…made by leslie from swarm.  She just finished a new batch and they are all insanely beautiful. I’ve been taking this one with me everywhere, it’s perfect as a ‘stylist on the run’ bag, you can fit so much in it! And I love that it will age the more I use it, so so special.

Anyway, I had to show you guys. This is just one side, the other side is also gorgeous, perhaps I’ll show you that side another day – it’s like having two bags in one. oh yeah.

Eva, from Tinctory, makes the most exquisite pieces of jewellery. She repurposes vintage silk and uses natural dyes to create intricate smocked pendants, brooches, bracelets and necklaces – her inspiration being feathers, sand patterns, shells, and fallen leaves. I am completely enamoured by her style and techniques, and the end results are breathtaking…

Eva has an extensive collection, available on both etsy and big cartel, as well as a flickr account filled with beautiful images of the processes, and experiments. Words escape me…

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found via sam’s notebook, again. Sam, stop distracting me from my work now…

Marie’s crochet bags are super cute, don’t you think? I think one of these sweet little crochet bags would look pretty teamed with this peacock mini from nanidoo…

…which you could wear any season, love the scoop back.

I’ve been perusing big cartel while having my breakfast. There are heaps of great boutiques but it’s not the easiest site to search. Any tips or tricks?  I’d love to see big cartel do something similar to etsy, with a market place home page that changes regularly, I think it would be  much more appealing as both a buyer and a seller. And then us bloggers could do ‘big cartel favourites’ posts too.

Oh if only I had my homeware store still. I would be perusing these fab internet markets every day, in search of beautiful handmade and vintage stock. Perhaps one day I’ll open another one somewhere in the world. There are so many cute shops for lease in Amsterdam these days, no doubt because of the current economic climate. I often fancy myself setting up shop again in one of them. Although I adore shopping virtually, nothing beats a bricks & mortar shop, there is something so special about walking into one that just captures your imagination, like walking into a little world where you can buy and take home the things you fall in love with. I think now is the time you can negotiate a great lease deal and set up your dream shop. Some of my fondest memories are those of first setting up my shop  – having very little capital and finding cheap second hand shelving, filling old indian cabinets with handmade treasures, lugging a ridiculously heavy old iron claw foot bath into the storefront and filling it with handmade soaps. So much fun.

JJR have done it again. Above is just a little sneak peek of their  spring summer collection for 2010. To say I want everything from the collection is my modest confession – I want double of everything.

Click here to read Riley’s post about the collection and see some very exclusive photographs that won’t go on the JJR website or in their look book  – they are just. for you.

Thank you Riley!

xx

PS can you believe I looked at that title at least a dozen times and never saw the typo? terrible. I’ve changed it (it was “abolutely”). sorry about that guys, for me having a wrongly spelt title is possibly the worst offense in blog writing.

Last night I had a rare chance to visit my (blog)neighbours via my blogroll, and see what everyone is up to. It’s a rather favourite wander of mine, because there is always so much inspiration to be found at each of their places, and I come back to my (blog)house filled with light and joy. Just before I was about to head to bed, I decided to visit one more place and it was that of pacha design (you may recall I featured their awesome blog in my ‘blogs in the spotlight’ a couple of weeks ago). My heart soared when I spotted their post on fashion and textile artist J Morgan Puett’s artist colony in Pennsylvania called Mildred’s Lane. I have never seen a more inspiring property in all my life, take a look…

J Morgan Puett and her ex-partner and now good friend who she calls peabody, have spent ten years creating this magical place as an artists colony. They don’t believe in disposability so everything is used, re-used, and reworked – old nightgowns become tablecloths, bits of steel become coffee tables, and old linen is used as floor coverings. The staircase is made up of random steps, nothing is taken for granted and it takes a week to clean the place which is a cherished chore as it gives her a chance to rearrange her incredible collections. Old sheds have been turned into guest rooms in the most romantic and timeless of ways. There is not a space that has not been styled – J Morgan Puett even styles the inside of her fridge which is like a work of art with  gnarled wood and antique linen put to good use.

I’m completely enraptured. If I had magic red slippers I would click them right now 3 times to take me straight there. This is where I would like to be to rejuvenate my spirit in between projects.

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All incredible photographs are by Simon Upton for  London Telegraph Magazine.

Be sure to visit J Morgan Puett’s website for a more inspiration.

Thank you Pacha Design for showing me the way to Mildred’s Lane.