I do wonder if the English translation of "La Merde" is equivalent to the American slang for "the best". I doubt it, but that's totally what I meant by it. For anyone out there who is as fascinated by Parisian culture as I am will appreciate having this next book as a hollow book safe.
In the Merde for Love follows the adventures of Englishman Paul West as an expat in France. What is the best way to scare a gendarme? Is it really polite to sleep with your boss’s mistress? And why are there no public health warnings on French nude beaches? Paul discovers how to judge a French vacationer by the rustiness of his bicycle; opens his English tearoom; and finally understands why Parisian waiters are so cranky.
Happy holidays people! It's been a while since my last post but I'm back at it, blogging and crafting. I just put the finishing touches on my latest crop of hollow books which I plan to release on my Etsy site over the coming week. First up: as this post's title hints at, is a novel about a woman who really needs no introduction. It is she who made Manolo a household name...Ms. Carrie Bradshaw!
This book, Summer and the City, chronicles Carrie's earlier days in the Big Apple and how she came to meet two of her besties, Samantha and Miranda.
If it were Carrie, what would she keep in her hollow book? Perhaps a pack of cigarettes or her signature "Carrie" necklace? Oh the possibilities!
It's been a long week y'all. My goals for the week included getting caught up at the office, working out at least a few times, and finding some time to craft. With last-minute fire drills popping up daily at work, I've barely had time to think, let alone find time to work out. But as I got home each night, my mind whirring full of the craziness of the day, the only way to calm my frustrations was through craft.
When a day just seems to spin out of control, there's something empowering about using your own hands to create something from nothing. "Nothing" being defined loosely, however. I had just purchased this beautiful blue chevron-print fabric and was itching to put it to good use:
I love chevron! I also have some sunny yellow terry cloth that's so soft to the touch. So what better use would there be for these two fabrics than a zippered pouch?
By the end of the week, I impressed myself by the ability to channel all this excess pent-up energy into something positive and cheery. I love my new cupcake terry cloth pouch (with chevron print interior) and I really hope you do too. Now available on Etsy.
New merch in da house! I'm giddy with excitement with our new children's cupcake applique tees! The first one has now been posted, but check back often as I'll be listing others throughout the week.
What I love about these tees is being able to pair my love of cupcakes with my love of beautiful printed fabrics to create a unique applique.
A preview of the other tees to be posted later on throughout this week (in an array of colors, patterns and children's sizes):
If you're ever having a bad day and need a nice visual pick-me-up, I suggest checking out the tumblr All Things Girly & Beautiful. It's so lighthearted and summery, it's bound to make anyone's day just a little brighter.
I thought of this tumblr as an inspiration for my latest Dome ring collection at Ring Bling. These rings are girly, preppy and perfect for summer.
The ring in the second photo is The Sparkler, a fun, multi-colored glittery bauble. And the bottom two rings feature Chevron stripes, which are absolutely my new favorite print. I figured, if they're popping up on everything from fabrics to upholstery, might as well add them to jewelry as well!
Whether you wear them to the office, to the beach, or out on the town, they're sure to bring a touch of summer shine to your look!
This just in..four new titles to add to the hollow book safe collection on Ring Bling. Who knew this would be our most popular item? But I love making them, and I love receiving all your positive feedback! Here are the latest additions, which will be added sporadically over the week to my Etsy shop (so check back often!):
1) Tan Lines by J.J. Salem
About the book:
During one unforgettable season at a Hamptons summer share, three women's
journeys unfold thrill by thrill and shock by shock, in this addictive story
about the illusions of glamour, the dark side of success and the elusiveness of
love.
Liza Pike--She's the It Girl for topical feminist spin--beautiful,
successful, and ferociously fearless. But as the media props her up to be the
millennium's new Gloria Steinem, she's falling into all the old traps she
cautions other women to avoid...
Kellyanne Downey--She's been holding out for her big break as an actress
while enduring a series of dead end jobs and playing mistress to a rich
developer. But now she's wondering why the phenomenal looks that were supposed
to take her all the way are leading her to the edge of nowhere...
Billie Shelton--She's the indie-rock bitch goddess with an appetite for
self-destruction. Men are candy, drugs are fuel, girlfriends are disposable
commodities, and in her world, looking out for number one is the only way to
live...
Tan Lines portrays the passions, triumphs, and heartbreaks of modern
women with a sly intelligence and wickedly sharp prose that will hook you to the
last page.
2) Creation in Death by Nora Roberts (writing as J.D. Robb)
About the book:
NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas keeps the streets of a near-future New York City
safe in this extraordinary series. But even she makes mistakes, and is haunted
by those she couldn't save-and the killers she couldn't capture. When the body
of a young brunette is found in East River Park, artfully positioned and marked
by signs of prolonged and painful torture, Eve is catapulted back to a case nine
years earlier. The city was on edge from a killing spree that took the lives of
four women in fifteen days, courtesy of a man the media tagged "The
Groom"-because he put silver rings on the fingers of his victims.
When it turns out that the young brunette was employed by Eve's billionaire
husband, Roarke, she brings him in on the case-a move that proves fitting when
it becomes chillingly clear that the killer has made his attack personal. The
victim was washed in products from a store Roarke owns, and laid out on a sheet
his company manufactures.
3) Bubbles Ablaze by Sarah Strohmeyer
About the book:
Agatha winner Strohmeyer provides lots of madcap fun in her third book (after
2002's Bubbles in Trouble) to feature budding reporter/detective/hairdresser
Bubbles Yablonsky. Lured into an unused Pennsylvania coal mine, Bubbles and her
"Mel Gibson dead ringer" photographer boyfriend, Steve Stiletto, narrowly escape
harm in a cave-in right after they stumble on car-sales magnate Bud Price with
"a six-inch bloody hole blown into the middle of his chest." They also find the
abandoned car of Bubbles's cousin-in-law, Carl "Stinky" Koolball, the
cartographer for McMullen Coal, the company that owns the mine. And now Stinky's
missing. The plot thickens like a vat of kapusta as more and more ingredients
are added-perhaps too many. On top of her crime-solving, Bubbles must deal with
her rebellious teenage daughter, her biker-chick mother's vendetta over some
stolen Polish recipes, and a clean-cut stud named Zeke who keeps following her.
4) Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
About the book:
The hero of Charles Frazier's beautifully written and deeply-imagined first
novel is Inman, a disillusioned Confederate soldier who has failed to die as
expected after being seriously wounded in battle during the last days of the
Civil War. Rather than waiting to be redeployed to the front, the soul-sick
Inman deserts, and embarks on a dangerous and lonely odyssey through the
devastated South, heading home to North Carolina, and seeking only to be
reunited with his beloved, Ada, who has herself been struggling to maintain the
family farm she inherited. Cold Mountain is an unforgettable addition to
the literature of one of the most important and transformational periods in
American history.
Lately, I've been fascinated by all things old and vintage-y. Here are a list of keywords that make my ears perk up when they come up on conversation:
- estate sale
- lace
- letter writing
- Mad Men
- flea market
- library stamp cards
- French vintage prints
- vintage suitcases
- found paper
- re-purpose / up-cycle
I was even contemplating purchasing a cute vintage typewriter like this one from Pinterest:
I think about waking up on a weekend morning and having a coffee while typing up lovely letters to family and friends from bed. Obviously having a typewriter will change my typical weekend morning routine of jumping out of bed thinking I've overslept, throwing on my comfiest sweats and commencing my day of errands and activities.
But man are these guys expensive. So for now I'm satisfied with my newest line of Ring Bling rings: typewriter key rings! Customized and made-to-order, you can select whichever letter (or number or symbol!) of your liking to be made in to a beautiful ring. These keys were laser cut on wood with vintage images applied to the key. Only $8 a pop and only a limited supply available so act fast!
New merch alert! Upcycling books into hollow book safes is especially fun when the books are from some of my favorite authors growing up.
The first was made from Diane Mott Davidson's mystery thriller "Tough Cookie". When I was younger, my two dream jobs were to be: 1) a baker; and 2) an author of mystery novels. So needless to say, I envied Davidson's position as a renowned writer of culinary mysteries.
The second hollow book was made from Rebecca Wells' "The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder". Rebecca Wells was made famous from her series of Ya-Ya Sisterhood books which I read when I first moved to the South. I considered her books part of my education in Southern tradition, and trust me, I needed a lot of education in this area. I remember the look of astonishment and disbelief on my freshman roommate's face when I thought a mint julep was a type of plant. Hopefully, I've come a long way since then...
Just released on my Ring Bling Etsy page: The Bow Ring! Over the past couple years, bows have started to become all-the-rage and fashionable. I blame this mostly on Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl.
Exhibit A:
Since then, bows have been popping up on everything, from ballet flats to jackets. My closet currently looks like that of a 5-year old Southern belle's (albeit with much larger proportions). My latest fashion lust is the Bow Jacket from the ever-ladylike Kate Spade:
Though I chose to pay rent over purchasing this jacket, a girl can dream...
and in the meantime make something just as lovely and more affordable.
Thus, I created The Bow Ring in all the fabrics I love: houndstooth, denim, plaid, and seersucker. Hope you love these as much as I do!
Inspired by recent sightings of these DIY owl plushies with big eyes (instructions on how to make the little guy below at Toad's Treasures blog), I desired to create my own big-eyed character.
But, in keeping true to myself, of course I decided to do this in cupcake form. And instead of a plushie, I went the two-dimensional approach. And there we have it...cupcake coasters!
