Giveaway: RxArt

I'm very picky about giveaways, but when this one came along I knew it fit the bill because I'd promote their cause any day. RxArt is a nonprofit that works with the latest and greatest contemporary artists (William Wegman, Sol LeWitt, Frank Stella etc.,) to place site-specific installations in hospitals and outpatient centers. Their ultimate goal is to transform these cold, sterile environments into happy escapes with the power of visual art. Their latest and greatest project is a CAT scan machine designed by Jeff Koons, to be unveiled in Chicago's Advocate Children's Hospital in the coming months. Sounds awesome, right? Well today they're giving one lucky reader a set of their super awesome two-edition RxArt coloring books that artists like Takashi Murakami, Ryan McGinness, and a ton of other artists contributed to that you can read about here and here. The first edition of the coloring book is sold out, and many consider it to be a collectors item.



So, all you have to do to enter this awesome giveaway is visit their site and check out what they do, the projects they've worked on, and the artists they've worked with, and come back here and comment with your favorite project they've worked on, or artist they've worked with (could be your favorite artist that contributed to the coloring books!) and I will pick one random commenter on Thursday at 8am EST who will receive both coloring books.

New Jamie Lidell

Some Monday morning music for you - a new song from Jamie Lidell called "Compass" from his new album of the same name due out May 18th. It's amazing, and I can't wait to hear the rest of the album, especially with news from Pitchfork that "talented people including Beck, Feist, Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, Daniel Rossen, and Chris Bear, Wilco's Pat Sansone, legendary R&B drummer James Gadson, soul belter Nikka Costa, Beck keyboardist Brian LeBarton, and producer/songwriter Gonzales" helped out on this album.

When I first heard Jamie a while back I was shocked to put a face to his voice, especially when you listen to his song "Another Day", which is my go-to cheering up song. You just don't really expect a guy who looks like he stepped out of a Wes Anderson movie to have that voice.

Bits Of My Weekend

It was a restless weekend. I decided quickly on Saturday that I'm so, so ready for Spring and that I'd be totally fine with Winter ending asap. It wasn't a bad weekend at all, it was just one of those weird blah ones where the highlights included rearranging the living room and watching every single episode of Parks and Recreation on hulu (hooked). Even Wendy was acting strange and sitting in strange places (see above). But that's ok, I have a 4.5 day work week and then a 3 day weekend to look forward to. Also wonderful is that the sun doesn't set until 5:30 lately, and that makes me a happy camper.

ps. my cowl was made by my talented step-sister (you should have her knit you something!) and that polar bar print hanging from the pants hanger in the 5th photo is a print I won (won! I never win anything!) from atlantic treefox.

Have a wonderful weekend

red, originally uploaded by oh-so-quiet.

This weekend I'm looking forward to rest and catching up with all the little things I had to ignore all week while I was sick. I haven't been sick like this since I had mono a few years ago, and it's taken a lot out of me! I'm sorry to those of you who may have emailed me and I've ignored, I'll get to you eventually.

But besides that, I have a new camera to play with, a (lighter than previously expected) snow storm on it's way to watch, and lots of brunch eating, as you know I do enjoy partaking in.

I also just want to say thank you to the jury over at The Poppies - For Me, For You jewelry tied for second (with Lauren Haupt, who you may know I love) for best jewelry for the Jury's Choice. I'm so honored, there was so very many other great jewelry artists in that category. Congrats to Maronon for winning 1st - what an embroidery floss loving bunch those jurors are:) And of course congrats to the winners in the other categories, so many of my favorite people were on there.

Have a wonderful weekend, and for those of you in the snow storm's stronger path, be safe!

Horse Ring

Speaking of horses, Conroy & Wilcox's new horse head ring is amazing. Now if they would just make some type of nautical ship ring, we'd be set.

Vintage Nautical

Ever since I found my ship bookends, I've been keeping a little list of vintage ship items on etsy. I just love them - they remind me of my Grandpa, and warmer days to come.

sources:
1 - 2 - 3
4 - 5 - 6
7 - 8

New Joanna Newsom

I know I kind of disappeared, but this cold ended up kicking my butt way more than I expected, and I ended up getting worse Monday and needed to take a break. But I'm back to civilization, though very behind. So all I can give you for now is this new song from Joanna Newsom, called "Good Intentions Paving Company" from her upcoming (supposedly 3 discs!!) album Have One On Me that comes out February 23rd. I know she's not a crowd-pleaser, and her last album didn't grab hold of my heart as much as her first did, but this new song is just wonderful to me. I completely agree with Kitsune Noir, it's very Joni Mitchell.

my house party

I love these little wooden houses with air plants from my house party. Abby has a lovely studio show and tell with them today.

Bits Of My Weekend

Apparently this weekend involved a lot of food. Other things this weekend involved were coughing, coughing, and coughing. I'd been feeling a bit under the weather at the end of last week, but figured it was just allergies, and at the beginning of this weekend I apparently pushed myself over the edge by drinking a liter of beer at Radegast (the size of your head, in case you were wondering) and going to an unheated flea market when it was around 15 degrees. So, Saturday night til this very moment, my bed is my best friend. But I did eat delicious food, find awesome stuff at the flea market, and get a quick trip in to The Folk Art Museum. So all in all, not really that bad of a weekend. Oh and being sick in bed is a perfect excuse to force yourself to finish your taxes, buy marshmallow clouds, and watch Paris, Texas (so, so good) while eating chocolate chip cookies made from the pre-made package (a totally ok thing to do while sick.)

ps. just a reminder that you can click the photos in Bits Of My Weekend to find out more about them! Most hold their own little stories. Well, when I'm feeling up to it. ha.

Hello, Weekend

photo by iroas929 on flickr


This weekend I am excited for The Folk Art Museum, a meat and beer extravaganza (here), the garage flea market, and finally tackling some design and illustration freelance I'm quite excited about. I'm also looking forward to the movies I've been stock-piling on my netflix instant queue. There are so many good ones right now! Including: Paris, Texas, Rebel Without A Cause, Amadeus, Romeo + Juliet, La Strada, and Synecdoche, New York. Where do I begin?!

Have a great one, see you Monday.

You Can Do Magic

I'm in the mood for a good hunk of crystal (thanks, Alison). Or maybe a prism (thanks, [blogless] Margot) for my window sil, for rainbow-tastic moments? Or maybe, because the last time I saw the stars in this city was exactly never, a star projector (thanks, Erin.)



And yes, I named this post after a pretty amazing American song, with an equally amazing music video that I find while I may or may not have been a little bit drunk and laughing so hard it hurt:



(and yes, we listen to America at least once a week, non-ironically. But that doesn't mean we can't laugh at their music videos)

back to my roots

Nich Hance's photos of Alaska (what I've gathered is Alaska from some detective work) are blowing my mind. I've never had much of an urge to go to Alaska, but now I do.

In fact, I wish I could time travel back to the vacations of my childhood. We rarely went on vacations, but when we did, they were budget trips to visit family in places like Montana and South Dakota. Driving trips that took us through mountains, prairies, and wilderness that I obsessively think about these days. What I would give to take a few weeks off and drive from my grandparents' home in Sioux Falls (my birthplace) to home in Seattle, taking a million pictures along the way. I've been to gorgeous places like the Black Hills, Glacier National Park, and Mt. Rushmore all the while hating every moment of it because my other friends got to go on fancy vacations to places like Europe and Mexico. I just want to go back in time and smack myself, hand me a camera, and tell myself to document those moments before I never get the chance again for a long, long time.

(photos via freckle farm)

French Eye Candy

There is some serious eye candy on French shop Manon's website. Oh my.

via Darling Dexter

Wild Horses

Apparently I'm obsessed with horses lately, in various aspects. I keep seeing the majestic creatures popping up on clothing recently - vintage and new.

Shop Ramona West
Spool No. 72
Mad Girl Vintage

Music to get you through the week

IRM - Charlotte Gainsbourg

The much anticipated second album from Charlotte Gainsbourg, IRM, is out today - a collaboration with Beck, and I've mentioned my excitement for it already way too many times. Oh my lord, it's good. Can't wait to buy it on iTunes when I get home so I can scare Wendy with my dance moves.


Also, Urban Outfitters latest mix of 25 free tracks is out, and as usual it doesn't disappoint. I'm crazy about the first track by Tune-Yards and the Cold Cave track.

Oh and this has nothing to do with music, but on the subject of things to get you through the week (January is always so hard for me) how about we watch the new puppy cam? The pups are still kind of gerbil-like, but I love Shibas SO much that watching the cute mom is enough for me. Like, all day.

Free TV Show from Ustream

Found Vintage Style

Loving some of the interesting vintage finds at Found Vintage Style.

The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox

Pentagram's book, The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox, looks like it's full of some amazing details (and inspiration) on my favorite movie of last year. I would love to curl up with it for hours...

via Vic







(and if there was sound in this post, I'd close it with Mr. Fox's signature whistle, which I did every ten minutes for a month after seeing the movie.)

Things that are good lately

"Sweet Thing" on repeat. Decided to give "Wild Horses" a rest.
ps. his people are very, very good at keeping Van Morrison off of youtube. dang.
(Update: I was ordered to take the song down. Which confuses me because I thought embedding Lala players was legal, but I guess not. Sad.)

Multitasking while I watch Netflix Instant movies.



James Dean in East of Eden. How was it even legal for someone to be that attractive?



Moonstruck. Oh Cher, oh Nick, let's go back to you in those days, ok?




Making these brownies twice in one week. Which has actually nearly become a monthly ritual.

also:
An episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia at least every other night. Charlie, will you marry me?
Amazing Sales sales sales and new things for Spring. (or is that a bad thing?)
new blog love (via design sponge)

Bits Of My Weekend

This weekend was nonstop working. It's my fault for saving so much to do for the shop update until the last minute, but I guess that's just how I roll:) I only left the house twice to run errands, so I barely have anything interesting to share! Sometimes a few days of crazy work feels good though, it's satisfying to fall into bed and just pass out. Now excuse me while I pass out on the train to work...

Shop Update Heads Up

A preview of the necklaces that will be sold tomorrow is now up in the shop. Some new necklaces include the braided thread necklaces, and two new thick overdye thread necklaces that I'm in love with here and here. Lots of brass drops and double strands, and a few solid color classics.


Some boring (but important) things to note:

1. If you live in NY state, I need to start charging you sales tax. The way I was doing it before, just eating the cost out of my own pocket, is no longer working because more and more people in New York are buying necklaces, and someone told me you're not supposed to do that anyway. Because I can't set up something with paypal to charge you because of New York's kajillion different tax amounts depending on your locations, now, after you purchase a necklace, I'll refund you and send you a revised invoice that includes tax. So if you live in New York, don't disappear from the internet after you pay because I'll be resending an invoice to you - hopefully within an hour of purchasing. This is stupendously annoying, but I've contacted several people and found this is the only way I can do it. wah wah.

2. If you are an international customer, there is a chance that you'll be charged import taxes, customs duties and fees, which are levied once a shipment reaches your country. I have nothing to do with this, and though it's rare that this happens, it could happen to you. I state this in my policies section, but some people have emailed me wondering what was up with them having to pay that, so I just want to point that out here a little more clearly so you're prepared.

Thanks everyone, I'm excited to get this latest (rather large) batch out the door! Hoping for the next update to be late February.

A handful of randoms

It's that time again for an "I'm too busy to be a good blogger this week" random mish-mash blog post! I've been filing things away for when I had a moment to breath.

Did you know that David Sedaris released an audiobook of some of his live performances on vinyl last year? How was this never brought to my attention before? It also comes with a free mp3 download - something I highly appreciate with records that have that. Thank you, awesome coworkers, for the heads up.

Goodbye Sorrow from Katie Armstrong on Vimeo.

Reader Katie Armstrong is a senior at SVA and sent me this amazing video called Goodbye Sorrow that she made, created with hundreds of watercolor illustrations. She also recorded the vocals, which I've had stuck in my head ever since I first watched this, because they're so damn haunting. There's also an installation up in the Westside Gallery at SVA where you can watch the video and see all of the illustrations.

I bought this amazing Lauren Moffatt dress on Gilt (wanna sign up?) for a stupendously awesome discount, and oh boy is it even more lovely in person than I had imagined. The print is really interesting, and I'm hoping someone has some kind of event soon that calls for me to wear it. Or I'll just wear it to work because it's linen and could be dressed down a bit with boots.

I am so completely in awe of this story over at A Desert Fete, a blog I adore. You'll just have to head over there to read about it - prepare to be amazed.


I'm skipping my usual have a great weekend post, but be sure that you do indeed have a great weekend! And don't forget, Sunday evening a preview of what necklaces will be sold on Monday will be up - in the shop, on here, and for the email list subscribers!

awesome girls make awesome blogs

Two of my favorite people on the internet have started new blogs that I do believe you must check out.



First up, you may know Alison better as Teen Angster on Etsy (I get really excited for her always fantastic blogosphere round-up posts every Thursday) and twitter, but now she's started her own personal blog of awesome finds as well.




Second up, like me you are probably already in love with Meighan's blog My Love For You is a Stampede Of Horses, where she posts about some really great art. Meighan just started another blog, Wild Horses, for all the things she adores that don't fit into the art category of My Love For You.

I can see the beginning of a beaaautiful addition to my overflowing google reader...