Buy handmade.

So in times like these, I wish I lived in Portland, Oregon:

Abby Powell Thompson of Abby Try Again and Chelsea Fuss of Frolic! blog are putting together an arts and crafts show called Little Winter: A handmade Market. It consists of so many talented artists whose wares will be brought together in the Ace Hotel the first weekend in November. So those of you who live in PDX, take advantage of the wonderful opportunity to buy handmade!

Kris Atomic

Has anyone seen the blog Kris Atomic before?  I have been poring over it, and I have to say, it's fantastic.
It's nice to feel inspired once in a while.

Sundays.

It's my half birthday today! Do you ever do anything special to celebrate? Mr. W and I cleaned the house, which felt great. We have a yummy dinner planned of homemade burgers and oven fries with grilled peaches for dessert, and tonight we are going to relax in front of the air conditioning and watch some soccer.

Blueprints on Fabric

When I was young I remember my Mother taught me how to make sunprints; the small pieces of light-sensitive paper that, when left in the sun, would expose themselves in a few minutes time. By leaving a section of flower, leaf or anything opaque on top of the paper during the exposure, the after image would remain on the paper long after the flower withered away and died.

I recently saw a blog post by Design Sponge about Blueware, a collection of vases that are treated with light-sensitive chemicals and are kept in a dark room until ready to be exposed by light on a "rotating spit", according to the website, Studio Glithero. Beforehand, flowers or plants of varying types are attached to the vessels so that when they are exposed to the light, the silhouettes of the flowers are left in white; the remainder of the vase is a beautiful prussian blue, reminiscent of the sunprints I would make when I was young.

Does anyone know where you can buy these? If you do, please let me know!

Another discovery thanks to Design Sponge was Blueprints on Fabric. This was something totally new to me - you purchase cotton fabric that is pretreated so that when you expose and then wash the fabric, the afterimage will appear. (Cyanotype.) This would be so fun to try!





Photography Petr Krejci

Father's Day

Well, we finally got our air conditioners installed, which makes for a much happier existence.  Especially since we are currently in some sort of heat wave. Today it is supposed to reach 94, tomorrow 97 and the rest of the week won't be cooling off much more than the high eighties.  You never appreciate something so much until you are without it for awhile. On the bright side, we did save a lot on electric!

I traveled up to my parents house for Fathers day along with my sister and her pup (you may know them both by her fabulous blog, Clean Livin' ) and together we had a nice barbecue of Shish ka-bob and grilled peaches, strawberries and blueberries. The only thing that was missing was my other beautiful sister.

Images to feel cool by.

Today is hot. Hot and humid. So in order to feel cooler I'm posting some pictures from my photo archives. I hope wherever you are, if you are in need of some cooling off, these will help you too!

All images above are my own, taken in my backyard last winter, at Jordan Pond in Acadia State Park in Maine in 2008, and on our trip to Portland Oregon and the Oregon coast in 2007.

Flipper bridge

How incredible is this idea for a bridge?  The unique bridge between mainland China and Hong Kong was developed in order to organize cars for the switch between driving from the left hand side (Hong Kong) and the right (China) and vice versa.  An ingenious plan by NL Architects was to create a flipper bridge that would split the traffic at one point and weave it back together, with cars now driving on the correct sides per government requirements. Pretty amazing, if you ask me.

Article and Photos found here.

asheville, part II

One day on a whim we spent a bit of time at Zebulon Vance's birthplace. It is a historic site complete with in-tact and re-built buildings (spring house, textile house, slave's quarters, etc. I really was impressed by the presentation of everything. It really was eye opening to see everything nearly as it was long ago.

asheville, part I

Well, I am back from a few day's vacation in Asheville, NC.  We had a really nice time - we ate at many good eateries, took many a scenic drive and took a ton of pictures.  Here's the first installment.

Proposal

This video has been going around the web for a little while, but I thought I would post it here while I had the chance of it still being fairly new for some people!
I think I would be embarrassed beyond belief if this happened, but how sweet of the guy to propose with such planning!  Wouldn't it be awful if she said no?

Iceland

Lately I have been seeing a lot of news about Iceland. Namely, the volcano (hey, whatever happened to that? News coverage certainly diminished quickly it seems).

I just came across this video from A Cup of Jo  about visiting Iceland. It was put together by the Icelandic government.  Pretty great.  And the music, if you are wondering, is Emiliana Torrini.


Inspired by Iceland Video from Inspired By Iceland on Vimeo.


While on the subject of Iceland, Mr. W and I recently watched a Sigur Ros video about the country. It was called Heima (Home) and it was amazing. I would recommend it to anyone interested in seeing a beautifully filmed movie. And some great music to boot.

Another movie I have not yet seen but wish to is called Music From the Moon.  It looks really great as well.
I think it is being shown in Europe right now, but as soon as it comes over I'm adding it to my queue!

Oh Iceland, I think I heart you.


MUSIC FROM THE MOON * A scenic documentary film about music in Iceland & Greenland (Official Trailer) from GUCC grafik film on Vimeo.

Circles Print

Lately I have been working on some different art projects. I really enjoyed making the Circles prints I just put up in my shop.  I made five different originals, and am making more every day.

I really love the different dimensions that the circles bring to the viewer's eye, as well as how the watercolor takes on its own personality.

Watercolor in general has been so much fun to work with; I especially love how you can let the paint take control of the paper - or you can completely manipulate it to your own liking.


Hope to be posting more soon! Another shop update is coming as well.


xo

Deliciousness.

And what do you know? I'm back!  The threat of impending rain and thunderstorms has made it a bit cooler around these parts, so I'm happily typing away as the fan is directed straight at me.

So let's get to the point of this post: I have a fantastic recipe to share.  A few weeks ago I found the amazing website Farm House Table which, along with amazing photos, contains some of the best recipes I have ever made + eaten.

My husband (Mr. W) and I decided to try the zucchini paparadelle recipe one night a few weeks ago.  It was one of the easiest meals to put together, and it was so delicious. I am relatively new to using goat cheese in recipes, but now I am hooked.  Definitely give this recipe a try if you want a wonderful late spring/early summer type dish.

Also, a cute side note that has nothing to do with the above - this morning after my run I saw a bunny lying on its side relaxing in the cool grass! We scared him with our footsteps, but it was adorable! I've never seen a wild bunny like that before!




Photos above by me.

Terrariums

So yesterday I promised I would post today, and so here I am, back to being a blogger, trying desperately to attain some sort of blogging rhythm. I don't like disappearing for weeks at a time and then coming back to post and then leaving again. I hope to continue to post on an almost daily or at least every - other - day pattern. The reason for my absence was because the studio that I write these posts in was 90 degrees. Our landlord has yet to put the air condition units into our apartment and so despite the thermal curtains drawn and the fans blowing on and on, it still is pretty hot. That's why today I am writing this entry in the morning, before the hot sun warms the room!

Anyway, to get to the fun stuff now:

I came across a great article from Design Sponge about creating terrariums. I love terrariums. I remember creating my very own in 3rd grade out of an empty milk bottle. I have no recollection as to what was in the terrarium, but I had a great time doing it. They specifically highlighted the work of Katie Goldman Macdonald who sells the terrariums that she creates. She utilizes blown glass vessels to house the plant environment. How amazing are these?

Image above - Drew Kelly for the New York Times

On her website,  Goldman Macdonald mentions that she does locally commissioned works. These would be great centerpieces for a wedding, no?  I also really appreciate how her website has a beautiful watercolored homepage. 

Images of Terrariums from Botany Factory

Too hot to write.

I will post tomorrow!

xo

I feel like going home.

Listening to this.
Re-reading this.


What are you listening/reading right now?

PS - blogger crops my photos. For full uncropped versions, click on each photo and it will link to Flickr.

xo

Bolshoi Academy

A little off topic from the norm, I wanted to share this fantastic video I watched from the NY Times this morning. It's about a young American ballet dancer who travels to Russia to be apart of the Bolshoi Academy. If you have 8 and a half minutes to spare, it's worth your time.



{Video embedded within post]


Back with more updates later today!