Archive for 2011
light of my life
Browsing through tons of precious Valentine’s Day project inspiration, I can’t help but to think of Mr. Blue Eyed Yonder’s Valentine’s Day present from last year. He still keeps it sitting on top of his dresser. I pass by it every day. It remains one of my favorite projects.
Do you guys have any Valentine’s projects in the works? I’d love to hear about them or others you’ve stumbled upon recently. Let the creativity flow!
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You’ve Got Mail
What is it about surprise mail that just totally makes your day? I opened the mailbox and found this little beauty:
An adorable, sweet gift from BEY reader, Heather. She even hand-stamped the paper, precious! I love that I coincidentally had my whole red “Frenchie” nails going on. {The polish is even chipped, love that too. Adds character, right?}
This sweet gal stumbled upon a vintage French Reader and thought of my recent quest to learn French. It doesn’t get much sweeter than that.
{If you are wondering… yep, that’s my hand too. I took these final pictures after a weekend of cleaning the house and my cute chipped nails turned into oh-gawd-you-gotta-do-something nails. So here you go, my normal nail state – a la naturale.}
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| Photos by: KHJ |
Heather, you have a heart of pure gold! I wish you could have seen the smile on my face when I opened your package. I am a huge book lover, and a French book? I think my heart shall burst! Many, many thanks sweet lady.
Now that’s the Ticket
So Valentine’s day will be here before you know it, and I’m proud to say (for once) I am on the ball. I have followed AmberLee at the giverslog for a while, and was so ecstatic to hear she had decided to take her love of chocolate to the next level. That’s right, her very own store! AmberLee and her friend Andrea have joined forces to open The Ticket Kitchen, located in San Francisco. (Aren’t almost all great things base out of that dern creative city?)
As soon as she announced her online store was open for business, I hoped on over to buy my very own French Dark Chocolate on a Stick. A “sweet” little surprise for Mr. Blue Eyed Yonder on Valentine’s day. (Here’s hoping he keeps his promise of not peeking at the blog today.)
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| All photos by Stephanie Faye |
Just swirl this lump of goodness in a mug of steamed milk and you’ve got yourself a tasty treat. It’s recently been so cold in Atlanta, I’m wishing I had some hot chocolate on a stick right now!
If you visit their site, check out the “Suggest A Flavor” tab. I just love it when companies ask for suggestions. What chocolate flavor would you suggest?
Ruins of Detroit
The Etsy Blog recently featured the work of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, authors of The Ruins of Detroit. I was immediately captivated by the haunting beauty of their work. I’m always drawn to things that are worn, distressed, abandoned. The peeling paint, the broken glass, the memories of days gone by. Looking into these images, it’s almost as if the rooms have a story to tell. A story of better times.
“In 1913, up-and-coming car manufacturer Henry Ford perfected the first large-scale assembly line. Within few years, Detroit was about to become the world capital of automobile and the cradle of modern mass-production. For the first time of history, affluence was within the reach of the mass of people. Monumental skyscapers and fancy neighborhoods put the city’s wealth on display. Detroit became the dazzling beacon of the American Dream. Thousands of migrants came to find a job. By the 50’s, its population rose to almost 2 million people. Detroit became the 4th largest city in the United States.”
“The automobile moved people faster and farther. Roads, freeways and parking lots forever reshaped the landscape. At the beginning of the 50’s, plants were relocated in Detroit’s periphery. The white middle-class began to leave the inner city and settled in new mass-produced suburban towns. Highways frayed the urban fabric. Deindustrialization and segregation increased. In 1967, social tensions exploded into one of the most violent urban riots in American history. The population exodus accelerated and whole neighbourhoods began to vanish. Outdated downtown buildings emptied. Within fifty years Detroit lost more than half of its population.”
“Its splendid decaying monuments are, no less than the Pyramids of Egypt, the Coliseum of Rome, or the Acropolis in Athens, remnants of the passing of a great Empire.” – Marchand & Meffre
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| All photos via MarchandMeffre |
I’m in love with so many of these images. Hop on over to their site and tell me which one speaks to you.
Vintage Valentine
Last year I stumbled upon these adorable Valentine’s and I have been dying to show them to you ever since.
We were browsing a local flea market, and no, not the wonderful gonna-find-lots-of-treasures type of flea market, it was actually pretty crummy. I’m talking old car radios, tables of socks, illegally recorded DVD’s and even chickens. Yes, it was pretty much a disaster. But, we were there so we figured we might as well look around.
I stopped at this one booth and from under a stack of trashy romance novels from the 80’s I saw the scalloped edge of a heart. Hmph, what could this be?
Only the cutest vintage Valentine’s cards! I had to play off my excitement though. If there is one thing my Dad has taught me about junkin’ it’s to never let them see your excitement. Always down play your interest, pretend you could totally live without it and you just might be surprised at what deals you might walk away with.
This is not easy for me to do, however. When I spot something, it’s usually accompanied by a, “oh neat!” or, “oh wow!” or the quintessential Southern, “awwww”.
You guys would be proud of me. As I pushed aside the worn stacks of sultry Fabio lookalikes, I took one look at these adorable cards and merely muttered, “How much fer yer cards?”
They are absolutely precious in every way. I especially like this one…
Talk about making my skirt fly up! You can even see the faint remnants of a sweet Valentine’s message. “To” and “From”, it doesn’t get any sweeter than that.
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| Photos by: KHJ |
