A Closer Look at Ottoman

A Couple of Rad Treasuries!

I've been in a couple of simply stunning treasuries as of late, and the reason I'm mentioning them is because one's a cork treasury and one's a moss treasury; the cork one has expired, but the moss one (as of now) is still active:

(edit: many thanks to jessicajane for the lovely cork treasury and whimsylore for the stunning moss treasury!)

The range and amount of cork seems to be growing on Etsy...I love when trends are ecological (hopefully it's more than a trend!). There are lots of favs on this cork list, but one new to me is that Cork Trivet by nothingasitseams - rad!

More moss! I never can get enough moss treasuries! This reminds me that in the update coming up, I will not only have lots of items for the Lichen Collection, but I've been meaning to make a Moss Brooch for a loooong time and there will at least be one included (DoorNumberFour's little brooch set is pretty cute!); the brooches will look similar to the pendants, but with a pin on the back. I'm also planning on making some Moss Magnets after one of my customers suggested such an item.

Happy Monday!

Lemon Balm

My friend Jenny's backyard is rather amazing and my son and I visited yesterday. I've been thinking about Jenny's Lemon Balm and whether or not it would be fragrant enough when dry to use for my sachets; while there yesterday, Jenny cut a bunch of the Lemon Balm for me to give it a try (there's lots of it - it and some mint have filled in all the nooks and crannies of the yard) and I have it drying at my home right now. So, when it's dry, I'll see if it'll work for the sachets; it smells really lemony so far! Since I'm cameraless, I didn't get any shots of the Lemon Balm in the yard, but here's a pic I found on the net (since it's related to mint it looks very similar, but has fuzzier, softer leaves and the texture on the leaves is less defined):

The bonus is that Jenny's yard is organic!

I'll keep you posted on how this experiment works out; if it does, there will be Moss Lemon Balm Sachets and Lichen Lemon Balm Sachets in the shop soon.

Oh, and Lemon Balm also makes a nice herbal tea!

Bus Selecta

Okay, I think I've mentioned before that we're air-cooled VW fans and I thought I'd share with you a super fun website dealing with these cars - Bus Selecta. I think you'll have fun with this site even if you aren't a VW fan (heaven forbid), or a car person at all. You get to pick the Model, suspension height, wheels (and tires or "tyres"), colors or "colours," and accessories for you virtual Bus (or Bug, Type 3, or even Porsche).

Here's a thumbnail from the site so you can get an idea of what it looks like:

Have some fun - hey, it's Friday! Oh, and I'd love to know what you think!

Happy Friday and have a fantastic weekend!

A Labyrinth of Lavender and the Farmers' Market

My son and I went to our local farmers' market today, and amongst the items we bought was a lavender plant - we love lavender! This reminded me that I bought the lavender for the sachets in my shop from Labyrinth Hill; the organic lavender is grown in a labyrinth:

What a lovely idea! The lavender is SO fragrant (and I triple seal the finished sachets in zip-top bags to keep that scent in as much as possible).

The farmers' market was bustling this morning and besides the lavender, we got some cherries (I believe they were "Queen Anne"), sugar snap peas, garlic, a sugar cookie for my son, a berry turnover for myself (hey, I ran out of the house without breakfast), and some tamales for lunch. After the market, I got some potting soil, and as soon as it cools down this afternoon (or at least when my patio is in the shade), my son and I will probably pot the lavender and the other herbs we got a couple of weeks ago in some proper pots.

Speaking of Carpet - FLOR is Eco-friendly!

The Ample Sample post made me think of carpet and when I think of carpet, I think of FLOR carpet tiles. I think that the FLOR is such a great company; the carpet tiles can be removed, cleaned and replaced and when the tiles wear out in a high-traffic area (or you want to replace them all together), FLOR will pick them up, take them back to their mill and grind them up into new product. Also, FLOR plans to be carbon-neutral by 2020. You can learn more about FLOR's green work here.

Now for the aesthetic reason I like FLOR:

There really are so many choices on the FLOR website, that it's hard to pick just a few I like. But, there's something about having carpet that looks like grass that appeals to me (bringing the outdoors in?) and since I'm not a fan of having a large lawn for environmental reasons, having a "lawn" inside is appealing. I love the name of this one too: House Pet in Frog.

Okay, here's another example of the highly decorative, but in a modern way, that I love. Also, I'm the only female in my household, so I dream of having a highly girly room for myself someday (until then, I will girlify my studio some). This one's called Amazing Lace in black.

Okay, another green one (what can I say?). I love FLOR tiles that have that bit of beveled edge (there are a few styles that do) because why try to hide that they're tiles? Emphasize it! This is Toy Poodle in Lala Lime.

I hope you're having a happy Wednesday!

I Just Noticed...2008 Ample Sample Finalists Have Been Announced!

I decided to take a look to see if Ample Sample announced any winners for this year's contest, and the finalists have been announced (you can also take a look at all the entries here)! I love the idea of taking a carpet sample and making it useful, even stylish!

So here's a people's choice that I love (partly because it can be used as an ottoman):

The designer(s) isn't listed, but it's called Rocking Horse Stool and uses 40 carpet samples.

I also really like this finalist because it's a pretty easy DIY:

It's called the Rug Dish and uses only two carpet samples.

This one isn't a finalist, but I thought it was clever and I like super fancy decorative stuff that's made from something more industrial - I really like dichotomies:

As the picture notes, it's called the RE_board. I love it!

I hope your Tuesday is going well!

A Purse that Will Last a Lifetime

I love my Harvey's seatbelt purse; and although they are spendy (mine was a gift, thankfully), surely they will outlive anyone alive today! I got my seatbelt purse, I think, two years ago and it needs a good washing (just soapy water with a toothbrush), but looks as good as new otherwise. Looking good as new means a lot with me because I usually wreck purses in a few months...I'm tough on things, though not intentionally.

The only downfall I see with a seatbelt purse is that they are heavy (however, I do have a large-sized one). But, utilitarianism is so worth it! And, we're (my partner, son and I) car people - of the air-cooled VW type, so it's perfect in that sense. I think that the heaviness could be helped out with a strap long enough to go across the chest to distribute the weight better. Like this:

This one's even eco-friendly: "Harveys Treecycle bag is made from 100% recycled seatbelt and comes with Hemp lining printed with Eco-friendly ink."

Here's the one I own:

If you haven't noticed yet, I like red! I often use it as a neutral.

So, I could also go with a lighter, smaller one and this one is super cute:

This little number is called Baguette (cutie name too).

Harvey's also always has all kinds of limited edition and artist series bags - check it out!

Some Updates

After this post, I had to try the Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream; I'm eating it right now and it's yummy! How often can you contribute to a great cause while eating ice cream? Mmmm....

 

Also, I still don't have my camera; it will probably be a couple weeks until I get it back. However, that doesn't mean that I've slowed down making work for the shop; I have several hair accessories completed and I'm working on pendants...all part of the Lichen Collection. I'm super excited to update my shop with these items in a huge update! It will really be fun to add a bunch at once.

Oh, and the soap that I bought for Father's Day from Savor...my partner loved it! He went for the Earl Gray Tea with Lemon Peel first.

I hope your weekend is going well!

Quite Possibly the Perfect Lip Tint

I searched literally for years to find the perfect lip tint. I wear lipstick too, but I like an everyday lip tint that's subtle. Years ago, I resorted to layering my favorite lip balm then a brown eyeliner on top for a tint. I have several requirements for the perfect lip tint which made it difficult to find: it has to be all natural, non-waxy, not goopy like many lip glosses, not too metallic, not too orange or pink (that was a big problem...I would buy ones that you can't try first and the cap was brown, but when I put it on it was orange). Even after I would tell myself not to try ones that I can't try on my hand in the store, I would because the cap color would lure me and then I would be disappointed. Finally, I ran across a lip tint by Hemp Organics in Amber (which is more of a brown). It's perfect - it glides on without going on too thick or cakey and has just the tiniest bit of shimmer. Here's a look at the tube (in the color "love"):

 
The bonus is that it's not only all natural, but organic and has SPF 15! Yay!

Execute Me

I received some earrings from Execute Me as a gift last summer and I LOVE them! Here's part of the description of the earrings:

"These lingonberries are special. Their beads were actually made during World War I. That makes them almost 90 years old! Not long ago a couple inherited an old factory in Germany, closed down and boarded up since the 1920's. Upon entering it, they discovered dusty old boxes. And they all turned out to be full of glass beads. These are a few that I've been lucky enough to get my hands on."

And here's what they look like:

A pretty special pair of earrings. I also love how they are photographed - stunning!

Here's a couple other items available in the Execute Me shop:

These are called Mossa, so of course, I had to show them!

These beauties are called Liljekonvalj (Lilly of the Valley). Simple and adorable.