Won't you please be mine?

These can be, because they are free, downloadable Valentines (and Valentine decorations!)

Vintage Valentine Cards from Ruffled

Valentine Subway Art from eighteen25

Ten Things I Love About You from Crafty Carnival

Valentine's Day Goodie Bag from Twig and Thistle

Keep Calm and Cupid On from The Answer is Chocolate

I just need to start printing ...

an illustrated e.e. cummings

One of my favorite poems (by one of my favorite poets) is "i carry your heart" by e.e. cummings.

My roommate, dear friend, and bridesmaid, Em, has a to-die-for voice, and I asked her to sing a musical rendition of the poem during our wedding ceremony (to stream THE best version sung by Kate McGarry, click here).

My mom made some sample, possible, invitations to use for the wedding, and even though we decided against using it (too busy!), this mock invitation was inspired by e.e. cummings's poem (note the roots. and the buds. and the tree called life):

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

An ode to el café

Just one more cup of this 

 so maybe I can make it through this ... 

... and this.

(but I've already had two cups. and it's not making the weather any warmer, or the reading any easier)

(maybe third time's the charm)

Etsy Shop: Cheri Art

Some days, I can lose so many minutes and hours on Etsy. I have such an affinity for outdoor craft fairs (there's nothing I look forward to more than the weekend craft fairs that pop up throughout the summer).

With Etsy, I don't have to wait until those weekend craft fairs in order to buy handmade (and local, if I so choose!)

One of my favorite shops right now is Cheri Art. (my partiality might be due, in part, to being related to the artist ... but seriously, check out her stuff. It's impressive). Is it just me, or does some of her jewelry look like it should be sold in Anthropologie?

To buy from this artist and others, visit Etsy 

And the bride wore white ... and sleeves?

I recently discovered Rebekah Westover (wedding photographer out of Utah), and I am entranced with her work. Completely entranced.

And seriously, are all of her clients models?

After going through (page after page after page of) her blog, there was another major thing I noticed about her brides (besides, you know, their ridiculous good looks): they all wore wedding dresses with sleeves.

Now, for the life of me, I had the hardest time finding a wedding dress that wasn't strapless (my shoulders + strapless = big disaster). I did a little bit of research and I found out that the dresses Rebekah Westover's brides wear are "temple-ready" gowns.

Now, don't you think there is something uniquely beautiful about a wedding dress that just has a little more to it?

They make propriety look gorgeous.

All images from Rebekah Westover Photography

Crafts for hungry birds

There's something about January and snow that makes me want to go outside into my (hypothetical) yard and put birdseed into the bird feeder.

There are some really cute crafts you can make with birdseed.

My friend Maggie featured Heart Shaped Bird Treats on her blog this morning

from Smile Monsters

These peanut butter pinecones rolled in birdseed would be fun to make and hang with the kids that I nanny

from Make and Takes

Maybe next Christmas, I'll have a not-so-hypothetical yard, and I can make this Birdseed Wreath

from A Home for Wild Birds

from Under the Table and Dreaming

Do you have any ideas of crafts to make out of birdseed?

Give me a slice of that, and that ... and that.

Tomorrow, I am meeting with a cake artist, and we are going to talk about (why else would I meet with a cake artist?) wedding cakes!

Buttercream, fondant, ganache, tiers, celadon, edible ink, I don't even know what to do with myself.

Here's what I do know: I'm doing some cake research. Because how in the world else will I ever know what I'm talking about.

But really, before I can master the vernacular, I have to just go ahead and show you all of the visions of wedding cakes I have dancing in my head.

Cheryl Kleinman Cakes

Lovin Sullivan Cakes (I just love birds)

Michelle Doll Cakes (I also love vines)

Sinfully Sweet Pastry Boutique

Sophie's Choice Bakery

Confections on the Coast

Gemelli Dolci

Incredible Endings

Ahh! So many good-lookin' cakes.

Guidance, please!

(all images from The Knot)