HOW Conference - day 1

I just got home an hour ago from the opening night of the HOW Conference. Luckily it's in Boston this year and is within walking distance!

I met up with my friend, Amy, for the opening keynote, presented by trendhunter.com founder, Jeremy Gutsche. Very slick presentation, with a clear message to, well, get more creative basically. Had some good insights into how to create "culture obsession"... cool stuff, very inspiring.

We then moved on to the resource center opening with drink tickets in hand... only to emerge 2 hours later weighed down with enough paper samples, swatch books, t-shirts, promo gear, bags - you name it - to feed a designer-army! I'm looking forward to heading back tomorrow morning when the frenzy is over to actually talk with the vendors and hear everything there is about the latest trends in green papers, printing, etc.. There is just so much it's overwhelming.

Anyways, off to bed. Making sure to wear f-l-a-t-s tomorrow!

spring romance...

I just read poppytalk's "loving" for today and couldn't agree more. Colleen Baran's stuff is too sweet.

I went to her site and dicovered one of her other lines, "Like Wearing a Love Letter"... Such a romantic idea.

"In the ‘Like Wearing a Love Letter’ series I wanted to make jewellery that was like a love letter. Like wearing a daydream, a memory or a thought of love. Pieces are formed of collections of small phrases and words that layer to build narratives. Little stories of love that are: sincere, ironic, deep, passionate, conflicted, uncertain, comfortable, simple, adoring, platonic and complicated.

Made of milky polycarbonate and clear Mylar they are cloudy dreamy forms like thoughts from the air; possibly a permanent record of a fleeting thought, a declaration of a permanent bond or an artefact of a love no more. Work in this series is constructed from hand written and carved words on plastic petals and strips which are sewn and crocheted into layered, cloudy and fluttery forms."

Man, so many creative Canadians! Once again, this adds to my belief that Canada is the place to be :)

presents? anyone?

I'm almost 100% moved into the South End apartment. Almost... Still have furniture to post on craigslist and bags of clothes to donate but I'm almost there..

That being said, who wants to buy us some curtains for our sunny bedroom?? I founds these on etsy and they match our green/brown decor to the tee... I've been on a shopping spree lately and am not allowed to order (or even look at) a thing but... if it comes from someone else, that's ok, right? I'll pay you with Fresh products :)

happy mother's day...

I just want to take minute to thank my mom (and all the mom's in my life)... Love you!!

chirping through friday...

I admit, I've been on a bit of a shopping spree lately. But between all the summer dresses and mj bags (LOVE that discount), I've actually been spending the most on "home office" stuff! Who knew, right?

This being my first year filing as a freelance designer, I left the horrid h+r block wracking my brain, trying to be sure I didn't leave anything out in hopes of getting more money back from mr. bush.

Yes, I had learned all too quickly the beauty of writing things off as deductions. So I've since had a blast finally purchasing all the yummy design books in my amazon wishlist, new RAM for my mac mini, and the best yet - some dee-lish cuteness from See Jane Work.

I can't wait to get home and set up my sunny workspace (which will hopefully look like below when I'm done)!

Ok, ok maybe not as overwhelmingly-green. But you get the idea.

In the meantime, I couldn't help but open up this guy and test out his paper clip holding mastery while still at work... he even chirps when you shake him :)

But I'm done for now. I swear. Done. NO MORE SHOPPING.

xoxo

i'm not a violent person...

Miss Crowland / Una Pistola

but this print is calling to me.
it's been a rough day back at work... the tissues here aren't as soft.

lola goldstein

Are these not the cutest ceramics ever? I'm not quite sure where you can purchase but my god, I want to snuggle up with some of them!

You can visit Lola Goldstein's site here.. enjoy :)

free tikoli tea towels!

I just read on poppytalk that fawn & forest is holding a "mother's day promotion" where you receive a free Tikoli tea towel with purchases over $75 when "tikoli" is entered in the comments field at checkout (Offer ends May 20th). Tikoli tea towels are influenced by Japanese prints and mid-century modern design, and are printed on 100% cotton fabric.

How adorable would these be sewn together as a runner? Or maybe I'll cover my ugly bulletin board with one, à la miss keyse....

not so filthy pleasure...

What I thought were seasonal allergies due to the finally nice weather, turned out to be a full-blown, miserable cold... in May. Go figure. That being said, I stayed home today to sleep it off and speed my way through 1.5 tissue boxes.

Luckily, I had my friend around to keep me company. No, I didn't get the pup I've been dreaming of – my favorite pal lately is none other than HGTV (in HD mind you).

Yup, Dave and I recently discovered this mindless yet easy to watch yet still interesting channel while hungover a few weekends back, unable to escape our slippery couch. It truly is a gem. I'm serious. Once you get past all the annoyingly chipper hosts (they are all eerily cheery), you'll find yourself completely sucked in as the hours just fly by.

Each show is a perfect 30 minutes, letting you care just enough about each diy project / house-hunt / home appraisal / room renovation and not lose interest. Maybe it's all the "nesting" we've been doing with the runs to ikea and home depot every weekend that keeps us watching? or maybe it's the itch to put our money towards a mortgage instead of our landlord, Gwok's, pockets...? or maybe we're just getting older...? sigh.

Anyways, it's the best company on a sick day or a hungover-filled weekend you could ask for. They even have these adorable little "breathing spaces" during commercial breaks of just peaceful music with pictures of the ocean or grass to zone out to. To top that off, they always have little "tips" between commercials on staying organized, cleaning your gutter, etc... I know, I sound just as cheesy as the hosts now but whatever. Just watch it and you'll be hooked too. Especially "House Hunters". Gah, I love it!

Oh I and was able to escape my germ-filled apartment to go tanning today so I don't look like a ghost at our friend's wedding next weekend and I'm oficially burnt. I dare you to just try and blow your nose ONCE with a bright red face - not fun!

xoxo

a slight obsession...

A few Thanksgivings ago, while sitting around the table, I took notice of my aunt Harriet's cloth napkins and, well, fell in love...

One side was a deep red with a white dotted scallop print and the other, a dark navy with a geometric, star-like pattern. Figuring they were from one of her many trips to Japan, I was thrilled to hear they were a gift from my cousin who picked them up at her mom/my aunt Elizabeth's spa. (hope I didn't lose you there). 
So this past January, while on an uber-relaxing-spa-bday-vaca in Santa Fe, I made sure to pick up a set for myself at Ten Thousand Wave's boutique before I left.

Who knew that this one little pattern could have lead to an all out obsession with scallop print??

they no longer had red/navy so I got purple/green.. (which I'm more than ok with)

close up of the napkins

I've scoured the internet, looking for a similar dotted scallop/wave pattern with no luck.
Dotted or not, I love all these:

marine swallows fabric

red wave necklace by tatsuko

scallop earrings by avery winslow

scallop silkscreens..

adorable peacock notecards by anemone letterpress

cute combo

an old Fresh soap box on my shelf :)

For the longest time, I had plans for the re-design of my site to heavily incorporate this dotted scallop pattern but alas, when on the screen, it makes me a little dizzy. I'm still trying to figure out a way around it, maybe fuzzing/blurring it out a little? Then again, the crispness and simplicity is what ultimately drew me in...