the end of summer

No matter what the weather is like, the end of August (not September 21st!) is always the end of summer for me.

The end of outings in the park.

The end of sunny, lazy afternoons in the backyard.

The end of long strolls along the lake shore.

It's a little sad, but I know that with the end of summer comes the start of another lovely season.

a wilderness for you

Fabulous tags made from vintage children's books and magazines by Nyssa Skogi.

Check out her shop for other handmade and vintage goodies.

freebie friday: numbered tags

Cute vintage-inspired numbered tags. I can think of a gazillion ways to use them! Table settings, party favors, gifts, store merchandise, office organization...

Download them over at Poppytalk or click here for the PDF file.

chalkboard totes

Chantilly (aka Thursday) has created some amazing chalkboard totes from vintage fabrics.

The totes are reversible and feature a chalk cloth appliqué which you can use just like a chalkboard to record grocery lists and daily to-do’s. Genius!

Thursday is also having a special birthday sale in her shop. Hurry, it ends today!

hillside homes for portland, oregon

"In 1972 Home Building Plan Services of Portland Oregon released a book of 100 home plans targeted at the vast numbers of Portlanders who face the challenge of building on a "sloping lot"."




Lovely 70s designs, reminds me a lot of the houses in my in-laws' neighbourhood. See more homes here.

1960s fabric

I can't help but drool over Teri's collection of 60s fabric. I love the simple, yet colourful patterns!

Found via Eat Drink Chic.

freebie friday: photoshop actions

Photo editing can be a really tedious task, especially if you're working with so-so photos or trying to achieve a certain "look", there's just too many options to fiddle with! I found two sets of Photoshop actions that I'll be sure to use often!

Dark and Light Photoshop Actions by love4art

Vintage Actions by WingsOfAHero

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

turkey 1990

My dad is a big family-photo-documenter, and when we were younger, he would mail off rolls of film to some place in Seattle to be turned into slides as soon as he had a couple of them to mail. We used to dread the nights he pulled out the projector to view them. But as we got older, we came to appreciate the love and care my dad took to preserve and cherish our family's memories.

My dad recently bought a slide scanner so that we can have digital copies of all our slides (there are hundreds!), and I was recently able to scan some from a family vacation to Turkey in 1990. I picked out a couple of them to share with you. And no, I won't divulge my age then!

emma pillsbury style

I'm really looking forward to Glee this fall! I love its cheesiness, I love Sue Sylvester, and I love Rachel Berry (she reminds me a teeny-tiny bit of myself!).

And also, I love Emma Pillsbury, she's just so freakin' adorable! So in honour of the most (relatively) insane-but-cute characters on the show, I decided to put together some Emma-inspired outfits, vintage style.

Red Triple Bow Pumps from persephonevintage

1950s Navy Blue Pencil Skirt from VintConditionStyle

Short Cardigan Sweater from esphee

Lipstick Red Ruffled Blouse from cherrybloomvintage

1960s Creme Caramel Heels from DearGoldenVintage

Emanuel Ungaro Silk Floral Skirt from allencompanyinc

ikea ps bruse coffee table - diy potential

My parents already received their IKEA 2010 catalog in the mail last week, and when I went over for dinner last weekend, I made a beeline for it and snuggled up for some afternoon reading/drooling. I know there's this controversy surrounding IKEA furniture and design, but I would like to say just one thing, okay two things. Their items are pretty and affordable. And having outfitted most of our home with their furniture (newlywed budget here!), it's been very durable so far. My only concern is my apartment turning into an IKEA showroom!

Anyways, so there are a couple of new items in the catalog that are nice, but one coffee table (that I tweeted about yesterday) really caught my eye.

After much searching, I found the IKEA PS Bruse table online. And I was sad to find that it wasn't a butcher-block-metal-legs combo I had initially imagined, but particleboard-veneer. To be honest, I think a DIY version (made from butcher-block or reclaimed wood) would be so much nicer, and cheaper! It seems like it would be an easy one to do!

royal blue

Has anyone else noticed that royal blue has been the colour of the summer? It's everywhere and I love it! It's bright, fresh, fiery and totally 80s.

Clockwise from top left:
Vintage Mike Bennet Halter Gown from mysouthernspice
Vintage Pumps from CapriciousTraveler
70s Mini Dress from special-needz
Blue Nile Clutch from Adore Vintage

freebie friday: time-telling screen savers

This week, I thought I'd share with you a couple of screensavers that will have your computer monitor double as a (very cool) clock!

Clockr is a screensaver that uses random digit images from Flickr to display the current time. You can download it here.

Fliqilo is a flip-style clock screensaver. I just love watching the numbers flip over!

Have a great weekend everybody!

the pyrex collective

I just came across this new blog devoted to the love of Pyrex!
I currently own only one vintage Pyrex bowl, a yellow Cinderella bowl, and I love serving salad in it. It's so cheery!

Also, check out another favourite Pyrex blog of mine, Pyrex Love.

pencil sculptures

These pencil sculptures by Dalton Ghetti are unbelievable.

See more photos here.

eames hack

A group of designers transformed an Eames molded plywood chair into a high chair, and an Eames shell chair into a toilet seat. I'm not sure about the high chair, but the toilet seat looks comfy!

'The Eames High Chair and Eames Toilet Seat "are about breaking the status surrounding high design objects. Through physically invasive alterations, these once iconic, elite, forms are liberated from their old, restrained image. The project is not a critique of the Eames, but rather a fulfillment of their original ideals.”' - Eames Hack Project

Found via A Cup of Jo.

the motor maids in fair japan

I came across this book, The Motor Maids in Fair Japan by Katherine Stokes, at a thrift store over the weekend. I initially picked it up because of its pretty cover and spine.

But then when I opened it up...

...I thought, "Nineteen-twenty-eight!". That totally blew my mind.

Lesson learned: never judge a book by its cover!

freebie friday: printable paper dolls

I came across a couple of really sweet paper doll sheets that are available for printing! I think they would look adorable cut-out and framed in a kid's room.

Found here, at Altered Artifacts.

 

Betsy McCall paper dolls. You can download the PDF file here, or browse through the rest of the collection.

ranna

Ranna is an adorable twenty-something girl, who lives in Finland. She love dresses, summer evenings, vinyls, theater and art-movies. And she has a great sense of style!

See more of her lovely outfits here.

urban spectacles

Amazing craftsmanship and design at Urban Spectacles.

office supplies

Ever since we moved, my desk has been a catch-all table for papers, receipts and mail. And it got to the point that it was such a huge mess, I knew it was going to be a a very big job to clean it up. So I kept delaying it and opting to finish smaller tasks around the apartment first (because many small jobs = lots of things done, one big job = one thing done). But this reasoning soon became ridiculous, and I had to do something about it. So yesterday, I filed away what I could and put everything else in two boxes and cleaned up the desk. So, the job is not completely done yet, but I can finally use my desk!

I need a couple of things to get organized, a paper tray, a business card file and maybe one or two other vintage lovelies:

Top row, left to right:
Old School Calculator from picapicafound
1970s Business Card File from vintageonthemake
Vintage Swingline 747 Stapler from deepoca

Bottom row, left to right:
Yellow Berol Sharpner from funretro
Scrolling Date Paperweight/Perpetual Calendar from DunnandDavis
Office Wire Basket from forestofice