These polaroid collages by Colombian photographer Juan Felipe Rubio are STUNNING! I wish I could fly him up to Oakland and have him shoot my engagement photos (not that I’m engaged but I plan to be some day). Until then, I’ll just enjoy these beautiful love stories told through Polaroids.

I was recently introduced by the incredible Sara Jensen of Lost Bird Found to the most stunning blog belonging to Riley, an incredibly talented textile designer, ceramicist, and photographer. Roe is full of Riley’s gorgeous photography which has the most tactile quality to it. I just want to reach out and grab her work. I especially LOVE her gorgeous photography from Peru. It really takes me back to my own time in South America, walking around the Andes trying to snap shots of the gorgeous Alpaca. Oh, to be there again…

Check out this MUST see blog here.

A sweet and lovely gift created by my dear friend and graphic designer Hijiri K Shepherd. This is definitely going up in my office as a constant reminder. :)

How much do I LOVE that she used Friend in a Nut to stage this shot?! Awesome! Thank you Hijiri!!

Congratulations to Emi Elias (owner of the adorable Buenos Aires based shop CouCou, artist, maker of beautiful objects and all around wonderful person) on her recent wedding. I hope you enjoy her gorgeous photos of this sweet and tender day. What a beautiful bride!

Estimado Emi:

Felicitaciones por tu matrimonio. Deseo que Santiago y tu disfruten de toda la felicidad del mundo.

Es tan hermoso cuando dos personas amables y buenas se encuentran una a la otra. Mi ferviente deseo es que ustedes tengan una vida larga y feliz juntos y que siempre sea con paz y regocijo.

Un fuerte abrazo para los dos.
Christine

In all of my busyness lately, I almost forgot this month is Hispanic Heritage month! (shame on me) Better late than never I suppose. In honor of this month, I thought I would share a few of my favorite fellow Hispanics (in no particular order):

Carolina Herrera

Hailing from Caracas, Venezuela, classy and chic Carolina Herrera is one of my all time favorite fashion designers. Starting her fashion empire in 1980, Carolina has been named one of the best dressed women in the world (what a title to hold!) and was responsible for many of Jacqueline Kennedy’s most fabulous looks.

Cesar Milan

Who loves dogs more than I do? The answer just might be Cesar Millan. Born in Culiacán, Mexico, Cesar is best known around the world as “the dog whisperer.” I can’t get enough of his television show. Miles and I once watched eight episodes in a row on board a Jet Blue flight. One day I hope to get my parents’ three evil chihuahuas on an episode. (¡Ayúdeme Cesar!) Until then, they’re getting his book for Christmas. Favorite Cesar Millan t.v. moment? His appearance on South Park!

Guillermo del Toro

Director, producer, screenwriter, designer and genius makeup artist, Guillermo del Toro’s brilliance is never ending. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Guillermo is best known for his incredible film Pan’s Labyrinth. Personally, my favorite film of his is El Orfanato (he was the producer of this project.) If you haven’t seen it, SEE IT! It’s both terrifying and touching. I can’t wait to watch it again come Halloween. On second thought, maybe I won’t. The basement of my apartment is, as a friend of mine would say, “El Orfanato-like” and it’s taken me nearly a year not to think about it every time I’m down there. Scary!

Dora The Explorer

I was so excited when I first learned about little cartoon Latina Dora Maquez, aka, Dora the Explorer. It would have been nice to have Hispanic cartoon characters to look up to as a little girl but, as I said at the beginning of this post, better late than never. What I love about Dora, aside from her adventurous spirit, her love of travel and her adorable friend Boots the monkey, is that she takes time out of her busy travels to teach her tiny viewers words in Spanish. What I’m jealous of? The fact that every time she and boots successfully accomplish a task, she has her own personal fiesta trio that appears to congratulate her with their music medleys. Where’s my personal fiesta trio?!

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Maybe things have been rough in this country for the past eight years or so but, on the flip side, what a great time we are living in when a Hispanic female is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court! Born and raised in The Bronx of Puerto Rican descent, Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic (male or female) to ever serve on the Supreme Court. What I admire about Sonia is her resilience. From my own personal experience, it’s not easy being a Hispanic woman in this country. To see what Sonia Sotomayor has managed to accomplish thus far in her life fills me with inspiration and hope. No matter your political affiliation, you have to admire the glass ceiling Sonya has managed to shatter.

I don’t know how everyone else is feeling today, but I’m having a really difficult time getting back to work. It’s probably because I had such a great holiday weekend filled with bbq’s, friends, magazine flipping in the yard, and movies. Sorry LAMA, but it was good to get away for a few days. Now that I’m back, I couldn’t help but share my excitement over the movie my boyfriend took me to see yesterday, 500 Days of Summer.

It was a great flick but what I really went crazy for in this film was actress Zoey Deschanel’s wardrobe. Hello dream closet! How jealous am I? I absolutely adored how gorgeously girly everything she wore was. I couldn’t wait for each new scene just to see what she would be wearing. Head to toe, I thought it was perfection and just my style. (or just my aspiring style)

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt also had a great look going but what really caught my eye was his amazing Los Angeles apartment in the film. I loved the enormous chalk board wall behind his bed that he used to draw a headboard on along with the rest of his architectural doodles. I wish I could find an image of it! You’ll check have to check out this movie to see what I’m talking about.

Thanks 500 Days of Summer for all the great inspiration! I hope everyone had an awesome Labor Day weekend!

Over the weekend, I came across the work of Brazilian folk artist Jose Francisco Borges. Born in Northeastern Brazil, Borges has become one of Brazil’s most famous folk artists working in the wood cut medium.

Beginning his career as a folk artist and poet, Borges published his own work in a series of pamphlets called folhetos. Shortly thereafter he began to operate his own printing press to produce wood cut prints for their covers. After being recognized for the beautiful wood cut artwork he was producing, Borges was encouraged to produce larger format prints in color as well as the traditional black and white.

Jose Francisco Borges has since become internationally famous for his incredible folk art. Having his work exhibited in The Louvre and the Smithsonian and the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, Borges has successfully shown the world the beauty of Brazilian wood cut art.

To read more about Jose Francisco Borges and to view more of his work, click here. Also, to find out more information on wood cut art, click here.

Yesterday, the always informative Holly Becker of Decor8, posted about Papaya’s Oregon based office space. I was completely blown away by the photos of this truly inspirational office. Hello color! Amazing. It’s all of my girly dreams come true. I mean, I wouldn’t mind living there let alone working in a space like that! Talk about inspiration. I hope LAMA has a space like this someday. Here’s to bigger dreams. Thanks Holly for sharing.

orders department

Who’s warehouse looks like this! Incredible.

To check out the full post with a lot more great photos, click here.

Visiting a few rug manufacturers on my last trip to Ecuador, I was amazed at the process of taking alpaca wool, dying it, cleaning it and creating beautiful rugs. This morning I received an email from the studio of designer Jessie D’Angelo showing the stages her rugs go through until they become heaven under your feet.

Hand tufted in alpaca or sheep wool, this process takes 6-10 weeks to complete. I’m actually amazed it doesn’t take longer! Absolutely gorgeous Jessie! Thanks for sharing your process with us. To check out one of our favorite handmade Jessie D’Angelo pillows, click here.

A little while back I came across the images below on OhJoy! and was immediately head over heels for who ever had created these prints. They were just so up my alley!

By chance, I was perusing through Twitter last night when I came across a Twitter Icon that caught my eye. It simply said, “Hello There.” So I thought, “Um, hi!” *click* And to my surprise, I finally figured out who made these awesome prints! It’s the awesome work of San Francisco based graphic designer and illustrator Richard Perez. Upon some further research, it seems that his work has made the blog rounds quite a bit but I couldn’t help but show some of my favorite prints from a fellow Bay Area Latino. (Originally from LA, just like me! And I agree with Richard regarding his thoughts on the Bay Area Mexican Food. No offense of course.) Check out some of my favorite Richard Perez projects:

There’s way too much great stuff to show here. To check out more of Richard’s work, click here to check out his flickr page. I also recommed reading about his very cool project entitled “Aqui.” Great work Richard! This little LAMA is a big BIG fan!