Hillary Bird

It's been another busy week and I'm glad that it's Friday. I'll leave you for this week with these delightful illustrations by San Francisco based artist Hillary Bird. Have a great weekend!

A Book of Various Owls

A Book of Various Owls by John Hollander and illustrated by Tomi Ungerer is a vintage children's poem book.

Here is one:

Prowl Owl (Jack)

You usually hear him across a lake

Like the moan of a distant loon,

But then, in a moment, his shadow will break

The white face of the moon.

Before he's really left the sky

You hear him blow his beak

Under a nearby pine. His cry

Plays games of hide and seek.

Wherever you think his shadow may be

It's hidden behind your back:

Jack lurks about, too dark to see

When the green of the trees is black.

{via here.}

Allira Tee

Adorable hand painted wooden brooches by Allira Tee. These are available at Chocosho.

Paper Owl Totem

Chobopop is a team of Amee and Csaba from Budapest, Hungary. They create bold, bright graphics and uncommon hand crafted toys. This week's freebie is this paper totem featuring blue and brown owl and a vampire bat. Do you think they can be used as Halloween decorations? You can download the template here.

Kate Spade 2011 Desk Calendar

Kate Spade 2011 desk top calendar is out! It features amazing colorful illustrations by Jenny Bowers, a UK based artist. I am loving that cute little owl on the cover among the beautiful umbrella and the trumpet!

Available here and here.

Blafre Design

I discovered this wonderful Norwegian brand Blafre run by Remi Gagervik and Ingrid Erøy Fagervik a husband and wife team. I was instantly drawn towards the bright colors and fun designs on the lunch boxes, cards, notebooks and bottles. I love that purple lunch box in particular which makes me want to be a kid again!

DIY: Owl Paper Cut Mobile

I have been following Joel's blog for a while now and can't get enough of his creativity. He creates wonderful toys and craft projects for his kids using things around the house. Today, when I visited his blog I found this cute paper-cut owl mobile which is super easy to make. Go here to download the template.

Metallic Owl Pouf

I come across poufs everywhere! These cheerful and modern poufs in metallic colors are perfect to prop your feet up or to add extra seating in kids' room. I love the owl one in gold, but the elephant in silver is fabulous. I think they make a great pair!

Available here.

The Allen Design Studio: Soap Spitters

Michelle is a wife, a mother of two girls and an artists for over 14 years. She is the master mind behind The Allen Design Studio located in Battle Ground, Washington and loves to craft whimsical art and clocks.

"I love the imperfect, slightly eccentric, witty quality of the world around me. My hope is that my art will never become so serious that I betray the uniqueness of this life that inspires me. Often if something seems too perfect in my art, I will skew it towards the unrealistic to capture the essence of a whim."

She made these animal soap spitters when she couldn't find the right soap dispenser to use in her kitchen. I think these are very creative and clever! These are now available for purchase here.

Thanks, Purnima.

Lisa Congdon

A mixed media artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon has recently added "Home Sweet Home" original gouache painting in her store here. The art work features an owl with his pink house and is printed on vintage paper and signed by the artist. Her work will be exhibited in a show in Portland that opens October 9 at Flora.

Nice Icing

Lynette Horner of Nice Icing is a cake maker who runs her business from home in UK. She creates beautiful cakes for weddings, birthday and showers. This delightful cake and the cookies were made for Daisy for her 3rd birthday party. I'm sure it made Daisy and the guests very happy!

Gold Owl

This lovely Gold Owl lunch bag is sold by a Japanese brand Rakuten. Their website is in Japanese, so I couldn't find out if they ship internationally. But I like this bag so much that I had to share it with you.

Collection: Aqua & White

The weather has been grey and cloudy here for about a month now. I need to feel the Sun on my skin and see clear blue skies. I just checked the weather forecast which tells there are more rainy days ahead for another week or so. So in hope of blue skies, I have decided to do blue and white themed post. How is the weather in your city?

{from top left: necklace, singlet, owl doll, ceramic owl, love owls, coaster}

Vintage Owl Top Toy

I love vintage toys, especially the colorful ones made out of wood and tin. Isn't this top unique? This 1950's spinning top has mid-century style illustrations of four classic nursery rhymes - "Old King Cole," "Mary had a Little Lamb," "Tom Tom the Piper's Son" and "The Owl & The Pussy Cat." I hope this brings lot of fond memories of your childhood :)

Mini Light Lamps

Little Baby Company's website suggests these cute lamps for decorating kids' room, but I think can have them in my bedroom or on my book shelf. Will you use them in your room?