Metal Baby

I have spent the better part of this brand new year completely immersed in jewelry.

Turning old brooches into floral garden bib necklaces, the bigger the better.

Turning slightly smaller flower collages into corsage-like cuff bracelets.

Re-imagining old clip-on earrings, marrying them with natural stones to give them a more modern nod.

And just about anything not nailed down is now a cocktail ring; enough for every finger.

Rebuilding my collection; so much of what had been there found its way under the Christmas trees and stuffed in the stockings of lucky ladies all over Philadelphia and beyond.

The necessity for this rebuilding at such a fast and furious rate is the upcoming

 Clover Market Winter Market, which promises to be big.

And it's that promise that has me spending equal amounts of time staring into space in an uninspired panic.

 During those times of panic, I often find myself wasting hours online, clicking and searching and hoping to find that missing bit of inspiration.

And every now and then, I stumble upon something that grabs me and shakes me and makes me say wow.

Like these uh-mazing pieces by Taiwanese designer Heng Lee.

 

 

 

 

Combining metal pieces that look almost pixilated with embroidery inspired by traditional Chinese design, Lee's strange bedfellows make for the perfect marriage of modern vs. ancient, soft vs. hard.

And they are completely inspired.

xo

School House Rock

Way across the ocean, nestled along the borders of Germany and France, there lies a school.

But not just any school.

For this school, this very special school, is shaped like a cat.

Designed by artist Tomi Ungerer and architect d’Ayla-Suzan Yöndel for the Europe Without Borders project, Le Jardin d’enfants Die Katze provides inspired education to 100 very lucky little boys and girls.



{images via}

Purrrfectly adorable!

xo

Songbird

 

I have had a thing for vintage knick knackery for as long as I can remember.

The number of things I collect is vast, but I try, try, to keep the actual collections in check.

And by in check, I mean finding a dual purpose for a pretty tchotchke wherever possible: flower festooned tea and biscuit tins hold batteries and spare buttons; a couple of the well-coiffed ladies from my head vase collection pull double duty as bookends.

I blame my grandmother for this particular obsession. She got the whole ball rolling on my first birthday when she gave me my very first Josef Originals Birthday Fairy, a tradition she continued for more than a decade. My little fairies are still proudly displayed to this day.

So it's no wonder that I fell head over heels for these kooky little lovelies from Amanda Smith.

 

 

 

 

Part girl, part bird, and completely awesome, Smith's Singing Bird Sculptures are made using out of production mid-century molds.

Her spot-on eye for color adds the perfect retro touch to these sweetly left of center figurines.

I want one. Or three.

Really, you can never collect too many things if they're completely wonderful...right?

 

{all images via Amanda Smith; available here}

xo

Out With the Old

 

 

......and in with a bright, shiny, New Year.

A fresh start, a clean slate.

365 brand-spanking new days, each of them a blank canvas waiting to be filled.

And fill them, I will.

I have big plans for you, 2013.

New projects, adventures, possibilities.

Trials and errors.

So much to do.

So much to share.

It's gonna be a great year.

xo