art to inspiration: lara harwood

Today I am participating in my very first Art to Inspiration and I’m excited to be a part of such a cool project! I discovered this unique collaboration through a few of my favorite creative bloggers and decided this month I would give it a go. Art to Inspiration is organized by Chevrons and Eclairs and is essentially a project to expose (and inspire) bloggers and blog readers to different mediums of art from around the world. Each month a piece is emailed out featuring the artwork of a young artist and once a month bloggers participating in the project can create a post to share how they have been inspired by the artwork.

Below is this month’s featured artwork by artist Lara Harwood (it’s gorgeous!), and then further down you will find a collage I created that was inspired by the piece.

 “…now imagine all the strong bird song thick as a forest.”
watercolor by: Lara Harwood

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Back to school already? You must think I am out of my mind.

(I am wondering the same thing myself.)

I’m probably 65% ready to go back to school. This is a whole lot better than the 25% from last week and the near 2% from the end of June. But something about the word August (it is today!) has the wheels in my brain reeling and I am (sl-o-o-o-w-ly) starting to get that new school year excitement back.

Also, this artwork immediately made me think of the Jungle Book and then, Maurice Sendek’s Where the Wild Things Are. My first graders always get a kick out of Max and those Wild Things and I adore the book, too, so naturally I started googling lesson plans which started my teacher-engine running, a very rare thing for me at this point in the summer, but it’s what ultimately got me up to a 65% in back-to-school-readiness. Usually I am completely indifferent about going back to work until I set up my classroom, and that won’t happen for a few more weeks so I’m definitely ahead of the game— and I guess we have Lara to thank for that!

And then of course, I added a possible teaching outfit to the inspiration board soon after I added the books because as much as I adore summer I’d be lying if I said I’m not a tiny bit excited about fall school clothes. Actually, now that I think about it, I should have added some pencils, too. I’m crazy about new school supplies. But what person in education (or life for that matter) isn’t it?

Amright?!

It’s the little things.

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Oh, and those creative bloggers I mentioned above? Check them out and their past Art to Inspiration posts— I love the original ideas they have come up with.

Hogger and Co.

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Sketch and Wash

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Are you interested in Art to Inspiration? Click here to sign up!

things i saw, things i love

Well, friends, TGIF.

Here’s some of my favorites from this week… yeah, FRIDAY!

Are you kidding me? This is got to be the most phenomenal office I’ve ever seen. I love the bold print on the wall and the pop of color from the green desk. The inspiration board is pretty sweet too. I would be rockin’ out if I had a space like this. Rockin’ O-U-T. Crazy cool. Image from Veranda via Mimi+Meg.

Love this outfit. The the color, love the skirt, love the jacket, love the pop of hot pink. A-dore. Seen and LOVED here.

I saw this instagram on Pinterest last week and I just about jumped out of my seat sqealing like a child on Christmas. Last spring/summer I had a love affair with TOMS and they quickly became my favorite shoe of all time. I love the look and the comfort is unparalleled. Rumor has it that these TOMS ballet flats are coming out in 2012. Glee!

This print is great! You can buy it from Judy Kaufmann on Etsy. She’s got lots of fun original artwork to choose from and they’re all very unique. Check ’em out!

This display is so gorgeous. I love the blue/green tinted glass, the bright light, and beautiful wooden tables. Lovely, lovely. Spotted on Southern Living via Room Polish.

Oh, I love these. They are very similar to a pillow I purchased in Beacon Hill last weekend and I am just loving the chevron look. These pillows are really nice with the brown piping– different! Find these and more fancy things at the Etsy shop CCDeuxvie.

This is one of my favorite verses of all time. My parents have a slightly different version of this verse up in their bedroom and I can still remember exactly what it looks like. Theirs has the words stitched with needlepoint and  I remember lying in my parents’ bed as a child reading the words over and over again to myself. It has a warm place in my heart and I think this print of it is simple and beautiful.

Hope you enjoyed this edition… HAPPY WEEKEND all!! xo

things i saw, things i love

It’s been a looooooong time since I’ve done one of these posts. I like to think of it as my “friday favorites”. You know, where I share what I’ve found, the best of the best, after scouring the internet for the gold of all golds. Here’s what I’ve got for you this week, my friends…

Enjoy and soak it all in…

Holy moly is this house inSANE or what?!? This picture was taken at a plantation-style wedding via Style Me Pretty. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more gorgeous setting. It’s just stunning.

OK, so I need to be eating this chocolate pudding NOW. Or, maybe I can wait til this Sunday when I plan on making it. Deeeeeelicious. Head over to Joy the Baker for the recipe!

This setting just makes me happy. I love the coat rack and the clean, white feel of the house. Dreamin’ about someday. Seen on Pinterest.

These unique modern city maps are so cool. They are only $18 from artist Jennasue on Etsy. They’ll be featured in West Elm’s 2011 holiday catalog, too, which is pretty awesome. Check ’em!

These are wedding toppers! Adorbs!!!!! They’re called ‘Love in the Library’ and you can get them from the Etsy shop Lace and Rubbish. I LOVE.

So did you know Levi’s now does beauty products? Me neither! But do I ever love their packaging. I am such a sucker for packaging and I want these products on the top of my dresser! Designed by Harshyla Singh at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA for Levi.

I saw this Blazer on Arrow and Arrow and I almost died. This is my favorite look in the world. So cozy and relaxed, just like a weekend! Both the blazer and the shirt are from FWK Engineered Garments and you can find them on the Bows Plus Arrows shop. Expensive, yet glorious. I’ll never own one of these because of the price tag, but that doesn’t mean I can’t imagine I own one. So imagine I will.

Don’t you love this mug? It’s a DIY and you can do it too! Just click on over to Wit & Whistle to see how it’s done. Surprisingly I’ve been into geometric patterns lately, as well as a lot of evening tea drinking. This mug fits the bill for both of these. I like it. I like it a LOT.

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Well, that’s all for this installment, folks! Enjoy your weekend! XO.

friday night pinterest lovefest:

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sun. ikat. dancer. bedroom. balloons. beach. painting.

So it’s Friday night and I’m pinning away. Nothing fancy pants for this girl. Just PJ’s, a glass of water, and my MacBook.

Hopefully you’re doing something of the same…

It’s what all the cool kids are doing!

Have a lovely weekend!