Friday, July 31, 2009
Jennifer Phillips
Charming and talented Seattle landscape artist, Jennifer Phillips paints luminous trees. Her blog filled with wonderful technique tips, more technique here at Ampersand.
I bought a couple of these little tree charms hand-painted on a scrabble piece. Adorable!
I bought a couple of these little tree charms hand-painted on a scrabble piece. Adorable!
Amanda Shepherd
Got a surprise email from a very talented friend who moved from the internet to book, illustration, from Seattle to Arizona. You can see some of her great work at her website, PAINTDOG, her action figures ;).
She had been reading my blog in secret ;) and I am so thrilled she has.
She had been reading my blog in secret ;) and I am so thrilled she has.
Christopher Fennell
Christopher Fennell takes it apart and puts it back together in the most delightful ways.
Michael Sloan
The New York Times Op-Ed Letters Art of Michael Sloan.
The truth about corporate earnings.
The truth about corporate earnings.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Hot!
I have only been really hot a couple of days in August since I moved here. July 4th is usually cold, always rains and we have a fire in the fire place for everyone that is here to visit. But not this year. I haven't been able to sleep in a couple of nights. My hydrangeas are suffering. The dogs are hot and confused. I got sun burned in my non-air-conditioned truck today. Too hot to eat. No air conditioned house, have so many fans going, it is hard to hear. Yes, we are suffering. I want one of those baby pools so I can just sit in it from 3pm until the sun sets. ;)
Lettuce Luxury
You're makin' me hungry! Matthew Chan (Scale Architecture) Eco Luxury Lettuce Lounge! Via Daily Imprint.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tobacco Cards
Caroline Brights Tobacco Cards
NYPL digital gallery of cigarette cards, examples below.
Chinese series, thinking at a table
And of course I have a little collection. Mostly birds. Some roses. One below and one with the gorgeous detail.
NYPL digital gallery of cigarette cards, examples below.
Chinese series, thinking at a table
And of course I have a little collection. Mostly birds. Some roses. One below and one with the gorgeous detail.
Tom Binns Design
Smart sparkles of Tom Binns Design via SeeSaw Designs.
I love the name of this piece, Calamity Chains.
I love the name of this piece, Calamity Chains.
Monday, July 27, 2009
PaperWork(s)
PaperWork(s) Flickr set by amorphity, AMORPHOUS CONSTRUCTIONS, traditional basket shapes. Wonderful and amazing.
Readers’ Dog Photos
Our baby made the NYTimes.com (Readers' Dog Photos submission) and coordination with the NYT's "The Puppy Diaries".
Jan ....
funny you should say that ... we were just looking online and found lots of pups on LIL' WAIF PUPPY RESCUE, this one and lots more (links in comments)
Jan ....
funny you should say that ... we were just looking online and found lots of pups on LIL' WAIF PUPPY RESCUE, this one and lots more (links in comments)
Anu Tuominen
The plain and mundane turned into works of art with the magical touch of Anu Tuominen. Well now you know where those socks went. Sock Blanket, below.
Via SeeSaw Designs.
Via SeeSaw Designs.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Spoiled Under-30 Crowd
My aunt sent me this. I have read it before and every time I do, I laugh so hard I spew coffee out of my nose. So I thought I should just put it here so I can read it again and again.
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... barefoot... BOTH ways Yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.
You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!
And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!
There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!
Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take, like, a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!
Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!
There were no MP3' s or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!
Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone. Cause - that's how we rolled, dig?
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!
And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either!
When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances!
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... forever!
And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!
You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel! NO REMOTES!!!
There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats!
And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove! Imagine that!
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!
Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... barefoot... BOTH ways Yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.
You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!
And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!
There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!
Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take, like, a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!
Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!
There were no MP3' s or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!
Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone. Cause - that's how we rolled, dig?
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!
And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either!
When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances!
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... forever!
And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!
You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel! NO REMOTES!!!
There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats!
And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove! Imagine that!
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!
Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd
All Of That Jazz
Hey Grandma, you might not be able to watch it on your PBS station, but here is your grandson in the Edmonds-Woodway High School Jazz band playing Sugar on KCTS 9. ;)
Cronkite Remembers
We had this on all day. Would stop every once in a while to stop and listen. Discovery Channel's Remembering Walter Cronkite was on at our house all day. Awesome.
LHJ Cutest Pet Contest
Think your dog is cuter than mine? Join the contest. ;) Or go vote on Pixel. ;)
Bellevue Art Festival Be-Jewelled
Red Circle Metals Home.
Mackey's Mark Jewelry - Whimsical sterling silver jewelry made with photographs.
Scott McDonald and Rebecca Bashara
I love the Bullet ring by Jay Nielsen
Felted and silver jewelry by Sarah Fox
Adorable, whimsical jewelry by O*Live
Laurette O'Neil
Mary & Lou Ann, I love the unique process and quality of their jewelry
I loved Carla M Fox rings! And one of the few that have a blog.
Completely in love the Sana Doumet's rings, wrapping of gold and silver, just large enough to make me happy.
Metal layered love, contemporary jewelry by Pam Caidin
Mackey's Mark Jewelry - Whimsical sterling silver jewelry made with photographs.
Scott McDonald and Rebecca Bashara
I love the Bullet ring by Jay Nielsen
Felted and silver jewelry by Sarah Fox
Adorable, whimsical jewelry by O*Live
Laurette O'Neil
Mary & Lou Ann, I love the unique process and quality of their jewelry
I loved Carla M Fox rings! And one of the few that have a blog.
Completely in love the Sana Doumet's rings, wrapping of gold and silver, just large enough to make me happy.
Metal layered love, contemporary jewelry by Pam Caidin
Pressed And Boxed
Leaf, botanical art. Nothing better.
I am always stopped in my tracks when I see these beautiful framed pieces by Leif Holland and a video.
I am always stopped in my tracks when I see these beautiful framed pieces by Leif Holland and a video.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Ring Whimsy
Folded rings by Suzanne Esser Sieraden.
Liaung-Chung Yen conceptual jewelry ... love!
I know I have blogged about Sarah Hood's one-of-a-kind set of three rings (seen below) Chinese lantern pod ring before. But some things are worth repeating. Decomposing chinese lantern pod, and one constructed and enameled representation of a pod. this piece comes in a handcrafted shadow box for display. And her other organic jewelry, I would love to have any of them!
Jan Pycke's Whisk Ring.
David Goodwin's Leaf and Foliage ring, below.
Some of these links via The Carrotbox
Liaung-Chung Yen conceptual jewelry ... love!
I know I have blogged about Sarah Hood's one-of-a-kind set of three rings (seen below) Chinese lantern pod ring before. But some things are worth repeating. Decomposing chinese lantern pod, and one constructed and enameled representation of a pod. this piece comes in a handcrafted shadow box for display. And her other organic jewelry, I would love to have any of them!
Jan Pycke's Whisk Ring.
David Goodwin's Leaf and Foliage ring, below.
Some of these links via The Carrotbox