writing on the wall

our senior stylist recently moved into a new home and painted one of the walls with chalkboard paint – such a fun idea! friends can leave little drawings and notes when they stop by, and it would come in handy for bursts of inspiration! i love how elegant her’s looks with the mantel and mirrors – and don’t you love the fire someone drew :)

there are so many cool things you can do with chalkboard paint…here’s some more inspiration from around the web.

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Rider of the Storm

I’ve been obsessing over hats lately like crazy. I see so many cute pictures of girls wearing them with prairie dresses, rock T-shirts and polka dots. Whenever I throw on a hat I feel like a different person… like I’m in character… it’s kinda fun. It makes me feel like I need to be a performer for the day!! I think I need one in my life. There are so many adorable styles out there.

The look I’m chasing at the moment on the hat front is that naïve folksy look, the prairie look made accidentally cool. Mixing a hippie dress with a polka dot shirt, then either a bowler hat or fedora or if I just wanted an easy care free day – a vintage rock tee, dirty denims and yep topped off with any hat.

I gotten hat crazy this month but my life has been made easy with the great selection that is right here on our web.

The Hat Shop

new year, new book!

i am very excited to announce our next book club read – just kids by patti smith! a couple of you recommended this book but it was literally yesterday during a conversation with our videographer that we chose it.   here is what she had to say about it…

i’d heard friends talking about patti’s book and how powerful/inspiring/mesmerizing it was…
coincidentally i got tickets to see her play in new york for the new year.
i’m not much of a reader anymore, but…
i started the book on sunday – after seeing her perform which was downright amazing – and stayed up til 1am tuesday to finish it.
i don’t even feel like i can conjure up words to say what she’s already said – though when i read the last page, i texted my good friend,
feeling compelled to say “good lord, there’s good work to be done.”
i haven’t been so moved by a book in maybe…ever.
you’ll want to throw away all of your fears and reservations and excuses and go for it –
it being whatever the heck you want your life to be.

ok sign me up! i can’t wait to start reading it.  i’ll give you all a week or so to get started and then i’ll start posting about it. in the meantime, here are some images of the impossibly cool patti smith.

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stories from our fans

i am so inspired by this story and artwork sent in from reader keely, from savannah, georgia.  a college student who paints on the side, she was inspired by one of our summer display bikes to create jewelry out of wood, hemp, floss thread, scrapbook paper, fabric and free people catalogs!

it was this bike – specifically the wheels – that sparked her inspiration:

and here’s a look at the jewelry she created:

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here are some of her paintings, which she creates using mixed media such as fabric, paper, glitter and acrylic paint.  i love how colorful and cheerful they are:

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Tee pee-N-feathers

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Dream VW van

finally, i had to share this photo of her christmas tree, decorated with all DIY ornaments!

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now that’s a free people tree if i ever saw one :)

check out more of her work here. thanks so much for sharing, keely!

the 2011 calendar is here!

our graphic designers have made a new downloadable/printable calendar for 2011!

i can’t stop looking at it, they did such a beautiful job and have captured the mood of each month perfectly.

click here to go to our flickr page and download the large size – they made two versions, one for regular screens and one for wide screens :) enjoy and happy new year!