Friday Finds

It finally smells like summer here in the valley! Although I'm a little irritated that jet-lag is still lingering (I've been up since about 6 am), I do love the way the valley looks early in the morning with the sun glowing through the fog blanket and the smell of the sprinklers running in the backyard... makes me crave some tree-house and hammock time! 

Being up this early unexpectedly, I was able to gather up a few lovely links that I found across the interwebs over these past couple weeks. I hope you enjoy them, and this Father's Day weekend! Are you doing anything fun this weekend to celebrate?

• Julie Ann has some of the funniest and snarky paper products I've seen on Etsy! I really love her Father's Day card up above, and frankly everything in her Etsy shop, Julie Ann Art!
• With work starting Monday, I know my free time to create and blog will be minimal. So I'm going to join in on Melyssa's challenge on The Nectar Collective to blog a weekly wish on Mondays! It's a sweet way to give yourself a mini weekly goal to accomplish just for yourself! 
• Did you quote Napoleon Dynamite excessively after it came out? Do you still? Yay, me too! Check out this lovely collaboration on Delia Creates, where they sewed their own costumes for their favorite characters, and had their adorable little boys play the parts! Too cute!
•  Betty Means Business has a great post about personal branding. I'm in the process of re-figuring mine out right now and her post helps to break down why a personal brand is necessary. 
• Oh My Handmade Goodness is off to camp! Well, not exactly... They're have a summer series of camp themed  posts filled with advice for creative entrepreneurs. Plus, they're having a badge design contest right now! 
• There's a great Kickstarter campaign by Basik 855 for their fall collection. They're a small company on a mission to revive the intricate Cambodian craft of Ikat hand-weaving. Their products are stunning and they could use all the love they can get! 
• Photo Jojo has an Iphone film scanner. Incredible? Yep. Do I need? Really bad! I have sheets of film negatives from Italy just gathering dust because it is so expensive to have film negatives scanned! This product is kind of ingenious, and surprisingly affordable.

Friday Finds & a new adventure

Hola! If everything has gone according to plan with planes and connections, I should currently be on my last flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico!!!!! Hooray for a little R&R (and being able to schedule blog posts ahead of time!)

I'll be down in Puerto Rico with the boy until June 11, then I head back to Cali to mentally prepare for the summer to start. I'm bringing my computer with me to keep up with work and also to blog on all the sketches and watercolors I'm planning to make! Ugh...I'm so excited for this trip! The wanderlust blues were getting pretty antsy for some adventure...

Here's some little bits and pieces I saw on the web this week that caught my eye. 

• Isn't that ring up above gorgeous?! Jaci Riley, the creator behind the fantastic Etsy shop Crave Jewelry Design, makes rings from her Instagram photos! (plus, you have a chance to win one on Julie Ann Art's blog!)
• La Vita è Bella has a really interesting take on the tourists that descend upon her beloved Florence every summer...
• Design Sponge posted a fantastic tutorial on making your own watercolors! And likely, you already have everything to make them in your kitchen already. 
• Are you a font junkie too? A Subtle Revelry compiled a great list of gorgeous free fonts! 
• DODOcase makes the coolest product: a notebook with a spot for Iphone to strap into on the cover! Perfect for sketching on the go and listening to music at the same time.
• A couple days ago I posted a photo of my new succulent clippings. I figured out how to propagate my collection from a tutorial on Apartment Therapy
• Matt Rebholz, my first ever printmaking professor at UT, has a Kickstarter to help him launch his third chapter in his graphic novel "The Astronomer." He's a pretty awesome dude and could use some love! 
• Please tell me I'm not the only insane fan of Arrested Development out there. I'm not? Good! Then you will laugh so much over this collection of Arrested Development goodies on Etsy!

Have a lovely weekend! I can't wait to share some new sketches and watercolors with you all!

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!