across my heart...

so the lovely jay ( who has a delicious blog, by the way) tipped me off to this victorian love token on ebay and i instantly pulled the trigger. my husband's name is ed, but i have lovingly referred to him as "eddie" since the 8th grade. i am so smitten with this necklace and i think i will wear it for always. what a treasure... kind of like my husband himself.

to die for...

i love sheaff's collection of ephemera. whenever i need a pick-me-up i visit this site and it seems to do the trick. i will never tire of this style of artistic printing and i hope my future business cards can be as charming as these!

G is for...

{ephemera sources from this flickr}

the flickr stream where i found these letters has some really great ephemeral eye candy. and it's mainly french ephemera-bonus!

*also, check out this cute girl's blog, Kk is for Kara. she's pretty adorable. and a fellow SCAD grad. AND a fibers gal to boot!

1950s paint swatches

these 1950s color samples from papers and paints... can i just frame these? i guess i'm on a color swatch kick these days.

end of summer sale...

stop by i love you both and see if anything tickles your fancy. i'm also open to some modest haggling, so convo me with your best offer and i may take you up on it! i'm trying to add some new wares next week and want to clean off some shelves :)

you're a star...

last little shoppe update for the weekend. i've got a smattering of 1960s office/ back-to-school supplies listed. for the nerdy, organized, type lover in us all. or for anyone who wants to get their mad men on. aesthetically of course, not in a smutty, tawdry, cheap way... unless that's your thing. no judgement here.

open for business...

alright guys and dolls (mainly dolls, i'm sure), i love you both is officially open for business!! shelves are stocked, with much more to come. handmade goodies and loads more vintage finery and sundries coming soon!

thanks for all the sweet love yesterday. if you see something you like, please let me know!

i love you both...

so, i've been working on a little side project. i love you both is my etsy shoppe that will be open for business by monday. i will be peddling wares to decorate your home, your garden, your wardrobe, and your life. a little bit handmade and a whole lot olde treasures of yore. i'm stacking the shelves with objects that pull on my heartstrings, and hopefully, tug on yours a little.

i tend to collect the careworn, the neglected, the frayed, the mended, the faded and peeling, and of course, the shiny. i can not resist some dusty, dingy sequins, and my favorite time periods are from 1890-1930. here is a glimpse of the shoppe's inventory so stop by and visit now, y'hear!

how to do it...

a new obsession has begun...

vintage cigarette cards and silks. it all began when i was browsing through the history of quilts, and i stumbled upon this. it caught me. hook. line. and sinker.

now i am on the hunt for old cigar ribbons, cigarette silks, and cigarette cards. a bit odd for me, since i have never smoked anything. but man, this kind of advertising is way more alluring than a dopey looking camel. no offense joe.

these "how to do it" series offer charming helpful household hints. love. i love learning new things, especially with school right around the corner. august always kicks my inner-student into overdrive.

i have a feeling these are going to be difficult to track down in the U.S. what do y'all think? i've never seen these at a flea market/ antique store before. maybe at something like brimfield?

the "how to draw series" on nypl digital library is pretty fantastic. i might have to do a follow-up post on those bad boys later! ok, i'm gonna do a little ebay stalking now. let me know if y'all have any leads!

campfire girls...

on a recent trip to one of my favorite haunts, i found this bound book of goodness buried under layers of dust bunnies. the yummy weathered paper was like a tractor beam, sucking me in.

little did i know, that it was going to be a camp fire girls scrapbook. holy awesome deliciousness!

truth be told, i had never even heard of camp fire girls until a few years ago, and i grew up a mediocre girl scout at best.

but flipping through this book conjures up all sorts of wonderful summertime ideas-campfires, bird-watching, story-telling, flower-identification, hiking, handicrafts. you name it.

the symbols and colors are really beautiful too. i could easily design a whole collection of fabric patterns inspired by this book.

health is something not to be taken lightly!

i love the ideals upheld by the camp fire law. words to live by, and certainly lots of areas where i have room to improve. thank goodness the summer is long.

pop's printing press...

yesterday my husband's family and i went to visit pop, ed's grandfather. we all love to visit him and listen to his stories, snippets of hobgood and mcniel family history, thoughts on the braves and we'll give him updates of all the newest happenings in our lives. we gather round and exchange our stories over a hearty southern lunch and healthy dose of sweet tea. and after the dessert is all eaten up, he usually lets me go poking around in his basement...

and look what momma stelling found while we were down there! an early, primitive printing type kit! pop believes it belonged to one of his sisters, and was used as an education tool at one of the schools they taught at.

my heart definitely skipped a few beats at the sight of it, which probably sounds ridiculous. but it's so true.

i can think of a million reasons creative folks need a full set of alphabet type laying around! especially ones with a cute little hand "index", and plenty of money symbols. very helpful if one were to open a store with their mother one day...

so thank you pop! you are a magnanimous man and i am so grateful we live in the same state again! we need to now have you come to our apartment for a visit so you can see the new lives i've given to your basement treasures. we love pop.