Sweet Sweet Life

amazing creatures from the deep

Totally wonderful crocheted (I know...again.  But it's not my fault there's so much goodness!) plush from Ang Davidson:

Ang crochets each and every piece with no patterns.  I think that's a big part of why they are so awesome.

And not just giant squid! 

So very much more in her shop, including, dare I say it?, a cross-dressing goat (sold, unfortunately).  

Cheers!

xoxox.

special offer for YOU!

Hello, and...yay!

Have you, by any chance, got a baby on your Holiday Shopping List?  Well, you couldn't do any better for said little one than Little Alouette:

Beautiful, natural, organic, handmade toys, blocks and teethers, locally sourced in Columbus, Ohio... 

And just for readers of Sweet Sweet Life!:  Today (Monday) only, an additional 15% off your purchase from this lovely little purveyor will be refunded to you via paypal (not including shipping)!  Just type in "Sweet Life" in the message to seller, and you're good to go! 

And each piece comes wrapped beautifully and ready to give.  Viewing gift-wrapping as somewhat on par with a trip to the dentist, I really like the sound of that.

How fun.  Thanks, Little Alouette, for thinking of us! 

Now get thee shoppin'.

xoxox.  

dear dodo, i love you

Stunningly lovely works from Viv at Dear Dodo, one of my very favorite shops:

arthur

forest spirit iv

And, most sweet, Viv is having a really generous sale through tomorrow (Monday):  all prints are only $10!  Check out some of these wonderful prints!:

frozen charlotte

a forest gathering 

the poe sisters

Ten dollars?!  Crazy.  More great deals in Viv's other shop, too.  Go see!

 xoxox.

two wonderful artists

These beautiful brooches, by the wonderfully creative and inspiring Brisbane-based artist Kylie (whose blog I mentioned in the last post), make me very, very happy:

Available in her shop, 3 Sheets, they are based upon the artworks of Sonia Delaunay, with whom I was not familiar before falling in love with these pieces of Kylie's.  Ms. Delaunay was a Ukranian-born French abstract artist and designer (1885-1979):

 

Although an artist previous to 1911, it was in this year (according to wikipedia, and I hope this is true!) that she made a crib quilt for her baby son.  This little quilt, created spontaneously, combined colors and shapes in a new way.  She said,  "About 1911 I had the idea of making for my son, who had just been born, a blanket composed of bits of fabric like those I had seen in the houses of Russian peasants. When it was finished, the arrangement of the pieces of material seemed to me to evoke cubist conceptions and we then tried to apply the same process to other objects and paintings."   From this effort, Sonia and her husband, artist Robert Delaunay, created their own version of Cubism, which was eventually called Orphism.

 

I love these works so very much, and I really look forward to reading and learning more about Ms. Delaunay.

And don't forget about Kylie!  She is truly brilliant and inspirational, too.  Her two wonderful blogs are among my new favorites, and she has much to teach me, as well. 

Enjoy!

xoxox.  

frances trombly

 
Incredible slight-of-hand work--these balloons are all crocheted!--from Florida-based artist Frances Trombly.

As her website's bio states, "[she] uses trompe-l’oeil effects in her work to recreate mundane objects, making labor-intensive pieces through weaving, embroidery, cross stitch, and crochet. By recreating what is mass-produced she initiates an authority that is missing from the utilitarian original. Her objects exist in an environment where value lives, where value thrives, the gallery or museum. This contrast confronts the viewer, asking questions about labor, value, history, feminism, class, and the American way of life."

Really, really wonderful.  See much more on her site!

Found via Kylie's wonderful blog, 3 Sheets.

xoxox.

i just realized...

via

...that today I sat at lunch out, for 2 1/2 hours, with a price tag label hanging from the armpit of my new smart little blazer.  Oh, my goodness.

My best friend either didn't notice, or didn't care.  I love her.

xoxox.
 

where have i been, i wonder

It can be good to stop in and visit with old favorites...

Ashley G is one of the earliest and best-known etsy sellers--and rightly so.  I own 2 of her prints myself, and love them both.  But I've not been back to her store in a long, long time, and now I wish I'd been paying attention for the last few years...If you, like me, have had your head in the clouds, lookee here:

incognito

right behind you

one of those days

henry

hopes and dreams

let's stay home

While her earlier prints are undeniably wonderful, these have a more sophisticated color palette and it's clear that Ashley and Drew have been growing both as artists and business-people. 

Good for them.  I love their prints, old or new, and will be thinking hard about introducing some of their more recent works to my walls!

See Ashley's (also very well-known!) blog and website, if you're catching up a bit, as I am. 

Cheers!

xoxox.

my little ad-free corner of the internet

Hello, again!  Can't stop thinkin', today.

So!  Did you see my new icon over there -----------> on the side?  The one that says "Ad-Free Blog"?  And did you, perchance, wonder why I added it? 

(If not, you can certainly stop reading this post here and be none the worse.)

If so, well...here's why:

I recommend lots and lots of products on this blog.  Either for creative inspiration (most likely) or because I think it might be useful to you, or even bring you a bit of joy.  And because I want you to be assured that I am giving you a genuine and honest "thumbs up," I decided to not accept ads on this blog now, or in the future.  From time to time, I am asked by a crafts person to share their art or shop on my blog, and most of the time I am happy to do so, simply because their work appeals to me and seems to be honestly motivated and genuinely heart-felt.  More often, I contact the artist myself to request permission to share their work, because I have taken a liking to it and I feel fairly certain that you will, too.

But that is the sum total of the machinations behind what I choose to share on this blog.  It's just me, and there's nothing in it for me, other than the hope that it will inspire someone else, just as I was inspired.  I would never, ever do a feature on my blog because I was receiving something in return for said feature.  Not money, not product.  I do not enjoy it when other blogs share their "sponsors" with their readers in a feature post.  That seems...well, just wrong.  I read blogs for inspiration, not ads, and I'm assuming you do, too.

I will never take advertising on this blog, either.  I do not blog for money, or my own exposure, or the hope of any kind of material payback.  I blog because it makes me happy, and I have it on good authority that, from time to time, it has made someone else happy, too.  Even just a bit.  That's all I need. 

 
(This is a completely unrelated, but lovely, little picture...From here.)

So, to recap:  no ads, not ever;  just honest enthusiasm and inspiration.

Pinkie-swear.

xoxox.

***

p.s.  (The icon, by the way, was created by Keri Smith, a truly courageous blogger and artist, and if you click on it, you will get more information about what it means.)

this is just an awesome idea

Why didn't someone think of this sooner? 

World landmarks, to go with your standard set of building blocks!

Genius, from the creative minds at Little Sapling Toys:

Desperately trying to convince myself that my girls need these (because I have more chance of that than convincing myself they need these cool teethers!)

Cheers!

xoxox. 

a winner...

Oh, I always forget how this part makes me sad:  Here's the "love-hate" part of the give-away.  I love giving away, but I want to give to everyone.  (Ah, well.  Life is harsh, sometimes, kid.)

Crafty Japanese Goodness give-away, part deux, is over, my friends.  The winner is...

Colleen!  Of the blog From the Handbasket!  I'll email you, Colleen, and we'll get the particulars all straigtened out. 

A million thanks to everyone who stopped by and played!  It was so much fun, the Japanese stuff for the little ones, that I'll be doing it again.  It's clear to me that very few of you are blessed with inexpensive Japanese wonderfulness in your neighborhoods, and I'm not happy about that, not at all.  We'll be doing more, I promise.  Maybe for the boys, next time?  Maybe both? 

Let's mix it up.

In other "news," I am once again amazed at the girls' penchants for low-tech fun.  Some markers left over from the Girl Scout troop days, some coloring sheets printed off the internet.  Hours of fun, literally.

Some poppy music (in this case, Vampire Weekend, which we still love, even though they went out of fashion faster than a speeding bullet)...

...fresh breezes coming in the window, cookies baking, a good book and a cup of coffee for mom and dad...

...all makes for a really nice morning. 

 
Really nice.

Have a great one, sweet friends!  Thanks so much for stopping by...I'll be back later, with more (hopefully) inspiring things to share.

Cheers!

xoxox.