Birthday Wishes

My birthday is fast approaching and I wanted to share a few items on my wish list:

This book on art journaling is at the top of my list. I have a hard time committing to regular journaling, even though I think it would be good for me. Art journaling seems like something that would be really fulfilling and meditative. Also, I’ve been craving a creative outlet other than jewelry for a while now and this books is full of a lot of ideas and techniques.

My amazon wish list is full of tons of other books, but I’ve also really been wanting an Ernst Heckle book. This one looks good:

Also, I recently received an iPad (!!!) for my 5 year anniversary at my job, and now I need some accessories like these:

A protective case of some sort – not necessarily this one… (this one serves as a stand too!).  Have you seen more cool looking iPad case/covers?

and screen protectors too!

I found this print a while ago and I just love it.  I’d love to create a little grouping of prints and photos with this one in the mix.

Click on any image for sources.

Paper Craft Weekend

For Christmas I received this great book full of tons of cool, crafty projects.

I couldn’t wait to get started on one of them in particular: the 3 Dimensional Ornamental ball. When I completed the first one and shared with some friends, they were so impressed and intrigued that I thought I’d share the process. The results are impressive and deceptively simple. All you need is paper, glue, scissors (or a round paper punch), and something round to trace (if you don’t have the round paper punch).

The first step is to cut 20 circles circles. That’s my cat Harold, helping me separate the blue from the red circles – isn’t he sweet! I used photos from my 2011 wall calendar, but I think old maps or books would be great too.

Once, you’ve got your circles cut, you need to make a stencil of an equilateral triangle that fits perfectly inside your circles. Here are some great instructions on how to get your perfectly sized equilateral triangle. Trace your stencil on the back sides of your circles, and then fold the edges up.

Now you’re ready to start gluing things together:

I found it helpful to make sure the backsides of the circles/triangles were lined up as I was gluing. I used a glue stick, which was pretty tacky. This worked really well because I didn’t have to wait for it to dry before I moved on to the next one.

You’ll want to glue 3 sections: a strip of 10 pieces, and 2 domes made of 5 pieces each:

As you can see above, the strip of 10 pieces will get glued into a ring. Then, you’ll glue the domes to ring. You’re almost done now, but not quite….

I’m a little obsessive when it comes to little details, so I trimmed every edge that didn’t perfectly line up… I really couldn’t stand the thought of seeing the backsides poking up over the edges!

Now you’ve got an impressive and beautiful specimen! I’m going to make a total of 3 and hang them in a cluster in my living room.

A Rocky Christmas

One of my favorite things to collect are rocks. I have dishes and bottles and jars all over my apartment filled with shells, stones and rocks collected from all over. They serve as reminders of significant events or feelings and I find them fascinating and beautiful, each in they’re own unique way. This christmas I shared a little of this love with some of my favorite people.

I feel in love with this little tiny ceramic box when I found it. In person it really actually looks like a rock, and inside is a bright colorful glass glaze. I thought it was perfect for a dear friend who sees beauty in things that are easily overlooked.

I put this collection of rocks and crystals together for my brother. Inspired by something I found on etsy, I wanted to make a display of rocks that were inspired by my brother, and also for him.  Though it was difficult, I had fun coming up with the words / captions for each specimen.

I really love how this project came out… I think I might make one for myself too.

simple things

This little project made me smile today. Katie painted little rocks and  distributed them out in the “real” world, in an effort to inspire smiles. I just love the idea and I think it would be really fun to do something similar in my own neighborhood…

Check out more of Katie’s projects here. Her blog is bright and cheerful and will definitely make you smile.

Inspirational Artist Beth Hoeckel

Beth Hoeckel’s collages are lovely, dreamy scenes that are cosmic, other-worldly and surreal:

I love looking at them and dreaming up a narrative about the landscape or characters.

Check our more of her work here.

Dreams of Dresses

While internet shopping for christmas gifts for friends and loved ones, I managed to get sucked into the dress department at modcloth. Danger. Here are a few outfits I dreamed up for my favorite dresses:

Dress for dinner party by missemilyps featuring rachel roy jewelry

Dress for weekend errands by missemilyps featuring oversized jewelry

Dress for work or play by missemilyps featuring cluster jewelry

Dress for spring time by missemilyps featuring vintage style shoes

I had a lot of fun putting these outfits together… Have you tried playing with polyvore yet? It’s lots of fun and you can add any items you find online to the collection.

A few of my Favorite things

I keep listening to this song on repeat:

We made some super yummy cookies this weekend:

And also watched two of my most favorite holiday movies:

I also had a lot of fun wrapping christmas presents, using brown paper grocery bags decorated in silver sharpie designs.

Tonight we’ll make soup with friends and maybe hang a few more ornaments on the tree. Overall, a great first weekend of December.

My Brother Made a Lamp

Earlier this week, my brother emailed me some new pictures of some of his recent work that was photographed. Here is the lamp that I mentioned a few weeks ago:

He usually designs and makes cabinets and furniture, but I thought his lamp experiment was really exciting! If you happen to be in Portland, Maine, he’ll be selling some of his creations at the Maine College of Art holiday sale this weekend.

Inspirational Artist Virginia Kraljevic

I’m in love with the ink drawings by Virginia Kraljevic. They’re all about pattern in geometric and organic forms. The intricate lines draw me in and each print feels meditative because of the rhythm of the patterns. I could stare at them for hours:

Check out more in her etsy shop. I’m sure you’ll find yourself transfixed.

Color in Nature

I stumbled across these amazing photos of birds in South Africa:

(This last one is my favorite!)

It’s incredible to me how colors like this exist out there in nature.

(see more here)