pottery

I have a friend who only stocks her cupboards with handmade pieces of pottery.  All of her mugs, plates and bowls are an eclectic mix made in the hands of various potters.  She said most of the pieces she picked up at garage sales and flea markets...occasionally she would splurge on a piece from a studio. 

It felt special to eat at her house...even if we were only dining on nachos and iced-water (gotta love college memories).  The pieces were so beautiful.  I decided I wanted to do that too.  Maybe someday.  Picture via DesignMom.

tilt shifted van gogh

Saw these here and they gave me goosebumps.  You see, I've had a relationship with Vincent for years...when I experience his pieces in museums it's like spending time with an old friend.  While I was in NYC this weekend the dinner conversation turned to my Vincent, and my mood instantly lightened...and made me long for a museum adventure asap.  I need to spend some time with his work soon...it's been an awfully long time.  Alas...no museum adventure could be squeezed in.   But these images are delightful!!

raw art letter press

There is still a blank wall in the baby's room.  It's killing me. 

I'm currently fantasizing about the possibility of one of these prints  by Raw Art Letter Press.  They are so simple and divine.  Of course, if I got one for Clara's room, it would have to be yellow.  It would just have to be.

Aren't these delightful? There is something about them that makes me smile.

brilliant new york

One of the biggest reasons I was psyched about moving to upstate New York was being within a couple hours of New York City...as I LOVE New York City.  Who doesn't?  I love the museums.  The pizza.  The architecture.  The lights.  The parks.  I could go on infinitely.  Too bad residency has kept me busy almost every single weekend of the last 10 months...only made it into the city once...which is actually quite a tragedy.

One year I traveled into the city  over a dozen times...which is a lot for a girl who lived in Arizona (though I was living in Rhode Island at the time!).  I think this is a fun print by Julie Mercier; certainly not the most sophisticated portrayal of NYC, yet it is a fun and bright and lively interpretation.  I am a fan of Miss Mercier...remember here?

help feed my soul

I just found this fab site, Feed Your Soul, that has free downloadable prints from indie artists.  This might be the answer to my little prayers as I've been trying to find something lovely to hang on a patch of white wall in our nursery.  Our budget is maxed out - so I was going to have to get uber creative (which, unfortunately, I just don't have the time for) or print a photo we've taken...but we aren't photogs here.

Help me pick one of these three...I'm leaning towards the print on the top...whatdoyathink?  Go find your own free inspiration at Feed Your Soul!

floating boats

As much of a fan of bright colors I proclaim myself to be, I find softer pastel hues rather divine.  Though, I have nothing in my own home to suggest that sentiment.  These floating boats, by the ever talented Ann Wood, are so dreamy and so captivating I'm having twitching impulses to scrap our current nursery decor and instead play with the whispering colors of the softest blues and grays and creams.  Wouldn't these be delicious over a crib?  Or reading nook? 

These ships make me think of Peter Pan's adventures, and pirates and mermaids and lost treasure and fireworks over the ocean.  Anything that reminds me of Peter Pan is gold in my book. I hope our baby loves those tales of adventure too.

abc's of architecture

How freakin' stellar is this print!?  I've been looking and looking and looking at art for our baby room and then I see this...and I want it for my room.  Ha!  At only $25 it's such a steal!!  By jikits

a whole bunch of worlds

via unruly things

This. Is. Amazing.

alphabet art

The Alphabet Garden - sugarfresh

I posted a couple days ago about a world map print that I was nutso over...but at roughly $200, it's a serious no-go for us.   Found these sweet lil finds on Etsy and now I'm thinking maybe something celebrating letters would be nice too!  Like alphabet art.  Oh...and nothing is over $30.  Sa-weet.

 Letterpress ABC poster - starshapedpress

  sugarfresh

Ode to Helvetica - ModernPop

cutest world map

I saw this posted on DesignMom last week and found it entirely charming.  What a great addition to a baby nursery...it would transition so beautifully to a toddler, and a growing child...it could be used and adored for so long!!  I can just imagine looking at it with our little girl - pointing out the different places, animals, and adventures that our glorious planet contains. 

The price was kinda steep so I did some additional searches for charming world map art and didn't come up with anything quite so lovely.  Is 99 pounds (how much IS that in American money!?) too much for child-room art?? I don't know these things yet. 

toy portraits

With a little one on the way in our household, my thoughts revolve around babies and kiddos and my own childhood.  (I can't help it!)  So you can imagine the size of my smile when I saw these precious commissioned custom toy portraits.  Oh how I love this.  The artist, Jennifer Maher, paints these little treasures for as low as $60 for a 5x7!!  Hello amazing Christmas gift!!  Check out her website here.

I actually didn't grow up with a stuffed animal that comforted me when I went to bed - I had a soft yellow "blanky" that I was rather smitten with.   My husband had a little stuffed dog - PupPup.  I've met little PupPup - I think he was either missing an eye or missing an ear, and has been hugged within an inch of his life as he longer has any "stuffing" to help keep his shape.   But PupPup is just perfect.   I love that Tommy's mother kept  him all these years.

Did you have a favorite childhood toy? 

corning

 Spent the weekend with my mom - did I already mention that?  I just love her...she's my fave.  We are REALLY into exploring art museums...so I clearly had to take her to the Corning Glass Museum.  AMAZING.  I so totally HIGHLY HUGELY recommend experiencing that place - phenomenal collection.  And surprisingly - there was a ton of kiddo-s there...with lots of activities geared for them (it's always fun to watch kids at museums when they are totally engaged in what they are doing, isn't it?) 

They also have a superior gift shop - with gigantic displays of locally blown glass pumpkins and apples for the fall.  My mom and I went nuts (though I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of that!!!)  I bought a brilliant lil pumpkin friend...a momento of the day.

Have you ever watched glass being blown?  It is such a magical moment.  We just dig it.  We "ooooo" and "ahhhhh" and squeal and clap (we have a hard time restraining ourselves sometimes when we get excited.)   I bet someday we dabble in glass art...I like the idea of working with stained glass. 

It is such a beautiful medium. 

art walk

Took a little road trip to a nearby town a couple weeks ago...for their First Friday Art Walk.   I started going to art walks when I was an undergrad living in Flagstaff.  I spent almost every first Friday of my medical school career going to the downtown Phoenix art walks.  So in a way, this feels familiar.  Familiar is a good thing when you are 3000 miles away from home. 

life...inspired.

note: Oh man I don't know how to fix the SIZE so you can watch it. See it on youtube..it might change your life.

This video has been faithfully posted to my MySpace account for years...except I haven't even been on MySpace in about a year...and I missed this little video of loveliness. I used to watch it rather frequently...I find it terribly inspiring.

Like right now, I'm rejuvenated...to do something great. Or simple. Like, smile.

squidarella

Ummmm...hello radical.



Thanks for the heads up on this Stephanie of Metropolitan Mama.

cake for kami

fab lil painting via MAGPIE lovely

Today is my best friends birthday.
I remember celebrating our birthdays
with cupcakes
that our moms would bring to elementary school.
And all those those bowling ally birthdays...
or the gingerbread house decorating parties...
or the celebrations spent at the theater...
or the ooodles of slumber parties.
Ballet lessons brought us together when we were 5...
it's been quite a few birthday wishes to witness!

Happy Birthday Kami!

Mucho hugs, love and frosting my dear.

vincenzo rizzo

New obsession: Vincenzo Rizzo. Wowza.

glass blowing

I'm a Chihuly fanatic. His work gives me goosebumps. The color...the forms...the whimsy of it all just leaves me teary eyed and inspired (not to mention I wrote my senior thesis paper on him for Art History degree!) My affection for Chilhuly is shared with my mom - who is a sucker for beautiful glass. She used to beg me to learn glass-blowing...isn't that funny?

Well mom, our dreams could come true. Sonoran Glass Academy in Tucson, has classes open to the public to learn a variety of glass manipulation...including blowing!!!! I'll be moving to Tucson in two weeks...ummm...I might do this. I seriously might do this.

I just love when wishes come true.

wonder wall

My fiance came to visit me a couple weekends ago in Philadelphia...and I haven't seen him since the end of September! We spent two glorious days exploring the city, enjoying each other, and eating (and drinking!) ourselves silly. He used to live here, so it was fun for us to reminisce about his old life, and our past adventures here.

We stumbled upon this excellent installation on South Street, The Magic Garden's. I must have stood there for 20 minutes just taking in the intricacies of the mosaics...

it was a wonderful 20 minutes.

paint chip art work

This is up there on the "creative" list. Wow. I think I'll stick with studying surgery because this looks more complicated than an fixating a calcaneal fracture. Mad props...found at Sending Postcards.