Happy Friday + UCTCI Japan Pottery

UCTCI Owl Creamer and Sugar Container

UCTCI Owl Creamer and Sugar Container, side view

UCTCI Japan Owl Bell

UCTCI Owl Pitcher

UCTCI Owl Juicer

UCTCI Hippo Mug, from

UCTCI Hippo Lidded Jar, from

UCTCI pig salt & pepper shakers

UCTCI Pig Spoon Rest

Happy Friday everyone! I shall wrap up for the week with these adorable pottery by UCTCI Japan. I instantly fell in love with the owl pitcher when I saw it the first time. When I started to search for more products by the creator, I didn't know that I would find a whole world of cuteness. There are vintage mugs, creamer, salt & pepper shakers, juicer, spoon rest shaped as owls, hippos and pigs. How very cute! They are perfect for a pottery collector or someone who loves cute stuff.

Have a lovely weekend! Thank you for visiting my blog everyday and your sweet comments. I'll see you back on Monday :)

Shivani

{images via here and here unless stated}

DIY: Paper Owl Mobile

Another cute idea that is super simple to make! This is a wonderful tutorial that teaches you how to make an owl mobile with empty toilet paper roll, printed paper(you could also use fabric scraps), some paint and owl figurines. You can go to this link for the entire tutorial. The website is not in English but the step by step instructions are so clearly explained with images that you can understand the tutorial easily.

Happy Owl-owe'en Printables

printable 1 -  without the owl silhouette

printable 2 -  with the owl silhouette

As we get closer to the holidays we see more and more creative ideas popping up all over the internet. There are some very generous fellow bloggers who design and share some really cool stuff which can be downloaded for free. I came across these printables by Jen that are available in two different designs and sizes that are ideal to frame to decorate the mantel or to hang on the wall. To download the one you need in full size go to her blog by clicking here.

Lovely Packaging - East Van Vodka

East Van Vodka is the first spirit distilled by Odd Society Spirits a small-batch craft distillery in the heart of East Vancouver. The orange big label on the clear glass bottle depicts a portrait of an owl named ‘Cornelius' - sporting a pipe in naval uniform artwork designed by Shwa Keirstead. "The label copy was written to evoke the hardworking, creative spirit of East Vancouver and to invite you to join the Odd Society as you are, no matter what your quirks might be.”

We designed East Van Vodka to stand out,” says Steven Cox, Creative Director of Cause+Affect. “Most vodka labels give off airs of subtlety or blend into the background, much like the spirits themselves, but we wanted East Van Vodka to exhibit a unique character that matches its namesake community and to represent the unusual depth behind the product itself” -  from here.

{images via}

Nate Wragg

'Local Neighborhood Watch'

'Local Poet and His One Man Band'

'Local Small Time Crook'

'Local Riff Raff'

'Local Myth'

Nate Wragg is a design and animation graduate from The California Institute of the Arts who has worked as an illustrator and a character designer for Pixar and Dreamworks Animation studios on films like Ratatouille and Toy Story 3. Apart from creating magical characters and colorful sceneries for the animation films he has also produced some amazing mixed media artwork. 

I am swooning over this pieces from his solo show called “Locals" that was exhibited at Southern California at Gallery Nucleus. He used wood as canvas for creating his paintings influenced by nature and its creatures.

DIY: Acorn Owls

Fall is the best time of the year for many reasons like changing colors of leaves, cool breeze and lot of craft projects! I discovered this cute tutorial that uses chestnuts, acorns and felt to make owls. It's a fun and a super easy fall craft that even kids can help to make. These little guys will look great with your fall decorations and table centerpieces.

You can find more tutorials on how to make acorn owls and pinecone owls that I shared previously here and here.

Painted Stones by Marianne Vick

Marianne Vick is a self- taught artist who currently lives in Northport and Princeton, IL. She has a profound love for nature which is evident in her wildlife art. She started to paint on beach stones in 1972 with detailed paintings of birds and animals. She is able to see things in three dimension and tries to paint them in a way so owls, dogs, cats, birds bodies fit perfectly on an irregular surface of a rock.

With her brush strokes she brings life to these creatures who appear so real that one would expect that they'll stand up and start to walk at any moment. She can spend up to 20 hours to paint a rock paying attention to color, texture and details. 

"For the past ten years the focus of her painting has shifted from representational wildlife paintings to allegorical pictorials, featuring birds and their various characteristics as stand-ins for our unique human conditions."

Enchanted Forest

This dream-like Enchanted Forest created by Parigote is a great idea for us to get inspired by for our next project. The adorable animals of this forest are actually cookies that she detailed with melted chocolate. Yum! The tree leaves are hand cut from beautiful washi paper. You can visit her blog for the recipe to make the cookies and for more pictures. 

I hope you like this idea to use it for your next holiday decoration or displaying your products at the craft fair.

Joe Lawrence

These wonderful sculptures are created by Joe Lawrence a ceramic artist from Battisford, UK. I admire the unfinished organic texture of his pieces. The primary subject matter of his work is inspired by nature and animals, and most of his sculptures are of life size!

To see more of his work, check out his profile on flickr.

DIY: Halloween Gift Card Holder

By following a simple set of instructions you can make these cute gift card holders for Halloween. The gift card holder can be created using different color scheme paper for any occasion. It'll also work great as a note card for writing a small message. 

Materials you'll need to make your owl gift card:

- mini bags

- scrap paper

- old book pages

- scissors

- hole punch

- glue

- gift tags

- ribbon

Go to Kelly' blog for step by step instructions and the complete list of things for the project.