things I'm loving from around the bloggosphere

Seriously one of the cutest Christmas photoshoots I've ever seen!
{click here} to see the rest of the pictures!
I think this chalkboard background
would be nice for a DIY "faux-tobooth" too

Personalized Stationary for a very hip Grandma
{known by all the kids as Grandma Latté}
via alee and press

Super cute pincushion
sold at TheBlueDaisy on Etsy

"French" Goodness
I have yet to make these but they look de.lic.ious.
{See the recipe here}

Sweetest. Tattoo. Ever.
Read the *short* story {here}

This great wooden headboard
found at Say Yes! to Hoboken

Backyard fun

Oh the joys of Brooklyn (as opposed to Manhattan)
Say Yes to Hoboken via Little Green Notebook
{I'm loving that Pottery Barn kitchen set in the playhouse too!}

Vintage Wall Art
- - hearts made out of ticket stubs - -
Blue Bell Bazaar via A Little Sussy

Cute little bunting crayon roll
{see the tutorial here}

something new

I recently stumbled across a new (to me) blog
run by Jeanie of The Paper Nut.

I found quite a few cute things lurking throughout her archives...

Her brilliantly fun lettering:

{click it to enlarge the letter-goodness}

{Paper Nut Letters found here here and here}

My favorite among her wedding invitation suites:

{Great Wedding Suite by The Paper Nut}

The most awesome pair of girls pants I've ever seen!

{Crankypants on Etsy}


Some fantastic wooden finds...

{Plastica}

And, last but not least, something kind of weird that I kind of like...

{Little felt toys from AsherJasper on Etsy}

kidease

So... the idea behind these little lunches is really great.
And the images are really funny and cute.
But... well... is it just me or does "kidease" sound like an insult?

Kidease...Disease...

Kidease...Cooties...

The possibilities for other kids to mercilessly make fun of the lunch goer
innocently trying to "ease" their existence with a fun bite to eat...

I don't even want to think about it.

Two things.

1. These invitations are really, really cute. I {heart} them very much.


2. {This Blog} is amazing. I've been following Cannelle Vanille for several months and, again, all there is to say is that Aran is incredible.

Supercalafragalistexpialidociously so.

Create.A.Swap

I participated in a create-a-swap a few weeks back...
And I've finally gotten around to posting some photos.

The rules were simple:
Create three things
Send them to your partner
Receive three handmade things

Here is what I received:



Spectacular, no?!
Thanks Abby for the awesome gifts!
And thanks to Cara for organizing it all.

Tumblr Lovin'

I am pretty hooked on Tumblr. No joke. But I've got to say, it can be quite annoying sometimes because I've found that some tumblr-ers just reblog everything they come across. Now, I'm all for reblogging. I mean, nothing is really unique or new or one of a kind on the internet. It has all been posted, raved about, ranted about, and seen before. We are all borrowing from other borrowers... one big simulacrum. However, there are times when I feel like it crosses some sort of invisible (and albeit highly relative) line. There is one tumblr-er that goes by the name of sweethomestyle that inspires oxymoronic feelings of irritation and awe on a daily basis. On the one hand, I've come across some beautiful, funky, unusual, and plain cool photos from their feed. On the other hand, I can count on ONE HAND the number of "original" posts. What do I mean by "original"? Well... posts that are not reblogged from one of oh, maybe 3, different tumblr-ers. They love to reblog from architectureblog and maluna especially. (I say "they" because I'm pretty sure there is more than just one pirate keeping sweethomestyle afloat.) To be fair, there is some cross pollination going on between the three. But, on the whole I've seen the sweet spot borrow quite a few more than the others. I don't know. Should it bother me? I guess it doesn't really matter. But somehow it just seems... well... like deceitful pirating, if such a thing is possible.

technologically illiterate

Evidently I am an idiot but I cannot manage to comment on blogs that ask for your "id" (i.e. livejournal, google account, openid, etc...). Even putting in my openid clicking submit just refreshes the page without the comment added. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

the blogging world...

is a very strange place. I headed over to Design*Sponge a second ago to see what was new. Lo and behold a post about dieline! Weird, huh? I guess my 1 am coffee kick wasn't felt in a void... and I guess a lot of us circulate the same information and frequent the same blogs. I had a similar experience while checking out WeddingBee yesterday, only not with posts per se. I kept coming across posts about wedding plans that are very similar to what I've been considering! On the one hand it bothers me because it makes me feel as though nothing is unique or original... and, let's face it, nothing really is. On the other hand though, beyond just being a fact of life, the similarities I've found between "my" ideas and the ideas of others are kind of inspiring and fun. A little mysterious and miraculous, no? {I realize I'm being a bit cryptic here about my wedding ideas... But, you see, I would like to have a few surprises in store for my family and friends so it just won't do to share the good stuff tooo early!!}

An Inspiration Board of Sorts

Creating a treasury for etsy a few weeks back really unleashed the curator
in me. But with so much to do for school I don't have the time to wait for
a spot in the official treasury and I don't fancy being confined to products
for sale on the site. Thus I've decided the quixotic.design page is ready for
a new "feature". Call 'em what you want - inspiration board, design board,
treasury, collage... "A rose by any other name."

sources/shops from the top, left to right:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

True Love... and Consumerism Galore. Eekk!

It is sick, I know. But I am endlessly amazed and in love with Etsy.
My wishlist just grows and grows and grows.

I try to fight it. I try keep the consumerism down.
And, I'm broke yo so I usually do.

But really. truly. Is this not amazing?
Ugg. I loovveeee the cell phone case too.

I especially like it since the camera I own would fit inside it
and I haven't been able to get a holga to call my own.

Then again... this case costs more than the beauty-full holgawood herself.

Maybe part of the reason I'm so into this little case is because
it reminds me of the felt-tabulous creations by Princess Lasertron.
I've been obsessing over her pins & corsages.

business model.

found this {here} and had to share.

{photo by Nick Stankus}

tumblr

{image by Caroline West via Poisoned-Apple}

I finally created a tumblr account so that I can keep better track of all the amazing images I find across the web. It's really cool. You can use tumblr as a primary blog or, if you're like me, just use it to collect pretty images and quotes. I think this is going to revolutionize my wedding planning. Right now, I've got the most disorganized folder on my computer filled with random photos. Within the folder are other folders - my attempt at organization. But a lot of things overlap. I'm constantly engaing in the most pointless debates: should I label this 'flowers' or 'centerpieces', 'decor' or 'signage', 'food' or 'display', etc., etc... In the end I'm not sure tumblr is going to really prove more organizational but it is certainly more beautiful. And I can access the images that inspire me the most from just about any computer!

don't look...I'm hideous!

I was starting to get really excited
about the formatting on this little blog of mine.
In fact, I thought it was looking pretty good
(especially considering I’m not exactly html-iterate).

Well. Late last night,
I was shaken out of my ignorance and introduced to “web fonts”.
I have learned that I am pretty much
The only person that can actually see my font-astic formatting.

Great.