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