hello, mr. boddington

I recently discovered Mr. Boddington, an online shop filled with curious & charming paper goods, and it has completely won me over. If I wasn't already convinced by the creative designs, pretty lined envelopes, or letterpress goods, then the styling of the site & its witty charm ("the elusive Mr. Boddington...was born with deepest purple (aubergine) ink on his thumbs, quite literally") would have done it for me.
wedding suites (mr. boddington)

tags, escort cards, favors (mr. boddington)

/photos via Mr. Boddington found via Design is Mine/

rifle paper co.

I'm quite excited over the new website launch for Rifle Paper Co.,where ready-made paper goods are now available! The holiday section with cute goods for Christmas is my favorite, and I love the photo styling. Anna Bond is the owner & shares more inspiration here on her blog.

mini cabin holiday

I'm taking off early to spend the weekend with all of my sisters in-law at a cozy rented cabin. There will be no tv/internet/radio there, but there will be our own personal hot tub, kitchen for cooking up meals, & plenty of space to work on projects (mine will be Christmas cards...or just reading). So, here are a few cabin/holiday inspired items I put together...

Row 1: winter blanket (um, expensive), tiniest tree set ($20)
Row 2: carrie scarf ($195), alphabet stamp ($6)
Row 3: fair isle gloves (£29), sheepskin slippers (£49)
Row 4: sparkle socks ($30), timex military watch ($150)

It's hard to believe that after next weekend, Christmas season will be in full swing & winter on its way. Time to start getting more serious about Christmas gifts, especially the ones I plan to order online. These give me a good start - I needed an excuse to buy those sparkle socks.

gryphon - new york

I'm pretty smitten with the looks from Gryphon spring 2010 (just discovered through wool and spool). The line is sophisticated and the pieces seem both feminine & comfy at the same time. And I just love that tiny purse with the over-the-shoulder strap.
spring 2010 (gryphon - new york)

/images via fashionista found via wool and spool/

going scandi

This year, for the holidays, I'm channeling my inner Scandinavian style. Using lots of natural colors, rustic-yet-cozy textures (like burlap, twine, wool), and mixing it all with the traditional green & red.


Row 1: Wreath ($9.99), Red Lantern ($6.99)
Row 2: Notebooks via Olivet ($9), Twine ($2.99)
Row 3: Cable-knit slipper-socks ($85), Scandi Tins ($18)
Row 4: Cable-knit beanie via Camp Comforts ($24.50), Pitcher/vase ($19.99)

afternoon break

I love quiet afternoon breaks.
my latest snack obsession: oranges + choc dipped malt balls

the december catalog for J.Crew (to read with my snack)

(loving the styling)

remnants from the show (working on organizing the studio)

Sometimes I wish these breaks could extend longer...I dream of free Saturday afternoons all too often these days.

etsy love

Some of my recent favorites on Etsy...
vintage scarf blouse (Miss Modish)

noel accent pillow (Nesta Home)

vintage pot (The Vintage Bear Lair)

kitten print: Watching the Wheels (Little Gray Pixel)

print: Hands with Flowers (Clare Barboza)

plaid brooch (Stacey Winters)

/photos linked to sources/

*update: the polka dot blouse just sold out already! I really wanted it, too.

martha, martha

A couple Martha-related things:
1) there's a holiday craft sale going on Saturday, December 5th in NYC, hosted by Martha Stewart Living, and if I were nearby I'd be there. I saw the details posted here.

2) I was recently given the Martha Stewart Craft Encyclopedia, and upon going through the entire book, I'm ready to do just about every craft under the sun. Really, if you have any interest in crafts, this should be on your bookshelf (and it won't be collecting dust).



(photos linked to source)

show recap

My booth for Hooray honestly didn't sell much at the show Saturday, but we had fun & I got a thrill out of seeing the shop come to "life" in the form of a table display. Being that it was a local women's expo (not a craft show), it definitely proved to be a tough market for my type of products - my form of crafting was certainly lost on many of the show-goers amongst a sea of Mary Kay/Pampered Chef type displays (I was actually placed next to a booth selling specialty bras, complete with a changing tent! hilarious). But with no fee to enter, I couldn't resist testing it out. Below are a few quick photos I snapped.
my friend Allie helping out Friday night

last minute decorations, ready to be packed

at the show, part of my display

at the show, part of my display getting setup

show & speckles

Tonight we're getting ready for the show - it's tomorrow & I haven't gotten much time to prepare for it. I'm not too worried, because it's a relatively small show & I'm honestly not sure if it's the best market for handmade items - there will be a lot of booths like Creative Memories, Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, that kind of thing there. But since we already participate in the show, I couldn't resist making a booth for Hooray.

Meanwhile, I added these speckled cards, tags & gift wrap rolls to my line. They'll be available online soon. When I make them, it reminds me of decorating a gingerbread house! So fun. Have a happy little weekend, all.

holiday house

Ikea has a lot of interactive features on their website, and today I was looking up a product & found this holiday house. You can take a virtual tour of the house and see all of the festivities going on inside..."holiday chaos" as they described it. It provided me with a lovely procrastination activity this afternoon.
holiday choas (from Ikea)


/images via Ikea/

*On a more important note:
Yesterday my friend Tiffany (whose husband is a Navy fighter pilot - yeah, for real) wrote this piece related to Veteran's day, which I thought was very poignant, as it gave great perspective about the realities of a "job" like her husband's. It certainly made me want to hug my own veteran a little tighter, and be truly, truly thankful for the sacrifices that all service men & women make - large or small.

clothbound penguin classics

These clothbound versions of literary classics are, in my opinion, divine. $20 each at Anthropologie - perfect Christmas gifts if you can part with them.

/found via pink street, photos via anthropologie/

berry light garland

This weekend I hope to start making the house more festive for the holidays. I was drawn to this garland that I saw on Olivet last week, and now plan to make it for our front porch.

martha's diy berry garland (found on olivet)

step 1: bundle bulbs with elastic bands to create clusters

step 2: secure strand of lights to garland

/photos: martha, found via olivet/

I've already found cute red bulbs, but I'm still on the hunt for the garland - might just end up making some with bits of pine & cedar I gather when we go to get our Christmas tree. If all goes well, soon I'll be posting a photo of our front porch looking seriously festive & cute.

getting creative

This weekend is our expo show here in town. We've had a booth before for our little event planning company, but this year we're also adding our own projects - mine being my shop, Hooray. It's a small show, & for entry you can pay a fee or provide items for all the goody bags given out. Since I make notepads for my shop, I figured I would make a smaller version of them. Simple, right? Long story short, the miniature size turned out awful (I'll share it another time).

At the last minute, it was either drop out or get really creative before the deadline. So, I grabbed a box of mini glassine bags (of which I have thousands), and any & all other little crafty supplies - sequins, tags, wood star chips, etc - and just started stuffing. I quickly printed out mini labels like "crafty bits" and "goody bag", folded the top of the bags, & sealed them with the label. A few hundred later and I was done. The result was so cute that I decided to make more to put in with all of my shop orders. I'd recommend making these if you have a shop or need something to add to gifts. Who wouldn't want to open a bag full of tiny treasures?

see more photos on my flickr.

kraft paper labels

I saw these kraft paper labels (from TapeSwell) in Real Simple a couple months ago, & just found the magazine page I had torn out as a reminder. Of course my magazine clipping shows the cutest photo of these in action, but this is the best I could find online - an image of the roll from the company's web shop. $20 for a roll of 120. Considering my fondness for kraft paper, I'm pretty much sold.


/images via TapeSwell/

wedding in paris

Feels like I've seen this Paris wedding before, but I rediscovered it yesterday on Elizabeth Messina's site (via this post), and it had me swooning all over again (& unsuccessfully trying to contain my jealousy). Countryside in Paris, tiny stone chapel, outdoor dining under a canopy, rustic chandeliers, & stealing away for kisses under an umbrella. Just a little romantic, don't you think?



/photos via Elizabeth Messina photography/

cupcake craving

I think cupcakes are a cute trend. But I'm never satisfied with just one. I'm a 2 cupcake minimum kind of person. I was longing for some last night & these looked yummy (& fun) to make.
german chocolate (martha stewart)

faux bois (martha stewart)

/photos via martha. go here and here for recipes./

Note the faux bois one above - is it just me or is Martha overly obsessed with all things faux bois these days?

living room

Yesterday I marked this photo from a recent Apartment Therapy home tour, because I totally love the bowl collection on the wall above the fireplace. I also started thinking that the placement of the tv/stand is a pretty clever arrangement if there's no other option.

We're looking to move our main tv from the loft to our front room, but it's hard to arrange with the layout of the room. Hoping to move it by Christmastime so we can spend time in there with the tree & stockings. I guess this could be a back up option, considering we never actually turn the fireplace on, because we're just too cheap.

/photo via Apartment Therapy/

styling...& boots

I'm drawing on inspiration from Randi Brookman Harris today. I love to browse her site & admire her creative styling. And those red rain boots only remind me for the millionth time that I still need (read: want) a pair.


/photos via Randi Brookman Harris. photo 1 by Matthew Hranek, photo 3&4 by Eric Piasecki/

kitty & katarina

Lately I've been really interested in the work from both Kitty Rogers Photography and Katarina K Photography. From Kitty Rogers' shop I'd pick her teeny tiny calendars (complete with an easel, so cute), and from Katarina's shop I'd close my eyes & point to any print to pick. I was introduced to Katarina through my shop and she really is the sweetest person to work with. I hope to see some of her work on our walls soon.
2010 Teeny Tiny Calendar w/Easel (Kitty Rogers)


Little Red Coat (Katarina K)

September II. (Katarina K)

Winter Glow (Katarina K)

/photos linked to sources above/