pounced! Pitu7 Design.

Darlings, Someone needs to take my computer away from me...I want everything in Pitu7 Design's shop. I am a true jewelry-lover, and the sweet, modern designs of Pitu7 Design's rings have me swooning. The amethyst ring featured below is *so* me. {They offer a watermelon tourmaline ring that is also on my "please buy me this for my birthday" list.} But enough about me already, the creator of these beautiful pieces comes from Sumatra, Indonesia and a long line of Batak people famous for their hand-crafted arts. Definitely check out the Pitu7 Design shop.

{amethyst & blue diamond ring.}

dears, i cannot tell you how excited i am to begin holiday gift-giving. my theme for this year is "instant happy."my goal for each gift is that its recipient will have and instantaneous bolt of joy just by gazing upon the gift. i thought i'd give you a few examples of instant happy to illustrate this principle.

Dillon Designs' Shutterbug Ring.
{Can you imagine the smiles this ring would bring the the face of a photo-phile?}

Silver Sparrow Designs' Baby Beluga Necklace.
On the back it says "Just a little white whale on the go."
{In order to receive this little bit of instant happy in time for Christmas, place your order today.}

LaPomme's Linda, A Sleep Angel.
{This is sweetness plus love plus serenity plus pretty pretty. Perfection.}

Whippy Dipp's Creepy Crawly Madness Necklace.
{A wild & wonderful, color-heavy talisman to ward off a bad day.}

Caitlin Kuhwald's Ira Glass print.
{You know we cannot get enough of Ira at my house. Ira plus a rainbow = me over the moon.}

Mullish Muse's Karl Lagerfelt.
{Fashion-y. Felt-y. Fun-ny. Have I mentioned what a sucker for puns I am?}

LaBete Handmade's Embroidered Lion Pillow Plush Doll.
{This is the perfect antidote for a serious couch.}

Ittichips' limited edition Yeti print.
{You thought the Yeti was extinct? Not with this print hanging in your hallway.}

Now, what's your instant happy? xo

pounced! bionic unicorn.

darlings, i've pounced something wonderful: bionic unicorn. Bionic Unicorn features the jewelry of an artist & new mama named Kristin. in addition to making beautiful art & running her household, Kristin's got an office gig like many of us creative types, and artfully describes herself as "an office worker who dreams about jewelry from 9-5".

i want everything in this etsy shop. seriously.

{ check them out! cutie couture statement necklace, owl in love vintage necklace, silver-tongued skull charm necklace.}

read the bionic unicorn blog here.

Pounced. Lisa Cahill Glass.

My stars, someone pinch me: the work of Lisa Cahill is the stuff that dreams are truly made of. Gorgeous. Out-of-this world gorgeous.

Lisa creates amazing work in glass in her studio {Locus Studio} in Sydney, Australia. She makes plates, wall panels & jewelry. Her jewelry has the modern, chic sensibility that just aches to be paired with a vibrantly-hued pencil skirt and cardigan {hmmm, who do we know who wears a lot of those two pieces} at truly sensible prices. Here are a few of my favorite pieces from her newly opened Etsy Shop.

{Patchwork Creme Glass Ring & Glass Bangle.}

Check out more of Lisa's work in glass at her website.

for fall. fresh finds.

darlings, now that my year of no-new clothes has ended, i'm due for a few, well-chosen additions to the wardrobe. however, the year of no-new instilled in me a few new values regarding my consumption: connection to the maker & deliberation with respect to how the piece fits into my existing wardrobe. i care about the origin of my clothes as well as the ultimate destination of these clothes: too many times, i've thoughtlessly purchased some random piece from a big chain store only to donate the same spendy piece to goodwill a year later. well dear-hearts, those days are over.

my new requirements for new clothing are as follows: 1. it absolutely MUST work with my lifestyle and my vision for the wardrobe; 2. it should be hand-made, homemade or small shop-made, ideally with organic or sustainable materials.

etsy is an amazing place to find well-made, well-designed pieces for the modern wardrobe. here are my must-haves for fall made by independent designers. i've decided to highlight a few of my favorites for fall from etsy today as a group. in the coming weeks, i'll show you how each one of these pieces could make it through an entire of year of no-new simply by remixing them into new looks with pieces i already have. enjoy these and keep your eyes open for more-detailed features of each of these pieces and more!

{1. Green Flowered Ultra High-Waist Pencil Skirt, by Tailor Made Vintage.}

{2. Vintage 1970s Floral Tent Style Dress, by Agataga.}

{3. The Tie Up Pant with Wrap Waist (of local organic cotton), by Gaia Conceptions.}

{4. Kaleidoscope LIFE PRESERVER Jacket, by Ruffeo Hearts Lil' Snotty.}

{5. Pale - gold tunic dress with silk ribbon detail, by Holly Stalder.}

{6. The Batwing Tunic with knotted collar, by Liza Rietz.}

Here are a few of my favorite accessories right now.

{1. Limited Edition Bag, by Snowcone Collective.}

{2. Coco Shoulder Bag in yellow, by Ericka Basile.}

{3. Mia Recycled Denim Hat, by Mia Accessories.}

{4. The Mystic Hands Necklace, by Sirena con Jersey.}

happy friday, dear-hearts! i'm off to teach yoga to my elders & make s'mart & tcb.

pounced! S P R A W L

oh dears, this is a goody!! Sprawl is an amazing collaboration between the girlfriend-boyfriend team Jersey McDermott & Dave Hamill. Together, Jersey & Dave create jewelry consisting of a tiny painting on wood veneer (that's Dave) set into a bezel behind resin (that's Jersey). The result is captivating, clean and modern... almost like a modest mouse album (I'm talking modest mouse, circa 1999) with a touch of boards of canada (circa right now) that one can wear with anything from grey pinstripes to neon pink. Check out Sprawl right here.

Two of my favorite pieces from Sprawl are the Rectangular TinyCity Pendant & the TinyCity Resin Ring. Sprawl currently features pendants and rings, and the pair plan to add cuff links and bracelets to their shop soon.

Dave & Jersey create art individually as well, and their individual work impressed me so much I just had to share it with you here as well.

Jersey's jewelry has an organic-digital quality that thrills me. Pictured below is the Blue Scooter Hoop, available right here.

Dave's work is out-of-this world. Check it. The piece below is called Post-Apocalyptic Do-Over V, which you can see at Dave's website by clicking right here.

For more of Dave & Jersey, look here:
Dave Hamill's website.
Jersey McDermott's website.
Jersey's Etsy shop: Muscovie Designs.

Peace, kiddos.

*Stars in my eyes.

Dears,

I have such talented friends, and I just want to tell you all about them and the wonderfully creative work they are doing! One of these talented souls is dear Ambika of (into) the Fray. Ambika creates the most amazing jewelry and accessories, that I have to hold myself back from buying up everything anytime she lists a new item in her etsy shop (see yesterday's post about my quest to live more simply). So, when I had a few birthday gifts to procure, I leaped at the chance to buy some lovely baubles from Ambika's shop. I have been dying to share these next beauties with you, but since I bought them as gifts for two of my dearest friends, I had to keep the loveliness to myself for awhile. Without further ado, here are two things I bought that I absolutely love.

These Ambrosia earrings are lovely.

And the Sole Ciela earrings are the type I could wear every single day and to fancy events!

{I'm so glad I got to share these with you.}

You can visit Ambika's shop right here.

Pounced! Mustache & Friends.

Dears, Hold on to your socks. I located the perfect antidote to the down-in-the-dumps-grumps mood I've been in all week, and I found it whilst Pouncing on Etsy: Mustache & Friends!!

Their shop features gloriously whimsical buttons, necklaces, t-shirts and the such from their own line, plus their shop will feature the work of Mr. Mustache's Friends, too! I'm smitten.

I LOVE this button-pin set.


And this necklace.



Visit Mustache & Friends' Shop right here.

Catch updates from Mustache & Friends on their myspace page right here.

Pounced! Yoola!

What an amazing Pounce I've made: Yoola! Yael Falk of Yoola creates amazing handmade structural jewelry and sculpture with crocheted wire. I almost can't take the beauty. By day, Yael works as an industrial designer and a partner in a design firm called Baribua.

Although I love EVERYTHING in YooLa's shop, here are two of my absolute favorites. Enjoy!

A stunning Pomegranate.

Chic red drop earrings.

Check out the shop right here.

Visit Yoola's flickr site here.

Visit Yoola on Indiepublic right here.

Pounced! Abe and Elsie.

Totally fabulous: that is how I would describe the lovely handmade jewelry featured at Abe and Elsie.

Look at this sweet little bird! And this lovely lemon!

These pieces are perfect for gifting, am I right? Or ordering as a gift, and then deciding to keep for oneself...just kidding. I would never do that.

Visit Abe & Elsie's shop by clicking right here.
xo

Pounced! Paradise by the Sea.

dears, it's happened again: i've pounced another fabulous new etsy shop. this time, i found the beautiful jewelry of Paradise by the Sea. Paradise by the Sea features the beautiful work of a gal named Val who became fascinated by collecting and creating with sea glass while on a vacation on Lake Erie. her work has both ethereal and grounding qualities (is this an oxymoron? i do not think so. head in the clouds- feet firmly planted on the ground. ). i love how val quotes Richard LaMotte's words from Pure Sea Glass in her bio. "There is great healing power found where the water meets the shore." true story, sister.

if you are searching for something fabulous to send me for my thirtieth birthday (kidding! just send me good vibes, kids), i LOVE the aqua pendant and the urban dangle earrings.

click right here to go to Paradise by the Sea.