This NYTimes article about a retiree who builds a Finish “mokki” or backyard cottage so he’ll have some personal space is fantastic. It contains so many truths about marriage, personal space and love. The most honest part of the piece is a discussion of personal space and the writer reveals that his wife, when they had young kids, would lock herself in the bathroom to have some alone time to read (and her children could communicate with her via written note pushed under the locked door). Sweetly, decades later, his wife still goes into the bathroom to read. Can’t we all understand this need for alone time, for personal space? And, over the years with tiny apartments or too many roommates, I too have turned to the bathroom for privacy on the phone, as a refuge when I need alone time. Still, a backyard cottage beats the bathroom any day.

I’m still on a zen kick, as it where, and love how simple these spaces are. I found a couple of more:

(last image via )

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Loving this picnic from the Parker Palm Springs (found via Alkemie).

A friend sent me these images, thinking I might be inspired by the sheer creativity and vitality of them and she was right. A dress from balloons — how wonderful and how absurd. I love the colors and the just total joy of this model. And her head-dress. More images after the jump.

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I love this mantle from Caroline over at My Pocket — so elegant.  This is also her Christmas tree with some lovely ornaments– great idea! Check out her blog for gorgeous photography and inspiration.

Half a good present is the way it is presented, right? Over Thanksgiving, I bought a lot of wrapping materials from some excellent etsy sellers (trying to do my part to buy handmade) and thought I’d share some of my favorite wrapping papers and ribbons with you. In years past, I’ve usually wrapped the most special presents in wonderful (usually more expensive) paper and ribbon and then use Martha Stewart’s Kmart line to wrap everything else. But, I think that Martha’s line at Kmart doesn’t carry wrapping paper anymore, so this year, these big (3 by 3 inch) labels from Re:Make and the faux bois ribbon have inspired me to wrap presents in white wrapping paper (freezer paper!) and let the ribbon and label stand for themselves.

Labels from Remake Etsy Shop ($5.00 for 9)

Gray Faux Bois Wrapping Paper from Martha Stewart Crafts Online ($5.99 a sheet)

Russian Nesting Doll Wrapping Paper from Enna Etsy’s Shop ($3.90 a sheet). I actually bought some for this a few weeks ago and it arrived yesterday and is even cuter in person than in picture, if that is possible. I can’t WAIT to wrap something for someone soon!

Ribbon: I think that this green ribbon from Kate’s Paperie would coordinate nicely with both the gray faux bois paper below and the Russian nesting doll paper. I was spoiled this past year as I had quite a bit of this ribbon left over from a project at work and used it for a few last minute birthday gifts and it looks so elegant with plain wrapping paper.

Kelly Green Satin Ribbon from Kate’s Paperie ($8.95 for 11 yards) I like the inch width best.

Faux Bois Silver/White Ribbon from Martha Stewart Crafts ($6.99 for 5 yards)

Last but not least are the tags!

Tags from Elfrida’s Etsy Shop ($3.50 for 18!)

Silhouette tags from Jordan’s Flood Street Curiosity Shop ($5 for 10)

PS, See Coco+Kelley for a great round up on eco-conscious wrapping!

I was tagged by CozyNest to write 8 things I’m thankful for, just in time for fall:

1. for all the laughter in my life

2. for finding love

3. for my family’s grace and wisdom (that includes you, sister!)

4. for the kindness of strangers

5. for everything yet to learn

6. for the little things that keep me going: my garden; chocolate and coffee; a phone call from C. just when I need it

7. for flea markets everywhere

8. for this blog and all the amazing people I’ve connected with because of it: you are my tribe.

I tag:

Design for Mankind

Lsaspacey

Marta

Florid Disposition

I love this gallery of framed photos, art, wallpaper and delicious bits! (Via decor8 guest blogger via Elle Decor)

Found via lovely Camilla Engman (my favorite name: Camilla) the book Taking Things Seriously is a wonder cabinet (kunstkammer!!) of seventy-five objects that have been invested with significance and transformed into totems, talismans, charms, relics, and fetishes.

And, speaking of taking things seriously, I’m in a serious mood.   School has started back up.  I’m taking a class on the material culture of revolution, the history of glass and the history of textiles.  Delicious.   More later!

This past weekend, one of my closest friends, Emily, married her sweetheart Mike on a beautiful farm in New Hampshire.

First, the lovely wedding invitation that T. and I helped Emily design and print on the Gocco! The icon is of a marsh marigold, which was the flower of the wedding. Emily grew them in her garden and recruited friends to do the same.

The setting in New Hampshire:

As the bride and groom rolled up to the reception in high style, the farm’s other loving couples checked out the party.

Inside the tent, tables were set with vintage linens that Emily had found through months of scouring thrift sales and vases filled with wildflowers grown in friends’ gardens or picked on the road side. Guests cooled down in the afternoon sun with lemonade, sun tea and ice water served in mason jars.

After a delicious dinner of local organic ingredients….

….the party got into full swing and we danced into the night.

Congratulations, Emily and Mike!

I’m addicted to Design*Sponge’s sneak peeks and today, I’m addicted to Rebecca of Moontree Letterpress’s home. I love, love, love her simple and totally elegant way of displaying her collections of stamps, movie ticket stubs and train tickets. I think that collections should live and be part of your everyday life in some way. I’m always sad to see the collectors who squirrel or hoard stamps, plates, linens away in the dark. How do you display your collections? Send them my way and I’ll post them on in this Flickr group Displaying Collections! Here are some ideas from Martha below, but I like Rebecca’s the best:

I think this is a great way to fill a large wall, to showcase a collection, your children’s art, your travel photos, family snapshots. I believe in living with photographs (and memories, I guess). I’ve never seen the point of photo albums you only look at every other year. I’m thinking about making a wall of the vintage photos I’m slowly collecting or maybe just of family snapshots both from my parents and grandparents as well as my own. These are from my house journal, the book I keep of all the images that inspire me for the home. They come from Domino, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, New York Magazine and others, all in the last year. While I was on vacation I finally had time to catch up on my clipping . One of the pleasures of keeping a journal like this is that it is easy to see patterns over time — that an idea, item, color continually interests me. My favorite image is the top above — I like the idea of displaying/framing fabric. I have fabric that I will never use on a chair or pillow (because, really how many upholstered chairs/pillows does one woman need?) that I’d love to find a way to use in my life.

(Via Flickr)

(Via Flickr)

Over all I think that the walls that work the best are the ones with different types of frames. How to make one yourself, easily? Check out these two options from the Conran Store, the Antix Multiframe kit and the Picture Wall Gallery Frame Set.

UPDATE: I came across this funky image today via Liquid Sky Arts:

8 days of pure vacaction!!!! I’m packed up, checked the work email one last time and I’m ready for a break. We’ll spend 4 days at the lake in NH, 4 days with my parents in N.C. and then back to NY to recover for a day. NH has me thinking of picnics. More Ebay for vintage photographs, vintage tin picnic baskets and finally, a modern retro inspired basket.

We have our day jobs and then we have what we do at the end of the day. Afterhours, my friend Karen is a fashion designer, my sister Tate is a filmmaker, my husband a graphic designer. It seems everyone I know is juggling two (or more) parts of themselves. And, increasingly, we’re all proud of each. But, how to present yourself when you do two very different types of work (one corporate, one creative)? Increasingly, I see friends using the old fashioned calling card to represent their creative sideline businesses. These minicards from Moo are fresh.

The reason I’m so into landscapes on ebay is that I’m looking for a painting similar to this one of my mother’s (which was my great-grandmother’s — a souvenir from a trip to Italy). My mother refuses to part with it (with good reason) and so I’m hunting for one of my own! (See below — sorry for the horrid photo and flash marks… its an old snapshot). From my unofficial research on ebay, it seems that these painting must have been realatively common and inexpensive at the time — there seems to be a genre of “tourism” painters — I suppose much like today when you go to Paris or New York and there are people selling you photos and paintings/posters on every corner. I love the idea that there is such continuity of human desire to remember a trip via a painting/photo/poster. As much as we change we stay the same. As I hunt, I’m finding some lovely landscapes that are less in the tourism genre (and of course cost more). Anyone else know more about tourism water colors?

I love this photo!! I’m particularly proud to have taken both of these. My husband and I were in Vermont this weekend for a friend’s bridal shower (and marathon Gocco wedding invitation session). My father has been working on this moss garden for years. He first planted a privet hedge to the right to provide enough shade for the moss garden. Then, he and my mom have collected moss on their walks and put it between the bench and the privet — the garden is a green, mossy delight. I find garden design inspiring, at least good garden design — that is, making a garden look natural or even wild.

This vermont girl is still in awe of the splendor of early spring and maple trees.