Roosters Make For Beautiful Paintings

 

How are you enjoying your lazy Saturday? My husband is out of town this weekend and I'm still pondering what to do with my no one's-looking time. So far I've read, watched Oprah, eaten a donut. I'm hoping to do a fun craft project and clean and maybe go to HomeGoods. Oh the places I'll go!

Anyways, thought I'd pop up some pictures of recent paintings. I've sort of accidentally strayed into more realistic work, and while I try not to beat myself up about letting a painting go its course, it's not the direction I intended to go in. So I painted the fun little zebra to remind myself to be playful.

The Greatest Scissors I've Ever Seen

I just ordered a pair of these scissors, called "scizzas," from Dreamfarm, an amazing Australian design firm that specializes in cool kitchen tools. The scizza has one side that sits flat while the other blade cuts, making it perfect for pizza, fabric, wrapping paper and the like. I am terrible at cutting straight and the moment I saw it, I knew it was for me. For $17, I'll be cutting pretty.

Before you wonder why I would pay shipping from Australia, let me introduce you to another cool thing. Design Story collects the greatest design products in the world and sells them at a discount to members who join their site. It's sort of like Mint or Gilt for home products, and it's free to join. I joined a while back but this is the first item I've purchased. 

P.S. If you'd like to get an invitation to Design Story (which would earn me some points!), send me an e-mail at amberfiona(at)gmail.

Collages by Violet May

The last thing I really need right now are a bunch of prints, but I am so in love with the work of Cassia Beck, who sells these collages in her Etsy shop called Violet May.

Beck is a Brighton, UK-based artist and photographer who pastes these vintage snapshots and circles of colored paper together to create these images that look like they were taken from my fantasies. They are also almost all priced at $32, which is a pretty great price. You can keep up with Cassia here.

I Spy: Catalog Picks

Do you guys ever settle down on the couch with a stack of new catalogs and go to town circling items for your wish list, knowing nothing will come of it? Yeah, that's a ritual I started with the Sears Roebuck Christmas catalog, but instead of circling Barbie dream houses, now I circle sheet sets. Anyways, here are some items that had me pulling out the red pen after checking the mail:

 

Have you guys seen the new L.L. Bean Signature line? It's like a J.Crew spin on the Bean classics, with a younger fit. I'm all about this seersucker dress, $99.  

How timeless is this madras shirtdress? It reminds me of the kind of thing Alex P. Keaton's mom would wear on "Family Ties." It's $79.

I'm a sucker for any striped shirt, and this silk one is certainly lovely, but pricey at $99.

I present, the perfect work-to-afterwork skirt ever, the BDG Tie-Waist Skirt, $54 at Urban Outfitters.

I'm a sucker for all things nautical, so I'm loving this bateau sweater, $49 at Urban Outfitters.

It's kinda weird and yet kinda fabulous, but I could see this aluminum and wood side table moving from room to room. $179 at West Elm.

If I hadn't just spent beaucoup bucks buying and creating art, I would scoop up this Lourdes Sanchez print for $179. Also at West Elm.

And finally, seersucker placemats, $14 at West Elm. Perfect for summer eating, as long as your husband isn't as messy as mine!

Today I Like: Hanna

 

We saw "Hanna" this weekend and I loved it. It was just a cool, cool movie, with a good plotline, good script, great cast and great visuals. It moved seamlessly through different terrains and I left feeling like I wanted to dress simultaneously like a cutthroat 17-year-old assassin and a stringent CIA agent. I totally recommend the movie for a good time.

Get the Look

1. In her Arctic forest home, Hanna wears oversized Army jackets. Translate the look with Elizabeth and James' belted jacket, on sale for $177.75 at The Outnet.
2. We're a bit past the season, but no "Hanna" look would be complete without a fur vest, $157.97 at Piperlime.
3. Polish up on Grimm's Fairy Tales.
4. Remember Hanna's travels in Morocco with a hanging lantern, $10.09.
5. Capture Cate Blanchett's CIA Agent chic in this tie-knot blouse, $54 at ASOS.
6. Cate wears some very conservative Prada pumps in the movie. I'm a bit more inclined toward this shiny pair, $450 at Bluefly.
7. Get in the Moroccan spirit in this fabulous tunic, $220 at LemLem.

Sunday Best v.54

 

Dorothy Parker, at her typewriter. I had a crazy busy week this week, so I have fewer awesome links than usual — a sure sign of just how busy I was! But what I've got is certainly great, so enjoy!

• For your next party, I present mini pinatas for every guest.
• UConn won March Madness, but here's the winner in Fug Madness, a much more enjoyable contest if I do say so!
• I've used Blurb to make books, but I think I'll use Pinhole Press for my next one!
• All of the clothes in this Etsy shop look like what my mom wore in college and my early childhood! She was a second-wave hippie.
• Praise God! Britney Spears has a tumblr (or her publicist does...).

I Spy: Wilmington Edition

 

Oh my gosh, do ya'll ever have one of those weeks? Well I've had two of them, so this post is SERIOUSLY delayed. But I thought, what the heck, let's take a break and go virtually shopping in Wilmington, shall we?

My friend Sarah knows my love of somewhat questionable roadside antique spots, so she took me by Recollections Antique Village, a sort of hybrid between the classic antique mall you love and the neighbor's junky yard that might hold treasures. It has several small buildings out back and a yard full of stuff, so it's definitely a place you have to hunt around a bit.

If I had been in my own car, I would have been ALL OVER this chrome standing lamp. I love that it's a little bit '70s, a little bit '30s. It could go with literally any decor, in my opinion because of its classic shape. They also had two little table lamps in the set.

Another of the little houses had lots of shabby chic painted pieces. I particularly like the minty dresser in the back.

Is it wrong I kind of love this paint-by-number? I love the colors and think it could actually look really awesome either on a gallery wall or in a little girl's room. It just has a sense of whimsy and a respect for ladies who work!

And I'm kind of regretting passing by these black and white lamps...sorta tropical and classic and super unique and only 18 bucks. If you're in the Wilmington area, put me out of my misery and go give these a great home! I picture them with these gold lampshades.

And if you're in need of some church crowns, they've got those, too.

In downtown Wilmington, we all hit the jackpot at Return Passage, a sister store to boutique Island Passage. It sells discounted designer duds, and Jamie found this gorgeous tunic!

For a consignment/discount store, it's very chic.

For fun T-shirts and Urban Outfitters-style oddities, head to Planet. I particularly liked the Piggly Wiggly shirt, which reminds me of childhood.

Planet also sells great local art; I was tempted to buy one of these little assemblages but we have a bit of an art overload problem at our house right now!

At Edge of Urge, you can get all the cool kid clothes and accessories, plus more local art. I particularly liked these works, which are prints of embroidery projects. 

All in all, Wilmington is packed with fun little surprises, and for the happy antiquer, it could keep you busy for days!

Crazy for Coral

When I look back at April of 2011, I'll remember these things: Being late enough to work to listen to the Diane Rehm Show every morning; a fierce addiction to anything chocolate + peanut butter; and coral. I didn't notice it until I came home with a coral skirt, coral nail polish and coral lip gloss on the same day. Ring in spring with the color of the season!

1. Ruffle tank, $19.94 at Old Navy.
2. Kate Spade Beaumont Jeanette purse, $395 at Zappos.
3. Cursive Design's lace and brass necklace, $55.
4. Dress by Paola Frani, $270 at Yoox.
5. Essie California Coral nail polish, $3.99 at Amazon. 
6. Nars lip gloss in Sunset Strip, $24.

Sunday Best v.53

 

My friend Pat pinned a photo by Gary Winogrand, who did amazing street photography in the 60s. See more of his awesome pictures here.

Because I skipped Sunday Best last week, I am overflowing with delicious linkage for you today! Without further ado:

• Inspirational words about risk-taking.
• Could you eat dinner in the sky, looking down? I couldn't.
• The Project Runway contestants designed their own gowns for Kate Middleton.
• A guide to creating the perfect cheese plate.
• Love neutrals, but crave some color in your decor? Here's a guide to injecting color.
• Hilarious photos of superfans meeting their idols.
• Speaking of street style, check out the most stylish babies.
• Cooking with Rock Stars. Nuff said.
• Tiny giraffe live feed. Srsly.
• Jeff Bridges has an awesome personal site!
• The weirdest, most inexplicably interesting black and white photos collected at Black and WTF.

Dressing Imaginary Babies

 Hold up! Hold up! Don't worry...I'm not anywhere even remotely close to ready to have a kid. BUT all of my friends are, so I've been poking around the Internet lately, looking for baby shower ideas. I have stumbled upon my (future) guilty, guilty, really guilty pleasure: designer baby clothes. OMG I die. I just had to share some of my favorites I've stumbled upon in my searches.

I've always wanted to dress my future kids like Caroline and John-John Kennedy (they'll have the same last name, so we're halfway there!) and this $52 coat by Egg Baby is just perfect.

 I picture this with little knee socks and mary janes one day, then chucks and tiny wayfarers the next. Plaid Dress from Petit Bateau, which is basically an entire line of my dream baby clothes.

And I love, love, love this block print blouse, also from Petit Bateau.

I kinda want this Stella McCartney sweatshirt for me.

 Estella-NYC was the most expensive I came across, but this adorable bunny receiving outfit thingie is on clearance for $21.

And last but not least, I'm all over this Stella McCartney onesie. Let's all hope I someday have a little girl, because I clearly would have no idea how to dress a boy! lol.

A note about expensive baby clothes: I am a huge believer in not spending too much money on stuff your baby a) will only use for 2 months and b) won't care about. BUT I think pretty stuff like this is perfect for photo sessions, and I think it might be nice to invest in one nice outfit a season. You can even save the very nicest stuff as either heirlooms or frame them like this.