today i'm loving... ishtar olivera

it's been a very difficult month and to finish it up... i'm sick again! hopefully, february will be a better month. anyways, today i wanted to share something cheery and lovely. 

today i'm loving ishtar olivera. her designs are so joyful they feel like a clean breeze, a smile, and a warm cup of tea. whether it be a hand carved stamp, an illustration, or a sweet photo, a visit to her blog always leaves me feeling a bit more light hearted. stop by her etsy shop too! 

     

    

thank you ishtar for letting me share your photos! 

today i'm loving... shimtokk

today i'm loving shimtokk. shimtokk is the beautiful brain child of sally j shim of shim + sons and joke vande gaer of tokketok. they feature the prettiest packaging ideas and offer plenty of printable freebies. i love their clean, joyful designs!

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1. hello gift tags; 2. merriest christmas patterned paper; 3. + 4. meant to be calligraphy goodies

peas in a pod cake!

a little while back, my college friend kathy requested a set of peas in a pod (that's them on my blog header). a friend of hers liked them so much that she requested a set to give to her sister as a gift. she also asked kathy, who is a super talented cake baker/decorator, to create a cake to match and oh my goodness it's too cute! three little sugar peas in a pod! to see how she created this cake (and other amazing cakes) visit her blog sweet kat's creations.

gifted magazine

ez over at creature comforts has put together her annual holiday gifted online magazine. page after page of lovely inspiration and eye candy! as an added bonus, there are a ton of beautiful holiday printables too. i wish i could get this in print... it's definitely something i would keep forever :)

tastespotting

in love with tastespotting. they call themselves a "community driven visual potluck" which to me just means a non-stop flow of beautiful photos and recipes for delicious foods <3

dawbis's lovely paper

dawbis of lovely paper, is a paper magician. what she does is so incredibly unique that i really haven't seen anything quite like it. when i saw her latest work in progress, i had a "eee-i-really-need-to-show-someone-how-amazing-this-is" moment. so i shall share it here!

 

 

images used with permission from dawbis

isn't it beautiful? everything she creates is a true work of art but something about this one, i really can't wait to see it finished. maybe it's the cute animals :) i'm hoping that someday, her work will be used as illustrations in a children's book. wouldn't they be perfect? to view more, visit dawbis's blog and flickr. she also has a vintage paper collection that is museum worthy. you really must check it out.

toilet paper tubes

i cannot get over this diy wall art project by tali schiffer from imperfectly perfect.  tali is a self proclaimed "photographer, designer, life lover, wild, child, optimist, dreamer, shower-singer" who recreated this project on growing up creative.  she took this...

and turned it into this...

now who looks at a pile of toilet paper tubes, something we chuck in the recycling bin without a second thought (or give to our bunnies to chew on and toss around), and thinks to turn them into flowers?  genius.  not only is it beautiful but it makes mother earth happy too.  visit imperfectly perfect to view how tali put this masterpiece together.

for the love of mail

i've mentioned my love for snail mail  in the past and lately, i've noticed a huge boom in number of people who are rediscovering the joys of snail mail.  i'm so happy that it's making a comeback!

i recently discovered postcrossing, registered immediately and sent out my first card the next day!  here's the description from the postcrossing website:

"The goal of this project is to allow people to receive postcards from all over the world, for free. Well, almost free! The main idea is that: if you send a postcard, you will receive at least one back from a random Postcrosser from somewhere in the world.  Why? Because, like the author, there are lots of people who like to receive real mail.   The element of surprise of receiving postcards from different places in the world (many of which you probably have never heard of) can turn your mailbox into a box of surprises - and who wouldn't like that?"

 

so far i've sent out postcards to taiwan, germany, china, and finland.  i just received my first postcard on monday.  it's from greece and the sender chose it for me because i mentioned that i like the color blue in my profile  :) 

i don't remember where i found this beautiful photo blog but i love good mail.  their "about" is perfect: "stamps, seals, postage, envelopes, mail art, postal carriers, postboxes, pen-calluses, and inky fingers."  the good mail photo blog is the sister of the book "good mail day" which is full of lovely images and tips for getting involved in the world of mail art.  i've re-read it several times in the past few weeks and i've got my fingers crossed that no one else reserves it at the library so that i can keep renewing it.  they also have a blog and a flickr pool for people who just can't get enough.  good mail day is run by carolee gilligan wheeler and jennie hinchcliff, two friends and master mail artists.


*i apologize for the wonky arrangement of this post... i'm not even sure how it happened!*

color collective

while happily clicking through links last weekend, i followed a link from oh, hello friend and ended up at color collective.  it was like a dream come true.  lauren chooses photos, art, and fashion that she finds inspiring and pulls the color palette from them.  yay, more color!  more inspiration!  i can't wait to play with some of these color combinations  :)

images from color collective

my first blog award :)

woooo! i've been given a blog award! the ultra sweet jenny from jennylovesbenny passed this award on to me and i'm honored and thrilled :) she actually nominated me a little while back but i wanted to wait until after the madness of the holidays to nominate my fav blogs. if you haven't met jenny yet, she makes the prettiest teddy bears that blow my mind because i had no idea that people made plush toys like these by hand!

images from jennylovesbenny etsy

that little bunny is so cute i want to cry. which is why i'm so happy that she passed the award on to me!

So here are the rules for accepting the award:

(1) Thank the person giving the awards (2) Copy awards to your blog (3) Place a link to their blog (4) Name 7 things people don't know about you (5) Nominate 7 bloggers (6) Place a link to those bloggers (7) Leave a comment on their blogs letting them know of their awards 7 things that you may not know about me 1. i can down two pounds of strawberries in one sitting 2. my friends popped my appendix my freshman year of high school 3. one of my life goals is to see the northern lights in action 4. my favorite holiday movie is christmas eve on sesame street and i cry each time i watch it 5. my birthday usually falls on the first day of summer making it the longest day of the year... score! 6. i make rice in a hello kitty rice cooker 7. when my sister and i are in the same room, we clear our throats at the same time, in the same way, followed by us yelling "stop it!" in unison at each other and now the 7 blogs that i pass this award to 1. howie - woowork.blogspot.com 2. karen - graphicsfairy.blogspot.com 3. amy - eatdrinkchic.com 4. analise - leesiebella.typepad.com 5. susan - whatsoeverthingsarebeautiful.blogspot.com 6. cathe - justsomethingimade.blogspot.com 7. leslie - acreativemint.typepad.com

a creative mint

i have a thing for colors. you might be able to trace it back my almost unhealthy obsession and love of this sesame street video. so when i discovered color me pretty over at decor8... it was love at first sight. color me pretty is a guest column written by leslie from a creative mint. leslie is amazing in every way possible. truly. her photos just make me so happy and each one packs in a ton of inspiration. i'll stop babbling and let her photos work their magic.

photos from a creative mint's flickr

photo from decor8

click on any of the photos to go to their source to see them in all their full sized glory. then spend the rest of your day swimming gleefully through a creative mint's flickr gallery and blog. laaaa!

i won?!

i won a contest! the lovely susan from whatsoever things are beautiful hosted a giveaway featuring super girly pretty linens from anna-maria horner.

family gift set - sea salt
photo from anna maria

i started following susan's blog a few months back. it was one of those days where i click link to link to link until i'm completely lost and i'm not sure how i got to where i was. anywho. she just sounded so darn nice that i added her to my blogroll and my blogspot stalker list (what's the official name for the thing that shows up on your dashboard?) and guess what... she really truly is nice and sweet! she even gave a shout out to the toki cafe on her blog. now, i enter a good number of blog contests because they're fun and who doesn't love to win pretty things? but generally, i don't win (pioneer woman, someday... i will win one of your kitchen aid mixers. i don't have space for it but if i do win, i will make space even if it means i have to store my pots and pans in my nightstand) so when i saw that i won this one, i choked on my salad, banged both knees in to my table, then laughed outloud, clapped my hands, and bounced in my seat. totally made my week. i won't tell you exactly which items i chose. you'll just have to wait! while you're waiting, why not say hello to susan at whatsoever things are beautiful? :) thank you again susan!

chic for cheap

creature comforts is lovely for oh so many reasons. sometimes i just like to visit there to swim in the pretty colors. but my favorite are her "chic for cheap"s. my wardrobe consists of jeans, tshirts, and a pair of beaten up pumas. "dressing up" is putting on something other than my pumas. my last job was cool with the jeans and tshirt thing so that only encouraged my bummy tendencies. if my next job requires business casual i'm in deep trouble. i'll say it, i'm boring and unfashionable and maybe even frumpy. i know it hurts the eyes of my trendy friends. sorry friends! Ez (pronounced Ee-zee) puts together the cutest, most comfy looking outfits and they're all for reasonable human budgets. it's fun to see how a piece of art or even a photo of a room can be translated into an outfit that i'd actually wear (have you seen what's in magazines these days?!) the one i put below is one of my favs (click the image to go straight to the actual post) please keep them coming Ez!

pst! Ez also shared where you can put together fancy shmancy fashion design boards just like hers.
visit polyvore and let the fun begin!

i love labels

pretty labels are popping up all over the internet and the only reason why i haven't labeled everything i own (chairs, notebooks, the bunny) is because i can't decide which ones i want to use. iDiY always has loads of free printable labels and they did a great series of posts *for the love of (free) labels* with labels from lovely bloggers everywhere. these were some of my favs :)

labels from creature comforts

labels from just something i made these will be made into mini bookplates this week :) label away friends!

eat drink chic

new blog obsession! i'm loving eat drink chic. everything is so clean, soft, and pretty. i especially like the DIY birdseed toss and all the lovely labels that she shares. but my favorite... vintage style flash cards. my heart did a little leap of joy when i saw these.

image from eat drink chic

WooWork

i love all the wonderful things you can find on flickr. it's incredible how much someone can say with just a few well chosen photos. i've met some fun people through flickr and WooWork is amazing. i have little/zero imagination and his stuff blows me away! i mean, to have such fun things running around in your head and to be able to create them must be a blast. his flickr shows off his art, ami creations, and photography and he even shows you the "behind the scenes" stuff. you know when you encounter something that makes you laugh and it sticks in your head so that when you're just walking down the street or waiting for the train it pops up in your mind and then you stand there smiling like a creepo?

sherman the shark squire the squirrel

does it make me crazy that when i look at these pictures i narrate for them in my head? you have to check out his rayguns and he makes the best facial expressions ever. i can't wait to see the chicken that goes "pop."

fabric art

i have this wall in my apartment and it's above the couch so it's kind of a focal point for the room. right now, there's a collage of different frames holding pictures of my beloved family and friends. it makes me happy to see their faces but the frames are ALWAYS crooked! a friend of mine finally figured out that it's because that wall connects to the entryway hall for our building and every time someone opens and closes the door, the wall shakes a little. i would take a picture of it but it's just too embarrassing. i used to obsessively straighten them but lately i've given up. i was thinking of replacing them with three large square frames with some pretty paper in them. it's much easier to straighten three frames rather than 12 or so. but then i saw this from more ways to waste time over at apartment therapy via florspace's twitter (that's a long chain of links... the internet is crazy)

photo from more ways to waste time
i'm especially loving the one second from the left.


photo from more ways to waste time

you stretch some pretty fabric over a canvas, staple, staple, and voila! urban outfitters usually carries something similar but i like the idea of something more unique (and handmade of course) i've been wanting to try my hand at making my own but i keep putting it off. maybe this will be the push that i need to get those darn crooked frames off my wall.

hooray!

i won a giveaway! whee!! jen for our daily big top was kind enough to giveaway three picnik 3-month gift trials. picnik is a fantastic free photo editing program. you don't even need to register if you don't want to. there are plenty of options to play with in the basic version but i've been eyeing those premium features for awhile now. this is going to be fun :)

before

after!

thanks again to jen!

graphics fairy

oo! i found graphics fairy over at paper crave and i'm in love! the graphics fairy has the most amazing collection of vintage graphics. and she makes them available to everyone for free. isn't that lovely of her? ^_^ there's a huge variety of subjects and whatever you're looking for (map of the british museum anyone?), it's probably in there somewhere. i was clicking happily through her collection and all kinds of pretty ideas were going through my head. these would be perfect for atc's! speaking of atc's... i kind of miss them. maybe the graphics fairy will get me started again!

graphics fairy

sugar*sugar

i was flipping through my favorite etsy shops when i came upon leesiebella's shop sugar*sugar. i had forgotten how beautiful her shop was! it makes me think of ice cream and cotton candy and all sorts of lovely sugary goodness.

Cotton Twine Lollipop for Tags and Gifts

Cream Mint Fancy Ruffled Ribbon is it greedy of me to want one of everything? i don't know how she does it but everything looks perfect together. she has such a great eye! i mean look at this banner that she made... have you ever seen anything like it before?! sorry for all the exclamation marks (point? mark? gosh my 1st grade teacher would be horrified. which is it?!) i'm just really excited :) if i ever attempted anything like this it would end up a hot mess. stop by her blog and join in on the "ooh"ing and "ahh"ing. photos from http://leesiebella.typepad.com/ and sugar*sugar