I am not going to question it, but the weather has been non-stop beautiful since Friday! And it had just put me in such a great mood. This is one of the things we did over the weekend (you can see what a nice day it was too). Then we hung out at home, after a little shopping. And I put the finishing touches on the new exhibition (which just went up this morning).

One of many new shops in this totally new exhibition is Lil3birdy, which is run by artist Clare Shields. Her work is really fun and sort of captures the spirit of our weekend, so I wanted to share a few of my favorites from her Etsy shop with you to round out the day…Love the way she plays with repetition…

1. (above) owls notebook

2. insects and bugs postcards (love, love, love these)

3. patterns and birds gift tags

For more from Lil3birdy, visit Clare’s shop on Etsy.

I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow morning to share Tiffany’s part II article on pricing. The last one was super juicy (over 250 shares combined on Facebook + Twitter), so be sure to pop in tomorrow to read her second installment.

Emma Leonard’s work is a favorite of mine and her shop, Belafonte features giclee prints of her illustrations making owning her work that much easier and very affordable. Stylistically, these 2012 pieces are moving in a new direction featuring more stylized figures and restrained splashes of color. It’s always interesting watching an artist that you admire evolve over time and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. Check out Emma’s portfolio (you will not be disappointed) and her shop.

Christina is the writer behind the design blog, Down and Out Chic. She’s a budget-friendly design huntress that’s passionate about art and the handmade movement. She adores all things striped and polka dotted and would spend most of her afternoons vintage shopping if her closet were big enough. Find her on Twitter or at D&OC.

Since I have paint on mind already today, after that spray painted cut flowers diy from Enna Anne, I thought I’d end the day with some really sweet watercolors from Andrea Shear.

Most of the watercolors I see revolve around landscapes in one way or another, which isn’t necessarily something that I gravitate towards myself. So I am always impressed when I see an artist who is using the medium in an interesting way (I’ve tried my hand at watercolors several times + it is a tricky material to use)…

And Andrea is definitely one of those artists.

I love the restraint in her new work. Very minimal, but at the same time, it tells the whole story.

That’s it for today! See you in the morning. Bright and early with some business card inspiration.

Have you ever been to Europe?

I haven’t.

Is that kind of sad?

I feel sort of strange about it, I guess, because I don’t think of myself as a person who hasn’t traveled (I have a few stamps on my passport and a whole lot of miles on the car from our cross-country road trip), but I am not going to pout about it because Jeff and I are getting our butts in gear… I’ve been looking up travel info and wandering around the bookstore a lot more than usual lately, which is a sign that we will finally be traveling overseas this year.

I have no idea what we’ll be doing once we get there (well Jeff will be at a conference but other than that it’s up in the air), but right now we’re planning for a trip to Paris and Portugal, and maybe London too, around my birthday in May.

My Dad recommended a few places we should visit while we’re there, and I am sure my mom will too, so I am getting pretty excited – looking up stuff for the trip and day dreaming about how much fun it will be to hit up some awesome shopping explore a new place for a week or two.

Which brings me to what today’s post is really about..a shop called Mercantile Mill. Jamison Hiner makes these black and white hand painted bus scrolls from various cities around the world (Paris and London included). And each one is just lovely! Look at the detail on these things…

They look like antique works of art, but they are actually brand spanking new and painted by hand on thick, handcut canvas. And oh yeah, they’re really big too! So if you can’t travel this year, at least you can make your home feel more worldly, right?

I love it when I find shops like this. You’ll have to check it out.

One of my professors in college said something to me on my first day of class that I still remember today. She said, “In reference to scale, if it’s not tiny, tiny or huge, HUGE it’s not important.”

Now, I am sure there are plenty of people out there who don’t agree with what she said, and honestly I happen to love medium-sized paintings because they are perfect for our house, but I know what she meant.

If you want the viewer to have to “do something” immediately, scale is a good way to evoke that in a person. Whether they have to go up to a drawing and almost put their nose to it to see what it is, or step back so far from the piece they are practically in another room to get the full scope, both require interaction from the viewer. So I like that rule of thumb.

And towards the realm of tiny, tiny are these micro-mini paintings from Caroline of Oh Chalet. Many of the pieces in her shop at the moment revolve around winter themes, and they are so cute. I mean how can you not love a painting with a fox in it?

Special Promo: Use coupon code PAPERNSTITCH upon checkout to receive free worldwide shipping! Visit Oh Chalet on Etsy now to check out more of Caroline’s work.

And after you’ve browsed her work, I am curious to know your thoughts on what my professor said to me those years ago. Agree / Disagree?

At this point, I think you know that I love photography. Right?

So I have another photo shop to share with you tonight before I head off to eat dinner with Jeff and veg-out on the couch.

I always find it interesting to see what a photographer likes to shoot most, and what they are drawn to. Do they take an interest in people or architecture or still lifes or whatever? I guess I just like to “see” what the photographer sees as beautiful.

Do you think about that too?

Pretty flowers and beautiful people are easy subjects compared to things that generally have a lot less aesthetic appeal. Fair to say? So I am pretty impressed with what I’ve found in today’s photo feature: textural photographs on Bialakura. The abstract qualities are really great, and sort of push the bounds of pretty in my mind…

January Sale! Use coupon code JANUARYSALE to get 25% off. Receive an additional 15% off for 2012 calendars only, if you mention papernstitch in message to seller box at checkout (payed back via paypal). Visit Bialakura now to take advantage of this special offer.

P.S. As promised, I have an Alt recap going up tomorrow. I didn’t forget.

This week was filled with real life meet ups with blog buddies, a few drinks, and plenty of conversations. I’ll be posting a recap of Alt next week (I am actually still in Salt Lake City  right now – don’t leave until tomorrow) if you’re interested in knowing the details. But for today, I wanted to bring you some lovely photos from The Light Fantastic. You know that I’ve been big in to photography lately, so this probably isn’t much of a surprise. BUT I do have a surprise discount for you to use the TLF below…

Get 25% off your total purchase at The Light Fantastic when you  enter the code PNS25 when checking out. 

We recently upgraded our camera from Jeff’s old Canon Digital Rebel to a Canon 7D, and I’ve been taking lots of photos ever since! Sure, I took photos before. Lots. But now I mean serious business. So I am studying the manual (nerdy as that sounds) and looking at plenty of photography (one of the photographers being Tracey Capone).

I  started following Tracey’s work about two years ago and I’ve really enjoyed revisiting her work again more recently. She has a great eye. Here are a few of my favorite photos from her shop (I’m partial to the architecture. Can you tell?)…

Visit Tracey Capone and get 15% off any purchase when you use the coupon code PNS15 at checkout!

These small scale artworks speak volumes. Collage creations, mixed media paintings, and original illustrations all flowing from the hand of Michele Maule in her Portland, OR studio. Influenced by little pieces of her history or her heart, Michele employs such tidbits as vellum, thread, found papers, and pine panels to create her tiny masterpieces.