hello 2011

Hello 2011 and hello my long neglected blog. I can't believe it's over 1 month since my last post. It's taken me a while to get over the mad dash to Christmas and New Year and to be honest I haven't posted here through complete lack of inspiration. Luckily today I got as little kick in the butt and I'm off and running and excited to get creative this year. The kick start came from the wonderful Color Me Pretty column on Decor8. This month the talented Leslie put together a yellow inspired post, where she mixed yellow with craft paper and soft greys. I spotted an image of a hot air balloon printed over a map and thought it was so lovely I've gone out hunting for something similar.

This digital collage,  Life's Journey1 by Crimson Circle Studios is close to the image I spotted on Decor8. This talented Australian creates other beautiful collage images from vintage books. Check out the etsy store here.

 Here's another nice graphic collage this time by Nesta Home. The above image is part of a series created for different American cities called Dark Cities. The technique combines modern photos printed over vintage atlas pages - these page are from a 1929 Atlas Book.

As well as these prints, the Nesta Home etsy store is chock full of graphic design inspired goodies. I really like the Urban Throw Pillows and this (above) Numbers hand printed pillow.

Keeping on the graphic design theme, how fantastic is this  Building Footprint Print by VisuaLingual. I like the way of celebrating a location in a non-literal way. This image combines the overview of the neighbourhood as well as coordinates of the an old German neighborhood, Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati.

I think one of the reasons 'map art' has inspired me so much is the sense of travel and adventure that a map can capture. This above print, Anywhere from the The Wheatfield embraces this beautifully.

Immediately I have started to think about nice ways to commemorate holidays using maps and graphic elements. Here is another beautiful artwork - Open Space by  LauraTwoTina - a collaboration of two artists, Laura Gaffke & Tina Hirsig. The story of this piece starts with an Italian holiday and ends here with this lovely piece. For me the ideas are already flowing about how I can use maps to create some artwork. I'll keep you posted.

Christmas spirit

After finally putting up my Christmas Tree last night I have had to face the fact that not only is Christmas coming, but it is very close by! Today I have found some beautiful Christmas Wreaths which I would love to adorn my front door with. Unfortunately not many of them look 'transportable', however they may inspire some DIY projects.

These first few are from the Lunatique Boutique etsy store. I love the subtle Christmas colour palette of reds and golds as well as the use of fabric, feathers and paper. I find these are not too 'tizzy' and have a nice natural look. My favourite is the top one where the twigs spray out from the circle. See these and more in the etsy store here. Pictured above the Elegant Woodland Holiday Wreaths.
Click for links >  Top,  bottom left, bottom right.

This wreath is from Goodie True Shoes (another very cool store name!) The Evening Gatherer wreath has lovely earthy tones that match the yarn, felt and wooden material used. This wreath also has moss and seeds, but these are not able to be shipped internationally. I could see an Australian version of this wreath with native seeds, gumnut pods and leaves.

This pretty wreath is certainly something that could been used as inspiration for crafty people. This lovely jute wreath is by Catnap Cottage. The 'beach chic' look of jute makes this a great wreath for us Southern Hemisphere dwellers who have a summer Christmas. I love this fabric, the red and white reminds me of a candy cane, but it is such a modern interpretation of the Christmas look. The trick here is to find beautiful, quality fabric or ribbon.

 

This last wreath is a masterpiece from The Linnets Wing. Again I like the wild, unstructured style. I also like the natural colours given a bit of holiday silver bling. The real appeal of this is that the natural elements are sourced from Erika's Pennsilvania home. This wreath is "hand-collected, hand-dried, and hand-made from start-to-finish." Learn more about Erika's wreath and other creative projects on display in her etsy store.

create in serenity

I've enjoyed a little whirlwind of inspiration this morning, starting with a post about hand carved stamps by Ez on Creature Comforts. I **really** want to try this and followed a link through to a tutorial here. While I am still excited about stamp making, it quickly went to the back of my mind when I spotted this photo...

I was taken at the thought of being able to look down at such a beautifully set up table for painting, plus the little work-in-progress birdies are lovely! Then I clicked on the next photo and saw what it must be like to sit at this table and gaze out for inspiration.

This table setting is from very talented Mexican based artist Geninne and she has shared them on her flickr account here. Sitting at this table in an open landscape is such an appealing thought to me. To be able to do it from the comfort of home is an added joy I'm sure. A place to create is something I have wanted to create, but never seem to find the time to make an artistic space, let alone use it! The fruits of Geninne's wonderful surrounds are evident in her beautiful work.

 One of her favourite subjects is birds and this print above Bird No. 30 and many more like it are available in Geninne's etsy store. She also sells pillow covers featuring her prints here.

My favourite is this Birdcall print. It showcases both Geninne's fine art and graphic design background.
If birds aren't your thing, you can check out some other subject matter in the etsy store.

I'm quite partial to this Pile o Wood print. If you visit the etsy page, you will see the inspiration image and really get a feel for how Geninne translates images into her own artistic style.
For more from this lovely artist check the blog, flickr, etsy store or big cartel store.

looking forward

It has now been way too long between posts but I am overjoyed that I find myself with a few minutes to finally put together a post. I have a backlog of pretty discoveries I want to embrace, starting right now with beautiful illustrator Emma Kisstina. I have previously written about her sweet and indulgently girly prints here. Thanks to the great new(ish) "you might like" feature on etsy, I found Kristina's Illustrated 2011 calender.

Each month has been hand drawn and digitally coloured. The calender comes as loose A4 pages you can choose to display anyway you like. A clever idea is this one above where each month is framed and the glass is used to circle important dates or write reminders

Here is a taste of a few of the months. To preview the full calender pop over to Kristina's flickr page here.

You can purchase the calender on etsy here.

Enjoy!

pretty eggs - mizu designs

Have you checked out Holly from Decor8's 2011 calender round-up yet? It is absolute eye-candy - almost to the point of being overwhelming! I took a quick minute out today and just so happened to pick-out an Australian artist to look into further. Kylie Budge's Mizu Designs has a beautiful range of prints with a few different techniques such as woodblock, lino and Giclee. There is a strong Japanese influence in her technique and subject matter, with tea being a recurring theme. You can also see the influence of native Australia in Kylie's designs and colour palettes. It is a stunning series of egg Giclee prints which has had me gasping today.

 

  

I just love the texture, tone and colour in these prints and they are straight into my etsy favourite list! You can purchase these lovely prints from the Mizu etsy store here. They make me want to reach for my watercolours!

 Also have a look at the calendar which was featured on Decor8 here. 

Other places to find more about Mizu Designs - website, blog and flickr

lace lovely - etsy faves

A fine way to finish a busy week is to share some of my latest etsy faves. It's funny how I don't notice a theme to my 'hearts' on etsy, until I step back and see them all together. Lately I've been loving lace and all things textural.

First up is this beautiful lace wrapped locket from Blue Bird Lucy's. So pretty and feminine! I really appreciate the product photography too! It makes such a difference don't you think?

Another lacy jewellery piece that has caught my eye is this White Lace Textured Pendant  from efiwarsh. This time rather than wrapped in lace, the texture is imprinted into the clay. I love the gold that has been added into the imprint!

My 3rd lacy find is from a shop that frankly I could go nuts in! This is a lace rubber stamp from karuku.

Top of my wishlist would be this beautiful set of stamps presented in a wooden box. I would go stamp crazy!

Finally, a small deviation from lace, but on the fabric, textured theme are these fabulous knitted porcelain vases from Alyssa Ettinger's beautiful range of knitwear pottery. She normally has a few more pieces, so bookmark and check back in later if this style takes your fancy too.

I hope you enjoyed my end of week blogging cram! 

Hopefully I can have a fuller week next week and embrace more pretty things.

i wish .... for this beautiful ring

This beautiful sterling silver and pearl ring from the etsy shop of Galit Barak has me swooning today. I love it's asymmetrical shape and off centre pearl.

It looks so wonderful on a finger too! See more of Galit's jewellery here. There are some lovely cuffs and neck-pieces also.

collectables

A little while ago I shared my family trait of collecting things and was inspired to create beautiful images of my mums great collections. Today I thought I would share more, creative people who turn hoarding into beautiful pieces of art. It is difficult as someone who loves objects, to maintain a balance between tasteful amounts of things and a house full to the brim with bits and pieces that need dusting.

The self proclaimed human magpie, Jenn from Quercus Designs has the most amazing eye for collecting objects and then preserving them in beautiful images, like the one above of sea glass.

Jenn has found an outlet as well and sells both the subjects and photographs of her collections through an etsy store. This one above, Beachcombing Series No8 is for sale currently as are bits of sea glass. I love the idea of spending a day out beachcombing and coming home with little goodies to turn into art.
Here are a few more creative collectors that are amongst my flickr faves.

I love this nautical themed image by bricolagelife. Another collector who collects and creates - check out the Flickr gallery here and etsy store here

These lovely objects were destined for an eco-friendly mobile by Yummy!INK but at the same time make a wonderful image.

Another sea collection, I really like the composition by Camilla Engman. I particularly like the little aqua cross in the top right. Check out more of her organised collections here on flickr.
Finally, a non-sea collection but super pretty and girly.

Described as a " lovely collection of girly, nostaligic treasures" this print is from The Light Fantastic etsy store. This resonates with me as I have my old ballet shoes hidden away somewhere along with other memorabilia from my early life as a dancer. This is a very space effective way to hang on to little pieces of nostalgia, without having to find the space to keep them all and move them from house to house!

a kindred spirit

It's no secret that I am an etsy fan and a place I like to visit for some inspiration is the treasury page. This where creative etsians pull together collections of products based on a theme, be it colour, shape, texture, season... pretty much anything. It's a great way to find new shops and objects to add to your favourites. I recently was drawn to a treasury by hoolacreation - it is a beautiful celebration of one of my all time favourite colours.

 {Soft and Romantic Treasury by hoolacreation}

I have already added a few pieces from this collection to my favourites.

I was so impressed with the collation of some many beautiful pieces of art, jewellery and clothing that I wanted more from this talented lady. It was at this point that I discovered that she and I were kindred spirits with similar tastes, and low and behold careers. We both are graphics designers, the only difference is she has channelled her creativity into creating wonderful products - something still on my "one-day" list.

 

 {funny and lovely colors treasury by hoolacreations}

Next up, I found this collection of aqua and red - a colour combination I recently blogged about here. My eye straight away went to the Handpainted Pattern Bowls from Kevin Oshea Designs (2nd left bottom row) and the Vintage Russian mechanical alarm clocks (far left bottom row - sold already unfortunately) from Clockwork Universe.

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 Another treasury colour combination is this orange and blue set called Goooood morning Etsy! There is definitely something very fresh and 'morning' like about these colours and once again some great products.
My picks: love on a sunday morning - framed print (top left) - such a tasty image, and the smiley face of the Shine mixed media collage print (2nd left - second row).

The final icing on the cake for me was this typographic celebration - Typographic addiction. I noticed a piece from plastique (the helvetica necklace) from which I still want buy something...anything. I've also now been introduced to another typorgraphy jewellery maker - junkprints. I love the visionary necklace (top row, 2nd from right). I noticed another familiar seller in Farouche whos cool Sugar and Spice tags I featured a few months ago here. This time it's the bold typographic print "you are here now" (top row - far right)
Now not only is hoolacreations a wiz at pulling together great etsy treasuries, she has a great store herself selling prints, bobby pins and necklaces. The style is a modern retro feel and very cool. Here are a few pieces that caught my eye. I seemed to be drawn to the green items - perfect for us southern hemisphere dwellers haning out for a sunny, green spring!

Round Round Handmade Bobby Pins

Spring 2 print

Spring Necklace

Catch up with hoola creations here there and everywhere: etsy, www, facebook, flickr & twitter

getaway to...Italy

A little while ago we took a virtual trip to Paris thanks to the beautiful photography of Irene Suchocki - is photography. If you didn't come along, please check it out here.
Yesterday I popped by Irene's site again and instantly fell in love with the amazing candy coloured images from her travels in Italy.

 If you fancy these pretty prints in your own home, you're in luck as they are available in Irene's etsy store. She has even assembled a great set of 4 prints of these great images from Burano, Italy. Here are a few more Italian beauties to get your weekend started nicely!

Check out the full set of prints in the etsy store or for more of Irenes work see her website or her myspotify shop. I just love the treatment she gives her images. They are so dreamy or to quote Irene "Poetry for the eyes".

a forest of birch

One of my favourite Finnish 'things' is a forest of birch trees. There is something so elegant about the white trunks and they are equally picturesque in Summer when they are crowned with bright green leaves, as in winter when they are coated in snow. It seems I'm not the only when inspired by the birch tree. Here are some etsy treasures that pay homage to birch.

I love this view captured in this print from an original artwork by Dream Gallery. I love the blue sky seen filtered through the birch leaf canopy and can really relate to this view from my recent summer holiday in Finland.

This piece by Garry McMichael is another print from an original artwork. This time the brich tree is captured in pencil as the Autumn leaves are yellowing and thinning.

To round out the seasonal variations, this Winter image is a silkscreen print created by Strawberry Luna.

Both the above artworks are by Lucia Johnson. Top: 'daisy sun print' Bottom: 'birch grove in blue' I love the colour palettes of both these pieces - especially the bottom combination of a dirty blue with taupe and olive natural tones.

Rounding out the collection is this stunning woodblock print by Viza Arlington. For me this image captures the view I remember travelling in a car or train through the Finnish countryside in Winter. I think this is my favourite of all, but they are all wonderful!