Astrology and horoscopes have always been fascinating to me, and by extent gemology. Naomi Ernest‘s birthstone series partners the structure of rigid, structural ink lines with freeform, organic watercolor. I love the juxtaposition. Each month’s birthstone is available in several sizes of prints here.
A few weeks ago, on a cold Wednesday, I headed off to Alt Summit in Salt Lake City. It was my sixth time speaking and it’s become that point in the year when I reassess my goals and mission for Design Crush, and connect with potential sponsors and like-minded people who see the value in blogging. Every January I come away feeling refreshed and refocused.
The evening I flew into town Overstock hosted a dinner at Rest for some of the attendees. I didn’t have a real feel for the brand prior to that point, to be honest. But I’m going to be completely transparent here when I say that sometimes getting to know the people behind the company can completely change perception. Just a super lovely, very real team that was easy to talk to and hang out with and an insanely delicious meal (beer can chicken, paella, ceviche, pickled onion rings +more).
Thursday morning started bright and early thanks to jet lag and a poor night’s sleep – does anyone else have that issue the first night in a hotel? My roommate, Tabulous Design, and I took advantage and had a nice little breakfast (I’m obsessed with the Grand America‘s muesli and lattes) before talking to a few sponsors. I had to miss my friend Lisa Congdon‘s opening keynote for a few meetings, but everyone raved about it through the rest of the conference.
My panel was one of the very firsts – Pinterest: Community Growth, Revenue Streams, Driving Traffic – with Alexandra Evjen, Rachel Faucett, and Sara Martineau. Among all of the panels I’ve ever been lucky enough to participate in, this one was prepared to the nines. These ladies know their stuff in a big, big way and they’re excited about it too. If you’d like a few bits of advice that we talked about check out Alex’s post-Alt post.
Wednesday night brought with it a Downton Abbey themed dinner. Proper and elegant with flowers I couldn’t stop taking photos of, the night ended up being an early one for me. After dressing up in a dropped-waist, short-sleeved seafoam colored dress and (heavy) statement necklace I just couldn’t hang after my four hours sleep the night before. Several episodes of The Big C later and I was passed out cold.
While at Alt I also teamed up with Microsoft and Wayfair in their #DreamStudio, one of the sponsored lounges. They divided the space into three areas – craft room, kitchen, and living room/office – and had a few bloggers giving mini session on fun topics like Upcoming Art Trends in-between the main panels. Because I spent most of my time here I didn’t get to attend any panels other than my own, but I loved getting to connect with other attendees about something I’m passionate about!
Friday evening were the Mini Parties, basically my favorite part of every year. Alt takes over part of the third floor of the hotel and each room is a different theme, most rife with photobooth opportunitues. My partners in crime were my roommate Tab and Dottie and Alix (aka Modern Kiddo). We had an agenda to take the best possible photos and stuck to it for three straight hours – the last one is clearly our money shot!
I normally stay In SLC through Saturday and leave Sunday, but this year there was a ridiculous price difference in flights so I said goodbye Saturday afternoon after a leisurely breakfast and some good conversation with longtime friends. If you missed out this go around and are dying to attend Alt tickets just went on sale for Alt Summer!
Lars Daniel Rehn‘s paintings of a growing village are so, so good. Each one reveals different developments – building roads, fighting illnesses, even being chased by birds of prey. A few of the pieces can’t be seen unless under a UV light, which Rehn uses in his studio. The only constant is a ground covered in snow.
Gems, minerals, rocks… all have been revered for centuries, and are now being regaled once more. I only own one, a big peach hued crystal cluster that once belonged to by step-grandma that I’ve admired for as long as I can remember. But I love the idea of more, maybe just not resting on surfaces everywhere in my home.
That’s where Laurel Canyon Dreaming and their artwork comes into play. Each archival print is inspired by the canyons and hills of Los Angeles. Molly, the artist behind it all, uses her own original paintings, collages, and drawings as starting points or bases work off of rare antique prints that she’s been collecting for years.
While I love spending time in the kitchen cooking, and more specifically baking, I love ogling beautiful kitchenwares even more. The latest on my wish list is the terra-cotta cookware of Terra.Cotto. Colorful, modern in design, and eco-friendly, these pieces are right up all of my alleys. Oh, and they’re recognized as the highest quality terra-cotta cookware in the world!
Sarah Illenberger‘s Flowerwork series uses creatively arranged flowers, perfect camera angles, and incredible lighting to mimic the bursts, sparks, and cascades of fireworks. I’m mesmerized by the genius that is this project and can’t help but keep scrolling through the imagery.
