I hope you're relishing this beautiful time of year and spending time with those you love. I'm definitely enjoying a deliberately slower pace of life this week. The WonderCraft is now {mostly} on hiatus until the new year, so I've been able to spend more time with P (my hubs), going to movies, trying new restaurants and strolling through shops looking for gifts and then wrapping them with love (I love wrapping gifts!). Wanted to share a couple of online joys with you today...
First up, how unbelievably cute is that little gingerbread house perched on a mug?! I first saw it on Craftzine, where I go for my daily dose of crafty goodness. Head over to not martha for more cute pics & the full tutorial.
And secondly, The UK Times Online has just published their list of 50 of the world's best design blogs. A few blogs that I read almost daily were awarded this honor, well-deserved. I've spent this morning checking out the others on the list and adding several to my ever-growing left sidebar here. I encourage you to check them out for some serious eye-candy & inspiration!
The blogs on the list, such as pia jane bijkerk, really inspire me to re-think Crafty Mishmash... which puts me in a bit of a funk. I feel like what I'm doing here is at odds with my true style and design aesthetic, and I'm always trying to fine tune things for a more harmonious blend of my playful, whimsical Snuggle Herd work and "the real me" which is still playful & whimsical, but more romantic/dreamy/retro/sophisticated (I think). Seems like I've been struggling with this disconnect throughout my entire art/design/craft career, with my work always coming out with a more clunky, childlike look than I would like. 
The photo above, found in pia jane bijkerk's kids' gift guide, of the darling little girl is from Mette, an Etsy shop based in Vancouver. I love the styling of their photos! I want to move toward this type of look in my photography for my Snuggle Herd products. Adorable children modeling the clothes definitely changes the mood and tone of the pics. They look classic, timeless and so sweet! Obviously my clothing designs are not quite the same, but I think I could come up with something along these lines that works for my designs. If I can find some kids to model for me, and talk P into doing a whole slew of new photos, of course.And so I may be tweaking Crafty Mishmash a lot in the coming days, so bear with me. It's just that I often look at my blog and think, "this isn't really me." Know what I'm sayin'???
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