Molly M Designs

Molly M Designs has a wide collection of unique and eye catching lasercut jewelry and also an expanding line of fine paper goods. Molly McGrath's background in architecture gives these items a welcomed added measure of depth with modern geometries and nature being apparent in the design inspiration.

I never knew jewelry with sustainable resources such as bamboo, wood, and suede could be so intricately beautiful. Her new large lasercut prints would make a phenomenal statement on a wall too. Aren't they all so pretty?

Maia Hirasawa

Today I came across the Sweedish singer Maia Hirasawa and oh my, this girl can play the piano. She seems to have a bit of a whimsical edgy feel and she reminds me of Regina. Have you heard of her and her music? I believe her album came to the states this year.



This video is directed by Magnus Renfors and Christian Haag.
Find her album here.

Shayna Bloomer's Kate Hudson Wedding Dress

Mazel tov to Shayna and Dan - the second time newlyweds!! The wedding in Shonit was breathtaking lovely stunning - the venue was a grassy cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, with waves lapping at the rocks all night long. A cool perfect breeze, a perfect sunset, an emotional aisle walk song (The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel), delicious food...and, of course, Shayna Bloomer's much sought after wedding dress - her "Kate Hudson" wedding dress! She looked STUNNING. After a 4-hour hair and makeup session, she looked like a true celebrity. You are all dying to see pictures, I know! But it's so hard to get our pictures downloaded, then uploaded to the blog while we travel around Israel, but we managed to give you all a sneak peak at Shayna's dress, which was modelled after Kate Hudson's wedding dress in the movie You, Me and Dupree. So...without further ado...here it is!! She was a fantastic bride for the second time around. More pics to come when we get back of her dress, hair, makeup and the decor!

Off to the Dead Sea and Mesada tomorrow...then to Jerusalem the next day. We'll be home soon bloggees!

Peaches and Nectarines from France

Hope you had a nice weekend. Here is a photo of some yummy peaches and nectarines from a French market. This morning as I sat down to access my photo archives to share some more French goodness, I just realized that I may have lost quite a few photos in a upgrade :(.... I hope they are still there... I hope, I hope... crossing my fingers. Advice to all ... backup, backup! (Argh, I wish I would have been better about that.) Nonetheless, Happy Monday.

The weekend, briefly

Whew. It is hot in Southern California.

I still managed to get quite a bit of crafting done.

Thanks to the genius who invented otter pops.

And because Little Britain makes for good company.

The results of the weekend?

New rosebud headbands up in the shop in lovely new colors.

These flowers make me smile....

Hope you have lovely plans for the weekend!
Photo by talented Kari Herer seen in her etsy shop.

Postal Press

I am excited to see Alyson from Unruly Things go live with her new Postal Press letterpress and packaging goodies shop. Have a peek.

funny signage

I've been meaning to take a picture of this forever. Each time I come to Israel and stay with D's parents this sign outside their condo cracks me up. Its just so graphic!! The straining dog and the pointy poop is funny!

Friday flowers (fake out), thank you edition

I am absolutely overwhelmed by the sweet response to my shop. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Also, I have no flowers this week. But if I did, they would be for you. The only reason I don't is because every single surface in our apartment is covered with fabric, ribbon, and papers. You can consider yourself lucky if you don't sit down and land on a stray sewing needle or two.

This weekend I will organize like crazy, and I'm also creating the rosebud headband in some lovely new colors (including seafoam green, coral and chocolate). Expect a shop update on or around Monday.

Flowers will return next week, I promise.

seating plan...OY VEY!

So in November when we came to Israel to plan our wedding in 10 days, we had a little disagreement with D's mom over seating cards. I could not even imagine the chaos of not having one with 200 guests, however I was told that Israeli's don't have seating cards as they would think they were silly and wouldn't do as they were told and would sit wherever they wanted anyways. I conceded...against my event planning and organizational genes...to have a free for all for the tables. What the heck, it was definitely easier on me!! I figured I'd just use my cute ideas for future clients. Thinking all the planning was finished and that D and I could enjoy a little pre-wedding break on the beach, we were told on arrival that in fact Israeli's were now having seating plans at their weddings and that we too needed to have one. OY! In a whirlwind of 2 days, with zero preparation and no clue where to find supplies here, poor D was dropped smack in the world of event design! Here is what we came up with...not the ideas I had originally but we think it looks good in the end. Luckily I had the little tags for the wedding favors which were easily converted into place cards. I wish the board had been that easy!!!

Cymbals Ad

Very clever Ad in Sydney Morning Herald promoting performances for The Sydney Symphony Orchestra along with a cd giveaway.

Advertising Agency: WTBWA // (via I Believe in Advertising)

ELLG gourmet chocolate

Thinking about this chocolate and cool packaging design from Ellg gourmet. Still trying to decide what chocolate themed thing to make or purchase for our tasting club this weekend. Any ideas?

(via the Dieline)

Reading, lately

Now is the Hour by Tom Spanbauer - I loved, loved, loved this book. It's a pretty straightforward bildungsroman of a young gay man growing up in Idaho in the 60s but the voice is pitch perfect and the characters suck you right in. I was so grateful that it was nice and long because I didn't want it to end. I even re-read parts of it right away.

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz - This is almost a mystery, with lots of secrets and tension. It's set in a rural area and takes place during and after World War I. If you love dark period pieces about social mores and family secrets, you'll like it.

Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout - I found this book hard to read, because the central mother daughter relationship is so painful. But the writing is absolutely beautiful and the characters come alive and I ended up loving it.

wedding favors...check!

We spent pretty much all afternoon making them, and our fingers are kind of gnarled and sore from tying all the knots but we think they turned out pretty darn cute!

Anna for Hello!Lucky

Today I am inspired by the work of Anna who does work for Hello!Lucky. Isn't her work gorgeous?! I found it in reference to this beautiful treehouse wedding photographed by Ben Blood that she designed the invites to below that you should also take a peek at, if you haven't already. (via Hello!Lucky)

Weekly rituals

First of all, thank you all for the sweet comments yesterday about the shop. It's nervewracking, putting everything out there like that, but you are all wonderfully supportive and I feel very, very lucky.

I find rituals so soothing. Every Wednesday I pick up our CSA box on the way home from work and lug it home on the bus (this part is not soothing, I'll admit). Then I open it, excited to see what veggies we get for the week, pour myself a glass of wine and wash them all up while I listen to the evening news on NPR.

{just the beginning}

I stick to this because I find that if the veggies aren't washed and put away immediately, it's easy to put it off too long. And it's such a lovely way to break up my week because it forces me to slow down a bit.

I'd love to hear about any simple rituals you have, if you'd care to share. Maybe we'll all get some ideas.

some design inspiration

I've been so wrapped up in the details of actually getting to Israel that I forgot that I might get inspiration from some actual Israeli design there - it was my lovely friend Jen who pointed it out. So I got excited the other day, jumped the gun and googled interior designers from Israel, and there I already found inspiration on this super cool blog! There, I saw lots of clean white decor, nice lines with elements of rough wood and a bit of pattern here and there. The apartment of an architect, Guy Velikson, who lives in Tel Aviv, caught my eye- I like, I like. And the other thing I keep seeing? Carpet tiles! I have never seen this here, but it looks like a super tasty floor to me. Imagine this was your bathroom floor?

what is this strange thing called carpet tile?! I hope I see it there!

{all pics above from this awesome Tchochkes blog here}

two years today

It's been two years of marriage to my lovely P. - an amazing partner, my best friend. Sweet, supportive, such a positive force in my life. And those blue eyes! Too much wonderfulness to gush about on here...but to sum it all up, I am one lucky gal! Happy anniversary babe.

Beautiful Italian Ribbon Sampler...

added to my wish list by Angela Liguori.

Sarlat

While staying with Steph we would go into Sarlat a few times a week when they had market days. It was thrilling to be in such a lovely French medieval town with a vibrant market, it was everything and more than I imagined. Cobblestone streets, gorgeous old (fairly untouched) stone buildings above, and delicious produce and other yummy things all around. A pure delight!

Dreamlets winners

Chosen randomly here are the six Dreamlets winners! Thanks again Dreamlets for such a wonderful giveaway. Be sure to stop by their website to see all of their silly and fun characters.

April Lavalle

Erin W

Julie Weber

j.chong

JD

Phil

Winners please email blackeiffel@gmail.com with your contact info. so we can get those out to you!

500 Pencils

Have you seen this 500 Pencils project? It is a colored pencil subscription where they send you 25 pencils for 20 months. Pretty neato, but unfortunately a little spendy.



(via altruism in the morning)

A new venture

I am so excited to finally share this with all of you....

My own little Etsy shop!

This has been very slow to develop, and I like it that way. I've been mulling (maybe obsessing) over it for months, designing the banner, picking out packaging, and, of course, crafting.

Lots of these items will look familiar to you because I've shared them as DIYs over the last year. That won't change. I wholeheartedly encourage you to make things for yourself and I'll continue to update the DIY index. But for those of you who are busy, or don't want to invest in all the supplies, I'm offering ready to go versions of my favorite projects. Sometimes the sanest thing you can do is pass off a project to someone else, after all.

At the moment, you can find headbands (ruffles, lilypad and rosebud versions) in several colors. They are all slightly different, so read the descriptions for details about the fabric and finishing. I used several types of silks, so the textures will vary. Some of the edges are singed for a contrast finish and some are left raw for a wispy look. These details are all specified for each model, so you will know exactly what to expect. Any of these headband designs can be sized up into belts for custom orders. Just contact me.

{heart of light headbands}

(The model is my lovely sister! How lucky am I to have a beautiful sister who is willing to patiently sit still while I fuss around and tie things on her head and photograph her?)

I also have a limited run of embroidered napkins, which I absolutely adore. If you guys like them too, I'll look into making more. Currently there are only 10 sets available.

{EAT napkins from heart of light}

And I had to add in my meal planning notepads, because I love them so much. These are also available customized, and I love the idea of giving them out as shower gifts along with some little kitchen accessories.

{meal planning notepad}

I have to send out a big, heartfelt thanks to all of you. I am so very excited about this little shop and I could never have done it without all the encouragement and enthusiasm you readers have shown me in the past year. You are all truly amazing.

here i am...in the holy land!

I've made it! The wedding is on Sunday and it is now Tuesday and I have to say after the last 2 days of utter stress and chaos it looks like I might be on my way to having my loverly Israeli beach wedding. Wedding Planning 101 does NOT teach you how to navigate the wedding world in another language and culture! I think I'm ready for pretty much everything now...the biggest lesson ever...never assume anything and expect the worse...ha! Oh and if you think you are both talking about the same thing, find a second person to translate because chances are you are not!

On a positive side, I did have a great hair trial with the hair stylist I booked that I never met or tried out...phew! He came highly recommended from my makeup artist who gave me the much anticipated vogue cheek so I figured I was in good hands {only 5 more days until my vogue cheek and I are reunited!} We are going to go with the braided Molly Sims hair-did but he is going to gather it up in the back for the ceremony and when the sun goes down and its less hot he wants me to let it loose down my shoulder like in the picture. I like the versatility of this!

And I promise to finally post the pics of my Kate Hudson dress as soon as the wedding is over. It is still being hidden from the eyes of my D. He got all superstitious on me.

So today I think after a couple more errands this morning we will take some time for ourselves and do a little sunbathing on the beach. Yipppeeee!

cute {and easy!} sewing projects

Love love loving this little table runner featured in Country Living made out of linen napkins all sewn together. So cute how they are all mismatched and a little off-kilter! And such an easy sewing project too.

It reminds me of this project from Selvedge {via Decor8} - curtains made of tea towels sewn together with mis-matched patterns, which is all the more charming. IKEA's Elly tea towels would actually work great for this project!

Weekend Tidbits

Here is a few tidbits from our weekend that I actually got quick shots of:

Cool pattern seen on a book
V chilling in car seat, doing hilarious things
Stopped by Tulie Bakery
Picked up this BabyCakes book

Hope you all had a pleasant weekend!