laureldenise

pulling a switch-a-roo

2010-03-17T07:42:00.000-04:00

So, it's been a little over a week of blogging in two places and, I gotta tell you. I'm exhausted! Too many ideas, too much time spent to post each, and - for whatever reason - I feel like I'm split in two! I know, I know...chill, girly, it's only blogging and you're not even a blogger, you're a designer. I couldn't agree more. So, because a gal only has so much to say, I think I'm going to say it on my new blog "from cville with love." It's got a fancy banner that I plan to switch out each month. It's got fancy posts and images and links and I promise it will be filled with all of the goodness and love that the laurel denise blog has been filled with for the past year or so. I hope you'll change your readers and update your bookmarks and follow the ins and outs of Laurel Denise, Cute Husband and my crazy ways over at from cville with love.

whisper rings

2010-03-15T08:17:00.000-04:00

You. Guys. These are stunning. I really, really, really want them. Like, a few of them. To wear every single day.

lazy weekend at home

2010-03-12T07:33:00.000-05:00

Yay for a weekend home with Cute Husband. I can't wait to try out some new recipes (or try a few restaurants), eat some takeout, start a new book, and enjoy our little home for a whole weekend. Spring...is...almost...here. Right??

boy t-shirt here

slouchy jeans here

vans here

cream cardigan here

laurel denise "be" necklace here

garden party feet

2010-03-11T07:53:00.001-05:00

Oh what happy garden party feet these are, don't you think? Hearts to Shop Ruche for the fashion goodness.

On a related-ish note, exactly how clear is my happiness for the warm weather that has recently arrived?? Let's hope it sticks around forever and ever and ever. And ever.

happy march from laurel denise

2010-03-10T07:54:00.002-05:00

a laurel denise poem...with apologies to all poets.

ahem.

in with the new, but don’t be blue
we kept the glass pieces, too.
we thought we’d add some sterling and leather
so that we might make our collection a bit better.
enjoy a discount from the bottom of our heart
15% when you add it to your shopping cart!

(code "march" until april 1)

little doodles

2010-03-09T07:44:00.000-05:00

Holy absolutely beautiful. The detail on the dress this beauty has on is just perfection. I love how artist Kate Wilson leaves out the faces. When I was majoring in art at JMU, I had such a hard time with faces. I still do. I shy away from them and then wind up creating yet another organic piece of art focused on something you find in nature. But I never quite got the perspective thing down either (thank God for kind teachers and printmaking classes), so the nature pieces didn't come out quite as perfect as they were supposed to. It's art though, right? Perfect isn't supposed to have a place in art. Anyway, I do love this creative idea Kate Wilson uses here to, well, leave out the faces and still create something perfect and lovely on its own. Yum.

simon + stella

2010-03-08T07:44:00.000-05:00

Saw these earrings from Simon & Stella on The Bright Side last week and I think I almost choked on my coffee. No, seriously. They are absolutely stunning. Really and truly. And check out their product shots online - lovely!

weekend fashion: let's go capitals!

2010-03-05T08:01:00.003-05:00

This weekend is Cute Husband's birthday and we're heading to DC to watch the Washington Capitals in person (I haven't seen them in the Verizon Center since, well, since they didn't have Ovechkin and no one really knew about the team) and delight in some delicious margaritas from Rosa Mexicana right across the street from the stadium followed by a quick snooze at a hotel close by. Very excited for the packed weekend with family and sports and for my very favorite person to ring in his last year as a 20-something with a smile on his face and a Caps win in the pocket (fingers crossed)! Let's hope he likes his gift. So...impossible...to...shop...for...

jeans here

cardigan here (or, if you like the sweater better, sweater here)

shoes here

laurel denise "play" necklace here

the wednesday sisters

2010-03-04T08:31:00.004-05:00

Oh, this book, you guys. This book...well, it was kind of amazing. Just the exact book I needed right now. Well, ever. It had all the good stuff inside - women friendships, struggles, joys, tragedies, love, relationships, writing, books - everything all stuffed inside to make one of my new favorite feel-good and thoughtful books. I know what you're thinking - "Laurel, you like every single book you read" - I know. And it's probably true. I love, love, love books and if I don't love it, I probably won't post about it because I know how much time people put into writing that art and - even though a published author would have to really work to find this little blog of mine, this world is awfully small sometimes and you just never ever know. So I try not to post the bad, but I will always-definitely-one-hundred-percent share with you books like The Wednesday Sisters. I heart books like this so much and I hope you will, too.

artfully wrapped

2010-03-03T07:43:00.001-05:00

I'm loving the teeny tiny detail of this recycled wrapping paper. I know, huge shock, I like teeny tiny design things. I just keep coming up with the surprises, don't I? I've had some wrapping paper sitting around in each place I've called home for the past five years. Seriously, I bought it when I graduated from one of my favorite Charlottesville spots to shop (O'Suzannah) and I haven't done a thing with it since then. Not a thing until last week when I decided to dust it off (literally) and actually use it to wrap something happy. That little thing made the gift giving that much better - and what's better than giving a gift, honestly? - and made me smile. Which is always the goal, right?

embellish

2010-03-02T07:53:00.003-05:00

So, I'm trying to make this shirt. Last week, Erin and I spent some quality time with an embroidery book I bought years ago (because wouldn't it be cool to embellish things that I have or make that $300 pillow instead of paying for it??), but I haven't touched it since the first purchase. Last week we went through and actually learned some cool stitches - like the awesome flowery sort of thing you see here. Trial one with a thin white tank from Target didn't go so well. I used the wrong color for the flowers and decided, mid-way through, that I would take those out and start again with a softer white. One word: holes. So many holes in my little white tank, it looked diseased! So that one had to go into the trash immediately. Craft fail. Good thing I have another navy blue one to experiment with this weekend. Just not sure how they manage to get such nice, large flowers and still keep the fabric soft and white. Are they making them separately and then sewing them on? Anyone have a clue? Oh the trials and tribulations of being crafty. It's a tough world, friends, but someone has gotta do it.

ban.do hearts

2010-02-26T08:20:00.002-05:00

Dear Ban.do, as if your beautiful headbands (especially this little beauty) don't make me happy enough, your website and blog are just about the happiest places I've ever been. Especially in the 8's in the morning.

happy feet

2010-02-25T08:38:00.003-05:00

I'm stuck inside during the snowicane and honestly can't believe I've seeing another snowstorm this season! Another one? Really? But, I mean, I happen to be "stuck" with one of the cutest kids ever to grace the world and my bestest of best girls, so if a gal is going to be stuck anywhere, that's where it should be. That aside, I'm still oh so done with snow. So this morning I found myself looking at the brightest, happiest shoes I can find on Zappos. Such perfect candy for my winter heart this morning.

Purple, Yellow, Turquoise, Pink

tiny bird vase

2010-02-23T07:41:00.000-05:00

Flippin' cute. Right?? This tiny bird vase by Pretty Random is begging to have a life and a home next to my J. Mendicino vase.

the middle place

2010-02-22T07:47:00.000-05:00

Yummy, delicious, funny, sweet, sad and wonderful book: The Middle Place. This book got me through a plane ride on a teeny-tiny-feel-every-single-bump-in-the-cloudy-air plane that had to land to refuel because visibility wasn't good enough at our original destination. The fact that I wasn't having a complete melt down because I can barely handle taking off or landing in a plane just the two times that are usually required is a testament to Kelly Corrigan's writing.

Side note, why oh why oh WHY do those little planes have to be so HOT? Why? I thought maybe Cute Husband and I were going to melt right there into our seats. Really and truly. At least I'd go out reading a good book.

amazing address file

2010-02-19T08:41:00.002-05:00

So, every once in awhile I find something that literally makes my breath disappear. Heart starts beating faster, I become excitable before a full cup of coffee, and at that point I know it's true love. When Oh So Beautiful Paper posted about this address file, I had one of those moments. I do realize it's silly to have a moment like that over a letter pressed address file, but if you can't get excited about letterpress on a Friday morning then, really, what can you get excited about? It's the simple things, friends, the simple things.

nothing elegant

2010-02-18T08:20:00.004-05:00

I think I've posted about this fun masking tape before, but I saw on Creature Comforts this week that Nothing Elegant (with a whooping 5,000-something sales on Etsy - woah!) also offers metallic masking tape. Not just the sweet pastel colors I've seen around blogland. And, while clicking through the shop, I noticed they have fabric tape, too! Linens! Creams! Khakis! Earth tones! I'm in heaven...

happy mobile

2010-02-17T08:17:00.002-05:00

If this beauty from KHamm75 on Etsy doesn't scream happiness and Spring sunshine-y weather (that, literally, I need so bad right now it hurts!), I'm not sure what does.

meet me in st. louis

2010-02-12T12:48:00.004-05:00

Cute Husband and I are heading to St. Louis this weekend to see some of our favorite JMU buddies! I'll catch you all on Tuesday when I return - hopefully not frozen into a complete icicle...accidentally leaving your winter coat in NYC when you live in VA and then being too busy and forgetful to print your friend a UPS label so that she can mail it back to you has its consequences...

bink & boo

2010-02-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

How cute is this little vintage purse guy? Love him and love a bunch of the other products on the Bink & Boo website, too. Such happy patterns and colors.

oh orla...

2010-02-10T08:03:00.000-05:00

Holy moly I want this bag. Badly. I've wanted an Orla Kiely bag for a long time. My friend Amanda and I ooh'd and aah'd over everyone's fashionable Orla Kiely bags at the Atlanta Gift Show a few weeks ago and this one, over all of the rest, is the best I think. The most understated and natural while still being Orla. I heart it very, very much.

(Found it online for $127 at a Charlottesville store I can't wait to check out, Duo. Gently used and new clothing. Don't know if the bag they have falls into the gently used or new, but I'll take one either way, thank you very much!)

tibi dress

2010-02-07T12:28:00.005-05:00

Best. Dress. Ever. Right? I'm dreaming of spring and summer and garden parties in the midst of this never-ending snow that Virginia is getting, can you tell?

Thanks to one of my new favorite blogs, Mrs. Lilien, for posting about this beauty. This blog is filled with all kinds of awesomeness.

crafting an mba. brilliant.

2010-02-07T10:46:00.006-05:00

I met Megan Auman and finally got to see her totally awesome products at the NY Gift Show last week and she was awesome. So friendly and down-to-earth and nice - not an impossible find at a show like the NY Gift where you generally meet some pretty outstanding people - but the introduction made 8am a happier place to be, that's for sure. Digging around her blog and website this weekend, I found that she also writes a blog called Crafting an MBA for people like me (and probably you, too!) to read and get information on the how-its-done of this small design business world. An incredible blog. Seriously - you can tell that with each post she really does put a lot of thought and effort and love. So helpful and I'm so appreciative of people like her - super busy designers, making and marketing their own craft, who still take time to, well, spread the business love.

ps - superbowl. did anyone else tear up at the google commercial??

happy almost love day

2010-02-01T07:16:00.002-05:00

15% off with code "ldlove" until march 1st, lovely friends! xoxo

laurel denise bright side giveaway

2010-01-28T06:47:00.003-05:00

Do you guys remember my obsession with The Bright Side Project? I posted about this wonderful site a few months ago and, happiness flows over, today Laurel Denise is featured as their giveaway of the day! Go to this link and answer the question "what is your mantra and why". The winner gets a free necklace from the site! Free! Happiness flows over for you, too! Winners will be chosen on February 10th.