6.29.2009

i've always had a fascination with the 99-cent store. it amazies me what can cost just 99 cents. a 99-cent garden gnome i get, but a pregnancy test?! yes, seriously! (Jaime, back me up here.)

what about 99-cent art? it exists in the latest outdoor installation at LACMA.


this dazzling display is titled "HappyHappy" by Choi Jeong-Hwa. Each and every colorful bin, strainer, basket, funnel and pitcher was purchased at the nearby 99-Cent Only Store. A-mazing!


please visit and walk through this visual playground. it'll bring a smile to your face and the artist's. Jeong-Hwa's mantra is "Your heart is my art."

6.27.2009

cuppie roll


i've been baking up a storm these days filling some lovely cuppielove orders. even though they don't compare to the real thing, photos of cupcakes still bring a little bit of joy to the world. enjoy these yummies - just try not to drool on your keyboard. xoxo





6.26.2009

happy happy weekend!


hello lovelies!

it's been an amazing week. I am so very grateful for the support of my family, friends and of course all of you.

this weekend will be a busy one, but happily so. oh, but i'll be squeezing in some good times too: wine and jazz at LACMA with the hubbs, tea with a dear friend, and a long awaited date night with our favorite couple friends.

i hope you enjoy a couple days full of love and play and (hopefully) lots of sunshine! xo

6.24.2009

DIY Project: Modern Mobile


Finding time to get crafty when you have a little one running around isn't easy. I have enough trouble putting aside creative time sans kiddies. That's why I'm so happy to share my dear friend Heather's simple instructions for creating a simply modern lovely that your little one can wake up to every day. And for those of us without kids, I think this would look pretty cool in the corner of any room.

Heather, thank you for sharing your project with us. without further ado...

My hubby took our baby out so that I could have some alone time. I resisted the impulse to clean and instead decided to make something. This was a perfectly-sized project - it took me 2 hours (not including time to get the supplies). I started with 3 colors of thick paper, glue, fishing line (free - I think the shop owner was charmed when I walked into his tackle store with baby in a front pack), thin wooden dowels, scissors, hook (a tiny one that hand-screws into the ceiling), and the top of a cooking oil spray can (anything for shapes).

I cut the wooden dowel to make one longer bar and two shorter ones. Then I cut out the circle shapes and glued them back to back to increase thickness and make each side a different color. Poke a hole, loop fishing line through, and make a knot, then loop another circle through, knot (loosely because if you pull too hard the line warps). Tie the long strands of circles to each end of the shorter dowels and attach the shorter dowels to the longer dowel by tying fishing line around the middle of the shorter dowels and then to each end of longer ones. Use your teeth to double knot tightly so they don't move easily and then adjust until they balance.

I got all that done and then realized that I hadn't left enough fishing line to actually hang it from the ceiling. Never fear--I pulled out some dental floss and kept going. Nothing would stop me from getting this thing done and up in my 2 hour window of freedom.

6.23.2009

new lovelies!

i was a busy lil bee this weekend - head on over to succulentLOVE and check out these new lovelies!!



6.22.2009

sometimes it's not your haystack



a lovely reminder by Damien Correll, currently featured at the “This must be the place” show at the Scion Space in Culver City. via NOT COT

mi casa es su casa



a big big thank you to Elka over at CasaSugar for writing a post about succulentLOVE! casasugar is a great source of inspiration for all things related to creating a fab home sweet home. I'm just thrilled to see succulentLOVE in such great company! check out the post and peek around a bit while you're there!

6.21.2009

happy father's day


this is my step dad Mark. he is the most amazing man, and I'm so lucky to call him Dad. happy father's day Markie, thank you for finding your way in to my life and making all the difference. i love you.

6.18.2009

drum roll please....


ok, so i've been working on a little project for the past few weeks, and even though it's not 100% ready for the light of day i figured why not put it out in to the great big world?

so, without further ado, i present to you my new business venture....succulentLOVE!


by now, you all know the love i have for succulents and the very special role they played in our wedding. the color. the texture. their modern aesthetic. oh, i could gush all day! following the big day i just couldn't part ways with the little things, so i decided to embrace my obsession and turn it into something I could share with everyone. and there you have the genesis of succulentLOVE. the design for the company and basis for the business were ideas born at our very first artist's retreat. i can't tell you how excited i've been to share the idea and identity and website with all of you.


take a look around and see what you like. we'll be adding new arrangements all the time so check back often and let me know what you think. and if you're in the los angeles area, please keep succulentLOVE in mind for those occasions when you'd typically give flowers. who wouldn't be ecstatic to welcome an adorable succulent into their life?

6.17.2009

minted design challenge: please vote!

one of my favorite sites for paper related design, minted, does a regular design challenge that is open to independent designers/artists (like me!). the challenge centers around a specific occasion or event (think housewarming cards or baby shower invites) and provides real life people/couples/families as fodder for inspiration.

i've been looking for opportunities to expand my design skills and get some more of my work out there. needless to say i was doing back flips when i stumbled upon their latest challenge - the 2009 minted holiday photo card challenge. i know, it's June - but thankfully it's been a cool start to summer in LA so it wasn't too hard to get in the holiday spirit. I ended up creating four entries for the contest!

And now the voting begins! Please show me some love and head on over to minted to vote for my submissions and all your favorites. The winners will be put into print for this holiday season! How cool is that?

check out my designs and vote here:



let's hear it for cuppielove!

wow, two cuppielove orders in one day! that's enough to lift a girl's spirits.

i'll be making chocolaty chocolate cupcakes for a father's day gift this weekend (all the way from the Netherlands!) and some Hawaiian lei inspired cuppies for a 50th birthday party next week. i'm really looking forward to getting back into the kitchen and doing some baking. i've been neglecting my kitchenaid for other projects the past couple months (fun news coming soon!)

lots and lots of pictures to come. in the meantime, enjoy some photos from cuppielove's display at the Nesquik Cupcake Competition earlier this year. xoxo





6.16.2009

just because

(still not feeling well - more tomorrow....xoxo)

via design you trust

6.15.2009

typographic stunner!

i spotted this invite last week over on oh so beautiful paper and just died! then two friends forwarded it to me today and i knew i had to give it even more blog love! this invite focuses on the couple's story of finding their way back to one another over the years. topher and i did the long distance thing for two years+, and i have to say this invite beautifully and simply captures the romantic roller coaster of making it work thousands of miles apart.


congratulations to jill + matt, you are one awesome couple! enjoy spending your forever side by side.

home sick

watching Adventures in Babysitting...



& drinking my favorite english breakfast tea


via these are a few of my favorite things

our wedding: slideshow

our fabulous photographers (erinheartshourt) created this beautiful slideshow of their favorite images from our wedding day. i can't get enough of it. no matter how many times i watch it (which is a LOT) it continues to take me back to all of those magical moments from the day. somehow it brings to life the abundance of love that was present on our day - and that's an incredibly beautiful thing.



thank you erin and court. we will cherish this for ever and ever.

6.14.2009

up up and away


if you haven't, go see Pixar's Up! seriously, like right now! topher and i went to see it last night and i was wiping tears away beneath my 3D glasses (ray-ban style glasses - how fun!) i am smitten and have been swept off my feet!


it's a vibrant tale of a heart broken old man and the delights of unexpected friendship and the undying spirit of adventure. the entire movie is an exciting feat in storytelling and graphical whimsy - but it's a silent montage early in the film that truly moved me. the scenes depict a couple's life together that is so achingly lovely and moving you forget you're watching animated characters. without words, you see them fall in love, marry and together, build the house of their dreams. through it all you feel the intensity of their love, the spirit of their happiness together, and, sadly, the sorrow of their losses. carl and ellie share a love that is meant for a lifetime and beyond.


we both left feeling so utterly in love - it was like floating on air (minus the balloons)

6.12.2009

happy weekend


hello lovelies! i'm super excited to be picking up the newest member of our little family this morning - a third gen prius! charcoal grey exterior...pure happiness on the inside. yippee! looking forward to getting our cruise on this weekend - if only the Prius was magical enough to actually transform our environment into this beautifully colorful and magical world.

wild things = lovely things


we all have those books from our childhood that we cherish for their infinite ability to elicit the same childlike wonder. they take you back to a time when things were simpler and so much more imaginative. mine are The Giving Tree (and really anything by Shel Silverstein), Goodnight Moon, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Where the Wild Things Are.

i couldn't be more excited for all the love Wild Things is getting in anticipation for the upcoming Spike Jonze film (can't wait till october!)
my favorite find so far is Terrible Yellow Eyes a delightful collection of artwork inspired by the universally adored book. here are a few of my favorites, but check out the full blog here.






6.09.2009

i had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee...


i adore carly simon. i grew up listening to her. i even danced to "Love of My Life" with my mom at our wedding. So, i was utterly delighted when scott turned me onto this image via.

6.08.2009

our wedding: DIY welcome boxes

be it from los angeles or holland, all of our lovely guests traveled for our wedding. to thank them and greet them with a big smile we delivered these little welcome boxes.


first we had to make them look pretty. to personalize the kraft paper gable boxes, I gooco'd "hello there" labels. first the yellow chevron design. while that dried, i mixed the paint for a nice gray and printed the greeting on top.



to help our guests get acquainted with the area and the plans for the weekend, we put together a little booklet with all of the important weekend information as well as ideas for things to do in their down time. after all the pages were printed and trimmed (thank you honey) i stitched each booklet on our sewing machine. the thread stuck a few times - slow and steady is definitely the key here.




because information will only win over so many hearts we had to include some yummies too! here's a quick list of what we included in each box:
• 2 bottles of water
• the BEST tater chips ever made
• horizon organic milk
• famous amos chocolate chip cookies
• altoids
• sunscreen (so important in palm springs)
• excedrin (so important for the morning after)
• a vintage-inspired palm springs postcard

oh, i also gocco'd the wine tag you see in the first photo. once you start gocco'ing it's incredibly hard to stop!

DIY napkin tutorial

so many of you have been asking me how to make napkins so i decided to make a little tutorial for all of you. don't worry, you don't need a master's in sewing arts for this one - this is about as easy as it gets! all you need is an iron and a lot of patience (depending on your guest count, you may just be a sewing professional by the time you finish!) enjoy and please let me know what you think.

Oh, and please share your lovely creations!