I had a lovely package waiting for me yesterday when I headed back to work after taking a week off. This lovely print from Meg Werner Photography! I found Meg’s blog the way you find blogs in blogland — by a fortuitous click. I was so excited to hear she had started selling her photography which is lovely and layered.

I think I bought this photo in particular because it somehow evokes my childhood in Vermont. I like to think the flowers are apple blossoms since every spring there was a day or two when the apple trees blossomed and my mom and I would drive up the back roads and look over the valleys full of orchards in bloom and shake off the last shadowy remnants of winter. Every time I look over at this print (up at work where I most need inspiration!) I’m reminded of spring even as the days are getting shorter and it reminds me that there are always moments when you get to shake off your shadows and just be.

Last time we were in Boston, we stopped at our favorite bakery, Flour, in our old neighborhood, the South End. They have a unique take on the photowall — they DRAW their frames and change the art. LOVE it.

As you will know from past posts, I’ve been a huge fan on Blueprint Magazine since issue 1. I love the way they combine lifestyle, fashion, ‘women’s magazine’ content and decorating ideas in a delicious beautiful magazine.  I think it is the magazine of our generation of work/happiness juggling design loving women.  There are some smart gals and guys over there and as a reader I really appreciate all their work. Here are my favorite bits of the current issue (click for a larger image):

And, psssst, check out the silhouettes on the wall.

* Custom Swizzle Picks from foryourparty.com
* Yellow Rain Slickers from Helly Hansen
* Excellent looking men’s shirts from Steven Alan
* Beautiful Murano glass necklace form Salviati (can’t seem to find an online source for the necklace itself!)
* Cool DIY butterfly wreath on made with faux white butterflies…more butterflies here
* I loved the Mills Canvas red flight bag so much that I bought it in grey — color of the season!

Apologies for the light posting — we had a medical emergency over the weekend and while everything is okay, it has been a scary couple of days.

My mom is visiting to help out and noticed one of my favorite things — a decorative matchbox given to me last year by C for christmas. I love that it elevates the act of using matches into something beautiful. My favorite sort of design is always practical in someway. Or maybe I’m interested in elevating the everyday object into something beautiful or that nourishes the spirit. Also, I’m something of a miniatures nut (see dollhouses here, re-ment here and mini rooms here). My mother fell in love with my matches (see first image below) and insisted that I do a round-up here on decorative matches.

PS I looked for a online site that sells these and couldn’t source them in the US. The artist is Erkers Marie Persson and the manufacturer appears to be Sverigealmanackan.

via always cool Curiosity Shoppe

via iomoi.com

As I searched for matches to post I was surprised there aren’t more on the market. Any cool finds I missed?

I just heard word that on November 1, ArchiviaBooks, a bookstore holding more than 3,000 titles curated for designers, architects, collectors, and enthusiasts (that’s us!), will open in New York! The independent shop is the brainchild of co-founder and co-owner Cynthia Conigliaro, an alum of publishing house Rizzoli International. Evidently, Conigliaro designed the interior of the 800-square-foot space, located on New York’s Upper East Side with Maple wood and brushed stainless steel with Tuscan orange walls. Desk chairs are Eames, in white leather, and a Werner Panton chandelier glows from above. Sounds lovely. Can’t wait to check it out. The shop is located at 993 Lexington Avenue at 71st Street.

I’ve depended on these hip, customizable graphic print paperweights  from iomoi.com as perfect gifts for years.  I mean, who doesn’t love something with their name on it? I just noticed they’ve added some lovely holiday cards that just made me really happy that winter and Christmas are around the corner (it’s rainy and cold here in New York).  Somehow a cracking fire, trimed tree and wrapped presents sound really nice.

And, check out their nice line of notebooks and cool matches.

I’ve had the gallery wall on my mind for a while now and while Tim (the cat) was away in Barcelona, I (the mouse) went on an Ebay buying binge. I’m working on a new vintage product for Abigail Vintage Stationery and Home, so some of my purchases were for that and will no doubt make an appearence in this space sometime soon.

However, more immediately, I’ve started collecting frames for our very own gallery wall. I love the first print and frame ($7) and was pleasantly surprised by the vintage paint by number farm houses ($13 for the pair). The oil was a splurge ($73) but when you consider how expensive it is to frame anything, I talked myself into it.

Vintage paint by numbers can veer into tacky/dated pretty quickly, but there are some sweet gems, see below!