This Week from Lisa Congdon: A List of Some Blogs I Like

Image by Ray Fenwick

About two and a half years ago I hit a wall. My blog roll (mostly art, craft, design and fashion blogs) was so incredibly long and getting through it took over so much of my day that I decided to give up reading blogs as a daily practice. I stopped looking at my daily list, and only went to look at blogs periodically via links folks would send me, and then later through Facebook and Twitter. This was part of an effort to simplify my life of mental clutter and overwhelm.

Last Spring, after a couple years off, I'm back to reading more blogs here and there (though I still haven't reinstated the insanely long blog roll I used to have). While I no longer read art/craft/design/fashion blogs every day as a habit, over the past couple of years I have discovered some blogs that I really, really like and that I go back to time and time again.

{Disclaimer: these aren't the only blogs I look at or the only ones I like a lot. They are just more recent discoveries, since, say 2007. Lists are hard. There are so many amazing blogs out there. These are just a few gems that I love. I hope through this list you will discover one here today you didn't already know about.}

Share Some Candy



Escape Into Life



Fine Little Day



Art Hound




Jenn Ski



Junk Culture



The Jealous Curator



My Love For You is a Stampede of Horses



The Sunday Times Market



Modish

The Pale Observer

Excuse my lack of posts this morning, I've been engrossed in a blog I just discovered called Holli's Ramblings (via a comment yesterday). It's about an expat's adventures in Ghana. It's author who calls herself, "The Pale Observer" writes so eloquently about her life in Ghana, first arriving as a volunteer and then marrying a Ghanaian and moving into a Ghanaian compound. I loved reading this post how she explains how life is there and how she became to embrace it. I'm so happy to have found this blog, to teach and enlighten me.

a new blog in town

canada's hgtv has just started up a blog named, style sheet. a home decor blog offering up inspirational ideas, new finds, along with behind-the-scenes glimpses of hgtv's most popular programs. i'm already liking their splurge vs. steal category (see above photo) on two versions of summer desert plates. click here to bookmark!

orange you lucky!

there's a new blog in town (on the canadian side of the border), a little east of here in the capital city of ottawa. illustrator/designer, mother, helen dardik has started up a new blog about "all things fun and more..." called, orange you lucky! she's one very talented individual and i'm already loving her posts and picks; they're as sweet as her work. welcome to blogland helen!

blog of the week

brainy lady; i'm so jealous of people who can knit mittens!

cool blog of the week - kitchen gnome

the kitchen gnome is always filled with much inspiration for the home.

cool blog of the week - caravan of curiosities

caravan of curiosities is the new name for the free people clothing blog. i loved their new design when i saw it (the illustrations and the concept). always a favorite to visit and a reason to make it cool blog of the week.

cool "very new" blog of the week

from winnipeg, manitoba, help send a warm welcome to julie and kathryn as they start up their new blog, perfectbound today. (also check out their photostream, lovely images/ideas!)

they met in their first year of art school at university and realized they shared a love of design. as they started talking about their plans for the future, it became clear that they wanted to design, but not lose themselves in the process.

they've taken drawing, ceramics, photography, letterpress, printmaking, graphic and environmental design –all of which have lead to a shared aesthetic in design and in life.

their love of all design has propelled them to start this blog. finding and sharing good design is their way of "spreading the love". they said "it is an opportunity to introduce themselves to the design world outside of winnipeg and get to know the people behind the designs they love". they thought it would be a good idea to start the blog now, as they begin the second chapter in their design lives – perfectbound. in the near future they also hope to have an etsy shop with their own designs. (i'm sure i'll be blogging about that too)!

summer blogs

i like the idea of a summer blog. and i see they're popping up here and there. like micasa's summer inspirations called, maditi's likes where i found these cute little polaroid doodles, called poladoodles (above) by lilacmoon and emma's summery, lazy days filled with yummy photo's of midsummer decorated tables and sandy beaches (image below). any more out there?

new feature - cool blog of the week

i've decided to add a new feature here, "cool blog of the week". it seems like i just can't keep up with all the blogs coming at me and to keep track and to do a post or to update my template is just about becoming nearly impossible or so it seems. so as a way to plug all those great blogs out there and to recognize and support them, i've dedicated a page to these weekly picks which will be chosen every thursday and posted on my sidebar as well. the blog chosen will be welcome to post this little banner (below) to let their readers know they've been picked.





so the first one i'd like to introduce the jotter blog, and as their tag explains what they are all about, "write here, write now" (always loved that jesus jones song), there is no other explanation needed.

so check back here every thursday for a new cool blog of the week!

belle vivir

through my comments section i found a new blog out of ny, called belle vivir. lots of nice finds like these vases and from baked bean out of the uk. and artists like ana vicente out of portugal.

little paper planes + rachel salomon

kelly from little paper planes who just started up her own blog recently posted about rachel salomon's paintings, which i have to agree are just beautiful. lovely colors and images.

(via little paper planes blog)
rachel salomon

new blogs

there have been several new blogs coming out as of late, and i've been meaning to link them up and make a mention of them, and so here's a list of some notable ones i've caught up with lately.

sew green - all about eco-related crafting by 14 seasoned bloggers
bookhou at home - bookhou design blogs
how about orange - fun d.i.y. ideas and design
love it alot - shopping blog
design muse - inspiration for graphic designers and other creative types.
book by it's cover - all about books and their covers
gold school - who just tagged me on a meme i think i can actually handle: to list 7 songs i'm listening to right now:

1. so nice (summer samba), bebel gilberto
2. stop breath'n, pavement
3. the story, brandi carlile
4. shelter two, the evens
5. trail of time, the knitters
6. lost in the supermarket, the clash
7. falling awake, gary jules

i'm going to tag the above new blogs, if you wish (no pressure).

(above picture taken on granville island, near eciad)

congratulations & thank you h&g!

congratulations to design*sponge and her contribution to house and garden's launch of a new site yesterday. grace will be running and blogging a new section on the h&g website, called, trends + shopping and already i can see it's going to be another one of those daily haunts full of all the great finds she so amazingly seeks out in addition to her own site.

(and a huge thank you, to h&g and grace for including me on house & garden's sites we love section (under blogs)! that was so unexpected and such a thrill to be amongst such great company! how cool!)

blueprint launches blueline blog

finally after a little hiatus while they found a new editor, a new issue of blueprint magazine is finally out and with it a new blog called, bluelines. especially liked the font in that banner design and on a hunt for it's name. their article on change of art had me thinking of a new plan for all my zillions of pictures.

(via apartment therapy)