peer a collaborative coloring book..

check out peer, a coloring book compiled by renee of wolfie and the sneak blog. it's a brilliant collaboration of 25 artists; lisa congdon, will bryant, julia rothman, shannon rankin, kate bingaman-burt, justin richel, kelly lynn jones, camilla engman and wow the list goes on! it's a limited 150 edition, so get on it. you can purchase it here. it's a great piece to add to your coffee table and let your guests find their inner child and get cracking. how fun! p.s. check out the flickr stream here to see the book.

simon peplow..

i love the work of simon peplow and it's not just because he writes 'toodlepip' at the end of his emails. or because his bio on his blog says he:

lives within a delicately constructed vortex. he spends the majority ofhis days downloading information from a tiny cabin situated inside the corpus callosum region of his noggin. characters are a fundamental partof his work, described by some as whimsical, cute and sinister in equalmeasures. he just wishes they were his friends.

however that's just part of it, his bold, colorful drawings of men w/ beards, birds in shoes, and overall groovy pictures make me very happy. w/ sayings like 'let's levitate", "happiness runs in a circular motion" and "increase the peace" are things a girl needs to hear when typhoons, earthquakes and wars are wreaking havoc on this world of ours. looking at simon's work induces delightful feelings. his images are like vitamin d from the sun's rays whilst sitting in the park w/ all your bff's around and it's saturday and you feel like you never have to work again. ahhhh, TGIF my friends! add some sunshine to your home and purchase one of simon's prints from his shop stufferings.

Sometimes..

This drawing by Julia Sonmi Heglund absolutely speaks to me right now as I find myslef in the dead of February in Boston. See more of her rad illustrations here.

GIVEAWAY Ned Oldham's Let's Go Out Tonight..

Kevin Earl Taylor just finished the art work for Ned Oldham's (Palace, Anomoanon, Oldham Brothers, etc…) 7" Let's Go Out Tonight from Gold Robot Records. The artwork is gorgoeus and the blue vinyl looks good enough to eat. This would make any vinyl enthusiast pretty happy. The record itself has been getting some good reviews....and I personally love it. Kevin has been sweet enough to offer a reader one of his copies to share. Don't want to gamble? You can buy your's right here. Kevin also tells me, that "all you digital purists, it comes with a download code so you can stick it on your machines."

Leave a comment and we'll choose a winner at random Monday morning. Not bad for a humpday.

Intermountain Moms Contest CLOSED

Having a young child with a medical issue sure puts your life into a tail spin sometimes.

When looking for a new {larger} house, our #1 priority was the proximity to a hospital.
Probably not the first thing you think of, right?

With Miles’s severe food allergies, there was a time that we were in the ER once a month. When seconds count we need to be as close as possible. We even turned down some houses because they were just so far away.

Our new house? Is perfect. Literally right around the corner from one of the newest Intermountain hospitals. Thankfully, in the year we’ve lived in our new home we have only visited their ER  4 times. Every time is better than the last and I am blown away with their service and kind staff.

Intermountain Health Care is constantly growing and evolving. I was so excited when they announced their new Intermountain Moms facebook page. And even MORE excited when I learn there is a REAL LIFE Nurse that is available to answer health related questions. It’s such a fantastic place to connect with other moms and other parents, and I’ve already learned SO much from their page.

Some quick facts about the Intermountain Moms page:

-  All mothers can ask a real nurse (Nurse Dani) questions about their pregnancy or children. She often answers with a video.

- The page has a lot of information and videos that act as support for new mothers. Most videos are OBCYN’s and Pediatricians answering FAQ’s.

- The page has a community of mothers that share stories and experiences. The fans are very active, engaged, and quick to help each other.

Are you ready for the best part????

They are graciously hosting an AMAZING giveaway for a $300 gift certificate to Babinski’s Baby just for checking them out.

Babinski’s Baby a charming children’s boutique in Salt Lake City.

 $300 to spend on whatever you need for your children, or to give as a gift to someone expecting their very own bundle of joy!!!

****THIS GIVEAAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED AND FOR INTERMOUNTAIN MOMS FOR SPONSORING***

To enter:

-Simply “like” Intermountain Mom’s on facebook and leave a comment to tell me you did.

Because I’m feeling EXTRA nice (and excited about this giveaway) you can earn one extra entry by tweeting : “I want to win a $300 gift certificate to @babinskis thanks to Intermountain Moms and @ryles http://bit.ly/rZwa3r” (or something similar.. Be creative!!!) (no extra points for creativity…Just makes me smile!)

Come back and leave a comment that you tweeted

And one extra entry by posting on your FB wall about the giveaway and coming

 back to leave another comment.

You now have 3 ways to win this AMAZING prize!!!

Contest will be closed on November 21st. Winner will be announced the 22nd!!!!!!
GOOOD LUCK!!!

***The spoils for this giveaway were provided by Intermountain Mom’s. As always that thought and opinions are completely MINE! ***

Reader LOVE Lizzy Janssen..

Lizzy Janssen's email arrived in my inbox with her colorful water colored collages and adorable products. Everybody needs a gem t-shirt! Check out her etsy shop, that was just newly updated. Horses, colors and crystals galore. My favorite!

 

cupcakes, as promised

I think this will be the last post of the goings ons of our Oregon trip. I think. It was the perfect trip in a lot of ways: the right length, the right people, the right balance between relaxing and doing things. O and OBaby flew like a freakin’ champ. That may explain why more than a week after getting home, I’m still going on about it.Unfortunately, there are no cupcakes and baby pictures, as promised. My adorable, lovable, snuggley, perfect little one decided to sleep, nay, not at night, but through the cupcake extravaganza instead.So you will have to settle for just cupcakes.OBaby’s sincerest apologies.The bakery is called The Sweetest Thing Cupcakes in Newberg, Oregon (no, they’re not paying me to say anything about them. They don’t even know I exist, but my love for them continues anyway, unrequited). Their place is down right adorable. It’s the ground floor of a craftsman style house with all of the original trim and woodwork including a huge, gorgeous buffet with leaded glass cabinet doors. Hi, am I sounding like a 1930′s house owner much? Let’s just say I had wood trim lust (because someone went and painted all of ours a long time ago).Speaking of lust, hello eggnog and gingerbread cupcakes. You’re looking good today. ::wink wink::There was a fun, whimsical feel to the seating area, themed in black and white scroll patterns with this bright, energetic robin’s egg blue sprinkled in. (See the leaded glass doors and dark wood built-ins in the background? :drool:)Speaking of drool… ok, no, I’m sorry, enough of those lame transitions.My favorite part about cupcakes is when the mass of the cake is equal to or less than the mass of it’s frosting. That’swhatI’mtalkingabout.It probably goes without saying, but the cupcakes were delicious. I think I’m starting to understand this cupcake thing. I mean, I ate cake! There was frosting! But at the end of it, I felt just fine. Nothing sitting heavy in my tummy. I did not feel like I had just eaten, say, three pieces of flour-less chocolate cake in 24 hours. Not that I would be familiar with what that feels like.Nor would the plate with the two cupcakes be mine. (I told myself that it was ok because one of them was mini. And I’m a nursing mom. 3 to 5 hundred extra calories a day! Gotta keep up!)

Lisel Ashlock new website..

Lisel Ashlock recently finished her MFA at The School of Visual Arts in May, and to kick off her summer she sat right down and designed and programmed a whole new illustration site. Wow, right? But what's even more WOW is her work. Stunning. Check out her etsy shop too where you can pick up some prints of her gorgeous style.

Stephanie Dotson..

Sometimes I don't even know where to begin when I write about an artist. Seriously folks, I have written about this a few times in the past. Everything I write about I enjoy on some level, it moves me...it tugs at my heart in some way. But I can't be overly earnest in every post! Let's face it, that would be so annoying and uhh, boring. Snore city! It's late at night, I've worked so much this week (yes, I have a day job...), I'm finding it hard to put together a sentence. I have nothing really verbose or eloquent to say about Stephanie Dotson work other than besides the obvious: I really like it. Oh wait, I have this to say...I love her hand lettering and the layers in her work.

Deedee Cheriel Songs for Infinite Starry Nights.

Deedee Cheriel's Songs for Infinite Starry Nights opened last Saturday at Merry Karnowsky Gallery in LA. Audrey Kawasaki and Femke Hiemstra also opened the same night -- the night I am sure was electric and full of beautiful work.

Here's a few pieces from Cheriel's show along with photos of paste ups she put up around LA leading up to her show. 

Images courtesy of Sonja Teri.

Dear Photograph..

Dear Photograph, Thank you for everything we had.

Like most people I am pretty nostalgic, so when I stumbled on Dear Photograph my mind kind of skipped a beat and did a strange deja vu. I am sure I was not alone when I found the site and immediately my brain started to transport back in time to all of the places I had ever been as a child that still exist today. I am sure that is why Dear Photograph has resonated so much with people and has become instantly popular. I hope when I go home in August to pull out a few pics and submit them.

Dear Photograph, Our wedding was our sweetest day, just like Grandma's chocolate.

Dear Photograph, Disney will always be magical, no matter what age.

thank you, BOOOOOOOM!.

One of my very favorite blogs/websites BOOOOOOOM! recently posted 17 creative websites to bookmark (unless you are dumb)! (There words not mine). I was super delighted to be called BOOOOOOOM's "cousin who comes over to jump on the trampoline. We share a love ofhand-crafted, folky work, and it has that same feeling you get when youlisten to a pause mixtape dubbed on cassette." So thank you Jeff and BOOOOOOOM!, you guys rule.

Below is just the tip of the iceberg of the radness they churn out in posts on BOOOOOOOM! everyday, Sweet Dreams by Kirsten Lepore. It's such a sweet, albeit slightly dark clip. I love it."Sweet Dreams" from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

Steven Riddle..

Sometimes I will get a submission that just makes me smile. Steven Riddle's work did that to me. I do not critique art work on the blog for a lot of reasons, mainly because that is not the point of ML4U...but there are times where it is hard for me to continually ignore trends and not comment on them. But again, that is not what the blog is here for...the absence of, I guess can say a lot more than my actual words can. However, like most people I can enjoy a good trend and get right behind them...as that is how they begin, no? I am seriously digressing here (I have a terrible head cold). What I want to say is that the gem and rainbow trend has been going full steam ahead for a while now...and listen I love a good rainbow as much as the next person, but how far can they go? I think Steven's work takes it to the next level. He emailed me yesterday sharing his work and explaining his concept and intent behind it. I love a good explanation when it comes to art. I immediately felt what he was doing. In his own words:

"My work explores ideas of misperceptions and misrepresentations of nature. Natural rock formations known as geodes can be artificially colored using man-made methods. This results in the perversion of the original colors that are found in natural formations. The dyed geodes display a falsification of nature. Tchotchke markets exploit indigenous societies, stealing, altering, and in return, profiting from their culture through souvenirs sales. These mementos have no cultural value, other than being a product of consumer driven economy. The misrepresentations add to the destruction of cultural traditions. I have chosen to work on paper because I view its physical properties [as] temporal, and [its] fragility as appropriately related to the relationship between nature and indigenous cultures."

Steven uses gouache, spray paint, acrylic air brush paint, cut collage and host of other mediums in his work. He lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland.

Houston, we have rollover

Then I looked away not but for a moment…

i promise we put pants on him some days

But this day it was hot.Also, he was mischievous.And bored.So? I let him find out what happens when you play with a hose.(It solved a multitude of problems.)

Miso X Paper Tiger..

There Is No Danger, the brand new print form Miso exclusively offered through Paper Tiger dropped today. Indicative of Miso's inspirations; biology and ecocatastrophe, it's hard to not fall for these chubby little furballs with antlers, no matter what kind of eco-terror created them. They sure are cute.

Saelee Oh Laser Cut Framed Print..

Saelee Oh released a laser cut piece in June and it sold out in two days! Her latest piece, Infinite Paths is on its way to being sold out as well. It's extremely intricate and detailed. I love that it's in navy. Best color ever!