More Lamp Love

Speaking of lamps... I saw these in Caitlin Wilson's home tour on Made By Girl and I WANT them:



Unfortunately, she bought them locally, and I don't have any trips to Dubai planned in the near future... So I'll just have to admire them from afar.

But I'm also quite taken with her Chiang Mai Dragon pillow - and I can buy that fabric in the U.S. Now I just need to learn how to sew...

Party Lamps

Susan from Shandell's has such an eye...

I saw these beauties in her Etsy shop and was instantly smitten:



Made with antique tin party horns no less!


I imagine that everyone who entered your home would ask about these lamps and would probably want a pair as well. Honestly - what will she come up with next...?

Kate Long Stevens

More goodness from The NEO-Traditionalist today! Actually - she posted about this artist last week, but I gather my post ideas the week prior - so there you have it.

Anyway - I've fallen madly in love with the work of Kate Long Stevens. And I was floored to read that she's very young (graduated from University of the South in 2003). But talent doesn't hinge on age - and these paintings are truly wonderful.

Her figurative paintings capture light and motion and often vehemently nod to the Impressionist masters.





More impressionist notes can be found in her "land and sea" paintings, and these serene landscapes make me sigh.





Finally, I was blown away by her abstract paintings. Their bold brush strokes and feminine colors are enchanting.





I'm no art critic - so my observations are far more decor and design directed. But this artist's accomplishment in such a short period of time can't be denied. I find it incredibly inspirational.

Baby Boho at Rickshaw Design

One of my new favorite sites, The NEO-traditionalist introduced me to this darling line of children's clothes and bedding.

Rickshaw Design's founder and designer Catherine Fitzsimmons uses her world travels as inspiration, particularly India where she found herself captivated by block printing.


I only have to look at her picture to know that I'll most likely love anything she creates. I'm obsessed with her top.

Here are some Baby Boho images I found on the Rickshaw site:










Um - Catherine? Are you planning to start a line for women anytime soon? I'll be your first customer...

Pssst! Run don't walk to The City Sage where the lovely Anne is giving away a $40 store credit to Rickshaw.

Looking for Bridesmaid Dresses?

I've written about Kathlin Argiro before and her gorgeous designs. So of course you know that she does semi-custom dresses...


But what you probably don't know is that she's having a 10-20% off sale for all bridesmaid dresses ordered before April 20. AND you can have sample dresses sent to you at home.


For more information, contact courtney@kathlinargiro.com.

In the meantime, here are a few dresses I wouldn't mind wearing - you know, if you were thinking of asking me to be in your wedding...




Can you tell I'm ready for Spring?

Clayton Gray Goodness

Jackie VonTobel posted pictures of some lovely lamps recently:





I absolutely love these two and thought I'd do a little browsing around the source.

I've heard of Clayton Gray Home, but I'd never actually visited. Now that I have, here are some of my favorite items:













I had to include that last picture of all the wastebaskets since I looooove them. I want one in each color.

Of course, I didn't love everything on the site since there was quite a bit of contemporary stuff. But that's simply because it's not my cup of tea - I can still appreciate the good quality and style.

One piece kind of made me laugh though:


That is a BOLD light fixture. It would take a very strong room to handle it. I think it looks like a Tiffany lamp met at disco ball.

Another light made me do a double take. But it's not at all contemporary. It's very fancy:


Is it me or do you also see this and immediately think of Cinderella's pumpkin coach?

Anyway - I thoroughly enjoyed perusing Clayton Gray. I'll definitely be back for more...

The Haul

Yesterday I wrote posts here, on Style Key West AND on The Big Piece of Cake - all about my Liberty of London for Target shopping. And I promised that I'd post pictures of everything I bought.

I didn't buy any of the cute home goods because quite honestly, we don't need them and I couldn't justify the purchase. But we do need some new clothes - so that's what I have to show you.



First - the adorable outfits I got for Eleanor. I wish I could have taken pictures of her modeling them... But as I explained on The Big Piece of Cake yesterday, her taste level is questionable and I'm going to have to trick her into liking them in spite of the fact that they're not pink and emblazoned with Disney Princesses.



The kids' clothes really were the best of the lot. And we splurged on five outfits. Which she may never wear... We'll see.

Then I got four things for myself. I'll admit that much of this stuff looked better online. But isn't that always the way? And I had to laugh when I read someone blogging about how bad the quality was. Um - you did know this was Liberty of London for Target right? Did you look at the price tags? You get what you pay for.

But all in all - I was very pleased with my purchases. Which included...

This yellow coat:

I couldn't resist. It was so darn cute - and I'll probably get a lot of use out of it in the Spring worn over jeans. But it could also be dressed up a bit. I've always been a sucker for what I call "little old lady clothes" - meaning pieces that would look just as great on your 85 year old grandma as they do on you. The only thing I really hate about it is the choice of buttons:


They're like big onyx marbles. Very awkward and heavy.


You can actually see the threads pulling. I give it one to two wears before buttons start falling off. I'm going to replace them with something more practical. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Then there was this sweet little sun dress:


And yes - I am strategically placing my legs to hide problem areas. They're not my best feature... Anyway - I thought this would be perfect for hot and humid DC summers. And I could possibly even dress it up a bit if we go out or something (it could happen.)

My surprise purchase though, was this pink top:


Not really my usual color choice. But I really liked the neckline:


Bottom line - it was cheap. So why not?

This last one was the first thing I put in my cart and the only thing that didn't get put back on the rack several times as I waffled on whether I wanted-needed-actually liked it:

It's supposed to be a bathing suit cover up, but I'll probably just wear it as a tunic. I don't do fancy pool outfits these days...

So that's it! What do you think? Did you buy anything of note?

*Please ignore the ugly background. My bedroom (as I mentioned earlier today) is the one room that we did nothing with when we moved in three years ago - but it's time...