yum...

I'll say straight up, I don't like to cook...most likely because I am a very picky eater. However! I do love, love, love to bake (white cake w/ buttercream icing is my specialty). On The Traveler's Lunchbox I found a recipe for homemade vanilla extract. Yum! I thought I might try this, sounds fun right? ...Maybe this could turn into some Christmas presents...

Wreaths

Christmas decorations are something that can be done very well or very bad, so when I found the above wreaths by The Constant Gatherer I was pleasantly suprised! She uses layers of yarn and string to create these unique decorations. I love how the yarn colors collide creating a rather soft overall feel.

A few of my favorite things!

Presents, presents, presents...

A daily routine of mine is to not only scan my list of design blogs, but also my list of design shops. With the holiday season quickly coming upon us, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite sites. Of course I have listed several in the column to the right but my top favs include:

Etsy - "Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade."

Modishoppe - "To further encourage the idea of "shopping indie," Jena hoped to create an inviting little e-boutique where people could do just that. Modishoppe was born, and now houses a collection of handmade goods made by some incredible independent designers."

The Curiosity Shoppe - "We hope the Curiosity Shoppe will provide you not only with beautiful, hand-crafted items, but will inspire you to embark on a creative adventure of your own."

Three Potato Four - "We started the shop because of our love of collections. We're collectors, and to us, all products and belongings tell a story."

2modern - "2Modern features the most talented and innovative designers of modern furniture, contemporary lighting, personal accessories, art, & eco-friendly products for the home and office."

Twig - "Twig is an online boutique with amazing clothing for both women and children, unique toys and an eclectic mix of home accessories. "

Design Within Reach - "Design Within Reach is the source for fully licensed classics....What we mean by a "fully licensed classic" is that it's manufactured by the company holding the license to the original design. "

Bandaids!

Thanks to a skilled uncle, we got out letterpress welded back together over the holiday. (Yay!) Check it out...can you find the welded bandaid?

OH and our fancy red rollers came in from the UK...now if we only had some type. . .

'Tis the season

That time of year again! We went for a white (mini) tree this year due to the cramped space...but it turned out quite nice :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving holiday and were able to get your grub on. I have the extended weekend off to relax in my hometown which means lots of homemade food :-) Also, it gives me plenty of time to brainstorm holiday posts and Christmas present ideas. Happy Holidays!
yummy watermelon ...mmm :-)

All things Orla

As you may know, I have a thing for Orla Kiely. So you shouldn’t be surprised about how excited I was when I found out she did a redesign of her website. It’s not like it looks that much different than before, its just a lost more user friendly! And wow, what a difference that can make…

Warm me up!

It's that time of year again ... pull out those mittens! If you are like me, your fingers become the coldest part of your body as soon as the seasons change. I try to always keep spare gloves on me for "in case of emergency" situations aka cold weather. Check out these knitted hand warmers from knithappens on etsy.

Lovely Design

I love the products coming out of Lovely Design, probably because I am so fascinated with things that are handmade.
This address file is great . . . I feel like I am always throwing things into a book or putting up a sticky note, but to find an attractive desk companion to house such important info makes perfect sense! Too bad it's sold out (maybe I can create something of my own..hmm..)

Urban Lily

Scrapbooking is not a hobby I have ever “taken up” but sometimes I can’t keep myself from “ohhh-ing and ahhh-ing” over the scrapbooking paper that I find. Urban Lily is a company based out of Australia that makes bright and funky scrapbooking paper that I couldn’t help but look through!

OH how I love design.

The internet is my playground when it comes to finding fresh designers and “This is Swigg” just happens to be one of them. I love what’s happening in this studio: the colors, creativity, and limitless solutions. It is very inspirational to see the range of services and possibilities.

C O L O R !

I just had to share this with you real quick . . . this is the winner for Apartment Therapy's fall color contest. Makes me jealous, if only we were allowed to paint our walls..

Just in time for the Holidays...

On A Little Hut blog, there is a great solution for homemade gift tags. Made of popsicle sticks and yarn, this project is inexpensive and clever, check it out!

Photography Class

I am sad to say that my "Intro to Black & White Photography, Darkroom" class is over. It was fun while it lasted...
I love my new hobby of developing film and printing photos. It is such a rewarding process! From loading film on reels in the dark to pushing around photo paper in chemicals, it can very therapeutic.
Above are a few of the images I created and printed with my 35mm.

Lighting, Lighting, Everywhere

I'm am always on the look out for new ways to spice up a room and while browsing the home decor section of Urban Outfitters I found these great lamp shades. The patterns were so bright and fresh, and when placed in a room, I just know they can bring a little more something, something. The great thing is that they are very inexpensive!
For those of you with a little more pocket change, Anthropologie not only makes great shades, they make beautiful bases as well. A little on the pricey side, but who doesn't like to dream?

Because we live in an apartment-style, single-story home, natural light can be hard to come by considering our windows fall on the front and back sides of the house. I love natural
light and so when I felt that our dungeon of a kitchen was little on the cave side, I decided to opt for a new solution besides curtains!

Enter, window film. While shopping on Rare Device I found window film, which allows light to pass through as well as privacy! Instead of dishing out $20-$50 plus shipping, waiting, etc, etc... I decided to take matters into my own hands and create my own. From Lowe's I purchased a role of frosted window film and went to town. It took a few tries for things to start running smoothly but eventually everything worked out and I am very pleased with the results!

Overdue

I apologize for the slack posting lately; family visits, creative projects, and new books have sort of taken the forefront over the past few days.

A few updates:
I finally got the rustic polaroid camera into my hands this weekend and good news: it still had three pictures left in it from who knows when! Below are few shots I took, isn't it neat how there is a red tint on the image? The flash cover has a red hue to it, probably from age.I decided to start working on a collage Sunday afternoon (I, for some reason, always get bursts of creative energy on Sunday afternoon). I scattered through a random assortment of STUFF and started piecing together a narrative, definitely a work in progress!
My black & white photography darkroom course is progressing smoothly. I have officially developed a role of film and printed my first photograph..very exciting! Results are below. I can't wait to get back into the dark and do some more printing!