Collection: Owls and Flowers

Brianinsanfran

Kissabug

Jessica Singh

"The Love Bird" by Karin Taylor

Vinatge Nesting

Milikin

Compact Collection

Ernesto JT

I shall leave you for the weekend with these beautiful photos over the internet. I hope you enjoy them. I'll see you on Monday. Have a gorgeous weekend!

P.S. click here to enter the giveaway by Pashiko. There is still time, the winner will be announced on Sunday.

Needle Felted Creatures

I would like to introduce you to these two very talented ladies - Barby Anderson and Helen Priem. They both create amazing and adorable needle felted creatures. Squirrels by Barby and the owl by Helen.

Owl Terrarium and Paperclips

Succ-u is the collaborative effort of two San Francisco designers - Esther and Len. They find outlet for their wild imagination in "designing with fat, juicy leaves [and creating] tiny kingdoms of succulent wonder with hand-felted creatures that can be admired hanging from creatively knotted suspension devices." This "Whimsy-arium Owls" DIY kit includes - a glass globe, 2 hand felted owls, 2 airplants, marble chips and moss. These owls will look great hanging by the window or in the patio.

These adorable owls are also available as paperclips. A set of 3 hand felted owl paper clips is for $12 only!

Petit Collage: Bamboo Mobile

These gorgeous mobiles with clean, modern look from Petit Collage are perfect addition to a child's room and sophisticated enough for a grown-up space.These are laser cut from substantially harvested bamboo and need little assembly. Available in two designs - Owl Family Mobile and Tree Friends Mobile.

(Thanks, Christy)

Chocolate Owl Cupcakes

If you like these little fellows staring at you (because I do, very much) then you can bring them home with the recipe given at Kelly Jane's blog here. Caution: you'll feel bad about eating them!

Where are they running off in the last photo? May be, they are scared of being eaten.

EllyMental Jewelry

EllyMental quirky and vintage style jewelry is made by Elly. Her designs are inspired by her "own fervent interest in kitsch nostalgia and animals (!)." No wonder there are so many animal themed items in her store such as rabbit shaped brooch, lion necklace, lady earrings, owl shaped earrings, row of owls choker and more. To make these creative jewelry items she uses found ephemera like 1950's books, Victorian newspapers and home-made papers. Each item is multi-layered with paper and varnish. To make a purchase, visit her store.

Lori Nichols

Henrietta the woodland owl from "Into-the-woods" collection by Lori Nichols. She is one-of-a-kind owl made from vintage wool, velvet, wire, scraps off the studio floor and thousands of hand stitches. Visit Lori's store to meet other members of the woodland - Olf and Thurston.

Pumphouse Studios: Ceramics

Pumphouse Studios is a lovely store of Julia, a ceramic artist living in beautiful Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon. Julia was a literature student when she inherited her mother's wheel, kiln, and a series of mysterious glaze recipes. This was a new beginning of her life as a clay artist. She started to work in her studio which was only 6X6 foot pumphouse where she spent every spare moment she had making pots and competing with the pump and waterlines for space. (I guess that's where the store got its name.)

Her colorful bowls, plates and tiles are all hand made and carved from her own drawing and patterns, often of birds and owls. The artist says :"Birds represent so many things!... I think they are the vital heartbeat in the background that you don't notice right away...Like the barn owls, who spread out their wings and seem so silent and holy."

The shown above are few of my favorite Barn owl bowls available in three beautiful colors - yellow, white and green. How adorable is that "matryoshka cuddling the owl" dish!

More Spoons

Spoons, spoons, spoons. Each spoon in the set features a different owl illustration. Now, I have a decision to make. If I had them, would I take them out for guests? Would you?

Sasha Prood for Migrate

I am loving these intricate and beautiful illustrations by Sasha Prood for the "Obsess" issue of Migrate - a South Africa's magazine.

{via here}

Pollen Arts: Beeswax Candles

I want all of these but I want the owl one the most :)

A team of husband and wife- Peter and Juwels, own a lovely store on Etsy named Pollen Arts. They create these unique and beautiful beeswax candles using antique bottles as molds on the tiny stovetop in their 1975 Winnebago. Sounds unreal?  Read more out their adventurous life and work here.

Oh, I was curious to know how the candles smelled. They say: "When the wax pot melts into a luscious golden brew, our kitchen smells so MmMmmazing that the local bees fly in through the windows and skylights to see what’s cooking. We greet them with offerings of honey dipped spoons and watch them drink with delight : ) It’s magic !!" Sounds magical indeed!

Peace, Love & Oats: Package Design

 

An adorable package design by Jaime F. McQuilkin, a design graduate from The Creative Circus in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Retro owl packaging targets women who remember mornings of sweet oatmeal as a kid, while showing our snack to be a wise, healthy choice as an adult. Each of the packages features a different owl and boldly displays the flavor with a subtle oat texture. Can you dig it? Then dig in!"

{via the dieline}

Happy Birthday John James Audubon

Sotheby's auction house worker Mary Engleheart with the book

It's John James Audubon's birthday today, and I decided to do a special post as a tribute to him and his stunning works of art.

He was well known for his gorgeous paintings of birds and famous for "The Birds of America" book that contains 435 illustrations of a wide variety of birds. The book is considered to be one of the most expensive books which was sold at $11.5 million in 2010. There are only 100 copies in the world and each book measures more than 3 ft by 2 ft (shown above) because Audubon wanted to paint the birds life size.

I dug some more and found that all of his 435 paintings can be viewed on-line at the Digital Research Library of the University of Pittsburgh, click here. Isn't that cool! You can zoom in on the images to cherish the steady brush strokes and never-before-seen detail.

Like to know some more? Minniesland.com is a website dedicated to Audubon's work. You'll find lots of interesting information on his work, books and can also buy prints from their massive collection of some very rare prints. To own a copy of "Birds of America with the complete collection of 435 illustrations click here.