Thursday, June 23, 2011

Shades of Rust

I've sorta developed an obsession with foxes--red ones to be specific. They're solo, woodland dwellers. Though, I have heard of them walking around my old neighborhood, I have yet to see one wandering around.

My Favorites section on Etsy is filled to the brim with foxy goods, so I took some time to create a treasury just of foxes: Shades of Rust. With such a unique outfit--red coat, black socks, and a white tipped tail--what's not to love?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Blooming Summer Inspiration

Though we've had a handful of sweltering days, the majority of June has consisted of days with temperatures in the 70s and evenings in the 50s. Call me crazy, but that's just lovely! If it could be 50 to 70 degrees all the time, you know, like Fall, I'd be oh-so-content. There's also been quite a bit of rain with a few nasty storms. Normally, alot of rain and gloom would put me in a glum mood, but the aftermath of so much rain is making me smile: EVERYTHING is green!
Plants are flourishing. Small prairie areas are full. With so much green, and additional color from flowers, it's hard not to feel a refreshing wave of happiness in the air. And so, I give you a few tidbits of blooming summer inspiration.

1. "Sculpting the City's Flora" over on ETSY's blog, the Storque is lovely, short article about the International Garden, an old-fashioned flower shop in Manhattan. Writer Michelle Traub interviews Ania Czyzewska, the daughter of the shop's owner, Maria. There's a sense of romantic nostalgia that comes through shop description and interview. Ania mentions, "Flowers are a lost form...like a letter. They're full of significance and meaning."

2. Bloom (Disney Remix) by Pogo
I found out about this video and Pogo from The Hairpin.

Frolic through some flowers. Or dance around your apartment. Either way, you might want to make sure no one is watching. Unexpectedly getting caught doing either can lead to some sheepish grinning.

3. Kermit the Frog
As if I could ever mention "everything is green" without noting Kermit the Frog.
 
It's not that easy being green.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Artsy Thursday-Christiane Engel

'Roadside Friends', June 2011 desktop calendar. Christiane Engel.
Nature prints and illustrations really appeal to me, so naturally I'm drawn to the work of Christiane Engel. I learned about her work through Poppytalk in a post mentioning monthly desktop calendars. Christiane is a children's illustrator and author with a knack for capturing snapshots of wilderness, especially the western US. Coyotes, deer, pine trees... it makes me long for an escape to the woods. Ironically, Engel grew up in Germany and now resides in London, yet her patterns and prints capture America's great outdoors so well that I imagined that she lived in a cabin somewhere Southwest or along the California coast.

Christiane's work is available in several forms (prints, stretched canvases, even iPhone covers and pillow cases). Her art has appeared in parenting and children's magazines and advertising, as well as several books she has written or created covers for.

For more on Christiane Engel and her art, visit her main site at DesertFriends.com. You'll find her portfolio and storefront (which links to the wonderful ETSY and Society6 sites, among others). And check out her blog at http://christianeengel.blogspot.com/ for sketches and updates.