doe-c-doe, your partner

I love the photos that the sweet blogger G. at doe-c-doe sells in her shop...They are fun and bright and charming.  By combining vintage paint-by-number paintings and small toys, she creates something totally new:

And her blog!  It's a total delight!  From beautiful photos of her surrounding Kansas (americana never looked so good), to charming vintage embroidery patterns, decor to obsess over, and--get this!-- lots of free accordian concerts!--you will totally, totally love it. 

Do say hello, won't you?

xoxox.

share and share alike

Hello, sweet dears!

I received a wonderful package in the mail on Saturday, from sweet Erika of Miko Design, as a thank you for two posts I did a while ago about her daughters' incredibly lovely birthday parties.  (There has since been another, but I didn't want Erika to think I was obsessed, so I left it to another blogger to share.  I am obsessed, though.)

She blew me away by sending us a package chock-full of her creative goodness:

Doll kits (be still, my heart), screen prints a la Paris, Frida prints and hand-made barrettes...all too much!

I can't wait to begin on the dolls with the girls!  They are perfectly perfect, as is all that Erika shares.  Everything else will hang in our new home, someday.  I'm grateful beyond words.  Thank you, Erika!  You are much too kind...

Should you be interested in learning more about Erika and her goods, please see her blog, shop and flickr stream for lots more wonderfulness.  Go now, and fall in love.

xoxox.

a very fine house

Our house doesn't have as much personality as I would like anymore...But, of course, that's what happens when you are trying to sell it:  all fun must go.  (We still try to sneak it in, though.  We still live here!)

It's not what it could be, but it keeps us smiling, for the most part!

Hope you are smiling, too!

xoxox.

oliveark

It's quite amazing to me still, but I think I may have found someone--a grown-up, no less!--who loves to play with dolls as much as I do.  Like me, she's not picky, any doll will do (except, perhaps, the fussy ones that you find on t.v. shopping channels).  Also like me, she loves the well-loved and tossed-aside.

 She's Petra, of Oliveark, and she makes the most wonderful, whimsical creations.  Usually from the old and worn, dolls excavated from old German factory sites, thrift finds, and even driftwood.  These sweet dears are tiny, tiny frozen Charlotte dolls from about 100 years ago, and she made them clothes and little Thumbelina-inspired beds made from walnut shells.

(This one has her own doll.  My heart just stopped.)

Petra also saw dolls in the driftwood found near her home in the Scottish Highlands.  Look what she does!  Little families!:

I love them.  And wonderfully, Petra is working on a huge collection (150 driftwood folks, to be precise) simply because she is curious to see how they all look together!  (Of course, I will be watching to see how they look together too...I'll keep you posted.)

But that's not all.  Do head over to her flickr stream to see tiny dolls dressed in WWI bandaging or old boots washed up on the shore, riding tigers and rhinos, donning jewelry and singing the blues.  Oh, I could just link all day!  The thought that someone so wonderful all the way across the ocean is making and enjoying these dolls makes me happier than I can say.  And then sharing it all--how lucky are we?!  Thank you so much, Petra, for allowing us to peek into your incredibly lovely world!

Do swing by the Oliveark shop, too, from time to time.  It's near to empty at the moment, but I've no doubt in my mind that treasures will appear there in a bit of time.  (These things don't just happen, you know!  They need the love and vision of someone truly dear to come to life.  Someone like Petra, of course.)

Enjoy the photos, my friends!  If they bring you a fraction of the happiness they brought me--well, then...my work here is done.

xoxox.

saturday farmer's market, san diego, ca

It was such a lovely day.

xoxox.

studio beerhorst

Hello, sweet friends.

Just found this incredibly lovely family of eight--all of whom make art, and live by making art--together.  This amazing family group is headed by Rick and Brenda Beerhorst and rounded out by their six children, all living in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan (with chickens in the backyard). 

Rick's work will blow you away, ranging from the nearly sublime to the quirky and fun:

Oil paintings

Abstracts...

Woodcut prints...Gorgeous, every single one! 

And Brenda is equally talented.  She hooks beautiful rugs, among many other things, I'm sure...

(This last one is based on one of Rick's wonderful woodcut prints...)

This amazing and inspiring couple have a shop, two blogs, and a mind-boggling flickr site, so you can fill yourself to the brim with their lovely work.  They aspire to no less than the highest wonders life has to offer:  "All artistic creation can become a flight towards God. Then lets surround ours selves with truth and beauty and live lives accordingly." 

I love that so much it hurts.

Do enjoy!

xoxox.

p.s.  Their daughters Rose and Pearl have a shop too!  Don't miss their sold items--truly lovely.

i spy with my little eye

Bianca of Pergolina sometimes, if I'm lucky, sends me an email when she gets new things in.  I love what she's had to share lately, as always:

Wonderful "eye-spy" ceramic boxes, for gifts, storage, or just-plain cuteness...

...more ralli quilts!...

Little baskets perfect (Bianca says) for a pet cricket!

 ...wonderful custom-made, absolutely unique terrariums...

 ...just one of many beautiful and unusual vases...

...and keychains (made from repurposed spoons) with my kind of humor!

Shop here for many more unusual and lovely items, or visit the Pergolina blog for updates on cool new things, plus lots of inspiration and beauty.

Thanks, Bianca, for keeping me in the know!

xoxox.