Bumblesea Jewelry Giveaway

Getting my heart back to the Midwest with a post about a great Illinois designer. You may remember Jennifer of Bumblesea from my earlier post. Well, she has just released a new line of glass vial necklaces and you need to check them out! Maybe you'd like to win one for free? Is that a resounding Yes??!

Well then, enter the jewelry giveaway sponsored by Bumblesea indie jewelry / indie fashion blog.

This necklace is my favorite, I love the black and white...

Travels, Part 2

Moving further up the river to Dubuque Iowa! I was just driving through Dubuque but did stop for a couple of photos and a coffee at Jitterz, which it turns out has the best customer service of any coffeeshop I've ever been to. The barista was so great and I swear she knew everyone by name. Except for the out of towners like me.

My final destination was Galena, IL. For those of you unfamiliar with Galena, it is in one of the prettiest areas of Illinois, in the northwest corner near the Mississippi River. If you visit, bring your bike so you can really appreciate the scenery. Just make sure it isn't a fixed gear, because wow are there some crazy hills. Galena also certainly has no shortage of antique stores and icecream shops, because really isn't that what vacation is all about? Yum.







And to top it off, a hot air balloon show!

We Are Family-Chicago Design Event

Come by and say hello tonight at the We Are Family: Emerging Talent in Chicago event at the Family Room Gallery. Heartland's favorite graphic designer David Weik will be exhibiting his work along with eight other super talented artists. It is also a nice kickoff to Chicago Design Week. Hope to see you there!

Garmental Fashion Blog

Garmental is a brand new blog based in Chicago's fashion scene. A new outfit is posted daily with all of the ensembles being from boutiques around Chicago. Find fresh fashion inspiration as well as discover some new shops!

Pearl & Marmalade Stationary

Beautiful letterpress from Pearl & Marmalade.

I win

I was so excited to receive my handknit cowl from Olive Brown last week. She hosted a little giveaway on her blog and I won! Hooray! It will surely keep me warm on chilly spring nights.

Anonymous Photography

 

A new blog I just had to add to my Google Reader: Anonymous Photography.  An (almost) daily photo blog of Chicago centric architecture compositions and decompositions from Damon Luke Wilson. How great are these colors?

The Best Room in the House

Photo by Leslie Schwartz
Courtesy of chicagoreader.com

I love getting a peek inside people's homes. Seeing how it's decorated, how the space is laid out, wondering what it would be like to live there. Is that weird?

I just came across this article with photos from the homes of six Chicagoans, including the Busy Beaver Button lady and her beautiful kitchen. Go take a look around, cause I can't be the only one who enjoys this stuff, right? Right?

Swedish Cows in Heavy Fog

This morning I was at the Swedish American Museum in Chicago's quaint Andersonville area. Really, how perfect is that neighborhood? So many good restaurants and cute shops!

Back to the museum...one of the artists represented in their current temporary exhibit is Swede Patrick Gunnar Helin. The large-scale photos of cows in a heavy fog are breathtaking. Definitely worth a stop.

Donovan Beeson

I love everything in Donovan Beeson's little stationary shop! She re-uses vintage paper items like atlas maps and airmail envelopes to create so many beautiful and functional items. My favorite might be the register stationary, it makes me wish I was on an old ship crossing the ocean, using an inkwell pen to write to friends back home about my adventure...

Gemini Studio

Such great mixed media pieces from graphic designer, Stephen Fowler. Gemini Studio explores his fascination with big graphic artwork, vintage/urban design, and advertising posters. I'm having trouble choosing just one favorite, but the eye chart is definitely in the running.

Cali Hobgood-Lemme

I first saw the work of Cali Hobgood-Lemme at MMOCA's Art Fair on the Square and absolutely loved it. The handcolored black and white portraits are so simple and done so exquisitely well. My favorite might be this blue dress. The scale of that photo is really dramatic to see in person, it is over 3 feet tall! I dream of the day it will hang in my studio.

Penelope's

One of my favorite shops in Chicago is Penelope's in the Ukranian Village. I always leave with a wishlist way larger than my discretionary income. At the moment I am totally in love with this coat from Built by Wendy.


And this military style dress from APC.

Chicago

While visiting my family this weekend, I managed to squeeze in a few hours in Chicago proper. It had been way too long since I was able to get into the city. Ofcourse, there was lunch at Milk and Honey. I also poked my head into a few favorite shops in the Ukranian Village and Wicker Park, like Penelope's and Habit. I was pretty excited to have found a new winter hat at Untitled. It was sad to see lots of boutiques had closed though, including Hejfina. I guess the recession hit pretty hard in that area?

Then it was off to Union Station to board a Metra train out to the suburbs. The mostly empty Saturday train is always a relaxing ride. I love those few moments where the interior of the train goes dark as it pulls away from the station.

Girl Savage

How cute and hilarious are these stuffed animals from Girl Savage?? My favorite is the feltidermy pieces to hang on your walls. So clever!

Hier Apparel

Fall is really here. The weather this week has definitely felt like a dramatic change in season. So now I'm thinking about all things warm and cozy, like wool jackets. I've been admiring the awesome coats over at the Hier Apparel shop. You can also learn a little more about the Laura in her Etsy featured seller interview!

Renegade Chicago

This time last year I was preparing to spend the weekend in Chicago hovering under a tent in the pouring rain for two days at the Renegade Craft Fair. Man was there a lot of rain. More impressive though was how many people put on the wellies, grabbed an umbrella and still came out to the fair. My schedule didn't allow me to participate this year, but I really hope to be back next year.

It looks like Renegade will have perfect weather this weekend, so go out and support some local artists!

September 12-13
11am – 7pm
Division St. between Damen Ave. and Paulina St. in Wicker Park

Mohop Shoes

Shoes from designer Annie Mohaupt, carefully handcrafted in Mohop's Chicago based studio. Available to order in the Mohop shop or get a ready to wear pair in her Etsy shop!

Shimer College, the Dorm

This final installment of the Shimer College photos is all about dorm life. When taking a course at the Campbell Center, you are also given a room in one of the old dorms on campus. I must admit it has been many years since I've had to walk down the hall with a shower caddy to use the communal bathroom. Staying there wasn't luxurious by any means but I enjoyed it for the nostalgia of it all. It brought back so many memories of living in a dorm with hundreds of other people. I think back on that and am amazed at how well it works. Sure, there are some horror stories but for the most part you come out of that dorm with friends that you will likely keep for the rest of your life.

The dorms had new carpeting and bed linens but other than that most of the furnishings were exactly as they'd been left in the 1970s, which makes you feel like you're in a bit of a time warp. Oddly enough, there was an overwhelming amount of Eames furniture. And ofcourse, the requisite cinder block walls with posters poster-puttied to the walls.

I so love the old mailboxes. We had these when I was in college and I remember the anticipation of peering through the little window hoping for it to be full of letters from far away friends.