Mumford & Sons

So about a year ago I went to a concert of Johnny Flynn & the Sussex Wit, a fantastic British singer/songwriter. Laura Marling, another great singer, was the official opener. Needless to say, this concert was set to be pretty amazing. Turns out there was another opener not listed on the tickets: a band called Mumford & Sons. They took the stage and promptly proceeded to rock my socks off--banjo style. An unbelievably talented (especially for their young age) British band that combines the seemingly disparate genres of folk, gospel, and rock'n'roll, I instantly became a fan and have snapped up their subsequent EP's with great excitement. They are finally set to officially release their first album on October 20th and I am beyond jazzed. Several of the songs on this album have already been released on EP's, so I can tell you already: this record is going to be great.

Anna Moller

How amazing are these images by photographer Anna Moller? I especially love the first one--the light on the girls is beautiful, and they seem gloriously noble and unbearably awkward at the same time.

Madvertising

I recently got completely addicted to Mad Men, and have been (embarrassingly quickly) working my way through Seasons 1 and 2 so that I can be current with Season 3. Along with sucking all of my free time, the show has actually really gotten me thinking about the role of advertising and design in my life...which is why I was so jazzed when I discovered the AIGA Design Archives this afternoon where the entire archives is on display along with the 2008 Year in Design Award selections. Now I can waste my free time watching Mad Men and their pretend advertising and browsing through this amazing selection of graphic design and real advertising. What can I say? I'm a visual creature in a visual world.

Weekend Pairings - Autumn Switch

It finally felt like Fall this weekend. There is a chill in the air, and the light is different from late Summer light. It's almost October, and it feels like the universe has finally made the seasonal switch.

Shop Update + Blog Mention

There are now three new Autumnal designs available as prints in the shop! I am very excited to announce that within the next couple of days I will also be listing a whole slew of greeting cards with more Fall monsters on them.
I forgot to mention this yesterday, but Fiction was lucky enough to be featured on Decor8's Etsy Take Five Tuesdays. I was in some lovely Etsy company on a fantastic blog--thanks so much, Holly!

Su Blackwell

I'm a sucker for any kind of paper-cut artwork, and Su Blackwell's work is no exception. The actual paper sculptures are detailed and delicate, but I especially love how the lighted houses actually glow--the shadowy, sepia-toned feel this creates is perfect for the folktale-styled peices. I wish I was lucky enough be to be in New York for the upcoming show she's taking part in at the Museum of Art & Design!

More Fall 2009 Ready-to-wear

More Fall 2009 Ready-to-wear loveliness from Charles Anastase and Burberry Prorsum. I like how comfortable yet elegant both of these looks appear, but I love the hats especially.

Missoni 2009 Ready-to-wear

I've never paid much attention to Missoni, but this collection just seems so perfect. The colors! I look awful in pastels and I still wish I could wear all of these outfits. The gold one on the right is especially lovely.

Tea Towels & Screenprinting

I recently received this lovely blue linen silkscreened tea towel that I ordered from Elisabeth Bentz's Etsy shop. It's soft and delicate and I love it. Her blog Good Long While is sweet, too.
A friend of a friend was recently getting rid of some screen printing screens while doing some Fall cleaning, so, being the art supplies pack rat that I am, I offered to take them off her hands. The only catch: I don't know how to screen print. I've always wanted to learn so I was hoping that having the screens would force me figure it out, but it seems pretty complicated (though completely, completely awesome!) Maybe I'll be able to find a workshop to teach me the ins and outs to get me started?

Weekend Pairings

I did this last week and I liked it a lot, so I think each Monday from now on I will present a couple of photos from the past Saturday and Sunday (and Friday too, since as soon as work is over on Friday it's the weekend!) in Weekend Pairings.

The Emerald City - Its Salad & Its Weather

Yesterday afternoon I came home from work and relaxed with a homemade iced mocha and in making this salad. Now that I am finally adjusting to the idea of Autumn swooping in, Summer has decided that it's going to stick around just to be difficult. I know that I should be reveling in the last summery days of sun and warmth, but it's hard when Autumn teases me so! Maybe this weekend I'll be able to adjust my mindset and appreciate the weather simply for what it is with a couple of nice walks in the sun and some badminton playing outside.
Have a lovely one!

Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs

I love these botanical illustrations by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, found in the amazing treasure trove of goodies that is BibliOdyssey. While I, like most people, enjoy illustrations of traditionally beautiful plants like the rose or the lily, it's sweet to see drawings of...is this the humble sweetpea?

Trees & Cake

I've been listening to the new album by Victoria Bergsman's Taken By Trees pretty much non-stop since it came out. It's such a gentle and beautiful album--it's helped calm me down during a difficult work week. Watching this video about how it came to be recorded in Pakistan was really interesting, even if her view of the country wasn't always particularly flattering. I love her comments about "pink skies."
Also made this recipe last night and, like Jen, tried it for breakfast. Delicious! I always feel a bit guilty eating things that have the word "cake" in the title for breakfast, but this one's got fruit in it so it's healthy! ...Right?

Peter Callesen

Peter Callesen's papercut work is just amazing. It's so delicate! I've only ever been familiar with his work on paper (recommended to me by a friend when she saw that I had this print by Elsita in my apartment), but it turns out that he has some pretty sweet performance peices that look zany and weird in the best way.

Weekend Pairs - Last Summer Gasp

Some pairings from the weekend.

Because Dessert is Pretty Much Everything

So I'm pretty crazy for the fantastically airy, whimsically colored, and delicately flavored French treat that is the macaron. It's hard to find places that sell them (I know of only three bakeries in all of Seattle that make there own!), so whenever I have one it's a special treat. Therefore, I can't wait for I Heart Macarons to come out so I can learn to make my own! I've always thought that it seemed pretty intimidating, but who knows!

Relating to the kitchen, I made Deb's Peach and Creme Fraiche Pie last night and oh, man, is it delicious. And for those afraid of pie crusts (like me) I heartily recommend the easy-to-make/turns-out-perfectly pie crust recipe used for this dessert.

Pets

So I think it all started with a friend giving us two sad looking cacti about 2 years ago. "You'll take better care of them than I will," he said, so we brought them home and put them in front of the window. Then the boy bought an Aeonium on a whim because he admired the elegant symmetry of it's leaves. He pored over the new little plant and it was almost like watching someone look after their pet, so for a birthday present I got him a gift certificate to an online succulent shop and he picked out about 6 more. Then I bought a couple at a garden shop because I liked the purple hue of their delicate leaves. We received a particularly strange one as a present from a friend, and then collected a few more on a road trip to California. Eventually, some of them got big enough that we made cuttings and planted them on their own. All of the plants are kind of strange looking, and since we've accumulated so many, we have them perched on surfaces all over the apartment.

Essentially, we have become a crazy plant couple.

Brigitte Sire: Miranda July

I'm loving these shots of Miranda July by photographer Brigitte Sire. The colors are so rich and Autumnal--not to mention that Miranda is just completely and uniquely gorgeous.

More New Math: Modern Art

How hilarious is More New Math? This one is my favorite--when I was an art student, I felt like I had a conversation resembling this equation with just about everyone outside of my program. The rest of the math problems on the site are just as funny.

Autumnal Vacation Dreaming

Aren't these photos from cloudpilot's Flickr set of the Faroe Islands amazing? The place looks so intense and magical--I'd love to visit (even though I'd never heard of the Faroe Islands before seeing these images and then hitting up Wikipedia!).

Settling In

The new apartment is finally starting to feel like home.

Falling Garden

I have kind of a case of the Mondays (I know it's Tuesday, but this week Monday has shifted it's cruel, get-back-to-work duties one day over!), so here's something whimsical and lovely to try and get the week heading in a better direction: Falling Garden, the delicate installation piece by Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger from the 2003 Venice Biennale. Wouldn't it be amazing to walk through this? I was lucky enough to visit the Biennale in 2007 and had a great time, but I wish I could have checked this installation out as well!

Labor Day + The Brothers Bloom

Hope everyone had a nice weekend, and that those in the US enjoyed their extra long one! I know I certainly did--I explored the farmers market in my new neighborhood for the first time (verdict: lovely!), got some much needed rest, marveled at how Summer in Seattle turned to Autumn almost overnight, enjoyed the first fire in the fireplace of the season with my boy, and finally got around to watching The Brothers Bloom.
While it wasn't quite as good as I hoped it would be (I did have ridiculously high expectations, given how hilarious the trailer looked) it was still very good and a lot of fun. Bird-Face (as I affectionately call the adorable Adrien Brody) was fantastic, and the whole film had the same quirky-but-sensitive feel that most of Wes Anderson's films have. And, seriously: how great do these two look together?

FICTION

I am very pleased to say that my new Etsy shop, Fiction, is now open! I've been working on it for a while, and it's so exciting to have everything finally up online. I will be selling prints of my digitally colored original ink drawings featuring my little monster guys (like the one above) and their friends. These guys have been a lot of fun to work on, so check out Fiction and let me know what you think!

Coming Soon!

I have a project in the works and I'm super excited because......I'll be unveiling it this Friday! Please check back here on the 4th for the official announcement, but here's a little tease: the new project will involve, among other things, this little guy!

Book Cover Archive

Woohoo, more book covers! These ones this time are from the Book Cover Archive, which is "an archive of book cover designs and designers for the purpose of appreciation and categorization." Pretty awesome, eh? It's so inspiring to look at all the variety of work on the site and realize that it's a collection of the creative talents of so many artists and designers. Plus, isn't this Jane Eyre cover just the perfect visual representation of the novel?

Molly M Designs

I love this laser-cut jewelry from Molly M Designs. It's the perfect combination of organic shapes and sharp, geometric lines--they seem strong and bold yet delicate at the same time. These two are my favorites, but I basically want just about everything on the site! The fact that it's all really reasonably priced helps a lot with that.

Camille Seaman

Camille Seaman's majestically melancholy photographs from her series The Last Iceberg, perfectly matching today's mood for me as Autumn moves one step closer.

Egg Press

September is always the month that I start seriously looking at calendars for the next year, and now that it is September 1st I am combating my frantic thoughts of, "Oh my god, how did it get to be September already?!?" by admiring this fantastic calendar from Egg Press, the Portland-based letterpress studio. I usually like to buy full-sized wall calendars, but this little one is so great that I just might have to get two calendars for 2010.