Sweet Stuff: Artifact Uprising

Dear Mumbles, if you’re reading this: stop. Thanks. Love you!

Friends, I just ordered some awesome prints and the wood block from Artifact Uprising for Mumbles for Father’s Day. (since the baby’s not here yet, the prints are of Baxter — who else?!)

artifact uprising wood block + prints

I can’t wait to receive them. I think they’ll look great in his office and I also ordered some extra prints of some of my Instagram photos (flowers, details, cityscapes) to be used as postcards and to hang in my office at work.  I really like their suggestion to use prints as postcards or note cards too — consider my office a revolving art gallery now!

The other day I read this blog post about how Artifact Uprising was founded and was particularly taken by these wise words:

Katie’s sage advice to creatives:Creativity on command is the most difficult kind to summon, yet it’s the very art expected from the working creative. So put space between it. Get out there and live a life away from that art, find spaces that widen your world. Let creativity be the symptom of a life well-lived.

P.S. I also plan to buy the wooden box once baby is born and fill it with photos from my pregnancy and keep adding to it with books and prints. so sweet, right?  I’d love to have a little collection of wooden boxes on the shelf to go through. good stuff!

[image via]

I’ve Been Busy…Buying

Lately, I’ve been buying a lot of stuff. A lot. What can I say? I’m in a good mood, it’s spring and I love clothes.

A lovely lady I know named Lyndzee (I love alliteration!) has fabulous style and is an incredibly impressive thrift shopper. Lucky for me (and you, though I’d rather you not like her stuff so that I can keep scooping up her fun pieces without as much competition), she has started selling some of her finds on Instagram in a lovely shop called Thrift Archaeology. It’s been quite fun following her posts, albeit a bit distracting as I anxiously refresh my Instagram feed all day. Last week I was the lucky winner of this plaid skirt, this vintage bag, and an amazing beaded cocktail dress that I cannot wait to wear! So excited. And feeling the buzz of finding good thrifted clothes but not actually wanting to go out and hunt myself (though it is one of my favorite things to do), I hopped on over to Etsy and discovered a darling vintage shop called secretlake, which just so happened to be having a moving sale with all the merchandise marked down 30%…yay! I picked up this fabulous cobalt dress (you know how obsessed I am with cobalt. see here and here) and this wool coat (what I like to call “grandma chic”…read: totally my style).

But I haven’t just been thinking of myself! My mom loves to wear lace tops with skirts to work — they’ve gotta be comfy and simple like throwing on a t-shirt but chic enough to look like a smarty pants at the office. I got her two from Banana Republic, though I’ve also been swooning over this one from Madewell (found via DesignLoveFest).

And, wait, there’s more.

I haven’t just been buying clothes. I promise. I bought my Dad some awesome dog books for his birthday, I got my mom some lipstick in a totally fierce shade (which I’ll wrap up with those blouses for mother’s day just around the corner), and picked up some of my favorite loose mineral powder (which now reminds me I need to invest in new makeup brushes…).

Lastly–and maybe my favorite–I scored an awesome dresser on Craigslist that is in such great shape I can hardly believe it. The guy I bought it from said it’s been in his family since the early 60’s! Love it. It needs to be cleaned up a bit but I think I’m going to keep it just as it is for now before I do anything drastic like painting it.  It’s made of real wood (read: it’s heavy), has a beautiful color tone and wood grain, original hardware with an awesome patina, dovetailed drawers, and the larger drawers have built-in wood dividers which I think are just so neat. I was going to say “they definitely don’t make furniture like they used to!” but that’s probably not true. I bet a lot of places and people make furniture of such great quality, it’s just I can’t afford any of it. Thank heavens for Craigslist, right?

Here’s a closeup of the hardware and details…

vintage craigslist dresser.jpg

 

 

P.S. How quickly I forget…I also bought this adorable dress from Madewell and wore it to a bridal shower on Saturday. The colors are so pretty and it fits like a dream. Even the girls at Anthropologie asked me where I got it when I stopped in to buy the bride a gift. Best compliment ever, I’d say.  And I’m super excited for our trip to Havasu in two weeks so I splurged on this gorgeous paisley swimsuit top from my favorite, J.Crew (found via A Cup of Jo). Goodness me, that’s a lot of stuff I’ve been buying.  Please don’t judge me. And don’t tell Mumbles. 😉

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Birthday Books for Dad

My pops is a hard guy to shop for. The one thing that never disappoints him is shirts with pockets. Sounds simple, but the man has spent his life in pursuit of quality shirts (the right cotton weight, good stitching in the crew neck, appropriate upper arm coverage by way of long enough sleeves) and while there are many makers of fine tees, finding all of that plus pockets is a bit like a really anticlimactic treasure hunt for my family. So for his birthday this year I decided to ditch the shirts and went for something I know he’ll enjoy: dogs. My dad’s two dogs are like children and he dotes on them a lot like Mumbles and I do with Baxter.

I found this awesome book Maggie on Things via A Cup of Jo. And I’d heard of the Underwater Dogs photos but I was delighted to find they’d been made into a beautiful coffee table book. It’s so goofy and fun and the whole story about how the author found fame and his calling — very cool.  I think it’s awesome that both books were never intended to be books at all – they were just a collection of photos on a blog or on a website.  How reaffirming it must be that the thing these people are most passionate about or find simple pleasures in has found a place in the hearts of so many others. Just captivating!

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The Scent of the Season

Dear Fellow Christmas Lovers,

Today I’m writing to tell you about the most splendid scent of the season: Frasier Fir from Thymes.  I tried it a few years ago and have been obsessed ever since.  It smells like a Christmas tree is in your hands when you use this soap or lotion and it’s just divine.  Every year Mumbles and I join his family to go Christmas tree hunting at a local Christmas Tree Farm (by the way, how cool are Christmas Tree Farms?  If I was a farmer, that’s what I’d want to grow!) and the smell of the damp leaves, the cold air and fresh cut wood is all around.  I swear this scent is just like that — crisp and woodsy but also warm and a bit floral to lighten it up.  Perfect. For those of you looking to savor the scent of the season (or stretch it out a little longer), be sure to stock up.  Here are a few of my favorite products from this fantastic line — I just love the faux bois caddy for the soap and lotion set and I think the decorative sachets would make a perfect compliment to brown paper packages tied up with strings!

clockwise:  Votive $12.50  |  Sink Set $36  |  Reed Diffuser $60  |  Decorative Sachet $3.75


Do you have a holiday scent that you love?

Gift Idea: Monthly Deliveries

yuzen box.jpg

my first Yuzen box delivery – such a joy to open!

Wouldn’t it be grand to have the feeling you do while opening presents on Christmas morning every month? I think so, and it’s a bit of how I felt each of the three times I came home to discover a Yuzen package waiting for me at my door (read my experience here).  If you can’t quite decide what to get someone or feel like you’re running out of time, here is a roundup of monthly subscription services I’ve come across recently, which, along with Yuzen, would make for fabulous gifts beyond Christmas morning for just about everyone on your list.

For the Crafter: Whimsey 3 months $45 | 6 months $90 | 1 year $165

For the Creative: Creative Bug 1 month $24.99 | 3 months $59.97 | 6 months $101.94

For the Beauty Queen (or King): Birchbox 3 months $30 | 6 months $60 | 1 year $110

For Bob-the-Builder (or anyone of any name): Lego Master Builder Academy $29.99+

For the kids: Kiwi Crate 3 months $59 | 6 months $110 | 1 year $220

For the well accessorized: JewelMint (tailored to an individual’s personal taste, so gift cards are the way to go so they can use credits to pick their selections each month) 1 credit $29.99 | 2 credits $59.98 | 3 credits $89.97

For the shoe-obsessed: Shoe Dazzle (gift cards allow individuals to choose their style selections each month) $25+

For the burly man: Dollar Shave Club from $1/month

For the foodie + music lover: Turntable Kitchen 1 month $27.12 5 | 3 months $81.36

For your caffriend: Craft Coffee monthly $24.99 | 6 months $22.49/mo | Annual $19.99/mo (save 10% when you pay in full up front)

For your furbaby: Bark Box 1 month $29 | 3 months $22/mo | 6 months $17.50/mo

For the snail mail lover: Tota Press, a delivery of 2 letterpress cards for $10/month. (found via Daily Candy, which has great gift guides for all the people and critters in your life).

Happy gift giving! 

Do you subscribe to a monthly delivery service or have you ever been gifted one you loved?