Art & Design of Kelli Murray

Meet Coury, AKA, the cutest girl on earth.  Seriously though, CUTEST.  I discovered her blog, FANCY TREEHOUSE, after her sister emailed me about creating a custom illustration for her…..little did I know a few months down the road we’d be collaborating together!

I love working on projects for people who inspire me, and Coury does just that.  The girls got style…AND my hair.  I think we were destined to be friends!  Anyway….I drew up a few “fancy” little things for her blog.  A new header, a self portrait, and her sweet little dog Birdie.  Her family couldn’t be more adorable!

Visit Coury’s BLOG to get lost in a flood of wardrobe inspiration. And warning, be prepared to waste a few hours!

Aside from her inspiring blog, Coury runs an ebay store with heaps of unique hand picked vintage items.

AND…it’s your lucky day because she has offered to GIVEAWAY this hand made vintage crown!  All you have to do is comment to this post as to why it should be YOURS!  Extra entries to those of you who follow our blogs!

Also, we are doing a “flop” giveaway….so head on over to Coury’s blog to enter to win one of my art prints!  Yay for collaborations!

Winners will be picked on Friday December 10th!

I love it! I love it! I love it!

Artwork by TIMOTHY KARPINSKI.

ETSY /    FLICKR /    NEWS

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I just spent the most amazing 5 days up in the north woods of Wisconsin over the holiday weekend.  You know those places that make your heart flutter at just the thought of it? ….a home away from home…a place you feel free and child like and simply…happy….without a care in the world?  That place is Wisconsin for me.  (I know what you are thinking…WISCONSIN!?!)  Yes. It’s true.  Probably mostly due to nostalgic memories I have of summer vacations spent at my grandparents cabin on the lake.  Almost every summer as a kid me and my sisters would pack our bags and head to Eagle River Wisconsin to visit our grandparents and squeeze in as much FUN into 14 days as we possibly knew how.  We have a big family, and if we were lucky….all our cousins would meet us up there at the same time.  Sometimes close to 15 rugrats terrorizing the north woods!  We would swim and tube and ski and wakeboard….we’d bike and build forts and catch fireflies.  And boy did we eat!  Giant sized pancakes with grandpa’s homemade maple syrup (which he also poured over his ice cream for dessert!)…..grandma’s famous eggs in a nest, lucky charms,  klondike bars and otter pops…OH MY.   At night we’d gather around the campfire and make smores and laugh til our stomaches hurt.  On a warm night we would sleep under the stars out on the dock and dream about the future and what boy would be our first kiss.  It is all still quite magical in my mind.

How ironic that the man I married grew up doing the SAME THING in a town not too far from where we vacationed in Wisconsin! (We learned this a ways into dating).  Sam is originally from Minnesota and his family owns three log cabins on a plot of land spread 80 acres wide, dense with forest, in a small town called Solon Springs.  They call it Hathaway (just the name of it sounds enchanting!) It has been in the family for over 40 years.  This was my first trip with Sam to this place I had heard so much about.  And it was even better than I had imagined it would be.

I wanted to take this jeep on the plane back home with me!

Sam reeled one in on his second cast.

This is my new family (but certainly not replaced) who I am so incredibly thankful for.  Meet the Larson’s……Me and Sam, Hannah, Jesse, Mary, Mark, Nell and baby Andrew, Jared, Amy and Benj

Friends of Type

Since there was no show to be seen from the lake….we bought our own fireworks.  The boys had their fun! HAPPY 4th!

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Meet my newest crush! Mr. OLYMPUS PEN

I want this camera….like really badly!  I have never been much of a photographer.  However it is something that I would LOVE to do, but ironically always seem to forget.  Why is that?  Maybe it is because I have the worlds oldest canon digital? Maybe.

It is not  my intention really to become a photographer….but just to have the ability to take a nice picture and document life.  Life which moves far too quickly these days.  Pictures are memories, and they last a life time.  I feel like I have been missing out somehow in not getting into photography sooner.

Anyway, this camera is just what I’ve been looking for. How genius to combine the photographic optics of an SLR and the size and simplicity of a point and shoot!  Does anyone have this?  I would love to hear how you like it!  Or if you have any advice in general about good beginner cameras!

Read all the specs and technical details, and see more photos of the Olympus Pen HERE.

Lorena Barriento is the genius behind MARANON jewelry.  I just recently stumbled across her work while looking for a gift on Etsy…and needless to say, I feel in love.  She painstakingly embroiders each necklace, earring, and brooch by hand!  Using embroidery floss to weave smooth geometric patterns into bold shapes of various sizes.  The backs of her necklaces are lined with lace to give it that small feminine touch.  What a perfect combination!  Don’t you want just every piece!!?

Amazing right!?  To get a behind the scenes look at how they are created visit her FLICKR account.