[today leilani labong will be posting two special guest posts on caitlin williams and james freeman. stay tuned for their home tour next!]

first comes love, then comes cake. for a food-centric town like san francisco, last october’s low-key city hall nuptials between confectionarian caitlin williams (a former co-owner of the famed miette patisserie) and james freeman (CEO of the cult coffee brand, blue bottle) seemed more serendipitous than most unions. caitlin, who retired from miette on the day of her wedding, is now creating art-inspired sweets for the blue bottle coffee bar at sfmoma’s new rooftop sculpture garden. (dare we say the cakes are upstaging the garden’s actual works of art? just a humble observation made by a sweet tooth…) enjoy every bite. i did. [image above: vanessa gates]—leilani labong

[images above, photo credit: charles villyard]

for her picture-perfect wayne thiebaud cakes, caitlin gained insight into the american artist’s mind by spending a day with his original paintings in sfmoma’s archive—a dream scenario for the art enthusiast. Seen here: a chocolate layer cake with new orleans-style coffee ganache and vanilla buttercream, as well as a white cake layered with lemon curd and iced in a luscious raspberry buttercream. which would you choose?

CLICK HERE for the rest of the post (including more delicious images!) after the jump!

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whew! it has been a long week so i’m heading out a tiny bit early to work on a side project for d*s (news on that soon!). so i thought it would be nice to start and end the day with beautiful paper projects. these images are from the upcoming exhibition, slash: paper under the knife, at the museum of arts and design. starting in october, the MAD will feature the work of about 50 contemporary artists from 16 countries, including sculpture and large-scale installations. and the best part? during the first week of the exhibition, visitors will also be able to watch several of the artists working on-site to install their piece. so cool- click here for more information. until monday, i hope you all have a wonderful weekend! below is a summary of this week’s highlights…[images by artist andreas kocks]

• living in: mamma mia!
• under $100: bedside decor roundup
• biz ladies 09: writing a book (part 2), microenterprise development organizations
• new city guide: beijing, china
• we like it wild: garden roses
• small measures with ashley: homemade, dollar-saving all purpose home spray
• new sneak peeks: lynda gardner, mara zepeda, isabel asha penzlien, jeana sohn, enjoy cupcakes, kirsten fribert
• new diy projects: postcard banner, recycled wine bottle torch, block-printed duvet, paint can projects
• new before & afters: victorian sf bathroom, renee’s door turned table, suitcase + ottoman + pinboard how-to, bamboo screen headboard + garden bench + lamp
• new recipes: in the kitchen with karin eriksson’s raspberry meringue ice cream cake and jeana’s strawberry cream creampuffs
• new d*s guest blogger: posts from artist jeana sohn
• misc.: hamster wheel light decals, modified eames chairs, painted rattan ‘tini tables, book covers by alice stevenson, picnic inspired tray tables, caitlin keegan mountain print, artwork from deanne cheuk, valerie hammond interview, amazing paper art book

not too long ago, i was visiting the museum of modern art with my dad while he was in town on a business trip. as we wondered around checking out current exhibitions we stumbled upon a paper exhibition, and i was immediately tempted to check it out. a few minutes later, i found myself increasingly disappointed at the curation of the show, and found myself longing for some of the incredible paper art i’ve seen online over the years. perhaps it was a generational thing, or just a longing for something a little edgier, but when i first checked out the book paper: tear, fold, rip, crease, cut from black dog publishing, i said “THIS is what that show should have been like”.

paper: tear, fold, rip, crease, cut features incredible paper art from the fields of art, fashion and design. there’s a huge range of work shown, using techniques like origami, paper cutting, modular folding, ripping, and all sorts of methods in between. there are 50 fantastic artists represented in the book, as well as information on the history of paper, from it’s beginning as a material to its roll in contemporary art and design.

in the case of this post, i think the images can say more than i ever could, do i’ll let them do the talking (be sure to check out the full set of 10 images after the jump). in the meantime, you can check out the book right here and pick up a copy on amazon right here. [thanks, jessica!]

CLICK HERE to check out 5 more images from the book, after the jump!

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good morning! it’s a tgif kind of day for me so i’m happy to kick off the end of this week with a wonderful interview on the d*s guest blog. guest blogger and artist jeana sohn is interviewing artist valerie hammond and sharing some gorgeous examples of her work. valerie is a phenomenal artist so it is a must, must read. click here to read the interview on the guest blog!

it’s so secret that i’m a huge, huge deanne cheuk fan. she was one of my first choices for the d*s desktop wallpaper series (click here to download deanne’s free, original designs!) and is always my go-to girl when i’m thinking of working on a new project. she’s just the coolest.

so when i heard from alexandra duron at the california state university fullerton main art gallery about a new exhibition featuring deanne’s work- i was immediately excited. deanne is part of a new show called “redefining the line: art nouveau & the female figure” that will feature10 talented artists presenting vibrant graphic design, illustration and installation work. deanne will be sharing original drawings that were creating for her book “mushroom girls virus” and have never been exhibited before. i just love the way deanne works with soft, gradually fading color. you can find out more right here, but if you’re in the area be sure to stop by the show’s opening on august 29th from 5-8pm. the show will run through october 2nd. thanks to alexandra duron and sarah strozza (the show’s curators) for the tip!

*stay tuned for a new “we like it wild” garden post at 2pm today!

good morning! i wanted to kick things off this morning with some eye candy from designer lina huring and artist caitlin keegan. first up, caitlin keegan’s beautiful new “mountain poster” ($25 right here). i love the way a sweet knitting image turns into a graceful mountain with a subtle ombre fade. so pretty.

next up- this sweet little indoor/outdoor table from designer lina huring. lina’s “vesuvio” table is made of steel and laminated fabric and would look so sweet on a screened in porch with bright white accents. or any place you need a tiny pop of red. click here for more info and to contact lina to shop.

*also, click here to check out jeana’s pictures and descriptions of her “perfect day” on the d*s guest blog…

i’m a huge fan of alice stevenson so i was thrilled to hear about some recent illustration projects she just finished- namely a set of beautiful book covers. alice always has such a fun, playful sense of line in her work, and i love the way her use of color is evolving to include darker and more intense colors. click here to check out her blog (which shows her most recent work) and here to check out her website.