Coffee Conversations April 10, 2009

Now my next find does not need much introductions. The pictures say it all!

Coffee Stencil is the product of Lithuanian husband and wife. What a super idea! At first I thought these were just prints of a picture that was photo shopped. But these are actually coffee stencils. You simply…
Place the stencil on the top of coffee cup. As these coffee stencils are flexible, you can convex or concave them according the foam level in the cap.
Place in a sieve cocoa, cinnamon or chocolate powder and sift few times on the stencil.
Carefully remove the stencil. And Voila! You have your own coffee convo!

Check out there You Tube instructions!

I’ve got the Bug! April 9, 2009

I’ve got the Lulu bug and these pieces are at the top of my wish list! My newest finding on Etsy is Lulubug Jewelry! The artist behind Lulubug Jewery is Sue Urquhart. Her pieces are beautifully organic and inspired by nature. She gives us a little peek into the going ons of her business and her life on her Etsy profile.

My name is Sue Urquhart and I named my business Lulu Bug (who is one of my sweet Shar-peis) because my last name is hard to pronounce and even harder to spell!

My day job has been in jewelry design and manufacturing for over 15 years, in both casting and fabrication. I recently discovered Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and I’m now excited and inspired to be making my own jewelry again with this new material.

I take my own artwork and make etched brass plates which I use to print the textures and images onto my pieces. The possibilities with PMC are endless – inspiration can be found everywhere for interesting textures, forms and images.

I’ve always found inspiration in nature. I especially love birds – they are found on every continent, and no matter where you are, if you stop and look you can find bird life. I enjoy just watching them go about their business, and they never fail to bring a smile to my face.

I’ve been riding my bicycle to my day job lately, and find it’s the best time to dream up new things to make. What looks like a bunch of dry weeds when zooming by in a car actually turns out to be beautiful shapes and forms when you’re going by at bicycle speeds. Just slowing down and taking a look around outside every day keeps the ideas flowing.

I’m fortunate to live in an area (Sonoma County, California) that still has an abundance of natural beauty. But there is beauty to be found everywhere, if you just look at things a bit differently. I try to express that in my jewelry.

Check out her blog :)

Sweet Pea Bicycles July 29, 2008

We have lived here in Portland for about 9 months or so and there are 2 things that stand way out. You cannot miss all the Thai food joints and all the BIKES! Portland is a bike crazy city. Which to me seems a little funny since it rains about 37-40 inches per year. Although our rain is more like a lovely mist. Anyway… I am finding that a bike is a good thing to have here. Not to mention I have three little kids who love to be outside. So the newest item on my list of things that would be nice to have around it a beautiful Sweetpea Farmers Market Bicycle. Sweetpea Bicycles is Natalie and Austin Ramsland. Natalie has been a bike messenger (Whoa!) in Portland for the last five years so she knows what a woman needs in a bike.

Each woman gets fit to a totally adjustable size cycle, which allows each rider to feel the perfect fit before the bike is even built. This process allows us to transform each woman’s unique body mechanics and alignment into a riding position that is comfortable and efficient; and then to build the bike around that.

I have never had a bike that really fit me. So their process to fit the bike to the rider really makes sense. This Sweetpea bicycle really is an awesome investment. And to top it all off they are working with a local credit union where you can get a bike loan!

Toys July 27, 2008

My daughter and I were talking about some of the toys I had as a kid and I remembered Holly Hobby. There is just something so sweet and simple about the little Holly Hobby doll. I love the floral fabrics that were used and all the little details. So we searched around on Ebay and we found some! I felt like a little girl on Christmas when they came in the mail. I need to get some cute vintage shelves to put my toys on. :) Who says your too old for toys!

Be My Neighbor July 21, 2008

Our new favorite cartoon is My Neighbor Totoro, a 1988 animated film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. If you have seen it you know why. If you haven’t seen it yet you must go out and find it. We rented it on Net Flix so it is totally accessible. The music is beautiful and the animation is whimsical and full of color. The characters are so adorable and the story is an inspiration of family love.

So round and cute. He needs to be happily sitting on my nick nack shelf.

The Black Apple July 17, 2008

If you have spent 5 minutes on Etsy I am pretty sure you have seen a Black Apple sweetie. The Black Apple is the work of Emily Martin. She has been around Etsy for a while now and has become wildly successful. When you see her work, full of beautiful colors and textures, you understand why she has become a full time successful artist. I have gotten to know her in a tiny online way from reading her blog and her sweetness expands far beyond her paintings. Her fashiony style is so lovely and whimsical. She is an avid baker and adorable sock wearer. She makes the cutest stuffed sweeties, Spoonflastic fabric…

…and has the best taste in cities. She will be moving her little Black Apple bottom on over here to Portland Oregon and we are super excited to have her around town! I am giddy to the brim with my two Black Apple prints and plan to have a wall full of her sweet gals.

If Only… June 29, 2008

There are a few reasons I would want, if possible, to join Marty McFly in going back the future. Some big and some small. One of the smallish yet still important would be my wedding. Well the decorations to be specific. We had a totally simple and beautiful wedding in my grandmas backyard in Newport Beach, CA overlooking the ocean. We had all the flowers we could afford and a lot of tule, which is the cheepest way to wedding up a place. One of the things I would change is my bouquet. While mine was amazing, full of flowers of all types of colors and textures, It has since faded and fallen apart. I would order a beautiful button bouquet from Lil Fish Studios. Most of my friends are already married and on their way into parenthood but to anyone that I come across who is going to tie the knot will get this suggestion.
Lil Fish Studio is the work of Lisa Jordan.

I live in the woods surrounded by nature, which is often reflected in my craftwork. I work mostly with recycled or repurposed materials and enjoy giving a creative second life to discarded materials. You’ll also find me painting on occasion and I am currently working on a series of textural landscapes.

Christmas in June June 22, 2008

So I am just way too excited not to share with you my newest Spoonflower fabric design. I know I am a little crazy but it is so fun. I am awaiting my first order of swatches. Yay!
CraftStylish contacted Spoonflower asking for holiday themes designs they will use in a holiday mention of Spoonflower. So here is my submission. :) Let me know what you think!

Spoonflower Fun June 19, 2008

So I happened upon an amazing new company Spoonflower while making my daily visit to Emily Martin’s blog.

Spoonflower gives individuals the power to print their own designs on fabric that they can then use to make quilts, clothes, pillows, blankets, framed textile art and many, many other things that might surprise you.

Right now they are in the Beta stage so you have to put your name on a list to be invited. And I got one! Yipee! I have been learning tons about Photoshop/Gimpshop and am having so much fun coming up with fabric design ideas. I wanted to show you a sweet example of a fabric design and the finished product.
Here is okiegirl97’s design
and here is the finished work.

Mosaic Monday June 15, 2008

Just beacause it is Monday… Heeeehaaaay!