cards

In honor of the many birthdays I get to celebrate this month (J, C, B and my littlest brother) I thought I would post some stationary sites.

I really like Cotton Idea Studio. And look it's their birthday too this month and they are having a sale (25% off if you type in "makeawish" at the checkout!)

I like giving unique birthday cards. This one is so beautiful and looks like it would feel nice too.

Look at the colors!

Simple and cute and what I called my little girl

I think this one is fun for an engagment card. I don't like the overly sentimental cards and like the added a bit of humor.

Perfect. Says everything you want to say to someone on their birthday.

They also sell notecards and as I still have a bit of a beach hangover these might just be the thing.

And look they are willing to feed my nootbook/journal addiction. Just what I need, more beautiful notebooks to keep around the house.

Comfy

Every since we got out new bedding in our master bedroom I find myself drawn to sites that have linens and pillows. Maybe it's because the new bedding made such a difference in our room or maybe it's because I know that summer is in it's last month and after summer comes cold. Either way here is a great site I found. It is called Unison
What a pretty throw.
Yum. And it comes in other colors.
So pretty.

This blog has to be brief. I have cookies in the oven, laundry in the washer and the dryer, a house to de-skunk (my dog got sprayed and got in the house before we could stop him!!) and garage sale stuff to price. Busy, busy.

Mirrors

Someone asked me if I knew of any good mirror sites. I haven't found any shockingly new ones. Instead I have found that the tried and true sites seem to have the best not tacky version of mirrors. Here are a few I liked.


Pottery Barn has some great options. Here are two that I liked.
This one would look fabulous over my make-up area. It has a girlie feel that I just love.

I like the idea of a butcherblock frame around a mirror.

Crate & Barrel also has some great mirrors. They won't let me borrow their pictures so you'll have to check it out for yourself.

Restoration Hardware, one of my favorite stores I can't afford, has these beauties.

This is a leaning mirror. Maybe not good for houses with dogs or kids but still beautiful and much better than the cheapie full length mirror I've had since collage. (can't believe I admitted to still owning that thing)

This one feels antique to me. I love the small frame that doesn't detract from the mirror. And the side panels are so pretty.
Also try William-Sonoma Home. Hope this helps.

Another great place to look would be Ebay. I searched for "antique mirrors" and there were 880 mirrors for sale. I thought this one was pretty.

Happy Monday

I've decided that each week I will feature a piece of my art that I have recently added to Etsy. Of course, if it sells I will be replace it with another one. Thanks to everyone that has bought something. It means so much. I was nervous to put things up but your purchases have been a great encouragement.

The site I want to share today is called Bookhou. I originally looked at this site because of their handbags but really liked their other things too. Here is the original reason I went to this site. Isn't it so cute!?

I am always looking to cute storage bins. This one may be my new favorite.

Just the cutest print ever. I want this for my bedroom.

This would make a great library bag for a kid.

Jewelry

Supposedly the trend this fall/winter is going to be giant jeweled necklaces and let me be the first to say I am throwing myself on this band wagon. I love giant, showy necklaces and cocktail rings and big, chunky jeweled bracelets. I see them in antique stores and start to drool. Here are 2 sites that sell the real stuff (read super expensive) and one that sells the stuff we could actually afford.



Larkspur and Hawk features antique jewelry and art. Their peices are amazing

This peice is from 1780 and costs over 4000.

This is a set of earings and a brooch from 1875 and is ONLY 2300.

Our second super expensive site is the House of Lavande. There stuff is just as fabulous as the last site....maybe more so.
Their items are not all antique. This necklace is from 2000 and costs 2400.
This necklace didn't say the year but is under a thousand dollars. Now if we could just subtract another 700 dollars from the price it almost becomes reasonable.

This 1950's bracelet takes my breath away. I love it. Sadly I don't have 1500 just laying around.

Those are the sites for the lottery winners, for the rest of us try Banana Republic .

With peices from Banana you can look great and still buy food for the month or pay your bills.

This was the most expensive peice I liked at 198.

This pendant is only 34 dollars.

Only 34 bucks for this bracelet.
These earings are on sale for 27 big ones.
Thier cocktail rings are also great. I'm going to hit Banana and then the local antique stores and see what great peices I can find.

Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop. I just put some new pieces on this morning.

My Etsy

My Etsy shop is finally open. It is called Alivia Hudson. Take a moment and check it out. I will be posting more peices every few days so keep checking back.

Shoes

I'm not exactly the most eco-friendly person out there but I do try. One of my friends sent me a link to a green shoe site and from that site I found Beyond Skin. All of their shoes are green, organic, animal free. Supposedly no human was hurt in the making of them either but if any of you have worn stilettos you know this is not always true. I guess they didn't mention humans being hurt in the wearing of them...only the making. It's so worth the pain for a beautiful pair of stilettos.
I really like the colors on these shoes. I think a pop of color with a simple black or white dress always looks great.

If the giant heel scares you just a bit start with a wedge. Same height but much easier to walk in. Then you can slowly trick yourself into the heel.

I will have my Etsy shop up and running by then end of the day (thank W for teaching me how to re-size my photos). When it's all up I'll post the address.

Look

I know, I can't believe it either but it's a second post for today. I had a bunch of sites to share and this one is new (as in just started on Monday). Heather Bailey Store is the home of great fabrics, paper crafts and sewing patterns. I think her stuff is beautiful. And if you click here you can get an early bird coupon for 10% off your first purchase. Look at these beautiful fabrics





These are just a peek at the wonderful selection. Look around. Also the sewing patterns are super cute.

Fairy Tale Furniture

Usually I like slightly more contemporary furniture. But I have always been drawn to outdoor decorations that look like these.


There is something almost fairytale like in these designs dne by Carlos Cortes Taller Studio. They are faux bois (concrete not wood) so I wonder how heavy they would be? Definelty look at all of the work done by this studio...it is amazing.

More Wall Stickers

Harmonie Interieure is another site that has great wall stickers. This site is half in french, half in english. Don't worry they have a calculator to figure out how much it will cost since the listings are in euros. These stickers a little more grownup that the other sites I have found. I really like them. Even the "kids" section seem classy.

This one has french text and it looks like old style calligraphy. I think it is so pretty.

All of the stickers come in 4 or 5 colors.

I need this for out attic play room. It's not a playroom now but that is our hope that it will be someday and this would be so cool on the wall.

They also have great photos (like this one) and posters. Soon they will also carry a line of books.

Back to life

Vacation was great. It was good to lay on the beach or on a raft in the pool and not think. I read 2 and 1/2 books. All good. I managed to NOT get sunburnt..which if you know me is quite a big deal. And my hubby was able to join us earlier than expected. He drove ALL night to get there and had a whole extra day. Now I'm ready to get back to life.

I"m still working on getting my Etsy together. I have to resize some photos but then it will be up and running and you all can give it a look. I also and going to be starting to do flower arranging as a little side business. Each week I will be making an arrangment that will then be at William-Sonoma. If you need flowers done for anything (parties, weddings, anything) let me know. Also, William-Sonoma is currently starting to higher for the holidays. I know a lot of people get part time jobs during the holidays to raise a little extra cash and why not make it WS. The discount you alone makes it worth while (and the discount is for Pottery Barn, PB kids and West Elm). If you do decide to try for a job let them know you know me. Oh and they higher people just to wrap gifts for the holidays. I personally love wrapping gifts and think this would be a great job.

Since we're talking about my job thought I would share a site that I learned about at work today. It is called The Gourmet Depot Co. It is basically a site of any appliance you could ever want. But what I like about it is the parts and accessories page. This page has ever single peice that you might have lost, broken or forgot to get. I, for one, want a shield for my KitchenAid. They didn't come standard when I got my mixer years ago and I've always wished they did.
If you have an appliance that is missing a piece try looking here.

Vacation

I am leaving tomorrow morning for vacation in Topsail, NC. I will be meeting up with my parents, brothers, one brothers girlfriend and my aunt. My hubby will be finishing up some work and joining us on Wednesday. We are all looking forward to getting away. If I have time I may try to post while I am away but if not I'll leave you with a sneak peek at some of my artwork that will be going on Etsy when I return from the beach. Hope you like it.

So I lied a little ...this one won't be on Etsy because it's my favorite and I'm keeping it for myself. But its a good example of the ones that are single color based. If someone wants one of a specific color you just let me know and I'll make it. (All the flowers and leaves are drawn by me)

The top layer of circles is all one peice. I cut it from a map. And I do stuff in other colors besides green I promise.

See...blue. Rainy day. The clouds have a gray design that I drew on them and the raindrops are all individually cut and glued.

I enjoy making these. Lotf of tiny little strips of paper all lined up perfectly.

That's a taste of my art. It's not everyone style I know but I like making it.

Sweet

I saw this laundry bag in a magazine ages ago and have been on the hunt for it ever since. It is too cute and too sweet and I want it. Perfect for a guest room or girlie room. mmmmmmmmmmmm.....pretty. Maybe I could get away with using it as a giant purse. Or a beach bag or a library book bag. It's canvas so it would support some weight.

More Wallpaper

My friend Hollis asked for some wallpaper ideas a while ago. I gave a few but I just found this one and had to share. What great patterns. It's called Flavor Paper. These papers are not for the faint of heart. You better want to make a statement. Maybe just one wall in a room or as a headboard for a bed. Or if you are brave a whole room. So cool.

I can imagine this in a small powder room. It would make the room feel larger and give visual interest.

For a little girls bedroom. Probably just one wall.

Funky retro kitchen. With red or blue appliances.

Formal dining room definelty.

No idea where I would put this but it is beautiful. Now if I could get get brave enough to use these.