Every once in a while, I like to share a few amazing finds.  There are beautiful people, everywhere in this world, doing amazing, complicated things, and I’m always blown away by the diversity, the creativity.  When I come upon their brilliance, I want to stop what I’m doing and go join them in their adventure.

Here are a few for this Thursday morning.

Julie at famille summerbelle has created a new paper-cut map of the world.  Exquisite.  Extraordinary.  Take a look below at the almost 20-hour process, condensed into a 2-minute video.  Hang on until the end, and you’ll get breathtaking close-ups.

How about those P.S. 22 kids singing?  Here’s a sample–Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”

Look at Cynthia Vardhan’s ceramics, so delicate and intricate.  Wouldn’t you love to hold one of those pieces in your hand?

And Sarah Magid.  Do you love to notice beautiful presentation before you devour deliciousness?  Have I got a gift for you!  Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Espresso Whipped Buttercream and Hand-Sculpted Sugar Flowers.  Reminds me of Crumbs in New York.  It’s easy-peasy, since you can follow Sarah’s every move in her handy-dandy, how-to, 10-minute video.

If you’re looking for whimsical inspiration for small friends, look no further than Small Magazine’s Summer Issue.  They even slipped in a recipe for Gateaux Cake, offered up by Jules Blaine Davis of Renaissance Mamas. Favorite bedtime reads, offered up by Irene Hoofs of Bloesem Kids.  A summertime playlist by DJ Lucy Wrubel.  A pattern and directions for dress-up wings, created by Melissa Wastney of Tiny Happy.

I met Jo Wood at the Creative Capital Workshop I attended in May.  Check out her amazing landscapes done in tiny beads.  Incredible, aren’t they?

If you have any goodies to share, please do.  Seeing what others are doing (or participating in) always makes me feel like I’ve visited a quirky museum in my pajamas.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

[Post image: Detail of Mark Rothko’s No. 5/No. 22 (MoMA, taken on May 22, 2010)…Rothko “did not want his pictures appreciated solely for their spectral qualities.  He said, ‘If you are only moved by color relationships, then you miss the point.  I’m interested in expressing the big emotions–tragedy, ecstasy, doom.”]