Trianglez

Some new color combos for the triangles necklace. Diggin' it!

Favorite books from my library // I Can Be Your Dream

I Can Be Your Dream

By the talented team Way Shape Form. More info on the zine here.

Nailz

I haven't painted my nails in years! I was at a target recently and saw some nice colors and thought I'd give it a try. I thought I would go with this restrained yet funky ztyle. I forgot how much I like the smell of polish.

New Fall Necklaces

I have been updating the AHC store with some new fall necklaces. I am quite proud of these creations and I hope you like them too. Go and get something nice for yourself or a friend. You deserve it.

Clockwise from top left: Triangles  /  Peach Diamond  /  Dark Satellite  /  Black Diamond  /  Satellite  /  Grace

Art

I wanted to show you some of the art we have in our apartment that we have been collecting from our friends and artists we admire. I feel like my tastes change constantly but the things we have chosen to put up are ones that have endured and I feel good about our little curated collection.

Here we go!



My brother, Dante, the one who introduced me to the plotter poster format, made this poster a few years ago while he was still in school. Coolness factor A ++.

I love folk art above all other forms. Especially Inuit art. This little piece was gifted to me by my brother and it hangs next to our front door to greet guests when they arrive and its something nice for me to stare at as I answer our intercom.

Edward Curtis is one of my favorite photographers of all time. This print probably borders on the illegial/unethical but also probably is OK. I totally scanned this image from a book borrowed from a friend and made an 18x24 poster out of it. I loved this image and wanted to put up a portrait of a woman. I'm sorry Estate of Edward Curtis.

On the other side of the window, I hung this amazing bear portrait by super talented photographer and good friend Todd Baxter. If you have not seen his Owl Scouts series, you need to click over and look. Amazing stuff.

This piece is by William Edmonds and was acquired through a trade. This piece was such a good score. I couldn't believe how nice William is and he sent the original too. We love it so much.

Another traded piece. This one is by artist / illustrator Nathaniel Russell. I had such a hard time choosing which piece I wanted in our trade that he let me choose two. Niceness!! I love the mood/feeling/sense of humor in his work.

This print is by Adam James Boon, a photographer based out of England. I love his body of work. Making small things monumental & even sublime. This scan of dust looks like the universe. I love how it is cropped in a circle, surrounded in delicate pink.

I made this one. I see my own images so much I get sick of them sometimes but I really loved how these two pieces turned out and I love how they look together. Also I thought it was appropriate to go over our couch. Two birds!

My husband, Devin Higgins, is a great photographer as well. This big photo is one of his images. It looks great above our bed. Those leaves are luminous!

Barsha Dahal is one of my oldest friends. We've known each other since 8th grade homeroom. She is a beautiful person and a wonderful artist and illustrator. This is a print of a painting she did. So great!

This painting was gifted to us by my mom as a wedding present (I think?). She painted it! I have a lot of fond memories of her painting at our dining room table while I was growing up. I loved seeing all her paints and supplies and papers.

Jacinta Moore has been a favorite of mine for so many years now. Ever since we friended each other on Livejournal. I have had this print of hers for a long time and has constistently been on display in the various apartments we have been in through the years.

Our second piece by Nathaniel Russell. This hangs across from our bed. This guitarsman lulls us to sleep every night.

AHC fall things

Some new things! Will be up very soon at AHC.

Open House Chicago

This weekend was Open House Chicago -- an amazing and entirely free program put on by the Chicago Architecture Foundation where you can go around the city and go into buildings you, in most cases, would not be allowed to go into. There were several sites in various neighborhoods but we decided to stick to downtown. We got to go into the Tribune building and viewed offices of major architectural firms like SOM and Perkins + Will. Ok this is probably sounding a little dry but we had a lot of fun and it felt really special getting to go into these places.

I took my camera along and here I present to you a mini photo series that came out of it. The Plants of Open House Chicago.




The Spertus Institute (Kreuck and Sexton Architects)



Roosevelt University Auditorium Building (Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan)



Perkins + Will



Perkins + Will




The IBM Building (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe)

AIC

We went to the Art Institute the other day. These are the only two photos I took inside -- one of my favorite pieces in the museum and some ladders hidden behind a wall in the modern wing. They seemed to go well together.

Big Cartel?

A few weeks ago, I opened a Big Cartel shop with a few items just to test it out. I have been thinking of switching my shop from Etsy to Big Cartel for a little while now. Etsy has been really good to me but when I have a big month like I did in September, the Etsy bill is not so nice. At the same time, I feel like Etsy has helped drive a lot of traffic to my shop where I don't think Big Cartel would. I love the great sense of community that exists on Etsy but if I can save $100+ on bills a month, a paid subscription service sounds a lot better to me. I just don't know how to make that transition exactly and keep people coming since everywhere I have been written up and linked from is to my current shop. Have you had any experience with this? Words of advice? Other sites I should maybe consider?

Baubles

Just added a bunch of new Bauble necklaces to the AHC SHOP! They are a series of Venetian hand blown glass beads strung on gold or silver chain. I love how perfect these are for the upcoming holidays. They remind me of candy.

More to come!

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In other non-news, its back to summer weather here in Chicago but I'm still in the mood for stew. I'm saving some of these recipes for this supposedly bad (as in the worst ever) winter.

Happy Weekend!

The Weekend

Crystalline light




Mei helps Devin Higgins surf the internet




Mei makes sure Bunny doesn't do anything dumb


Tropical drink


Bun feet

J'adore Dores

OK OK I know I said we were tightening budgets around here and this included a firm no more trades clause. But when it comes to jewelry and especially Stephanie's jewelry, from her line Dores, I really cannot help myself.

 I had been admiring all the things in her shop for some months after I had found it via another blog (which one I cannot remember). Then a few weeks ago, she wrote me telling me she really liked the antlers poster and the 2012 calendar and was wondering whether I'd like to exchange some art for some of her things. It is the greatest feeling when someone who you are a fan of tells you, out of the blue, that they like your work too. Frugality was out the window and our trade was arranged.

 I chose the bandra and the marari necklace (mostly because of this shot showing how great they looked together) and I also really wanted the delicate gold triangle bracelet but thought it was too much so I said I would pay for it. Stephanie was kind enough to say 'no problem!' and sent it as part of our trade. Amazingness. I loved them when I got them in the mail and I have been wearing all three pieces almost every day since I got them. Chic-ness.

 Go here now! • Dores Shop • Stephanie's blog