Do you know Lori Danelle?

Or have you seen her work? I mean, technically we haven't met, in person anyway, but I have seen her work and LOVE it. And we text and email so I know we'd hit it off in real life. Ha.

I have been a fan of Lori's work since the first time I saw it and if you recall, she also sponsored our Be Crafty OK event last month. Her "choose joy" print is one of my faves and I'm quite certain I'll end up getting the flapjacks print once we move to our dream home, which is taking a ridiculously long time to happen than I ever imagined. That's a whole post on it's own - one I believe I keep promising to write but not today :)

Anyway, back to Lori. She is not only an amazingly talented designer but she takes it to a whole new level with paper cutting. I don't know how she has the patience to do what she does but I'm so glad she does because her work is so beautiful.

Take a look.



That is the canvas Lori gifted me for my birthday. It's her most recent paper cut design that she also  turned into a print. The picture does not do it justice. At all.

Not only do I love the design of it, but the quote is so awesome. You can read how the whole design came to be in her blog post here. It's really neat to see other designer's processes so go ahead. I'll wait.

So neat huh. Yay for Lisa Leonard and her beautiful words and Lori for her beautiful design! Did you watch the time lapse video of her cutting that print out? If not, I stole it and embedded it here for you to watch.

Lori Danelle | Hand in Hand Cut Paper from Lori Danelle on Vimeo.

Crazy amazing, right?!

I feel so blessed to have one of her canvases up in my home but even more so to call her a friend. Thank you so much, Lori for the beautiful present. I love it.

And that Lori, she's a giver. She's letting me give you guys a discount code to use in her shop! Check out her shop here and use the code: R4CFRIEND for 15% off any purchase through the month of October!

Happy Tuesday!

mug swap 2013 - part 2

So yesterday you saw what I got from my amazingly talented mug swap partner, Heather.

Today I'm showing you what I got for mine. There may have been a little squeal when I got my email that I had been matched with a partner from Kim. I was to find a mug for Jules of JoysHope. I only know her through her blog and instagram feed so from what I can tell from that is she has a huge heart, she's amazingly talented, she is hilarious and I'm pretty sure we'd have some serious laughs together if we ever met in real life.

And if you've visited her blog or seen her instagram feed, you know she loves color and the beach. So the hunt was on to find her a perfect mug.

I went all over this crazy town searching for a mug. I came up empty after many outings. Instead of continuing my hunt, I played a little. You see, what you may not know, Julie is not too fond of some specific things. When you fill out the mug swap questionnaire there's a spot for what you like. Here's what she had to say:

I love everything. Except purple. And cats. And bananas. And clowns. And sharks. And poorly written books. And ketchup.

So what does one do with that knowledge? Sketch a little doodle of all those things together. Naturally. So that's what I did. I couldn't help myself.


A purple cat, a shark and a clown at a "poorly written book club" with a lovely snack of bananas and ketchup.

It's a little sad how many giggles there were as I made this. Quite sad.

But I finally gathered my wits and went back on the hunt. I ran to my go-to-mug-swapping-place, Anthropology. I found two mugs and texted pics to my friend Katy, who just happened to be my last year's mug swap partner. She and Julie are friends so I knew she'd steer me right. And just like that, mug found.



I gathered up a few little extra goodies to add to the box. Mainly so Julie wouldn't hate me after she saw the doodle :)



A little Burt's Bees, my favorite local coffee, Topeca, a teal bracelet and my "coffee and Jesus" print and called it a day.

And since Julie follows me on instagram, I had to mess with her a bit. I didn't want her cluing in that I had her for a partner so I finished wrapping her package with a nice little note and posted it to instagram.





I also have to share my little surprise mug with y'all. Katy, mentioned above, is pretty awesome. We have joked that once a mug swap partner, always a mug swap partner - case in point: This little mug she sent me.



It's pretty perfect. Thank you Katy. My mug is awesome. You rock. And I'm pretty happy we met through Kim's mug swap last year. Even if you and Kim text me ridiculous amounts of pictures of yourselves as cats.

So Kim. Katy. This one's for you two.



Don't say I never did anything for you :)


And that's a #mugswap2013 wrap.

mugswap 2013

Do you remember my post about the mug swap last year? If not, here's part 1 and part 2. Yes there were two parts. As there will be this year too. Just a heads up for tomorrow :)

Anyway, last year was my first year participating in Kim's swap. It was so much fun. I had Katy for a partner and Hannah had me. I have loved getting to know those girls better even since the swap.

So it was a no brainer that I would sign up this year too. In fact, I was scrolling through bloglovin' in bed one morning, checking out the news on the blogfront, and saw Kim's post that singups were up!



I literally jumped out of bed and shimmied on over to the computer to sign up right then. I may have been a tad excited.

A couple days went by and then I got the email. I had been matched. Which meant someone had me for a match too. The next couple of days were spent hunting down goodies for my partner. Then I went to craft weekend and met other ladies who were doing the mug swap too! Crazy small world.

Anyway, several days later, I came home to a lovely box waiting on my door step.



It was from the amazingly talented Heather of Life Made Lovely! If you recall, she asked to feature the girls' room in her new Room Made Lovely series a while back on her blog. I adore her style, her shop (the paperie) and her photos on instagram. So you can imagine how excited I was to see that my box was from her. I couldn't wait to tear into it and see what my mug looked like!

And wouldn't you know, she picked out a perfect mug for me! A vintage Swedish mug. It's delicate to the touch with a strong graphic pattern. PERFECT.



But she didn't stop there. Oh no. She spoiled me with the cutest packaging and gifts to go with my mug. So generous and lovely.

You can see it all in this photo.



Some Starbucks Via for the mug. Baker's twine and washi tape for me! And the sweetest print for my home. I actually saw Heather's IG post of that print and immediately went to her shop to favorite it. I'm glad I didn't buy it at the time since it came to my house not too long after :) You can get your own from her shop here.

So thank you, thank you, thank you, Heather. I don't know how you picked the perfect gift for me, it's like you read my mind! But I'm grateful you did. I just love it all. Thank for for the time you took in selecting and packaging this lovely gift. You're pretty much a mug swappin rock star.

Thanks again, Kim for hosting. You flat out rock. No joke. I don't know how you go through 800+ people and find everyone a partner for this swap and I don't really care how but I'm thankful you put the time in to do it. Love ya!

I'm linking up at Kim's blog today. Did you mug swap? Link up with me.

And if you're interested in what I gifted my buddy, come back tomorrow. There will be a ship, clown and purple cat involved!

lately

possible titles included: 80+ pictures, the summer of the poached egg or I haven't posted anything for over a month and here's a long, photo-intense update so sorry if this page never loads.

watched tomatoes being enjoyed like they were candy (not homegrown, yet)

 

purchased new books

 

tried new recipes from said books (flatbread from fresh & easy)

 

visited our land

 

planted some blackberries out by the pond

 

went to our college hometown for a wedding (got margs, obviously)

 

ate cheese fries (because you can't NOT get the if you're at Joe's)

 

bought this bad boy at the flea market

 

took pictures on it

 

enjoyed picnics outside

 

paid someone to do this to the bathroom

 

watched cousins play

made pomeritas with my mom

 

celebrated cinco de mayo with my favorites

 

ate homegrown salads

 

watched the girls pick and eat strawberries from the garden

 

played with different recipes using garden greens, like arugula

 

picked more strawberries

 

got messy and sticky with the girls at Mod's

saw one of my prints in the front window at Made, downtown

 

harvested spinach from the garden

 

made a strata with the spinach

 

smiled when the bathroom ended up looking like this

 

picked more food from the garden

 

ate a heart-shaped poached egg over sauteed spinach and chard on an english muffin

 

picked more strawberries and continued taking pictures of them

played peek-a-boo

ate a really tall burger at Lucky's

 

watched this one brave the "big-girl" swing

 

watched her fight for a corn dog and win

saw art cars

 

got a new book (get this book. you will thank me.)

 

visited our land neighbors

 

#fridaydonutdate still in jammies edition

saw a giant catfish my husband noodled

 

made biscones (recipe from "the back in the day bakery" cookbook) and became instant friends with them

 

danced in the rain

 

had a saturday crepe date at Topeca

 

listened to giggles

grilled okra

 

saw my print in prairie hive magazine

 

added a new print to the shop

 

washed mud out of her mouth, again

 

found out how good radish pods are in salads

 

finished day 15 of Jillian's shred

 

watched her independence grow

 

visited an friend - a friend can be a mexican restaurant, right?

#fridaydonutdate the day the chicken snatched a bite edition

watched them fish

enjoyed summer a little more

shopped with crazies

worked on a custom birthday invitation

 

heard more giggles

 

saw a "wondermelon" at target

 

bought a molcajete and made roasted salsa

 

then guacamole

 

watched her beat her fear of the slide

 

picked the last cup of strawberries for the season

 

watched their love for each other grow

picked our first blackberry from our land

 

picnicked

waited in an insane line for a sandwich from a food truck (Lone Wolf)

 

found a new love in kimchi fries

 

watched her love of water grow

 

#fridaydonutdate starbucks edition

 

had tea parties in stores

 

took big sister to her first theater movie

 

took big sister to her first theater movie

 

had a shrimp boil

 

designed my first font

 

poached an egg over an avocado on toast for the first (not the last)

 

poached an egg over an avocado again (see, I told you it wasn't the last)

 

watched memories being made

 

baked with my girl

ate the baked goods (amazing cookie recipe from the "back in the day bakery" cookbook)

 

finished Jillian's shred

 

poached an egg over leftovers - roasted potatoes, asparagus, onions and quinoa

 

enjoyed nap times

 

#fridaydonutdate pigtail edition

 

poached an egg over leftover roasted squash and zuchinni 

 

spatchcocked a chicken

 

celebrated family

 

got a little patriotic with these cookies

so there you have it. the update of all updates. and that my friends, is why I haven't posted in over a month! i hope you're enjoying your summer!!

Have a safe and happy 4th!!!