Ooh, here’s my Friday crush… Grapefruit Crush to be exact! These very cool vintage bottle cap necklaces are currently on my top ten list, filed under ‘Stuff I Really, Really Want’ {hint, hint}. I found them on Etsy, so all I can tell you is that they’re made by a woman named Beth, and she’s from Wilton… um, where’s Wilton? Ok, so this is not a very informative post, but at least I can send you directly to her shop so that you can buy one of these necklaces right now!

{These reminded almost exactly of some work that I wrote a post about last May… which, by the way, can also be found on that same top ten list!}

Oh my. These lovely images by London based photographer Laura Blight make me want to cry. They are so pretty, but so lonely at the same time. I can’t help but wonder what happened to the people who used to live there… maybe I don’t want to know.

‘Using house clearances as the primary subject, I have produced a series of photographs exploring ‘human trace’. In the majority of cases the owner/tenant of the property has passed away, leaving only traces of human occupation behind. Indeed it is the very absence of human activity that provokes our curiosity, intrigue and a strong sense of narrative.’ ~Laura Blight

{via feature shoot}

‘I NEVER WANTED ANYTHING SO BADLY IN MY LIFE’

My thoughts exactly! I love, love, love this beautiful little hand-bound book by Portland based illustrator Mia Nolting. In case my clever writing wasn’t clear, it’s titled ‘I NEVER WANTED ANYTHING SO BADLY IN MY LIFE‘, and I want one… badly.

{via Uncovered Space}

Those are some seriously pissed off little girls… and I could not love them more! California based artist Andrea Zuill liked dressing up when she was young, but I guess that’s quite obvious. I love her bold colour choices, half finished figures, and the general ‘little girl lost’ feeling that each one of them delivers so successfully {they remind me of ‘the lost boys’ from Peter Pan… but oh so much girlier!} I had a pretty big bag of costumes too, which is probably another reason why I loved these paintings the moment I saw them. Although, I have to say, I don’t remember ever being this mad about wearing a bunny hat.

Andrea has a show, titled Seriously Pretending, that runs from July 29th ~ August 30th at boltax gallery on Shelter Island, NY… hm, maybe they’re just seriously pretending to be this seriously pissed off?

So, who wants to visit New Hampshire’s seacoast this weekend? Me too! I love these beautiful little neighbourhoods by American artist Stacey Durand. The tightly packed, brightly painted houses, and the skies… oh the skies. I think that they might be my favourite part! Ok, I’m packing the car – I’ll meet you there.

Ooh, I couldn’t be more excited to be kicking off my weekend guest series with the fabulous, and always inspiring, Erin Loechner. The list of reasons why I’m jealous of her is pretty long, so I’ll just give you the highlights…

1) She is the creator and author of one of my favourite daily reads, Design For Mankind 2) Not only does she write all of the content for her own blog, but she is also a guest blogger on several sites, including HGTV.com, where she is documenting her home renovation project {also something to be jealous of, by the way!} 3) Her taste in art, design, jewelery, etc. is consistently fantastic  4)  And on top of all that, she’s really nice and pretty damn funny!

So there you go. That’s why I’m jealous of Erin. Want to find out who Erin is jealous of? Read on…

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I’m jealous of… Miranda July

Face it; anyone who was once a Pop-a-Lock employee and is now an established filmmaker/author/performance artist wins a big, lovely trophy in my book. And when that someone encourages you to follow your dreams? Even more so.

Miranda has taught me to re-read my favorite fifth grade book, take time to braid someone’s hair and shown me the beauty of a quality landing page. She makes me laugh, cry and inspires like no one can.

Miranda, I salute you.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

… and I salute you, Erin. Thanks for stopping by ; )

I officially declare this, Font Friday! Love, love, love all of the lettering {dimensional, hand-painted, neon, automobiles, etc} that a type-fanatic, like myself, can find on TypArchive. Here’s their reason for being:

‘The objective is to amass a comprehensive global collection of a high-quality images and produce hard-copy volumes. Amidst a landscape of vapid strip malls and sterile signage, hand-painted lettering retains a soulful aesthetic to be treasured. Like other crafts dissolving in the digital age, sign painting is a fading occupation. Today it’s easy for any layman with minimal computer knowledge to produce a sign within minutes, but the skill acquired to artfully produce hand lettering took years of apprenticeships, dedication and true talent’

Damn, I wish I thought of that.

{Thanks to Junkculture for this huge dose of typography on a Friday morning! Oh, and my first ‘weekend guest‘ will be showing up here tomorrow morning… come on by!}

I’ve been ‘pushing pixels’ for years, but never quite like this! American printmaker turned sculptor, Shawn Smith uses lots and lots and lots and lots and lots {you get the idea} of tiny wooden pixels, not to mention the odd branch here and there, to play matchmaker between technology and nature. I think it worked… it looks like love to me!

{The final piece above is titled ‘Branchlers’, and I’m going to need it in my house.}

In this series, Brutalized Delights, American artist Chad Wys has found his way into to my heart, by choosing thrift shop finds over canvas. And from what I understand, he just graduated from art school this past spring?!* Um, I think it’s pretty safe to say that my student work was nowhere close to being this cool {or this well thought out}. I’m definitely going to keep an eye on him… who knows what he’ll be painting on in five years!

{via Art Hound}

* This just in, via Chad… he didn’t just graduate from art school, he’s a graduate student in Art History with a Bachelor’s degree in English… hm, I think that might be even worse!

That’s it… as soon as I finish writing this, I’m taking all of my books and lamps out into the backyard where they clearly belong! Sigh. These beautiful {and let’s face it, quite magical} installations are assembled and then photographed by Norwegian artist Rune Guneriussen. Since 2005, he’s been creating these engaging narratives using man-made objects {like tables, chairs, telephones, globes, and of course, lamps & books} placed into the natural landscape of Norway. Ok, I better go open the back door… my lamps need a bit of fresh air.