Quote of the (Every) Day

Today's (and every day's) goal.  Onward, butterbeans!!

Tasty Tuesday: Visual Snacks

This might be hard to believe, but I really am an analog girl in a digital world.  (I know I'm not alone: I hear the rest of you out there, scratching in your notebooks with a sharpened pencil...raise those pencils high and proud!!)  Every tiny bit of technology confounds and amazes me: the iPhone, apps, links, backing up, digital editing, blabbity-blah blah.  So it'll come as no surprise that working on designing a mudstar website, even an informational one, is like trying to learn a foreign language when you're hard of hearing.  It's a little time-consuming.

So. I now find myself without a delicious blog meal to post today, but never fear!!  Snacks can be just as satisfying, and today I am sharing some tasty, tasty snacks of the visual variety:

1) Carved crayon totems from Pete Goldlust. (I'm not sure what's more fabulous: his work or his name.)

2) Anthropologie's Decor section of their new wedding line: BHLDN.  (Which is supposed to read: Beholden.  Why they couldn't just call it that, I'm not sure...but it's still gorgeous either way.)

3) Design blog Veda House, which highlights all the graceful, quiet elegance that is Scandanavian design.

4) Late July Organic Dark Chocolate Sandwich Cookies: picture the delicious black sheep of the Oreo family.  These are so, so good.  And they're organic: that's healthy, right?

5) Precious metal bowls from Pigeon Toe Ceramics.  "Wafer-thin sheets of copper with a burnished patina form these resplendent bowls." You had me at wafer-thin...

Where I Work and Play

I don't know about you, but I love seeing the physical space where people make art.  A studio, whether it be a table, a nook, a room, or a group space, says so much about an artist.  I dare say that you can learn more about an artist by their scribbles, their unfinished work, by what's pinned to their walls for inspiration, how they organize their supplies, how their spaces are laid out, than you can by a finished piece hanging on a wall.

Website In The Make gives a proverbial peek into the "underwear drawer" (not really, but you know what I mean...) of many fine artists and designers, across all genres.  The studio visits are documented beautifully and intimately by writer Nikki Grattan and photographer Klea McKenna.  Warning: it's ver-y easy to get sucked down the rabbit hole on this site....

And so...I was inspired to share and snapped some pics of my basement ceramics studio - enjoy a peek!

Shop Tour: Modern Love

In this world of "that is so 18 seconds ago," Modern Love in historic Frenchtown, New Jersey, makes us appreciate a time when typewriters were cool, mid-century modern style was de rigeur, and a girl embraced a "pop of color" in the form of a sassy apron.

It's been nearly two years since proprietor Meg Metz, a former manager of an organic farmers' market, decided to take the leap of creative faith that has become Modern Love: a colorful jewel box of a shop that houses Meg's beautifully curated collection of vintage and handmade goods, independent letterpress stationery, and lovingly refurbished typewriters.  Modern Love provides a happy home to artists and vendors like: Wry Baby, Nkuku and Yellow Owl Workshop.

(And here's a tip: after you've filled your shopping bag with all your gorgeous Modern Love loot, mosey on down the road to the Lovin' Oven, to get a cookie called a Buckeroo that'll kick you in the teeth.  It's that good.)

Modern Love

23 Race Street

Frenchtown, NJ
(908) 996-3387
www.shopmodernlove.com