Handmade Chicago

I wanted to let everyone know that I will be at the Handmade Chicago show this Saturday at The Empty Bottle on Western!! I've got some new pieces and a new setup that I'm trying out! I'm really excited and I hope to see some familiar faces there ;)

Teeny Tiny...

I came across this site the other day and my jaw kinda dropped open in disbelief...I knew it wasn't just me when I showed this to my boss. Same reaction from him! The Tumbleweed Tiny House Company offers homes from 65 to 774 square feet...yeah, you read that right. The thing about these little abodes is...I could totally see setting one of these babies up in the woods or along a lake somewhere for a fabulous little getaway! How adorable!?!?

Snowflake Fun

This site is too addicting!

Puppy Love...

I just had to share the pictures of my parent's new puppy!! His name is Jake and he's a Golden Retriever who is a little over three months old. He is the sweetest, most well-behaved little guy, (at the moment) is already house trained and can sit on command. He has his first "puppy socialization class" tonight and I can't wait to hear all about it! What do you think?!?!?!?

What he does best!




Don't you just wanna hug him?!?!?!?

Liz Wolfe

For some reason, I'm totally fascinated by the art photography of Liz Wolfe. Maybe it's the pretty pastels she seems to favor...or maybe it's the delicious looking candy she uses to create her landscapes. Either way...I'm in love with these photos and wanted to share them with you. Please check out her site for even more!

Liz hard at work!



















If you like what you see, check out Liz's shop to purchase her beautiful photos!!

Color Your Life...

I came across these fun flickr images yesterday while browsing and I immediately fell in love. Not only is the artwork super-fun, the photos are fabulous!! Makes me want to color my coffee cup every morning :)

Happy Birthday (L), originally uploaded by Orangeya.

Color Your Life, originally uploaded by Orangeya.

Mood : v_v, originally uploaded by Orangeya.

WadoOo, originally uploaded by Orangeya.

I'm Back!

So, I'm back from vacation...sorry for the long absence but it usually takes a while to get into the swing of things when I've been gone! I'm happy to say that I had a delightful time while away and thought I'd share some pictures with you all...(they're probably not that interesting...just bear with me)!!

We stayed at a rental beach house with a private section of beach...it's not the nicest place on earth but it's cozy and we always have a great them there! Here was the view from the back deck



And here is a view looking down the beach...my nephew and his grandma are walking away...



The kids had a great time, we played at the beach, built some sandcastles (or tried to build some) and went to the zoo. Here are a few of the pictures we took at the Michigan City zoo:


It was super hot that day...I felt so bad for this poor reindeer!




The otter tank had a clear glass or acrylic tube running through it that the kids could crawl through. The otters would swim underneath and on top of you...it was pretty neat (and a big hit with the kids!)


We climbed up to the top of a super tall observation tower...by the time we reached the top, I thought I was seriously going to have a heart attack!


but the view was pretty nice...



and we had fun!!


Of course, we couldn't go to the beach without taking a trip to New Buffalo, Michigan for some Redamack's (best burgers ever!!!!!)


and a perfect ending to the week...Oinks Ice Cream! The whole place is literally covered in pigs (no real one's, of course!). Don't ask me what pigs have to do with ice-cream...it works for this place though!



That's pretty much it...it was kind of nice not having internet the whole week, but I promise I will be back to my regular posting (or as close to it as possible)!!

So You Think You Can Dance??

Okay, as some of you know, I love to dance, and, even more, I love to watch people who can actually dance! My sister and I are totally addicted to the show So You Think You Can Dance...here are a few of my most favorite dances from the past few seasons. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

The Landlord

My sister-in-law posted this a while back and I find it both funny and a little wrong, but mostly funny...Warning: Not for the easily offended!

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Ghost Sighting

I'm totally addicted to Ghost Hunters and have been able to watch it on youtube since I don't have cable. This is a video I came across while searching and couldn't stop laughing...just watch and you'll hopefully see why!

Leprechaun in a Tree

Since I'm at the beach this week, I decided to share my favorite youtube videos with you all. I'm going to post one (or a few if they share a theme) every day. Hope it isn't too boring :)

This cracks me up every time!!!

Friday Flickr Find

So today, I decided to do the Friday Flickr Find a little bit differently after I saw this fun little game on Ivey Handcrafted. I used the Mosaic Maker to put together a combination of photos culled using a random grouping of questions. Here are my answers:

1. Jen 2. Ice Cream 3. Illiana 4. Green 5. Christian Bale 6. Margarita 7. Santorini 8. Cake 9. Mommy 10. Sleep 11. Ambitious 12. JLC Studio

Try it for yourselves!!
The rules are as follows:
Type the answers to the following questions into Flickr search.
Using only the first page, pick one image.
Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fds mosaic maker.

1. what is your first name?
2. what is your favorite food?
3. where did you go to high school?
4. what is your favorite colour?
5. who is your celebrity crush?
6. favorite drink?
7. dream destination?
8. favorite dessert?
9. what you want to be when you grow up?
10. what do you love most in life?
11. one word to describe you?
12. your Flickr name?

Don't forget to give credit!! 1. “Circled” (detail), 2007, paper, by Jen Stark, 2. Good News Ice Cream!, 3. Number 1, 4. Green on Green, 5. Christian Bale, 6. Ritas, 7. OIA, handmade houses, 8. Cake, 9. baby SATs: mommy is to Eve..., 10. Her Art of Sleep, 11. green up, 12. My Pretty Sister!

4th Of July

Well...I hope you all had a wonderful 4th!! I've been lazy with my posts and have a feeling that I will be sporadic over the next couple of weeks as I'm leaving for the beach on Sunday!!!!! I can't wait!!

Meanwhile...here are some pictures from my 4th celebrations. I was on a couple of rooftops and highly recommend it if you get the chance to watch fireworks from up on high.

On the third, I went to a party on the North side...here's a picture of our view (forgive the quality...I took it with my phone).

On the fourth, I hung out with my very best friend at her place on the south side. At night, it was yet another rooftop where we watched a spectacular display of fireworks being set off in the neighborhood all around us. It was a little scary, but awesome at the same time.


This is the view from the rooftop on the south side.


And here is a photo of some of the display. Too bad you can't hear it...I think they were setting off sticks of dynamite...seriously!

Human Calendar

It's amazing the funny things you can find on the web. The Human Calendar is one of those that I've just recently come across. Oddly reminiscent of the Brady Bunch opening credits...well, take a look for yourself! Take a really good look...what do you notice?? It took me a minute but I got it!!

Matchbook Sign Language

I found this while randomly surfing the Internet and thought it was too cool not to share.



These are matchbooks that artist, J.F. Keller found on the street and manipulated to form a sign language alphabet (plus and added extra that's not so nice!). Very cool!!

Here are some other projects by the same artist:



Live Free or Die



Typeface for a New York Times article



Harmen Liemburg Lecture Poster