japanese inspiration

Fun fun fun - the last two days the hubs and I have been on a mission - to find journals for his Sunday School class for church. We wanted something affordable, portable (about Bible-sized) and cool. So where did we go? Daiso, of course! The store where you can find anything and everything under the sun. Lots of little things, tons of cutesy things, but loads of treasures to be had! Lucky for us there are two that are nearby, so we hit both to find what we needed. I purchased one beautiful pink textured rice bowl as a catch-all for my nightstand, some gray felt (for a future project), and then exercised restraint! But I was still inspired by quite a few goodies, see some ideas below.

Take a look at those wavy white bowls they'd be great to hold jewelry, serve a lovely dessert (a custard perhaps?), or even as a candle holder. And the two graphic notebooks with screen printed stripes on kraft paper? Awww yeah, talk about happy note taking! Almost couldn't hold myself together on those guys, but I reminded myself that I have more than enough (free real estate) notepads at home. A few other great ideas struck me as I was browsing, so I jotted them down in my notebook:

Lace paper doilies (10 pack) - would be neat at a table setting on individual plates, or used on a canvas with decoupage and paint for a one-of-a-kind art piece

Pearlized wrapping paper in pastel shades - wrapping glam gifts for a wedding or shower or lining clothing drawers

Tiny glass jars with cork stoppers - curio jars filled with collections of buttons, beads, sand, or used to store q-tips or cotton balls for the bathroom, mini terrariums

White gingham patterned cellophane muffin cups (a mouthful!) (4 pack) - serve muffins for a sweet brunch in individual servings, fill with cherries and place in a cello bag for favors (tie with jute string)

Thin canvas board and paints - express yourself and go wild, make yourself an art piece for home on the cheap

And the best part about all this goodness? Most everything mentioned is a mere $1.50! Sweet! You gotta love the Japanese. And yes, we did find some cool journals for the hubba.

g shower photos

Remember the invites I did earlier? The shower turned out beautifully and it was such a good time! The baby is coming any day now, so it's very exciting.

My friend Jasmin took some awesome photos to capture the day - it's wonderful to have someone taking photos when you aren't able to. She did a great job! The highlights of the party were the fun games we played and the sweet garland made of paper circles that were sewn together. And the oh-so-large balloons that are so popular now were perfect to fill our large wooded party area. Check out more photos here.

been a while

It's been a bit of time since I last posted, and for good reason. In the last two weeks our family had to pull together to support my mom at the hospital while she's been receiving chemo treatments and a bone marrow transplant. It has been a taxing journey and I haven't really been in the blogging state of mind, but I am thankful that we got through it.

The whole time we were at the hospital, we had lots of art projects to do, all thanks to the great Art for Health program there. We were able to create fun signs to encourage my mom and ourselves. She's at home now recovering, so that's something to be thankful for.

desktop wallpaper love: part deux

I'm using my own photo for my desktop wallpaper again, based on a few shots I took but didn't use for our collaborative photoblog assignment. I'm really enjoying it, especially with the lovely fabric background. So here it is, just click to see it a little bit larger.

The fabric is a hand screen printed remnant from Ink & Spindle, a studio in Melbourne, Australia. The lovely Lara Cameron who designed it gave it to me while we were visiting the studio back in March because I wanted to know if there was any more of this print. I love that it's so free form and simple. Just so sweet, really. Seeing their work space and meeting the designers/screen printers in person was a real treat as well, I love seeing the process. And they were so friendly too, which sometimes you don't find with other artists.

Melbourne was a great city and one of my favorite stops on our trip. I enjoyed the Royal Botanic Gardens, the craft and art scene, and the Queen Victoria Market. Here are a few photos from our trip there:

I miss it! Hope to go again!

weekend delights

This weekend was fun. We attended a friend's wedding, visited my parents and fiddled with my dad's vintage camera collection (film! love!), spent Sunday afternoon with friends, and then made a simple dinner of cold soba noodles to enjoy. I love the simple moments in a busy weekend. Here are a few photos:

The soba noodles were on sale at the Korean market and they were organic (asian organic, get out of here) - and the packaging was just so appealing to me. You can't see it in the small version (click to see it larger), but they were the most beautiful colors and had this metallic star pattern printed on the package. It's the little things that keep me inspired. What little things inspire you?

sweet plaid

Loving this sweet and simple plaid shirt from Wiksten. Too bad her stock sells out like *snap* that!image from wikstenmade

wonder foodie: drooling over mallows

I was browsing Etsy when I came upon this lovely shop that was quite unlike the ones I usually browse, and soon found myself drooling over these delicious confections. The shop is called Vintage Confections and while I love a lot of the products, the ones that got my attention were the Neapolitan Marshmallows. Oh. Yummy. I love the combination of strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate, it all looks so good. And the colors are so pretty too (I feel like I've been into these colors lately). And while you're drooling with me, check out these Dulce de Leche Vanilla ones with caramel swirled in them, or the Honey Peanut Butter ones. Delightful.

all images from vintage confections