Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts

Monday, August 16, 2010

NYC Summer: Purl Soho

We took a weekend trip to New York recently to gather some supplies. Every time we hit the city, I make a point to stop into Purl. It was my first time in the new location and I thought it was great. Very roomy. They had a really nice selection of embroidery flosses, what seemed like the same amount of fabric, and a nice spot to look at patterns. Of course, there was the usual gorgeous crafty inspiration hanging out on every shelf and every corner.

The first thing to catch my eye were these little wool felt dolls by Mimi Kirchner. I didn't take any notes or photos of them while I was at the store but I couldn't stop thinking about them. When I got home, I did some snooping and found this awesome free pattern. I'm going to try to make one. I've had an idea brewing for a long time and I think this is what I needed to make it work.

I started my collection of Heather Ross' Far Far Away II with these lovelies. My color palette has been leaning toward this yellow and I bought several different versions of it on the trip (more on that later this week). The only embroidery floss available here is DMC and its generic counterparts so I decided to try some Trebizond silk (teal) and Londonderry spun linen (jonquil). They are both really lovely.

Of course, some Alexander Henry. I'd seen the larger print before but never the smaller one. I think they'll look lovely together and I have a pattern in mind. The polka dot trim caught my eye and I think it will look good with some fabric I picked up at Ikea. You never know...

Finally, I bought a teeny tiny bit of this Liberty of London gorgeousness to match the storage boxes from Target. I'm going to recover some pillows we have on the pullout in the office and I thought it would be nice to throw in a bit of this as an accent. It's not the same pattern but I didn't want to be too matchy matchy.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Rare Bird Finds


Rare Bird Finds is an amazing blog featuring some of best stuff to buy on the web. She scours the internet to find unique gifts, original creations, and really hip stuff. I check it out all the time because she often mentions Etsy sellers and their work.

The best part of the blog is her compilation of a 100 Cool Goodies for $10 or Less Guide. It's not all handmade stuff but it's a great assortment of intersting things. It'll come in handy for those weird secret santa swaps you have to enter at work around the holidays. It's also good for impulse buying -- like when you need retail therapy but don't have a lot of extra cash.

I really like her taste. She chooses a lot of items with contemporary design, functional objects with a humorous kick, and some things that are just stunningly beautiful.

Her site was also nominated for the blogger's choice award for Best Shopping Blog.