Louella Court

Dale Chihuly

{ posted by Jessa, design/marketing }

Have you ever walked into a hotel or casino and became mesmerized by a beautiful blown glass sculpture in front of you? Well, it happened to me on three separate occasions at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the Borgata in Atlantic City, and the Atlantis Hotel on Paradise Island. Being the curious person I am, I decided to research further. Dale Chihuly is the man behind these gorgeous installations. He has spent his life creating beautiful glass masterpieces. With two studios and a hundred glass blowing artists, Dale is now being commissioned by international clients in Dubai, Cancun, and Japan to create massive sculptures. You can see more of his incredible work here.

Below are the three sculptures that I have been lucky enough to see in person.

The Bellagio Hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada

 

 

the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey

the Atlantis Hotel and Casino on Paradise Island, Bahamas

 

 

Flying Off The Handle

Aside from ruining your experience at BBQ's and freeloading on your forgotten hot dog, flies can actually be used for artwork. I don't think I ever would've put those two ideas together, but hey, I guess you have to do something with their bodies right? 

 

 

Swedish photographer Magnus Muhr is responsible for plenty of amazing pictures. Weddings, tasteful nudes, nature stills--you name it. So it comes as no surprise how flies came into the mix...or does it? This well established photographer considers this portion of his work to be Humorous, which I could not agree with more.

With a simple stroke of a pencil and some imagination, these deceased insects are brought back to life. The animation of humanity is what gets a little chuckle out of people.

 

Fly 1: Was it good?  Fly 2: Mmm.. You really succeeded with this Britta.. it tastes like sh*t!

 

 
I like to think of this as live comic art. Well maybe 'live' is the wrong word to use. Could you imagine opening up the newspaper to this sort of 3D comic strip? Breakfast certainly wouldn't be as appetizing. Good thing he shoots photos and shares it with the world, via internet. 

Take a gander at the rest of Magnus Muhrs photos, they have living people in them. :)

Real Weddings - Jess and Rob

{ posted by Nicole, director of sales }

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for winter weddings, but this one just melted it.  Photographed by the AMAZING Alison Conklin and held at the German Society of Philadelphia - Jess and Rob's wedding had it ALL!   The German feast, bride and groom cake topper, flowers and table decor, and the hand crochet shawls by the mother of the bride are just some of the many beautiful touches that made this wedding sought after by many wedding publications.  Pick up a copy of Brides Philadelphia today to get the complete list of vendors and DIY projects.

Sketchy Web Design

{author: Whitney web developer/designer}

A couple very inspiring websites for the illustrator in you.

Vinamation

Odosketch

Charmingwall

ShiftSpace

Eine-der-guten.de

 

BearSkinRug

Summer Blog Reading

What blogs have you been reading lately (aside from Louella Court, of course)?  Here are a few that are on my current rotation!

Catalog Living

The Meanest Mom

Alison Conklin Photography

Centsational Girl

Young House Love

Good Things Catered

The Sand Dancer

{ posted by Jenny, production }

Seeing as how everyone here at the dollhouse is super creative and there's virtually nothing we can't do with paper, I was impressed by the artistic versatility Peter Donnelly has with one of the Earth's elements. Sand.
 

It's quite the sight for beach goers in New Zealand, where Mr. Donnelly hails from. With only four hours to create and complete his sand of art, he shoots from the hip and brings whatever is on his mind to life. What makes his art so particularly great is how rare it is. Its life span is that of about 2-4 hours since the tide comes in shortly after he's done. 

{my personal favorite}

With just a rake and a few paintbrush handles, he creates all of what you see. For someone that's been doing this for over ten years, he couldn't seem happier to get his message out there. From the performance side of it to the way it touches the people watching it transpire before their eyes. He's quite the artist and as interesting as they come. I'd love to have a conversation with him. 

See for yourself!

Tweed Tom screenprint

{ posted by Jen James, designer/illustrator }

For Print Only is a great blog that posts fresh design work that is always well designed and well executed. Today they posted this amazing poster for us to marvel at. It's a 4 color screenprint by London designer Tweed Tom.

Here are some of his other screenprints that I love!

And check out our work featured on FPO!

H2O

I saw this piece, by young illustrator & designer Tegan White, before driving to work this rainy Monday morning and fell in love.

The quote is from "The Art of Looking Sideways" by Alan Fletcher.

Beautious.

Ciao for Now..

{Posted by Amanda, VP}

This is my last day at the dollhouse for a while. We will welcome the little munchkin into our world in the next few days... I thought what better time for a photo opp, than now :-)

 
 

My co-workers threw me the most adorable farewell potluck lunch filled with home made goodies (even from my male co-workers) and a pink tub of books and treats. One of my husband's personal favorites had to be Tickle Monster, which he read this week in preparation. It comes complete  with "monster mitts" to tickle your favorite little one with...

 

Thank you all for your love and well wishes, we can't wait for her arrival.

Cupcake Art

{ posted by Crystal, print/production }

Check out these cupcakes that are too cute to eat!

cupcake pops
www.bakerella.com

icecream cone cupcakes

super mario
http://internetsiao.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/super-mario-cupcakes.jpg

hellonaomi
hello naomi | cakes cupcakes cookies

iPhone App Cupcakes