Personalized Purchase:

Image from tinydecor

There are a lot of new babies in my life right now, which means there are a lot of gifts to be purchased. Not that I mind in the least, baby gifts are so fun to shop for and it satisfies my Etsy addiction quite nicely.

My most recent purchase was of this adorable Safari poster for a sweet little boy who we welcomed into our extended family recently. Tinydecor offers wonderfully charming prints for the nursery and offers free personalization to really make your purchase unique. The color palettes are fresh and lively, and they offer boy and girl versions of all of their prints.

It was hard to choose between the three versions of this poster (Woodland, Sea Life or Safari) but decided on this print as one side of my family has an East Indian background and I love the teeny reference to our culture in this poster with the cheerful elephant and peacock (the national bird of India.)

Wood you be mine?

photo from bcyrjewelery

I love my engagement ring.

Never having been a real fan of multi-faceted diamonds, I have always leaned more towards the clearer step cuts, such as emerald or Asscher.

My ring is a modest 3 stone emerald cut in white gold. I did not want my house on my finger, so I made Gavan promise me that whatever he bought would not break the bank (like the Tiffany and Tacori ones I secretly coveted).

I do not share quite the same affection for my wedding band however. It simply is the ring that fit the best with my engagement ring, looked decent on my finger (a feat in itself considering most of my family refer to my digits in terms best reserved for cured meat), and now of course is precious to me because of its irreplaceable sentimental value.

The other day, I gouged my little son's back with my ring, and it made me contemplate, as I sometimes do, putting both rings aside in favor of something more practical for the time being. It seems diapers and babies don't mix well with shiny rocks, and a simple band seems more fitting with my stay-at-home lifestyle.

I've kept my eye open for a temporary replacement, but haven't really seen anything that interested me until now. Things I love can usually be summed up because they fall in one of these categories: traditional, vintage or whimsical. Happily, I discovered these bark rings on Etsy that would certainly fit the bill for practicality yet appease my craving for all things woodland-inspired. Etsy Seller bcyrjewelry has created such lovely, simple yet unique pieces that would be so perfect for any bride or groom with a love of the great outdoors and are available in sterling silver, gold or palladium white gold.

Maybe I'll drop some hints for an upcoming anniversary that this would be a perfect stand-in wedding band until our kids are a little older.

COLLECTION: Owl Pillows

Photos from links below

1. Moni from Rabbitsmoon's Etsy shop.
2. Pillows and plushies from the Brooke line by PB Kids.
3. Owl and Lace pillow by Vancouver's Track and Field Designs.
4. Big Hoot by Manic Muffin.
5. Pico pillow from the Fauna collection by Areaware in NYC.
6. Stewart the Owl via the Cuore Etsy shop.

I adore anything with an Owl motif, so you'll be seeing lots more of these wide-eyed little guys in posts to follow.

Sweet dreams!

Daisy Barn Arts

Gavan is away and I have all these projects lined up to keep me busy. In case three children and two badly-behaved dogs (the children are angels obviously), wasn't enough to prevent idle hands right? Of course, most of the things I want done involve time, money and talent, all of which are unfortunately lacking, so I'm creatively spending my time doing what I do best... finding new ways of distracting myself from accomplishing anything worthwhile.

Luckily for me, my favorite distraction, shopping online on the handmade mecca otherwise known as Etsy, is a very willing accomplice in keeping work at bay.

But not all is lost. Look what I stumbled across today!





Perfectly sweet, and utterly charming, I adore everything about these art pieces from Daisy Barn Arts by NY artist Kristen White. (Everything except that they are sadly a little out of my price range at the moment.) Kristen uses vintage materials as well as organic and recycled items to create each design, and they are framed in reclaimed barnwood.

These are exactly the type of beloved childhood momentos that I can see becoming heirlooms for generations to enjoy.

Check out other samples of Kristen's art at her Etsy shop here.