The Flea Returns!

After two straight months of being rained out, this month's Alameda Flea Market was hands-down one of the best in recent memory. A gorgeous sunny day, tons of vendors, and a huge array of fabulous finds. We have to confess we went a little haywire (we now are the proud owners of many more polyester frocks than one can possibly find an excuse to wear, several fur-trimmed coats, a hand-sewn piece of wall art, and much more). The flea market is sensory overload, so this week our blog will be 100% dedicated to feeding you bite-sized portions of our most delectable finds! Stay tuned for more pics...

Photographs courtesy of the talented Ms. Anna Hurley, our wonderful new designer!

Mothology

We love the French flea-market inspired goods at Mothology, including this silver-plated toast rack - perfect for holding letters and stationery (unfortunately, it's sold out but you can find similar ones on ebay). Other favorites: blue milk glass vases (these would be lovely centerpieces for a beach wedding or summer party) and dainty bird finial pot-de-creme dishes. Enjoy!

Will You Marry Me?

This tiny ceramic bowl proposal/engagement set is just too precious. Just put your ring in the bowl and present to your honey - seriously, who could say no? It was created by Austin-based ceramic artist Caroline Colom Vasquez and is available on her etsy shop, Paloma's Nest. Enjoy!

Second Hand Rose

Vintage patterns are a huge source of inspiration for us, vintage wall paper especially. Second Hand Rose in New York is hands-down the best source, with a large, well-edited selection.

Vintage wallpaper (or any wall paper, for that matter), can be used as the inspiration for the style of your entire wedding, from the invitations, to the day itself. It makes perfect place mats (just mount a second sheet of heavy cardstock to the back to prevent curling), and strips make elegant napkin rings. The paper can be used to wrap vases (we suggest using Chinese tea tins, and gluing the paper around it to create a lovely bud vase), and to decorate favors and program covers (wrapping a patterned band around the program, for example).

Add intrigue your reception cards by double-pasting (fancy lingo for gluing the paper evenly to the back of a second card) the paper to the back of the cards, creating an expected design element. You can double-paste the paper to the backs of your table number cards as well.

Note to brides: We'd love to design custom wedding invitations based on any of these patterns, so if you like what you see, call us!

Hello!Lucky & Daily Candy Deals

Attention, paper-cravers! This week Hello!Lucky is offering 30% off our entire letterpress greeting card and gift collection through Daily Candy Deals, including our fabulous thank you notes, birthday cards, and our new collection by Julia Rothman. And don't forget Mother's Day, which will be here before you know it!

Just click here for more info! Happy shopping!

*Note: Offer excludes our custom wedding invitations and other custom stationery.

Sabrina's House - Work in Progress

My husband and I bought our little Victorian house almost a year ago and have been slowly been trying to find the right aesthetic to fit the bones of the house and our personalities (amidst our frenetic work and travel schedules!). We're finally starting to settle on light-hearted, eclectic mix of vintage, modern, and Chinoiserie (after a short flirtation with 18th Century French country style that resulted in several bits of rusting metal, a.k.a. bottle racks, a wheat-sheaf cocktail table, a taxidermied bird being set out on the curb, much to my husband's glee). The pieces so far are a mix of flea market finds, travel artifacts, tchotkes from Monument (my all-time favorite interiors shop in San Francisco), and a few larger pieces from Jonathan Adler and Arkitektura In-Situ. The house itself has a lot of funky angles and open spaces; the upstairs was remodeled by architect Hugh Huddleson.

What you see above are some of the more finished bits (there is plenty of piled and stacked decorating in progress behind the camera lens). Watch this space for more pictures as the decorating evolves!

Ohmega Salvage

Eunice and I were jonesing for the Alameda Flea Market last weekend, but, sadly, it got rained out so we headed over to Ohmega Salvage in Berkeley to get our fix of vintage home decor. Eunice found some lovely pendant lamps for her apartment, and I found a fabulous 4 ft by 6 ft vintage mirror. We love all of the light fixtures, tiles, and hardware at Ohmega. This is what Restoration Hardware was meant to be!

Featured Retailer: Henri Bendel

We absolutely adore the classic and uber-stylish Henri Bendel in New York City, so were thrilled when they decided to stock our stylish letterpress greeting cards in their new Stationery Shop, including our adorable Valentine Monkey and new Jungle Love. See you in New York, and happy shopping!

PS. The same cards available at Bendel's were just featured in Design*Sponge's Valentine's Card round-up alongside lots of other wonderful designers' work. Thanks, Grace!