One of those weeks

I think it's partly because it's Friday, partly the fact that I'm moving tomorrow and my whole existence is packed up (I did find my underwear this morning, that was a little victory), and partly the fact that I've had one of "those" weeks. My brain feels fried. So, I'm going to post a smattering of images that make me happy. Simple, sweet. Check out that little red car, isn't it awesome? I found them on Southern Living's website *grins*

I wish you all a wonderful weekend, filled with relaxation and fun! I'll check back with you on Monday!

Walloon

In my lifetime I've moved over 15 times. I've lived in five different states. Two countries. Three different swim teams :) And through it all the only place that stayed constant was my grandparents cottage on Walloon Lake. A cedar cottage, small, rather cozy, with bunk beds in the back room, a rickety dock and a small bit of shore line. And although it doesn't seem but an out building compared to the huge mansions being built nowadays, it's home to me. A place where I feel safe. No matter what else is going on in my life when I walk into the 70's kitchen and see Walloon glistening outside the front windows *sighs* everything seems to aright itself.

This image from Wes Baccolett was the first prize winner of the Walloon Nature Scape photography contest last year, isn't he talented? It's a bit moody, but I like it. My sisters and their husbands, and my parents and grandmother are all going to be on Walloon in the middle of July. I'll be sure to take pictures for you!

JCrew love and mermaids?

JCrew love! I had a girlfriend in grade school who sent me a catalog from JCrew with a note inside saying "I know I can only afford socks, but aren't they beautiful clothes?" I'm in love with the gold sandals! I would wear them with the peacock blue silk shorts. Yummy!

So, thanks to the lovely comments from yesterday's post I'm determined to pick up any of Judy Bloom's books at the library tonight. I'm trying to figure out where I was that I didn't get the Bloom memo as a kid :)

Also, as quick request, does anyone know where to look for illustrations or images of mermaids?

Left an impression

There's something peculiar about the books we read as children, they leave a faint "print" on us, an impression. Their stories, characters, plot developments, all of these things weave into our own stories, personalities and how we look at life and the drama there in. Obviously there are heaps of other factors playing their role (like moving around a lot, or my two younger sisters, and family drama), but I can't help but think that somewhere in my development as a person, characters like Anne, Jo and Elanor all left their mark on me.

So, tell me, please :) What characters, what books, left their mark on you?

Monday morning

I'm having the darndest time waking up this morning. Too much sun, too much rich food, too much fun this weekend! If you could ever have too much fun :) The weekend was full of little pleasures, like two long morning walks to our favorite coffee shop, buying fresh blueberry's at Brennans, grilling our dinner outdoors before a thunderstorm rolled through. It was so nice! I gush about the weekend because I know that every weekend for the next month and a half will be filled with all kinds of responsibilities (like moving and family reunions and work outings). Those will be fun too, just a different sort *coughs*

I wanted to thank you all for the lovely Happy Birthdays to my mom last week! That not only made my day, she was tickled pink! HUGS to you all!

These images were collected from Coastal Living's little review of cozy retreats. Thought you would enjoy the warm tones and delightful nooks and crannies!

Friday Favorites

My Friday Favorites:

1. Turquoise Sweetie hairpins, from LindsayLuu
2. Lily of the Valley silk clutch, from redrubyrose
3. Robin's Egg twill, by PascaleMark
4. Marshmallow Tree, by krisblues

Today is my mum's birthday! I wish you guys could meet her, if you haven't already! She's the type of person you want your friends to know. Quiet, thoughtful, greatly compassionate and so much fun! Love you, Mom! Hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Accessoire

Good morning! I haven't done an interview in a long while! A few days ago I contacted the amazing artist behind the shop Accessoire to see if she would be interested in doing an interview. Her artwork is so beautiful and well made. I have her Lilith hair clip and it is GORGEOUS! So, sit back and soak up some of the life of Accessoire:

01. tell us a bit about yourself; name, location, affiliations, personal stuff:
My name is Nicole and I live just south of Indianapolis, Indiana.
I'm wife to a wonderful husband of 18 years and we have a 15 year old daughter, Maegan.

02. if you could describe yourself with any three words, what would they be?
dedicated, compulsive, compassionate



03. what first made you want to become an artist?
Being creative makes me whole, without art I don't think I could exist as an entire person.

04. how did you make that transition into selling your creations?
I had to fund my addictions somehow lol. That and the fact that my friends wouldnt take my items without paying for them, so I had to start selling.



05. where do you get your inspiration?
Art begets art. (julia: I love this sentiment!) Poems, music, paintings, nature, you name it, I can find art in it!

06. apart from creating things, what do you do?
I take part in a lot of volunteer work, I love photography and I love movies!

07. what are your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and blogs?

books:
Faerie Tale by Raymond Fiest
Hobbit series
Bible

movies:
Shaun of the Dead
Uncle Buck
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Twister
House of Sand and Fog

songs and artists:
November Rain/Guns and Roses
anything by Tool, A Perfect Circle, Seether, Breaking Benjamin



08. if you could learn to work with any medium that you don't currently work with, which would it be?
definitely oil paint

09. what is your favorite handmade item that you have purchased?
a gorgeous pair of earrings of sterling silver and these light blue stones from an etsian

10. what is your favorite item that you have created?
I think I'd have to choose lillith, my beaded red flower brooch I use in my etsy banner.

11. what undiscovered artists would you recommend to the world?
Here are some etsians I love:
www.xiztance.etsy.com
www.amandalouise.etsy.com
www.morelle.etsy.com
www.photographybymoni.etsy.com



12. in ten years I'd like to be...
Living in the mountains of Colorado, growing my own botanicals for Etsy soap shop, Balsam and filling Accessoire with lovely, interesting things!



13. what is the best advice you have ever received?
My grandmother always said "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." She thought showing kindness and thoughtfulness was evidence of great strength.

"Callgon, take me away"

My list of things to do today keeps growing. Longer and longer! There's a definite blessing to being busy, it makes the day go by so quickly and you feel so productive when you put your feet up in the evening. But, oi! Do you remember those commercials, "Callgon, take me away"
as the woman slips into a nice bubbly bath! What a lovely thought!

These beautiful images are from Pretty Petal Studio!

Top 5

Top 5 Favorites things about this past weekend:

1. Eating three huge blueberry pancakes at the Original Pancake House

2. Getting pink *sunburnt* on my two long walks with Andrew

3. Watching Disney's Robin Hood for the first time in years (Oodah-la-lay)

4. Talking to my dad for over an hour on Sunday (he's so cool)

5. Feeling like the weekend was a vacation (Oi, how I needed that)

What were yours?

Friday Favorites

Today I picked soothing, dreamy pieces for my Friday Favorites!

One: Dreaming of the Seven Sisters, by leahart

Two: Art Nouveau, by amyhatch

Three: Jane's Obsession, by Accessoire

Four: Jasmine Water's, couragemylove

So, interesting news here: we are under water.  One of the lakes in the Wisconsin Dells has emptied after its dam burst (so much rain), we have large sections of major highway washed out completely, we went through at least three tornado sirens yesterday, and are being told by the authorities to stay off the back roads because they can't monitor the conditions of them all.  It's truly incredible!  If you weren't aware, one of the Wisconsin Dells icons are the Ducks.  They are water craft vehicles collected from the army after WW2.  They use them to shuttle tourists around on the lakes up there.  Well, yesterday they were called out to go help rescue stranded people in the rain!  Again, just incredible!

Anyways, the weather is predicting a cozy weekend for us, filled with tea, new books, a few movies, and a lot of staying as dry as possible INDOORS!

A love letter

O my luve is like a red, red rose,

That's newly sprung in June;

O my luve is like the melodie,

That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun;

And I will luve thee still my dear,

While the sand o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!

And fare thee weel a while!

And I will come again, my luve,

Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

Scandinavian . . . I think!

Hi guys!  I have to be quick, quick, but I wanted to post some loverly pictures for you.  I can't remember how I arrived here, and I can't read the language, but their pictures are divine!

Talk to you soon!

I was in high school, or at least I think I was, when I was first introduced to Victoria.  It was a glossy magazine filled with large, gorgeous pictures that made you want to bring out the tea set and crumpets.  It was just so fine.  Elegant!  I would sprawl out on my bed and pour over the pictures!  Anyways, after a number of successful years, one major overhaul, and a few grumpy magazine trends, Victoria faded away from the scene.  I think I counted at least a dozen of girlfriends who were heart broken along with me.  Then last fall I heard the whisper on the wind that Victoria was coming back on the scene!  Woot, woot!  The issues have been meager in content as they're just starting out, again, but the photographs are lovely, the articles beautiful.  These were a spattering of photos taken from one of their online features :)  Scrumptious!

Black*Eiffel

When I think of Black*Eiffel I think of clean lines, white space and exquisite taste!  I've been an avid reader of her blog for months now, maybe a year even.  I'm drawn to the images she picks.  I feel like I'm walking through the most fantastic shop with the cutest clothes, the most dazzling photographs and the neatest finds.  Her blog is a thoughtful treasure trove!  

My weekend seems but a blur.  A blur of rain.  Of humidity.  And activity.  Even with the rain and wind and tornado sirens Andrew and I still made it out once or twice.  We had to miss our BBQ with friends though, which stunk.  Stupid tornado siren (it was the second one that finalized our plans).  We started the packing process too this weekend, as we're moving at the end of the month, closer to campus!  Our little apartment will soon be a maze full of cardboard, books and other walking, navigating hazards.  Fun!

The Winner

And the winner of my 100th post give-away is *drumroll*

Little Byrd

This will be just a quick post today! Simply to announce the lovely winner :) Congratulations, my little byrd! You have been so wonderful supporting me here at Red Otter, thank you! I will be sending you a message soon so I can snag your snail mail address for these parcels.

And to everyone else, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for joining in the fun and excitement of my 100th post :) Whoot, whoot! Have a wonderful weekend, you guys!

YooHoo!

I woke up this morning, twice, to unusually terrific noises.  The first time was to a tremendous crash of thunder from a storm rolling through, the second, to the sound of a gigantic snore coming from . . . me *blushes*  I didn't know I snored, well, at least that loud (Meg, I know you're just rolling your eyes, of course I snore loudly, of course I do)!  Anyways, suffice to say it was a porous morning's sleep.

  

Usually I've been doing a Thursday YooHoo for various favorite artists!   Today, I'm YooHoo-ing 7 favorites :)  

1. Damask, wooden postcard from Paper Schmaper

2. Homemade strawberry marshmellows by sweetiepiesdelight

3. Ladybug mini from fing

4. My Wellies from IndianaBlue 

5. Little Lizzy and Bunny have dessert from tascha

6. Little Red from Michelemaule

7. Blueberry Wine from the lovely Peach Tree

Also, don't forget to put your name in the 100th post give-away!  I'll be drawing a winner on Saturday :)

Wednesday Inspiration

Sweet Wednesday inspiration for you guys!  Rambling through Domino's website this morning I took a tour through Carina Schott's home!  So bright and summery, I had to share!

Thank you guys for all the lovely comments on my last post: 100th post give-away!  Please make sure to stop by on Saturday to see who won the Candy Dots and mini notebook :)  I'm so excited!  

100th Post Give-away

My 100th post :) Hurrah, hurray, darlings!

In honor of such a mile-marker I will be giving away a yummy packet of Candy Dots along with a one-of-a-kind mini book, to you, just for you! All you have to do is leave a little note here, for me. I'll draw the name from those on Saturday evening!

It's a funny feeling, to have written enough for 100 entries thus far. Who ever has that much to say? But, I guess I write because I feel like I'm in a conversation with you, and it's my moment to say, yes, yes, and here's a thought I had the other day, what do you think? Thank you all for your wonderful support, your kind comments and fabulous support!

XOXO, Jewels

Summer sun and fun

Good morning! Presently I'm sitting on the floor, with my computer propped "just so" on my desk chair, trying desperately to catch my internet signal. Tricky, very tricky. Anyways, I just wanted to share a few pictures of the books I've been working on lately. I've snagged a few minutes to post some of them in my shop! Feels good to fill it out a bit more.

Also, I'm hoping to have the chance to post tomorrow because *drum roll* it will be my 100th post and I will be setting up a fabulous little give-away, so be sure to check back tomorrow!

How's the weekend been going thus far for you? I'm a little sun burnt. And a little blond *gasp* I'm talking about my hair, well, mostly :) It was so dark this winter, I had to brighten it up a bit! I say a "little blond" due to the fact that even in a professional salon, the dying of your hair doesn't always go right, so I have two inches of my roots blond and the rest a lighter brown. Yummy. I'll be going back in this morning to hopefully fix the problem!