I spotted Pugly Pixel’s dollhouse miniature prints on the homepage of Etsy last night, and wanted to post about them right there and then. I held back until today – but am still excited to share them with you! I know for many of us dollhouses have a special place in our hearts – even though we’re adults now. For me – I know it’s because my grandma had her own dollhouse and also had my grandpa make one for all of her granddaughters – including me. It was around that time that I was introduced to the magic of miniatures. My grandma had a subscription to this great miniatures magazine and I would pore over every edition, marveling at all the detailed work. Now I see these prints and I’d really like to have them for our kitchen – they’re so fun!

Click here to visit the Pugly Pixel shop, and do visit her blog here too.

Hope your weekend is wonderful and it’s hot and sunny where you are – but maybe not too hot! We’ll be going on our weekly hike and I’m sure I’ll make some time for some fun projects too.

~Posted by: Amy

Pingg has just launched their designer series of free e-cards and e-invites and I was excited to see some of our favorite indie artists from Etsy taking part. If you’re an artist or photographer they are currently accepting new designers, you can find more details: here

The dreamy photo above is from Amelia Kay – to read more about Amelia click here.

This gorgeous illustration is from Leigh Viner

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This fun drawing is from the talented Charmaine Olivia.

I’ve been going to the opening night of the graduation exhibit at Emily Carr for the past ten years and it’s always been one of my favorite events – Saturday night was no exception. There was a huge crowd in attendance with everyone jockeying for space to see the new graduates work.

If you didn’t make it out last night, you still have plenty of time to catch the show. There’s no entry fee at all and it’s a chance to see brilliant pieces by emerging artists.

I’m excited to share with you a few of my highlights from last night, make sure you don’t miss them!

I loved Jenny Lu’s work “Modern Traditional Blue and White.” I thought the juxtaposition of traditional Chinese design and modern forms was so fresh and innovative.

I enjoyed the detail work on Denver Lynxleg’s installation piece – storefront with Downseys Sandwich board.

I also loved the work of Silje-Marie Salhus. Again, this is only part of her collection at the show- so head down to ECIAD to check out the rest of it and all the other amazingly talented artists for yourself. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

The show is open daily from May 2nd-16th, 10am-6pm: 1399/1400 Johnston Street, Granville Island. For more information about the show and graduating artists, check out the exhibition’s web catalogue here.

~Posted by Christine

Sweet Eventide was recently featured on Vicki’s blog: Click here to visit the shop.

Photographer and blogger Vicki Dvorak recently wrote to let me know about the new look at her blog – Simply Hue. I’ve got to say it’s just gorgeous! Her blog has recently taken on a new focus – and even more of her posts will now feature artists and designers. I’m really enjoying the new concept – click here to take a peek.

~Posted by: Amy

I love the look of Hey Zee’s world. Something about it makes me daydream – I think of cotton candy and cupcakes first, and then of time spent crafting and on artistic pursuits. From there I think of tea with friends and Alice in Wonderland and days spent at the fair.

It’s the kind of work that makes you feel like it’s ok to embrace a love for all things pink, girly, feminine and soft and not apologize for it!

Click here to visit Hey Zee’s Etsy shop.

~Posted by: Amy

How great are these fences? I learned about this innovative company, Lace Fence, the other day on Love it Alot and am excited to share them. While these fences are commissioned by companies for any number of spaces – they immediately made me think of public art. With having just had the Olympics in town, our city has a lot of new art in various public locations. So many of the pieces are great conversation starters, and along side all of our green spaces they break up the “concrete jungle” and give our city a more fun and livable feel.

When I saw these fences, I’ve got to tell you – I wished they were my own creation. It made me realize another dream of my own too. True, I’m already living out my dreams as a freelance web designer – but I do dream of other jobs too! One is to work either part or full time for a non-profit. Another — to have the talent, skills and vision to create art for public spaces. I’m not sure if that’s a dream I’ll hold on to or one that I’ll actively pursue at any point but I think that’s part of the fun of dreaming. Some you decide to go after and others are more fanciful. Both are important I think!

~Posted by: Amy

Londoner Katherine Morling creates incredibly detailed art from porcelain and ceramic. After a busy 2009 filled with studio work and studying at the Royal College of Art, she is currently working on animating the world of toys through ceramics, creating whimsical and surreal pieces. I love how intricate her pieces are; it really shows how thoroughly she plans her projects and how much time she must put into them.

Found via: Coolhunting

Just a heads up that my posting might be a bit light this week as we are prepping our apartment for sale – so lots of organizing and cleaning and staging!

~Posted by: Amy

Did you make houses out of old cardboard boxes when you were little? I know I did, it was a lot of fun to paint them too – and cut out doors and walls… Artist Chris Gilmour has really taken things to the next level with his cardboard art – far beyond even what my younger self might have dreamed. I’m blown away by his artwork, each piece created with just cardboard and glue.

For more – see Chris’s portfolio here.

Found via Upon a Fold

~Posted by: Amy

…gives you lemons – what to do? Sometimes it’s those minor annoyances that can throw a day off. For me, today it was just getting sidetracked from my to-do list by a few things. Not that this doesn’t happen from time to time, but today it irked me more than usual! Just reminded me though of this tried and true phrase – which is a good thing I think.

Generally you may find me posting a bit less frequently over the next couple of weeks as I have some poster designs that I really want to concentrate on for my Etsy shop. Ideas sometimes come to me in pieces – and for poster designs I’m not at the point where I can control their frequency by any means. So this morning when I envisioned three finished posters pretty much out of nowhere I knew it was time to get to work on them. They’re pretty detailed so who’s to say how long they’ll take to complete!

1). Lemons Poster by Dear Colleen – here 2). Lemon Picture from Tribal Photography on Flickr – here

~Posted by: Amy

I blogged just the other day about working with what you have available to you and I think this post is in much the same vein. The art below by Yuken Teruya also makes me think about seeing art in the every day, and about working with found or reclaimed materials – no matter how humble their beginnings (take a close peek at each of the works below and see if you can determine their origins). Found via 2modern blog.