Jens Jems trunk show

Last week I went to a jewelry trunk show. Actually make that two, but right now I will be highlighting the one hosted by my friend Sarah , the Undercover Caterer. She had her friend, jeweler extrodinaire Jen Moore bring her fine goods for all to see and buy for holiday gifts. Sarah was quite the hostess with an amazing simple spread of green salad with persimons, pommegrantate seeds, a mix of wilted greens including baby chard which is a personal favorite of mine and lastly a great homemade mac and cheese with ham. She can certainly make the most simple dishes taste gourmet and delicious.

Jen Moore has been making her handmade jewelery for many years and selling it on etsy, at craft fairs and private parties. I wanted to show a sample of some of her goods and also show what I bought!!!!

I loved this with the heart!

She has theses adorable boxes so you can wrap your goods if they're a gift.

Loved the brushed bronze circle necklace. If it was closer a certain friends birthday I might have bought it!

And lastly, here's what I bought. Pardon the bathroom shot, on this overcast day it's the only room with a mirror that would work!

Jen's Estsy shop is: http://www.jenjems.etsy.com/ You can also contact her on the link above by clicking on her name! Ciao!

Blue Art Studio & my "time warp" gift

This year for Christmas in my extended family we are picking names out of a hat and only getting one gift rather than the dozen or so we normally end up giving and receiving. My creative interior designer cousin Lisa wanted to come up with a theme for the gifts and ended up with a "time warp" gift theme. I have been sending out ideas to my cousin and she's passing the ideas to her Mom who's not internet savvy and needed suggestions. I am crossing my fingers on a few things including a subscription to Atomic Ranch and I wanted this clock that was on my friends blog bows and sparrows the other day but low and behold it's already sold out.

Today I found this great print that is fun and I suppose could constitue a time warp gift theme, yes? Blue Art Studio had this beauty. Cross your fingers for me that I will get it. Check out the other ones on their website too. Some good stuff on there. Go Charles Eames!!!!

Today's all about my girlfriends

This picture makes me smile. I am smiling today too because I am so lucky to have such creative, intelligent, thoughtful, beautiful, inspiring, girlfriends. Yep, life's good because you guys, love you!

DIY Journal & Mod Home Ec Teacher

I have been following Curbly for fun crafting ideas for some time. Often the posts are on needlepoint, puff paint and grandma craft variety so I quickly breeze through looking specifically for the poster: Mod Home Ec Teacher. Her real name is Shelly Miller Leer and she has, in my opinion, a dream story. She went to school for design and textiles yet landed a career in the legal field. She found her way back to her first love and founded an upholstery business and was teaching courses at the Indianapolis Art Center in different forms of DIY craft and upholstery. She has created a DIY weekly column for the Indianapolis Star newspaper and writes regularly for Apartment Therapy Chicago. This is my dream story, mostly because I, too, wanted to do something related to the arts, career wise but found myself in a completely different field of work that's limited my creativity to after 5pm and on weekends.. Enough about me, let's hear it for Shelly and all her amazingness. Here's some links to her wares:

http://www.curbly.com/modhomeecteacher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GndlHCeTXWw

http://www.curbly.com/

Todd Oldham, where art' thou??

Todd Oldham has been a fixture in modern design circles for years and most recently became a contributing editor to the popular Berkeley based Ready Made. I am shocked to find that it just happened tonight that I stumbled across a book of his that's right up my alley. Yes, a book of do it yourself projects appropriately titled "Handmade Modern" touting 72 projects: "Each project is charted through step–by–step photos and instructions until the fabulously mod end. Other projects include home–computer face–lifts, Xerox wallpaper, aluminium lighting fixtures, and cosy shoe–storage systems. In additional to Todd's brilliantly engineered projects, the book comes complete with a tutorial on modern home design in the form of sidebars and short essays throughout –everything from that now–famous Eames chair to the case–study houses of the 1950s. Handmade Modern promises to revolutionise the way the reader looks at his or her own home and capacity to beautify a space. Chic, accessible, and fun, this is the achievable new look of modern home design." (Guess what has been added to my Christmas wish list???)

In addition he just came out with a project book for children, which is perfect for my design conscious parent friends. Yes, you know who you are!!!

Alexander Calder mobile look alike

I have always loved Alexander Calder's abstract mobiles. In New York's MOMA they have huge versions and they would never fit in a normal person's home and the reproductions have always been expensive and often a poor reproduction. However, enter CB2, a favored alternative to Ikea and voila' my Calder mobile reproduction that's going to fit in my home and is affordable at $19.95!

Here's the CB2 version:

Can I make a Knoll credenza???

I sort of am in love with this one and think that I could probably make it. I am thinking different colors....

The search for the perfect credenza....

Oh dear my seach continues. I have been looking at new credenza's and found some of these that are somewhat in the right price range. This one is actually pretty great. It's from Macy's and affordable, consisdering... I wish that I could find this at a thrift store since it well, looks like it could be found at a thrift store perhaps a few years ago before the credenza craze happened.

This was on a website from a design school and was a project someone did. It seems like one I could make, yes?

But really, why can't I find one exactly like THIS!???? Well, I did find it on Etsy for $2000 which is much more than I can afford. Oh well...

Some beautiful book art

My dear friend nudged me the other day and suggested highlighting some beautiful art found on classic book covers. Penguin has been publishing such classics since 1935; dating back to hot metal and letter press style print being the norm. Their in house designers have changed throughout the years but they've started reaching out to new designers that are not perhaps that typical Penguin Classic look that we're all so familiar with. In college reading the classics I probably owned over a dozen Penguin texts, however none as beautiful as these. Otherwise I may have actually kept them through all those moves....

A nice Ikea hack

Great idea but not quite what I am looking for. I want something that's a little more rich and warm. I prefer to have a credenza that's got more history or at least feels like it came out of a magazine in 1963.

some credenza's to make

I really like this one, but it's a matter of finding the perfect record cabinet and gutting it. It's all about the bones of the piece, yes?

http://www.unplggd.com/unplggd/how-to/how-to-make-your-own-record-collection-storage-unit-101052

Oh me oh my, somebody help me find...

The perfect credenza to be all mine. Yep, not really a poet here, but all fun aside. This is some serious serious business. For the last year I have been on an unaccomplished mission to find the perfect credenza for my living room to put the TV on and store away unsightly electronics and junk really. I have added a picture of my space including the entire living room to give you an idea of what I am sort of needing (okay, fine, wanting).

So, with that I am going to be hoping to get some suggestions and feedback. I am going to start posting credenza's both ones for purchase and of course those that you can make!

Check out my friend's new blog

http://bowsandsparrows.blogspot.com/

Erin, one of my nearest and dearest has started a new blog about her love of birds and all things beautiful that she likes and or aspires to do. Of course her professional writing skills add to the fun too. Please take a peek at her blog.

Poladroid

If you're at all human you're aware of the phenomenon of the Polaroid camera than you're also aware that they're phasing out their film leaving us connoisseurs sans pictures. It's so sad that it will be the end of an era for so many of us. Not to fret, Poladroid is a simple free download that allows you to take your digital pics and put them "through" your Poloadroid on your desktop (including the ubiquitous Polaroid sound) and voila' your picture's transformed into a beautiful Polaroid like pic with the white frame and saturated colors that make us all swoon!

Cranky Chef

So my friend Caroline has a blog that's all about food. I know that a lot of people do, but hers has some very imaginative creations that are very inspiring. A lot of simple recipes that are healthy and don't require several different stores to pick up ingredients. Please take a peek, she will greatly appreciate it. Look forward to seeing her more frequent postings in August when she returns from some European travels. Here's her romano pepper breadsticks and creamy red pepper dip. I would like some right now!

Long time absentee

I am sorry for not being on here for what amounts to a half a year. It's funny how winter makes me hibernate and not do many projects. You would think knitting, sewing, drawing would take place during the cold winter. I don't have that much to show for my winter since, well the closest to creation I have made involves: cooking, some basic clothing alterations that make okay things a little better, a few photo albums finally completed and life getting in the way of creativity. I realize that this is a very very unhealthy thing that has happened and I vow to not let it happen again. I am back and I am ready to make things that will make me and hopefully you happy. Here's a picture of a fun winter activity that brought me some serious happiness. There's nothing better than white snow on a warm winter day shared with friends. xoxo RDR