Serving up...

Very great {and sweet} entertaining server. Perfect for a picnic! Too bad I didn't find it sooner, or we could have really gone camping in style.
Here's an adorable meal set for all of the new babies I know.

One more

Just found out about Delight and what do you know? Another great bag!


And I couldn't resist posting this awesome dish! I want to stomp my feet it's so great{are you reading this Jake?}.

I heart bags

You all know by now that I love bags and accessories. Here's a sampling of my new favorites.

These two are from 31 Corn Lane. The second one is only $12!

Very cute wallet from Miss Alison.

Totes made from old sailboat sails at reiter8.

Bon fires and paddle boats


We're planning our yearly camping trip to my aunt and uncle's land this week. I'm really excited and hope that we get a good turnout. Here's a picture from last year's trip. I hope the weather is as beautiful as it was last year!

Michael Ciervo


Check out these pieces by Michael Ciervo. His work has a haunting quality that I think is really beautiful. He's in an exhibition called Naked Paper at the Tower Gallery in Philadelphia. I'd love to go before it closes, but I'm not sure that I'll make it down.

Edible art


I love these cookies from Cutie Pie Cookie Co. In addition to these great designs, Cutie Pie Cookie can also make cookies with images or logos. Yum!

Home sweet home

I finally finished stripping the wallpaper in our entryway and repainting. It's amazing that such a small space could take so much work {5 hours to strip wallpaper and 3 hours to paint!}. I have to say I'm really pleased, though. It brightens up the experience of coming home.

I'm also greeted by two very happy pups when I come home!

Another lecture


You once again have the opportunity to see a great lecture at VSW. Phil Hendrickson will speak about his work Wednesday, July 25 at 7 p.m. in the VSW media center.

Summer bags


U-handbag
has some great sewing tutorials and free patterns. I hope to have time to make this bag before summer is over. I'll have to take a trip to the fabric store soon!

Birds


I wish I could have this Sara Paloma vase. It's beautiful and would have made my house much happier. Too bad for me, it sold out. Check out her other pieces, they have a really simple elegance.

First on-screen appearance

When Jake and I make our appearance in the Simpsons movie, this is what we'll look like. Pretty hot, huh?

Wallpaper


I just got the new Blueprint and fell in love with their feature on wallpaper. I've been a closet fan of wallpaper for quite some time, probably due to my love of pattern. I especially enjoy all of the new contemporary patterns that are floating around {Nama Rococo is shown below}.


The flip side of this, however, is that right now I'm in the process of stripping some horrible wallpaper in my house. We were able to strip the first few rooms without any problems, but one tiny area in our entry way is taking forever! Lindsay, thankfully, is trying to keep me going. Hope to finish it tomorrow morning and paint before Jake comes home on Sunday {he better notice!}.

Mark your calendars...

VSW Summer Institute instructor, Tate Shaw will be reading for his new book, God Bless This Circuitry, on Wednesday, July 18 in the Auditorium of VSW. Doors open at 7pm. In addition to his reading, I'm excited to see {and purchase} the book!

First sale


I woke up this morning to find that two packs of cards have sold from my Etsy shop. I'm very excited about my first sale! I posted some more stationery this morning, too.

My new shop


I just listed a few things on my new Etsy shop, so check it out! Right now I only have single cards and card sets listed, but more will be coming shortly.

Visiting Buffalo


I've been on a mini vacation to Buffalo to do some letterpress printing and hang out with friends. Abbey and Phil were nice enough to let me crash on their couch and last night we saw some of All's Well That Ends Well at Shakespeare in Delaware Park. A few hundred people showed up to the performance and this summer festival is the second largest in the nation.

I'll make sure to post images of the invitation I just finished as soon as I get home!

Most expensive paintings


As a follow-up to my last post, I thought I'd share the top 10 most expensive paintings in the world.

1 $140 million for No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock (2006)
2 $135 million for Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt (2006)
3 $104 million for Boy with a Pipe by Pablo Picasso (2004)
4 $95.2 million for Dora Maar with Cat by Pablo Picasso (2006)
5 $82.5 million for Portrait du Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh (1990)
6 $78.1 million for Au Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1990)
7 $76.7 million for The Massacre of the Innocents by Paul Rubens (2002)
8 $71.5 million for Portrait de L'Artiste sans Barbe by Vincent van Gogh (1998)
9 $60.5 million for Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier by Paul Cézanne (1999)
10 $55 million for Femme aux Bras Croises by Pablo Picasso (2000)

Please note that all of these pieces were made by male artists. In fact, while looking through the top 120 paintings, not one was made by a woman. "Roots" by Frida Kahlo sold for $5.62 million, making it the most expensive Latin piece sold at auction. I wasn't able to find any other large sales of work by female artists, so if you know some, please send them my way!

Who the $#%& is Jackson Pollock

As recent appreciators of NetFlix, we watched Who the $#%& is Jackson Pollock a few nights ago with friends. It's a short documentary and well worth the time. In short, the film documents Terri Horton's 15-year struggle to have her $5 Jackson Pollock painting recognized by the art world, which would value the painting at about $50 million.

Terri {above} is a 73 year old former truck driver and reminds me quite a bit of my grandmother {who is also very feisty}. One of the people on Terri's side is forensic scientist Peter Paul Biro, who makes a strong case for the authenticity of the painting. Watching this film made me wonder how I can be part of an art world that is so elitist that it refuses to recognize a painting that belongs to a truck driver even with the backing of forensic evidence. I guess I don't really belong to that market, though, a fact that somehow makes me feel better.

A few related links:
Jackson Pollock for $5 - true or false?
Pollock world's most expensive painting
Jackson Pollock

Lastly, my favorite Terri quote:
“Before I let them {the art world} take advantage of me,” she said, smiling broadly, “I’ll burn that son of a bitch.”

Sand between my toes



Hmmm. I'm quite drawn to these photos by Alicia Bock, which I found via Oh Joy. The grainy quality reminds me of my grandmother's photo albums {now housed in my dining room}. They also make me want to head to the beach! Maybe it's a sign that there's a beach in my future.

Rose and Radish

I thought I'd share some great pieces from Rose and Radish. Enjoy!

Cupcake bowls for a fun summer brunch.

An apple jacket, to make sure it doesn't get bruised in your bag.

A porcelain bowl that can be embroidered - what a great idea!

Some awesome pizza plates. These sure beat the plastic ones we use!

Weekend recap


On Saturday I headed to Buffalo to help Abbey and Phil move into their new apartment and meet Emmett {who is even more adorable in person}. It took a full three hours to unload the truck and boy do my legs hurt today {very steep 2nd floor apartment}. About half of the boxes were filled with books and the rest were studio supplies and baby clothes!

Sunday was a lazy day of sleeping in and work around the house. For dinner we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant and then a $2 showing of Hot Fuzz {our second viewing!}.

New work


Here's one of my recently finished screen-prints. It's three color {a bit sparkly from my new favorite pearl white ink} and printed on the most beautiful gray paper.

For the kitchen

I really love the new square collection from Corelle. We have a great set of stoneware that we got for our wedding, but after two years several plates have chipped. So, we mostly use some mismatched Corelle plates. These seem like they would hold up well and have a nice modern design.