I’ve seen Laurie Pollpeter Eskenazi’s ceramics at a couple of art fairs in the Chicago area and find her work completely charming. Given the time of year, I wanted to mention her ceramic hearts as perfect Valentine’s Day gifts. Whimsical, colorful and utterly delightful representations of the Valentine’s Day symbol. And, as a décor item to be displayed in permanence, just one of Laurie’s colorful ceramic hearts can exude the expression of lovely feelings all year round.
You can read about Laurie Pollpeter Eskenazi’s training as an artist here and shop for her ceramic hearts (and her other inspired ceramic work) [...]

I just bought the cutest paper placements by Cake Vintage over the weekend.  I got them as a hostess gift, but I really want to keep them for myself. The placemats come in a large pad of 50 pages (just like the construction paper pads) featuring the hand-drawn illustration of a classic (vintage!) place setting. I love their fun tongue-in-cheek elegance: feel like you totally belong to the born-with-a-silver- spoon-in-your-mouth set while serving mac ‘n cheese. I’m told that kids love drawing on these too, so this is actually a great gift idea for the whole family. The pad of [...]

So, my husband and my kids, and certain friends are quite certain that I have a “thing”, that I am obsessed, fixated on… vacuum cleaners. The stick, cordless, kind of vacuum. I know. So NOT succulent. “But if they made one that worked…” is my defense.
And, I know that I’m not the only one. While at the vet’s office the other day, I spotted one the assistant’s emerging from a consultation room with her little stick vac. I had to ask about it. The whole front office crew got in on the conversation or, shall I say, the lament. We [...]

Like with all my very favorite finds, I stumbled upon One Thread Fair Trade™ by “accident”. If you can call meeting someone through Twitter an accident. Still, right now I am thrilled to be sharing the beautiful product and story of Mayura Kona, the creator of One Thread Fair Trade™. Mayura is a designer at heart (she has a BA in Design/Media Arts from UCLA) and a business person by “obligation” (MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management). Her education is what has enabled her to design her gorgeous product while creating a meaningful enterprise that would improve the [...]

I came across Mandy Budan’s paintings quite randomly through one of my endless web surfing sessions. That particular session ended right there and then as her work stopped me in my tracks.
The first thing I noticed was the familiar landscape. Mandy hails from Ontario, just a few hours away from my hometown of Montreal. Her collection of shapes and colors perfectly captures the indigenous landscape. I recognized it immediately and delighted in her visual interpretation of the local fauna.
Then, her joyful and captivating use of color. Her colors blend, contrast, clash and harmonize. And while, objectively, they often don’t relate [...]

We’re moving the family to Chicago. I’m very excited, but have only been there twice and am entirely confounded by the endless neighborhoods (Las Vegas doesn’t really have “neighborhoods”. We have walled communities and shopping centers!). So I went looking for a map that would give me such a reference. Not just streets and municipalities, but actual neighborhoods by name. My – arduous! – search lead me to an article on PrairieMod (If you love Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie Style, you’ll love this blog) giving me ex.act.ly what I had been looking for: Ork Posters by Jennifer [...]

I have been joyfully soaking in the advent of summer by listening to the birds sing. And, I love watching hummingbirds flutter nearby. Quite the perfect portrait of summer. If you wanted to catch the fever and welcome these delightful tiny creatures into your backyard, here are some beautiful hummingbird feeders for  you to consider.

The Parasol Garden Company makes some of the prettiest hummingbird feeders to be found anywhere. The company was started in 1997 when founders Alfredo García-Lucio and Jim McKeever could not find a birdfeeder to satisfy their sense of aesthetics. Thank goodness, because then Alfredo, [...]

This clever design by Animica Causa (From The Heart), an Israeli company that manufactures high quality modern furniture and products. (I’m really craving and need to find a spot of their their Feel Seating System)
I love these Cake Triangles. I would give this as a wedding gift or to a friend who entertains a lot. This is perfect for buffet style entertaining. Makes for a wonderful, modern presentation while preventing the mess of randomly chopped cake or pie.
You can get the Cake Triangles online for $89.95. They ship worldwide.

Valérie, a past contributor from the days of The Succulent Wife’s online shop sent me a photo of her bulging belly to let me know of her blooming pregnancy. I was happy for her, but what really impressed me about the shot was… the background mural! Shallow, I know. But I’ve seen bellies. This mural however…
As it happens, this is a mural that embellishes the wall of the new work studio that Valérie shares with the creative colleague responsible for the art in question, Paméla of PinkPam.
Paméla is an illustrator and artist with training in the visual arts, textile print [...]

Bamboo Charcoal? No, nothing like those charcoal briquettes. Bamboo charcoal is an extremely powerful form of charcoal revered for its ability to absorb and help eliminate odors and all kinds of indoor air pollutants including allergens, bacteria, viruses and mold. It’s been used for centuries in Asian cultures to purify air and water and to enhance overall health. Traditionally, charcoal was derived from oak and pine but, since 1996 the BoRim Company in South Korea has developed a process to create charcoal out of bamboo. We like that since bamboo is a fast growing and favorite renewable resource. And that’s [...]

I’ve always loved these plates, but at $50 each, have never quite found the right excuse to buy one… or a set! Except that now my hometown of Montreal is included in the new Collection 5. So are 3 other major cities in which I have lived. Time for a little decorative-plate-as-art action.
For Not Neutral, it all started quite innocently when they introduced the Los Angeles commemorative plate at the 2006 American Institute of Architects Convention in June in… Los Angeles. The plates were met with grand acclaim and now, twenty plates and twenty cities later we have an metropolitan [...]

I am making these for our Christmas Eve get-together.  Seems like the hardest part will be the find a styrofoam topiary cone at Michael’s, hoping that they still have some left and finding a parking spot at the mall. Otherwise, the meringues will come from my second home (Trader Joe’s) and voila! I might create a little more ornamentation on mine though. With fresh cranberries perhaps? Find the whole set of instructions on Dominomag.com. Love that magazine.
I almost feel the Christmas spirit coming on…