Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Brillante Award


Whoa! Katrice was so kind to have awarded me the Brillante Weblog award... She is so awesome! And her site is full of her bright, happy, colorful illos! What a perfect opportunity to highlight the work of others (who doubtless have received this award many times already). I often visit the sites of these talented artists, whose blogs inspire me for the following reasons:

1. Pati - I love seeing her recent sketches of people she sees on the subway. Each figure is so thoughtfully drawn, right down to the smallest details. And I love that Godo still makes his appearances!

2. Chickengirl - Jannie Ho is way cool! Every time she posts stuff that she buys and collects... I want to buy them too! Yeah, and her artwork is so fabulous!

3. Emila Yusof - Emila is an amazing photographer! I'm highlighting her photo blog because every time I see her crisp and clean photos, I am inspired to go outside and take pictures of bugs and rain, too! I think everything she touches turns to gold!

4. Brian Gubicza - I'm highlighting his photos, also. I think it is the neatest thing to chronicle one's first year in a new city using photographs. There is this wonderful urban beauty about each of the pics.

5. Zari - She can draw things in different, cool, wonderfully different ways, but her bright personality always shines through each piece. You can always tell it's a "Zari" drawing. Truly, she is one of my favorite artists!

6. Mike Baker - I think it's virtually impossible not to be inspired by Mike's work. His use of color and character expression is just brilliant! And there's a story to tell with each illo, too. Writers need to make up stories to go with his drawings!

7. Valerie Walsh - Oh my goodness, not only are her paintings and illustrations so beautiful... but they have "heart". You can tell that each piece was lovingly created to make others happy. And I love the stories Val shares on her blog so much, that I pass them along to others too.

Okay, so these are just a few of the talented people I've been blessed to come across. Thank you so much for sharing your talent on your brillante sites!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Felt Craftyness

Feeling crafty lately with a couple of felt projects...


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Purple Trees and Sometimes Blue Skies

The Jacaranda Trees are in bloom around here. I don't remember them flowering like this into the summer... but nevertheless it's nice to see.


Before I learned they were actually called Jacarandas, I thought they were just our special purple trees. But I found out they also grow in Australia, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Los Angeles...


So for some time now, the skies around the Bay Area looked like this from all the fires taking place in California (it smelled bad too)...


Then miracle upon miracle, we had a couple of days when the sky looked like this...


(Sigh) Now it's back to this...

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Summer Means...

...Going to the Fair


...Campfires


...The Beach


...Finding Stuff at the Beach (like this purple starfish)

Sweet Gifts

Some thoughtful gifts from friends at work...

I love sunflowers!


A package arrived with these goodies...


A beautiful handmade card (such wonderful workmanship!)...


A pair of beautiful Ukranian dolls (my friend is from the Ukraine)


The tile on the right is another gift that's sitting on my desk at work (along with a postcard of the same favorite painting)


And a heavenly treat - white chocolate cup filled with chocolate mousse and topped with a fresh raspberry... yum!!!