hand made mug: swirly birds

when traipsing about the world on adventures, there is one thing i love to collect: hand made mugs.

it makes me so happy to sip my coffee or tea out of a piece of beautiful art. i consider it a special everyday luxury.

at maker faire last weekend, i visited the bazaar bizarre and found catherine reece, a local pottery artist whose whimsical creations captured me instantly.

i bought one of her pieces to add to my mug collection...

{i could not resist these swirly plumes}

{a sweet little yellow fellow}

{stack of birds}

{my favorite -> that hairdo melts me}

{smitten with swirls}

{pale yellow spiral}

there were many other pieces i loved. my next purchase from her will be these...

{rainbow + birds + tiny vases = love!}

visit catherine's etsy shop to see more of her lovely work.

artist: rob foote

beautiful colored pencil drawings in the samples from the lab series...

{walnut}

{porquepineapple}

{hopcorn}

{cowberri}

renegade craft fair - san francisco

i recently spent a fabulous afternoon at the renegade craft fair in san francisco.

it was a veritable cornucopia of crafty goodness!

for many hours, i wandered around looking at beautiful creations.  i chose to go by myself because i wanted to be free to roam aimlessly and spend as much time as i wanted in this incredible community.

i only took two pictures, and afterwards realized they were the same two that many other visitors took...

i had the divine pleasure of visiting the red velvet art booth and finally meeing elsie + emma!  they were fantastically sweet and it was a highlight to connect with them in person.

during the adventure, i made a special note of my four favorite artists...

emma sancartier

raw toast design

rar rar press

the mincing mockingbird + the frantic meerkat

there were many other delightful designers as well:

jen skelley

scout books

nate duval

caitlin kuhwald

sycamore street press

little crafty bits

honeylux

mahar drygoods

craftyfolk

cathy of california

uppercase magazine

i loved this fair so much that i am going to save my pennies for the holiday event later this year.  it will be a renegade gift extravaganza!

artist: paper yo-yo

i am frequently enamored with art that combines the adorable with the slightly dark.

these pieces by gwynne simmons of paper yo-yo are more on the adorable side, but they've got just a pinch of dark that i really love...

...there are more illustrations to check out on her blog.

artist: rewined recycled glassware

i live in wine country.

i love drinking wine.

what i don't like is the number of used bottles that the consumption of fermented grape juice creates.

thus, i truly appreciate this etsy seller for his beautiful reclaimed wine bottle glassware...

...it's lovely and his philosophy is sound.

side note: i enjoyed reading his "quit your day job" interview for the storque.

artist: tracy melton

a sample of work from one of my current etsy favorites, tracy melton...

artist: neither snow

i am in my studio today addressing valentines.

these incredibly gorgeous creations from neither snow inspired me so much that i woke up thinking about them this morning...

...in her etsy shop, you can order one to be handwritten to your valentine and mailed with beautiful vintage postage.

artist: cori dantini

a sample of work from one of my current etsy favorites, cori dantini...

"this little piggy"

"save"

"flirting with regret"

"a heart to heart"

"a lovely day"