of india ink in the past few weeks, and i'm loving it! this time of year always seems to be play time for me, and then after a refreshing break, january proves to be full of inspiration once again.

i'm going home to colorado on friday (yipee!) for a week, and then to california for 4 days to visit with ryan's wonderful family. i'll be back on the 1st (i may do some blogging in between... photos of christmas snow in colorado perhaps??), and then hopefully that january inspiration and excitement towards making things will kick in, and lots of new things will burst out of me!

the 12 craft days of christmas

this is pretty darn cute....

cool artist... aili schmeltz

i love love love these pieces by artist aili schmeltz. you should visit her website. really.
and read her statement.

(via design-milk)

the layers of our history

this photo is an extreme close-up scan of a photo taken by amy mckenzie at the belmont art park in los angeles. it is 1 cm thick, and has 150-200 layers of paint. isn't that amazing?

it reminds me of when i worked at bmoca doing installations, and we would paint this one front wall over and over and over, and i always wanted to know how many layers were under there. it also reminds me of that saying 'if only walls could talk'...

[found via ruben miller via fffound]

dwell magazine

yesterday i received an issue of dwell magazine in the mail, and boy was i pleased!

i tend to shy away from magazines focused on home design, because i do not yet own a home, i do not yet have a lot of money with which i could renovate or build a home, and i can easily head down that spiral of self-pity because the people in the magazines always seem to have such perfect, cool lives.

dwell exceeded all my expectations yesterday afternoon as i sat at the kitchen table
reading page after page.

first off, i loved the fun mix of great photographs and creative illustration.



the magazine does not feel stuffy or pretentious-- instead, it feels fun and fresh; something that can appeal to those seriously looking to renovate or build a new home, or someone like me who is looking for some inspiration, and some ideas for the day when i can finally purchase my own home.

next, i loved the wide variety within dwell's pages. it is not just a magazine about home design. it encompasses so much more. i felt it gave attention to many parts of the design world:

for example, while praising the return of hand-lettering in the design world, they, in fact, had some illustrations with hand-lettered type as part of their features.


{this is a book that i want badly. i'm hoping to receive it for christmas. :) }

{this is part of an ad for jen bekman's gallery in nyc. the drawing is by kate bingaman burt, who just had a show at rare device in san francisco!}

and they had an article on alex steinweiss, the man responsible for the idea of creative album covers.


green building was also of importance, and i liked the eco-friendly carpet options provided in the magazine, as well as a feature on a solar-powered house in new zealand.

i felt they had a nice mix of indoor and outdoor spaces, homes and public institutions:

like the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston
(this is not a photo of the ICA, but a photo of boston from the magazine that i particularly liked)


and Flora Grubb Gardens in the Bay Area


and homes in minneapolis, puerto rico, and houston, texas.


all in all, i do believe i've become an enthusiastic reader of dwell magazine.

new drawing in the shop!

"juniper and carnations"

check it out in my etsy shop right here.

[ps-- it's not too late to buy those christmas presents! people *love* artwork!]

christmas presents in the works...

above: some christmas gifts i am working on for my family and friends...

below: my ornaments for the swap! i sent them out this morning, so they are on their way to their new homes. :)

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

compared to anthropologie!

he he! a big thanks to renee, who mentioned my partridges in a pear tree on the modishoppe guest blog today.

i love that she compared my birds to those at anthropologie!
thanks renee!

{ps... they look *super cute* on a christmas tree, and are for sale in my etsy shop... hurry! not much time until christmas!!}

**check out the rest of renee's guest blog posts right here-- they are delightful and full of great gift ideas.

some things i've purchased today...

i'm finally getting into the christmas gift buying spirit! (and christmas gift-making spirit... which

many of the gifts will be!)

i officially took the buy handmade pledge this morning (finally!):


and here are a few things i have purchased since:

lart cognac berliner directory from little otsu:

set of 6 plant magnets from bird vs. bird:


goldfinch coin purse from bird vs. bird


where's waldo book:
(i know it's not handmade, but what fantastic artwork! plus, these books were my absolute *favorites* when i was a kid, so i want to share the love)

so happy with my purchases so far!

(photos of christmas projects i'm working on to come soon.....)

love this drawing by forest tails

i can't stop looking at this drawing this morning. i found it on forest tail's flickr page-- check it out here.

new etsy shop...valerie auger

valerie auger, born in france and now living in madrid, spain, sent over a link to her brand new etsy shop for her digital collages, and i am swooning over her images. she travels and carries her camera everywhere, and her images are just gorgeous. check out here photo collages in her shop right here. be prepared: it's going to make you want to visit each and every one of these places.

i was particularly drawn to these winter images:

but they are all gorgeous. take a look!

**tres magnifique, valerie!**

new drawing in the shop!

"tiger in the rose bush", available in my etsy shop! just in time to purchase for that animal lover in your life for the holidays!

check out everything else right here!

ps- *purchases made before december 15th will come with a little extra something included!*

cool artist... david lozano

i was drawn to these pieces by david lozano this morning, and when i took a closer look, i knew why: he uses some of the exact materials that i do, in the same combinations. it's sort-of disheartening when this happens; i think as artists we like to believe we're doing something truly unique. but alas, here is david lozano, using sequins and resin and paint all together to create sparkly wonders, just like me. sigh. i like his work, though, and it gives me hope that there's a place out there for sequins and glitter in the world of fine art!

{see more of his work at zolla lieberman gallery in chicago}

problems with blogger

hey all,

sorry for the crappy looking banner at the top right now... i was trying to upload the fun new one that i made today, and apparently blogger is having some problems. there are all sorts of posts from other people in the help section talking asking about these same pixelation issues. hopefully this will be resolved soon, and then you can see the new banner at the top in its full glory!!

tables featured on I {heart} Indie blog!

check it out right here!

also, i was excited to see that i made the etsy front page yesterday! wooo!


{thanks to renee for catching this with her eagle eye!}

tsilli

i'm always pleased when i get a newsletter from tsilli in my inbox. her site is simple and wonderful-- full of her silkscreens, crafts, and photography. she also makes a new desktop calendar each month that you can download and use on your computer screen!

these images were some of my favorites from the site this morning. enjoy!