Happy Valentine's Day

Here's a virtual Valentine for all of you! This year I decided to paint my V-Day cards after being inspired by Merrilee and her son and their fantastic color theory project. I think these are my best DIY Valentines yet.


All images by Maureen Price. Please do not use without permission.

Marbled

Paper marbling is just so cool. It's one of those things I've always thought I could really get into but have just never gotten around to the finding all of the necessary supplies (and teaching myself). I love how random and somewhat unpredictable the results can be. Marbling can produce some very organic and complex images. It often ends up looking like something under a microscope. If I ever have a little studio space then I'll definitely be giving it a try.


Image by Lulu Wolf

Happy feet

I'm really enjoying these posters designed by Amy Rodchester for the Newcastle Festival of Dance. Love the three dimensional quality and vintage vibe!

Letterpress class!

I'm pretty excited to take my first letterpress class today! Just wanted to gather up a little inspiration and a few cool videos. I'll report back after the class tonight. I can't wait to see what we'll get to make!


Images 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

No clue what any of this is about? Here's a great instructional video from Naomie Ross:

Letterpress from Naomie Ross on Vimeo.

...and another fun one from Egg Press in Portland, OR:

Egg Press Letterpress Video from Pressing Letters on Vimeo.

Escape

I've been dreaming of a bit of an escape. The world has been an especially nasty place of late. It's always difficult feeling like you have no control over the problems that surround us. I try to be a very "plugged in" person in terms of news and world events but it can really get to me at times. Like many people who aren't truly suffering (directly), I can be overwhelmed by sadness and frustration. Feeling the desire to run away, to let go, and to escape to a more simple place...it was meant to be that I came across these images by photographer Courtney Townsend. Courtney captures the beautiful and wild spirit of horses in such a stunning and timeless way. I love her use of color and texture within the images. They're so reminiscent of early photography in their rough and wonderfully imperfect nature. I definitely feel transported when I see these and I wish I could be out there running alongside the horses and sleeping under the stars completely away from it all. Keep up the lovely work, Courtney! So beautiful...


All images by Courtney Townsend

Broome Street General Store

Last weekend we discovered another little gem close to home. I'd been hearing some chatter within the blogosphere about Broome Street General Store and when I realized how close it is...well, no excuses not to visit. It's an absolutely charming little place tucked away on Rowena Avenue in Silverlake. I love the patio area out front complete with a white fence and lavender. Inside you'll find all kinds of goodies from tasty treats to vintage bits and pieces. Everything from old to new is so beautifully displayed that you just want to spend a good hour looking around the place. I was all over the vintage letterpress paraphernalia. We tried the verbena mint iced tea which was delightful and you shouldn't leave without one of their chocolate custards (with caramel on the bottom...ooo!). It's such a great place for a little summer gathering.


All images by Maureen Price

Sad day...

Such horrible news coming out of Norway. My heart goes out to the people who found themselves in a nightmare today. Here's to the beauty of Norway.


Images 1, 2, 3, 4

Bright Spots

How amazing is this first photo?! I found this today and immediately decided to design a post around it. That is some classic (and kind of treacherous looking) summer fun right there. Add in some roller skates and a cool pattern and we're off!


1. Vintage promotional photo for Cypress Gardens, Florida (original photographer unknown), 2, 3, 4

Erin Jang's Stop Motion

I'm really loving these little stop motions gems from Erin Jang. She created these for Martha Stewart Living. The photography is by Johnny Miller. You'll definitely want to have a look at her other design work for Martha Stewart Living and Esquire. She's also created some great letterpress wedding invitation suites for Bella Figura (one of my favorites).

My Malachite Box of Amazement

When I posted the chalk festival pictures I mentioned that I found a little something special in the antique mall. Well, here she is. I scored this little malachite box. It's about the size of a standard business card and maybe an inch and a half tall. It's just the right size for holding everyday jewelry. I finally got around to taking a few glamour shots of it today and by that I mean I set up my ghetto-tastic white box made out of bristol board on the front steps of the apartment. Very professional. Anyway, they turned out decent enough for you to really see the detail. Malachite is one little piece of the natural world that blows me away. The shape and detail and color is stunning. If you look close enough, it almost looks like cells separating in their own little universe. Wow. Before you ask, yes, I am sober as I type this...I just really love malachite.


All images by Maureen Price

Biggest 365 Post Ever!

I think it goes without saying that I've been neglecting my 365 posts. I really need to just start doing them once a week! That being said, here are almost all of my July shots! As usual, get ready to scroll!

Day 67--Wondering what this is? It's a vegan chocolate truffle!


Day 68--I don't know what these people who live down the street are doing to their succulents but it's definitely working!


Day 69--Looks appalling, tastes...ok. It's Amazing Grass powder.


Day 70--This was sitting up on the mail boxes in the building. Someone has a dentist appt.


Day 71--White tea action in the Sorapot!


Day 72--Near the neighborhood park...


Day 73--I have a weird thing for VERY small miniature animals. This gerbil, my Scottish terrier, and my Thai porcelain elephant live on a ledge in my kitchen.


Day 74--Haha, I had to laugh at this.


Day 75--This was on the side of a cafe. I thought it made for a cool image.


Day 76--Random picture but I had to show this. Iced tea is not supposed to be opaque! Ugh.


Day 77--New running shoes!


Day 78--Dirty park mosaic.


Day 79--Apparently cantaloupes need to be belted. This is funny to me for some reason.


Day 80


Day 81--Palm tree


Day 82--Luke likes pictures of graffiti for some reason so I took this one for him.


Day 83--Gorgeous orchids


Day 84--Let's hope so.


Day 85--Lovely sky...


Day 86--:-)


Day 87--One of these is different than the other.


Day 88--Nice moon last night.


Day 89--I got Luke to do shadow puppets in the park for me. Not quite sure what this one was supposed to be.

365 Explosion

So, I've been way behind on choosing, editing, resizing, hosting and posting my 365 images. They've been sitting on my memory card and in my Flickr photostream without showing their faces on the blog. But no more! Here we go!

Day 50
My IKEA doormat


Day 51
My apartment building's Pigeon Relaxation Preventer. Treacherous looking.


Day 52
My little Westie (Edelweiss) who lives on my kitchen counter.


Day 53
What's left of my succulent collection...


Day 54
Really unimaginative this day. View down the driveway.


Day 55
So, this wasn't true.


Day 56
Nice shade in the alley...


Day 57
Random circle in the parking garage.


Day 58
Toys are still fun!


Day 59
Yes, there was a map of Middle Earth in the used book store. Why not?


Day 60
Taking pictures in Anthropologie...


Day 61
Part of my antique key collection.


Day 62
The front door to the apartment building is most likely the original 1920's door. It has this cool window in the middle which still opens (I think...maybe with some WD-40).


Day 63
My most recent "stone" find. Gorgeous little chunk of highly detailed malachite. Swoon.


Day 64
Flower by my window after the sprinklers went off...


Day 65
Bonus points if you can guess what this is!


Day 66
Lantern by the front door in the afternoon light.

365 Project: Day 31

I made it through my first month of the 365 project and the first month of my blog! I had a great surprise today! I'll post that above! Anyway, I really like this shot. It's the inside of a shell that I found at Michael's (of all places). I'm crazy about the colors and patterns. Beautiful.