Lovely Clusters Design Shop

I stumbled across Lovely Clusters today which is a website for handmade designers and vintage goods purveyors from around the world. You can shop by color or category and even start your own shop if you have creations for sale. It's carefully and lovingly curated so even though you be taken to many Etsy shops to complete your purchase, the searching experience isn't so overwhelming.

Lovely Creations is the brainchild of Rachel Follett, a graphic and web designer living and working in Maui, Hawaii.

Lilies, roses and freesia! Oh my!

 

My sweetie surprised me a delivery of flowers for my birthday. Awwww. I love flowers—I come to a dead halt when passing by them and never pass up an opportunity to "stop and smell the roses." So it always makes me a little sad when my floral friends start to fade and wither.

I was saved by the farmers market and a vendor called Patty & Company with the cutest silk flower hair accessories and hats. She had a sweet clip with the same blossoms and crystal embellishments so I can have my flowers indefinitely.

Upcycling Glass Bottles @ BottleHood

{Definition} Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.

grey goose tumblersBetter yet some folks are creating items that are also awesomely cool!!! I was at the Campbell Farmer's Market in Campbell, CA and noticed a new vendor called BottleHood. These craftspeople take used glass bottles of all shapes and sizes and turn them into vases, tumblers and glasses. 

I love these Grey Goose vodka bottle tumblers. $30 for a set of two.

A painting a day(ish)

I've been inspired lately by several artists who create an amazing array of work on a daily basis. My current favorite is the Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische. Her wonderful sensibility to typography is truly superb. So, I'm carving out time at least three days a week to work on small stil life illustrations.

Here's the first in the series—a little pink cupcake confection with sugar sprinkles on top. It's also employed in my latest birthday invitation in my shoppe. This two-sided invitation is customizable—change the fonts, the message and color. I'm thinking of throwing an adult cupcake party with my girlfriends. Why should our kids have all the fun?