Saturday, February 27, 2010

Love


So, we are coming to the end of February. Did you know that February is "Creative Romance Month", "National Mend a Broken Heart Month", and "Relationship Wellness Month"? -that is all in addition to being the home of Valentine's Day of course. I decided the last post for the month should be about love (seems only fitting given February's credentials).
I am not a poetry person and I can say this even with an English degree under my belt. I do have two very favorite love poems though and, yes, they could be considered trite, but they get me every time..... and isn't that the point really?

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

e.e. cummings

*********************************
somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look will easily unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

e.e. cummings

Friday, February 26, 2010

Toys for the Taking


Here's a little something cheerful to send you on your way to the weekend: The Toy Society.

Have you heard about them?

The Toy Society was started by a small group of Australian crafters who began leaving handmade toys in public places to be adopted and loved by whomever found them. But the concept caught on, crafters from all over the world joined the project, and the Society just recorded toy drop #959.

Here's what you might find if you come across a Toy Society toy:


If you do find a toy, it is then your duty to visit the Toy Society blog and record your find. To me, the finders' responses are the best part. It brings me such satisfaction to read about a find and to know that a quirky, hand-stitched toy appeared in someone's life and made it happier.

Some of my favorite Toy Society drops:







For many more images of Toy Society drops, visit their Flickr group.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Thursday, a bridal shower tea party, and Etsy


I love the idea of a bridal shower tea party. It could be classic and beautiful, fun and girly, all at once. 
I would start with an invitation like this-


The next order of business would be the table. It would be set with an elegant tea service, fine china and linens, and charming place cards. 



I think these flowered sugar cubes and sparkling champagne glasses will suit the occasion perfectly....



There has to be sweets- and this trio of cake stands will make an ideal display for cupcakes decked out in the best wrappers. 


I imagine these delicate paper lanterns, with their folded butterflies, hanging at different lengths over the table.


This branch sculpture will be an amazing addition and could serve as a wishing tree- plus it would be a wonderful gift for the guest of honor. 
 

Guests would be asked to jot down their well wishes and advice for the bride-to-be on these bird tags that can hang from the tree and be gathered after the celebration.  


Favors for the guests? Tea, of course! These monogrammed tins make the prettiest presentation....

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Missed Connections

Recently, I discovered Sophie Blackall's Missed Connections, an absolutely magical, ingenious blog; it's a little bit PostSecret, a little bit Found, but mostly something altogether fresh and new.

Blackall, an Australian-born artist and illustrator, is most well known, at least in my house, for her illustrations of the chapter book series Ivy and Bean, but she has illustrated and won awards for several other children books. She's also a painter and a sculpter and an ex-household hints columnist. Among other things.

But I am most taken with Blackall's work on the Missed Connections project, a blog where she breathes life into those melancholy and hopeful ads that people place on Craigslist, reaching out to someone they crossed paths with but lost in the world. Her illustrations of these fleeting moments of connection are funny and quirky and beautiful and just so full of humanity, it puts a lump in my throat.

Prints of many of Blackall's Missed Connections illustrations are available in her Etsy shop.















Monday, February 22, 2010

Stampington & Company



I was introduced to the magazines published by Stampington & Company this weekend and let me tell you- they are charming. I saw Somerset Life and Artful Blogging and then went searching for more online. The photography is just beautiful and they run the gamut in terms of subject matter. I felt the same way I do when I receive the Anthropologie catalog- the images are worthy of matting and framing for your walls. Many of the magazines not only have photographs of stunning finished projects, they provide the instructions for how to duplicate them. The next time you are in the bookstore check them out...










Friday, February 19, 2010

eeboo



I noticed that many of my favorite things for kids come from one place- eeboo. We have their wall cards and tot tower in our playroom, their growth chart in my three year old's bedroom, and I have one of their beautifully illustrated memory games tucked away for the next birthday. I am so drawn to the illustrations on all of their products and so are my children. The shared admiration is an accomplishment for eeboo, because often a company's products will be irresistible to kids... or parents- rarely both.
In my quest to learn more about eeboo, I came across a post at thehaystackneedle blog and it was a treasure trove of information. There are photographs of the company's studio (even more incredible than I imagined) and some history too. Now I'm even more in love with their stuff!
These are just a few of the fantastic things to come out of their studio.....







Thursday, February 18, 2010

Thursday, a Hiving Birthday, and Etsy


Earlier this week, Lorelei, our fellow Hiving Out blogger, celebrated the big 35. And though I have yet to mail her birthday package (no worries though - she's used to my presents getting "lost in the mail" and taking a week longer to arrive), I think I did okay - thanks to the land o' plenty that is Etsy. After 20 odd years of exchanging gifts, I am mighty thankful for all the lovely things that I imagine Lorelei being happy to receive...

LL loves beautiful watercolor art and I bet she'd be thrilled to own any of these:



Or something to add to her children's book collection (to keep high up and away from her little ones) :




Or maybe some delicate pieces to help fill that
cabinet I know she really, really wants (if her husband is reading this then I hope you are picking up on the fact that it's YOU that I'm nudging):




And because LL's favorite color is green and every gir
l loves pretty things to wear:

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