renegade weekend

well renegade craft fair was amazing- everyone has such beautiful handmade items, the atmosphere was light and fun, the colors were bright and everyone generally seemed to be enjoying themselves! i know i did and im so excited about my purchases:a kidney "T", a gorgeous creamy brown wool vest, and a lovely and dark wolf print -

i am so excited about the print i bought - it is a dancing wolf - dancing of course because his belly is full of chickens! this work was done by the fabulous nora aoyagi. check her out - she is very prolific and i love her twist on the fairly tail found in delightful little books. The image is printed with a matte black ink on 100% cotton rag paper and each print is signed and numbered.

i also scored an amazing vest - which i am sure to put to good use as the fall is quickly arriving and as you well know the san francisco weather requires creative layering. check out joycelyn nguyen's design work at nous savons for these vests and great dainty jewelry!

below are some other items that i fell in love with but was forced to restrain myself - ie i brought my boyfriend along to control my purchasing (or i would have ended up with one of everything)

wheel thrown bottle ware by sara paloma - super simple and clean lines an nice urban update to traditional practice and color - love.

lovely hand painted wooden eggs by miss natalie - in goose or hen sized. i love her display- wouldn't it look great along a mantel - would also love these on my kitchen table corralled together in a wire egg basket. a chic update on a time honored folk art practice, she also had super cute growth charts to keep track of your little ones over the year - miss natalie is having a studio sale on sat. aug 10th from 1-4. 456 rich street, oakland. if you are in the area be sure to check her out.

simple sundays

well i have had a very busy weekend - and i just thought this photo was a nice pause in the midst of it all - tomorrow we will be saying goodbye to my boyfriends aunt and mother who have been visiting us here from ireland over the last two weeks and we all had an amazing time at renegade craft fair - stay tuned for an update tomorrow on what i saw around at renegade. hope you all enjoyed your weekends as well!
good nite!

fabrics by heather ross

so i woke up this morning thinking about my little fantasy space - from when i was 6 - yup the sheeps' cottage at my gg-gparents farm. in my fantasy its a cozy space large enough to live in and flooded with warm summer light -

in this fantasy, the house is also filled with light airy pretty colored fabric- inspired by the sea and and the air and all things green -i just found out this fabric is (luckily) not a fantasy - and is in fact made by the fabulous Heather Ross - an east coast transplant raised on the northern cost of california - her designs are delightful and whimsical yet amazingly sophisticated. i love that she has taken a creature like the octopus which is fun and beachy and placed it over the refined quatrefoil pattern

this is what some very talented individuals have done with ms. ross's fabrics - i just imagine this on an old iron bed with crisp white cotton sheets -


here are some other of her designs that i really enjoy that i really enjoy!!

octopus's garden of art

so yesterday i spent the day at the monterey bay aquarium in monterey california - a trip not to be missed if you are ever out in the area and full of inspiration. there was a special exhibit open on sea horses and they are quite amazing little creatures indeed - but i found myself absolutely captivated by the giant octopus - in fact i went back twice to hang out in front of him. when i got home i was so intrigued that i did a little wiki search on them - these are amazing creatures! and some of the smartest in the sea - which is pretty crazy considering they are invertebrates. they are also capable of expressing emotion through color changes.

i began thinking about them in the art sense - traditionally in painting and other art genera the owl is the representative of knowledge and creativity, in a contemporary moment though perhaps we should elevate the octopus to this esteemed position. here is some great octopus art i found all on etsy!

i just love this note card. the colors are serene just like you would image an under water experience and i think this would look great framed as a small edition to a larger collection on the wall -

i thought this is a nice contemporary piece of boudoir art. it has all of the femininity and simplicity of those pieces along with our wise octopus included



this of course is from the fabulously talented berkleyillustration. and i just had to include one of their whimsical pieces in this post. cant wait to see them this weekend at the renegade craft fair!



this would be so great in the kitchen of a beach cottage - or any other place for that matter!

in true american spirit

so i have recently been falling in love with this simple, clean but chunky and very classic looking china. ive been noticing it a lot lately here on the west coast and was surprised to find it out east as well. i have seen this great looking china in many different places, colors, sizes and shapes - and its all great! in short - there is something new in my kitchen.
behold -

it's "restaurant-ware" - its the classic work horse of the american diner (another love of mine) - and has probably served at least one meal to you, your parents and your grandparents. yup its been around for that long! tepco(here is some good history on this cali native), syracuse, buffalo, sterling, shenango and other companies less well known.
this china has been an amazing part of american history in so many ways its unbelivable - from disney to the navy. i like thinking where it may have been before my kitchen. another plus - its pretty darn indistructable and will be around for years to come. perfection.

check out the bowls in my etsy shop- sold!!!

i love this little black and white espresso cup!!

and these great coffee mugs - check em out in this etsy shop