Friday Favorites

one: opulent darkness yo-yo necklace by cookoorikoo
two: Moss and sage handspun yarn from larimeloom
three: La rainette from sandrineM
four: gray whale plushie from sarazoe

A little late with the Friday Favorites today, sorry 'bout that, not feeling the greatest, but on the mend! Andrew's up north this weekend, spending some quality time with his guy friends. Which means I get to cover my apartment with book making supplies (read: mess), go see a movie (Andrew hates theaters) and eat chippies for dinner, well, actually, I do that when he's home too!

By the way, I was very sincere about my tea invitation yesterday, if you're ever in town, let me treat you to a proper Madison tea!

XOXO
Jewels

Special treat

I love these beautiful spaces, all the white and touches of pink and brown! Found via Dwellings and Decor's lovely blog.

So, last night I was given such a treat, tea with a dear friend at the Dobra Tea house down town Madison. It's new! There was a wall of exotic teas, tiny little tea pots and tea cups, biscuits and tasty treats. We sat on woven rugs in our own little cloister spot complete with round cushions and a low table. For a tea lover this was a little piece of heaven. I had a pot of Memories of Prague (similar to Chai) which was accompanied with a tiny pitcher of milk, a small pot of honey and two little ginger cookies. It was delicious! If you're ever in Madison, I'll take you, I promise!

Images found here

Thankful

These images reflect colors of the sunrise I saw this morning walking to my car. It's warm out today. And I'm so thankful!

Sending you heaps of love this morning!

XOXO

Images: Rachel Whiting, Home made, Rebecca Thuss

Self Portrait: Sea & Jae

Good morning! The Self Portrait project has another fantastic feature from Sea & Jae. Her sweet and charming blog inspires me on a daily basis. And her darling shop is filled with such cuteness, so hard to resist!

Sea & Jae:

1. This sterling silver compote was my Great Grandmother’s. My Great Aunt gave it to me when I got married.

2. This is a very small stack of the many art books I have that belonged to my Grandmother.

3. The stone urn is one of a pair. They came out of the backyard of my childhood home in Iowa. There was also a matching birdbath, but I left that there since these were heavy enough.

4. The rocks sit on my desk and are ones we have picked up during our walks on the beach. Yes, I found the heart one on the beach, too.

5. My favorite color is turquoise and robin’s egg blue. I also happen to love glass.

6. I made this in elementary art class. I remember making like it was yesterday. We were learning about the coil technique. I see my pull to this color started early.

7. I gave this to my husband as an anniversary gift. We both love the pieces by this artistic company, Sticks, so I surprised him with it. It is a lazy susan and is definitely the most whimsical piece we have.

8. My Grandmother was an artist and I am very lucky to have several of her original paintings.

9. I carried this boat home from Bangkok. I had been on an amazing vacation to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand.

10. I am a huge lover of shells. This one means a lot to me because I got it while on a weekend trip in the Bahamas with my Uncle who is no longer with us. I picked it off the ocean floor while snorkeling.

If you're interested in participating in the Self Portrait project or just want more details, don't hesitate to email me at julia {dot} cumings {at} yahoo {dot} com! I would love to hear from you!

The right kind of space

Well, we were going to have company come in from Milwaukee Saturday, but a foot of snow, some ice, and slick conditions prevented that from happening. So, Andrew and I bundled down, finished the third season of Arrested Development, made books, did homework and lazed about. It was kinda nice! One of my favorite things to do on the weekends is walk down to our local coffee shop, books and journals in tow, drink coffee and catch up. We catch up on our journaling, we catch up on what each other are reading, and catch up on the local hooligans who frequent the coffee shop! I seem to write more in my journal when I'm out of the apartment. There's something to be said for creating the right kind of environment for your creativity, coffee shops do it for me. I think I'm going to have to go explore flickr for the "right kind of space" images!

Thank you so much to Amy and Courtney who let me know that Red Otter was in the Etsy Finds on Sunday *does a little dance*

Images: fashion, food and fleur

Friday Favorites

1. manzanilla handbag from zelaya
2. tan and turquoise mug by richardjohnson
3. handmade woven book by marthasavery
4. Lola stacking rings from onegarnetgirl

Still shuffling about here at the office, but wanted to send out these fun Friday Favorites! Have a great weekend, everyone, I'll catch up with you over the weekend.

XOXO
Jewels

Shuffling about

It's moving day here at the office. I get to move from the west side to the east side of the office, a relatively short distance, but still a pain in the neck. Although, there's something exciting about starting afresh. I get to create my space in a new and hopefully more efficient way *sighs* I'm probably dreaming. Anyways, I'll be a little MIA today due to the shuffling around. I wanted to draw your attention to a very interesting and inspiring post over at haus maus yesterday. It seemed to spark quite a bit of conversation! Hope you enjoy!

Images found here

Lists

I love lists. Have I mentioned this before? There was a whole week in January where all I wrote in my journal were lists. Things I want to do this spring, things to bring on my trip, kinds of books to create, people to write, so on and so forth. My list for Wednesday:

1. Work on logos for new project *wink, wink*
2. Walk to coffee shop
3. Plan anniversary trip in May
4. Learn more about my new camera

What's on your list today?

Images one, two and three

The role of an artist

"A great painting, or symphony, or play, doesn't diminish us, but enlarges us, and we, too, want to make our own cry of affirmation to the power of creation behind the universe. This surge of creativity has nothing to do with competition, or degree of talent....This response on the part of any artist is the need to make incarnate the new awareness we have been granted through the genius of someone else."

– Madeleine L'Engle
A Circle of Quiet

My love for Madeleine L'Engle runs deep. I remember my father reading A Wrinkle in Time to us when we were in grade school, my sisters and I piled onto the trundle beds, listening avidly. Her thoughts on art, life, family and God have been very influential to me and my life, so I wanted to share a little of her with you this morning. I thought her writings on the role of an artist very fitting for us all!

Images found here

Friday Favorites

one: Gray Eclipse Big Town Bag by the wren
two: Bulut from designbynihan
three: Landscape 269 by cwysart
four: Bitter Chocolate and Blue Felt bangle from exclamationpoint

Stepping back to see the big picture is hard to do. Especially when there's so much going on that snaps you back to the demanding details of the here and now. But, every once in a while, you get those "big picture" moments. I have a tendency to feel emotions intensely. I also use Universals a lot, like all the time, always! Thus, I freak out when I'm having a particularly rough moment because I think it's always been that way and will always be that way. I forget to take a step back and see that these intense moments come. And then they go. And normalcy resumes. For me I feel instantly comforted when I realize that the rough moments aren't a constant state of being. I feel capable of handling so much more if I know that the quiet moments and days will come again.

I feel so energized at the start of a post like this, but when I finish my thought I think "Oh geez, Julia, way to go and state the obvious!" Well, maybe it's super obvious, but golly, I needed to hear it this week *grins*

Sending you heaps of love and delight this weekend!

The Winner

Over tea this morning I asked Andrew, who hasn't looked at the comments on the Give-Away post by the way, to pick a number from 1 to 50. And he picked 33! Miss Callie you are our lucky winner! I'll be sending you an email shortly, darling~

These images are from an article titled "A Norwegian Spring." They're so spring like I have a desperate desire to go buy a little pot of daffodils. It's cold and gray this morning, I have to keep reminding myself that I have just four more weeks to go till I'll be in the sunshine in Florida!

Lavish you with chocolate

I should have kept my trap shut yesterday. It turned out to be a super duper hectic day here at work. Proposals galore, oi! Anyways, I'm stoppin' by just to lavish you with chocolate this morning. Part of my valentine to you. I also wanted to let you know that the Give-Away is being extended to 10 PM tonight, so be sure to stop by here if you haven't already!

XOXO,
Jewels

Images found via Martha Stewart

Quiet morning

Kind of a quiet morning here. Beautifully spring like and rainy. Just wanted to share a few things: LePapier's cards on the Apartment Therapy website, a gorgeous new blog favorite, Holly Maus, and last, but not least, a reminder about the Red Otter give-away!

Images: one, two

My Valentine Give-Away

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Out trip home was a success--plenty of girl time, a long walk with Mom, and a proper manicure with strawberry milkshake pink polish. With my sister just a month away from her due date she was glowing with soon-to-be-mom radiance and had heaps of advice for her older sisters for when they get pregnant. She's our pioneer, the baby of the family having the first baby!

With Valentines just around the corner I thought it would the perfect time for a give-away! I'm going to be giving a 25 dollar Red Otter gift certificate to a lucky winner randomly chosen on Wednesday the 11th at 6PM! My Valentine to you! You will be able to use the gift certificate for anything in my shop at any time. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post!

image found here

Friday Favorites

one: Terra Cotta Trellis by sagefox
two: Type Bird from tabidesigns
three: Gorgeous Ginseng by retrofied
four: Owl be yours from dayslonggone

Good morning! I'm taking off this morning, heading home to visit my family. The weekend will hopefully involve a proper manicure, some girl time, yummy food and a walk with the puppies (my parent's two Siberian huskies). I get so excited about these trips, you can ask my husband, I'm nearly bouncing out of my seat when we swing into town. Such a dork!

I wanted to give you a heads up: GIVE AWAY ON MONDAY! I'll be doing a special give away for all you lovely people :) So be sure to stop by!

Also wanted to send out a special thank you to Paula and Miss Aimee for the heart warming love you gave me this week :) THANK YOU THANK YOU! Honestly, I was so touched. I'm going to be sending out the love to 10 (this was tough!) special blogs that continue to inspire me and lift my spirits every time I visit: Heart of Light, Little Brown Pen, Two Ellie, Mostly Mod, Tiny Red, {this is glamorous}, Callie, Mint, Design Lovely, Quaint Handmade. Find out more info here!

Idea Greenhouse

The last picture reminds me of Little Byrd so much! Full of simple, reclaimed beauties!

Last week I signed up for the Country Living Woman's Entrepreneur event down in Chicago. I went last year and had an incredible time. I walked away from the event full of ideas, inspiration and the delicious feeling of hope. I've been mulling over what's next for Red Otter since Christmas, and although I've come up with some new ideas, they all feel rather fragile. There's nothing more exciting than taking a new shoot of an idea in an Idea Greenhouse. If anyone's interested check it out here. It would also be heaps fun meeting up at this fantastic event, so if you're going and would like to meet, let me know!

Images found here

Spring and Valentines

These images not only have me thinking of spring, but of Valentines as well. Yes, I think kindly towards this holiday, not because I'm one for chocolates and roses on demand, but rather because I like all the pink, I like the little Valentine notes, I like the bubbly. Andrew and I have rarely celebrated Valentines on the 14th, it usually gets pushed to the weekend after. But, as it's on a Saturday this year, maybe we'll do something sweet... maybe. I'm thinking a long walk, maybe a latte, some shnuggling... okay, that's what we do every weekend!

images found here

Pink Radiators

Do you see the pink radiators in the bottom picture? I get such a kick out of those. How was your weekend? The sun was so warm and delicious this weekend I tried spending as much time as I could outside. I even convinced Andrew to go for a lonnnnggggg walk with me.

images found here