Art Sale

Sale!

(did I get your attention?)

So, this great Australian illustrator, Amy, has this great little online shop where she sells some of her beautiful illustrations. It's called Cake With Giants, and it's delightful and whimsical and just all around lovely. I've ordered from her before and will vouch for that all-around loveliness. In fact, I've also posted about her before (see). Anyway, she's running a little sale for a few days, and if you like sweet art and sales, you should take advantage. Here are a few current favorites available for purchase:

(Le Carrousel Mystique)

(Owl & the Pussycat)

(Starlight)

Aren't they so sweet?!


In unrelated news, sorry I'm so intermittent lately... I know I'll get back on my game at some point - hopefully soon! Thanks for sticking around!

Get It While It's Hot!

'Member the fixation I had with k.slademade clutches, etc.? And then I ordered mine (this one), and I LOOOOOOVE it. Every time I take it out for a spin, it gets lots of compliments. It's delightful. The pattern makes me smile, and that's worth a pretty penny in and of itself, if you ask me. Of course, since I pulled the trigger and made a selection, I have fallen in love with nearly every other clutch and second-guessed myself several times over. AND, Kelsea has created several new lovelies that just make my fingers twitch toward my wallet like a fiend. Consider these:

 Don't you love/want/need them all?! I love the pop of neon on the zippers of the blue and cream clutches, and the rich coral hue of that last one. What a fun way to keep the warmth of a season-gone-by in your wardrobe!

But guess what... she also makes some crazy-awesome accessories that are equal parts fun, sassy, and stylish. Feast your eyes:

(all photos via k.slademade on Etsy)

I love them! Don't you?! Don't you want them?!

Well, now you can grab 'em up! k.slademade is offering 15% off accessories (that's the bracelets... and there are more styles in her shop) with the code KSM15 good through midnight tonight! Go over there and snag yourself something, you deserve it! And while you're there, pick me up a clutch or that yummy tote. Fine, get it for yourself! Be that way.

Blame -- Nay! Thank -- Canada!

Okay, that was a silly title. I know. BUT a) it's Friday, so give me a break; and b) that was a good South Park reference, so it wins.

It's good to go into the weekend with a healthy perspective, right? I mean, since the weekend is the only time I've allowed myself to eat desserts (weekends and special occasions, the latter of which there are oh.so.many), it's smart to think healthy, fit thoughts going in. That's what I always say, anyway. Actually, I just made that up, but it sounds good to me!

Well, this comes to us courtesy of Divine, Canada's online magazine for women (but really by way of Pinterest). This "Exercise Finder" is a tool designed to help you (women - guess this is a ladies-only post) target specific areas of your body with exercises for that area only. You just click on the body part you want to strengthen and tone, and it'll provide a plan made up of specific moves to work.it.out. Check this out (All of the images I've used in this post are screen shots, and so, are not click-able, sorry.):

How cool is that?! You just So, say, and let's just use this as a hypothetical -- no personal sources of inspiration here... necessarily -- you want to focus in particular on your thigh region (I picked the thigh region because no woman hates her thighs... right?)... you click on that little "button" on the any-woman-avatar's quad, and it'll give you a list from which you can narrow your choice even further:

Thighs? Inner Thighs? Outer Thighs? Quadriceps? Hams? Pick the one you want, and then you get this:

And that's just a small sampling - there are three more exercises on this first page, plus note there are two more pages of exercises just for this muscle area.

Anyway, I just thought this was a cool resource, and figured I'd pass it along. I've already bookmarked it on both phone and work computer. What do you think? Cool or lame?

Have a great, healthy, active weekend!

Bauble Yum

Have you heard of BaubleBar? I hadn't until I read this post, but what a discovery. I'm also jealous, because I totally should have thought of this. I'm an accessory fiend, as I've mentioned before.

So, here's the back story: co-founders Amy Jain and Daniella Yacobovsky were fast friends and co-shoppers when they discovered/agreed they needed to amp up their jewelry closets. However, they also agreed that while boutiques had too narrow a selection, department stores had too much, making the shopping experience more overwhelming than exciting and fun. They tried but couldn't find a reliable and consistent place to get higher quality pieces without the high price tag. They also did the research and discovered that many retailers were marking up pieces as high as 20 times above cost! And so they took matters into their own hands and started BaubleBar, where they work hand-in-hand with leading designers, and put together a collection of pieces across styles for any and every jewelry consumer. Their site and tools are fun, fresh, on-trend, and classic. Their prices span the budget, so there's really (really) something for most price-points. They also have a great blog with tips and promotions, such as the Friday one, Buried Bauble. Every Friday they "hide" a piece on the site which they will offer for a limited time (until they run out) at a discounted price of $10! They give you two clues and you can scour the site to find the gem. If you find it and like it, you can buy it for that price with the logo code offered. Fun, right?

I recently found the buried bauble and liked it so much I got this bangle in both offered colors:

(Marble Enamel Bangle)

I was excited to get my treasure in the mail, and when it arrived (just days later), I was even more enamored with this fabulous site. Here's the packaging:

(cute box...)

and here's what was inside (forgive my grainy iPhone photos):

(I know this is a bit dark, but my bangles came carefully wrapped and packaged, stored in simple and pretty protective velvet snap-pouches)

(PLUS! a hand-written note!)

A hand-written note, in my humble opinion, will get you everything in life. I honestly was so impressed that they take the few extra minutes while packaging their sales to make their customers feel like friends, like they value them personally, like they *want them to come back again*! This made a HUGE impact on me as a consumer, if you couldn't tell, but I think it really says a lot about the company, and the people who work there. I'm a BIG fan!

More Pottery Love

Oh my glorious pottery, this stuff is beautiful.

My love for ceramics is no secret, so I obviously had to read more when I saw this post on Design*Sponge this morning. So glad I did. I'm in love with the rich, warm, earthy colors and artful utility of these stunning pieces by artist Janet Williams. Williams has been making pottery for more than 40 years, almost exclusively in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work is inspired by the landscape and culture of the Southwest, yet has its own distinct voice and identity from other classic Southwest-style art. Each piece is wheel-thrown and glazed by hand, so no two pieces are the same. Bonus: all of her work is dishwasher, microwave, and oven safe.

I already want several of these pieces... friends and family getting married/having anniversaries or birthdays/generally loved by me better watch out... I want to buy the whole collection! View it all here.

Ikat Believe It!

Last week, Kendi (of Kendi Everyday) posted this:

I love her writing and I love her fashion. She's clever and funny and I enjoy that out of female writers more than I can say. I love so many things she puts together, but never have I jumped onto the purchase-because-I-saw-it train faster than I did after seeing this post. That skirt is FAH-BYOO-LUSS. The ikat pattern is charming but still neutral; it's navy not black, which is rad in my opinion; it's a great length that works for work and play; it's also from ModCloth, which is a lovely website I often visit but from which I have never previously purchased for some odd reason. CLICK. Bought it. And, voila, here it is in action:

(plus: a surprising gold zipper on the back - bonus if you ask me)

This post also serves as a promotional opportunity for my new favorite iPhone app: ShakeItPhoto, which obviously takes polaroids for you. I love how the photos look a little aged and a little grainy/gritty like a true polaroid, but I also love that the sound it makes when your photo loads is like a polaroid, and that you literally shake your phone to "develop" the image, shake it, shake-shake it, shake it like a polaroid picture.

Loving Me Some e-Magazines

If you know me you know how much I love and am addicted to magazines. (If you didn't know that about me, now you do.) It's a straight-up addiction. I love everything about magazines... pretty pictures, pretty things, great or trashy writing, celebrity stalking, inspiration, vicarious living, travel ideas, recipes, everything. I've been known to have upwards of 10 subscriptions at times in my life. It's a source of great irritation for my husband. I also keep magazines for a long time, and tag and pull out pages left and right. He especially loves that. I've recently gone in on a new idea to share subscriptions with a friend (why did it take us so long to think of this, RK?!). BUT! I've also recently gotten over my skepticism and jumped full-force on-board with e-magazines. I was wary. I am a flipper of pages (that's another thing I love about magazines), and wasn't confident that reading a magazine electronically would work for me. But I can say confidently that it does. It works! And there are so many incredible, beautiful, flat-out amazing magazines out there that only come in an electronic subscription. Plus, the electronic flipping feature utilized by these magazines (or your iPad or other e-reader, probably) makes it so like actually flipping magazine pages that it's basically the same as reading a hard copy -- some even make the page-flipping sound! Heh.

Here are four I've been drooling and swooning over recently:

LONNY

Launched in October 2009, Lonny is a bimonthly online magazine focusing on lifestyle and home decor. Founded by designer Michelle Adams and photographer Patrick Cline, Lonny highlights extraordinary interiors, innovative bloggers, and the latest market finds. Lonny speaks to linking design choices with personal happiness, and their mission is to open the doors to accessible design and connect our readers to products and resources with the click of a mouse. It's a beautiful magazine, and they have a great blog, too. Great ideas, beautifully styled photographs -- what's not to love? AND, they have a weekly blog feature called "Watercolor Wednesdays", which, if you read my previous post, you know is making me really happy right now.

RUE

Another great style and design e-mag, RUE's jump-off point is anything that inspires. Their "About" page sums up just what that means: "[They] believe...

• That every color can be your favorite color.
• That great taste comes in many forms: the fringe of a carpet, the pull of a drawer, the lines of a sofa, the curve of a smile.
• That a good can of paint atones for a multitude of sins.
• That friendship can be forged across continents by only a kind word and a shared lust for leopard print pillows.
• That a glass of pink champagne really does a party make.
• That everyone has the talent and drive to design their most beautiful life–we all just need a little nudge in the right direction.
• That inspiration is everywhere."

RUE also has a great blog, which features pulls directly from the issues but also other cool related inspiring ideas, designs, and the like from all over the design world - fashion, home, travel, etc. It's great.

MATCHBOOK
Matchbook is new, so I jumped on board with Issue 1. Launched just in January, Matchbook is an online lifestyle publication that covers past and present fashion, decor, the arts, travel, and culture. "Brimming with intriguing interviews, stately homes, captivating memoirs and swoon-worthy fashion spreads, matchbook seeks to inspire women around the globe to design a life they adore." I WANT TO ADORE MY LIFE! Bonus for me, they are ipad-friendly, which makes it even easier to read, say, when traveling (like I will be doing this evening!).

ADORE

My friend AS just introduced me to Adore today (by way of this blog post), and it's, frankly, adorable. Click the "read" heading at the top to flip through the current issue (I just did from cover-to-virtual-cover). I caught a typo on the home page (I am an editor, whether I like it or not), but I'll forgive them, as their colors and images are so bright and cheerful and fun. Adore Home is a relatively new home and lifestyle e-mag out of Australia. The mag's mission is to bring you beautiful homes from across the globe, tips and design advice from interior experts, as well as easy online access to the latest home treasures. Bring me those things! I want them all! Just perusing through this new issue is already inspiring. It's, in a word, lovely. Great ideas, great products, great great great. My favorite spread right now is the "A Little Bit Woody" feature in the Decor Adore section (p.12).

Do you know of other e-mags I should check out? Send 'em my way!