Flick'r Friday

Oh, words cannot even begin to express how lovely I think this photo is! The white is such a light and muted shade that it provides an airy backdrop for the other pieces and textures in the room. Enjoy your weekend while I soak in some of this loveliness from One Haute Mess' flick'r page. To see more from this beautiful home and collection, click on the images!

Hugs...

Giveaway Teaser!

In the upcoming week, I will be presenting my very first giveaway from one of my favorite Etsy shops! This will be open to readers worldwide, so be sure to "follow" me by clicking on the Friends of Expat Kate's link in the right-hand column of this page. For those of you who aren't as technically savvy or patient and would like step-by-step instruction that only takes a few moments *ahem, you know who you are* just let me know! The prize is customizable and will definitely please!

And now for a small excerpt from the mystery store owner:

"The first time we made ...(teaser- no clues)..., I had this great vision of how beautiful a light yellow top with green bottom would look. When we [unveiled] it, it was florescent and bright purple. It was rather striking, just not what we had in mind!"

I hope your curiosity is piqued & you'll check back in the coming days when I unveil the mystery prize and share the rest of our mystery guest's interview! 

Hugs...

Tea For You. Tea For Me.

I love, love, love my new teapot! I purchased it from the Migros and still giggle with excitement each time it begins to emit its high-pitched whistle. I believe after boiling pots of water on the stovetop for what seems like years (wait a minute it has been years!), I am amazed at the speed with which my kettle heats up the H2O. Now I feel completely justified in my choice as not just sleek and unabashedly sexy, but time-saving and energy efficient as well...

 

And for a little more tea time eye candy check out these lovely excuses to brew a cup of something warm and tasty! These would be great as gifts for fellow tea lovers in your life! Click on the photos to check out each of these beauties on their respective sites!

Also, check out my current tea-themed etsy favorites from my Etsy Mini, on the right-hand side of this page! Happy sipping!

Hugs... 

Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around The *Jewelry* Tree...

Living in Switzerland has definitely taught me one important lesson: I have too much stuff (or I should consider living as a minimalist)! In my home in the US, I have a large-enough bedroom with plenty of space and places to store my jewelry and hair accessories. Here, jewelry boxes seem big and cumbersome when considering the scale of my current bedroom and accompanying furniture. The compromise? Form and function! After taking a forest walk, the Pups brought home a yummy piece of wood to nibble & following suit, I brought home a bough on which to hang my pretties...

The tree takes up very little surface space, but more than compensates by giving vertical height and a little visual appeal.

The base is merely a glass jar filled with sand to anchor the branch and some stones to provide weight and stability. Did you notice my gray hair, lovingly taped to the mirror? In some quirky way, I'm really quite cool with it and am looking forward to seeing how they grow in! (I'm secretly hoping for one of those chic gray streaks as opposed the salt & pepper variety, but I suppose I won't have much say about it in the end...) But I digress.

Could you say goodbye to your jewelry box for good? Not that every girl doesn't remember her first. Mine was white with a picture of a girl in a lacy, frilly dress sitting in a meadow. Inside was a ballerina that spun and danced to "twinkle twinkle little star". 

What do you think, would you put this idea to use in your home? 

Hugs...

Read All About It!

Continuing on the book and bookshelves theme from last week, I offer you a glimpse of some of my favorite bibliophelia. First is this great and economical take on wall mounted bookshelves from pearuhsaurus' flickr photos: the fruit crate! My only concern would be the added weight of the crates + books could be more than my walls could handle without serious support... 

This book console/bench, found on the design site Industrial Design Served would be ideal in my home office! I would prefer white & pink for a punchy bit of color but the concept is dreamy...

The next two images I've had on my computer in my "Inspire Me" folder on my desktop for several months now, and try as I might, I haven't been able to find the original source! If you know who's responsible for the following two brilliant ideas, I would love to give credit where it is so evidently due! 

Until next time, happy reading!

Hugs...

Reading Rainbow

One weekend only a few months ago, I decided to rearrange my  book shelves, which are filled with mostly university textbooks that I'll not likely read again soon. In doing some basic internet research, I found an incredible website called Apartment Therapy, maybe you've heard of it?? (I know, I live in another country- not under a rock, but I had no idea about AT or blogs in general). Discovering AT was like finding a long-lost family member. On my first foray into Apartment Therapy's land of love and color, I spent hours in an amazed stupor reading post after post and absorbing the delicious photography. In the end, not only did I find a plethora of newly favorite websites, but I also finally decided to organize my book collection by color. What do you think?

Hugs...

Pajama-Rama!

Yesterday the Monkey and I took our cues and inspiration from my friend's handmade birthday party invitation. This invite (minus some pertinent & personal bits) is our version. We found a decorating magazine filled with summer garden party pictures and I actually felt badly about destroying such lovely photos. However, I feel the end result justified the means. I realize we planned a slumber party, with nine little girls and one doggy, partly to have an excuse to create this invite! We decided to add the info hearts separately at the end so that we could change/re-use the background for other invites or projects if desired. Now to get the house and doggy ready to receive a brood of giggling, squealing princesses, wish me luck I'll need it!

Hugs...

Truly Beautiful Print Giveaway

Artist Melissa Nucera is giving away two 8x8 inch "Sparrow" prints on her blog January Wish. To enter, check out Melissa's Etsy Shop: This Year's Girl and then head over to her blog and post a comment! The giveaway ends on Friday June 12th...

I think her work is really unique and she has created some pieces that are both haunting and luminescent at the same time. I hope to get my hands on one of these Sparrows, or anything else in her Etsy Shop for that matter! 

Hugs...

You Can Light My Fire!

For my pal's birthday (remember the uber-cute invite?), I decided to take about a thousand glass seed beads and attach them with straight pins into a pillar candle. Here's the result:

Several hours later, the finished product! Next time, I think I will use slightly larger beads, a thimble (yeouch!), and perhaps decorative pins. Here's a couple in-progress shots too...

Hugs...

Gifts From Afar...

When one lives so far away from family, it is important to have connections. Around the major holidays, it's not so much the conversational kind, but more along the lines of gift-giving. As I enjoyed my Mother's Day, complete with "homemade" breakfast and an assortment of other lovingly handcrafted items made by the eight-year-old Monkey, I realized that one never tires of handmade lovelies. As for my Mom, I too went the route of handmade...

Christen Largent is the proprietor of bddesigns and this customizable, handmade necklace pendant is exactly what I would have made for Mom myself, if only I could. Instead, Christen worked her magic on this two-sided sterling design with the inscribed names of each of Grammy's children and grandchildren...

To see more of bddesign's beautiful collection click here, or through the photos.

Hugs...

Mother’s Day = Yummies & Love

As Mother’s day nears on Sunday, I am reminded how different the holidays feel from across an ocean. Herr Big Guy is out of the country on business, so the Monkey and I will be spending a very low-key Mother’s day together. One thing we’re definitely looking forward to is these delectable yummy treats including “zopf herz brot” which translates literally to butter-top heart bread. Check out the little individual loaf of bread with chocolate interspersed and the salted croissant that tastes like a light flaky pretzel. I may have died and gone to carbohydrate heaven, but this will be worth it!

Hugs...

Invited

I must admit this was my first official birthday party invite since establishing myself in Switzerland. After nearly five years here, I’ve been to several parties but not an actual grown-up birthday. I wondered how different it would be from other Swiss or American parties. The invite is adorable! It’s printed on plain paper, but is anything but ordinary. Now the question of the day is: what type of gift to give to an acquaintance/student? Suggestions?

Hugs...