cake & pie

Goodbye print?

It is a sad state of affairs when two gorgeous magazines bite the dust in a matter of months. First, House & Garden...a constant source of design inspiration, beautiful color palettes, and daydreams; and then the fledgling Blueprint—which I had become very fond of—it had a little bit of everything for everyone...sigh.

I picked up the last issue of Blueprint a few days ago and saw this fabulous jewelry box/wall hanging project inside. I have seen similar things before, but I love how they used knobs to hang bracelets and necklaces, and the box is deep enough for smaller bowls and boxes to sit inside. This would be a perfect way to prevent my cat from knocking my jewelry on the floor... hang it up in a pretty box far from reach. Another project for my to-do list. Thank you Blueprint!

Yay

I was so happy this morning to find that Julia Rothman's Artist Series Mug for Urban Outfitters is finally for sale online! I have been a bit jealous of my NY friends with local UO stores who got to snatch theirs up right away! Check out the mug:

Julia, I'm feeling like entire china patterns need to be next on the agenda!

openhouse

A fabulous new store has opened that has put Richmond, VA on my list of places to visit. It is called openhouse, and I just happened to have designed their logo a few months ago.

Owned by two ladies with an eye for art and design: Katie Howlett and Megan Rupnik, openhouse is a modern home accessories store that carries work by emerging independent designers like Alyssa Ettinger, Diana Fayt, and Lotta Jansdotter. If you are in the Richmond area be sure to stop in at their shop at 5807 Patterson Ave. If you are like me, and for now must swoon from afar, you can read all about their shop on their new blog!

Ah retirement

My mom and dad retired almost 2 years ago, and they recently moved into a new house. My mom finally got her dream kitchen and she christened it with a 6-quart Kitchen aid mixer...and much to my delight has started baking on a weekly basis. This week we have banana bread:

She used Martha Stewart's banana bread recipe, and it turned out SO good. See Mom? I'm eating breakfast!

In other news, my new Kathleen Losche Design business cards were delivered yesterday...

Simple, with only essential information...I think I like how they turned out, although I wish the blue wasn't QUITE so blue. C'est la vie. Have a nice Tuesday everyone!

Loving this...

I just spotted this over on Apartment Therapy—it is Matt Carr's Biblioteca Bookshelf for Umbra.

I love the idea of making shelves from two old coffee tables, although not sure I love the black. Furniture purchases are a bit out of our budget at the moment, but what a great DIY idea...and then it could be whatever color I want. I figure it will either be really simple and fun to do, or incredibly complicated and I'll wish I just bought the real one. Part of the fun is finding out though...oh boyfriend!

Thanks AT! Image from umbra.com

Window dress-up

I have been meaning to make a valance for the window in our kitchen since we moved here almost a year ago. I put up one of those super cheap white curtain rods from Target (that I'd bought a year ago.)  The window is inset between our 1958 cabinets (which I if we weren't renting, I would have torn down myself by now,) so you don't see the rod at all. I hung a few fabrics from my little collection over the rod before I decided this one was perfect:

After I measured and cut the fabric, I sewed a hem on three sides, and then a two inch pocket for the pole to feed through at the top. It might have taken a half hour to do, and now my window, sitting sadly between my unfortunate cabinets, feels a little brighter and more pleasant in the morning before I've had my first cup of coffee. Good morning window. Have a good day everyone!

We can do better

This Earth Day is a reflective day for me. We all hear more and  more that Global Warming is an imminent threat to our Earth and that each one of us can do something to help; so today my household will resolve to do something to help.

I am embarrassed to admit we are not the most diligent recyclers around here. We typically throw things in the recycling bin when we think of it—which isn't terribly often. But now, we will have a dedicated recycling can in our kitchen—one for items the county recycles (paper/metal/plastic,) and one for glass, which our county won't pick up, but we can bring to a recycling center.

I also just ordered ten canvas grocery bags right here. We will use canvas on all of our shopping trips—to the grocery store, Target, Petsmart...no more plastic bags that stick around for a hundred years in our house.

It's not a lot—but its better, and it's a start. I would love to hear what others are doing to make their households more eco-friendly today.

UPDATE: The bags came today and they are great. Now I can't wait to go grocery shopping! Hopefully the check out people won't look at me like I'm nuts.

Gorgeous

Reading through my bloglines this morning I saw that Lara Cameron, of Kirin Notebook, has just had four of her lovely patterns made into fabric. All of the fabric has been hand screen printed in Melboure, Australia—and it is just gorgeous!

You can find the fabric for sale in Lara's Etsy shop—Kirin and Co. Congrats Lara, beautiful work!

Where did the week go?

Another week gone, and it seems like it should still be Tuesday. Time flies when you're having fun? I'm not terribly sure about the "fun" part, but time is certainly flying. The weather has gotten warm and lovely here in Nashville...a welcome change from the freezing temperatures that were making my walks with Cooper uncomfortably chilly.

This week I got some grading done for the Typography class I am teaching, and hammered out a schedule of the remaining topics we will cover this semester. Watching my students begin to really grasp concepts and talk in critiques has been so satisfying these past few weeks. It is an amazing thing to watch something you have been teaching really click for a student.

I was also busy with a bit of gallery work this week...getting postcards printed for the next opening; finding out what L-pins are and ordering a bunch so we can hang the March show; and this weekend will be spent updating the SQFT website a bit...a constant work in progress.

Leaving the gallery today I walked past a shop in the arcade that I have walked past before—Odyssey's End, (at 5 Arcade Building on the first floor closest to 4th Avenue,) but this time they had some completely adorable pillows in the window that compelled me to enter:

The little round pillows are by Two's Company, and come in three different color combinations. The price tag you ask? $20! I love the colors and I secretly wish I knew how to crochet (I know, another hobby!)—so I was sold.

Lastly, if I were traveling this weekend I would absolutely be headed to St. Louis, Missouri, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Random places? Well, not if you are a fan of Diana Fayt and Lisa Solomon. Diana is having a show at Xen Gallery in St. Louis; and Lisa is showing some of her work at the Richard Levy Gallery in Albuquerque. If you are in either city this weekend—(a) I am envious of you; and (b) run don't walk...go see amazing work!

Since I am not traveling this weekend, I will be headed to the Art House tomorrow night to check out their latest offering—18 Reasons—work by 18 local artists...lots to see there.

Well, there is laundry to do, a dishwasher to unload, and a VERY early yoga class tomorrow morning, so I will say goodnight. Posting has been rather sporadic the past few weeks here at cake + pie...and I would imagine it will continue to be for just a little while longer. I thank you all for your patience and hope you have a very lovely weekend.

Still here

So sorry for the absence everyone. Things have been a little all over the place these days. Hopefully I will get a bit more into the groove of my new schedule shortly and blogging will return to normal.

In the meantime the talented bloggers behind Absolutely Beautiful Things and Pink Mohair have joined forces to write a blog about designing Pink's house...check out Casapinka.