I'm feeling kind of puny today and these lovely florals I found at small stump and studio choo (some photos pulled from studio choo's online shop), make me feel a little better.

Beautiful arrangments and all photos by small stump and studio choo. The two women behind all of this loveliness also have a weekly feature on design*sponge called "We Like It Wild". Whenever you're having a crumby day, their gorgous photos are sure to brighten you up.

Etsy Treasure Tuesday: decoylab

I've always admired the cheeky clocks and clever graphics at decoylab. Here are some of my favorites. I'm not one of those people who gives a lot of thought to the clocks in my home, although I rely on them and on my phone to get me where I need to be on time, since I stopped wearing a watch a few years ago. Perhaps I need to rethink this omission and invest in one or two -- they really constitute wall art as much as timekeepers, after all.

(All images by decoylab, pulled from the Etsy shop. Have a look around!)

How to Throw a Beautiful Party

Just take a few tips from Livy at A Field Journal. Her party set-ups are absolutely beautiful. I wish mine looked like that. She puts so much obvious time into making gorgeous, but deceptively simple, decorations and details.

(All images by the wonderful Livy, whom I admire so much, at A Field Journal. Go see for yourself how beautiful her blog -- and her entire aesthetic -- is!)

Favorite Things Friday: Fall

I can feel it coming, and I'm so excited. Fall is my favorite season, and we appreciate it more here because it lasts only 6½ days. I have written a haiku in tribute:

Autumn is crispness,

changing light, dahlias, new starts.

Autumn is golden.

Here are some photos that evoke autumn for me.

From our engagement photo session, three years ago in October.

Wedding bouquets with beautiful heritage hydrangea and drying oak (from saipua).

My new Dresden necklace, shining and golden, shot at the end of a fall afternoon.

What's your favorite part of fall?

Wish List Wednesday: Lovely Rings

Even a jewelry-maker sometimes {or often} puts jewelry on her wish list. I've found quite a number of rings on Etsy lately I'm really loving. Which ones are your favorites?

Two beautiful little copies of delicate hydrangea blooms on this one, from Patrick Irla Jewelry.

I immediately fell in love with this gorgeous ring from SingleBeautiful. There are lots of variations on the same design in her shop, and I love them all.

Pink stacking rings have been on my wish list for a long time. This small set in gold is by Kate Szabone, of whom I've been a long-time Etsy fan.

But the first set of pink stackers I ever fell in love with were these, by OneGarnetGirl. I love the small size and delicateness of the Kate Szabone ones, but I really love that this set incorporates a smoky quartz, setting the pink up beautifully against the brown.

And this lovely, simple large pearl solitaire from Artisan Impact has been in my favorites folder for a long time. I love pearls.

Etsy Treasure Tuesday: KnockKnocking

We got back from California last night, and are pretty pooped after a weekend full of wedding activities. Seeing all of the lovely, and very original items in Agnes Blum's Etsy shop, KnockKnocking, brightened up my morning quite a lot today. She designs pins, brooches, and door wreaths from felt, yarn, buttons, vintage millinery items, and all kins of other fun materials. They are so beautiful and creative and unusual that I instantly fell in love, and really, really, want to order one of them for my front door. Plus, she's from Austin! and I do love to support fellow Texas Etsians. Here are a few of my favorites (some of these photos have been pulled from the Sold Items section, to show you more of her fantastic past work):

(All images have been pulled from the KnockKnocking Etsy shop. It's sure to brighten your day as much as it did mine, so go and check it out for yourself!)

DIY Thursday: More Handmade Goodness

I finished two small projects this week in anticipation of a wedding we're going to in California. Actually, we leave in just a couple of hours, so this has to be a quick post!

I made the bride and groom a Happy Wedding card in which to put our gift (a Visa GC). Sorry the light in these photos is no good; I didn't have time to retake them, sadly. But you get the idea.

And my second project: after searching in vain for a fabric I liked to make a clutch of my own pattern, my mother-in-law gave me an old make-up bag of hers out of this really great, bright paisley linen lined with wax or something, so it's really stiff and holds its shape well. It was also really thick, and I had kind of a tough time doing the pleats, but since I just wanted something relatively simple in shape, and the fabric pretty much speaks for itself, I whipped up this little number after taking the old bag apart. I just lined the top with a chocolate silk ribbon, and put a placket inside with a magnetic clasp. I refuse to show you the inside because I did this in a hurry and my mechanics are all showing, and they're not pretty, let me tell you. But it is functional, and it was free, and it wasn't a complete blunder when it was finished (at least on the outside).

That's all for today! I won't be back at home until late Monday, so I'm going to take a bit of a blogging break to enjoy wedding festivities. I hope your weekend is lovely too!

Wish List Wednesday: Birch

It's finally beginning to feel a bit more like fall outside (for which I'm so very thankful), and I'm really loving anything that evokes the crispness of autumn. These beautiful birch bark vases would be perfect for a lovely red and gold fall arrangement. I found these pretty images on small stump and studio choo, a wonderful florist which also sells the vases in their webshop. There's lots more beauty to be seen over at small stump, so do visit the blog and look around.

And this set is from NHWoodsCreations, includes three sizes, and the bark shell already encloses a glass cylinder vase, so you don't even have to put one inside yourself.

Oh, I'm so ready for fall to blow in full-fledged! We don't have many trees here, and the few there are don't really turn any color but brown, but even if it doesn't look like it should, I still know it's fall!

Pink Street Publicity!

The lovely Lori over at automatism did a little feature today on pink street, as one of her newest sponsors. Take a look at the post here!

So excited!

Etsy Treasure Tuesday: Claire LaFaye

I saw one of Claire LaFaye's beautiful creations one day many months ago on the Etsy front page -- they regularly make an appearance there. I seriously doubt that I could pull any of them off: although I love love love lace and ruffles, I'm not sure I'm quite self-confident enough for all those lovely frills and pearls. But still there's something so magical about them that makes you wonder if you'd slip on one of those beautiful silk tops on and actually become Cinderella. It would be like playing dress-up when you were five again. And that seems wonderful.

(All images by Claire LaFaye; all items above found in her Etsy shop.)