scrappy

I love these scrappy little journals made by Mrs. Kara (found on flickr). I think I may start saving up my scraps to make some of these for gifts. How adorable.

found on etsy. get mappy.

I really love maps. I love looking at them and figuring out all the places I want to go. Discovering the best route and where I'll pass along the way. But they're also just so beautiful- especially the vintage ones with their fancy fonts and aged colour. Vintage Map Earings

Original Map painting

Map pocket mirror

Recycled map stationery

All found on etsy. Have a mappy day.

Song of the Day: HELLODRAMA by What Made Milwaukee Famous

Book by its Cover

I adore flipping through artist's sketchbooks and, on this site- Book by Its Cover, you can do just that with many talented artist's sketches photographed and displayed online. I love it!

Thanks Julia Rothman! (found via this blog)

vintage study

I have really been searching for a vintage typewriter. I think this one is so adorable, and the seller has a bunch of things on their etsy site that would compliment it perfectly in a study.

For one of my Interior Design and Architecture class assignments, we had to think about what, if we had infinate money, we would like to have in our homes on day, and my biggest desire was an old-fashioned library/study with walls covered with bookshelves, fancy stationary, a typewriter and some leather couches. I picture all of the above things would fit in wonderfully

Song of the Day: MOLLY'S CHAMBERS by Kings of Leon

unappreciated art: envelopes.

This collection of envelope security patterns made me smile.
Who knew how beautiful junk mail could be? I love the little imperfections the eye picks up on each one. I guess this fits perfectly with my obsession of paper mail.

Write Your Own Story

I found these adorable hardcover "upcycled" jounals on Etsy today. The seller found the books vintage, then re-bound them with blank, drawing paper instead of the damaged book. I thought they were adorable, given my obsession with vintage books and paper goods. Plus, they would fit perfectly among other books on a bookshelf...

$50/ Book

Song of the day: LET'S DANCE TO JOY DIVISION by The Wombats

The Joy of an Old-Fashioned Letter

Since the creation of the internet and sites like facebook, myspace, and just plain "old" email, it's a rare occasion to actually recieve a hand-written letter. Although instant communication is a great accomplishment for our generation, I believe there is some romance about real, hold-them-in-your-hand, rip-open-the-tongue-licked-seal letters. Letters are how people have been communicating and have served as a way to get to know the greats of the past. Take Vincent van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo for example. Without their constant correspondance, people today wouldn't know nearly as much as they do about van Gogh. In fact, the time period that van Gogh lived with his brother Theo in Paris, is the time in van Gogh's life that we know the least about simply because it was unnecessary for van Gogh to write his brother.

Today, I wish that people would spend a little extra time and write out a true letter. I know I would feel a lot more though-of upon recieving a handwritten letter in the mail, as opposed to a quick "wall-comment" on facebook. And, as an additional note, I think most people today don't actually know how to write. Internet communication requires zero dollars so most people don't care if they spell things right or actually get an intelligent point across. However, in the "oldendays" when people had to invest hard-earned money and time into stationary, stamps, envelopes, etc, people spent a little more time and thought getting just the right words down on paper. Penmanship was also considered to be an intelligent trait of a person, and today, if someone were to write me a letter, most of the time it would be illegible because people depend so strongly on keyboards to spell out their thoughts.

Basically, I just wish letter-writing was still valued in society, as it was when Jane Austin wrote Pride and Prejudice when Mr. Darcy would spend time each day writing letters and was admired for his skill of craftmanship in such.

Besides, who doesn't love stationary shopping?

One dad, exibition designer, Robert Guest wakes up at the crack of dawn and writes each of his two children, Joanna and Theo, a note each day for the past 15 years of their childhood. Here are some of the letters he wrote:

[Esopus]



What a great father!