Les Invasions Ephemeres

I've just found these wall decals from Les Invasions Ephemeres:

Doubtless, other bloggers have known about them for a while. Well, they're fresh delight for me. The website is an utter charmer, make sure your volume is up!

You can view/purchase items on-line at fridgedoor.com. Go look, go ga-ga (like me).

"We are each of us angels with one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another."

-- Luciano de Crescenzo

photo: cpaphilblog

polyvore pleasures

It has really been a very happy surprise to me to see where polyvore users have gone with the tools available on that site.

by CootieBug

Dancing in Flowers by lydia

photo moment: Laurie Healey

(Click on picture for a big burst of beautiful!)

A good friend of mine recently visited Martha's Vineyard with her family (and new camera!) in tow. She's been talking for a while about getting herself a camera, about how long she's loved photos, how deeply they can touch her.

This dedicated Mom and wife gives so much to so many, and like so many women whose difficult daily work goes unsung, her busy life may not often afford the opportunity to explore her artistic soul. The soul that's resilient, that won't go away whispers, insisting "I am here, I will wait as patiently as I can for you to turn and see who and what I am, what I have to give you".

To begin to discover that ... to see it unfold, however hesitantly ... is a hopeful thing to witness. It speaks to the fact that it is never, ever to late to wake up that part of you that has perhaps lain dormant. Waiting.

This picture, this needs-no-words photo, is hers. I have never met this flower before, this single flower as beautiful as it is for no particular reason at all ... except that the world is absolutely full of riches like it, and the only sorrow lies in their living and dying unseen. Artists, lucky for the rest of us, possess the eyes to see it. The heart to show it, to say it, see it.

My friend is an artist. Though she hardly knows it yet, she is an artist.


And I am proud of her.

3:11 (a.m.) Thoughts

My cat is snoring. Again.

John Mayer needs to grow up a little, maybe.

I am thinking about blogging.
(Again.)

How do they make that fake "clean linen" smell, anyway?

Can polar bears cry?

Tomorrow morning I will have toast AND butter.

Jam, too. Take that!

LoLLIA

Just clapped eyes on the LoLLIA line of scented products. I can't say what they smell like (though the descriptions on the site are positively ambrosial), but these are easily the most beautiful perfume bottles I have ever seen.

They remind me of both the classic Laura Ashley No. 1 flowered bottle (why didn't I buy this 15 years ago when I could have had it for less than $175?!), and for some reason also the Stila cologne bottles.

Serious eye-sweets.

etsy joy: robot candy

The repurposed tiles, coasters and switchplaces from Robot Candy are bright as buttons. There are dozens more images, these are a small cross-section.

Well ... etsy strikes again! The clever just keeps coming.

I LOVE THIS.

Click on image to enlarge ... (gawd, I wish I knew how to fancy things up better in Blogger)!

"Something Blue" gift wrap from "Pop Ink", available at French Paper, home to a confectionary assortment of wonderful things. You simply must visit.

But as I said ... I LOVE THIS! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, THIS! If the walls of my imagination are wallpapered, they are wallpapered in this. This is so perfect I am almost weeping. What a girl I am, huh?

It's a good thing that being a girl is so darn GREAT.

p.s. I am watching Bonnie Hunt right now (she's the best). Kristen Chenowth is a guest, with her fluffy white dog "Madeline Kahn Chenoweth".

I love this, too!

etsy joy: once upon a button

Once Upon A Button clearly has cute down to a science. How else to explain all this deliciousness? My favorites are the deer, the brown-on-pink silhouettes (unexpected and therefore cool), the little shoes on yellow. And of course the Red Riding Hood, top hand right.

What eye candy! Much more to be found at her winsome web shop.

etsy joy: blog and coffee

So clever! From jenniferramos at etsy. This and more of her slightly irreverent, cheerul "pop" style at MadeByGirl.com.

What was life like before etsy, anyway?

blog happy: Charm-O-Matic (or curiouser and curiouser) ...

The lively, unstudied fun of Charm-O-Matic makes it one of my favorite recent finds.

I bumbled (my usual method) backwards into this goodness while perusing the August issue of Country Living. Their "fresh picks" (page 38) jumped up and said "Hello, you!" (No really, it did. I swear). Particularly the image of Tokyo Milk's Sparrow Perfume bottle, which stopped me short.

"Irresistible!" I said, to nobody in particular except the cat. "There must be more of this deliciousness."

Goggling led to Googling and an image search (which included a stopover at beautyhabit for a look at the entire range of "parfumarie curiousite") and landed square on the Boardwalk-blue deliciousness of Charm-O-Matic.

In December, the blog featured Tokyo Milk's "Let Them Eat Cake" flavored lip balm.

I hardly care what's in the box, I just want That Box! Is it possible to be a packaging design addict? That's all I want to know. If it is, I am in serious need of help.

Anyhow, the moral of the story is that if you let your curiosity lead you amiably from one good thing to another, you might just end up finding something even better than what you started with. Rather like falling happily down the rabbit hole. Wondering at how curious it all is. Wondering just where that rabbit went.

You know ... the one with the waistcoat.

(I'm feeling very Alice-y today!)

Let's have a spot of Paul ...

... shall we?

Hubba.
Hubba.

Hubba!

etsy joy: marialunate

Argentinian designer Ana of marialunate writes "I design ... you print! Just add paper and love it!" She also draws, paints, knits and takes photos. Her etsy shop sells printable pdf's of these darling images. Above: Little Red, her pals and paperhouse. (You know you want it. I know I do!)

gift tag

journal tags

Dollies collage sheet

etsy joy: CuckooBoo

It's dawning on me that etsy.com is a treasure trove of goodness that I've not yet begun to mine! CuckooBoo's creations are really something special.

From the pacifier clips ...

... to the hair holders ...

... the badge clips w/creels ...

... and the large assortment of ponytail holders, this shop is a sight for sore peepers!






Being a sucker for anything Alice, vintage nursery, bluebirds and seahorses (let's bring seahorses back!), I was hooked pretty quickly.

Nice job!

Doggone fabulous ...

Smudge

I have been spending a LOT of time at my other blog lately, which involves corresponding with Corgi owners who want to share their dogs at the site.

Corgis are my favorite breed. I am officially Corgi Crazy. The first time I ever held a Corgi puppy I nearly fainted from happiness. (True story).

If you have a Corgi, or know somebody who does, please share the blog with them. A recent Dog of the Day post featured Alicia Paulson's own Clover Meadow. (Yes, Alicia Paulson of posie gets cozy fame!)

Since it is a daily (M-F) site, I am always looking for more Corgage.

etsy joy: sweeter feet!

One of the happiest things I can think of is baby feet. Fresh-from-heaven, dew-kissed baby feet. Pudgy, perfect, piggly-toed, powdered baby feet. The only thing better than baby feet is baby shoes.

Yesterday I saw a bare-footed baby on the bus so naturally when I got home it was time to goggle at some baby shoes! Etsy has some of the best ones I've seen anywhere.

by Gracious May:

Clockwise from top left: Chocolate and Strawberries Maryjane, Cherry Blossom Maryjane, Simple Organic Loafer, Robot Canvas Loafer.

I sometimes wander (OK, I go on purpose) over to the baby shoe area in department stores. Just to look. I've got no babies to buy for, I'm just perusing for pleasure. Maybe I should find some babies to buy for?

Still more etsy goodness, by smallbeans:

Clockwise from top left: Cherry Cupcake, Apple Green, Addison.

Finally, these wee wonders from etsy's littlejumpingbeans:

Clockwise, from top left: Happy Sprockets, Now I Know My ABC's, The Big Apple.

kid happy: mim-pi

European Mim-Pi sells truly charming girls' apparel and accessories. These are too cool for school! I think in a parallel life I design kids' clothing. This just looks like way too much fun.

Ooooh la-la!

Spied at cute overload, the animated short for a new line of Swarovski crystal cats is must see material.

I watch way too much TV, but 60 gooey-good seconds like these compensate for hours of potential brain decay:



Oooh, I am feeling so French. Well, I am already French but I am feeling somehow French-ier. More Continental, non?

polyvore: Petaliferous

Child of Fantasy by ♥petaliferous♥ on Polyvore.com




Bookmark III - Mere and Little by ♥petaliferous♥ on Polyvore.com



[Pastel Green PPB] by ♥petaliferous♥ on Polyvore.com


I hadn't visited polyvore in a long while, and these pieces by member petaliferous were a nice surprise. Pretty!

ibride: remarkably beautiful things

These trays from French design team ibride are nothing short of achingly beautiful. I just can't get over how incredible they are.

kawaii: so cute it's almost SCARY!

I guess I'm pretty late in the game as far as finding out about "kawaii" style. I've seen some similiar things -- Hello Kitty comes to mind -- but had no idea there was so much more. Although it's love at first sight for me and the Red Riding Hood items (no news there), I can't get over that grinning tofu liquid soap dispenser.

These designers are mad geniuses with an unerring sense of The Cute. They are going to take over the Universe with their Cute! Make them stop!

(Or not :).

More of this deliciousness at Decolo Co., Ltd.

flickr fun: Venetian Glass Mosaic Brooch

Wow. I can only imagine the kind of painstaking labor it took to produce this gorgeous piece. From redrickshaw's photostream.

blog happy: Cece Marie

The kind of blog I like the very best opens wide the shutters of my mind, pipes a cheery hello to the new day and holds the promise of happy company. So it's a discovery indeed when I stumble upon something like All Dolled Up.

Cece Marie blogs out of her Northern California home, where she runs All Dolled Up, an on-line cottage industry business making almost-unbelievably cute things from her own original patterns: aprons, totebags, skirts, handbags and flower pins, as well as original artwork. It's clear that her myriad influences show up in her homespun creations. Here are just a few examples:

L: Delilah Tulip Wrap Skirt R: White Cherries "Le Flirt" Apron

Cece is also a fellow "magazine magpie": somebody who scouts for inspiration via images. Like many of us, she is probably absolutely compelled to share them, to show what she likes, to say something about them. It is a real joy to do this, and in that way we flock together, birds of a common feather!

I've scrolled through dozens of her blog pages that make me want to stand up and cheer. "I love that, oh no wait I love that even MORE!" Best of all, she shares my fondness for yellow houses, pale pink and an undying love of the red and white kitchen.

Really, is there anything more cheerful than a red and white kitchen? Hardly. Does the world need more red and white kitchens? Absolutely.

Country Living Magazine

Dutch treat.

Many of the old railway poster advertisements were just beautiful. I particularly like this one from Southern Pacific:



As sweet-looking as they are, I can't imagine that wearing wooden shoes was ever a truly comfortable experience!