Friday night grateful moment

source

One of my favorite artists, with one of my favorite quotes, posted on my very favorite night, sitting beside my very favorite guy. 

Life is good here; hope it is the same for you.

Peace.

Monday morning inspiration

Feels like a long time since I've done my Monday morning inspiration! That whole month of alphabeting kind of got in the way... It was a good break from the "usuals," but as I thought of items to share that have crossed my path recently, a few immediately came to mind:

Hointer. OK, so cool new companies might come along fairly frequently these days, but this one really caught my eye. Cool use of technology to hit a niche market and I am intrigued to see where it goes long-term. Right now you can only buy denim/jeans this way, but who knows what the future holds? Next time I'm in Seattle, I'm checking them out!

Back Bay Pottery. It's not every day I find an Etsy shop where I want one of everything. Well, maybe not EVERYthing, but quite a bit. Rainbow beads? Sure. An owl spoon rest? Well, if you insist.

rainbowbeads

Corgis are on my mind. I've even set up a board on Pinterest for the occasion, and just might have started following too many Corgi-loving Instagrammers, too. I'm trying not to get too carried away, as adding a new pup to our household is not at the top of anyone's list. I've been in this spot before and it didn't turn out so well (Ruby, dear Ruby), so we'll go in with eyes wide open... like these sweet Corgi pups! Ha.

corgipuppy

corgirunning

Also on my mind... are reasons to blog. I've mentioned Narelle at Solid Gold Creativity before, as her posts are often thought-provoking. This one jives with some of my thoughts post-A-Z challenge (I have a reflections post still to come...), about why blog in the first place?, and the connections made possible through blogging.

As often happens, soon after reading Narelle's blog post, this quote then made itself known to me:
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader. For me the initial delight is in the surprise of remembering something I didn't know I knew. I am in a place, in a situation, as if I had materialized from cloud or risen out of the ground. There is a glad recognition of the long lost and the rest follows." -Robert Frost

I'll leave you with one last rainbow for the day; this rainbow salad from Food&Wine practically leaped out of my computer, grabbed me by the shoulders and shouted, "Make Me! Soon!" So I shall, and I'll tell you all about it too. The entire slideshow of vegetarian dishes is really quite enticing, it's got me quite inspired to try a few.... beet gnocchi, anyone?

I hope your Monday is off to an inspired start, and the rest of the week follows appropriately!

My first Etsy treasury: For the love of green

tsy treasuries have been around for quite a while; I really don't know why I haven't played with making one before--whole sites/blogs have been dedicated to the curation of Etsy pretties around a theme. (Though, for the life of me, I cannot recall the name of the most famous one... it will come to me, maybe. See: my brain gratitude from yesterday... ha ha.)

I believe, in looking at the how-to information on the Etsy blog, it's gotten easier over time to fill in the template and save, so maybe it's good I waited so long? Regardless, I just got a bee in my bonnet and decided today is the day!

I named this first treasury after my Pinterest board with the same leanings: For the love of green. It's true that green and I still have a bit of a love affair after all these years. Maybe it's not as passionate as it once was, but the flame still burns... nothing says fresh and springy like a board of green!

Here's the link to find the treasury on Etsy.

Here's the link to my "For the love of green board" on Pinterest.

Here's a reality check: In the 32 minutes since I posted my treasury, 82 (EIGHTY TWO!) additional treasuries have been curated and posted, moving mine back 5 pages. By the time you see it, who knows!

Thursday 13: Thirteen Etsy shops to share

t's been quite a long time since I have shared current Etsy shop loves (2010, actually). And while I am quite sure there are more than 13 in my favorites folder that deserve a viewing, I will be good and dole out only 13 (and then maybe come back sooner than a year from now to share again). How's that?

Pinterest has a way of bringing new shops to one's attention, and then my dear mother tipped me off to a few other ways to have your time completely sucked away by Etsy: daily emails that highlight shops along a particular theme or holiday or color or whatever strikes a fancy that day. So the behemoth that is Etsy becomes much more manageable (or so the theory goes), with these handy little tools in your arsenal. Add to that the various blogs and such that point to this shop and that shop, and it just might be more information than you need. But want? Want is a whole other matter.

OK, on to the shops!

1. Cat nap cottage. Vintage! This shop reminds me of hanging out at my grandmothers' houses as a child. Lots of textures and colors and styles that really harken back to that era for me.

2. Garnet girl designs. Upscale jewelry, very classic and classy.

3. The loft full of goodies. A beautiful marriage of felt and embroidery.

 
4. Old Barn Rescue Company. Lovely quotes in text treatments for you to put on your walls.

5. Sparrow's Nest Script. I adore this calligraphy shop!

6. Love and Knit. Some Etsy shops are real idea places for me, and even though I crochet and this is all knit, there are some great ideas here. Love the style.

7. Little Bit Funky. What color! What fun!

8. Lonkoosh. Billed as bridal jewelry, I think beautiful little pieces could be worn any time!

9. Brookish. A Jane Austen-inspired shop. How brilliant, eh?!

10. Pool Pony. Such great colors in fabulous mid-century styles. I have one girlfriend in particular who I could buy every piece in this shop for!

11. A place to flourish. I love being inspired by beautiful lettering!

 12. Super Sock Monkeys. Who's having a baby? I am all about these cute, colorful little animals.

13. Helen Rawlinson. These gorgeous screenprinted linens would cheer up any kitchen. Love them!

It's probably no accident that on this snowy/icy/messy Thursday, I have splashed a swath of color across my world. I hope you enjoy looking at these images as much as I enjoyed finding them to share!

Do you have a favorite Etsy shop? I'd love to hear about it!

Happy Thursday, wherever you are!

For more Thursday 13 participants, go here.