Christmas Mantel

Holiday Cheer

December 17

It was my birthday on Friday and my husband showered me with a bunch of sweet surprises...a much needed phone upgrade, a Cheap Monday sweater, a super warm cable knit beanie, candy, potato chips (love!) and dinner reservations at Cheval Blanc Bistro where I had the yummiest crème brûlée ever!  Thank you Luke for a beautiful day ♥

*we forgot to take photos because we were too busy conversing and eating!  Photo borrowed from My Baking Addiction

Just Sharing

 My first and only attempt at animation!  Made in 2008.

I Love Glasses

 

A custom portrait I did for a super cute, petite little lady in Germany

Anytime Love Notes

I'm so excited about these cards, I hope you like them too!

Comes in a set of three now in the shop

♡

 

Kate is on cloud nine.  Her boyfriend just surprised her with a beautiful bunch of flowers and plans for an overseas trip.  You can't tell but Kate is actually hiding a massive smile behind the flowers.  She can be a bit shy sometimes.

*This is an illustration I did for ♡,  a sweet little inspiration magazine by the super cute Mariell. 

"It's cold today and I need to go out for groceries" pretend outfit

HOLIDAY SALE!

Check it out!

My Autumn Friends print has been featured in this months issue of N.E.E.T magazine as part of their holiday gift guide...woot woot!

Santa Barbara

I feel so relaxed and refreshed after our little mini getaway.  We slept in, went for bike rides, hiked, visited historical sites, went shopping and ate oh so much!  Here are a few of my favourite photos from the weekend...

 

 

 

 

1. Luke at Stearn's Wharf  2. Vintage collectibles store in State Street  3. Yachts  4. Crushcakes  5. Me turning into a butterball  6. Elephants at Santa Barbara Zoo

Happy Times!

 

One more day til Thanksgiving and then I'll be going away with my husband to Santa Barbara (any tips on where to dine and what to do would be great!) for our first little getaway since moving to the U.S almost 18 months ago.  We probably haven't chosen the best destination for this weather but I'm sure we'll still have fun!  

Before I take off for a few days, I thought I'd quickly share with you some things that I'm thankful for - my husband for being the very best friend anyone could ever wish for, my mum who Skypes me atleast once a week, my dad who always sees the silver lining and my little sister who is as solid as a rock.  Also my brothers, my friends, central air, chips and gravy, the internet, baked goods, Nick Cave, Egyptian cotton and my lovely readers!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

*A peek of a custom wedding invite I've been working on.  Also, check out The Clothes Horse for a wee feature on Pop Pop Portraits.

Where art thou, UPS Man?

Last weekend I convinced my husband to purchase these sunglasses for me as a super early birthday present.  They were supposed to be shipped within three business days. Instead of sitting on my eager little nose they are in a warehouse in Covina without explanation :( I can't wait to meet you Number Two!  

 

*custom portrait I did for a lovely customer of her best friend

HAPPY WEEKEND!

I think you're funny Mr. Lennon

 

Last night I went to see Ghost of a Saber Toothed Tiger aka Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl at Largo at the Coronet.  The music was poetic and whimsical and the duo were a visual delight.  I forget how great it is to see live music, especially at a smaller venue...it makes me feel inspired.  Just thought I'd share.

Holiday Giveaway!

Miss James of Bleubird is hosting a Pop Pop Portraits giveaway, huzzah!  Visit her super stylish blog and leave a comment for a chance to win a custom watercolour couple portrait.

Happy Mondays

This video makes me chuckle a little bit.  The fashion, the choreography, Shaun Ryder...the Nineties!

Anyway,  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Mine was quite delightful!  Curly fries, cupcakes, shopping and a little celebrity spotting.  We also went to Mercedes Helnwein's exhibition opening at the Merry Karnowsky gallery.  The work was stunning and I was in awe.  Happy Monday!

Natalie

A Love Note

I'm thinking about new products for the store...

maybe??

Molly the Greeting Card Designer

Jessica

Lily the Embullient Chocolatier

Meet Lily.  She is studying to become a chocolatier at Valrhona: École du Grand Chocolat  in France.  She misses her home dearly but she is also having the time of her life.  Lily has met a lovely french boy, Alex.  They eat cheese pastries and macarons together and invent new albeit somewhat weird chocolate flavours.

Halloween @ Villain's Tavern

I can't believe it's November already and the start of another work week (for my husband!).  Does anyone feel like Halloween went by too quickly?  Back home we don't really celebrate this holiday so it was great to see EVERYONE dressed up for the occasion, bar two Australians who will definitely be in costume next year!  On Saturday night  we went to Villain's Tavern to check out some bands and have a couple of drinks.  On Sunday we went to a flea market, grabbed some lunch at the Village Idiot,  I had the best creamed spinach, artichoke and mushroom pie,  and loitered around Melrose trying on hats.  Sigh, five whole days till the weekend again.

Heavy Boots

Yesterday was one of those days that really took it out out of me.  I had heavy boots all day and my world felt like it was getting smaller and smaller and there was no escape from the bad things that happened this year.  But I'm determined today will be better.  Cups of hot chocolate, some reorganising and maybe a little sewing project.  I hope you're all having a lovely day.

*photo by Pete Herb

Parker's Portrait

Parker is sitting patiently and very still while she is having her portrait painted.  It's her first one ever so she looks a bit awkward.  Once it's finished she'll be sending it to her boyfriend Toby, who's currently away in Argentina studying the Chlamyphorus truncatus  aka the Pink Fairy Armadillo. 

An Upsized Richard Simmons

Just thought I'd share a little of my weekend...on Saturday we went to Pasedena for lunch at Gyu-Kaku,  a Japanese BBQ restaurant.  It was really cute and the food was fresh and tasty.  I was so full by the end of it but  I still had enough room to go to Dot's for a Red Velvet cupcake.  On Sunday we went to a Megamind screening at the Arclight in Hollywood.  It was a great film and exceeded my expectations.  And it's always nice to see my husband's name in the credits so maybe I am a bit biased!  But anyway, that was not the highlight...it was seeing a big version of Richard Simmons in Beverly Hills. I'm a bit obsessed with him.  Each time we see him  he always has a serious look on his face and some sort of  wild 80s aerobic outfit on,  for reals!  You make my day,  giant "Mr Simmons".

Nine days til Halloween

A few of my favourite things

my bookshelf 

my mantel

 my engagement ring

my tool box

 

Penelope the Petite Peddler

Lilly

 *custom portrait for fellow blogger Chassity.  Check out Look Linger Love.

Rob and New Prints

Custom portrait for giveaway winner Jen

Also new prints of Ro-Ro and Ronald are available in the shop

Just a few purchases

Whenever I go to the Rose Bowl,  it seems like it's always super hot, which leads to me drinking too many frozen lemonades and inevitably giving up before I walk through the whole market.  All things considered it wasn't a bad haul - a purple 80s leaf print dress,  a vintage Santa Barbara Pistol Club brooch and a navy 80s floral print romper.  My husband ended up sourcing some vintage wallpaper for his work cubicle so he's a happy camper...plus we ended up seeing some weird random things!

 

The Rose Bowl Market really takes it out of me

It was so incredibly hot and dry today but we still went ahead with our plans to go to the flea market.  Will be back tomorrow with a post of what we got.

* The lovely Kaelah Bee of Little Chief Honeybee has featured my work for her Sunday Spotlight.  Have a look!

Seesaw

Ro-Ro and Ronald love playing on seesaws together...even though Ro-Ro is much heavier and they can't really get much of a momentum happening.

Take a peek at Mod Cloth, Happiness is..., The Pink and Blue Blog (giveaway!) and Color Me Corder for Pop Pop Portraits features.

I ♥ Snail Mail

I love getting surprise packages in the mail.  Who doesn't, right?  Sometimes I feel a bit isolated living here in LA and it's just nice to know someone's thinking about you.  Thank you Lila and Ayana.  Xo

The Abster

*Custom portrait