Twig Hutchinson : Stylist

A stylist located in London, Twig Hutchinson does everything from prop and interior styling to set design and shooting concepts.  I was researching stylists and randomly came upon her work and loved it.  She has a very rustic, yet clean style.  Enjoy :)

Crafty Christmas Gifts

Hi everyone! I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner! I'm going to have to start packing up soon. I fly home in less than an week. It's crazy how time flies. How is all the Christmas shopping going? I know it get can get a little crazy..  Do you have everything written down on your wish list? Have you made anything special lately? I made some little paper Christmas trees (more are still in the works and will post photos soon!)

Anyway, Last weekend I was able to go to an amazing craft sale on the east side of the city. I had a friend selling some of her jewelry and so I of course, went to check everything out. I scored huge on getting majority of my Christmas shopping done there. I love going to little sales like these because the gifts are so unique and handmade by brilliant crafters. Not to give away any hints as to what I may have gotten, but here are a few of the companies and designers that stuck with me. Enjoy!  

 PEG AND AWL

An amazing husband and wife team Margaux and Walter began by repurposing lost and neglected things for themselves, and now they make and share it for everyone to enjoy. Margaux and Walter were so cool Even their wardrobe spoke volumes about what they do. To give you a mental visual, Walter was wearing a worn little newsboy cap with a white T-shirt, but had a full repurposed apron atop it that had leather pockets attached at the bottom...very vintage. Their booth had an amazing display of bags, desk caddies, mini bound notebooks, and other beauties they like to call "inscribable keepsakes, useable treasures, and curiosities. All of their products are made by hand and are of impeccable quality. Visit their website here, and own some of their treasures via Etsy! Peg and Awl was a true gem to discover.

THE INDIGO BUNTING

Erin Jang is an illustrator and graphic designer from Seattle living in New York. I have to privilege to say that I was able to meet her at her booth with her new little addition :) A lot of the work I saw at Erin's booth were adorable, graphic paper products. The most recent of these are her accordion calendars for 2012. Erin also has some really cute Holiday cards and prints as well. To see more of her work (prints, cards, and more calendars!) visit her portfolio site, and visit her online shop for purchasing! You can also keep up to date with her new projects through the Indigo Bunting blog.

MOON TREE LETTERPRESS

This small company has very beautiful stationery, notecards, and invitations. They also do business cards, notecards, and gift certificates. Their inspiration is driven by the beauty in nature, and the design that comes from it is very fresh, and beautifully simple. Moon Tree Letterpress can also proudly say that they have been involved with many corporate projects such as Martha Stewart Living, Jonathan Adler, and Better Homes and Gardens. I stopped by the booth and bought a letter press calendar and some holiday NYC themed notecards to send! Also visit their Etsy shop and blog!

I loved the coasters and the notebooks as well. The coasters below are Nashville neighborhood coasters. So cute and clever, and something I would definitely own!

A.S.I.S

Run by Angela Spencer from England, all of A.S.I.S. products are eco-firendly and serve an international audience. All yarns are natural, hand-spun and hand-dyed. Angela's jewelry was what I personally fell in love with. Her re-purposed sterling neck pieces came from cast needles and hooks found in her mother's sewing basket

 

 

Aren't these lovely?  I hope you all have a wonderful and restful weekend!! I'm ready for the Holidays to begin! I can't wait t to see my family and I especially can't wait to give them their gifts this year :)

xo

Andrea

                       

Warby Parker

If you are in love with TOMS and their "One for One" concept and you are blind like me and want a pair of amazing vintage frames for a really great price, you will fall in love with Warby Parker.  My mom and sister told me about this company because my sister was ordering a pair of their frames for her birthday. They had me at "affordable" and "vintage".

Warby Parker's vintage-inspired frames are classically crafted and sold under $100 for both the frames and prescription AND when you buy a pair they give a pair away to renowned non-profits such as Vision Spring. I love the idea of sharing the "gift of vision" with someone else.  You can check out more about how they are crafted here.  Their lenses are the really nice non-reflective kind; another plus.  I still can't believe how great of a deal it is.  I have terrible eye sight and have spent so much money on frames alone not including my prescription.  I wish I had known about Warby Parker before I got my last pair. I might go ahead and get another pair anyway. It's so wonderful knowing that I would be giving the gift of seeing the world more clearly to someone.

I personally like the Begley pair. I think they are the perfect combination of square and circular. These are the navy ones but they also have a "greystone" and "whiskey tortoise shell"

Oh yes, I almost forgot another really great perk.  They have a home try-on program where you have 5 pairs of glasses sent to you for five days to try the frames you like for free... I know, right?  AMazing.

Have a lovely rest of the day, and if you just so happen to need a new pair of frames. I hope this post gets you excited.

xo

Cardboard Safari

Hello friends!  I hope you all had a lovely Friday.  Here's a bit of fun, crafty, inspiration for you.

Many of you may have already known the source to these amazing 3-D cardboard decorative pieces, but I just discovered Cardboard Safari! (found via Snow&Graham blog- one of my favorite paper companies) I had seen many of the deer heads before at Anthropologie and thought they were really interesting.  I love the elephant (Roll Tide!)  and the moose. The wreaths are really great too! 

I want to make a mini cute one like this! This moose one was done by Snow & Graham. They covered it with their NEW daisy wrap. So cute! They are going to post a tutorial on it soon, so keep your eyes peeled!  I would love to try this with some paper doilies. You could paint the base any color you want to show through the cut outs. I would prefer something like a light neutral gray, a blue-gray or any color with the tone of the wall the daisy moose is setting against. Or just the brown of the card board could be lovely also don't you think!? Ahh! Definitely going to do this, and you should too!

p.s  have a fabulous weekend!

Travel Plans

Wow, another crazy week has flown by, and I can't believe that just yesterday felt like last weekend when it snowed! This weekend however, is beautiful and a bit warmer. The sun is shining and the temperature is supposed to creep back up to the 60s by the middle of next week!.  I should really be out and about right now, but I have some of the classic household duties to tend to (dishes, cleaning, laundry, etc.) Fun stuff.

{I'm going to pause for a second and have a little bit of a sentimental moment to just say that I really love the fact I can wind down and come here to share what's on my mind and what has been getting me excited lately. Thank you all so much for reading!}.  Carrying on, I thought I'd take a little break to catch you up and share a few things with you!

I can't wait to travel.  New York is the prefect gateway to so many other great cities, so while I'm here I definitely want to take advantage of it.  I've never been to Philly (going for Thanksgiving!), and I really want to visit Baltimore, Boston, somewhere in Maine, and Vermont.  Especially Vermont.

I found a blog a couple weeks ago called Cannelle et Vanille (in French this name translates to Cinnamon and Vanilla) It has become a daily read, and I couldn't wait any longer to share with you.
The blog belongs to Aran, a very talented photographer, food writer and stylist.  I must say I am envious of all her amazing ventures. Aran was in France last month styling and shooting food and cooking up some amazing recipes. What a life! All of the food and scenery she captures is absolutely breath taking.  Speaking of food, she is actually working on a naturally gluten-free cookbook full of yummy "small plates and sweet treats" that will be released in Fall 2012. Can't wait Aran! I know it's going to be beautiful, insightful, and certainly inspiring!

Very recently, Aran revisited Vermont and shot some gorgeous photos there. They were so gorgeous, it made me want to visit. As I said earlier, I have put it down on my list places to go while I'm in New York and close by.  Here's a little taste of Vermont though the scope of Aran's adventure. Aran, thank you again for inspiring me with travel through the beauty you've captured along the way. I can't wait to share when I go there!

Look how beautiful and saturated the leaves are! I don't think I've ever seen so many beautiful fall colors altogether in one place like this.  Fall time is my favorite time of year, so when I saw these photos, I was sold. Not only do I have the simple plan of visiting Vermont, I also know exactly what time of year I'm going to go!   I was curious as to what part of Vermont these photos were taken. After reading the entire post I did a little research after seeing that Aran visited the Middlebury Farmer's Market. And there you have it, Middlebury, VT!

Apple picking. I remember when I was little my brother and I would pick green apples (the ones within reach) off the trees in my grandparent's back yard and munch on them all day long.  My grandparents didn't care, but my mom and dad would freak out because when they would see us with one, they didn't know if it was straight from the tree, or if it was already on the ground...I do remember getting a lot off the ground too. I can hear them right now saying "You need to come inside and wash that apple before you eat it!" or "Don't be eating any of those apples right now, we are about to have dinner and it'll ruin your appetite!!" I especially remember the "appetite" quote because I was so young I didn't even know what an appetite was... I remember the first time I heard my mother say it, I took it very very seriously.  I looked at my younger brother and I said, "Did you hear that!? It'll ruin our appetites.. " and I threw the apple in my hand down.

There was something about the word "ruin", and the fact that she said we were about to eat dinner. Putting it all together in the way I could best comprehend it was that the apples would ruin and hurt my stomach, and that I would get sick, but it would only happen if  I ate one before dinner, and I would never want to have an issue before dinner; especially at my grandparents house because the food was amazing. All home cooked vegetables that came straight from their garden out back. Why would anyone want to ruin that, right? I think I was pretty close with understanding the term, but in my mind it was a lot more dramatic than knowing that I would just be too full do eat dinner if I kept eating all those apples! 

That was my experience, with apple picking, but I know it wasn't the official kind of apple picking.  Aran did some apple picking herself at a friend of a friend's orchard while in Vermont. Oh, I would love to do this! I have several friends who have gone upstate to pick apples, and next time I want to come with.

Of course, Aran was able to whip up some delicious snacks and sweets from the apples she picked. I particularly would love to try the gluten and dairy free vanilla and cardamon flavored natillas with sautéed apples, which is a custard her grandmother used to make for her. Yum. I look forward to seeing it in her upcoming cookbook, which she noted would be in there! 

I hope all of you have a wonderful wonderful weekend.  Do you have any travel plans soon? Are you going anywhere special for Thanksgiving? Christmas? New Years?  What places do you want to visit at some point in your life? Where have you been that you loved most?

I can say for sure my favorite so far has been southern France.  I'll have to dig up some old photos and share with you some of my favorite areas when I studied abroad there.  I'm also going to see if one or two of my photo friends can do some guest posts to shed their perspective of our spectacular and surreal adventures in France, so stay tuned!

Getting Ready to Bundle Up!

This past weekend I went on a hunt for my first down coat.  Everyone that I've talked to here has told me it is a must-have for winter and that I would never regret getting one!  My walk to work could be brutal when it starts getting really cold, so hopefully now I'll be ready. This is the coat I got! It's by Tahari, and I found it at a reasonably low price at Marshall's.  I was quite proud of this purchase.

My favorite thing about this coat is how feminine it is for a down coat because of the detailing at the waist and around the edges at the bottom. I also love the hood. It's super puffy and it looks really neat tied down like in the photos.  It also look great worn as well. I felt like a cute little Eskimo! It is so warm and fluffy, I could probably fall asleep in it or on it.  Which ever way I use it, I think I'll be ready to take on the cold!

You can purchase this coat at Macy's as well, but be sure to compare your prices at places like Marshall's or even T.J. Maxx if you are on a budget and want to save money!

Eye Candy : Sania Pell

Hi everyone! I can't believe it's Tuesday! Running a little behind on posting, but I'm not very tired right now and have enough energy to make one!  I've had her name written down on a post-it note for about a week now because sharing her work was a MUST for me.

I discovered Sania Pell while doing some visual research and stumbled on her beautiful blog.  Sania is an author, interior stylist, and designer from London. One of the main publications her work can be found in is Elle Decoration.  Sania's work is so fresh and beautiful. I do hope you'll take a moment to gaze at her work, which is exactly what I caught myself doing!

Have a lovely evening! 

Three Red Apples : Annabelle Ozanne

Hi there!

Today I wanted to introduce you to the work of Annabelle Ozanne. I recently emailed Annabelle about her work, and she was so kind to allow me to share with you. Thank you Annabelle!  I discovered her in Aug/Sept/Oct 2011 issue of the magazine Artful Blogging (one of my favorites!)  Annabelle calls herself a "textile doodler", and an amazing doodler she is at that.  Repurposing vintage and recycled fabric, she uses applique and free-motion machine embroidery to create beautiful textile illustrations and other home decor accessories. (You can learn a little more about her here) I respect her passion for redirecting herself back to using the hand to express her creativity. She sells her adorable pieces of art in her online store called Three Red Apples.  Look for her on Etsy as well, and keep up with what she is doing on her blog.  Enjoy!

p.s. If you guys love sewing and have never free-motioned before, you should definitely try it. Once you do, you won't be able to stop!

{click images for more details}

love this little dec pillow!

embroidery on canvas

Taking Note : Innovate and Decorate!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Mine was definitely eventful. I took a short trip to Brooklyn to help my dear friend Liz move into her new place! I also want to give her another shout-out and congratulate her once more for her new job as a sign artist at Trader Joes! She graduated with me at SCAD and majored in Illustration.  I'm so proud of you!  I also checked out the Farmer's market in Unions Square this weekend, which was amazing. So many yummy foods and interesting people around.

Today was the first day I climbed my three flights of stairs and hit the 4th floor unexpectedly because I actually wasn't out of breath!  Talk about success.  Today the VP of design at Martha made my day. He introduced me to a girl who I've heard, but never met. I say "heard" because she sits a row behind me and she has the greatest southern accent. All I could think to myself was, I have to meet her at some point to share my common bond of being a southerner with her!  When I was introduced to her, the exact words used were "Andrea, come meet your cousin!"  Loved it.  She is from Mississippi, practically from Alabama because she rests on the state line.  It was so nice chatting with her, and made me nostalgic for home.

Speaking of home, now that I'm away and have my own, I've been paying a lot more attention to nifty ideas for future reference. I love repurposing old things.  It's a lot cheaper than buying something new, and always adds so much character to a space.  Right now I can't do too much to my place, but when the time comes, here are some really clever ideas I'm keeping in mind!

Ikea wheels on an old crate for magazine storage

Love the old door in the back corner! 

I know, more storage for books, but I have so many books! And what's better than repurposing an old spool? Very clever.

These are paper covered shoe box lids.  Cheap and very cute for adding some color and fun to a space.

lastly, old drawers used as little display shelves. So adorable!

{click images for source}

Discover Pinterest

Hi there! I'm sure all of you guys have already discovered Pinterest. I did a couple months ago and I'm obsessed! It's such a great tool for organizing inspiration. If you aren't a part of it I urge you to have a look! Here are a few images I've pulled from one of my boards :)

fabric covered pots

fabric covered  hangers and cute aprons

patterned tape! A must have :)