Nonpareil

I put honey on everything {my newest fave is on greek yogurt}. I usually buy a big jug of it from the local farmers market, and it doesn’t last long in our house. The problem is, pouring the honey from the jug onto a peanut butter sandwich makes a mess of EPIC proportions. So, I recently set out to find a sweet little container for our honey. Seattle based Barbara Dunshee pottery is where I found the perfect little pot! It’s like the little cream-colored pot above, and I just love it! The shape is perfect, and the little ball on top is such a nice touch. Barbara is quite the accomplished artist. Her entire shop is filled with beautiful pieces. I absolutely adore her green and red color combinations, and her “Lively Lidded Vessels” are stunning.

Nothin’ creepy under these stairs. How adorable are these little paper goodies from UK based, Under the Stair Studios?! Each of the pieces is illustrated and hand cut by the creator, Kat, and made from 100% recycled matt card. The little round circus ones actually spin if you turn the flag. THEY SPIN!! This would be such a sweet gift for someone. Such handiwork, such sweet illustrations. Kat has kindly offered Nonpareil readers a mini paper theater with your order. Just type ‘nonpareil’ in the comments section when you order.

I’m scared to death of mice. Scared. to. death. A couple of years ago, I inadvertently brought a mouse home from the pet store. He was a little white, pink-eyed guy who had hitched a ride in a bag of dog food. When I saw him looking up at me from the bottom of our pack porch stairs, I screamed bloody-murder, slammed the door, ran back into the house and dealt with my serious case of the heebee-geebees. It took me a couple of seconds to realize that a wild, attack-prone mouse wouldn’t be white with pink eyes. My husband was the lucky mouse catcher that day {he’s also my spider & creepy bug go-to guy}. I couldn’t stand the thought of a pet mouse being sent into the wild to fend for himself {I have a VERY patient husband}, and, I certainly didn’t want him hanging out at our house. He was caught, and returned to the store {with big apologies for our trauma}. Phew!

Not sure how I can find mice cute while being completely scared of the real life versions…but I absolutely LOVE the little mouse cards by Bestiary Ink. They come in a set with different mousey illustrations. I think I love the knitting mouse the most. Adorable! Bestiary Ink also has a nice collection of prints! Lots of sweet animals {not just mice!} in her collections.

My business partner and I did a small craft show to benefit a local school this past weekend. I’m sick of doing craft shows. I’ll just come right out and say it. Schlepping our stock {paper is HEAVY}, and display {iron…seriously, what were we thinking…an IRON cart!!}, putting everything up, taking it all down. I get really cranky. Especially when it’s in the snow. Hmm…maybe it’s just the snow that’s making me cranky….

Anyhow, the one thing that I like about doing shows, is that we meet some fantastic artists and crafty people.  I just LOVE that! This past weekend we were lucky enough to be see a favorite vendor from a show we did two years ago {more about that in my next post}, and someone new! Her name is Karyn, and her shop is Den-10 Studio. I’m totally in love with her little prints! I think I have to have the thermos print for my kitchen….and how adorable is her bff print?! So sweet! You can buy all of her prints at her Etsy shop.

I met owner/artist Jeannie of Me Art at a VERY slow craft show this last holiday season. It gave us a great chance to chat, for me to become totally smitten with her business. I really wish the internet would do her work justice…because it’s quite fantastic. When you submit your photo to her, you get back a really high quality, unique piece of art. Another service that she offers is taking a bunch of your kid’s artwork {I have a MILLION pieces tucked away in the attic}, and making it into a single picture. The result is a modern and sweet masterpiece! Love it!