Um, can you say every little girl’s dream?! Yes, it’s a real-life dollhouse. I really, really, really want to live in this amazing on-site installation by Canadian artist Heather Benning. Granted, that huge plexiglass wall might leave me a little exposed to the local farmers and the odd cow, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make for art! Below are images of the transformation… from an old abandoned farmhouse in Manitoba, into, well, my new home:

Sigh… amazing. And, it even comes with a rainbow! Throw in a unicorn grazing on the grass and you’re lookin’ at my childhood dream!

So, on the last day of my ode to magazines week, I’ve decided not to feature a magazine. I know… crazy! Instead I’m going to make day 5 all about the art that exists because of magazines. A little snip-snip of the scissors, a bit of glue, maybe a splash of paint, and voilà… these old LIFE magazines, sexy/glossy fashion magazines, and good old National Geographics are transformed into something entirely new. From one kind of art form, into another. Sigh. So, so inspiring. In fact, maybe I’ll go and grab my scissors right now! Oh, but I promise I won’t cut up any of the publications I featured this week… well, not yet anyway.

{1. One of the forefathers of pop culture collage, Richard Hamilton 2. Ciara Phelan 3. Chad Kouri 4. Natalie Perkins 5. Stina Persson 6. Joe Ryckebosch 7. Jesse Draxler 8. Abigail Reynolds… ok well, this final piece actually uses book pages, not magazine pages… but, hey, it’s my blog, so I’m putting it in anyway!}

I wrote about the ridiculously creative, San Francisco based artist Lisa Congdon and her blog, A Collection a Day, way back on day 10 of this 365 day project. Well, here we are with less than 100 days to go, and she’s still finding stuff to photograph every single day! Actually, Lisa has inspired me to start my own little collection… reasons for being jealous of this lovely project:

First of all, the idea is fantastic. Then of course, there’s the fact that she actually owns cupboards full of this weird & wonderful stuff {I especially love those doll hands!}. And finally, the most exciting development… this smart/simple little blog of hers is being turned into a book by Uppercase Gallery. It’s going to be beautiful, and it will definitely be added to another little collection of mine… art books that make me jealous!

‘Now isn’t that lovely’… yes indeed! Oh, and that also happens to be the title of this series by London based artist Stephen Johnson. I’m sure my grandmother had at least half of these little figurines on her living room shelf… why on earth did it never occur to me to stick them all together, delicately balanced on the nose of a brass deer? Damn it.

{via junkculture}

Jaunty, no?

Oh, there are so many reasons to be jealous of Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt, the duo behind Something’s Hiding in Here, but I’ll try my best to stay focused. The project that has my heart today is called Forage… and it’s fantastic! Hand-made bow ties, in a range of styles and sorbet-esque colours. I’m jealous of this idea, I’m jealous that they get to hunt around for beautiful fabrics, and I’m jealous of the final product… but I have to say, it’s their hand-printed promo postcards {complete with teeny-tiny little bow ties}, that have pushed the designer in me over the edge!  Jaunty, and soul-crushing… not bad for a Tuesday morning.

{…and speaking of accessories, ‘the house that jealousy built‘ got a walk-in closet today! come for a visit over at sfgirlbybay!}

I have a studio full of found objects. You know, stuff like old knitting needles, a small metal duck, and more ceramic doll limbs than I know what to do with… so, what am I going to do with them? I have no idea. If only I knew how to blow glass, then I’d be all set!  Perhaps I should dust off my weird little collection of knick-knacks, pop them in a box, and send them directly to Dutch artist Ellen Urselmann. I am absolutely positive that she’d know what to do with them!

{via junkculture}

{ps. come and see my dream bedroom over at sfgirlbybay today! ‘The House that Jealousy Built’ ~ Room No.3}

Ooh, here’s my Friday crush… Grapefruit Crush to be exact! These very cool vintage bottle cap necklaces are currently on my top ten list, filed under ‘Stuff I Really, Really Want’ {hint, hint}. I found them on Etsy, so all I can tell you is that they’re made by a woman named Beth, and she’s from Wilton… um, where’s Wilton? Ok, so this is not a very informative post, but at least I can send you directly to her shop so that you can buy one of these necklaces right now!

{These reminded almost exactly of some work that I wrote a post about last May… which, by the way, can also be found on that same top ten list!}

I officially declare this, Font Friday! Love, love, love all of the lettering {dimensional, hand-painted, neon, automobiles, etc} that a type-fanatic, like myself, can find on TypArchive. Here’s their reason for being:

‘The objective is to amass a comprehensive global collection of a high-quality images and produce hard-copy volumes. Amidst a landscape of vapid strip malls and sterile signage, hand-painted lettering retains a soulful aesthetic to be treasured. Like other crafts dissolving in the digital age, sign painting is a fading occupation. Today it’s easy for any layman with minimal computer knowledge to produce a sign within minutes, but the skill acquired to artfully produce hand lettering took years of apprenticeships, dedication and true talent’

Damn, I wish I thought of that.

{Thanks to Junkculture for this huge dose of typography on a Friday morning! Oh, and my first ‘weekend guest‘ will be showing up here tomorrow morning… come on by!}

Step One: Find a mate {preferably with glasses similar to your own}

Step Two: Have a baby

Step Three: Worship said baby

Step Four: Try not to be really mad when that baby grows up, becomes an artist, and decides to use very old photos of you in his super cool sketchbook which he then puts on display for the whole world to see. Psst, Ben… your mom called, and she didn’t sound happy!

{Ben Owen,  is a recent graduate from the University of Kentucky. I should point out that the majority of his work [hand dyed silks and found paper collage] is much more abstract than the work I’ve shown here… but what can I say, I have a weak spot for sketchbooks filled with families from decades past!}

New York based artist Marlo Pascual might start with found imagery, but that’s not where she stops. Nope, after that she enlarges, crops and alters the images until they’re just right. Just right for what? Well, for adding pins, rocks, plants and candles to, of course. But even then, she’s still not done. She plays with the placement of the work within the gallery space creating new relationships, and allowing the images to tell stories that they have never told before… and then she calls it a day.

{More of her work can be seen at Casey Kaplan Gallery in New York.}