mid-winter blahs

confusion has its cost, originally uploaded by eshu.

every year, without fail, i get 'em... the horrendous mid-winter blahs. i'll do anything to keep spirits up and energy flowing, i find myself talking to myself a lot more during the winter months.

lately, as i delve deeper into this crazy e-world known as the blogosphere, i have been feeling invigorated with craft-i-ness. so i decided to send five little somethings to five fabulous ladies. it's not much but i've got a feeling that this is something i could continue doing. i'm not going to say what the little somethings are, but i will say this... they are very light packages. i bought the packages at The Container Store for $.65 a pop (put the little goodies inside) and then wrapped them in bags from the supermarket (another effort made in my attempt to live a greener lifestyle... why should i go out and BUY brown paper -or even steal it from my office- when i have way way too many brown paper bags lying around?) looks like they're going to be $.63 each to mail out, fits right into my budget... especially the day before payday!

as much as i love receiving gifts is as much as i love sending gifts... even when they are cheap and handmade, no... especially when they are cheap and handmade. i love getting presents that someone has made with her own hands, the effort always means so much.

sweet, sweet music

it just occurred to me that i haven't posted one thing about music or any of my favorite musicians... i love music. maybe, if i ever get my act together, i can feature one of my favorite musicians one day a week (remember, i'm still painfully new at blogging).

for today anyway i'll just share with you a few of my all-time favorite albums:

*Sea Change, Beck
*Grace, Jeff Buckley
*XO, Elliott Smith
*All Things Must Pass, George Harrison
*Debut, Björk

a daily necessity

last week i discovered postsecret. this site is sobering, sad, funny and beautiful. now i want the book.

the weight of winter

the weight of winter, originally uploaded by eshu.

ah Monday morning... nothing quite like it.

rather than dwelling in the sorrow of the beginning of a work week, i'd rather relish in the glorious weekend that is now just out of reach...

this weekend was a good one, i ended up working Friday night instead of Sunday night so i had two full days off in a row... a rarity indeed. so during my two full days off, i did whatever my heart desired... including a much needed haircut. i jump around a lot when it comes to salons, never really able to find a salon close by that i'm satisfied with... but this weekend, i may have finally found one. i went to Judy Jetson in Cambridge, a funky little place that's been around for 20 years. i got a fun cut that is somewhere between the "Rachel" and a mullet and a rocker cut. which sounds like it would be really ugly, but it's not... it's cute-ugly.

what else? i saw a sweet movie called "Junebug", about a woman who owns an art gallery and is newly married. she meets his family for the first time, cultures clash and sweetness prevails.

i also got a Moleskine, a large ruled notebook. i've been chasing down this particular notebook for months, everywhere i go that sells Moleskines is always out of this type... but yesterday i had to go to The Container Store for some other things and to my pleasant surprise... there it was, staring me in the face. sheer joy insued.

i've been thinking a lot about what i can do to live a greener lifestyle, sometime in the near future i'm going to look into a bunch of reusable shopping bags and do a little review on them. if you know of any that you'd like to suggest, i'm all ears.. eh, or eyes as the case may be.

as my hair dries, too tired to blowdry it this morning, and the caffeine of my coffee starts to kick in... i wish you all a happy Monday. make the best of it.

morning glory

mood fabrics, nyc, originally uploaded by northern library.

this gem caught my eye yesterday on northern library's stream, a fine lady also known as Sara.

i don't sew, but i do love fabrics and clutter... do i ever love clutter! i think this shot is just a feast for the eyes, i love how she put the cinematic border on it... the tones are delicious as well. i'd recommend checking out the rest of Sara's pictures, she has a great eye and a supreme love of color.

year of beds

wordlessly wondering, originally uploaded by eshu (my little tribute to year of beds)

bed… one word that can conjure up so many different thoughts, this morning -for me- the word brings longing. longing to be in my bed, sleeping or not, warm and cuddled by the plush blankets. but this isn’t about me… year of beds is an exciting project by greengirlart, as she’s known on flickr, also known as Wendy to the rest of the world and girl in green to internet aficionados . Wendy is a lover of pretty things as well as a maker of pretty things, an artist through and through.

year of beds began when Wendy started taking pictures of the soft and dreamy light in her bedroom, often featuring her bed-loving kitty Trixie. not only was she taking pictures, but she was using her trusty Holga to do so. Holgas have a fabulous way of making any image just a little more special, lightleaks and all. Wendy’s buddy Lisa, also known as dressform on flickr, took a liking to Wendy’s bed photos and encouraged her to put them all together… thus began year of beds.

Wendy has but three rules for year of beds:

*taken after the last person gets up
*don't move anything
*use holga or weltaflex

you can now add me to the list of fans waiting with baited breath for the next roll of film to be developed… so i can live vicariously through Wendy’s delicious bed pictures while i sit at my cold desk in my neon-lit office longing for my bed.

favorite find

this morning i somehow stumbled on the etsy shop form designs, my head is quite sleepy this morning and i'm having trouble remembering how exactly i got to this shop...

it doesn't really matter, all that matters is that i did find form and a new favorite artist to boot! Chris, the brains behind the beauty, hails from Northern Cali and states that his goal is "to create pieces that are pleasing to the eye and soothing to have around". i think soothing is a good way to describe this lamp, it makes me wander off to one of those sweltering days in mid-summer when you are looking for anything and everything that will cool you down one modicum... you find this lamp on your side table, you put your hand on its base and it is soft, cool and soothing. then you realize that (although it is a gorgeous lamp) it didn't actually change your temperature and you go get an ice cream.

no vacancy

another diptastic collaboration with the 10 cent designer. we've got a growing collection of these beauts so i created a set for them to call home.

match maker

alison garnett is not only an extremely talented photographer, but also a film enthusiast and a design mastermind. imagine my delight when i stopped in on FILE magazine and was greeted by ali's project; match maker on the front page.
ali has a knack of pairing two images which together create a masterpiece that entices the viewer to sit and stare. while one is sitting and staring, mesmerized by the beauty and organization of it all, she finds more and more within the image.

ali gives an introduction to her project in which she says:

My sets are rarely created with a diptych in mind. Rather, it is more of an after thought, a game of match, with a little imagination thrown into the mix. It is a word, a shape and sometimes a religious icon, that bond the two together, hence adding a new level of creative storytelling to the pair.

therein lies the magic of it all.

being ourselves

a collaborative effort made by, and featuring, yours truly and the 10 cent designer

a friday treat

a small something (read: 3 somethings) for myself at the end of this week.

purchased from Krista who's the talented brains behind papered together. the giraffe and the "i love you origami" cards are both designs Krista offers at her shop. the middle, which now has the name "i love numbers", is actually a sample sheet for custom buyers to choose a type for their personalized stationery... but i really liked it on it's own. so i asked Krista if she'd print a card with it, she graciously humored my silly request.

Krista has a great selection of witty cards with beautiful designs at her etsy shop and takes custom orders through her website.

Day 46

Day 46, originally uploaded by languisity.

i don't even have the words to describe how much i love this diptych of McKenzie's. one thing that i always admire in diptychs is continuation of a subject... something i can never remember to do myself. this (to me) is pure bliss, i'm sure i couldn't love it any more if i tried.

simple beauty

untitled, originally uploaded by jolayne_a.

i love when a photographer can capture something, seemingly mundane to the rest of the world, and turn it into a masterpiece as Jolayne has done here.

something pretty for the morning

i saw this picture featured on decor8 yesterday and loved every inch of it, unfortunately i was on my way out the door to the dentist and didn't have time to follow the links to its origin. i returned to the post today and did follow the links, to Posie's place (rosy little things). again, i find myself adding yet another blog to my roll and just one more place to spend countless hours oooh-ing and aaah-ing. just take a minute to look at that door, it's just so pretty... then if you have time, peruse the rest of her site... which features all sorts of goodies.

for the love of silver

this necklace is so fabulous it's name says it all; "perfect necklace" made by artist Amy Martin. Amy, who explains that she started making her own jewelry only two years ago!, can be found at her etsy shop which features her other unique and classically simple designs. although her perfect necklace is my favorite, Amy's "panel necklace" comes in a close second.

i want this

i love this bag. i found my way to magic pony today and it caught my eye.

i question if i would ever really use it, but that wouldn't necessarily stop me from buying it...

favorite new find

new to me, but maybe not new to all, is the site Frecklewonder. built from the love and genius of the dynamic duo Jenny and Matt, based in the Boston-area... or at least i think so, this site has a lot to offer pretty much anyone (who likes cool stuff at least).

Jenny gathers vintage goodies, makes them spiffy and then offers them to the general public. i loved looking at all the goods and was not surprised to realize that most of the items in the shop are already sold. Jenny and an anonymous friend are the models of the gorgeous apparel finds and the photos are great as well (featuring two kittens, Lucy and Lola!).

after exploring everything on the site, i finally made my way to the friends page which was a hidden pleasure... through this one page i was introduced to what feels like a thousand new favorite websites. i don't know what else to say about Frecklewonder, except that i love it... and if you are here reading this blog... well, i think you'll love it too!

off with her head

off with her head, originally uploaded by eshu.

for some reason, while my man was out, i got the urge to cover the apartment in hearts. there are now hearts everywhere, cut from all sorts of paper... leftover wrapping paper, scrap paper and poorly-decorated computer paper

i've never been huge on Valentine's Day, but there's always been something alluring about it... maybe it was the swapping of valentines as a kid, the feeling of getting "real mail"...

on second thought, maybe it was all the chocolate...

Lotta love

one of my absolute favorite design divas is Lotta Jansdotter. i just bought her 2007 wall calender which now lives on one of my walls in my office, perfectly positioned to beautify an ugly day. i saw on peek keep today a stationery set of 12 cards and envelopes by ms. Jansdotter, pictures featured are shown here, on sale for $7.50. it was all i could do to close the window before i reached for my wallet...

divine indeed...

immediately, i fell in love with the etsy shop Divine Papers. the woman behind it all, Delaney, gives the description of "a trendy take on traditional elegance". couldn't have said it better myself, out of all the beauties in that shop i chose to point out the Candy Striped Notes. first of all, i'm a sucker for stripes and second of all, i'm a sucker for rainbow-inspired patterns.

there's really something for everyone at Divine Papers, all of the items feature gorgeous designs and/or fabulous colors.

funky finds

how i just came across funky finds today, i don't know. sad that i haven't known about this site until now... but happy that i did find it. great stuff, great finds and the coolest banner i've ever seen (to the left) which reads :

"Dear Funky Finds,

Thank you so much for finding me. I was funky lost, but now I am funky found"

that will have me smiling all day long.

love at first sight

untitled, originally uploaded by musterfrau.

i'm not sure what it is, how it was created or why i love it as much as do. that being said, i think this is awesome.

etsy find

these adorable slippers are featured on the front page of etsy today, i love them... i don't even know which is my favorite color, there are more than shown in the picture. these can be found in netamir's shop called bobilinia studiou along with other wildly fun creations.

the science of sleep

amazing. i highly recommend seeing this if you haven't.

putting two and two together

never learned to count my blessings, originally uploaded by eshu.

or rather, one and one

a bird's eye view

a bird's eye view, originally uploaded by eshu.

laying on the floor, facing the kitchen.

i thought maybe a change of perspective would help my rut.

meep meep whirrrrr..

meep meep whirrrrr.., originally uploaded by The 10 cent designer.

my buddy Lori, she never ceases to amaze with her creative ways... i keep coming back to this dippy of hers. i don't know what it is exactly that has me losing my mind over this image... it may be that these objects are clear and immaculate and it may be the overall calming affect of the image...

i'm not very good at defining what it is about something (an object, a person, art) that i love so much... i'm working on it, but usually just resort to feelings.

i wanted it

i wanted it, originally uploaded by eshu.

why did they have to put their trash on it?

the questions we ask ourselves

i need one of them, the question is do i want this one or that one?

both from the dream-makers at Anthropologie

a much needed laugh

untitled but subtitled "and it hurts.", originally uploaded by the life of liza.

the morning after i found out that Smith College's School for Social Work likes me but doesn't love me (ie i was deferred) Liza made me smile with her beautiful pictures and made me laugh with this masterpiece.

want

i just saw this via thisnext.com and immediately went to the site. this little radio is in the $50 range and seemingly worth every penny. look at it! it's just so cute! not only did i find this little gem but also a new favorite website to check out.

a brand new favorite

while perusing etsy i fell into, and then for, Modern Art Everyday. the designs are simple and aesthetically pleasing. even at the end of a long and exhausting day i feel like i could stare for hours at these minimalist beauties.

origami

origami, originally uploaded by eshu.

while i was in Maine for work i found a great art supply store in Waterville. among other things to keep me busy i also bought a package of origami paper (with instructions)... i never got around to using it while there but after i got home i started playing with it. i really wanted to make a crane, truth be known it was the motivation for buying the paper in the first place, but the directions were impossible...

so today i googled how to make the Japanase crane, now that i got the hang of it... i can't stop. we have a crane installation on our fridge, and i'm sure it's the first of many.

painting the town red

painting the town red, originally uploaded by eshu.

a collaboration with my girl, the 10 cent designer

hopefully i'll be able to get out and shoot today, i feel like i haven't done much of that lately.

bird's the word

i've been noticing a lot of designs featuring birds lately, i like it. i think i'm way behind the times, being late to the party as usual, and just picking up on yesterday's trend today... but that's okay. here are just a couple of my most recent favorite etsy items featuring a bird or two...

to the left: letterpress card-blue bird, by paperstories

to the right: bird on cherry blossom card, by joom

no introduction necessary

mav, port2port, half of 3191...

however you know her, you need to know her. mav of port2port press is an inspiration, a muse if you will. not only does she own a letterpress and operate it out of her indredibly chic home, with it she creates pure magic. and as if that weren't enough, she then takes amazing and well-composed pictures of her paper treasures.

i chose to blog about her today because i have just become aware that she updated her etsy shop with new goodies (see pictures), hurry over folks... they won't last long. mav knows how precious her treasures are and prefers to create in small batches.

i started out by buying a one month subscription to her ingenius creation, the card society. i then said to the man, "Valentine's Day is coming up... you'll need to get me a present... you'll need to buy me some of this stationery". imagine how elated i got when he emailed me a quick blurb the other day asking:

questions:

1. flat or folded?
2. salmon pink, sky blue,
light grass green, gold, silver, copper, cream, light yellow, fuchsia, or
black?

*glee*

now what are you still doing here? hurry over to her etsy shop before it's too late!

flickr love

sometimes i come along to people that are so talented i could spend hours just ogling whatever it is they decide to share with the rest of us.







Michelle Arcila is one of those artists. she's quite private, not sharing much about herself or her location. sometimes i think she's situated somewhere in South America and lately, due to her most recent series of cold-beach scenes, i'm inclined to believe she is somewhere in New England. the mystery surrounding Michelle makes her that much more interesting... not knowing about someone makes me want to know more.


Michelle conveys very delicate, calm and sometimes somber moods in her photographs. she has an eye like no other, her photography blows me away time and time again. all of her photographs (or at least the vast majority) are in square format, i'm not sure what type of camera she uses or the technique she follows to create her awe-inspiring masterpieces. i've been temped on occasion to send her a little note asking for such information, but i've held back because when it comes to this woman's photography the mystery is part of the beauty.