Alice in Wonderland

When one of your closest friends has a baby you are suddenly exposed to a whole new world of things. You guys know that I'm perpetually 10 years old on the inside; but knowing things like popular baby brands, products, and toys for a person under the age of 5 baffle me. So when my girlfriend showed me this beyond adorable baby book she got for her son, I had to share. Simply, it's a book about teaching colors, but set to the theme of Alice in Wonderland. Jennifer Adams and Alison Oliver are the creative minds behind this book along with others illustrated and written in the same fashion. Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet, Dracula, and A Christmas Carol are just a few of the titles they've turned into baby books. You can see more of Alice's illustrations work on her blog. So if you're looking to buy a baby gift for someone look no further than these books, Amazon sells them all, but try not to keep them for yourself!

Illustrative Cuteness

Try to look at these illustrations and not laugh or smile. Impossible I say! Totally by accident I stumbled upon the artist behind these, Matte Stephens, on Pinterest. I am totally in love with Alfred, the scuba diver sporting the awesome mustache, pipe, and trident. You can bet that print is already in my cart over on etsy. Matte is a painter living out Portland, Oregon and has illustrated and created images for some big name company's as well as illustrating children's books. Everything from subject matter to color palette feels like I'm looking at vintage prints from the 60's. Find his prints on his etsy shop and check out more of his work on his site too.

Images: Matte Stephens

Check 'em off

If you were to look at the notes app on my iphone you'd see a to do list a mile long. It's mostly for things I need to buy for the house, ideas for the blog, or a craft project I'd like to try. But if you're like me, you find you add more things than you cross off! Perhaps if I had one of these super cute note pads from boygirlparty I could get things done more efficiently.

Susie Ghahremani is the talented artist behind boygirlparty, and these adorable characters adorning stationary, gifts, and apparel items. Inspired by the outdoors, music, and joy (isnt' that sweet?) you can really get a sense of her humor and her love for all things nature and animals in her designs.  For me it's the big eyes and little smiles of the animals that get me. Check out her shop, website, and blog for more adorableness!

images: Susie Ghahremani 

Woodland Wedding Invites

One of my super cute, super talented co-workers and friends is getting married this summer. Sheena is the talented artist and worker behind our stores' display and window creations season after season. So it was no surprise when I opened her wedding invitation and something impeccably designed was inside. Sheena brainstormed up how and what she wanted their invites to look like and her equally talented artist and hubby-to-be Ezra drew them up. The main part of their invitation was printed on a piece of 5x7 fabric and lends itself perfectly for framing:  a great way to create a keepsake for their family members or for Ezra and Sheena to remember their special day. The rest of the inserts continue to beautifully carry on with the woodland theme of their wedding. I'm so happy she let me share her creative work with all of you. I can't wait for May, you guys!

Character Cuteness

Thanks again to the wonderful magic of the internet I stumbled upon the cutest etsy shop today-fashionfucsia! Residing in Spain with her husband and new born daughter, she creates the most adorable little characters. Inspired by fashion, movies, travel, and bright colors (hence the name), her shop consists of a sweet variety of prints, buttons, bookmarks, and magnets.

Her character's little round faces, cheery smiles, and flared eyelashes are making me smile today. I can definitely see my fridge and books getting a face lift with her creations. Below are some of my favorites from her shop.

You can check out all of fashionfucsia's work on her etsy shop or on her blog. She even did a great interview for moocards too. Enjoy!

I love this one, it reminds me of myself!

All images are copyrighted and used with the permission of fashionfucsia.

Character Cuteness

I have a weakness for cute characters. Give something a round face, two over sized black eyes, and a little "u" shaped smile to them and I am falling all over myself. Humanize them some way with, say, an outfit or driving a car, and your eardrums will be ringing from my squealing! And don't even get me started on random objects like fruit or food that have little faces on them...

Today I have found the cutest little characters illustrated by Slyvia Portella and they have brought me to my knees! I mean look at these little guys:



A croissant with a hat?! It's just too much!



Slyvia is quite the talented lady. Living in Berlin, and speaking 5 languages (the above alphabet is in French), she had been working as a graphic designer since 2001 until recently when she decided she was going to follow her true passion and become an illustrator. I love stories like this. Don't we all have things we have to endure before we can get to that perfect place we want to be? Slyvia you are motivating and inspiring me today!

You can squeal more over her work on her blogs; she has two: this one and this one, flickr profile, and her etsy shop. Which I am sad to say is empty right now because I would definitely have something of hers in my cart.

Enjoy everyone and I'll be back soon with Flick Picks!

(images: Sylvia Portella)

Darling Audrey...

The world's sweetheart, and my personal hero, Audrey Hepburn, just got sweeter. Her life has been turned into a children's book! It is the most darling written and illustrated thing I have ever seen.

Entitled "Just Being Audrey," it tells her story from ballet shoes to UNICEF ambassador. Not only does it educate the reader on Audrey's influence on fashion, film, and humanitarianism, but also of the greater message of her life: never be afraid of who you are.

This story was put together by two super talented women. It was written by Margaret Cardillo and illustrated by Julia Denos. Both have been touched and influenced by Audrey in different ways and you can see the love they have for her come through in their work. And if you've fallen in love with Julia's illustrations like I have then you need to check out her blog and website for more.
These ladies have truly captured the essence of Audrey and I am so glad to have gotten a sneak peek at the book. It's official release date is January 25th but Anthropologie is selling this book and we got some copies earlier this week. So mark your calendars and get this book!


"I never think of myself as an icon...I just do my thing." -Audrey Hepburn