Have a great weekend!

Just wanted to say thanks to you all for visiting this week - and for all your comments. It's so fun, after a busy day in the studio, to check back here and read all your comments - I appreciate every one of them! Have a great weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday morning!

Image from here.

Photographer

Super photography and styling from this talented photographer.

Smitten

I am so smitten by some of the French blogs. Those bloggers have so much fabulous stuff to photograph - it's really not fair - is it? They just get up in the morning and wander down the road to the fabulous french flea market with their cafe au lait in one hand and their vintage Hermes scarf blowing in the lavender scented breeze. I'm moving to France. Well, not really, but I am checking out some gorgeous french blogs these days including Esprit Boheme - her photography tres magnifique!

Window Shopping

I stopped by the Cox and Cox website yesterday to see what's new. Great to see their pretty little holiday ideas. Don't you love this tube of giant matches?

Studio

I have some pictures to show you this morning of my studio(looking remarkably tidy I must say!) I'm not the best at taking interior shots - I always find it hard to get the lighting just right but these aren't too bad. The studio has very high ceilings - maybe 14' high which I love because it makes it feel very spacious. Recently I installed industrial gallery lighting which has proven to be the solution to bring good light in. I have a big open work space - a stock room and an office. The furniture is either from IKEA or the gov't surplice store for large mapping tables and drawer systems. the final picture is the view from the studio door - and lastly one of our regular visitors in the summer

At certain times of the year - spring and fall - we get a lot of black bears around the studio. They are very shy and harmless if you don't bug them! I feel so lucky to be able to stop work and watch the wildlife!

Inspiration

How you can you not be inspired by these colours? I love these bold, bright, antique Chinese carpet designs from Red Pagoda.

Found

Look at these beautiful objects - Chinese horse hair painters' brushes from the 1920s. The handles are made from marble, agate and jade. What beautiful items for display - from here.

Found

These are crazy clever. I saw them yesterday at Dandy Bread and Candy and was so impressed. The artist is Elsa Mora who has an Etsy shop and she has a great blog on paper cutting. Then I found her other blog on personal style The Hidden Seed - (YOU MUST GO THERE!) So my next post is on Elsa's jewelry (I can't stop - I just love what she's doing!) So first up are the amazing paper cuts - enjoy . . .

More

So now we have Elsa'a very cool jewelry - I love it and I think you will too. You can see more here.

Books

So now that you are inspired to cut up some paper and be super creative, here's a book that looks like a great introduction to making pop up books, how fun - Magic Books and Paper Toys - "Everyone loves a good book, but what’s better than one you’ve made by hand? And not just any straightforward book, but simple pop-up books, flip books, magic pamphlets, pop-up maps, and accordions! Esther K Smith, author of How to Make Books, unlocks the secrets of making tricky book forms even if you’ve never worked with paper before." Excellent!

Chop chop

And what more do you need than a big clunky pair of vintage, aqua handled, scissors to get you started on all your new paper crafts.

Found

Good morning - I'm back in fine form this morning with lots of particularly pretty paper products for your viewing pleasure! First up - Doug bought me a print of this Leonetto Cappiello painting. I really love it. I love the symmetry and the graphic quality. I have it hanging in the kitchen over the cappuccino maker(our Italian district!) I love all Cappiello's work - he really revolutionized the art of poster design at the turn of the 19th century.

Garlands

Have you seen these wonderful paper garlands by Lobster and Swan - I think they are just terrific. What a fun way to decorate a studio or a party - you can see more here.