Koop - Koop Island Blues

I absolutely LOVE the way this video was shot. I heard this song on another blog and promptly looked up the video on youtube. Apparently all the instrumentals are sampled...which makes for a really interesting and unique sound. Different vocalists are featured on different albums... I adore this woman's voice. It makes me want to be in a 1940s jazz club or a European coffee shop. <3

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - The Golden Age

I love this band out of Denmark. Leave it to a Heineken commercial to announce their presence in the US.

Ollipop 2 Card Printable Greeting Freebie

I'm going to start doing a monthly freebie from my ollipop shop. This is the first of hopefully many to come! Click on the image above to view the full size version and then click the 'download' button to save it. The image is 8.5x11 for your ease of printing... Enjoy :)

Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks

I've had the chorus to this song stuck in my head for days. Love it.

Fashion/Art - JKL Design

I've recently started following (Leigh Viner) JKL Design's blog "Create" after favoriting her shop on etsy awhile ago. I first fell in love with her fashionesque illustrations but she also does photography and other random beautiful things. Definitely worth checking out. Here are some of my favorite pieces of her work:

Airborne Toxic Event - Changing

I love this song and the video. Airborne Toxic Event - Changing

Style watch - pussy bow blouse

I feel like moving to Britain just to take advantage of this look. For some reason this style just doesn't seem to be as common here as it is overseas. With a google image search of the term 'pussy bow blouse' (although I'm not as fond of the term as I am the look), shopping results are primarily at a website.co.uk. I was browsing Asos.com when I stumbled on this dress and fell in love with it:

(Asos Petite 2 in 1 Big Pocket Blouse Dress $80.69)
But...I'm not sure I can pull off the navy/lime combination. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I remember seeing and really liking this look on Zooey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer. As far as style goes, this movie personifies the urban indie hipster. Very retro but somehow modern at the same time with all the vests and sweater vests...ties and loafers.

It's like the feminine version of the button up and tie. I decided I am in favor of the short sleeve blouse that isn't attached to a dress for versatility. Since I'm probably going to end up ordering one from overseas, I figured I should probably make it as flexible as possible! Plus, I already have multiple pencil skirts to pair it with... I will probably end up getting one like this one from Asos for $44.83 - :)

Pei Pods

I've been looking for cute animal furniture because I need some stuff for my cat...but everything looks so ugly! Giant carpeted platforms definitely don't appeal to my design sense. I stumbled on PEI Pods accidentally and really like the idea! The design might be a little too modern for my current style but I'm definitely bookmarking the site. The cushion is washable and the plastic is safe and recyclable when it's outlived its usefulness. They make them in different sizes for dogs, cats and smaller pets too... Ooh la la. $129 for the small cat version.

Oh Land - Sun of a Gun

I randomly ran across this band on youtube. It has a catchy dance anthem-ish sound. The music video is pretty fun. Check it out.

Nestrest by Dedon

How cozy would it be to hoist yourself over a little lake in your back yard and read a book in the Nestrest made of durable Dedon fiber? I stumbled on this design by French designers Daniel Pouzet and Fred Frety and I have decided that it will someday grace my backyard somewhere, someday, somehow.  It's modeled after a birds nest to promote meditation and tranquility. Love it!

Jackalope the Fearsome Critter Men's T-shirt

I saw this and loved it. I love the color combination with the gold shirt and the brown ink. It has a nice vintage feel. Plus it's such a good deal! $16 + $4 shipping. Check it out on happyfamily.

Portland Throw Pillow

I stumbled upon this vintage Portland map pillowcase on etsy. The seller apparently has the designs printed on the fabric which makes them pretty unique. But of all places, the seller is in Australia?! They are a bit on the pricey side at $57.25 plus $7 shipping but I do love vintage maps...and that's my part of Portland! There are also really cool designs of Antarctica, London, Chicago among other various places. This one is my favorite though! You can check out all of My Bearded Pigeon's designs here.

If I had a little girl...

If I was ever to decorate a bedroom for a little girl, I would love to hang these pretty little French-inspired prints on the wall. So cute! By evajuliet on etsy; $45 for 5 prints

Love this tee.

Another etsy find. I love screen printed shirts that actually look like the designer actually had some kind of artistic epiphany. I love that it's a simplified cartographic map. It looks fantastic. It's a relaxed style but with thought and character.

Cartographic T-Shirt - $20

I like this seller's shop because the shirts are American Apparel t-shirts which are great quality with exceptional comfort. For $20 they are ridiculously affordable and competitive with mainstream stores.

Check out nonfiction tee's on etsy. And there's a sale right now. Can't beat that.

Denver vacation

The first week of February I took a little (what I hoped to be) relaxing vacation. I was looking forward to checking out the city with a break from the monotony of Portland weather. Usually, Denver has some pretty exceptional weather and sun.... except for the ONE week I traveled there where temperatures dropped to record lows for the last decade. Freak snow and negative temperatures meant that indoor activities were a must. Luckily, one of the highlights of my winter adventure was my (all too brief) trip through the Denver Art Museum. Hopefully the next time I am in town, I'll be able to check out more than a hand full of exhibits... but what I did see was absolutely worth it.

I love art museums... they're such an amazing link to the past and the art community in general. It's a completely different experience to see an original painting on a gallery wall than it is to see it in a book or on a poster. I couldn't have been more ecstatic to see an original Lichtenstein painting in it's full scale and glory.

The Violin by Roy Lichtenstein. 1976

Clearly, I was like a kid in a candy store from the look of my huge cheesey grin. Irregardless, it was as amazing as I would have expected it to be. I was mostly excited because it was a complete surprise that it was at the museum. In a high school art class, we were asked to do a painting "in the style of" an artist. I did mine in the style of Kandinsky and my best friend did one in the style of Lichtenstein. That was my first exposure to researching the artist. I'm always really drawn to bright colors in artwork, so seeing large scale reproductions of comic book frames had me hooked.

It was a year and two days ago that I found out my best friend was no longer with us, may she rest in peace. She's been on my mind a lot the past several days so in honor of her memory I am posting the painting that she did. I miss you all the time, Maddi.

Painting by Madeline Laurel Gronemeier (1986 - 2010) completed in 2004