I am a grown-up and I don't need a stuffed mouse.

P.S. I am a grown-up and I think I need a stuffed mouse.
P.P.S. Doesn't it look like one of Cinderella's mice? So cute!

From HazelVillage.

Amazing!

Being a lover of teeny tiny things, I was pretty much in awe when I first saw Dalton Ghetti's work on this blog. Just look at these tiny sculptures carved from the tips of pencils!




See more of his amazing work here. I can't even imagine being able to do something like this!

Hard at work (and some good music, too).

I just want to say thanks to all my wonderful customers! I've been soooo busy with custom orders and cuffs are going out the door left and right. I'm literally a sewing MACHINE! haha...

As I sit here embroidering, I'm listening to some amazing covers on youtube- totally worth a listen. Go here and try not to melt a little when you hear that voice. LOVE it! Then go here. This rendition just gets better and better as you keep listening. Love her! Oh, and this is probably my favorite cover of hers- I've been sewing to this song for at least a year. Go listen!

weekend nature.

Being deathly afraid of bees, I'm proud of myself for getting close enough to take this one:



I love this one below. At first I just saw a heart, but then I saw a ballerina with her leaf arms curled gracefully above her head!:





I love nature walks. :)

Trying to decide...

I need some new coasters and am a bit torn. Can you help me decide? I love all of these for different reasons (links below)!




1. Uncommon
2. merriweathercouncil
3. littleclouds
4. Zipper8Design

Thrift store score!

Set of four glasses- 25 cents per glass. Sorry, not a great picture because I didn't have anything white on-hand to put inside the glasses.

Also, I'd by lying if I said I wasn't completely in love with my latest cuff:


In the shop now. :)

A new fave.

I love these huge black and white posters from debbie carlos:

Just simple photos of pretty things around the house, but BIG. Love them. They inspired me to order a large black and white print of one of my own photos:

I took this a little over a month ago at the Chicago Botanic Garden (see the photo in color here). I love how it looks like you're in the middle of a little forest, but it's really just an extreme close-up of a bonsai plant.

So here's what happened...

A long time ago I ordered a custom ring- some of you know I have quite the ring addiction. When I finally received it, it was AWFUL. It was crooked, sloppy, and nothing like I requested- it was even the wrong size! The seller would not take it back because it was a custom order- well, unless I paid a 75% restocking fee. No way! It was a waste of money and has been collecting dust ever since.

Along came Amy of thirtysixten. Guess what she did! She melted that horrible ring down to one chunk of silver and started fresh! The stacking rings above are the end result- GORGEOUS! I cannot believe that hideous mess turned into this lovely set! I urge all of you to go take a look at her shop. You'll be sure to find something you love. She has a great blog, too. Go say hi!

Thank you, Amy!

Yes, please.

How adorable are these notebook covers? They are embroidered to look like classic notebook paper, and each cover comes with two 8x10 lined notebooks. I want one!! Get them here.

In awe.

This weekend I went to the Art Institute of Chicago for the first time. My mom says I was there when I was a toddler, but that does NOT count! Let me just tell you, there is absolutely nothing like standing in front of a painting you've spent your whole life admiring.

Please excuse my photos- it was dark and practically impossible to get clear shots! There were three paintings that reduced me to tears- literally a pile of mush. First:

I stood there in awe staring at this painting trying to hide my tears. I hadn't expected such an emotional reaction- it caught me off guard. I have loved this van Gogh for as long as I can remember. There was nothing like standing a few inches from it. I will never forget that feeling.

Next painting to reduce me to tears:

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte work by Georges Seurat took my breath away. I'm including a photo with people present so you can see how large it is. I never knew it was this big!

Third painting to reduce me to tears:

Gustave Caillebotte's Paris Street; Rainy Day was also way bigger than I thought it would be, which is why I'm posting a photo including a person.

Mary Cassatt's The Child's Bath was another favorite- absolutely amazing:

Edward Hopper's Nighthawks was great fun to see in person!:

The mere size of this Georgia O'Keeffe work was breathtaking. It was HUGE! 24 feet wide, to be exact:

another:

Some more classics:


The two photos below show paintings I thought were absolutely stunning when it comes to detail. I don't have the names of the paintings, unfortunately!:


I thought this woman was beautiful:

I absolutely loved the glowing woman in this one- just look at that face. It's haunting!:

As I look back at this post, it just looks so dull compared to what I saw and what I felt. What an amazing day.

A new dark cuff...

I went to the antique store yesterday and bought a handful of vintage/antique aprons that had seen better days. This is the first result:

I love it so much! I'm not used to seeing such dark cuffs, hahah.. I'm so happy with the way it turned out. Here's the second one:


There was no way I could resist buying that adorable fabric! I'm in love with the vintage button, too. Both cuffs are in the shop now, and a third one made from the sweetest aqua and red print is coming soon. :D

P.S. I really, really hate that blogger makes all my photos look look a little blurry unless you click on them. It's annoying!

Bodie ghost town.

Oh my gosh, I love this photo (click twice to zoom). It was taken (not by me) in Bodie, California, which is an original ghost town from the late 1800s. It still stands today in a state of decay. Just look at this room- I could stare at this picture forever just imagining the way this room used to look in its heyday. There is an entire group pool of Bodie ghost town photos on flickr here, including this one, which I also love.

photo source

Well, it took us almost 11 hours...

...but let it be known that at 4:30 pm central time on Sunday, August 8th, Julia and I finished the Lego project of the century. I think it tried to kill us at least three times (well, maybe just me). This is the cutest VW bug ever. It was hard. Very hard.

**how much do you want to bet that we wake up tomorrow morning and the cats have somehow destroyed it?!