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.

slow and steady wins the race...

when it comes to bags, i must admit, i'm pretty simple and utilitarian. i'm really hard on my satchels and totes and i don't want anything fussy or overly precious. my dear friend designs the line, slow and steady wins the race, an extremely clever line with collections broken down by different elements of a person's wardrobe. this was one of my first pieces of sswtr, and a trusty old friend by now. i've clean worn through it's handles, and it's starting to unravel, but i think it adds to the charm. i also wear this little number an awful lot, and it is my go-to for an easy lightweight carrier.

my love for quilts runs pretty deep. in the 90s, the movie how to make an american quilt sparked my interest in quilts. later my love would be fueled after seeing the gees bend exhibit at the high with my fibers class. when grace posted this on design*sponge, my heart did a few cartwheels. AND the company, montgomery rag, is located in athens, GA my favorite town in this lovely state. pop on over to peep their wares, and get ready to fall in love. i could by everything on the site, easily!

hand tinted photos...

via this flickr found via miss moss

when i saw these darling hand-tinted vintage photographs, my heart did a little backflip! i love how childlike the coloring is, like a kid who scribbled over family photos when no one was looking. wouldn't these be just perfect in a powder room? i might have to try my hand at this with my stockpile of old photos collecting dust.

artists j'adore: bett norris

i absolutely adore seeing what people collect. blogs like "a collection a day" and the works of bricolage life really rev my engine. when i found the works of bett norris, i felt like i found a total gem! i would be happy to have a whole illustrated book detailing the treasures belonging to iconic women of the arts... ahem, hint hint.

new site alert: brand name pencils...

found this pencil site via miss moss and swoo-hooned! i'm a sucker for collections and for beautiful old things. this site satisfies both loves!

hermes scarf...

{j'aime mon carre, grace kelly picture}

last night my mother gave me QUITE the surprise, in the shape of a beautiful orange box... a vintage hermes scarf gifted by my grandmother. truthfully, i'm not someone whose heart gets aflutter at the sight of a blue tiffany's box. nor am i someone who would give their firstborn to own a chanel 2.55...although i certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at either! i actually get more of a thrill finding a 1920s beaded dress at a flea market or an ll bean fisherman sweater at a goodwill.

but for right now i am doing backflips over my new scarf. ever since i saw grace kelly wearing it as a sling, i thought it was extra rad.

have you ever read deluxe: how luxury lost its luster? it's actually a pretty grim but fascinating account of the decline of luxury. and the only brand that is lauded for its steadfast dedication to quality and hand-crafted, artisinal practices... why hermes, of course.

i hate perfume...

{photos from i hate perfume, 1000 fragrances}

time and time again i fall in love with cb i hate perfume. lately i've been wearing the tea rose scent which oddly makes me think of winter(february to be exact). i need to restock my walking in the air room spray. it truly smells like the first snowfall, and i wonder if this scent got its name from this movie. have you ever been to the cbihateperfume gallery? definitely a happy place of mine in new york. doesn't the gingerbread sound so yummy right now?

current obsession: what price glory

{what price glory}

are y'all all familiar with hollister hovey's blog? it's been one of my favorite doses of inspiration ever since i learned what a blog was! she consistently has phenomenal gift/shopping guides that always make me reach into my bare pockets hoping for some spare change. seriously, so good. when i saw this round-up of hers, i could feel my itchy "add-to-cart" finger. i wonder how long i can resist? honestly, these bensimon-esque plimsoles are calling my name! and don't even get me started on their hat collection. best source for militaria y'all, in the most one-stop shopping kind of way. they even have canvas folding chairs that i'm eyeing. everything is pretty affordable which makes the temptation so much worse! if y'all buy anything from here, save me a few pieces pretty please!

topsy design...

lately i have been throughly impressed with the visual eye candy floating around the internet. truly, madly, wildly excited with new discoveries at every turn. topsy design is definitely rocking my world. their highly curated site boasts a fine collection of honest, industrial furniture, well-edited vintage clothing, and curiosities that are pulling on my itchy trigger finger. please visit their site for a visual feast, and be ready to dig deep into your pockets. mine right now have nothing but moths flying around, unfortunately-ha! but don't buy ALL of those odd fellows masks PLEASE, i've been searching high and low for a year now. just saving my pennies...

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 :)

the shipping news...

it's the weekend and all i want to do is hang out with the pups and my sweet man. oh, and i love you both is offering free shipping in the U.S. from now until monday! now go forth and shop my lovelies!!!! have a marvelous weekend.

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!

wanderlust...
today i am grateful for...

my grandfather's drawings. when i moved back to georgia, one of the treats my mother gave to me was his collection of travel sketchbooks. he and my grandmother traveled all over europe and asia together, and thankfully, poppa kept a visual record of their journey. i come from a long line of nostalgic folks. it's in my blood.

sigh. i want to mary poppins jump into these pen-and-inked pieces of paper.

i have been bitten by the travel bug. i want to go anywhere and everywhere! give me a map, passport, camera(s), a sketchbook and some pens, and i will be set! a drivers license might help too(but that's in the works).

take me anywhere! it can be in georgia, lebanon, maine, morocco, panama, wherever! i am game. i have a list of places in georgia that i will be dragging my husband to this summer. i'll start small and local, but dream big.

planes, trains, and automobiles. i want it all.

in the meantime, i'll hang some of these on my walls and just play make-believe. and maybe make a travel map like halligan's. best summer idea ever! i love looking at everyone's summer snapshots on all y'alls blogs. keep up the good travelin'!

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.

belated birthday shopping...

today i dragged my husband to chamblee antique row under the guise of "finding stuff for our walls"...which is true...and we did...but there's no harm in picking up a few steals is there? i came home with some practical old scrubbing brushes, stripey paper straws, vintage 5 lb dumbbells, an armful of empty picture frames, and...

little ladylike things, like this darling blouse. sewing construction just ain't what it used to be.

whitework cording embroidery, boning in the collar, bone mother-of-pearl buttons, hand sewn lace collars, and tee-tiny pintucks. it would take me the better part of a whole year to sew a shirt like this! and it was less than $10, so i don't feel badly at all about it.

this pocket knife necklace. the original chain is far more charming than the clunky black strand i added to it. i prefer long, dangly necklaces so i needed to give the necklace a bit more length.

and a boatload of embroidery hoops. i'm a total sucker for metal ones, oddly-shaped hoops, tee-tiny ones, and cloth-bound hoops. i do actually embroidery often and i think some might make nice wall frames, no? i swear these won't go into a pile of unloved props of mine. these will have a purpose!

i didn't really do much for my birthday, on account of moving and whatnot. so i've allowed myself to spend a little belated birthday funny money on myself. okey dokey, enough justifying for one day. my new sewing machine is calling my name and i have a million projects around the house to finish! hope y'all have a lovely and productive weekend!