christopher l. mercier

there's something about big abstract globby paintings that really appeals to me. i always want to touch them when i see one. or poke them even. because it seems that oil paint in think masses like that would take about 3 years to dry fully!

so anyway, i really like these pieces by christopher l.mercier at lawrence asher gallery in los angeles. they are combinations of oil, ink, enamel, and latex on wood panels. magnificent!

new painting in the process

the third painting in the new bigger series is in the process! here is a sneap peek.... it's starting to take shape, but i'm not happy with the colors yet. this is the fun part, when i don't quite like it yet-- what can i do to make it awesome? we'll see!

beautiful pink by puppe*

oh my goodness, this beauty by valeria montero (aka puppe* on flickr) just made me have to stop and catch my breath, i love it so!!

see more right here-- this is by far my favorite, but there are many more lovely pieces to admire.

chris smith

how much do i love chris smith's illustrations? a LOT. especially that top image, called 'global warming.' his color combinations are fantastic, and i love his distinct style. he's got a lovely blog, too, an etsy shop, and a flickr page-- and each make my heart go aflutter. :)

cool artist: maseman

i love when you stumble upon a piece of artwork that you just love. that's what happened to me when i saw the piece pictured above by maseman, an artist in austin, texas. i just love it so much. maseman has a hugely varied body of work on his website. don't you need a break on this fine wednesday to go check it out?

{via shining magazine}

calendar giveaway winners!

wow, it's october 1st! and that means it's calendar giveaway winner day!

so, congratulations to emilie fillon and marissa mcilmoyl-- you've each won a free calendar!

i will begin shipping the calendars out on monday october 6th-- if you haven't ordered yours yet, check out the shop! there are a couple different versions of the calendar to choose from. they'll be available for the rest of the year, so don't fear! if you missed the giveaway, you can most definitely still buy a calendar.

joie

i love glass bottles and jars. like, love them. i especially love keeping bath and body products in them. (i have a secret idea that i'm going to create a body cream with gorgeous packaging to add to my shop one of these days....)

anyway, i discovered this new line called joie over on fffound this morning (via the dieline, the best packaging blog around), and i can't wait to see it in stores! i hope it's made of all organic ingredients, because then i wouldn't be able to resist buying it. aren't the bottles so pretty?

loyal loot collective: log bowls

you may have seen these log bowls by loyal loot collective around on some blogs, but i couldn't resist posting them here, because these photos are just too fantastic. i am *crazy* about those shiny colors juxtaposed with the textured logs-- i want these bowls all over my house.

if anyone knows where you can buy these gorgeous pieces, please let me know! so i can spend all my money on them, of course. :)

[via sub-studio design blog, via reubenmiller]

ghost time!

is it really october tomorrow? when did that happen?? i love october-- fall leaves, halloween, cooler weather.... and i'm totally digging this october-appropriate ghost themed craft kit by elsie cake! could it be any cuter? (the answer is no, it could not.)

check out elsie cake's adorable etsy shop (where you can get your own ghost kit!) and her flickr page-- both are so inspiring and full of awesomeness, it will be an instant favorite, i promise!

KidsHaus

oh my gosh, are these the sweetest gocc-printed images you've ever seen? i love them so much!! they are by etsy seller KidsHaus, and i think i just might have to have that elephant. it's so sweet!!

you can also check out the blog here-- it's equally adorable, MY GOODNESS.

[originally via design is mine]

back from boulder

i am back! safe and sound. it was so nice to be in boulder-- the weather was PERFECTION, and it was great to take a short time-out from all the working and making things to visit with my family! and now it's back to it-- tomorrow i'll pick the calendar giveaway winners-- which means today is the last day to buy a calendar and be entered into the giveaway! (of course you'll be able to buy calendars after tomorrow-- the chance to get a free second one will be gone, though! hurry!)

the photo above is my friend travis who got married on saturday night, alexandra (an old friend from bmoca), and myself-- we had so much fun!

the flower girls were so adorable...

and traci looked gorgeous....

and here are a couple shots from my walking around boulder-- i think i walked about 7 miles on sunday! it was lovely.

i'll be back soon with regular posting!!

back tomorrow!

hola friends! just wanted to let you know that i'm in boulder right now and am heading home today-- i'll be on a plane and unable to blog, so i'll be back tomorrow!

bet you didn't know that i've been in boulder since thursday, though, huh? i planned ahead and scheduled posts for thusday and friday, but i didn't get as far as monday. darn!

so, i'll be back tomorrow with photos of boulder and my friend's wedding that i went to on saturday night!

hope you all had a fantastic weekend!
(ps... it's NOT snowy in boulder right now-- ijust like this photo that i took a while back!)

new pattern = wallpaper (i hope!)

ok friends, i have a dilemma. remember the paintings i posted a little while ago that were going to the nursery? well, they *loved* them (yay!), and now they would like wallpaper for the nursery as well!

(i also made a mobile for the nursery-- i have no good pics, but i might post something anyway. it was based on this one.)

anyway, where do i get wallpaper printed? i am having real trouble finding someone locally that will print on a non-vinyl material and with water-based inks.

have any of you printed wall paper before? do you have any recommendations? i'm thinking about going with design your wall-- any experience with them? help!!

the design above (the pink one) is what i've sent to her, and i'm hoping she likes it-- the blue one i just did for fun because i liked the cute design so much. :)
what do you think? nursery-ish?

if you have any info for me as far as wallpaper printing goes, please do send it my way!! i'll love you forever! (who am i kidding-- i will anyway. but you know that!)

daily photography love: .littlegirlblue

oh my. my my my. i'm just crazy about these photos by .littlegirlblue, a photographer from turkey. (a place i want to visit one day, by the way.)

i'm discovering that i really like photography that is exposed in interesting ways (forgive my lack of intelligent terms to describe this-- i know little about photography!)

these have jumped right to the top of the list.

.littlegirlblue can also be seen over on deviant art right here. and flickr here.
*enjoy!*

the wizard's hat

i got a really fun email about this new zine created by jeffrey bowman and andrew miller called the wizard's hat, and it looks like a super cool project.

here's a bit of the guys' mission for the zine:

it's a platform for something new, fresh and inspiring, to showcase work's from the art, design and illustration world including the un-known's and known's

inspiring, non? :) (that's french for 'no', in case you thought i just made a typo...)

you can buy a copy right here!!

myrica design

i am *smitten* with these awesome acrylic pieces by swedish myrica design. i pretty much want to live in that photo directly below.

if you live in LA, you are lucky enough to be able to see these in person: here and here. and if you live elsewhere in the world, check here for retailers.
love it!

new painting: dress up

painting #2 in the new series of bigger pieces! this one is called 'dress up' and is 24x24", oil, acrylic, paper, and linoleum block printing on masonite.

i'm getting more and more excited about these pieces as i create them! i can't wait to see what the other 10 are going to look like.... there seems to be a theme forming, but i need to think it through some more... stay tuned and i'll give you more info into my thoughts behind the pieces. :)

elsita

i'm really enjoying these illustrations by elsita this morning, particularly the ones with the red + gray + white color scheme. they are so lovely! and that top image makes me feel very excited about cooler weather and getting to wear scarves again! i love scarves.

her shop is full of goodies, as is her blog-- definitely worth some peeking!