ranunculus

I've never heard the name of these flowers before, and it sounds almost like something made up!

Image from here. Found on Pinterest.

So pretty.
Happy Saturday everyone... I'm off to a wedding! (I love weddings.)

wise words of the week

"If you're not failing ever now and again,
it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative."

Woody Allen

Image from here.



here comes the sun...

Or, more accurately, here comes a big freakin' thunderstorm... but where did accuracy ever get anyone anyway?

However, in anticipation of the sun someday returning, I wanted to share a project that I have been really excited about for a while now (I just haven't gotten around to it yet)... some diy cyanotype art!

After seeing this blog post over at House&Home, and this one at Apartment Therapy... I have been dying to try something like this at home. Basically it is as simple as lightly spray-painting (or spray-paint-misting) a cyanotype blue colour over some leaves or flowers, or anything you want really (I am planning to use some herbs - rosemary, thyme and sage would make such lovely silhouettes, especially to hang in the kitchen) on white bristol board, and then framing your prints with the old go-to white Ikea frames. I love projects like this, that are so inspiring and so SIMPLE, that it might actually provide me with some confidence and motivation to tackle one of those other diy ideas that I am accumulating at an alarming rate. (Thank you for that, Pinterest.) Also, if you clicked on the link to the Apartment Therapy post, you will have seen those gorgeous chairs. You will have also noticed that there is a company selling cyanotype fabric (now available in a beautiful array of colours). It is called bluesunprints, and their white cyanotype fabric is selling for $20/yard... maybe it's just me, but that seems like an awesome deal! I have a chair that I picked up at a thrift store a while back, I am planning to spray paint it white, and I have been trying to find the perfect fabric to cover the seat... well this is definitely it! (I have had these pages bookmarked for ages, I don't know what took me so long!) All I can say is, those Sunprint kits of my youth have come a loooong way.

On a related note - I just spotted these plates over at West Elm... just beautiful. I would love to get a set for my Mom, I know she would love them.

My favourites are the wild grass and the clovers

west elm - nature sun print dessert plates, $8 each

Well my friends, I hope this has provided a little bit of summer inspiration for you! I am quite excited (she says as the first crack of thunder rolls in) and I hope to have some photos of my own cyanotype artwork to share with you sometime very soon. Have a lovely weekend!

who knew

Courtney Cox has incredible taste. And I mean, seriously incredible. I just saw these photos of her Malibu beach home, and I am in. love. with it. Not that I thought she didn't have good taste... but, you know, I don't know... I suppose I just didn't expect we would have such similar taste. At least in terms of housey stuff. (Yes, housey.) Having said that, I don't know if there are too many people who wouldn't love this place - it's just breathtaking.
{Elle Decor via poppytalk}


Love that painting.



  

Okay so I had to catch my breath after I saw this photo. It couldn't be more perfect.

p.s. I want you to know that I tried really, really hard to narrow down the photos I posted here, but I couldn't help myself. I am in awe of this house.

catch you on the flip side

I love flip flops. Like many (most?) girls, I pretty much live in them as soon as the warm weather hits. Mostly the rather inexpensive, often rubber variety... maybe the occasional "fancy" sequined pair.

But these...These are just downright beautiful.

Summer leather flip flops - from Scotch & Soda

artist love

This week: Sharon Montrose of The Animal Print Shop.

Her photos are so incredible, they actually made me tear up. I know I generally have a bit of a ridiculous soft spot for animals, but there is just something in the way she is able to capture their eyes and their movement, it is really just breathtaking. I would love to create a mini-gallery wall with a grouping of her prints. These are just a few that I have fallen in love with.

Giraffe Close-up

Nubian Goat No. 2

Donkey Ears

Baby Fox

Baby Kangaroo No. 1

Baby Raccoon No. 1

White Goose No. 3

  {I first saw her work in this post from A Cup of Jo}

awesome people hanging out together

... is the name of this website, I think it might be the best thing ever. It is exactly what the name suggests; a collection of photos of some of the most awesome, and quite unlikely, pairings of people. 

All images below are from the website - found here.

{Charlie Chaplin and Helen Keller}

{Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee}

{James Brown and Mick Jagger}

{Salvador Dali and Walt Disney}

These are just a few of the gems from the first page... go and have a look for yourself!

madewell

These past few days, I've been spending a lot of time in the sale section of the Madewell website. As I've said before, I have no problem admitting that I am a little behind the curve when it comes to, oh, quite a few things I guess, but especially trendy-type-things. I also have no problem admitting that I have a major mental block when it comes to paying full price for certain things, okay, okay, for clothes. Unless it is a really special item, or if I am shopping for a specific occasion the day before said occasion (which I do all too often) I much prefer to wait for things to go on sale. Knowing that pretty much everything does eventually, it makes it really difficult for me to justify paying full price. And that is just my very personal feeling on the matter. I definitely do not think I am a cheap person, it's just that there are a million other things I would rather waste spend my money on. Like absurd amounts of expensive cheeses, for one.

Anyway, for those of you who already know how great Madewell clothes are, this won't come as a surprise. But for those of you who are new to this, like I am, here are few things that I found - my virtual shopping cart, if you will. I have yet to decide which items I will actually be buying... and I would absolutely love any comments!

balldrop mini - $60

 

pleated pembroke dress - $130

 

rooftop party dress - $30



shimmer dust tee - $40



silk capulet tank - $70

sketched feathers dress - $80

 

ticker-stripe tank - $25



tomboy tee - $20

Stetson denim havana - $55



So... any thoughts??

just beet it

While I was over on Daisy Janie admiring those prints I posted about yesterday, I came across this fantastic (and simple!) recipe idea. I can't wait to try it! So perfect for a summer picnic, or to elevate a cobb salad to a whole new level.
 

 

pickled red beet eggs
{Recipe and image from Daisy Janie}

Ingredients:
1 dozen eggs
2 15 oz. cans sliced red beets
1 C white vinegar
1/2 C sugar
1/2 t salt

Directions:
Hard boil or hard cook eggs. Peel when eggs have thoroughly cooled.

In a saucepan, heat vinegar, beet juice & sugar over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. No need to boil. Set aside to cool.

In a large, deep bowl, add peeled eggs first, vinegar/beet juice liquid second and sliced beets from both cans last. Adding the beets last helps keep the eggs submerged in the liquid so they can absorb the most flavor and gorgeous color! They should set for at least 4 hours; overnight is even better.

wise words of the week

Due to my absence for the past little while, I am sort of rolling some artist love into the wise words this week. I found these three prints on Daisy Janie, and I love the quotes as much as I love the colours and the
beautiful fabric they're printed on.

"Why push the envelope when you can shove it the hell through?"

  

"Make time don't kill time"

"Talent may start it but attitude will finish it"

{All images from Daisy Janie}

seriously cheesy

This is actually making me half reconsider my longtime sentiment of not-so-interested-in-having-a-wedding (not that one is on the horizon, at all, just to be clear). I think you can understand why.

That's right, these are cheese wedding cakes. I'm sorry, did you catch that? One more time, for the people in the cheap seats... CHEESE wedding cakes.

Sophia, maybe you should reconsider Hilton Head and just get married in the UK, with one of these beauties? Just sayin'...

On second thought, who needs a wedding to have a multi-tiered cheese cake?! Maybe I'll just have a wicked wine and cheese party... so much simpler. I'm sure my diy version won't be anywhere near as spectacular, but hey, I'll still have four or five wheels of cheese on my table, won't I.

Cheese wedding cake images from The Cheese Shed. First seen on A Cup of Jo.

kids in the hall

Children's shoes, in the hall closet, that is. (Was that unforgivably bad?)

Someone went a little crazy with the shoe shopping last week. (Wait, did I just refer to myself in the third person again? I promise, this isn't becoming a new thing of mine or anything like that.) I made the best discovery of my consumerist life... drumroll please... the girl's section at Aldo. SERIOUSLY.

I don't know what it is with me and Aldo, but try as I might, I just never seem to buy shoes anywhere else. Well, let me clarify that; I never buy dress shoes anywhere else. High heels, flats, sparkly sandals, that sort of thing. It's not that I have any particular reason for exclusively purchasing from them, it's just that their shoes always fit me like a glove. (Random side-bar: Wouldn't "fit like a shoe" be equally as appropriate, if you think about it? I know it doesn't exactly roll of the tongue, but maybe it would if we hadn't been saying "glove" all this time... just a thought. Shoes do fit... like gloves.) So back to the children's section - I spotted a really cute pair of flats and then realized that they were in the girls' display section. Out of curiousity, I asked what size they go up to, and, you'll never believe this, the answer was size eight (my size)! My mind was blown by the discovery of this completely untapped (by me) resource. The floodgates were open and I happily dove in. What was even more mind-blowing was the fact that I took size seven in every pair of flats I bought in the girls' section, and I am 100%, tried and true, no question about it, always a size eight at Aldo. What a day. Well, enough out of me - here's what I bought! (I have never bought this many pairs of shoes at once... nor had I ever imagined I would. How could I say no, these flats are just so perfect for work in the summer! Except the first pair, but they were only $15!)

MCGAW - $15

GONZALOS (floral print) - $35

CASALI - $30

GONZALOS (stripe) - $35

BRAZINSKI - $40

Okay so that last one doesn't exactly fall into the flats-perfect-for-work category, but they were on promotion for only $40 (still are!) so how could I resist. I have been thoroughly enjoying that moment every morning when I open my closet and and I have all these cute new options to choose from!