Last week I was visiting this antiques fair and I discovered myself desperately hunting for something, something very specific: a turquoise opal glass or ceramic little vase (didn't find the right one in the end...). Does it ever happen to you to shop (or windowshop) with an exact image in your mind of the item you're looking for, even if you've never seen such an item before? Well, it happens to me and fun thing somethimes I just find my ideal objects! :)

Anyway then I realized that I'm craving turquoise in general these days! (But let's include robin eggs blue and aqua and...). Do you know these blogs? House of Turquoise (interior styling and design focused) and Everything Turquoise (shopping). They're a great source of inspiration if you have a crush on turquoise!

I'm particularly obsessed by turquoise vintage decor details at home: for me a big DO! What do you think?

Yoshitomo Nara (1959-) is one of my favorite contemporary artists.

I've "discovered" him several years ago at the Tate Modern bookshop where I got this postcards book and since then I love his children "portraits": the sleeping girl (well, at least for me she's sleeping...) here above stays normally on my night table so it's the last thing I see when I turn off the light, it always puts a smile on my face...

I love the sorbet palette of these pop and manga influenced artworks (but the influences on Nara's work must be found also beyond the most obvious sources and they include the traditional japanese painting style, graffiti, punk and even the Italian Renaissance portraits). What really fascinates me is that the sweetness and cuteness are always only on the surface: these children almost always have stubborn features or cheeky looks or plain evil grins. Only apparently kawaii, Nara's creatures don't smile often, on the contrary they're looking at us serious and severe and almost always they're alone and lost or abandoned in the blank background with no defence except their blaming gaze and, sometimes, tiny weapons in their cartoonish hands. They are so tender.

(Even if very different, I would say these childrens have something in common with the work of the Italian illustrator Nicoletta Ceccoli...).

If you like Nara too, I recommend this book: Lullaby Supermarket. Besides pretty, large format illustrations and photos, includes commentary, an interview and a brief article by Banana Yoshimoto.

 

Hello friends!

This little and simple step by step tutorial is meant to guide you on how to properly share your blog button, if you want to get a result similar to my buttons sharing page here. It’s very basic, but chatting with fellow students at BYW e-course came out that it could be interesting for some of you out there… Hope this helps! :)

Please click here to access the tutorial page.

Psssst: Do you like the tape effect here above? The idea and the tape element is by lovely Carolin at Sodapop Design. Thanks Caro!

Photo by me. My flickr photostream is here.

First of all, my friends, thank you for all your nice comments on this little C4C feature I do sometimes! If you like the concept, join Ez' and Melissa's flickr group here!

Once again in today's C4C I'm taking inspiration from my everyday life and once again I'm "cheating" a little bit... Ehm...

Do you remember the lovely vintage night dress I've been so lucky to win? The one offered as giveaway by Sara at From Wonderland with Love? Of course it arrived and it's indeed pretty and a fabulous aqua shade! Chic for... nothing! :) Thank you Sara!!!

It's not easy to wear tough, as it's very very trasparent! :) So I've been thinking to a day outfit based on it, toned down some with jeans:

I'm obsessed by tones of aqua and turquoise + gray! And the same goes for jeans + blazer and ankle boots. I hope you like this combination I put together!

• Florina Bootcut Jean - Forever21 ($ 29.80)
• W'S COTTON SATIN SHORT TAILORED JACKET - UNIQLO ($ 59.50)
• Deanne Suedette Boot - Forever21 ($29.80)
• Boxy Envelope Chain Handle Cross Body Bag - Accessorize ($ 30 ca)
• Metamorphosis Earrings. Aqua Blue Quartz - heatherberry ($ 15)

Do you believe in love at first sight? An awesome short film: "Nuit Blanche". Enjoy!

The "Making of" video is incredible and it's here, on Spyfilm blog.

Ok, you've probably seen this already, because it's not new and it's popular like many other creations by the Nevada based designer Jennifer Ramos at MadeByGirl.

But I wanted to share anyway how much I like this print: I couldn't resist and I bough one yesterday, looking forward having it on my wall! These days I'm devoting most of my free time to the awesome BYW e-course and... well, I really LOVE blogs and coffee in fact! :)

And you? What are you loving lately? What are the things (big or small) that make you happy in this final days of winter? I'd love to hear!

Ciao!

(...Ah, and if you like this poster, don't miss the "Love Candy" series in Jennifer's products line up! The colors are brillant!)

Credits: the image in this post is from Jennifer Ramos' Etsy shop.

Hello friends!

Last Sunday I went with my lovely boyfriend to a country market close to town. It was an incredibly sunny morning and you could smell spring in the crisp air...

Today it's raining (again!) here in Parma, so I thought I'd share with you a picture of the totally perfect white tulips I got at the market. Awesome, aren't they?

These little white beauties are exactly as pretty as when I bought them and I think it's also thanks to a little secret that the flowers lady told me and I want to share with you: add some RICE in the water, the starch will keep your tulips beautiful for longer. Didn't know that! I'll let you know if they'll really last longer than usual...

(The enamel metal jug is flawed and was on sale at Ikea for like 2 Euros...)

PS: You're welcome to my flickr stream here if you want to see this photo in bigger!

[UPDATE! SO happy! This photo has been accepted by my teacher Holly Becker in the Interior Styling group pool! Yay! I'm honored...]

Hello! I'm glad to announce a little makeover here at DailySuze! I've created a new header and updated other elements in the homepage.

As said a full redesign will happen in the coming months, but now I'm eager to know if you like these little news... Or do you miss the old "face"?

Please please please let me know in your comments! Thanks!

If you're already sharing a DailySuze button on your site or if you are new here and you want to exchange buttons with me, please click here for updated graphics!

Thank you so much!

Hello friends, Please welcome today's "undiscovered" artist: Xulani, from Spain.

I love these sweet handmade dolls and the combination of japanese or ethnic patterns with felt.

That's what the lovely Ursula, the shop owner, told me about her creative process and inspiration:

"well, I've always liked to draw and make dolls, they can pass what I've drawn on paper to the felt and fabric with a result that I love. Inspiration...? Anywhere, a story, an old magazine..."

Color color color! That's what I need in this season and what I like in these little beauties. And aren't the background patterns in the photos just great?

Please run at Xulani Etsy shop: you will find other pretty dolls with different personality and don't miss the other nice products too. I like the dragonfly brooches (unusual) and I'm absolutely drooling over this Tirimen rose...

Ursula, thank you so much for sharing with us something about you and all the best for your business dear!

The "documents folder" frame above was edited from the one in this digital kit.