Super whimsical and super fun cow creamers by Carolyn Gavin for PPD. Order yours off Amazon here.

Fantastic prices on Ruby Violet embellishments. The perfect supplies for a rainy summer day craft day! Click here to check out all of the Ruby Violet craft & jewelry products. – Julia

A beautiful little illustration by Rebecca for They Draw and Cook. Plus, the recipe sounds fun to make and delicious to eat! – Julia

What a cool contest from FaveCraftsBlog! – Julia

From their website:

“If you love quirky, eccentric style and are always mixing and matching different accessories, then the Ruby Violet by Lilla Rogers line offered by Prima Marketing will be a DIY dream come true for you! We’ve got a set of cuffs and embellishments from the Ruby Violet collection that Prima was kind enough to gift us, and we’re giving away the whole set to one lucky DIY doll!

This line of whimsical trinkets, baubles, and embellishments is an adorable way to dress up cuffs, pendants, hair accessories–any jewelry or craft projects that need a little decorating! Artist Lilla Rogers has created a collection of dimensional, fantastical trinkets that add a pop of color, a bit of quirk, and a ton of fun to any jewelry piece they’re applied to.

The line also includes a series of blank, reversible cuff bracelets in various colors and textures to suit all styles. The sweet little bits and baubles can be added to the cuffs as desired, so you get to be the designer! Each embellishment includes a handy Velcro sticker on the back so that you can switch them out as you please, mixing and matching to suit your mood. The trinkets include everything from fabric flowers to metallic flowers, from rhinestones to beads, and even a kitschy little cat figurine (a personal favorite)!
You’ll have so much fun playing with the Ruby Violet products (We sure did!). These pieces allow for endless reinvention, so you never have to wear the same thing twice.

Enter now for your chance to win a prize pack of Ruby Violet by Lilla Rogers cuffs and embellishments! The contest ends July 2, 2012, and you can enter once daily, so keep coming back to improve your chances!

We are giving a prize pack of Ruby Violet cuffs and embellishments to one lucky winner. .

Click here to see rules on how to enter.”

A sample of the wonderful pictures from Carolyn’s house tour on Design*Sponge. Click here to see & read more. Photographs by Virginia Macdonald. – Julia

In Middlebury for my college reunion, I strolled into town and in the adorable shop, Clementine, I espied Allison’s photo albums for Rag & Bone Bindery amidst other wonderful little treasures. Clementine also carries Selvedge Magazine – a British textile magazine that Susy Pilgrim Waters, Trina Dalziel, and Macrina Busato have all illustrated for. – Julia

Jenn writes:

Hi Lilla,
I created these fun posters for a client to promote their family concert series this summer.”

My good friend, Joslyn, is running an amazing experiment which is a lot of fun for everyone involved. – Julia

Joslyn writes:

“I have been brewing an idea for a way to crowd-fund the raincoat I splurged on in Seattle. I’m excited to officially launch Creative Truth or Dare. This has been one of the most fun and also frustrating projects so far. Frustrating only because I overestimated my ability to code buttons on a homemade website.

Creative Truth or Dare. Here’s how it works:

You pick whether you want a TRUTH or a DARE.
You give me $5 to help with a very good cause (my fashion rehabilitation).
I will send you an assignment. If you pick TRUTH, the assignment will be of a more introspective nature, and will possibly be something you can journal about or just think about while you are taking a walk. It may not involve sharing with anyone else. So this is a good option if you are scared or just a major introvert, which is totally valid and I can absolutely relate.
If you are braver, and pick DARE, you’ll get a creative assignment that will ask you to do something possibly more extroverted or at least more hands-on. Be aware that my definition of “creative” is very loose.
If you want to get an idea of some of the TRUTH and DARE assignments so far, check out the voluntary SHARE page on the site.

Ready to play? Click here.

Oh and by the way, I cannot emphasize enough the personal nature of this project. There is no robot at work, but just little old me on the other end of your button-press, getting an email from PayPal and then coming up with a customized assignment directly for you. So, sometimes it takes me a few hours to think of the perfect thing. Don’t be alarmed if you don’t get an instant reply. I will get back to you. I would not smite you!

Here are some of the results of the dare:

Jordan’s assignment:
“Write a haiku and send it in a telegram to an older person in your life who you really love.”
Jordan sent this to his mom.

Linda writes:

“Hi Everyone,
I had the incredible opportunity of doing the illustrations for the new Ivory branding. This was a dream job in so many ways. It’s been exciting to see the new packaging as it appears on the shelves. I wanted to share what I’ve seen so far. I love the bright new colors!”

Helen has beautifully illustrated some subjects that we can all relate to – “Summer Gardens” & “Bugs in my Garden”. – Julia