Cardboard Houses

As you might have noticed from reading my blog, I am really drawn to art that is combined with architecture. Our buildings, houses, towns and cities tell a story about who we are and how we live. These places usually last longer than we do and they bear reference to our past and influence our future. Today I thought I would share with you another artist that I stumbled upon who finds her inspiration in these same things. This colorful pile-of-buildings is dubbed Cartonlandia by Los Angeles based Artist, Ana Serrano

Ana is a first generation Mexican American born in Los Angeles in 1983. Her artwork is inspired by her heritage being both Mexican and American and by real life situations and events. Her work bears reference to those in low socio-economic positions, with particular interest in their customs and beliefs as well as architecture and fashion. Ana loves stories and storytelling and Cartonlandia certainly tells a story.

{found via reubenmiller}

You can see more of Ana's work on her website and keep up with all her endeavors on her blog, OK Bye.

Happy Monday!

Light Breakfast by David Sykes

{via swiss miss}

Weekend Delights

{via 31Experiment}

Put on something lovely

Give yourself a hug

Look on the Bright Side

Swap a few favorite things with your friends

Bedroom Bits and Pieces

Welcome to a little bit of my serenity.

My bedside table.

Raindrops on my mirror.

I have very tall ceilings in the bedroom and I wanted something big to fill the space above the bed. I saw this fabric wall hanging in the Domino magazine and kept the tear sheet in my inspiration folder for quite awhile. The flowers and faces resonated with me. You can see two faces initially, but I have counted four faces in the picture. {wall hanging kit from Textile Arts}

My big blue chair is a Craigslist find. The back of this chair reclines all the way down and in the evening our dogs use this chair as their bed.

I wanted my bedroom to be a space that was relaxing of course and a space that reminded me of the water. I guess since living near Seattle for most of my life the water is just a part of me, but mostly I wanted the space to remind me of the "Living Water", the water that sustains me and fills me daily.

Mail for Me!

Someone sent me some extra lovin'! Dee from Our Little Love Nest is the sweetest. I ordered one of her prints from her etsy shop and she surprised me with an extra print and an embossed card. You must stop over and read her blog. She is a genuine Lover of the Lord, wife, mother and artist who shares her love of life, love of family and home and art inspirations. Thank you Dee for your kindness and generosity.

Thursdays Creative Thrift

These fun silhouettes are made by Katie Sokoler, a freelance photographer from Brooklyn. I just can't seem to get enough of her. She has a DIY for these paper silhouettes in Time Out New York Magazine. To see more of Katie and her work you can visit her blog or her web page. Beware, her art and photography leads to an infectious smile.

Happy Monday!

via two brunettes

Wonderful Weekend, Wonderful Wedding

The past couple of days I have been cutting roses and roses, and more roses getting ready for my friend Jen's wedding. I have helped with weddings before but this is the first time that I did all the decorations. My husband was a great help in getting it all set up. I was really pleased with the overall look and would really love to do this again. Here are just a few pictures of the wedding. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Thursdays Creative Thrift

Monica turns mundane into mod with two Ikea Lack tables and Bamboo veneer. Visit her Craftynest to learn how.

found via Little Hen Designs

Boxed Water Is Better

What a great idea! I wanna try this.

I saw this on the good life for less. Jill's brother is one of the minds behind Boxed Water Is Better , who's company launched in March of this year. They are a local company right now based in Michigan, but are working on U.S. and international distribution. You can learn more about them here.

Lifesize Dollhouse

Wouldn't you like to play in this dollhouse?

Saskatchewan artist Heather Benning converted this abandoned farmhouse in Manitoba into a full-sized, livable dollhouse in 2007.

The north facing wall of the house was replaced with Plexiglas for dollhouse viewing. The wall colors and furnishings are in 1960's fashion, the time when the home was abandoned.


The artist's own words on her creation, "I wanted to show the passage of time … I was able to show what it looked like before it was left, but then what it looks like now, you know, 35 years later."

found via Free People and CBC News.CA

Happy Monday!

sunset ballons by TiaraMia

"Lovely Blogs"

I'd like to share "One Lovely Blog Award" with 15 lovely blogs that delight and inspire me.

Our Little Love Nest

Dee is a sweet girl who shares with us her art, design, inspiration and family. This is one lovely little blog that I discovered recently and it has been a favorite daily read. She also runs an etsy shop by the same name where you can purchase some of her artwork.

oh, hello friend

Danni is a young graphic designer. You can count on her weekly topics of weekly giveaways, lovely goods, lovely inspiration and weekly roundups. She also runs an etsy shop where she sells her handmade jewelry.

two brunettes

Carolyn and Nell are a graphic design and copy writer team from New York who started their own stationary line. They share with us there stationary and lots of other things that inspire them along the way. You can also purchase some of their stationary in their etsy shop.

mint

Ellie is a graphic designer from North Carolina. She shares with us her love of art, design and weddings. She just recently got married and has posted all of her beautiful wedding pictures and preparations on her blog.

Love, Obsess, Inspire

This blog is just like it says. It is filled with things one might , love, obsess, or find inspiration from.

Lolalina-find your sweet life

Laura is a very inspiring and creative writer who shares with us her inspirations as well as inspiring advice on how to live the sweet life. Her blog is filled with all kinds of ideas from decor to travel to weddings and small business.

Life in the Fun Lane

A girl who loves white. She shares with us her beautiful home where she and her husband have renovated each room on their own on a very practical budget and her joys of being a new mother to a sweet baby girl.

gathering spriggs

Heather is an artist and designer from Nashville, TN. She shares with us her love of vintage, arts and crafts, boutiques, green living, color trends and up and coming artists. She runs two etsy shops with her friend Eve. Gathering Spriggs where they carry hand made items inspired by nature and Gathering Vintage where they carry vintage home decor.

enid

A husband and wife team, Lara and Tim run a shop and blog by the same name where they sell their wares inspired by Lara's grandmother and grandfather , Fred and Enid Collins. Artists from Texas who were famous for their leather handbags and sculpted brass ornaments during the post world-war II era.

DoodleBuds

Heather is a new mother, author and creative director who shares some of her creative endeavors as well as art, design, photography and all sorts of goodies just for kids.

Decor Amor

Ashley is a young photographer from Seattle who just graduated with her degree in communications. She has a lovely blog filled will all kinds of inspiring and beautiful pictures of nature, art, interior design and fashion.

concrete and honey

A beautiful blog filled with dreamy pictures and soft colors. Nicola, a girl from Sydney, Australia who shares with us her knack for design, style and photography. Her blog is filled with all the things that inspire her as well as writing, cooking and crafting. She also has a cooking blog called Urban Nectar that is just as lovely.

Color Me Katie

Katie is a freelance photographer from Brooklyn. I just recently found this blog and it really makes me smile. She is an artist as well as photographer who promotes human interaction in her projects. You really need to see her blog to see how awesome she is. It will make you happy and make you smile.

a room somewhere

Leslie from Texas shares with us beautiful rooms, fashion and little DIY projects.

a mad tea party with alis

A lovely blog by Alis an industrial designer. She shares with us her love for beautiful objects, industrial and interior design.

One Lovely Blog Award!

It put a smile on my face today when I found out that I received "One Lovely Blog Award" from Nuit at A passion for Beautiful Things - Thank you so much Nuit, I am greatly honored.

I will be back tomorrow with a list of Lovely Blogs that I have discovered.

Here are my instructions upon receiving the award:
1) accept the award and post it on my blog with the name of the person who gave it to me
2) then pass the award on to 15 other blogs recently discovered
3) contact them to let them know they received the award.

Thursdays Creative Thrift

Turn your old dresser into a bookcase. Go from this...

To this!

You can find all the details at Country Living Magazine.

Colorful Patchwork

How I found this is an Accidental Mystery.

I am amazed by creative minds that come up with new designs in this world where there is nothing new under the Sun.

This lego patchwork or "Dispatchwork" is the work of 26 year old, Jon Vormann from Berlin, Germany. You can find his work in Germany, Israel and Italy where he repairs old WWII bullet holes, chips and cracks in buildings and bridges with colorful little lego bricks.

Sunny Day Mornings

Here is an update of my kitchen that I promised to show you. Remember the inspiration photo I showed you a few weeks back.

Here are some before and after pictures. I used what I already had, and just added paint, the shelves and table cloth from Ikea. I painted the chairs that used to be out on my patio white and added a table that I had stored in my garage. The dishes were hiding up in my cupboards and are so happy now to be out on display. Just a little color goes along way.

This is a cheery little place to drink my chai tea latte in the morning.