Being inspired today by the colors, textures, and variations found in nature.  I’m definitely one of those people who can’t leave an experience in nature without picking up something small (*and not alive, mind you) to remember their experience by.  Just looking at these items I’ve collected I’m reminded an afternoon at the beach on Cape Cod, a hike in the White Mountains of NH, a walk through Central Park in NYC, a rocky shoreline on an island in Maine, and a path at my favorite nature sanctuary near my home.

Bringing the outdoors inside is definitely a good thing.

{for more of my at home photos, check out my Flickr}

Checking out the new space of Studio Choo (well, at least virtually) and love the open and airy feel of it.  I am such a big fan of their work, they certainly work wonders with flowers and plants.  It makes me wish I could have yet another career path, only as a florist (or even a gardener). Those flowers are making me very jealous of those who are already seeing their bulbs sprout in their garden!

For more photos of their new space, check out their Flickr.

{images shown belong to Studio Choo}

Always one for a good color palette, I checked out Postcards and Pretties for some great inspiration boards today.  Reminds me of Snippet & Ink’s boards.  Loving the San Francisco one!

{images shown are inspiration boards from Postcards and Pretties; each individual photograph’s owners are listed there}

I absolutely love these mechanical paper dolls by Oh My Cavalier!  Found in her big cartel store, but also check out her etsy shop as well.  I’ve been longing to own some of Julianna Swaney’s work for some time now, and these animals are quite lovely indeed.

{images shown belong to Julianna Swaney and Oh My Cavalier!}

Sunday was perfect: family, good food, lots of tea, a hot fireplace, and plenty of relaxing and gabbing.  The birthday tea party I hosted for my Mom went well, with the exception of some very missed and loved family members (who were all sick… and I hope are all on the mend!).  I did a little bit of decorating for the party, including making 2 paper garlands for the fireplace mantel (after being so inspired by this garland by Lobster and Swan).  Surprisingly, preparing for the party went well and there was no rushing or stressing at all (hopefully my new outlook on parties and holidays is paying off).  The soup was delicious, the sandwiches perfect, and the desserts and scones absolutely scrumptious.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves and got to relax and catch up with each other.  I’m now thinking tea parties should happen at least once a month… or even once a week, for that matter.

{for more of my perfect parties photos, check out my Flickr}

To celebrate my Mom’s recent birthday, I thought it would be nice to have a small get together with the immediate female family members and have a tea party this weekend.  Take out the fine china, make some finger sandwiches and soup, and of course have scones and desserts.  I’ve tried so many scone recipes and this one is by far, the best.

Here’s my best advice to any scone recipe… do not overmix the dough when you mix the dry and wet ingredients (or they’ll be absolutely ruined) and use your hands.  I cannot stress this enough.  It seems a little odd, but trust me in that it makes all the difference.  After so many of my attempts at scones came out horrible, I started watching videos of older women from various parts of the UK making scones and the one thing I noticed was how they mixed the wet and dry ingredients: with their hands.  This proves two points: sometimes hands are better than spatulas, and sometimes you can’t just read a recipe to really understand it.

Thank god for youtube… where else can you learn how to properly make a scone from a 65 year old woman from England at 10:30 pm in Massachusetts?

{image belongs to House of Annie}

Sweet, colorful, detailed and playful illustrations from Sweet William.  The teacup pieces are my favorite!

{images belong to Sweet William}

There are plenty of online handmade and vintage shops on the web, but this one caught my eye.  Lovely Clusters allows you to not only shop by category, but by color.  The yellow section is really gorgeous!  There is also a really lovely selection of items, a good balance between paper, jewelry, vintage clothing, photography, and the like.  If only I could shop till my heart’s content…

{image shown belongs to Lovely Clusters}

Today’s forecast for my area: snow.  Today’s visual bliss on my laptop: Quince Flowers + Events photographed by Chelsea Fuss.  Springtime dreaming…

{images shown belong to Chelsea Fuss}

Some simple, clean designs from Australian designers Follow Studio.  Loving the hints of natural tones and color in the work this cold winter’s day.

{images shown belong to Follow Studio}