Say goodbye to those brown bag covers that rip, tear, and wear! Now you can cover all your text books with durable original 'Tough Love' art by me! No cutting or taping required - just stretch it on. And major bonus on it being machine washable! Spill something on it? No problem! Toss it in the wash!
My favorite illustrator of all time, Peter Reynolds, is releasing his latest title: The North Star and I couldn't be more excited!! I just read an advanced copy and I fell in love with it! It so beautifully portrays how we seek out our own paths in life to reach our full potential as an indivdual. A great message for children.
My fellow art lovers would also like some of his other books,
I was clearing out my camera phone when I came across an image I took last weekend that I completely forgot about!
The happiest Thai dish I've ever been served!
After a meditation workshop at Lotus Yoga, the fine people at Joey's Thai in Montclair made my rice smile, which in turn made me and my pal Alison smile! Joey's the best!
I woke up to a winter wonder land this morning! Schools were cancelled. Roads were treacherous. I called out of work! I didn't feel like risking my life today...and plus I had a snowball fight to get into with the neighbors.
I have a small addiction to Photo Booths. I have a collection of them that were just taped all over my wall. I decided to put some order to my wall and put my collection on to a cork board (I also have a small obsession with cork boards). The oldest ones towards the top, are of my Grandmother in 1943 with her friends on the night they went to see Perry Como. There is also one from the 50s of my mom and my uncle and there are some shots from the 70s of my parents. The more recent ones are towards the bottom of me and my friends and cousins. The one in the middle is my favorite, hence why I blew it up. (Don't be fooled...I wasn't in a giant phot booth or anything.) It's of me and 3 of the 4 Cadden kids I used to babysit back in my college days. They are so adorable and just welcomed a 5thCadden to their family! I'll have to see if we can ALL fit in the photo booth next summer. ;-) So much fun, so many memories.
I was blog swimming when I came across the fine photography of Alicia Bock. I almost fell out of my chair when I read that she is a completely self taught photographer. Some people just have the knack. Here's a little something I snagged from her blog as she dreams of summer in the dead cold of winter:
I'm a fan of mustard...the condiment and the color. I mean, who isn't? I have a sweater that has inspired me to bring more mustard into my work - the color, not the condiment. I've come up with this so far...the birds are confident because they are parading on mustard - the color, not the condiment. Hearts float around them because they are in love with mustard - the color and the condiment. In fact, they are thinking, if they had a bottle of Gulden's Spicy Brown right now, they would devour it, but would be sure not to get it on their white feathers. (I'm really tired, which is causing me to be punchy. Apologies.) I call it - "For the Love of Mustard"
Here's someone to check out...internationally renowned home textile designer John Robshaw. He earned a fine arts degree at Pratt and studied traditional block printing in China. He then travelled to India to find natural indigo dye for his paintings. Instead, he fell in love with the local artisans’ fabric-making traditions and he has been developing amazing art ever since. His mission statement: (which reminds me, I want a mission statement) "Our mission is to create original, handcrafted textiles from around the world. John Robshaw Textiles employs traditional printing, dying and weaving techniques, while reinterpreting them in ways that respect the integrity of the method to create original textiles. Every textile represents a story, a drawing of an adventure in a far–off place–from Yogakarta to Rajasthan, Bolivia to Vietnam. Arriving at textiles from painting and printmaking, I am interested in the mistakes, overlapping prints and the miss-registrations of woodblocks that record the human hand." His work, not only has he mastered textiles, he also has a new line at Barnes & Noble, in stores and online.
The John Robshaw Collection portrays the beauty of India on items such as a tote bag, journals, note cards, accessory pouches, gift bag, and eco-friendly colored pencils. With each handmade or hand painted fabrication, John Robshaw shares his experiences of traveling through the rustic villages and exotic jungles of India. I love it.