Clever Music Video

It is Friday, yay! Go enjoy this crazy clever clip by the artist Kaki King.

Anthropologie

If I could, I think I would actually live in this store.

Popsicle Molds

I am a rather large fan of fruit bars. We always have a stock of different flavors in our freezer, and since my last popsicle molds broke I haven't got a chance to replace them yet. After seeing the fruity pop article in Body & Soul I was inspired to find some replacement alternatives. This year I am going to try some new recipes. When I do, I will let you know how they turn out. Anyone have any winners?

1 - From Body and Soul find at Williams - Sonoma 2 - Lekue pops 3 Baby Popsicle molds from Land of Nod 4 Sailboat Pops

Next generation i-phone

Have you heard the latest buzz about the new iphone? According to some talk on the streets... Apple filed a patent to put solar technology on their phones. Best way my husband described it to me was, you know those cool calculators powered by light? Convert that idea to your mobile, think ... never have to charge your cell phone again.. So sha-zizzle. I cannot wait to hear what they say at the upcoming Keynote address, June 9th. Word to your mother, they may introduce the new i-phone which will be faster, and have some hot new features. Current i-phones are going for $700+ because you can't get them in stores anymore. Hmmmm. I may just have to upgrade when the new one comes out.

ps. Why didn't I listen to my instincts to invest in Apple stock when it was at $22 a share? (Sigh)

Piperlime

I just ordered up some little Chucks for V from Piperlime, and I cannot decide whether I like the free shipping, fast arrival or stellar packaging best. I took a quick shot with my phone to show you how cool their presentation is, if you haven't seen it yet.

Chic Nursery

We painted a few of Vienna's walls pink that I now say,"icky -- ukk" to. I want to swap the color out for this hip green from this super stylin' nursery. From Domino via Simple Lovely.

Flora Douville

Flora emailed me, and I instantly fell in love with her work. Check her etsy out here, and her blog here.

Colorwheel

I found this in my great-grandma's old scrapbook. Isn't it funny?

Cha-Cha

I found a interesting website called Cha-cha where there are some unique and quirky things to look at.

Spring Collage Vote

Hello fabulous readers! If I haven't mentioned before, spring is one of my favorite times of year. I enjoy the blossoms, the green, the chirping birds accompanied by the snow melt, the rushing rivers, and long bike rides. I hope you are having lovely spring in your place in the world. Now, it is time to vote for your favorite spring collage! I am super impressed and inspired by the entries, and find it challenging to even decide on my favorite one. Help.

*Vote by commenting on your favorite collage and state the #. Please vote only once and anonymous votes will not be counted. (only fair right?) Voting will be open until Friday, May 30th at midnight. The entry/person that receives the most votes will receive a $50 Anthropologie gift card. Thanks for voting readers, and thanks to all of the collage artists who inspire with their visual interpretations of spring.




#1 Amanda
"What I love about spring is lightness. This is seen in the flounce of petals and the play of sunshine on skin, through cherry blossoms, and in cotton spring dresses. My inspiration behind the piece was a mix of cherry blossoms, weddings, and the changing of colors from winter to spring."



#2 Casandra
"Top ten things I like about spring: 1. How green and soft the grass becomes! 2. The scent of BBQ in the air on the walk home! 3. Picking wildflowers in the park! 4. Warm sunshine! 5. Flip flops! 6. Sundays at the beach! 7. Car rides with the windows down and the radio up! 8. More people walking their doggies! 9. Sleeping with the windows open! 10. Did I mention sunshine? My inspiration was from a prompt we did in my undergrad writing group. We cut up magazines and made collages and then traded and wrote stories about the pictures! This is always a fun thing to do when there are a few magazines in a stack that you can attack before you recycle and makes the most wonderful and conversational artwork!"



#3 Elise
"My collage is 4x12 and made on a piece of corkboard. To find inspiration, I dumped out my junk paper drawer. I keep a lot of magazine images and paper scraps because they are inspiring. I went with pink and green because it is my favorite color combination and really says "SPRING" to me. I love spring. This year I spent my first winter outside of California and I was not a big fan of the cold weather. This new season has been wonderful. I have been waiting for it since October. Spring to me is newness and light. It is bright and exciting."



#4 Bella
"What I really like about spring is that feeling of life and hope. Like there is a better tomorrow. I got inspired by sunflowers, super 8 movies and bees! :) I used my own images to create the collage."


#5 Jason
"Description :Girl with rope. Winter has left Japan, but a chill is still in the air. Inspiration : Perfection sickens me and so does concept of 'beauty'. I prefer 'rough and 'unfinished' pieces and 'beauty within ugliness' This is my inspiration for every current piece I create."



#6 Karen Beth
"A friend of mine now owns this one-of-a-kind original collage that I did. It was done using images I have collected over the years, including abstract-design magazine pages, Tiffany paper, sushi grass, and a hand-created 3-D flower that was sewn onto the piece through a shiney red bead. This was all put together in various ways, including being sewn around the edges and in other various places to give it some variety. It is framed in a very old frame that I found at thrift for 30-cents. My inspiration behind the piece was the image of the girl and the tomato she is holding. It just screams "Southern Spring" to me and coordinated so well with so many Spring-y colors. The grass, the flower in her hair, etc... all of it was done pretty much around the colors of the main collage element (the girl). What I like about Spring? Ah... what don't I like? :) I love sitting on the porchswing early in the morning when the breeze is still cool, the sun is still low in the East and the cats are playing around and looking for things to hunt. I love to sit there and see all the brightness of new growth around me and feel the coolness of the air and drink my coffee. I love setting out new plants - blueberry, nettle, ranunculus, basil, etc. I love all of the wonderful fruits and veggies that are available at the two roadside fruit stands in my town. (We don't have an actual farmer's market.) I love FINALLY being able to pull out my empire-waisted tops and peeptoe shoes and funky Spring vintage costume jewelry. I love the promise of things new and the delight of all things bright. That's what I love about Spring. :)"



#7 MaryAnne
"Oh, Spring " Spring is when life's alive in everything" Christina Rossetti, English Poet 1830-1894 Spring is very short lived in Calgary, Canada – therefore it is truly a marked event. When the snow finally stops falling, usually sometime late April or early May, the moisture begins to soak into the ground and we finally start to see the inklings of spring. The tulips come up, the buds start popping, the birds begin to chirp, and all your neighbors come out of hibernation. We finally see a change in seasons, after a long cold and grey winter. This is what I love about spring, everything comes alive again. The colors are vibrant and the air is gentle. This is my inspiration for my collage. It is a simple collection of green magazine clippings, which provide vibrant color and texture to the piece. Together they form a leaf, which I feel, symbolizes the life in spring."



#8 Matt
"Here's a collage I came up with. My love for summer may have shown through a little brighter in this than my love for spring, but with weather like we had today can you blame me? Anyway, the reason for this collage is that I love seagulls and it seems like I become more aware of their return (I'm not sure if they really leave) to Utah during the spring."



#9 Monica
"The inspiration for the polaroids: This is a place in Northern California where I got engaged a few years back. I love Spring as it is fresh and new and always makes me feel happy and want to start all kinds of projects!!! I mean inspiration is all around, flowers, birds a chirping, colorful clothes and blue skies!"


#10 Paris
"Spring Spring Fever . . . Rebirth, Apple Blossoms, Blue Skies, New projects. Wind beneath my toes. Asteria sandals. I am the one wearing the Marbella Dress Possibly a Masquerade ring! I'll sit beneath the magnolia tree Dreaming of what spring might bring!"



#11 Sali Tabacchi
"Inspired by and created from the weekly grocery flyers".

#12 Shelley
"What i like about spring: peonies putting my boots away in the very back of my closet baby squirrels seed catalogues the first mojito of may happy, singing birds outside my window i am a gardener, so the inspiration behind this piece was the joy i get from watching seeds that i've planted spring up from the ground."


#13 Sohail
"I heart spring becuase the morning air seems to reverberate. the sun seems to allow my friends and i to not feel bad about taking frivolity very seriously, and people show more skin in public allowing for more personal expression."

#14 Zina
"Love the vibrant colors of Lavendar, Purple, lime, Teal Blue, Yummy Yellow. These are my spring colors that makes spring so much colorful. These colors remind me of breezy, carefree spring days. 1. Cardinal House London 2. cakespy.com 3. Vivre.com 4. Ellie Bellie Kids 5. Parfaits 6. kristaraak.com 7. beautiful teal and green door. 8. Cotton Candy 9. Grape Spritzer 10. Seaglass Candle. Matthewmeadstyle.com"


#15 Zoe
"Everything I love about spring: Popcorn popping on the apricot trees, Corn flower blue skies, basking in the sun's rays, smelling lilacs, birds singing, smiling children playing outside, blooming tulips, juicy red watermelons, time to enjoy all of the earths amazing things. In this collage I wanted to create a feeling of happiness. I wanted the viewer to realize that even though peoples life's are so busy it is nice to stop and truly be in the moment --- stop and really look at something for what it is. I want this collage to inspire everyone to find the beauty in spring."


#16 Kristi
"What I like about Spring? Hmm...Well, I live in Texas and the summers are soooooo hot and long. Spring, though short, is the one time when you can stand to be outside for longer than 5 minutes. The spring rains bring such a freshness to everything you see..it's kind of like looking through technicolour lenses! The smells, the colors, the lightness in the air...it's my favorite time of year."


#17 Abby:
"I attached a mixed media collage (paper and ink on canvas) I made recently, titled "I Will Bloom." This collage was inspired by taking long walks and watching the cherry trees start bloom - a sure sign that Spring has arrived! On a more personal level, this collage is also about hope."

Have a lovely weekend!

Hope you have a nice extended Memorial Day Weekend, go do something fun. I'll be back Tuesday with lots of great collages for you all to vote on.

(images from British Vogue : 1 / 2 )

How strong are your passwords?

A few months ago one of our credit cards was compromised and unbeknownst to us, people were having a good 'ole time shoppin' it up. Everything was resolved on our side, but it erks me that they will probably get away with it. (although, I do believe in karma)

Since then, the topic of online passwords has been on the forefront of my mind. If you are concerned about your online security like me. You've got to check out this link.

(The Sneakers clip above is just for fun)

Family Bike Ride

We got a little bike trailer for V yesterday as we are planning to bike this weekend and throughout the summer. It got me thinking ...how does a family go on bike rides with lots o' kids? Of course, B+A will show us one way how. (image from fitceleb)

Sigg Bottles

While outfitting our little fam' with SIGG bottles the lady ringing me up at the REI cash register said, "I don't get the whole plastic phenomenon, we can't keep these Siggs on the shelves. I've been drinking out of my Nalgene bottle for years and I'm not dead yet. What is the big deal.. sheesh."

(image from flickr)

Stone is not Cold

While I was away, I missed the ebay auction for this book by M. Sasek but luckily I just found another copy and ordered it up.

Stylish ipod cases

I haven't found many I've liked, but these little ipod cases are pretty dope. Find them at Ordning & Reda. Have you found any cases you fancy?

Barn or cottage?

There are days when I cannot decide whether I want to live in a cool re-furbished barn or a quaint charming cottage? Decisions... decisions.

1: via Absolutely Beautiful Things
2: Barn Remodel (both images from Cottage Living)

Stationery Show

This year I planned on going to the Stationery Show in NYC, but unfortunately some things came up, and it didn't work out. In lieu of being there, here are a few of my favorite paperie designers that I would have liked to visit. Who are your favorite paper gurus?


Paper+Cup


Pancakes & Franks


Yellow Owl Workshop


Nantaka Joy


Mateo Ilasco


SusyJack


Egg Press


Dutch Door Press


Hello Lucky


Jack & Lulu

Bon Iver

I heard his voice after watching House the other night and went straightaway to buy their album on itunes. Today I am super busy, off I go to work while listening to the lush and melodic poetry sounds of Bon Iver. I will update you about how the album turns out later on this post... Have a great day all!

UPDATE:
This album temporarily made me an album listener, I never wanted to switch the song. It has the perfect blend and variety of smooth acoustic melodies. I would recommend it.

Ink + Peat

I often swoon over Housemartin's arrangements. This recent one is especially lovely. Check out her other work here at Ink & Peat.

Binth

I am loving what Binth is doing with their very artistic and clever line of cards.

Zoo and City in a Box

Last week I came across this toy zoo and city in a box and I can't stop thinking about them. I only wish I remembered where I first saw them. They would be delightful to play with, and I am sure Vienna would love them too. Find them at superspace.