Friday Link Love

Art by Erin McManness

It has been a while since I last did a Friday Link Love post. There seems to be a plethora of good crafts and products and ideas floating around on the interwebs these days. Must be the sunny pre-summer weather waking everybody up out of the gloomy spring and winter comas! 

Things are certainly waking up here too! I just got a couple more commissions and this weekend is going to be filled with another mural on Saturday and a sketching event on Sunday...hooray for sketching and vino! 

Today is also day 17 in the Blog Every Day Challenge. One of the reasons for this Friday Link Love post is to distract from the topic of today: a favorite photo of yourself and why. I didn't really want to have a whole post dedicated to a photo of me...so I'll distract you with awesomeness from around the blogosphere and if you so choose to see my favorite photo, scroll to the bottom of this post...if you dare! 

Here are some of my favorite things I've found on the interwebs this week:

• That gorgeous purse up above? Remember the talented Erin McManness I had on a Friday Feature awhile back? She's been painting her gorgeous flowers on some purses lately! It's giving me all kinds of ideas and envy for not owning one of these lovely creations! 
• I want this vintage sweater from Love Gazpacho so much it kind of pains me. Mary has such a great collection of items in her Etsy shop, I need mass amounts of monies to buy everything! 
• Rope coil baskets seem to be everywhere right now! I love this rope tutorial from the Red Thread, but also this t-shirt  and homemade bead version from the Corner Blog. 
• Whimseybox has a fantastic series called 1 Material, Many Ways. They just posted one on oven bake clay projects that I'm itching to try! 
• Have you heard of Betty Means Business? I just found this amazing site the other day! It's dedicated specifically to business advice for creative entrepreneurs! Not only does she have a killer sense of humor and awesome tips, she has an E-book too! 
• That photo of the peach tart I almost forgot to share the other day? I made it for a Bocce match and it was pretty incredible...you can find the recipe here on Food & Wine! 

Okay, time for my favorite photo! I really have a lot of favorites but this one is extra special to me. This is from way back in 2009 when I first studied abroad in Italy. It was my first real big adventure out of the US and it sealed my love with that country, which would ultimately turn into a 2+ year adventure! My friend and I went for a walk in the valley below our town, Castiglion Fiorentino, to sketch and see all the wildflowers! Our school was in a converted convent just to the left of the tall bell tower on top of the hill behind me. *sigh* Italia, mi manchi...