HAPPY SPRING! Here are some fun links ...

First, this amazing shop in San Francisco Bell'occhio

Favourite florists of the week - Christine Noelle's simple and stunning shop and Ariella Chezar

Pipo Doll makes these adorable cards

Eloise Corr Danch's video tutorial of giant paper poppy flowers

{spring banner by Pam - Happy to be creating}

I love this project 'Hearts on Vivian' ... members of the community were invited to loop and tie yarn, creating these bright and colourful hearts on a rather drab chain link fence ...

{Hearts on Vivian - photographs courtesy of Outdoor Knit}

I also love this window display of miniature houses aglow for the little winter market...

{photograph courtesy of little winter market}

I am really excited that winter is drawing to an end, and we are getting the first glimpses of spring, time to get the spade out and plan the new garden ... my most favourite thing about springtime! Here is some gardening inspiration ...

Quirky garden blogs - gardening in heels and terri planty. Shown below are just a few of the unique ideas featured on their blogs ...

{San Francisco's Alamo Square Shoe Garden - photograph via Glue and Glitter}

{Flora Grubb Gardens}

{Set of three vintage garden markers by emerald + ella}

I LOVE ... Haptic Lab's baby-soft maps and readymade quilts of American cities, such as San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, etc. (see pictures below) Here's how they describe their quilts:

Soft-Maps are quilted maps of cities and neighborhoods that represent someone's unique place in the world. Wrap your children in them, have a picnic, pull them close during the next Nor'easter. As a keepsake, a Soft-Map serves as an intimate reminder of home: where you’re from and where you belong. In a world that is increasingly digitized and remote, a quilted Soft-Map provides an expressive way to reconnect with your surroundings.

Not only beautiful, these blankets can be used as a mnemonic tool. As your child grows up with a Soft Map, they learn to read their neighborhood and its landmarks in a tactile, easily remembered way.

Some more inspiration:

Amazing florist in Rome - Tulipani Bianchi

Newer company for event design - Landing Feet First

Little Flower School with Nicolette and Sarah

Inspiration: origami and bright flowers ... I made these origami cubes and set up some still-lifes with flowers ... The flowers are matsomoto mums, button mums and zinnias ... I think these would make great centrepieces too ... Here are some of my favourite shots from today ... [dyi:origami cube tutorial - via:origami mommy]









Some great blogs to check out ... BORNAY Tartelette POSTCARDS & pretties poppytalk little pheasant Golly Bard's Drawing Room small stump + studio choo

A quick little post for today ...

Here is a cute company Minimii. I especially like their dollhouse Arne Jocobsens Own House, 1929 (pictured below)

"Kids can play for hours with a dollhouse. With miniature furniture, the house can be redecorated again and again, differently each time. With dolls, countless stories play themselves out, scenarios that remind us of what happens in a real home. The idea with Minimii is just that, to create dollhouses and furniture that look like a real home which both kids and adults can play with."

Here are some great blogs ... Apartment Therapy Re-Nest + April and May

I love the work of Shana Faust, she is a Toronto photo-stylist who has worked for Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. She is now based in Brooklyn. I love her props/crafts styling ... Here is a sample of her work ...

Katrin May is an internationally recognized professional origami artist. First introduced to origami in France in 1989, she and her partner developed this art in a heretofore unseen way. Now residents of Toronto. Here is their website ORILAND and some of their work is shown below.

Inspiration: all sorts of pretty things

I was recently reading flower magazine and came across this painter Gee Gee Collins. I really like her floral paintings, her loose brush strokes and drips of paint are my kind of thing. Here is one of her paintings ...

(pink and white floral)

I love this jewelry ... Nest Pretty Things by Tamar

(Little Friends Earrings by Tamar)

(Prudence Necklace by Tamra)

Here is a great link to guides for Handmade weddings on Etsy ... Everything from vegan punk style weddings, to vintage-inspired place settings and crafting an eco-friendly wedding.

The Land of Nod have adorable children's furniture, toys, etc. Like these ABC cards by artist Julie Morstad.

And these are adorable, fancy font wallpaper letters ...

And this toy... "And Your Bird Can Sing?"

In this post, some blogs and websites I have discovered and admired, there are so many, its been awhile, I have been preoccupied with this little dude:



...and I have been keeping busy with my school work as well...anyways, onto some inspiring blogs and websites...

brown paper journal. description: A floral designer with a penchant for all things growing, visually inspiring and deliciously tasty. This blog has loads of visual splendours!

scoutie girl: the blog with a penchant for the passionately handmade

STEEP STREET: musings by Kelty (photography, web design, print work, custom art)

Malea Gadoury: such nice nice nice! design and illustration!!

Fuller Edge Photography (Calgary photographer with an edge...rock and roll!!!)

gibbous. description: gibbous is a miniature fashion house of hearts & hands collecting bits & pieces of discarded history. we hunt decrepit victorian clothes & stained silk slips. we harvest the lost trinkets of the city. buttons, coins, keys...we probably have something of yours. I am unsure of the fashion, but the photographs are a splendour to peruse!

maya*made is a fine and crafty blog. I especially like her easy paper flower craft.

Red Velvet Art: living their dream of keeping a shop full of independent art and super cute handmade goods.

great map: any kind of map imaginable!

The funky patterns and bold colours in Christin Ciaccio Briggs' paintings are amazing. I also love the shots of her studio, any glimpse into a artist's studio is a treat!

I love the antique buttons and found items in the Jewellery by Alexandra Hunt

Because we can: we make great things and we make things great...they sure do, wonderfully designed furniture and themed interiors...who doesn't want a nautical-themed work interior?

things magazine: an online journal (my two cents: of some pretty amazing things!!!)

And finally, when you just want to be inspired...by some inspiring cities, especially some guerrilla moss graffiti!

Here are a few of my illustrations from when I was staying up late at night, the wee babe wasn't sleeping through the night yet...they turned out a little wacky (from lack of sleep, I'm sure?!)

Axel Peemoeller's way-finding-system for the Eureka Tower Carpark while working for Emery Studio.


reactive paint ... flower maker ... all i can do ... save pens, use garamond font ... i spy with my little eye ... bomomo ... their circular life ... send me something ... dafont.com ... scandalous metropolitan ... the world of 100 ... myoats ...

Here is an illustration I finished this evening.


I really wish I could have seen the New Amsterdam Village that was featured in New York City last September.


And it is for this reason:

In addition to the New Amsterdam Village, which represents a more "traditional" version of Holland, a demonstration model of a Dutch greenhouse will be showcased. The Netherlands is a world leader in greenhouse innovations and the Dutch have made great strides in energy saving technologies in this industry. In this special greenhouse visitors can familiarize themselves with flowering lilies, greenhouse vegetables, special micro vegetables and a bumblebee colony. Also a model of the electricity producing greenhouse can be found there, as well as an overview of the latest technologies and research in the Dutch glasshouse construction sector -ny400.org

Oiseaux sells beautiful vintage nameplates, like the one found below.


I love the crafty flower creations of Laurie Cinotto. Pictured below are some of her beautiful paper and fabric boutonnières.


I stumbled on Grant Hanna's website. I really like his painting titled Navigator (My Swampland) pictured below.


Land-Rich's mission is to provide beautiful objects that symbolize the quality, functionality, and sustainability of simpler times. Each quarter they will debut a new edition of products. Below is their Tallow Berry Bulb, now a part of Land-Rich's permanent collection.


Some blogs to take a gander at...

Twig & Thistle Stationary and Crafts
Eat Drink Chic Stationary and Crafts
Treasuring Lovely pattern design by Jessica Gonacha Swift
Tinderbox Dublin-based creative network
Green Wedding Shoes Beautiful and colourful photography of fun-themed weddings

I love Bonbon Oiseau, makers of jewelry and hair adornments!!! Here are a couple of their pieces...





When Christien Meindertsma spent three years researching all the products made from a single pig from a farm in the Netherlands, this Rotterdam designer found 185 products contributed to by the animal. She has published her findings in a book titled Pig 05049. To read the entire article click here.



I stumbled across a great blog by Saipua, who make soap and flowers. Soap for washing. Flowers for occasions. Well they make really beautiful flowers and beautiful soap, especially the packaging. Here's a peek at some of their amazing products...





Some great links taken from the Saipua blog...

17 beats - a blog of haikus
Flowers by Bornay - romantic floral artistry
Jezebel - love the stationary!!!
La Martiné - beautiful wedding flowers, beautiful flowers to wear
small stump + studio choo - photo diary of floral and art projects
Tacklebox - architecture + furniture + design