Friday Reminder

I'm sorry, friends -- my week has been insane at work and as crazy afterward, so I haven't had a lot of time to plan anything for you since the Giveaway post on Tuesday. But today, I have some loveliness from Livy at A Field Journal to share, and also, a reminder to enter this week's giveaway before it ends tonight at 10:00pm! Our winner will be drawn tomorrow!

I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend.

Wish List Wednesday: Autumn Lovelies

I usually don't really decorate much for the changing of the seasons, with the exception of maybe exchanging a pine-scented candle for the mint chocolate one and putting up the Christmas tree around the holidays. Mostly, my ambivalence about seasonal decorating springs from a dislike I have for putting an abundance of useless things in my home that will just sit there and serve no purpose. I do have candlesticks on my dining room table, but we use them for nice meals. And I do have a vintage globe on my coffee table, but we occasionally use it for geographical reference.

But I've been looking around for easy, simple, and practical ways to bring a little more fall into our house, because I love it so outside, and have curated this charming little collection of Etsy items for you today.

I'm such a fan of these fabric floor cushions, available in several different fabrics, from Branch and Birdie. This one features pretty autumn leaves and hues.

These fantastic stained wooden wall cutouts would probably stay up in my house year-round. By JinxMurphy Designs. It's an awesome shop; you should really go and take a look.

Pretty painted golden shabby candlesticks at the broken house, which has several different colors of these available. I like the pretty moss green ones as well.

These awesome fabric leaf stems by Jane Joss (Texas artist!) would make a lovely centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table, and the individual leaves themselves would be pretty tied with jute twine around your linen napkins.

And a fun twist on the Christmas wreath is this wonderful vintage paper autumn wreath accented with a sweet little silver pumpkin and fall-colored flowers. By fern and flora designs.

What are some of your favorite fall decorating finds or traditions?

Etsy Treasure Tuesday: 3 Lambs Graphics (GIVEAWAY!)

Today, I am so happy to present to all of your our featured Etsy shop this week: 3 Lambs Graphics. Amy of 3 Lambs comes up with some of the most charming and creative graphic prints incorporating humorous and/or heart-warming sayings. My friend Jill first attracted my notice to 3 Lambs when she sent me a link to a print called "I Believe in Pink," which of course couldn't be more true or apropos for me. I wrote Amy, told her that I loved her work, and she graciously agreed to give one of my lucky readers a 5x7 print of "I Believe in Pink" for this week's feature! (I am so jealous of the lucky winner, whoever you may be.)

Here's how it works: visit 3 Lambs Graphics on Etsy, and leave a comment on this post mentioning which of Amy's designs is your favorite, and I'll enter your name to win! Giveaway ends at 10:00pm this Friday night (the 30th), and a winner will be drawn on Saturday. Tell all your friends!

This is the lovely you'll be sent if you win!

But it's definitely not my only favorite in the 3 Lambs shop. There are so many beauties that when I tried to develop a plan for where I would put them all, I ran out of hypothetical wall space. For the purposes of this post, however, I'll confine myself to the following seven.

A beautiful limited edition print entitled "Antique Birdcages," in some of my very favorite colors.

A fun print for anyone, especially those of us who still haven't decided exactly what it is we want to be:

I'm terrifically fond of this one, as Boston is where Nate and I spent our honeymoon.

Something cheeky, featuring Marie Antoinette:

Amy has several "Keep Calm" prints, each with a different funny or ironic saying (and some of them referencing Harry Potter!). This one's my favorite, in a calm and very British grey.

And I think this one's so cute. (My friends and I had a Ten Best Tattoo Ideas list going several years ago, and "I {anatomical ♥} Organ Donors" made it into the top two.)

But I think out of them all, this one would be the one I'd pick if I could only choose one. It combines pink, brown, birds, and a sweet sentiment; does it get better than that?

I know that's seven, but I just couldn't leave this one off of the list. It's too great. And I'd like to tape it up on all of the doors and windows at Tech. It needs to be said. Really.

Remember, the giveaway ends this Friday. Leave your comment (and an email address at which I can reach you) to enter! Good luck, friends!

(All images by Amy of 3 Lambs Graphics.)

Little Letters

Dear Lubbock Autumn,

You were nice while you lasted. Goodbye again until next year.

Dear cozy pink scarf,

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Dear Audrey Hepburn,
You were charming in "Love in the Afternoon." Can I please borrow that fabulous ivory empire-waisted tea length double-breasted coat? I think I'll really need it this winter.

Dear Pop,

Thank you for drilling holes in my jewelry bits. This means you get to take credit (again) for my having two working eyes and all of my fingers.

Dear TTU English Department,

Could you please give my husband a break? Really. It's my turn to commandeer his time now.

Dear Rosa's,

I respectfully ask you to reconsider the disproportionate amount of salsa you provide with a bag of take-out chips the size of Alaska. It's not that I require a cup of salsa also the size of Alaska; but maybe something in between Wyoming and Nevada.

Dear Swine Flu,

Apparently I'm supposed to cower in fear. Even your arch-enemy, alcohol hand sanitizer, says so. But I'm not afraid of you. I've got Vitamins D, C, and B-12 on my side. So there.

Dear Belgium,

Man, those waffles were a really great idea. My thanks.

Dear Bub (aka Señor Irwin),

If you continue to wear that silly nametag, you'll completely lose all your street cred. Take my advice on this one.

Dear pink street readers,

I've been planning a happy surprise for you! Tomorrow, I'm offering a giveaway in conjuction with our Etsy Treasure Tuesday Seller! I'm so excited, and you will be too!

(photo by saipua.)

Favorite Things Friday: Etsy Love

Love all of these!

Charming little printed airmail bags from hooray design shop.

Cheeky 'love' mug from mccheeksmayhem (Texas artist!)

Sweet mirrored shelf at SparrowsNest1.

Handy and beautiful apothecary jars from Little Byrd Vintage.

Really great chalkboard decal (which comes in a lot of great colors!) from Willow Creek Signs.

Adorable wool felted slippers by French Press Knits (which I think were so popular that they're now completely sold out or custom order only). I wear slippers for approximately five hours a day, and more on the weekends, so I wish I could splurge for these, which are entirely handmade, and even feature a sweet vintage button.

Happy weekend, everyone!

DIY Thursday: Velvet Ribbon Belt

I pulled today's DIY project from the Martha Stewart Crafts page. I love the idea of being able to make my own simple velvet belt in whatever color I want to match any outfit. I have quite a few cardigans, most of them in neutrals, and am really liking the layered, belted sweater trend for fall and winter. Here are the instructions:

Add a luxurious touch to any winter outfit with a belt of velvet ribbon. Cut 2 1/2 yards of natural-fiber velvet ribbon. Slip two D rings slightly wider than the ribbon onto one end, and fold both ends of the ribbon in toward the midpoint, fuzzy side out, keeping the D rings at one folded end. Remove backing from a 1 1/4-yard piece of iron-on fuse tape, and sandwich it between the layers; place scrap velvet facedown on top, and iron on the cotton setting to fuse the layers.

That's it! And cut to size if necessary. I found some very well-priced velvet ribbons in over 60 different colors in a lovely 2" width at M&J Trimming. They also have some nicer buckles to choose from. You may see me wearing some pretty new handmade belts this winter!

Etsy Discount

Hello, dear friends. Today, over at automatism, the blog I've been sponsoring since September, Lori will announce that I'm offering a 15% discount through the end of November on purchases made from my Etsy shop for her blog readers.

I thought about that, and realized that I can't offer it to her readers and not offer it to mine! So, I wanted to announce here that I'll extend the same discount to pink street readers through November too! All you have to do is mention the discount offer and that you read about it here in the "Message to Seller" upon checkout. Then I'll refund the amount of your discount through PayPal after payment is made. So easy!

The offer is good on newer items .....

..... on old favorites .....

..... and on Sale items as well!

I hope you're all having a beautiful day today.

Etsy Treasure Tuesday: Orange Poppy

I'm so thrilled to present to you today's post featuring such a lovely person, Rebekah of Orange Poppy. I've been an admirer of Rebekah's ever since her beautiful dining room makeover was featured on Design*Sponge, after which I featured it here, on my blog. I found, in the process of falling in love with her aqua sideboard and Orla wallpaper, that she was a jewelry-maker too, and fashioned beautiful, feminine, ruffly, and wonderfully wearable things.

She's been busy since then, and now, she has her own independent web shop as well as her Etsy shop. But I'm a bigger fan, because recently, when Rebekah stumbled across my birthday giveaway, left a comment and then, quite magically, actually won the giveaway on the very day that was her birthday, she sent me one of her beautiful necklaces (and a charming little free pair of earrings as well!) in return for my giveaway necklace! I'm now proudly wearing this beauty:

It features a charming gold-edged vintage embroidery embellishment, rich burgundy velvet ribbon, and a soft pink cotton linen ruffle with a charming little gold birdie accenting the chain.

Aside from making incredibly beautiful things, Rebekah authors an adorable blog; her kindness and gentleness and genuine caring about everyone around her are so evident there. But more importantly, take a look at more of the loveliness.

(All images pulled from OrangePoppyJewelry.com and the Orange Poppy Etsy shop.)

My Today

Was one of the busiest days ever. But my sweet husband took me out for a quick lunch, and then made some time in his busy homework schedule this evening to spend time with me after my crappy day.

Our weekend, though, was mostly lovely. I did lots of housework on Saturday, which wasn't in itself much fun, but then I always feel so much better about myself and life in general when the house is (relatively) clean and I've been extra-productive.

Then on Sunday, we went to see Bright Star, which I highly recommend for those of you, like me, who feel like you're living out of place in time, and that you really should be back in Georgian England wearing Empire-waisted gowns and using words like "drawing room" and "phaeton and ponies" in daily conversation. It was just so incredibly beautiful. That doesn't go very far, I realize, in describing to you what kind of effect it had on me (I'm particularly susceptible to beautiful things -- exhibit A, my handsome husband), but I don't have many other words. Poignant, maybe. And bittersweet. And true. And inspiring. But mostly, so beautiful. If that kind of thing is your kind of thing, you must go and see it.

Pretty Package

If you've ordered from my Etsy shop lately, you know that when your padded package arrived from pink street, there was a cute tag announcing your name and address, and that your items inside were wrapped up neatly (or at least I tried really hard) with brown paper, maybe an air mail envelope or some international stamps, and some fun baker's twine. I've been making an effort for the past couple of months, ever since revamping my Etsy shop, to make my packaging as pretty and one-of-a-kind as the jewelry it contains. I still have lots of ideas, and haven't perfected my style or technique, but one of my favorite things now is looking at wrapping, ribbons, twine, envelopes, bags, embellishments, etc, and mentally incorporating them into future pink street packaging.

So I thought it appropriate to post about it today. I have some lovely inspiration for you. First, a lovely little shop selling charming packaging items on Etsy, hooray design shop, is offering a giveaway at oh, hello friend! You really must go over and enter! My favorite from the hooray design shop is the gift tag set.

Also, a wonderful pair of very talented ladies, Marichelle and Ez, have launched a beautiful shop called Nice Package stocked full of all kinds of creative goodies. I could live there.

And of course, some of my perennial favorites on Etsy, are low fidelity, caramelos, and The Whimsical Muse. I seriously can't get enough of all the wonderfulness.

Wish List Wednesday: Etsy Love

Today, I'm wishing for:

A cozy and beautiful kimono style robe to cuddle up in at home with a good book and a warm cup of tea. (By plumprettysugar.)

A charming felt and yarn fall or winter wreath to hang on our front door. (By KnockKnocking.)

Something pretty to wear on my finger. (By curlygirlglass.)

Something equally pretty to tape up my brown paper packages. (By boomingdales.)

A gorgeous Grecian goddess vintage dress. This one's got incredible twirl-ability. (By violetfolklore.)

And something classic and golden to wear with it. (By dinosaurtoes.)

Etsy Treasure Tuesday: Blue Serendipity

The beautiful Blue Serendipity Etsy shop is run by my lovely new friend Jill from Ireland. She does absolutely beautiful work and her designs are really wonderful. (I wish I'd thought of many of them myself.) Here are some of my favorites.

Jill's creativity is not only demonstrated by her jewelry, but also by her banner, which she designed herself after being inspired by a beautiful photo of a Blue Morpho butterfly in National Geographic. She told me something really interesting about the Blue Morpho which I didn't already know: "Blue Morpho wings were used quite a lot in Victorian jewelery back in the day. They used to snip out little pieces of the wings and set them in silver under glass to make brooches." Isn't that cool? If you convo Jill on Etsy, she probably has a lot of other fascinating jewelry history she can share with you. So everyone should go visit Jill's Etsy shop, see more of her gorgeous items, and ask her about Victorian mourning brooches.

(All images taken from Blue Serendipity; photos by Jill C.)