Mint

+ Thanks again for having me, Etsy! If you missed it, you can see some of my favorite etsy items on the Storque. Another thanks to Destined to Design for doing a “quickie” interview with me!

+ Over on OK Great, I’ve posted some great under $50 office supplies for this week’s “You Can Afford it Friday” round-up.

+ I loved seeing Freida and Maria’s home on Bloesem.

+ Margot brought Amanda over to talk about her office redesign for this week’s Howdy Do It. Over on Pitch, I talked about why I blog (and why you should, too!). I also blogged all my notes from Alt 2010.

+ I always love all the posts on Fine Little Day, but these two (here and here) especially caught my eye this week.

+ I’m not brave enough, but I love these crazy stockings via eco-stylista.

+ DURHAMITES: Tonight is the Art Slam at Labour Love gallery. From the website: “…the slam consists of three, 20 minute rounds.  The audience contributes ideas, and we randomly pull one from a hat.  The artists create their best interpretation of the suggestion, and we auction off the artwork at the end of the night.  In December, attendees walked away with original art for as little as $45!” There’s also a great show at the Trotter Building with Megafaun, Motown Dickens, & others. Another great thing to do tonight? Brand Fandango VIII at Design Box. Local bands, local designers.

** Super exciting news!!! ** Next week, we’ve got 5 crafty ladies coming over to Mint to share Valentine’s Day themed DIY projects. I. Can’t. Wait.

+ Fun, beautiful illustrations (pictured above) by Stacey Rozich via Pikaland.

Hope you all have wonderful weekends!

So, you read more blogs than me and you’ve seen this before, right? More, the studio of Mav (blogged yesterday) and Christopher David Ryan? Well, I hope that like me you haven’t seen this before, ’cause then you’re in for a real treat.

Oh to have a studio like that! All that light. This last pic is from Christopher David Ryan’s site:

you should check out the more site. really too good to be true.

I mentioned I was going to the UNC Art Sale in December but I didn’t tell you what I picked up! Of course, I went to do some Christmas shopping, but in addition to gifts for others I came home with a few gifts for myself. I couldn’t help it!

That first one is by Hannah Easley. It’s a little note card, but I think I’ll frame it.

The next two prints of medicinal plants are by Cameron Zarrabzadeh.

And this one is by Mike Sonnichsen. I can’t wait to get these in frames! More photos of these are on flickr.

I know you’ve seen Maria Alexandra Vettese’s work before. Better known as “Mav,” she comes to mind first when I think of photo styling. If these clouds will hold off, I’m going to take some photos of a few new art purchases for this afternoon’s post. The light in Mav’s photos never ceases to amaze me!

Today I have a guest post live on Etsy’s blog, The Storque! I was so excited to be asked to participate in their Guest Curator series, and I’ve rounded up some of my favorite boho/mid-century/just pretty pieces from etsy to share.

If you’re new to Mint, I hope you’ll stick around! I post at least twice daily on my favorite art & design finds. On Mondays, Margot from Pitch Design Union comes over to talk about being a freelance designer in our Howdy Do It series (and I go over to her blog to do the same) and on Fridays you can find me blogging on OK Great with my favorite under $50 finds. You might want to check out these posts from the Mint archives (some of my favorites!):

3 etsy sellers talk about the importance of good packaging / the gocco FAQ page / photo styling tips with kim ludy / what i learned at alt design summit

Oh! and you can also find me on twitter, flickr, facebook, and tumblr. That’s Mint in a nutshell! Thanks for having me, Etsy!

{red teapot from trampoline & print by i love grey skies}

Arian Behzadi is studying Biology at UC Davis, but in his free time he does a little design work.

Of course, his style is very reminiscent of Mark Weaver, and who doesn’t love him!

OK, one last textile artist before we move on! I have such a thing for textile art, and I’m interested to hear what you all think about these! Karen’s work is a little bit different from other contemporary embroiderers who use embroidery in their art, in that she doesn’t stray too far away from tradition. Most of the colors combinations she uses don’t read as very contemporary, and yet some of her pieces (like the bottom one) are very collage-like. My favorite is the one just below. Wouldn’t these be pretty as a belt on a wedding dress, or even a cocktail dress (she has some all-white ones too)? Of course, they’d be beautiful in a frame as well. Karen has an etsy shop and a blog if you’d like to see more. I found her via flickr.