Fifi Mandirac

this image from Fifi Mandirac pulls my heart strings :)

Casa Kike

I found these photos of Casa Kike on Remodelista, for a little background I'll quote Remodelista: "London-based Gianni Botsford of Gianni Botsford Architects designed Casa Kike in Costa Rica for his father (and his vast collection of books) as a writer's retreat."

I love all of the wood and the towers of books. And the fact that you can see the structure of the walls/shelves. The breezeway in the woods is quite dreamy as well.

An Object of Beauty

Have you heard about Steve Martin's new book, An Object of Beauty?

The lovely hand-lettered cover art is by Darren Booth.

I'm not a great reader, I usually get stuck half way through a book. But, I did love Steve Martin's Shopgirl, and so I think I might like this one too. (I also loved the movie Shopgirl with Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman.)

Watercolor Save the Date

This save the date is a collaboration between Love, Jenna Calligraphy and Swiss Cottage Designs.

M.E.A.T. America

Did you see the type (and symbols) made out of meat over at oh joy?

It's part of Dominic Episcipo's exposition called M.E.A.T. America.

All I can think of when I see this is how sharp a knife would need to be to cut beef into such perfect shapes.

Ball Drop

Before it's too late to talk new years, I wanted to share this cool sketch of Times Square New Year's Eve "ball" created by Paul Gregory and Focus Lighting when they were updating the ball with LED technology.

Found @ The Crafts Dept.

Mimi Kirchner

Mimi Kirchner's blog totally makes me want to create stuffed animals and dolls - and then a whole wardrobes for each one of them. These pictures are from a recent project where she created a fox doll inspired by an illustration by Matte Stephens. You can see more pictures of the foxy doll on Mimi's blog.

New Year's Resolution

OK, that is not my resolution. It's James Acklin's resolution (from the resolve project).

So now I should explain my resolution. It all starts back in 2010:
I got married and bought a house all the same year. Not to mention growing my freelance business, planning a wedding, teaching a class, fixing up the house, being the maid-of-honor in my mom's wedding and a million other things. A great year. But, I am exhausted.

My 2011 new year's resolution: Less work, More Fun.

For my personal life that means making time to have people over for dinner, going to more movies, not spending every weekend working on the house, and a whole lot more lounging around with my husband.

And as far as work is concerned: prioritizing + getting rid of the things at the bottom of the list, overcoming the fear of turning away a client, and giving the extra time back to the things I really want to do. I will be a better boss to myself.