Whistle while you...

Our friends gave EZ E a funny little bird whistle for his birthday so I've been thinking about whistles. I'd really like a slip cast ceramic whistle (non-functioning), but couldn't find one anywhere...I know, it's weird, but you all get me by now, right? I'm admittedly a little grossed out by vintage whistles, but did find some really cute examples on etsy. The whistle above is from RetroStash and below are whistles from Christa Burton...


vintage reinvented...


and plundered...

Portrait of...

Isn't this leaf silhouette lovely?

It's going to be a...

We're thrilled to report that Kicky is a (drum roll, please)...baby GIRL!!! We're over the moon excited...well, maybe not everyone in the AO household. When I asked EZ E if he wanted a brother or a sister he promptly replied, "a horse". The odds are pretty high that our baby will not be a horse. I'm resisting the urge to buy girly hats like the one above from lovely knits. How gorgeous is that baby?!

Everything in common...

These cut-outs remind me of the cut-outs I posted last week. These are from one of my very favorite blogs, Kindra is Here and were made by her grandfather, Marion. She says about him:
Based on my findings I think we had everything in common.
There's just something really sweet about that...I love the idea of finding a connection with your ancestors via paper cut-outs.

Revisiting...

Busy day here at the A.O. house. We're almost completely packed and are saying our final goodbyes to dear friends we've made since moving here. We also find out the gender of the baby this morning, so it's going to be an exciting day! I thought I'd revisit an old post professing my love for this little city.* Take a look here.

*images originally posted 06.11.08 on Aesthetic Outburst.

Collected...

How awesome is this collection of wooden artists models from desire to inspire?! Who knew these things could look cool?

Cleaning...

Can you tell I'm clearing off my desk top today? I can't remember where I found this photo*, but it's an ad for a dentist's office and I think it's pretty genius.

*If you know where it's from, let me know and I'll provide proper credit.

You're a doll...

Last year we took EZ E to the Strong Museum in Rochester, NY and I took all of these photos of really interesting doll clothing. They were all made with wool felt and were so gorgeous that I couldn't resist sharing...a year later. Click to see larger.

WNYBAC shop...

WNY Book Arts Center (home to the WNY Book Arts Collaborative) has a retail shop that I've been helping to pull together. I finally got around to taking a few shots and thought I'd share. One of my favorite details is the laser-cut text hanging in the window. It came from a sign company and it looks amazing with the light filtering through to the floor. Plus it measures 4 feet wide by 8 feet tall, so you can't miss it! What do you think?

P.S. Here's the link to the shop!

Big move...

I've admittedly had a lot on my plate over the last couple of years...first baby, grad school, WNYBAC opening, and another baby on the way. I've been keeping our latest news a bit quiet because a) I've been too busy to really think about it and b) you all probably already think I'm insane. This weekend PRH, EZ E and I are moving! We're leaving Buffalo to live closer to our extended family. A number of factors played into this decision (I won't bore you) and it has definitely not been an easy one, particularly because we LOVE Buffalo. In the end we decided that it would be best if we made a move. We are looking forward to getting re-acquainted with old friends and living closer to family (we haven't lived there for almost nine years). EZ E has throughly enjoyed playing with the never-ending supply of boxes. Hopefully we'll have some new digs to show you within the next few months. Re-arranging is always my favorite part of moving. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

On the road again...

Our friend Alisia reminded me of an awesome project called the mobilivre bookmobile project. It was an airstream trailer that traveled around the north east exhibiting a massive collection of artist's books, zines, and independent publications. You can read more about it here. A few years ago I tried to contact mobilivre bookmobile to have them come to the museum I worked at, but never heard back. The last post on their website says that the bookmobile is for sale...any takers?

Clock envy...

I saw this clock while perusing The Small Object the other day. Not only is the fairy princess adorable, but that clock! Oh my! I went on a hunt and found some other awesome Holgate toys. If you love vintage toys, you have to take a look!

Squawk...

Take a look at these super cute embroidered budgies by jantze.

I'd like to know...

Today is Monday, so that means it's time for I'd like to know, a weekly post dedicated to talented artists, designers, etc...all people I'd like to know and who I thought you may like to know of too. Today I'd like to know...Chelsea James. I saw her work on a photo and a link (good find, Rach!). I'm not normally a fan of still-life paintings, but there is something really appealing about these. I am a serious fan of donuts, bread, and shoes...and now I'm a fan of a Chelsea James! You can see more of her work here. Happy memorial day!

Thank you...

After a late but very fun evening last night, we're off to a slow start this morning at the A.O. house. A million thanks to everyone who made it out for the Grand Opening. It was a smashing success! I'm signing off for the weekend to finish up odds and ends that I've been neglecting. See you on Monday!

Take me to Caravan...

Victoria of the always lovely sfgirlbybay wrote a post about her trip to London and, more specifically, about her trip to a fabulous shop called Caravan. Here are a few things from their site that I am absolutely in love with. The bottle wings would make a great DIY hostess gift. We have lots of wine-drinkers in our family (you know who you are) and I think they'd like them. Plus, my grandfather made his own wine and my dad is teaching PRH how to make wine this summer. I see holiday gifts in the works. The concrete bulbs though...hello, come live with me...I'm sure you'll like NY.

&&&&&&&...

My boss and I took a little break from Grand Opening prep last week and went on a work-related field trip to local artist Richard Rockford's studio. It was full of amazing (and amazingly odd) collections. I think the wooden ampersands were my fave, but it was really hard to choose. Richard was an interesting guy, full of great stories, and I could have wandered around his studio forever. Here are a few photos from our outing. Tonight is the Grand Opening and Members' Exhibition Opening at WNY Book Arts Center. Listen to an NPR podcast about what we're doing here and read more here. Hope to see you there!

Collected...

I saw these on Laura Normandin's site and have had them saved on my desktop forever. Here's what she says about this collection:

The wife of the janitor at my aunt's school in Kansas City died several years and somehow I inherited a ton of amazing craft stuff, all diligently organized. She clipped and filed and organized every little scrap of paper. Over the years I've moved it around from place to place, and we are moving again soon! I decided to frame some of the quilt patterns. I love that many of them are many from newspaper clippings, chipboard from food packaging or other scraps. The shapes are graphic when displayed together. I think a quilt would also be nice if it had all these shapes appliqued on randomly, although that would be quite time consuming.

I also love the idea of someone organizing all of these scraps of paper. Plus they're so beautiful, particularly when grouped together and framed like this.

DIY...

I've been wanting to make my own prize ribbons for a while and saw a link to this tutorial on Creature Comforts the other day. The ribbons above were made for a library event. Now I just need a legitimate reason to make them. I think they'd look great on birthday gifts, don't you?

Good weird...

I'm cleaning out my studio at school. It's sad to be leaving it, but the weird little collections (like veggie bags) hidden throughout are making me happy.