Just came across Jess Constable's website - She is truly inspiring and a go-getter! Read Here about her "make under" experience. Okay - now off to work! :)

Utah is SUNNNAY today! Hope you all are getting some nice weather as well!  And guess what!? I have a free item for you my friends! Read on.....

 But first:

Have you ever stayed at an artists residence or have wanted to? Check out this place:

Fiskars Village! Only 100 euro a month for the maintenance fee! 

 Lovely tempera painting and shoe sculpture found via Galleria Sculptor

and my oh my >>> for all the bag lovah's out there: 

French & English Confectioner's Rucksack found via Laste

now this, is one fantastic bag! AHHH if only I had an industrial sewing machine!

But wait....there's more.  Head on over to French & English Confectioner's own site HERE:

This is their Mother Daughter set! Love!

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Who here likes a good mug? One with flowers painted on it? One not too big and not to small?

Up for grabs is my first painted mug with my "Humble" flowers painted all around. 

Honestly it has been YEARS since I have given away a tangible item [I usually do a lot of digital freebies] there is a catch though.... I want to know your most favorite place to vacation and why. Through random.org I will draw a winner on Sunday and then ship your mug off to you as soon as possible! oh! and it is dishwasher safe! :) Good luck ---- can't wait to read the responses! 

Two weekends ago my sister in law and  I went to the D.I. [thrift store] and I purchased this teeny little stand.  Yesterday I decided to paint it along with adding my new favorite flower design I came up with.... The table is a lot brighter blue in person than what it looks like in the picture.... so a couple hours later after I painted it...I decided that I did not like it's brightness.... Going to attempt to make it darker.... :/ kinda bummed now, perhaps I should have just let it alone.

 Here is the top of what that table looks like.  The name of this flower is called the "Humble" - I came up with this design for a little children's book I am working on called "The Humble Bee", which I then plan on submitting to Chronicle books.....  we shall see - I will try and update the progress I make with this little book.  :)

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Another little item I found at the D.I. but a long time ago.... I was looking through it this morning only because I was reminded of it when Jesse and I took a drive over to Farmington to look at possibly buying a little house out there. I had never been to Farmington before. It is about 25 min north of Salt Lake City.  I liked it...but wasn't totally sold yet.  I thought there would be more open land, and there seemed to be newer developments around which I don't dislike but we both prefer to be in a much older area of homes.

This book has thee sweetest songs and pictures.... and even though I didn't grow up on a farm, it reminds me a lot of my childhood of being outside and playing, picking fruit, doing yardwork, gardening AND visiting my good friend often who did have farm animals and lots of land.

This picture in the book, at the end. I feel it hits the nail right on the head for what Jesse and I are looking for. Something with a barn/shed to have both our studios and his shop in, a lot of land to have animals and neighbors NOT too close by.... Jesse has mentioned that he and his brother have talked about buying a little plot of land together and then having a house at both ends... what a dream that would be and so fun.  Any of you who are reading this and already have what I have described...I live vicariously through you my friends. :)

I swear I should make a book of all my "blog lists" that I have accumulated over the years. Every day there are about 20 + things added... I know I am not alone in this - I know all you other bloggers have the same thing going on. I look forward to the day that I can be an official 100% stay at home mom/designer and just blog till my hearts content. But then again, I would probably have a blog attack and die. I better make sure my husband puts me on blog arrest then. :)

Lots of fantastic things to share today:

Oh gosh! Cute & SEXAAAAY swimwear from Marysia Swim

That hi-rise bikini with the black baubles! UH YES! 

Found via Oh Joy!

Once you get one of these suits or any other kind....

then go and listen to Patti Page sing this song:

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Just came across this wallpaper company Hygge & West also found via Oh Joy!

The papers above are actually two designs from Oh Joy's collection. :)

I love wallpaper and how it adds so much character to a room + wish I had the official guts to apply some of that stuff on my own...

found this how-to video that can show me & YOU how! 

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Still not done talking about Oh Joy! Oh No I'm Not!! :-[) 

If your are a freelance artist like moi.... well you might want to get your hands on this book if you haven't already....these days I tend to bloom late. :) I have gotten myself in the freelancer's pickle many a times and it is because of my own naivety of not knowing how to manage myself as a designer.  And with friends it is even harder I think. My husband and I have the "being taken advantage" talk all too often [more for me than him] 

Creative, Inc. can be purchased HERE.

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Lastly...my favorite clothing/textile line Mina Perhonen - if I was to compare myself to another brand in regards to print & whimsy, it would be Mina Perhonen. I am not saying by any means I am as talented --- no no no...not saying that...just more inline with the concepts and imagination of it all...plus, mixing prints?! OH YEAH!

images found via: 8Tokyo & Design Sponge

So if you like Mina Perhonen...then most likely you will like Sally Scott - Akira Minagawa [clothing & textile designer behind Mina and Sally] offers a more affordable line.  I love these images below. It's photos like these that remind me of how fun it is to play around with a camera whether you're good or not. :)

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Sally Scott's Sprint/Summer 2011 Collection

simple, humble, clean & creative = <3

But really....before I go: an inspiration thought. In all honesty...this is a little more for me than you, its been one of those 72 hr things.. : /

One of my favorite authors [Mark Twain] once said:  "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Speaking of Twain...have you read THIS yet?

 Spring Cleaning Fever? I've got it!

Came across Pinhole Press a couple weeks ago ONLY because I recognized thee cutest little girls ever on that site! :) They are my friend's kids and gosh they really are the best little models for this company! These list pads, journals, calendars make terrific gifts and are perfect for getting that organizational bug.

Over at Martha Stewart, they have TONS of cleaning tips - how to tricks etc. for starting the spring cleaning frenzy! Here are just a few images taken from that site. 1. organized apron 2. magnet strip 3. paper towel dryer 4. bath towell mover. :)

painted version

 

illustrator version

A couple weeks ago I was sooo excited when I came across my little "Bjorn the Woodsman" garland I made right after I moved here to Utah. My younger sister let me move in with her and since her place was already decorated, there were only a few places in the apartment that I could really call my own.  One of those spaces was the wall space above my closet. There I hung my Bjorn garland... seems silly, but I loved waking up every morning and seeing that.  The Garland now hangs in the set-in shelf in our dining room. It makes me smile so much! :)  I loved the Bjorn character and flower design so much that I then made a quilt with those designs painted on it. Not stopping there, last Sunday morning I woke up to paint my Bjorn flower on our back door. I did it early in the morning as to not be disturbed, but 15 min into the painting I heard a voice say "Dave's not going to like that"...... TOTALLY startled I turned around and saw a guy in his pajamas standing by my husband's motorcycle staring at me.. long story short, I told him that it was just cheap acrylic paint and that it can easily be washed off. Come to find out that "stranger" is the super of the Victorian 4-plex old polygamist house that we live in. A nice guy.

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Hope your Sunday is relaxing, calm and peaceful. I love Sunday's because of this [I feel like I mention this often? ;/ ] and sooo many of my ideas seem to come to me on Sundays....and in the bath! :)

The photo below was taken for an Artist's Q&A that I did over at Sycamore Street Press back in 

the fall of 2009. Obviously it is me in front of the quilt I made... I posted about this back in 2009 when I made it, but for you new readers who don't want to trek back that far I will give you the quick & dirty version of how this quilt came about.  After graduating from Parsons in fashion design in NYC and then 2 weeks later moving out to Salt Lake City Utah..I thought FOR SURE I would be able to find some decent type of design job. Well I will blame my 2 months without finding anything on the economy at the time. I was in total disbelief that nothing...NOTHING was opening up for me. I finally then found a job, and that was at a bed & breakfast here in the Avenues. It was quite a humbling experience for me to say the least but a depressing job as well. Regardless, I was soooo over joyed to even get a job that I had to celebrate with making a quilt! I had to remember this day! So on one side I painted the Bjorn flowers all over and then on the other I wrote basically what I had just written above. My younger sister then gave me the idea to save space, and in a year write where I am then and then in 5 years write more.  Well it has actually been almost 2 years now and I haven't written anything new.  Must do that asap, just so I don't forget all the major things that have happened to me in this short amount of time that I have lived here in Utah. :)

and then...our back door. :)

Developing more designs & prints from my Bjorn character and flowers... here is one of the recent prints I have made for that print collection.

Sooo cold in our apt. this morning... makes for a tough session of painting, and I am rushing as well.. gotta head down to St. George today for work and still haven't packed. BAH!

Going through all my old sketchbooks from the past 6 years or so.... it is like Christmas! Forgotten patterns, characters, thoughts etc. brings a whole new round of inspiration to me. :)