design=love

the mushy stuff!

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Last semester I had to teach a class in Typography. When I was preparing over winter break I mentioned to AJ (who I had just started dating at the time) that I was a little nervous about remembering the anatomy of a letterform. To wish me luck in the new semester and to just be a total sweetheart he made the above card and sent it to me in the mail. It's the anatomy of my favorite letter, "M" of course.

In the spirit of sweet things I have to share a link to the blog, A Cup of Jo. It is the blog of writer, Joanna Goddard. She just got married and while she's on her honeymoon she's asked some of her favorite bloggers, writers, and designers to reveal the secrets behind their happy relationships. Love and admire the words of wisdom and cute lovey dovey photos!

a flowery summer

During a weekend adventure with AJ to Annapolis, MD we came across this amazing hydrangea bush. I think they might be my favorite flower ever. They're like big bursts of prettiness. I adore the big green leaves and the bunches of pink, lavender, and blue. 

 

Inspired by summer flowers, I came across these awesome felt brooches designed by Jane. Her color palettes are lovely and her attention to detail is amazing. Each piece is handmade, totally unique, and beautiful! Be sure to check out her blog to see more of her process and inspiration. 

deliciously cute by bukubuku

Following a link from Print & Pattern, I discovered the adorable work of Silvia at bukubuku. Her illustration style is so sweet! However, I instantly fell in love with the above amigurumi's (which means "knitted or crocheted doll" in Japanese) she made. So yummy with a cherry on top! You can purchase all of her goodies, here.

adorable typography

Came across these delightful prints designed by Christina over at Paperfingers. I'm in LOVE with the donut one. I also adore how they look framed. These would look sweet in any children's bedroom, but as Christina says — in your room too! She's super talented and has cute taste, make sure you check out her blog, Christina Likes, to check out what inspires her!

delicious sketti cakes

I was in awe when I spotted the above cupcakes on my friend Jessie's facebook. Jessie is a super talented graphic designer who I went to school with at UD. She is also one of the creative ladies (along with Alison) behind Sweet Street Gals — designers of announcements, stationery, and custom invitations.

The above cupcakes were made for her boyfriend Marco's birthday. Jessie described the process of making these masterpieces... "They're devil's food cake, with confectionery icing... I just used a ziplock baggie and cut a tiny corner to make the skinny piping and then the red "sauce" is cookie icing (it hardens up) and the meatballs are chocolate ganache rolled in graham crackers. You just melt down semi-sweet chocolate with heavy cream and chill it and it becomes easy to roll into shapes :)"

So cute and creative... both Jessie and the cuppies!

burgercakes

Haha, these are cupcakes!! Isn't that cute?! They look pretty yummy too! They are vanilla cupcakes with a chocolate cupcake in between. Green coconut for the lettuce and frosting for the mustard and ketchup. She also used a bit of fresh orange juice to brush the tops so the sesame seeds would stick. So creative!!

Thanks to Kristin for the link! These adorable cuppies were made by Lisa Smiley of Smiley's Sweets and Creations. Check out more of her cute creations on flickr.

spring like watercolors: chelsea heffner

While searching around Orange Lola I came across the beautiful and whimsical watercolors of Chelsea Heffner. I love the combination of colors, interesting silhouettes, and how the colors mix together in such a perfect & organic way. Don't they kind of feel like a beautiful & warm spring day? You can buy these lovely prints at Orange Lola, here.

mustaches with a cherry on top

Oh my gosh, cupcakes with little mustaches... whhhy didn't I ever think of that? Following a link I saw on my girlie Andrea's, Fly blog, I found these adorably cute prints by Blanca Gomez. I'm in love with these, especially the little guy walking around the shop!!

strawberry heart cakes.

I just wanted to show off some of the cupcakes I made for a Valentine making party we had at school for faculty and student's last nite. They are white cupcakes with strawberry meringue buttercream icing. The recipe is by Martha, of course — and even though they don't look as pretty as hers, I think they came out tasting pretty delightful. (Sorry for the quality of the photo, it was taken from my phone.) If you want to bake some delicious pink valentine's day cupcakes, i definitely recommend these!! The recipe can be found here — you can also watch a really cute video of Martha making them with Jennifer Garner. 

keeping calm...

Looking for posters for my office/apt/school lab, I came across the Keep Calm and Carry On poster to the left. I love the simple design with the carefree message. In the late 1930's during the war with Germany, the British Government commissioned a number of propaganda posters to be displayed throughout the country upon the outbreak of war. The plan for the posters was to relay a message from King George VI to his people that all capable measures to defend the country were being taken. Using the crown of the King as the only graphic element—it simply reads "Keep Calm and Carry On." As the website linked above states, "Sadly we have not been able to find any record of who originally came up with the slogan. However, the reproduction is a tribute to that unknown person who created it. People across the world are still finding reassurance in its wonderful and handsome design with the very special attitude of mind that it managed to convey."

Inspired by that story and the poster, we now have the poster to the right. It was hand painted by Jenny's Bake Shop. On her etsy she states, "What you see here is our cheeky take on that design icon...we offer a bit more incentive than simply "carrying on"...in order for us to "Keep Calm" there's gotta be some cupcakes involved!" You can see more of Jenny's delicious work over at Every Day is a Holiday. I love both of these so much, but you know me, I have to agree with Jenny on the cupcake thing!

heart day at target

I love the holidays. But I especially love when Valentine's Day comes to Target. In year's past I've gotten adorable cupcake sponges, heart towels, and lovable rugs. This year is no let down — Target once again comes through with the cutest kitchen, bath, and home accessories for the loverliest holiday! xoxo

the perfect note by Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls

On my recent trip to Long Beach Island, I stopped in "Summerhouse," a cute home and stationery store in Beach Haven. As I was looking through everything, I came across this adorable kit for writing "the perfect note." It makes use of the beautiful calligraphy drawn by the amazing Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls.

I love the pretty blue color of the box, as well as the adorable illustrations of birds and flowers. The quality of everything in the box is so sweet! The kit comes with a wonderful variety of cards and note cards as well as perfect little envelopes, stamps, stickers, and a booklet that will inspire you to want to write hand written notes every day!

photo courtesy of chronicle books blog

While searching for more information about the kit, I came across the wonderful blog of Chronicle Books. Kristen Hewitt, who designed the kit along with Maybelle, wrote about her friendship and working relationship with Maybelle here.

The best thing about this kit is the price, it's only $25! It's gorgeous and so useful! Definitely pick one up!

jenny's bake shop

Above is a beautiful print of a lovely painting by Jenny Heid. It is inspired by a little vintage doll named Charlotte. About this painting Jenny says, "Porcelain dolls figure big into our vintage collectibles and we just had to set them in a still life with our buttercream frosted cupcakes. Beside focusing on color and pattern, all these new paintings will serves as tributes to some of our favorite collectibles and inspirations. We literally filled a table top with inspiration when creating this piece...everything from lace doilies and tiny German doll busts, to sugar flowers and nonpareils."

Check out more of Jenny's sugary goodness at Everyday is a Holiday.

kind of in love with betsey

I discovered how adorable Betsey Johnson's accessories were on a recent shopping trip. I love the jewelry for it's collaging of different textures and visuals. The shoes are awesome too. I definitely need a pair of those cute ones on the right. We all know Betsey is a master of fabric, so it's awesome she's made sweet and fun accessories to go with her amazing works of cloth. Betsey's line can be found at her site and boutiques, or at select departments stores like Nordstroms and Macys.

hello kitty all dressed up

I love these adorable Hello Kitty's all dressed up with sweet patterns. Of course my favorite is the wood grain one. You can order them from Urban. The only bummer (but supposed to be cool thing) is that they are blind boxed, so you can't order your favorite. It's like a surprise party in a box! You won't know which one you're gonna get until you open up the package.

award for cutest thing ever!

Obviously I'm a sucker for when 2 things I love are combined into one. However, I think this is the cutest combo ever! I love mosaics and I love cupcakes, so I definitely almost fainted when I came upon these adorable Cupcake Mosaics. Ok, so the website isn't the fanciest, but Michelle Legler, the Mosaic Queen creates the most amazing things from pieces of old china, vintage jewelry and glass. I am in love and want 19 of the for Christmas!

Jr Gong and Miss Gwen

Two of my fave favorites Damian Marley and Gwen collaborated together in Gwen's "Now That You Got It" video. I lusted after this song when I first heard it, but now with the additon Damian's sweet sound, I'm now in full blown love! The video I found on YouTube is pretty crappy quality. I hope I see it on tv sometime soon! Gwen's style looks so adorable. I love that even though she's now a high fashion darling, she still throws back to her original 'Anaheim' tanks, all over hair buns, and boy shorts. Oh and of course Damian looks cute, as usual!

cupcake etchings

Walking around the Brandywine Arts Festival in Wilmington, DE this weekend I found the unique art of Karen Kemp. Karen is a graduate of RISD and now lives and works in Boston, Mass. I love Karen's paintings but her etchings are amazing! She adds different colors and textures over things such as butterflies, ladybugs, swedish horses, and of course, cupcakes. You can check out her upcoming show schedule to find out where she'll be traveling to next so you can go see her beautiful work in person!

daisy dose of sugar

These absolutely loverly cupcakes are pin cushions! They are created by felt artist, Betz White. Betz learned to knit when she was only 6 years old. The love for creating things led to her degree in Fashion Design. Today Betz makes original knitted designs along with recycled wool and cashmere. She combines ancient techniques of felting with today's cast-away sweaters to create what she calls 'felted wool, artfully stitched'.

I first discoved Betz when she was a guest on Martha, where she created the cup o' joe pincushions. I absolutely love the colors and fabric that Betz uses. It's also great that she uses old discarded sweaters and recycles them in to beautiful works of cuteness. You have to watch the Martha video to see how she does it!

Betz also makes great little purses, journals, and pillows. Everything is made with such care. I just want to stock my whole room with little soft cupcakes and latte's!

You can buy these charming little cuties at Betz's Etsy shop or at Cut+Paste.

Oh and not to forget my other Martha discovery and fellow frenchie lover, Lori Marie has updated her Etsy Shop with tons of new little totes, hoodies, pillows, and more. She's been working super hard and will be adding new things everyday! As soon as my paycheck comes in I think I'm going to buy this lovely fancy face purse.