The Landscapes of Emily Jeffords

As I’ve aged, I’ve become more and more interested in handmade things. For one, they’re usually way more beautiful than mass-produced objects, and secondly, they have meaning – a meaning that is present from the moment they are conceived as ideas in the artist’s mind, until the day you finally place it lovingly in your home, where it will remain for years to come. Not only is that object unique and special, but purchasing it means that you’re supporting small businesses, keeping our economy more community-centered rather than homogenized and corporate.

I think the best way to start incorporating handmade goods into your home is though pottery and art prints. I don’t have the budget to buy large handmade furniture pieces or original canvas paintings (which is my dream!), but I DO have the resources to purchase an earthy hand-thrown mug to drink coffee from in the morning, or a small print that I can incorporate into a gallery wall. In fact, I only own three mugs at the moment because I’m holding out to find handmade ones that fit – I want to assemble a meaningful collection, not just a pack of identical objects filling my shelves.

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Daydreams of Tulip Fields

For the first time ever, I’m welcoming a guest blogger! Suzette, from the travel blog Try Something Fun, is here to share her experience of the beautiful Skagit Valley tulip fields in Washington. 


Flower gardens are one of my favorite things to see when I’m traveling because they bring me peace. They truly drain the stress right out of my world. There are other reasons as well; gardens are often designed with cultural concepts in mind. In Japan, some gardens are examples of harmony between man and nature. I can definitely see the truth in that, because the colors and shapes orchestrated by nature just amaze me sometimes.

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Claude Monet

Springtime in Monet’s Garden

Being a girl who took started French lessons in high school and studied Art in college, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Impressionism, or any artwork during that time period actually. Degas’ cropped Ballerina scenes, Van Gogh’s vibrating and tortuous genre scenes, and Monet’s expansive waterlily canvases. It’s all so fascinating, the history behind these artistic revolutions; and what makes it even more fascinating, more so than seeing the canvases in a museum, is seeing the source of inspiration itself. I had the privilege of seeing Claude Monet’s private gardens last Saturday, as well as his home, and took a crazy amount of flower pictures.

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