favorites all around

I'm a little late to blog today...by little I mean a lot. I had a lovely weekend making another mural at the C Gallery on Saturday, selling some watercolors at a wine event Sunday and hanging with the boy Monday. Then today I helped some 1st graders do a sidewalk mural! It has been a busy and art filled weekend...the best kind if you ask me. 

As a result, I'm blogging for the Every Day in May challenge at 11:15 at night. I liked Sunday's topic too so I'm going to do a combo post since it's all about favorites! Sunday: your favorite blogs and why, & Tuesday: your favorite posts in your archives. 

First up, my favorite blogs! I have so many favorite blogs. Really, my Bloglovin' feed is out of hand. But I can't help it! It took a little work but I narrowed down my favorites a bit...

• F*yeah, Book Arts! has such a great collection of artist books, tutorials and more. The first time I found them I spent days clicking back through the archives. 
• Julie Ann Art is a recent find but a huge favorite. Her blog is so inspiring! Slowly working to join her ranks of living solely off of creating. 
• Design Sponge is probably on most artsy people's favorite list. If it's not already on yours, get to it now! They really have the best collection of art, design, crafts and just overall inspiration.
• A Beautiful Mess is another no-brainer that everyone should have on their blog feed
• The sketching backpacker puts Terzo to shame...seriously...he's incredible...
• Warm Pears by Gina Gomez makes me so homesick for Italy. Every time I look at her photos I fall in love with that country all over again. 
• Silly Grrl is another new love but she's pretty awesome! All the new blog tweaks? Yeaaah they're all thanks to here awesome tips and tricks!
• Kitty and Buck is such a lovely blog! Kitty is such a sweet lady and she has the greatest photos, outfits and pretty much everything! 
• Yum and Yummer is full of tasty recipes and snarky commentary. For the win. 

Some of my favorite blog posts:

I really love this post on all the paper bag projects I made! I still have a mountain of bags waiting to be turned into envelopes, baskets and notebooks!

This doily purse DIY is still one of my favorites, probably because I use the purse so frequently still! Hooray for Mod Podge and it's ability to withstand a beating from the daily life of Chelsea! 

I talk about Terzo a lot on here but this post was not only my first blog post but it was also full of my sketches the first time I went to Italy. I still love flipping through that old sketchbook. 

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...

Friday Finds

Annie Lang's Blue Bialetti

Been another whirlwind week. On top of all the normal crazies I've been house/teen sitting all week. The life of a soccer mom is pretty insane! I have a new found respect for all the mamas that tote their kids about to practices and games and school and back and forth and everywhere and everything else in between! 

Some of the stuff I've been working on this week has been pretty fun tho. I'm finishing up a lovely giant photo album, hoping to have it done by this weekend so I can make some photos of it and share it finally! I also volunteered to help make some decorations for my sister's school fundraiser. Paris shop scenes and fancy painted cursive signs, of course I'm adding that to the heap of things to do. 

I've gotten pretty slackerish with the Friday Features too (sorry!)...in lieu of a Friday Feature this week, I wanted to do a little round-up of some pretty snazzy things I've found around the interwebs this week:

• I am in love with Annie Lang's bialetti illustration! She has a pretty whimsical Etsy shop too. 
• My dear friend Alice Coles also just redid her website...she has some pretty snazzy stuff. Make sure you check out her watercolors, she's fantastic!
• My little bud vases were featured on Fave Crafts Blog, woo hoo! 
• Anybody a fan of the movie Garden State? The creator Zach Braff has a kickstarter to raise money for his next movie project, Wish I Was Here. I don't think there's any question as to if it will be funded, but it would be pretty awesome to say you had a hand in helping this film be made...
• Kerry has one of the funniest food blogs I've ever seen...as well as one of the tastiest! His sfoglia recipe is my go to! He also just posted a recipe for a no-bake paleo chocolate cream pie...I'm not even doing paleo but I want this pie now! 
• Three reasons to travel while you're young. Enough said. 
• Ariele Alasko, the amazing woodworker/table maker extraordinaire I featured last year, just went to Italy. Needless to say I was swooning over her Instagram feed...
• Remember Kitty and Buck, Shell's lovely blog that I sponsored last month? She just got back from Japan and is having a giveaway of some goodies she found there! Enter! It looks like an awesome spread! 

Have a lovely weekend! 

Friday Link Love

Busy and lazy, a dangerous combination...somehow during this very odd period of being very busy working and gleaning any bit of sunny spring outdoor laze time I can, I managed to reorganize my little art bubble. I'm rather pleased with the transformation! And the addition of some spring flowers...

Going with the busy/laziness... another week of no Friday Feature. Sorry folks, but I'm broke as a joke so time and all  efforts must go towards working/healing my ailing bank account. 

But! I offer you this compromise! Here are some lovely blogs I have stumbled on to lately (in my small moments of laze): 

• Moorea Seal: I'm smitten with this blog. Gorgeous design, a jewelry maker and with a very interesting 52 week challenge. 
• One Sheepish Girl: a crafting/knitting/crochet blog based in Dallas. Her blogging for confidence series is what really got me hooked. 
• Him&Her: Such a pretty and clean blog, run by a newly wed couple with some fantastic photography. 
• Design Love Fest: I'm really not sure how I am just finding out about this blog now. Great sense of  humor and all design/art oriented...I'm addicted. 
• Julie Ann Art: This is my dream! Julie is a success story of turning her Etsy shop into a career, and her blog is also very inspiring! 

Sometime next week too, I'll be participating in a giveaway at Shell's blog Kitty And Buck so keep an eye out for that! 

Also, I'm sure it's pretty common knowledge now that Google Reader is vanishing. I'm not sure how widespread this little bloggy is in the world (are you there Universe? It's me Chelsea...) but if you are following along with Google Reader and wish to continue to following the sketchy notions (I have a Craft It Forward project coming up too, if that entices you at all!) maybe consider following with Bloglovin. It's my favorite way to keep track of all my blog addictions. 

                                                                          

bits & pieces & some link love

Been making some things lately...

1 // 2 // 3

And finding some a lot of new blog addictions...

• Alisa Burke: a lovely artist who has some fantastic crafts and repurposing projects...
• Yellow Owl Workshop: a great crafty blog, and the coolest Instagram project! 
• The Red Thread: all sorts of inspiration and some great tutorials...
• Fine and Feathered: gorgeous photos and posts and pretty much everything...

And getting surprised by a friend in Italy and some pictures from this last trip...

Overall, it has been a nice, calm and productive weekend... hope you're having a lovely weekend too!