Happy New Year, Friends!

“I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point,’If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.” Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

A lovely glance around the stainless steel kitchen.

Happy Friday friends!

I’m working all weekend on gifts at my Etsy site.  Plus, I have tons of holiday DIYs for the weeks to come.

Let’s make this weekend count!

Bon Appetit!

Oh, the joy of another show has come and gone! I always seem to have a good time, but this sale was especially nice having a green canopy and garland overhead. April and I had a blast on Saturday crafting these merry signs that  I will teach you to make later this week.

I love to create and earrings are so much fun! Here’s part of my new display.

These silk tie necklaces on salvaged wood floors are the best look yet. I tried plywood before, but I prefer to use these floor samples for their size and color.

My shop has lots of goodies in store.

HaPpY MoNdAy friends!

xo.

I will be here tomorrow in Silverlake all day spreading the holiday cheer.

On the corner of Glendale and Silverlake Blvd. This show has gotten some great reviews.

Would love to see you one and all!

xo,

Hilary

by Sri Chinmoy

I have felt so lucky to be surrounded by the warmth of friends and good food this holiday weekend. Our simple dinner felt like a complete success. In a vegetarian twist, we made ratatouille and pizza. Plus, apple pie with a nut crust for dessert.

Today, I’m off to see the holiday homes from Heritage Square Museum in South Pasadena. They are old Victorians completely done up in the spirit of the season.

I can’t wait to share them with you later this week!

I came across Rachel Follett’s blog, one day while I was bouncing around the web.

A month later to my delight, I was paired up with her as part of Structured Chaos’ Shop, Swap, and Blog event.

Rachel went into business because she was constantly inspired by all the beautiful things that people make.  She mainly works as a graphic designer and found herself looking for things to do off the computer. That’s when she started making cards. Most of all, she likes seeing people happy when they receive her cards.

Want to spend the day at the beach with someone you love?…

or wish them Happy Birthday from the bottom of your heart.

Based in Maui, her unique cards often express her love for vintage.

In the future, she sees herself branching out to handmade items like sewing pillows and buntings along with vintage housewares. She likes the smallness of it and selling to local stores.

Rachel runs a well curated shop, Lovely Clusters that  culls the very best from the handmade world for all to see. She has many favorite online stores, but one of her favorite sellers is Dani from Oh Hello Friend, whom has a fabulous blog, makes beautiful jewelry and does such a lovely job with styling and packaging her products. Such a great source of inspiration!

Thanks so much to Rachel for sharing with us a glimpse into her world.

I had planned to give away three of her cards today as samples for you to share. If you would like to play, please visit Lovely Clusters and tell us which shop inspires you and why.

You may also enter by tweeting this post using any of the buttons below, don’t forget to tell me you did this.

The winner will be selected at random from all the comments and announced this Friday!

The Designer Tag Sale in Orange County this Saturday was a huge success. I had missed the L.A. event in August so I had no idea what to expect. When the doors opened at 10 a.m. there was a line that literally ran out of the yard and down the street.

I met so many gifted Designers, Stylists, Writers, and Flippers. All of my furniture, along with fabric and goodies were nestled sweetly between a lime tree and a guava tree. My friend, Annie from Yolksy brought along her design stock too.

I’ll be sure to let you all know if and when we partake again. In the between time, we still have some merchandise up for the steal of a the century.

One yellow butterfly cabinet $225 (retails for $695)

Amy Butler fabric $9 yd.

Oil Cloth $5 per yd.

Tomorrow, I have a surprise  from the lovely Rachel Follett, designer, graphic artist, and blogger extraordinaire.

We will be giving away the contents of this package.

Come back tomorrow, when I’ll announce how to play!

A special weekend post for everyone celebrating Diwali, a festival signifying the triumph of good over evil within an individual.

To celebrate last night we ate the most delicious South Indian food.

You are supposed to eat sweets, but we at so much Sambar and Paper Dosa we did not make it that far!

I came across the talented work of freelance photographer, Sandeep, on Flickr.

I love how he successfully captures the depth and texture of light on the ceiling.

May everyone’s weekend be filled with light!

I like this picture because there is so much going on!

The little Rustic Table, which was probably an antique wash table in it’s day…

The antique carved-wood chair, plus the fishing bowl, where I shared samples of other artists from my CCCOE team.

All in all, it was a great day and I made some new friends.

A big thanks to everyone who came out and showed their support for Pink Pianos!

Most of you know how much I love to create. In fact, my indoor studio is bursting with creations that really need to get out into the fresh Fall air.

If you live in Southern California, I invite you to come and see me in Encino!

I’ll have a booth at Taste of Encino, and arts and music festival from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

I’ll tempt you with more good things that I will show tomorrow.

This will be my biggest show ’til date!