My last blog post had me raving about Parcel, the fantastic retail shop...And now this latest post has got me raving about parcels, the fantastic things delivered to my door. It's been a fruitful week mailwise. For a few days straight Aaron's been coming back in from walking the dog holding 2 to 3 boxes or billowy envelopes with delightful and familiar return addresses. It's great when the mailman doubles as interventionist...with his packages he dispels my "infrequent-blogger" habit, thus shortening the often lengthy interval between updates. He's the unwitting accomplice in breaking my bad blogging habit...I mean, when I get stuff like this in the mail how can I just let it sit there in my apartment all alone? It's like the whole 'tree falls in the forest' thing...is great stuff really great stuff, if there's nobody there to see it?
Lets start with the holy grail of cookie cutters. It seems any day of the week I can find this one in the ubiquitous RED. Only one time, long ago, I saw it in this fabulous shade of blue. The red just doesn't work for me, but the blue is perfect. Well, way back when I saw the blue one I guess I didn't realize that it would be years before I'd see it again... it was one of those missed opportunities on ebay. Fast forward to now...I've had my dear friend Anna on the lookout for it. She too seems to only see the red one all the time and never the blue...and if Anna's not finding it then that means it's RARE. Anna LIVES at flea markets! I've talked about Anna before. She's the inventor of the Flat Rate Box Bonanza...it's an artform wherein you must squeeze the ultimate quantity and quality of good stuff into a usps flat rate box. She is the grandmaster. Anyway, she's on the west coast and often shops on my behalf at the millions of flea markets I'll never make it to. I can't thank her enough for this favor. So, I put Anna on the blue cookie cutter case...and sure enough, she ends my 2 year search within a month! I love this little thing and I definitely plan on using it! And, the next item included in Anna's package was a total bonus! This is probably the funniest flea market find ever! And bless Anna for knowing my taste so well. I love this note! And not just in a casual "ha ha that's funny"-way... I mean, I really love this! We framed it instantly, banged a nail into the wall, and hung it smack dab in our entryway at eye level. It's just perfect! We walk past it all day and both of us are always pointing out our favorite details. I love all of the misspellings and crazy punctuation...it's a good thing that it was the P. E. teacher who made little Albert write the note. If I was his handwriting/spelling teacher I'd think twice about sending the kid home with a note that so obviously shows how badly I'm doing my job. Poor Albert needs some assistance in the grammar department...maybe the boogie wiping is just a cry for help!! And I love the teacher's note on the bottom...her tone is so serious and to the point...she calls it "sad news"!!! I wonder if she was at least smirking when she wrote it...
anyway, funny stuff!!
Ok, the next package at my door was from my very first online friend, Laurie Duncan. It was years and years ago when she and I first started trading emails. I can recall looking at Halloween pics of Laurie and her daughter Sabrina picking pumpkins...and Sabrina was super tiny! Now she carries little purses! It's so cool. I have years worth of their Halloween photos...Sabrina and her dad Rob, carving pumpkins in the garage, costumes etc... And here we are approaching another Halloween and here's one of the latest Halloween creations from Laurie. First off, I love the wrapping, tied up with one of her trademark little cuties...she is famous for her chenille pixies! And the piece is soooo cool. I just love classic black and white for Halloween. There are so many textures and layers to this...the drawing is excellent! And the piece really couldn't fit my Halloween decor any better. I've got Laurie Duncan artwork to represent every holiday and I've got years worth! Little things like this keep the world at bay. I can look up at the corner shelf above my desk and see years worth of creations from Laurie. There consistency and dependability of her turning out new designs year after year is just so...comforting. It's just a little thing I can always depend on. That's when art transcends.
Me and Aar feel like we really really know Laurie, Rob and Sabrina and yet we've never met. They're out in Minnesota...a place we've only visited for 15 minutes for a connection flight to New York...so we only saw the inside of the airport and an aerial view from up in the night sky. Maybe one day we can go out there for real and visit...I believe she's not too far from Kari Artsymama!
Next up is this fabulous little bottle from Michele of This Good Day! Such a happy little addition to our new place at the Jersey shore! Now more than ever I am burning to paint and decorate my new bathroom. It just so happens to be pretty far down on the list of priorities though. Mostly because we just need the backdrop to be the multi colored cabana stripes and we simply do not have the time to do the stripes yet. And so we've got all of our wall stuff in boxes awaiting the paint job. Anyway, this bottle is magical. I love everything Michele does and I was really lucky to have her as a swap partner back when I hosted the Bits and Pieces swap. I totally want more things from Michele. Everything seems...I'm gonna repeat myself because it's the most fitting word...Magical!
Ok, next package I'm gonna mention did not actually arrive yet! I did my shopping just yesterday and I'm awaiting shipment...and when it arrives I'll be sure to snap pics real quick and get them up here. But anyway, where I did this shopping is the important part. I'm thrilled to announce that my friend Tammy Akervold has just opened an Etsy shop!!! I've been WAITING! She is such a sweet gal and her personality shines through her artwork. You can really feel the heart that goes into each piece. I love seeing something right from the get-go...watching the evolution from opening day to several years in business...right now the shop is Brand New! Just debuted mere hours ago, so go check her out at little junk shop. Be sure to tell her that Jenny sentcha! :)
Now here are some pics of our boy Carlos doing what he does best. I swear, Carlos has been the number one beneficiary in this move to our new apartment. He LOVES it here. He feels like he owns the place. You should see himwalking from room to room doing his own thing. In our old place he seemed to constantly be on edge. He'd follow us around with his ears back, all nervous and unsure of himself. Now he couldn't care less about what we're up to. He moseys around the place all slow and lazy...everyday from like noon to 4:00 he lays in the sun beam that's cast on the foot of our bed. And it's mandatory for him to first mess up the blankets a bit...he loves messing up blankets. And you can kinda see the direction we're headed in decor wise. We're just in the feeling things out stage. Putting things in rooms and getting the color palettes down. Not really decorating yet. Just setting a mood in each room to build on. The bedroom will be colorless as far as furniture and objects. The color will be in the bright walls and the items in the room will stay in the sepia/white/black family. Really old and chippy paint, tarnished silver, rust. It sorta reminds me of Sally Jean's book, which is a good thing! Also for the color scheme I've got a Flickr mosaic for inspiration which I've printed out and I glance at like ten times a day while standing in my bedroom doorway
And lastly, just a teeny area above our couch and a shot of Carlos and his daily playdate Jack. (my sister's pup, our nephew...we babysit the little guy while she's at work!) Again, just the beginning stages. Back before dogs were a main part of our life we had much more "elegant" fabrics...the couch was almost pure white! Now with puppy parties which include lotsof bonies and treats, which seem to always get chewed on the couch, we opted for a dog friendly tan slipcover which is machine washable. Though the color is less than ideal we couldn't have it any other way. Less "elegance" equals less problems...jeez, look at those pups!! they are a riot...Jack always has to maintain the higher ground!
The room is mostly windows so there won't be much in the way of wall vignettes. We're trying to stay focused on how this placefeels in the summer. It's really a summer town and simplicity is key. We were much more layered in our old decor and I think it's time to lighten the load. We're just happy to havea bright sunny room with ocean breezes coasting through. All of that will change come winter but we're going to try to keep the feeling year round as far as the decor goes. Just simple key pieces. Those lanterns up there we've had for like ten years and just the other day I added the assorted dangling ribbons and trims. They needed a touch of crafty whimsy. On the shelf which is really an old door header we salvaged, sits Mr. Crow, whom I showed you last year...he's made by the wonderful Jennifer Conway. And that big tinted vintage photo booth pic of a sweet young girl was a big surprise...I thought she'd be wallet size when I bought her online. When the oversized envelope showed up at my door I was psyched! And that mirror has seen a lot of rooms...not just in it's lifetime but in it's life with us...it's moved around a lot. We have to be so careful when we move it...if we lose much more of that silver we won't be able to call it a mirror anymore. And to the left and right of the mirror are what Aaron calls his two favorite pieces of artwork in our apartment...both by the fabulous Danita!
Alright, guess that's it for now. I actually got more packages just today and have not yet had the chance to photograph the contents...so more is soon to come! Thanks for looking again! xoxo, Jenny
