Owl Calendars 2010 Part-II

Isn't this the cutest calendar? You can cut and trim the calendar cards and frame them at the end of the year like shown in the pictures above. Wow! You get a calendar and art all rolled into one. Isn't that wonderful? Available at JooJoo for $30.

English Muffin's calendar is a fun one. It combines whimsical prints with their signature animal illustrations. For $18. I like their use of the curly brace.

I like this one a lot because it is all-in-one really. It has 12 blank monthly calendars, to-do lists (with boxes to check off), and lined note pages (with subject and date to fill in at top). Nice! By Linea Carta for $24.

I am so glad that Linda of Olive Dear decided to use her prints in the calendar. I am a huge admirer of her work. Oh, did you notice the packaging box for the calendar? For $18.

This mini calendar is by Sweet Bonny. You get two owls in this calendar, in June and in November! For $12.

Yee-Haw Industries' "Guitar Playing Owl" 12-month tear away calendar.

The pages of this calendar are designed with a vintage letterpress calendar font printed in black ink, with a tiny lined section for events on the right of each month. For $13.
If you missed owl calendars 2010 Part-I, it's here.
How did you like my surprise post by our guest Catherine? Did you enjoy it?

Friday Freebie!

Hi everyone!! I am so excited to be asked to write a guest post for My Owl Barn. My name is Catherine and my personal blogland is Gingham Cherry where I ramble on about my crafty pursuits whilst living as an expat in a foreign country. Currently my family and I live in Uruguay where there is one (yes you read that right) craft shop that I know of and it is very small. I still manage to scramble craft projects together (us creative types are a determined bunch) and I have also taken to designing fun stuff on my computer. Shivani is so kind as to feature my bookmarks and bookplates here today which can be downloaded and printed. I hope you enjoy them as much as I am enjoying all the other fun stuff on My Owl Barn!

Abby Glassenberg's While She Sleeps

Abby Glassenberg constructs one-of-a-kind beautiful pieces in which she incorporates fabric found at unexpected places like labels sewn into clothing or flour sacks, along with the colorful vintage fabric. The creativity of this artist is worth an applause. The detailing in the wings of the bird is jaw dropping beautiful. She works on the soft sculptures during the time of the day while her daughter naps, which explains her blog's name - While She Naps.

This bird doesn't come cheap as a lot of hard work has gone into it, but her shop has the most amazing collection which you wouldn't want to miss.

Meet Prudence and Wink

I posted about an owl backpack some time back by Blabla Kids. Recently, I came across some fun dolls on their website. The girl doll is named Prudence (aww..I like that name) and boy doll is named Wink (did you notice different colors of his eyes). Both dolls are available in two sizes.

Make your own owl bean bag. Seriously!

Thanks Robin for the tip. This is such a cool project. Cost of material - less than the cost of a new bean bag; Fun and laughs you'll have doing this project - priceless!

Tips for felt: Try a quilting store for your felt. Often they have fat quarters available in a variety of colors. The quality is much better than craft felt and the colors tend to be more subtle and sophisticated than the stock primaries that the craft store offers. Click on the bottom image to have 8.5 x 11 printable instructions.

Allison's pattern available for download at Petit Elefant.

A Bright New Star by Erin Ranson

"A comforting bedtime storybook with an in-built star-shaped light that slowly changes colour. Children will be captivated by the dreamy words and enchanting illustrations as they meet the forest animals who play under the stars' light."

A children's book with LEDs lights which change colors! - It's sure to win your little one's heart. I can only imagine how happy this book will make a kid. I am putting this one on my list of presents for my niece. I can't wait to see her face!

You can get it for only $12.99 at barnesandnoble.com

Susie Ghahremani

When I first started blogging, Susie Ghahremani at boygirlparty was one of the artists whom I noticed for her cute illustrations on stationery items and she still doesn't cease to amaze me. I posted about her a few months ago and now I've found some more exciting products from her website - owl post cards, notepad, journal, book plates, note cards and owl recipe cards (doesn't that owl with the fork look adorable?). Do you too find it comforting to have found a perfect note card for sending that very special “thank you”?

"I Like Making Mess"

Abigail Brown is woman of many talents. She is an illustrator of children books, designs stationery & greeting cards and specializes in working with fabric. Don't you love the round eyes in the the illustrations?

"...the comfort I find in nesting away in piles of fabric and tangles of thread, and the use of such a medium to give life to the little creatures that form in my head."

Longeared Owl

Ponsenby Owl-Green

Her work is mainly inspired by birds and animals.

"I am fascinated by animals because of all the thoughts and feelings I can imagine they are experiencing but can never truly hope to know."

Visit her website for more fabric creatures.

Skelanimals

Up until last week, I had no idea about these cute little, black and white, skeleton animals which are called Skelanimals. I was at Target (I know, I am a Target-oholic) and I saw this cute coffin (shown in the second image) with an owl image on it. This candy box had a website address, so I got home and did some digging. What did I find?

"Skelanimals are adorable little animals who have met an untimely end-mostly due to their own reckless and ill-advised behavior. They are looking for a home with that special someone to care for and love them, but not just anyone. They like people who have a warm heart, after all they're just bones. They need you to keep them warm and cozy. Snuggling is their favorite thing to do, especially when you watch a scary movie."

That character on the candy container is Oliver, the owl. "Oliver is the most knowledgeable of the Skelanimals. They go to him for information but they are also aware that he likes to play tricks." Don't you love Oliver in his pirate outfit (shown in first picture)?

There are more products, like cocktail napkins, party paper plates, lunch boxes, party cups, photo frames, plush toys and wallets etc which are available on their online shop and there some which are exclusively available at Target. You can browse through Target lookbook here. Oh, and there are some Skelanimals M&Ms for Halloween.

Fashion Favorite: Saks Fifth Avenue

Something for trend followers:

1. Marc by Marc Jacobs Paisley Owl Tee for $88

2. Marc by Marc Jacobs Graphic Owl Tote for $98

3. Marc by Marc Jacobs Fancy Fancy Owl Earrings for $58

4. Faux Fancy Collection

Available at Saks.

Paper Goods and more

Famille Summerbelle is well known for their paper cut out maps, but, I am not going to talk about that today (although, I'm tempted). Instead, I am going to share some other treasures from their collection which will surely leave you awed.

1. The owl paper banner (Owls alongside Mushrooms) is inspired by South American garlands and is made out of tissue paper.

2. Owl Wallpaper is hand screen printed and is available in 2 colors.

3. Kissing Birds Cushions is available in 3 pretty colors.

Behind the Scenes:

"Famille Summerbelle is Julie (designer and creative director) and Simon (all the other stuff) and we are the proud parents of Ophelia."

What does the name mean?

"The name Summerbelle is an amalgam of our two family names and the French ‘Famille’ is just a simple but meaningful nod to Julie’s nationality!"

Visit their website and blog for more products.

This & That

Some of the pictures I took on my shopping trips over the last few weeks.

Owl Wrapping Paper at World Market.

Notebooks at Target, Gift Bag at World Market, Owl & Bird Journal at Barnes and Nobles.

Owl Gift Bags at World Market.

~Owl Themed Baby Shower~

I consider myself lucky to have found Gabriel and Ryan's blog. I was so thrilled to see these beautiful photographs taken by them on their soon to be arriving son Lincoln's baby shower. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. The owl fans were made by the parents themselves. Decoration and sweets were all arranged by their friends. The owl sugar cookies are the cutest. Isn't it a great feeling to be blessed with friends who make everything so easy and pleasant for you?

Update: Find "How to Make Owl Stirrers" video here.