{ Le Pen }

Although a few months ago I admitted that I cannot naturally draw, when I do work in my sketchbook I only reach for one type of pen - Le Pen! I love these thin, little guys and look at all of the colors they come in. They are relatively inexpensive and produce a great fine line when put to the paper. You can generally find them at all art supply stores.

Fabric Swatches

My dear, sweet, older brother is always on the look out for me. He is fortunate enough to have connections in the furniture business and when I say furniture business, I mean fabric swatch samples! This past weekend he dropped off a load of swatches for me, it took 5-6 handfuls to get them all in! Below is just a portion of the "pile."Fabric swatches are so fun because they are perfect samplings of unique fabrics to do small craft projects with. Oh, and did I mention I get them for free (shhh!)? A few years ago, I got rather ambitious and made handbags from this type of upholstery fabric because they are already cut into perfect squares, eliminating that extra time you have to take when measuring your fabric out. I took my shop on the road and visited a couple of craft shows. It was fun and added an extra buck to my pocket, but I concluded after that adventure that the horse-power was too much to keep up with while in school.
The only pain in fabric swatches are the annoying little staples you have to dig out, oh and the fact that some swatches have unfinished edges causes a rather large mess...but if you can get past that, you are golden! Every pattern comes in an aray of colors so it is always exciting to flip through a pattern for the first time to see what color will pop out at you next!I'm trying to be more efficient with this go-round of fabric swatches. Hopefully, I can get organized to make a quilt or something along those lines (just in time for the holidays). Any suggestions on what I could do? I'm sure I will come up with something, but for now my stack of upholstery fabric sits waiting to be morphed into something beautiful!

a-carpet

In contrast to my previous post, I found a great Scandinavian carpet company that has eye-catching and bold designs. A-carpet has a fun and colorful approach to the carpet below your feet!

Alicia Bock

I found some of the most beautiful photographs while I was scanning Modishoppe. Alicia Bock creates beautiful compositions with rich color palettes, using things like flowers and organic objects. I got a taste of her work on modishoppe, then clicked to her website and found so many more wonderful things to look at! It's always so soothing to find an artist that has a peaceful and calming aesthetic.
:: all photos are those of Alicia Bock ::

Old School Camera

While daydreaming at my 9 to 5, I got the sensation to go out and buy a polaroid camera. So that's exactly what I did. I have had to re-teach myself a few point and shoot camera tricks (ie nothing further than 3 feet and nothing closer than 3 feet) but so far I love the results. Below are a few shots from the UNC Chapel Hill Arboretum.Below on the left is the model that my Mom still has (and hopefully will let me borrow for a little bit!) and on the right is the model I bought. Although technology may have advanced in some areas, you can rest assure that a polaroid camera is still just a polaroid camera, with expensive cartridges!

Broken Letterpress :(

My Kelsey Excelsior 5x8 letterpress finally made it from NY to NC and arrived Friday morning, however, during transit a section of it broke! No worries, we had it insured and are in the process of dealing with Fedex as well as figuring out the best method for welding it back together. Take a look at it below and please excuse the broken piece!

It's not easy being green.

One of my favorite colors over the past couple of years is the color green. When trying to decide on a solid color shirt or what pawn to use during a game of Sorry, I always reach for green! I put together some internet images of green being used in the home, enjoy. . .

the yumi yumi shop

Another great ETSY find!

I stumbled across the yumi yumi shop on etsy and found very cute and interesting pieces of artwork. I loved the color combinations and clever compositions. You might have noticed that I'm a sucker for anything with birds!

Furniture Help!

Isn't this an amazing piece of furniture! We got it at a thrift store for super cheap but when we got our kitten Ollie, she made it into her jungle gym. We are hoping to get it recovered in a more attractive fabric...any suggestions on what we should do with it???

Jams

I am guilty of the repeat button on my ipod, only because I have a playlist of albums and songs that allow me to design/create without distraction. Easy listening is something I need when I am getting lost in my work. So I have decided to share with you a few of the albums that are near and dear to my heart!

1. Avett Brothers - Four Thieves Gone
2. Avett Brothers - Emotionalism (it's the new album..check it out for sure)
3. Avett Brothers - Carolina Jubliee (I am a bit of an Avetthead, sorry :)
4. Lauren Hill - Miseducation of... (classic beats)
5. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of... (good background music)
6. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of this Country
7. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (listened to this often at Stitch)
8. Postal Service - Give Up (old faithful for tranquil listening)
9. Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope (gotta be in the mood)
10. Travis - The Invisible Band

Design Sponge Makeover

Design Sponge is a favorite blog of mine that just received a face lift. It is one of the most popular design blogs out there and is home to ample amounts of inspiration and interesting finds. The new site really allows better navigation, multiple categories, and just more functionality. So go ahead, get to reading ... there is something new to discover everyday!

Quick run to IKEA

On our trip to Alexandria,VA this weekend we made a pit stop at IKEA considering it is one of the closest locations to us (sad, I know!). We got two great, red end tables for $12.99/each that we had hoped to push together to create a coffee table ... however when we rearranged our furniture, it worked out better to have just one end table, so we decided to stack them! Turned out to be a great solution!

Linen Leaf Mobile

I stumbled across this great DIY while blog surfing recently. It's a simple idea that creates a neat effect. By sewing together linen leaves, you have a clever mobile that can fit in any space as a room separator or as artwork!