Happy Halloween

Today started off with Amanda behaving like a typical two year old, which of course almost made us late in dropping Scott off to school. The buzzer went off as soon as we stepped into the classroom. | Last night I made two batches of rice krispy lollipops for Amanda's Halloween party at daycare, sorry my pictures didn't come out so well to post. I also helped chaperon for half the day. I give a lot of respect to those daycare providers spending all day with screaming kids. It makes me realize how much I love my work. | Scott and Amanda really enjoyed trick or treating. We went to a few houses in our neighborhood and then headed to Laura and Rachad's for the main part of trick or treating. In the end, with a lot of tears we headed home. My kids didn't want the night to end... { HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN! }

A Whole Lotta Whimsy

Lotta Jansdotter creates beautiful organic patterns and silkscreens onto plates, linens and stationery. Her japanese inspired, pretty hand drawn designs are simple and friendly... yet sophisticated chic. Her saavy use of colors comes from nature, so soothing and rustic. Lotta makes sketching look so easy, yet each line seemed as though placed so purposefully.

We Believed!

{ Red Sox Nation } Yahoo! The Red Sox have once again won the World Series. It was an awesomely intense four nail biting, screaming at the television game. Now all the Red Sox fans can get some needed sleep. Yawn...

Buzzz...

Fun illustrated paper goods from One Good Bumblebee. A great online shop to purchase playful gifts. Cute little squirrel and bunny recipe cards and a flying bird moving cards designed by Susie Ghahremani. The Non Planner Datebook by Keri Smith, reminds me of my school days where I am constantly scribbling on my notebooks. I am also loving the Lots of Fun on the Go activity journal. It's a wonderfully fun illustrated gift to give, to keep any road trip from being boring.

Move over Martha

Here comes Amy Butler, with her oh so wonderful projects. Her inspiration comes from the rich textures of everyday life and collection of vintage fabrics. You may purchase or download free patterns from her site. I can't sew, but she makes it look so easy. I love her luscious floral stationery. These glamorous correspondence look like vintage fabric patterns come to life. She has an awesome paper crafts section... did I mention beautiful photography to top it off. { okay... breathe. }

Pretty Crafty

SusyJack* collection of hip, contemporary notebooks and notecards are whimsical, yet refreshing. The ultra retro textile patterns, with the use of bold colors can enliven any home office decor blahs. I used to work with Susan Connor in Boston and now she is off living in the Big Apple. I love her sense of style and reading her blogs. Thanks Susan for introducing me to blogging and Etsy.

Something Old, Something Blue

Clean, elegant letterpress wedding invitations from Blue Ribbon... sigh! I { heart } the details. The collection of greeting cards and stationery are simply stunning. Their new line of hang tags remind me of classic vintage wallpaper and textiles. The designs are so inspiring.

Yeah, Baby!

{ Red Sox Nation } Once again the Red Sox are heading to the World Series.

Simply Modern

I've always been an admirer of Anna Cote's work, Modern Printed Matter. I am loving these contemporary notecards. Her simple illustrations are sweet and they just flow so wonderfully onto the back of the card.

Binth on My Mind

I'm looking for the perfect Christmas gifts for friends and family. Binth takes screen-printing to a whole new level of modern eye-candy with their awe-inspiring illustrations. Their products are original and the colors they use in their designs are ultra mod. Gifts to give this season... think of earth friendly products.

Romp-aroo!

A child's room should be a place of their own. The decor of the room should express who they are as individuals. Why not bring their walls to life with some fun retro wallpaper menagerie. Each animal are hand-cut from vintage wallpaper patterns. Choose a wallpaper tree to create a forest or mix or match animals to create your own zoo. { romp }

is it Christmas yet?

From southern California, elum is a great source for distinctive letterpress and paper elegance. Their new products are so luscious and ornate. Their holiday cards ranges from whimsical to pure sophistication. And who can resist this aviary desk set with the burst of happy yellow? I know I can't. What more can I say... I think I am in paper heaven.

A Perfect Match

Know anyone getting married?

1. { Toccare Design } The home of the very stylish and creative do-it-yourself occasions in a box. Their signature is their keepsake linen box that have everything you need to create and turn any bridal shower into a sweet affair.

2. { Paper+Cup } A collection of greeting cards, invitations, stationery and journals. I love their new collection, Era. It's simply beautiful, a wonderful way to package up wedding invitations in a custom made birchwood keepsake box.

3. { Paper Dolls Design } They really know how to create stylish invitations and announcements. I think their island-inspired wedding invitations~announcements are a tropical beauty. Forget the wedding, elope on an island and send some wonderful announcements instead.

4. { Anna Bella Fine Stationery } Offers very trendy and traditional wedding invitations. It's a great combination to have. What a special treat for wedding guests with these lovely paper cupcakes. It's the sweetest way to let them know which table to sit at. Pretty, pretty, paper... I'm just loving it.

Jumping for JOYS

I have been telling myself for years to get organized, then I stumbled across this website, JOYS. A beautiful binder, with color coded tabs to organize documentation. The design reminds me of Martha and my friend Kristy. Kristy is also a graphic designer and a very organized person, unlike me. Was this a sign to tell me to start? I'm still searching for some documents, I'm not sure which room or even which pile to start looking in.

Clueless Mom, Part Two

Bake Sale 101.

Last night Scott and I made rice krispy lollipops. The sticky part was balling the rice krispy treats with my hands. He pushed the sticks into them and I dipped them into white chocolate. He helped again by sprinkling fun colorful shaped sprinkles onto the chocolate. After the chocolate hardened I saran wrapped them and tied colorful curling ribbons, which matched the color of the sprinkles, onto the sticks. They looked scrumptious.

Today we had the bake sale and raffle sale during lunch period, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. There were three lunch periods for the different grades. I was so happy to see our lollipops was the first to go. My job was to sell the baked goodies. This was an exciting experience for me. During each period the children in the cafeteria would sing a special happy birthday song for each birthday child. I was lucky, I got to hear 2 in a row during second period.

The principal seemed very involved with the children. He knew each child by name. The children would go up to him and say hi or ask him a question. Then I noticed one child after another started raising their hands. I thought they had to go use the restroom. The principle would go over and take a look at what they ate before dismissing them outdoors for recess. Come to find out that the children have to eat half their lunch before they could go outdoors. What a clever idea.

I need to bake more rice krispy lollipops, a special request from Amanda's teacher for the school's Halloween party. Soon this mommy will be a pro at the bake sales.

Creative Thursday

While walking my kids to school this morning, the leaves were falling off the trees. My little girl was delighted to pick up red and orange sugar maple leaves. It reminded me of the paintings I saw on Etsy by Marisa Haedike, in Los Angeles. She paints daily and post them on her blog, Creative Thursday. Every painting has a wonderful story behind it. Here are a few of her precious work, which made me think of my dear friends on a chilly autumn day. I think paintings are the sweetest gifts to give. It's very thoughtful and personal.

A Sweet { tweet! }

Since I am on this bird theme, I will highlight this beautiful website, Poppies for Grace. Alana and Sara, from Victoria Australia, created these wonderful collections of notecards and stationery sets. They are ever so thoughtfully packaged. The sweetness of these hand assembled sets are the details... little sewn cards.

Here Birdie, Birdie!

Tara Hogan, from Ink+Wit, has a sweet way of illustrating birds. Her postcards are simply elegant. What an endearing way to send a message to a close friend.


Egg Press letterpress greeting cards are lovely, they have a design for every holiday and occasion. I love to check out their online shop to see what's new. I am especially loving Happy Birdie to You and Blue Bird Hi!

Paperlicious!

My birthday is coming up, I'm thinking of treating myself to Thomas Paul Paper. He is an amazing textile designer from New York City. He can grace every corner of my home with his pillows, tableware, rugs, lampshades and walls. Now this is what I aspire to do. An awesomely delicious feast for my eyes...YUM!

Martha, You're so Wicked

I love to check out Martha Stewart every now and then. Her design team always inspire me with beautiful things. These Jar-o'-Lanterns are so clever, I can't wait to make these for my children. It's so simple to make! A treat for my little pumpkins, it's a good thing...

Delightfully Impish Giving

{ Trick or Treat } Treat a friend with Offspring Blank Cards from Sprout Home, located in Chicago and Brooklyn. The cards are silk screened with stylishly elegant floral imagery and mischievous characters. Seven year old Jarek tells a story with his impish drawings. My favorite is Not Scared. Sending a card is a great way to start Hallows Eve.

Nursery 101

One of my favorites are Pottery Barn Kid's yummy chocolate brown Larkin sleigh crib and pink Isabelle toile bedding, I just love the color combination. Toile, it's oh, so girly! The Land of Nod have a new White Straight-Up Crib, the clean and simple look is perfect for a baby boy. I especially love their new contemporary Blue Full Circle crib bedding, a mix of yarn dyed and printed fabrics. Another wonderful color combination is the hues of blues and ochre.

Welcome, Kate!

Teeny, tiny little toes. Small and round little nose. A precious gift from heaven above. My friend, Alissa, just had her baby on September 29th at 3:41 am. I heard Kate couldn't wait to come out and meet her big sister, Emily. Congratulations to the McMahon Family!

Clueless Mom, Part One

I was a part time designer that worked full time hours. The time with my children was consisted of playing, having playdates and outings. Where I live, about 75% of the Moms are stay-at-home Moms. I loved design too much to consider staying at home. Here is one of my experiences of being a working mom...

My son started school, the day after Labor Day and I thought I would hear more about after school sports. After talking to some Moms that hang out after school in the playground, I found out that the school doesn't offer sports, not until Middle School. For Elementary School the sport programs are offered through the Town Recreation Department. I thought great, let me do that. After more research, they already had signed up back in the spring time for fall sports, too late.

Getting more information from the Moms, I find out everyone knows everyone through playdates. The ones I didn't go to because I worked and my kids were at daycare. All their kids played sports through the Rec. Dept. since the age of 3. Okay, I haven't taught my child any sports on the weekend. Forget the weekday, by the time I picked them up from daycare it's dinner, bath and bed time.

Thank goodness there were books for me... What to Expect when You are Expecting, What to Expect for the First Year and What to Expect from Your Toddler. What about now...I am lost and clueless. Now that I am a freelancer, my hours are more flexible and I am learning a lot from other Moms around the neighborhood. I even signed up to help on the PTO. A Big Mommy Step for me.

A Little Bird Told Me...

Oh, the wonderful world of Mozi, from Victoria Australia. Thank you, Camilla & Olivia Tipler for making the everyday household items so colorful and shabby chic. From kitchen textiles to stationery products, your whimsical designs are a great inspiration. The world would be such a happier place, if everything were designed like Mozi.

The Art of Gift Wrapping

Searching for a signature of your own to add to any gift? Now here is a chic lovely way to wrap gifts. I just love Heidi's sense of colors and style. Who wouldn't love getting a gift that is beautifully wrapped. Check out her site shopheidi.