public bikes.

This summer Caleb and I are looking to become a one-car family. He does a lot of driving for work, so that means I might not always have access to a car. Luckily I'm really looking forward to biking places. Unluckily, I don't really have a bike to do that. Again, luckily, Miss. B over at the Blah, Blah, Blahg (and of The Bright Side Project) shared a little bike love the other day and I discovered a beautiful bike that has the look I like and has a few different speed options, something other bikes I've liked in the past do not. (Single speed bikes are not a good idea when living near the Escarpment - lots of hills.)

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Public's bikes are made for cities and I love that their vision is for cities to reclaim streets and sidewalks for bikes and pedestrians (and that they want rush hour in America to look like the video below).

colour collective.

Have you discovered Colour Collective yet? If not, you should traipse on over there immediately and admire Lauren Willhite's eye for colour. The concept is simple, she makes it seem simple anyway, taking colours from an inspiration piece and creating a beautiful pallette. They are a great starting point for any sort of creative project - a small design project or styling a whole room. A lot of her inspiration is from various designers, artists, and photographers. What a neat way to look at pieces of art. Below are a few of my favourites from her site.

Abby Powell

Andreas Sjodin

Jose Villa

What a great practice, to look at images and work to extrapolate a beautiful colour pallette. Looks like it might be a fun thing to do. I'd like to try it, what do you think?

Update: Oops, maybe you have heard of Colour Collective - apparently Lauren is over at Design*Sponge this week as the guest blogger. I guess I'm just behind in the times.

hitting the wall.

What to do with an empty wall?

Hang a collection of similar pieces of art

Hang a collection of different pieces of art (on the cheap)

Hang any collection:

Joe Pirela at Blue Ant Studio

Ann Wood

Andy Beers

Paint a mural (and here's how)

Not sure how to hang your collection on your wall? Then check out the nifty design*sponge video below of Amy Merrick sharing how she hung her plate wall.

Amy's plate wall

sharon montrose.

Are you ready for an overload of all things adorable? This post will definitely satiate your cute quota for possibly the next month or few. Sharon Montrose is a photographer based out of Los Angeles who photographs babies, kids, and animals. I think her best known work is of baby animals like the ones below. You can see her blog here, her website here, and her etsy shop here for even more cuteness.

Here are some of my favourites of hers (click on the label below the picture to see them at her store).

baby deer

baby porcupine

basset hound puppy

(Dear Caleb: I have a super weak spot for basset hounds.)

baby racoon

reindeer

I think I could go on forever, if you think you can too then go check out her etsy store, it is full of amazing photographs of all things wild (even a baby giraffe).

Want to know how she got started? Check out the video below.

cover and colour by book.

Kathleen over at Twig & Thistle has recently created projects and posts that are right up my alley. So, pardon me for blogging about all the great things she's doing over there, I just can't help it, they're so perfect!

Today I am liking her book cover and bookmark post. She shows how simply covering a book and inserting a cute bookmark makes a great favour/place card for a wedding. I love this idea because I love books and I think it would be so sweet to give your favourite book or collection of stories/poems to everyone you invite to your wedding. (And it would even be better if you and the fiance had a favourite book together.)

But, it is not only a good idea for a wedding. I've ocassionally thought over the past year about covering all the books I own in cream coloured sheets of paper or else in coordinating paper as seen over at Twig & Thistle. Right now my books are organized by colour (but do not look quite like the image below). I think that creating shelves of books with the same cover and then writing in pencil down the side the title and author would be visually appealing as well. I think I'll wait to try it until we get a home with cream coloured book shelves because it probably wouldn't look too good in a dark brown bookcase.

a crash and concrete.

Today I want to share with you this 'house crashing' sneak peek found over at Young House Love of Kara's, from Made 2 Create, house in Tulsa, Oklahoma (see the couple of photos below). Kara and her husband furnished their house using only garage sale or Craigslist finds, or from making items themselves. Their home is a really great one to find some inspiration in while remaining really budget friendly, and second-hands finds are also easy on the environment. Some of my favourite ideas in their home are the faux fireplace, the mason jar light fixtures (which I've seen here too), and the concret countertops in their kitchen. The different styles of their bedrooms are really fun too. Be sure to check out the whole tour over at Young House Love.

In fact, I am enamoured with the idea of concrete counter tops and table tops right now. I hope maybe Caleb will fall for them (well, as only a boy can) and want one in our future home. Kara's husband also created a tabletop and there are do-it-yourself tutorials for concrete counter tops and tables all over the internet (such as, at first glance, here, here, and here).

Apparently concrete countertops are common in many other parts of the world, but aren't too popular in North America. They look super sweet though and I'm wondering if they'd be comparable to granite (without the high cost) or if they're porous and absorb any spill that happens on them. Definitely want to do more research into them - they're very visually different than anything I've seen before.

twig & thistle personal library kit.

I know I just blogged about bookplates a few weeks ago, but I just have to share this update with you. Twig & Thistle (who I know I just blogged about yesterday, but really, she has some good stuff going on over there) has shared some free downloadable library card pockets and checkout cards she designed that you can print at home, package up, and give as a gift or keep for yourself. Such a sweet idea. To download the two part package and to see her post click here.

Hope you have fun making your book collection beautiful.

ruche wall decor.

As a follow up to my own wall decor, I wanted to share with you these neat (and DIY) ideas from Ruche. They used them as backgrounds in their lookbook, but I think they would add a great deal of interest to your own home. Also, these are great ideas for renters to decorate their rooms because they use materials that do not damage the walls - so you can create beautiful walls with no worries about paying extra at the end of your renting period. For full do-it-yourself instructions, click here.

easy fabric banner.

I really like celebrations. I love hanging things from the ceiling to celebrate, but I also like making banners so people know what the celebration is about.

If you like making banners, you'll probably love Britt McMaster of Cucumbersome's quick and easy way to make a banner found here.

(I also like the Japanese masking tape she uses in the above photo.)

bookplates.

Just like Miss B over at The Blah, Blah, Blahg I love all things library. So today I want to share with you the library bookplates that she designed back in December 2008 to download for free and use for your own personal library or as a sweet gift for a friend, I don't think she'd mind.

You can download these beautiful bookplates from her post here. Bookplates seem so hot right now. At Christmastime I received this cute personal library kit, and recently Design*Sponge has also featured bookplates. I definitely want to jump on this band wagon and design a set of my own to share. In fact, I'm in the process of designing some and figuring out how to make them accessible to you. Enjoy whatever you're reading today.

emma van leest.

Move aside paper snowflakes and chain paper dolls, today I want to share with you the gorgeous work of Melbourne-based artist Emma van Leest. Emma uses paper to create absolutely gorgeous scenes and cityscapes.

This week I'm going to focus on paper creations, come back soon to check out more beauty from paper.

sneak peek.

This past week has been super busy but today I want to end my mini-hiatus from blogging by showing you a sneak peek of the butterflies I've been making for our bedroom.

Show you more as it goes along. Have a happy Easter weekend.

flittering butterflies.

Right now, Caleb and I live in an apartment. Because it is a short-term living solution, we've decided not to paint the walls. Fortunately, the main room came painted in this lovely robins egg blue that works really well with our white couches and wooden furniture. Unfortunately, the bedroom was left this awful apartment white colour, not quite white, but not quite anything else either. As much as I love the furniture in our bedroom, the feel of the bedroom is basically really boring. Then I saw the above picture at Style Me Pretty as part of a wedding photo shoot designed by Viola at Chewing the Cud and thought, that could be a great wall decoration - especially in the springtime. Don't you think?

This looks simple enough to make at home. I'll have to make a butterfly template, and then similar to the flag banner, pick paper that I like, fold it in half, and get right to it. I also will have to figure out an adhesive that can keep the butterflies on the wall, but also let them come off easily when it's time to move.

Anyway, just wanted to share with you this gorgeous photo and what it brought to my mind. I'll keep you updated if this project comes to fruition.

chewing the cud.

Caleb and I are trying to reduce our 'eco footprint' and I find that one of the hardest ways to do that is when it comes to gifts. At Christmas we used old newspapers to wrap our gifts, but I am in love with these fabric wraps from Chewing the Cud Weddings. Printed on organic cotton with soy-based inks these fabric gift wraps are printed with sweet sayings: Give Love, Give Joy, Give Luck, and Give Cheer. They sell for $12. These fabric wraps are a great way to reduce the amount of paper that is thrown out come gift time - whether for a wedding or baby shower, a birthday, or holiday.

Of course, you can also use any scrap fabrics around your house. Or, go out to your local flea market and find vintage fabric, scarves, or handkerchiefs. The point is to use things that can be used again and again and again, then you can feel good about gifting without extra waste.

winter wonderland

Doesn't that scene look like a wonderful winter dream? I can imagine a little wood stove piping away inside the cabin, keeping its inhabitants warm. It is Design*Sponge's monthly desktop artwork for January, this month designed by Julia Rothman. You can get it right here. Or, you can choose the one with a calendar on it. Either way, I hope you enjoy a scenic wintry background to all you need to do on your computer.