Last night I couldn't sleep so I decided to look at beautiful things. I rarely buy the beautiful things I write about but something about these felt balls just captured my heart and at 3am last night I bought them!
The colors are so pleasing and I love the the texture that felt provides. I found these amazing items in the shop of Smika.
I am excited to put these in my white dishes and put on my table.
Did I mention how amazingly priced these are. I bought 9 for $8. FUN!!!
My friend Ashley from the 31 Experiment is amazing. She is so talented that I am constantly in awe of her work. She is designing holiday cards through Sarah Pay Designs and they are taking orders. I wanted to share a few of my favorite designs and encourage you to purchase them!!
Check out the Flickr site for more designsand email spay (at) carolina.rr.com for a rate card and more info. Or you can email Ashley at ashleyinzer (at) gmail (dot) com and she can help too.
Earlier I wrote about Heather Smith Jones amazing work and then I came across this pinhole image that completely stole my heart. Everyone knows that birds are my thing. This is amazing.
I am ohhing and ahhing over the work of Heather Smith Jones. I discovered her work through Flickr and just love the style, feel and inspiration behind her work.
The colors she uses and the images she chooses speak to me. I also have this weird thing for lined paper.
I found these pot racks by designer Kari Merkle and had to post about them. What a fun concept for the right kitchen. I wish my kitchen was bigger than a closet and I would totally get this. The colors are great.
Kari is based in Portland, Oregon and you can find some of the designs on Supermarket.
These are just the most clever coasters that I have ever seen. I found them in the Dimmalimm Home Etsy store. I love that they serve as coasters and "wine charms". And the colors are perfect for fall.
They start at $18 and I think they would make fantastic gifts. I might have to start my holiday shopping list early.
I am obsessed with looking at dresses lately and I am loving the fall colors and styles. All of the ruffles are making my life better(who knew I would love such girliness!).
The styles designed by Ikvot ha Mashiach, a Rhode Island based designer, are chic and adorable. My favorite is by far this red dress. She pairs it with tights.
I have always loved purple. I wear it alot! This dress is great. I love that it has both ruffles and a little "edge".
She also has skirts and shirts and more. Check out her shop.
I am obsessed with a band. My sister, my mom, my husband, my friends, my town, my state are all obsessed with a band. They are called "The Avett Brothers" and they speak directly to the core of my being. They have impacted my life, made me feel things deeper, taught me about family and love and life.
They have a new album out called I and Love and You. It is amazing. The lyrics, the music and the words are great. I am so lucky that I was able to see them perform here in NYC on Saturday. My sweet sister got me tickets as a wedding shower present (good idea right!).
If you are not familiar with the band then I have a few requests.
1. Listen to the lyrics...they will move you 2. Listen to these songs first: If It's The Beaches, The Offering, When I Drink, November Blue, I and Love and You and then listen to every single other song!
I got married two weeks ago and we played The Avett Brother's throughout the reception. And our last song was "Go To Sleep" (that is usually the last song that the Avett's play at their shows). We also played on of my favorite songs called "The Offering".
Some lyrics to share:
THE OFFERING: Babe I'm lost Cause I don't know what to say Hmmm I love you Want to make you my wife someday Don't wanna steal you Of a young woman's light To me its perfect Just wanna do you right And I've known others And I've loved others too But I loved them cause they were stepping stones On a staircase to you Sometimes I act foolish I don't know what to do Please babe try not to judge me For my offering is true And I dream of children We can call our own Watch 'em run around in the front yard From the front porch of our home
Wow Serendipity & Spark readers you have been loyal. I have been out of touch for a while and for that I am sorry. But......I am now a Mrs. I promise to share lots of details in the coming weeks about the wedding and the fun I have had.
In the meantime, I wanted to share this adorable coat that I found today on the Etsy shop of "Simple Cut". I love everything about it. The color, the style, THE RUFFLES. Tis the season to be thinking about new coats. There is a little crisp in the NYC air. I am ready for a new jacket.
My posting will be light the next few weeks while I prepare for my October 3 wedding. Please keep reading. Serendipity and Spark is alive and sparking. We will have much more coming in after the big day!!
Secretly I wish I was wearing this dress to my own wedding!
My mom's best friend has a daughter. She is amazingly talented and has been trying to break into the music world for a long time. Her talent is limitless. She seriously is incredible. This past weekend she rocked Madison Square Garden with JAY-Z. AMAZING!The song is the same song he sang with Alicia Keys at the VMA awards but honestly (and yes I am biased) she did a better job!!!
She seriously has talent. I will fully admit that I cried watching this and couldn't be prouder. Check it out everyone!!!!
I write about birds TOOOOO much but I just can't help it. I found these gorgeous bird hangers on the Etsy shop of A Silver Garden and I am smitten.
They also feature some adorable tumbler sets that could be used for many different things. I think you could put these in your office or your kitchen! Love them.
Hi everyone...I am knee deep into planning my wedding and will still be writing on Serendipity & Spark but will also be spending a lot of time over on Wedding Sparks putting up my DIY projects. Keep checking both blogs and thanks for being such important readers!
Bake It Pretty has always made me happy. I love everything that they offer. When I saw these awesome cupcake holders I got excited. They are gorgeous! The metallic ones are my most favorite.
How adorable would the houndstooth cups be for a themed wedding.
The prices at Bake It Pretty are so great. These mini-cupcake cups start at $2.75.
It isn't always easy to be inspired. Sometimes life is stressful. I am in the midst of wedding planning and sometimes everything can seem overwhelming. Today I came across the art work of Sound Revoluation and instantly felt a little calmer. I have to share!
The art is very reasonable priced. The doily art is $18. I am loving the wood pieces.
Sound Revolution has a ton of collage art. I love the vintage feel. The romance of these pieces comes through.
I have loved Imogen Heap for a long time and her new album is the culmination of extreme talent, thoughtfulness and innovation. I can't wait to buy the album on the 25th. Until then she is streaming the video and you can listen to it here!
When I found Paper Doll Woodshop I thought - "who would have thought to do this?". They are so creative and their items are fun. I am loving this magazine rack and the price is right at $38.
This mustache salt and pepper shaker is brilliant. What a great gift this would be to the right funky couple!
Now that I have a new apartment it really is the little things that I am starting to love. When I found these tea towels by Ferm Living I wanted them! I think I will add them to our wedding registry!
Bikes are the new "in" image. I like this vintage inspired tea towel.
One of my favorite childrens books is called The Dandelion Seed. This tea towel goes right along with that theme.
People are often asking me for suggestions on invitation companies. I wanted to share the amazing company Bird And Banner. I have never used them but covet their work on a regular basis. Their use of textures and unique materials blows me away.
There is something so incredibly romantic about this invitation. The fabric and the stitch.
I love that brides and grooms are putting effort into their rehearsal dinner invitations. Check out these adorable invites.
I love, love, love this invite and think it would make for an adorable baby shower invite.
Head over to their website and check it out. Be inspired!
I am pretty sure I need to own all of this jewelry that I found at theJoannarutter Shop on Etsy. I just adore it. The prices are a bit steep starting at $35 but I think they could make a fun birthday gift or gift to yourself!
I love the bow necklace. There is just something about bows that makes me feel young and pretty.
I wanted to share with you my DIY wedding invitations. I did every step of these invitations including the printing, design and assembly! Check out my wedding website Wedding Sparks for more details!
Miley Cyrus and Max Azria launched their line for Wal-Mart and I love, love, love a few of the shirts! And the prices are amazing $12 for the shirts. They are junior sizes but hey I am ok with going up a size!
I bought these 2 shirts. They also have a blue, red and white version.
My friend and fellow Miley lover, Becky, would love this shirt! It comes in a few colors. Check out the line here.
I am not a butterfly person but saw this clock and thought it was really fun. I wanted to share. The clock is DIY - you can place the butterflies wherever you want.
I love the whimsical feel. I think this would be fun in a living room or little girls room. You could probably paint the butterflies if you wanted other colors. You can buy the clock lots of places including Decor Craft and Fireworks Gallery.
My loyal Serendipity readers...thank you for your patience the last week and in the coming days. I haven't been posting much because I have been super busy getting ready for a big move. Thank you for continuing to read and I promise to be back next week with some FUN FINDS!
As my dear friend Ashley reminds me..."Make Peace With The Moment" (image by TravelItAll)
I am amidst a crazy time in my life. In the next week I am moving, finalizing my DIY wedding invites and preparing for my wedding which is only 2 months away. With so much going on I am reaching out for inspiration anywhere I can find it.
Today is my sweet fiance's birthday. He recently has started doing photography (for fun) and a few of his pictures have really inspired me this week.
Cool necklaces make Mondays better. I love the jewelry from Ball and Chain so much. It is so quirky and clever. For some reason my favorite necklace is this stable necklace. I remember when I had my first job and got my very own stapler. Not sure why but it meant something.
I could rock this stereo necklace!
I would like to buy this for my roommate who wears a shirt that makes him look just like a lumberjack!
I think this would be a really funny bridal shower gift for a bride!! Now that you are a wife get to ironing. Pretty funny.
Another find that my roommate might enjoy.
And last but not least, a milk jug necklace. LOVE IT!.
The prices are steep but they make for fun presents. Check out the Ball & Chain Etsy Shop.
My friend Ashley just posted an amazing, inspiring, moving blog post on her blog 31 Experiment. I have to share it with you! Head over to her blog to be inspired.
This is why blogging makes my life better because of the incredible inspiration shared across the world on the web, every single day.
I am hunting for a new "cool" shower curtain for the new apartment and came across these AWESOME custom shower curtains and had to share. I think you could do some really cool things with these.
(this is really cool - "and the crowds cheer")
The prices aren't too bad but they certainly aren't "cheap".
I found a cake plate this weekend and have to share. It was only $8.96 and I love it! It was my first time in Fishs Eddy, although I have written about them quite a bit. I am loving this cake plate that combines birds and "wires". And I really like the light blue.
They are having some great sales. The sales seem to better in the stores but the website has some stuff too!
Check out their website for some other great stuff. Here are some of my other favorites from in store.
(These are salt and pepper shakers from the "Brooklyn" line)
(I need to buy this for my best friend & teacher Jaime!)
The amazing Michele Nassaney(who also happens to be my wedding dress designer) has started her own Etsy shop. I am so excited for Michele and thrilled that the world is going to finally get to see her unique and incredible weddings dresses!
Her wedding dresses are awesome and her prices are great. Here are some of her dresses:
The originality of this dress FLOORS me!! There is a bride out there that would stop traffic and the world in this dress!
These styles are super romantic. I love the necklines of both.
I am the age where most of my friends are having babies and so I have been on the look out for adorable things to purchase for them. I discovered Ivory & Moss and love their little shoes. The shoes are ADORABLE and the prizes are amazing.
(these are $26)
How sweet are these birds?
(these are only $22.50)
I love the corduroy and the owls on these shoes.
These little cherry shoes would be cute with a little dress.
Yesterday I found Coo-koo-ri-koo and basically fell in love. Her necklaces just FLOORED ME! I got so excited that I bought 2 of them. They were $25 each which I thought was such a good price.
(this is one that I purchased!)
I also went to the blog of the designer/artist and she had a pictures from the awesome photographer Ashley Forrette. And a real life picture of one of her necklaces in action.
It is weekends like this that remind me why I love NYC. This photo is out my apartment window on Saturday. What a great shot, especially considering it was Pride weekend.
As I have said 100 times Etsy is a gem in my life and in the lives of so many brides. I made 3 random purchases from Etsy this week. Most of this stuff is for my upcoming wedding.
First, these gems from the Etsy Shop of Ay Mujer. I plan to use them at my rehearsal dinner and just think the mixed colors are so fantastic! The seller takes custom orders. My set of multi-colored flags were only $11 for 1 banner = 13' long, with (9) 9"x10" flags. I bought 3 sets.
Second, I found these adorable paper strings that have "love songs" on them. They were $4 for 16 pieces in the Etsy Shop of Ormolu. I bought 5 sets. I love them! Songs include: "i can't help falling in love with you", "say that you love me", "thank you for loving me", "love is all we need", baby, I love your way",, "have I told you lately that I love you?", "I want you, I need you, I love you", "baby I need your lovin". Check out her shop for some other amazing finds!!
Lastly, was this gorgeous vintage lace ribbon from the Etsy Shop of A Bohemian Market.I bought the deep pink and got 1 roll of 12 yards for $4.00.
What have some of your spontaneous Etsy buys been?
I was so lucky to see the work by Hayley Carmo in person at the Renegade Craft fair in Brooklyn. Something about her work just floored me and excited me. Hayley creates these stunning ribbons. Imagine them in your office or your bedroom.
Imagine decorating a kids room with these! Oh they are gorgeous.These pictures are from an installation that Hayley did.
Hayley is an artist and you can see her work on her website www.hayleycarmo.com. She has won tons of awards and her mix of materials is awesome. You can also visit her Etsy shop here: Kindly By Hayley
Continuing my interview with Jeffrey Label from Label New York. One of my favorite parts of the process was the label making for the t-shirts. Jeffrey screen prints all of his labels on to a t-shirt and then cuts them out and sews them in.
I think this is such a cool idea and process.
You can buy Jeffrey's shirts at stores in New York City, San Diego and Los Angeles. And also through his websitewww.labelnewyork.com. Enter the coupon code: VLOG for a 10% off.
I met an artist this weekend. His name was Jeffrey Label and he is pure potential. As part of my "summer of adventure" with my co-vlogger and bff (Pat Sandora of A Blog About Things), we decided to do some interviews around NYC with "cool people". T-Shirt designer Jeffrey Label was our first interview.
Jeffrey is a New York designer that went to school at FIT. For the last 3 years he has been making incredible screen printed graphic t-shirts out of his Hell's Kitchen apartment. We were lucky to meet him and have him talk us through his "process". Here is a video that we shot with Jeffrey:
Not only does Jeffrey design the t-shirts and screen print them but he also dyes his shirts. He feels like this gives them a certain uniqueness and edge, and after seeing them...i agree. Each shirt is different and some of the shirts have dye blotches which really adds to their "feel".
Here are a few pictures of the process:
Jeffrey works right out of his apartment. Hence the dye on his walls. This is the typical setup before screening.
This is Jeffrey's "wall of screens" - he has so many and he groups them in themes from astrology to greek to angels.
Once a screen is picked, Jeffrey chooses a t-shirt and starts the process. we decided on this awesome gray t-shirt and the Pisces screen.
The screen is placed on the shirt and the magic begins.
Jeffrey loves to mix colors and make each shirt unique. For this shirt he mixed different blues both metallic and matte.
Next Jeffrey squeezes the ink through the screen.
You can buy Jeffrey's shirts at stores in New York City, San Diego and Los Angeles. And also through his websitewww.labelnewyork.com. Enter the coupon code: VLOG for a 10% off.
This weekend was a weekend full of movies! My love and I went to see "Away We Go" on Friday night and to say it was fantastic doesn't do it justice. It was incredible. The cast was amazing and just like all of the critics have said, John Krazinski and Maya Rudulph were captivating in love. The part that stuck out to me was the music. Much of the music was by Alexi Murdoch and he was incredible.
Pat here from ABlogAboutThings.com sharing some really rad homemade soaps from DigitalSoaps on Etsy. I guess that the terms "rad" and "homemade soaps" rarely come up in the same sentence, but these video game replicas are pretty sweet.
The artist creates customs soaps in the shape of controllers for game systems like XBox, Playstation, Nintendo Wii, Old school Nintendo and even Tetris pieces!
It might be a little too late to pick these up before Father's Day, but if you have a dude (or dudette) in your life who loves video games these practical and fun soaps are a great deal at $5-15. Pick 'em up at Digital Soaps, and if you're truly a soap fanatic you can follow them @DigitalSoaps.
tomorrow my best friend devon is having a baby girl. she already has 2 twin boys but is adding a precious little girl to the mix. i found these precious dresses in the etsy shop of all the numbers and had to share. they are so cute.
i think this little vespa dress is so cute and the muli-color one is perfect for summer.
the dresses start at $36 and you can find them here: all the numbers
i heard this commercial today and fell in love with the music.the commercial is a sun chips commercial and not only has a great song but also has a great theme.
the song is called "so much more" and is by marc robillard.you can check out his myspace site here: www.myspace.com/marcrobillar. his music is really fantastic.
seeing the work of miniature rhino in person just stole my heart. the gorgeous embroideries captured me. there is just something about them that makes you feel warm inside.
i got to check out the awesome curiosity cabinets. such a cool concept.
(image from miniature rhino blog)
i am also in love with this idea of a "message in a bottle" - you can commission a letter to be placed in this tiny tube. it is typed on a typewriter on vintage paper.
i got to check out the amazing work by laura skelton of prix-prix this weekend. i think this concept is amazing and the quality was incredible. laura takes ties and turns the fabric into wallets and necklaces.
she uses the tie material for the outside of the wallets and old suit material for the inside. soooo cool! the necklaces are really gorgeous.
also, how sick is the prix-prix press kit! amazing.
i found these adorable bird salt and pepper shakers at target this weekend - for $4.99 - and had to buy them! i am not sure yet if i will use them as shakers or incorporate them into my wedding somehow.
if i can think of a way to cover the holes, they could make cute cake toppers :)
i spent a big part of the day saturday at the renegade craft fair in brooklyn. it was really fantastic and there were SOOOOO many talented people there. there are a few other renegade fairs coming up in LA, San Fran and Chicago. i was a big overwhelmed by the talent and thought that i might not be able to buy anything. i really wanted to see what everyone offered and then hit up their websites and etsy shops, but i walked into the seattle show posters tent and fell in love with his prints.
the heart/gear picture i can invision in my new apartment and my financee also loved it!
this print was a big hit with my fiancee also. the birds GLOW IN THE DARK. sounds a little silly but it really looks incredible. the prints were $20 each.
this is where i share accidental discoveries and moments of spark.enjoy.
life is about doing what makes you happy. if you aren't happy re-evaluate what you are doing. you should never look back on your life and not be proud of what you are doing.
if you want to travel - travel. if you want to sing - sing. if you want to start a company - start a company. if you want to blog - blog.
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Sound Revolution has a ton of collage art. I love the vintage feel. The romance of these pieces comes through. 
Check out the line here.
I could rock this stereo necklace!
I would like to buy this for my roommate who wears a shirt that makes him look just like a lumberjack!
(this is really cool - "and the crowds cheer")
(These are salt and pepper shakers from the "Brooklyn" line)
(I need to buy this for my best friend & teacher Jaime!)
(these are $26)
(these are only $22.50)
(this is one that I purchased!)
(this is 1 that I purchased!)
(photo by my love Mr. Ras)
Jeffrey works right out of his apartment. Hence the dye on his walls. This is the typical setup before screening.
This is Jeffrey's "wall of screens" - he has so many and he groups them in themes from astrology to greek to angels.
Once a screen is picked, Jeffrey chooses a t-shirt and starts the process. we decided on this awesome gray t-shirt and the Pisces screen.
The screen is placed on the shirt and the magic begins.
Jeffrey loves to mix colors and make each shirt unique. For this shirt he mixed different blues both metallic and matte.
Next Jeffrey squeezes the ink through the screen.
(image from miniature rhino blog)
(these 3 are my favorite so far!)
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