Modish: the blog

Colorsplash

Oooh, I love these brand new pieces from Heather Smith Jones- they are original watercolors, not prints, and are just so supple and colorful and lovely:

And the best part is, they're only $25 each!  Get'im before they're gone!

New goodies in the shoppe!

I haven't posted about new items from the modish shoppe in a loooong time, and since it's well overdue and I happen to have lots of wonderful new items in for spring, I thought it high time to show some off!

First off, I'd like to introduce a new artist to the shoppe, Stephanie DosReis!  I feel honored to carry her wonderful mixed media prints and (my favorite) her adooooorable plush houses made from vintage fabrics, they're each one of kind!

There's also beautiful new jewelry and a pretty new color of poppy pins and hairpins for the summer, by foundling:

Also, back in the shoppe, Mood Swing's wonderful reversible storybook charm necklaces- you get two necklaces in one!

There's also lots of new prints by a modish favorite, Swallowfield- they're all so colorful and cheery!

There's a lot more new goodies on the way to the shoppe too, including new tees from wenifnotnow, plates by New Work, jewelry by Odd Bird, new bags by Jenna Rose and Queen Puff Puff, new jewelry from Mollie Dash, and more more more!  Check in often and remember, you can use the code "modish" for free shipping!

Aye, Mamacita!

I was going to include this spicy cha cha cha painting (you see it there below- it's the one that makes you feel like dancing!) in the cinco de mayo post yesterday, but decided to stick with Mexican artists on that one...but when searching for today's post, I could hear the lovely lady still calling my name- "Hola jena, remember me senorita? Will I get the chance to dance on your blog? Baila! Cha cha cha!"  And how could I refuse her?  Especially when she brought some lovely friends along...

You can find these beautiful paintings in Karin Grown's shop- they are giclee prints stretched on canvas with hand-painted touches to bring out the highlights in each piece.  She also makes pretty little jewelry adornments featuring vintage stamps and papers soldered under glass.  Cha cha yourself on over and check everything out!

De Colores

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!  Today has become a day to celebrate Mexican culture in the United States- although I'm sure you'll see many examples of the capitalization that has made Cinco de Mayo so popular here ($1 margarita happy hour anyone?), I hope you'll also find celebrations of the Mexican heritage, art, music and culture that have helped make America what it is today.  To help celebrate some of that talent, here are some handmade goods by Mexico based artists and crafters that I found on good ol' etsy!

{cyrano doll, set of 5 cards by Cara Carmina :: Pink strawberry charm by allen! ::  hedgehog march notepads by micasita house}

{Fungi print by Rosie Music :: tulips wallet by ziazia :: Mexican embroidered bag by That Retro Thing :: Mexican embroidered tunic by Aida Coronado}

{filigree flower and bird earrings by tutarubli :: city lights necklace by Colibri Dreams :: seashells box by Sea Debris :: "remember" print by Geninne}

For the Mums: Gardening goodies

This last Mother's Day gift idea post is inspired by my own mama, an avid gardener and bird lover who would surely enjoy any of the gifts below- in fact, I bought her the bird feeder for Christmas last year!  For your own flower pickin' mamas, hopefully some of these suggestions will hit home:

1. Egg bird feeder by Jim Schatz (beautiful! My mom loves hers!)- $135
2. Birdhouse stakes made from salvaged house parts, by Dryads Dancing- $42/set of 3
3. English garden rose dream (made from polymer clay! wow!) at Petal by Petal- $80
4. Flowers for mom vase by Beth Mueller at Uncommon Goods- $32
5. Campy planters by Perch Design- $72
6. Garden organizer by Milk Pail- $27
7. Purple tit print by Bird Nerd- $20
8. "Suprise Mi!" deluxe spa set (for after a long day of gardening!) by mi SPA- $125

Brighten and inspire

I'm. sooooo. in. love.

This is photography by Samantha Lamb and I think it's just stunning.  The depth of field in each one is really engaging and elegant, the color palettes are luscious and the end results are quiet, storied, palpable.  I just love every. single. photo of hers that I've seen so far, in fact, I've been lost for the past half hour just trying to decide which ones to show you here!  Find all her collections on her website, where you can email her if you're interested in purchasing a print, that is, if you can narrow down your favorites and actually choose one to order!

And while you're in the photography mood, be sure to take a peek at Design for Mankind's inspiration e-zine #4, out today.  It features some incredible photography that was inspired by the unexpected- there's some good stuff in there, and it's free to check out, so hop to it!

She's a laaady, wo-ah wo-ah woah

Take a look at these wonderful paintings by Caitlin Shearer, mainly of dark haired beauties (but I had to throw in one of her red-heads to represent!) that are long and sleek and full of expression.  I love the close up faces, their eyes seem to have depths of secrets and history within them:

These images make me think of another time and place, they hearken back to the past but still feel contemporary- they're just beautiful.  And at a mere $7 per pop for a 4"x6" print, you can cover your walls with lovely ladies and see if they'll share their secrets with you.

My, you have a lovely pancreas

There is an anatomical trend that's been seeping through the indie community for awhile now, most notably portraying our most precious of all organs, the heart, in a myriad of realistic ways...but what about our kidney, our intestines, our uterus, our pancreas for goodness sake?  Who will look after these oft' overlooked organs?  Who will find their shapes, their functions, their colors worthy of exploration and praise?  Who will be able to create compelling art from scientific, anatomical forms?  Claire Elizabeth can, that's who!

Each hand-embroidered organ is one of a kind and sure to start a dialogue.  I love the addition of sequins to them- can our most inner of selves be a bit glamorous too?

Find more interesting pieces like these in Claire Elizabeth's shop, and celebrate what makes you, you!

Good things come in threes

After my sink into the slums the past couple days woeing over paying my taxes with money I do not have, things started to look up- my boyfriend got a call offering him the job he really wanted (some money coming in, yay!) and I got three positive emails back related to a "business opportunity" (the possibility for some extra money, yay!) and today I'm meeting with two of those potential, uh, I'll call them, "business partners" to see if things will pan out (sorry for the vagueness, don't want to jinx anything quite yet!)  Will I have my third blast of good news today?  I sure hope so.  And in a celebration of good things coming in threes, I bring you these triptychs by Phoebe C.  I shared them with d*s readers on my guest blog stint, but love them so much, I wanted to make sure to introduce them to my lovely modish readers as well!

They're so colorful and cheery and bright and I love love love the images she chooses to combine- they contrast and compliment each other so perfectly.  These are just a snippet of all the wonderful triptychs and other prints Phoebe C has for sale- check more out in her shop! 

Go ask Alice

Follow me down the rabbit hole, if you will, to find the otherworldly collage art by A Rabbit Girl (aka: Karen Preston) that's at once moody yet funny, dark yet cheerful, strange yet compelling- you may need your looking glass for this trip!

Giveaway winners and fun finds!

Remember that huge giveaway that took place last week?  Well two ladies have won it all (lucky ducks): Jennifer from Irvine, CA and Katie from Houston, TX!  Congrats ladies!  I hope you enjoy all your goodies!  And thank you thank you to evvvvvvveryone who entered, I do appreciate it so!  And an extra special thank you to all those talented folks who contributed goodies!  Here are a few of my favorite finds from some of the contributors this month:

Sixhours Photography caught my eye right away with their key photo, but take a look at these other incredible photos from their shop!

And Pattern & Paw (the newly named Lindsay Designs which you may know of) is filled with fun collars and leashes for cats and dogs of every size...I'm thinkin' my kitties would look pretty cute in one of these!

I'm also liking this lovely jewelry from A Pretty Rock- Yazmin, the designer behind the scenes, donated LOTS of pairs of earrings to the giveaway, so you can look forward to having the chance to win some for months to come!

Tiny Art

There's a new tiny art show by Lisa Congdon up at the The Shiny Squirrel right now!

Most pieces are only $40-50 which is great for an original piece of art (tiny or not!) and they're selling out fast!  Find them along with some other new goodies at The Shiny Squirrel!

Toodlewho?

Modish contributor Renee is a pretty talented lady, and apparently she hangs out with some pretty talented friends, one being Nicole, the creator of these inCREDible 3-D collage sculpture pieces that light up from within:

I just LOVE these!  They are incredibly original, intriguing to look at and I imagine they must be quite a sight to see in person.  I love the combination of biology and metaphor, they're like scientific illustrations of the imagination.  I especially love the Bugs in my Belly piece, wow!  They're originals and priced as such, so keep that in mind as you cruise through Nicole's brank spankin' new shop, Toodle Pip Studios.  Any one of these would be well worth the shekels for a piece that will, quite literally, light up your walls! 

Taming the inner beast

Some days (uh, today) this is what I feel like:

A lion on the inside roaring to get out (and play/slack/shop/veg out/sleep/read/not work) and a lion tamer on the outside saying "No! Bad lion! Do a trick! Get to work! Dance, lion, dance!"  Damn tamer.  At least she has some pretty awesome boots to boss my inner self around in.  Pay homage to the days when you feel like both the lion and the tamer with this awesome screenprint from Animalsleep, just one of many other awesome screen-prints, and originals.  Now, back to work! {crack!}

Daydreaming

I wish I was doing this right now...
Or collecting these...

But at least, if I can't be at the beach at the moment, I can live vicariously through the photograhpy by D. S. Brennan, and you can too!

Full of wonder

I am just in love with these original paintings by Wonder Cabinet featuring meditations on lakes, rivers and streams.  The artist is preparing for a canoe trip this summer, and you can see that meandering through the beautiful waters has been on her mind:

Painted on an old milkman's journal and ledger paper, I really like the combination of the found pages as background coupled with finding oneself through their journey along these streams.  Plus, they're originals for under $50- how cool is that?

I scream for Ice Cream!

I love love love these wonderful cards by Ice Cream Social- they have a whimsical, child-like feel with hand-drawn figures and writing, but they feel so fresh and sophisticated at the same time.  Yumm!

Jenn, the ice cream maker, also offers these little original paintings featuring initials.  I, of course, being Jena with a boyfriend named Justin, just had to have this J (or as I see it, Su-per J!) painting as soon as I saw it.  She's just getting started with the series- you can request your own initial for a custom piece!

Opening tomorrow...

A wonderful new show is opening at the Artstream Studios tomorrow, featuring the work of 4 wonderful artists: Alena Hennessy, Daryl Berger, Tara Hogan and Abby Glassenberg, who's inCREDible sculpted birds can be seen below!  These birds were created just for the show and will available to purchase online at Artstream once the show is up.  Be sure to check it out!

Half Awake

Perhaps it's because I am half awake myself that I feel so drawn to these amazing photos by Erin Tyner, part of her "half awake" series featuring miniatures posed in various environments.

I think they're really unique and compelling- they force you to take a second look and realize that the people and their environments are artificial yet they feel so real, so familiar, and kind of dreamy all at once.  It's a really cool way to play with perspective and scale- I just love them!  They'd look great paired side by side.  Find them along with other prints in the series and more really wonderful photography in Erin Tyner's shop!

Spring in pdx...

Spring is definitely in the air here and I found some local Portland artists who are celebrating the approaching season, all discovered through the "shop local" search option on etsy.  If you haven't tried that out yet, it's a great way to see who is creating what in your own town and you can maybe also save on shipping costs if you discover they live up the street from you, hmm?  Just head to etsy, click "shop local" on the left, type in your city and search away!

{Sebastian in pink flowers by this is all I know; season series spring print by Apak; girl and tree by loaded hips press; happy print by Sarah Kamsler; cattails and lipstick ground by Michelle Ramin}    

New stuff in the shoppe! And one week left!

Happy Valentine's Day!  This is really just a Thursday for me, but it's the Thursday exactly one week before the Thursday that we'll be hitting the road with all our stuff and moving up to Portland!  I have one week left!  Oh my gosh! 

That means that starting this weekend I won't be around due to packing/moving/internet-connection-losing.  That also means that orders in the shoppe will be delayed in shipping until I can get my office and internet set up again up there.  But, I've added so much new stuff lately (over 60 items!) that I just have to show you anyway, and have to offer you a special deal for the patience you will exude in waiting for your orders to ship: so, use code "smoothmove" at checkout for FREE SHIPPING and your order will ship out as soon as I'm able (hoping by Wed, Feb 27th) and will also include a FREE GIFT!  I have lots of pocket mirrors, earrings, pins, cards and other good stuff that will find their way into your packages...

In the meantime, here's a glimpse at all the new goodies in the shoppe- get yourself a little "spring is coming and I deserve something nice" gift, hmmm?

Like some of this beautiful jewelry by a newly added designer, Ole Lukoe:

Or maybe some of these hand-dandy felt fabulous cases from Suezybees:

Or these wonderful, eco-friendly, wood-block art pieces by Rebecca Tolk:

Perhaps you'd like some modern, screen-printed dinnerware by New Work:

Or a new cute purse or tote from Prickly Pear:

Or maybe some fresh art on your walls by Swallowfield or Wolfie and the Sneak:

Or some pretty gemstone jewelry by Prismera to usher in the spring:

This is only a small sampling of all the great new items that are in the shoppe!  There's also a lot of sale items left, so nab what you have your eye on before it's gone!

It's time for goodbye

Although you are beautiful, it's time for you to release your stranglehold, Winter...

{highways triptych by Under the Sugar; tanglewood by Irene Suchocki; theses trees by Alicia Bock}

because Spring is fast on your heels.

{monnaie du pape and cheveux d ange by labokoff; morning by Unravelling; breeze by Paula Casentini; berries by Elle Moss}   

I <3 you

Seeing hearts?  Here's some heart themed handmade gifts for you for Valentine's Day, yes, but also just because I love all you readers, so very much.  <3

row 1: for the love of baking by Thea Coughlin ($20), eyes for you card by Kaching Design ($6),  so happy together by Chromatics ($70)
row 2: bleeding heart blue by Anna Ruby King ($10), heart vinyl and sterling necklace by Nature vs. Machine ($50), brass heart fobs by Bonbon Oiseau ($50)
row 3: heart on your finger ring by  ehmeglass ($56), darling bag by Oprikka (70€)
row 4: sweetheart necklace by Nek ($50), love hurts cactus pincushion by Sheasy ($10), heart of glass II by Nanopod ($32)

Fly, fly away

Sometimes when you're extended in too many directions and you've calculated that it's humanly impossible for one person to finish all the tasks you have on your to-do list before, say, 2011, and you have to somehow find time to move to Portland (just, ya know, as an example) during it all, well those are the times that you may wish you were a butterfly that could just flitter away with the wind, your only responsibility being to decide which beautiful flower to suck some nectar out of today.  But, since that can't happen, I'll live vicariously through these beauties:

1. Hand Painted necklace (£26)  2. Butterfly collage necklace ($58)  3. Butterfly Lavender Sachets  ($14/set of four)  4. Porcelain Butterfly Bowl ($65)  5. Butterflies at Dawn babydoll dress ($145)  6. Butterfly panel painting ($45)  7. Follow Me II photograph ($25)

Meet Aggie & Edgar

I've been spending time compiling a post about butterflies because they seem springy and happy and peaceful, all of which are things I need right now, but I had to pop in real quick and introduce you to Aggie & Edgar who I just discovered on the etsy front page:

They're a fine pair of old birds, these two- Aggie has been known to make a mean pie while Edgar sits on the porch in his rocking chair, skimming the dictionary.  Find these two, and more friends and photographs that you can take home with you to create new stories for, in the Hisss shop!