little winter market vendors

so bummed i live on the opposite coast from where the little winter market was taking place this past weekend. if you aren't a portland, OR resident and missed out on this handmade sale, here are some of the vendors that you can take a peak at. see a list of all the vendors here.

abby try again. shop. blog.photographer.



shanna murray. shop. whimsical illustrations for your wall or window.



tokketok. work. blog. design and letterpress.


garment house. shop. blog. clothing designer.


forestbound. website. shop. blog. utilitarian tote bags made from salvaged materials.

modern printed matter

who is a fellow rhode islander, graphic designer, and owner of "a little design biz"? why it's anna cote of modern printed matter, of course. find her website here and shop her etsy shop here. love her use of organic shapes in nature and the simplicity of her cards. her red berry branch cards are my favorite. she is a great source for holiday cards.

happy monday

hope you all had a fun filled weekend! i wanted to start the week out with some dining room inspiration. hope you likey!

photograph by william abranowicz for house beautiful.

autumnal wreath inspiration

some friday inspiration to get you excited about decorating your doors for thanksgiving. we put all the halloween books, stickers, bunny noses, pumpkin headbands and fake spiders in storage in the attic this week. now it's time to move on to thanksgiving. it's such a cozy holiday with gourds, candles, bittersweet, and the smell of spiced cider on the stove. my brother and his fiance are coming into town tomorrow so i have been cleaning and picking up their favorite things to have in the house to make them feel at home. looking forward to spending time with them and maybe getting outside for a fall hike. hope you all have a weekend filled with your favorite things!!

image credit:
1. wise craft. great idea to paint a simple grapevine wreath orange.
2. silvery moon farm bittersweet wreath.
3. armelle blog mini-pumpkin wreath.
4. anthropologie's feather wreath.

ikat scarves

aren't these beautiful? i am totally a neutral clothing girl, and would love one of these scarves to look festive during the holidays. these hot scarves are from patch nyc via style carrot.

design candy

it's rainy and chilly here today, so there's nothing like a little design candy to lift the fall fog. the girls had their first gymnastic class today and loved it. they had huge smiles on their faces from the moment they stepped on the large cushy mat until we left. they crashed hard and earlier than they usually do for their nap so i'm enjoying some tea and quiet time.

image credits:
1. thedesignfiles.net via hege greenall-scholtz.
2. lotta agaton via cherry blossom.
3. mimi giboin via remodelista.
4. livet hemma.
5. light locations via lark and linen.
6. skona hem via hege greenall-scholtz.

an awesome book of thanks!

dallas clayton, the author and illustrator of the kid's book, "an awesome book" has come up with another fabulous follow up titled, "an awesome book of thanks!". you can pre-order the book here or read it for free here. i made my purchase yesterday and think it will be a great book to read around thanksgiving with the kiddies. if i owned a store i would totally buy boxes and boxes of his books to sell to spread the message of thanks and dreaming big. you can check out dallas clayton's website here.

image from dallas clayton's website
via poppytalk.

halloween 2010

rory as a french girl (just ignore the ugly background-it's hard to snap shots of two-year- old twins running around)

karoline as a frenchie

rory at the easton's beach halloween party

trick-or-treating with friends. they were having so much fun checking out the smoke bubbles they didn't see jason hiding above them. freaked me out though.

sparrow & co

how sweet is this handmade driftwood heart from sparrow & co. on etsy? what a thoughtful and meaningful christmas, anniversary, or wedding gift. it is made from driftwood collected from scottish beaches.

birch branches

i usually don't blog about weddings, but my brother's recent engagement has me giddy for all the little details that go into a wedding. while i was in barnes and noble this past weekend i flipped through a martha stewart weddings magazine and found this inspiring photo to set the mood and for a cold weather wedding. love the different heights of birch branches and the white candles. you could even use this idea for a party around the holidays. so cozy and warm.

photo from martha stewart weddings.

lindsey bond's cottage

love the clean lines and use of white in this cottage decorated by lindsey bond. she took a 1950's outdated house and made it into a contemporary cottage that feels roomy and crisp.

photos by jonny valiant for house beautiful

mudpuppy moon wind chimes

as i was looking at the new gifted magazine i spotted these organic shaped wind chimes by mudpuppy on etsy. these look like an expensive sculpture and i'll let you in on a little secret. they are only $50 and they are handmade. great way to add some height and art to a room.

gifted magazine

start getting excited about the holidays with this online magazine presented by creature comforts. gifted magazine is it's name. and it's filled with festive projects, interviews, freebies, and an awesome gift guide. it will inspire you to start your christmas shopping list now. for reals.

found thanks to poppytalk.

toro chair

i am liking the sleek lines on this chair! and look at it from the side. sick design. nice head support and natural leather sling. you can buy this at blu dot.

happy halloween

hope you all have some tricks up your sleeve this weekend. the girls had a halloween party last weekend and had to dress up today for music class. they went as little french girls with berets and baguettes of bread. after the party last weekend, karoline had little bite marks out of the side of her bread. guess she needed a snack or one of her friends did. hope you all have a fun halloween weekend.

images:
1. rory as a frenchie
2. pumpkin tower from country living
3. chalkboard paint pumpkin from could i have that? via hip hip hooray
4. pumpkin whoopie pie treats from mer mag (i love her ideas!!)
5. karoline as a frenchie

happy

anniversary josh!

9 years ago was such a beautiful day in rockport.

now we have keekum and birdy.

you get funnier, smarter, more creative, and more passionate about life each anniversary.

you light up my life.

i love you with all my heart and soul.

black walls

i'm usually a white and bright type of gal, but halloween is coming this weekend and i thought i would show you the dark side of decorating. some of these images have been seen all over the blogosphere, but i don't ever get sick of them.

image sources:
1. design*sponge
2. house of brinson (love this blog and saw her on the nate berkus show!!)
3. living etc.
4. design*sponge
5. domino magazine

paper sculptures by anna-wili highfield

found these beautifully handcrafted paper bird sculptures at remodelista just in time for halloween. the artist is anna-wili highfield of sydney, australia. "the paper sculptures are created from archival cotton paper, that is painted, then sewn together to create the figure of an animal." aren't they lovely and a little spooky at the same time?

all images from anna-wili highfield's website via remodelista.