Heart Breaker

Valentine's Day is the one time of year I can freely indulge my love of all things anatomical heart. A selection of Etsy's finest offerings:


Truly Sanctuary

Shannon Gerard

letterhappy

Foldedpigs

Evolution Now

blockpartyprints

Drygoods.

Looking for a pic of the black HBC Point Blanket I staggered across Selvedge drygoods. So many lovely things and beautiful images:

Point Blanket love.

When in the Hudson's Bay yesterday hitting their white sale armed with a $250 gift card with the goal of procuring a king-sized down duvet (so RW and I will have more duvet to fight over in bed), I was very sorely tempted to pick up a black and cream Point Blanket instead. I stand to inherit a beautiful traditional one but the black and cream one would look so perfect in my house.

The After-Christmas Wish I Could Have Bought It List

I've only recently discovered that one of the dangers of doing Christmas shopping online is that you never get that "shopped-out" feeling that keeps you from coveting more stuff right away or wanting to buy more gifts for the people you love.

Bikes Without Borders baby hoodie.

Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal T-Shirt from Think Geek


Moop Messenger Bag in Gunmetal


Monsieur III by Blanca Gomez at Poster Cabaret

KidO Colored Cubes 

Kitty/Bird Visits Nest from me.la.bo

Stumbled upon.

I love the Internet. I recently was searching for vintage eye charts and found Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. I'd pretty much love to purchase their entire website. They even make booze. Incidentally, they do not sell vintage eye charts. 

I heart Toast.

If I could live in the catalogue pages of this store I would.


Also the source of that last bathtub pic incidentally.

Spraypaint happy

Ever since I got a hold of a can of black spray paint to redo the pulls for the newly very-cherry-red chest of drawers in our bedroom, I want to give everything a new coat of paint. Seriously, it was transformative (ack, pardon the government-speak) for the pulls which were an ugly faux-bronze. I also just bought some cheap mismatch frames that I'm going to spray glossy black to put on top of the drawers with some family photos in them.

So, when I saw this pic, my mind started whirling with the possibilities of grabbing some cheap silver-plated set from Value Village and having my spray-can-way with it.

Not that I need another damn teapot.

Source: The Style Files.

The first bicycle I've ever wanted to lick.

Hot damn. I'm in love. I don't even want to know how much it costs.

Trek Lime via A Whole Lotta Nothing. Check out his custom "hacked" version which I love even more, if that's possible.

Someone was thinking of me.

A portable, minimal fireplace. Perfection.

Travelmate Via Apartment Therapy

Excuse me while I weep.

Gus*, Canadian makers of couches and chair that I would quite honestly kill to own, are having a warehouse sale this weekend in Toronto and there's no way I can be there.

Apparently I masochistically signed up to get an email notification for this event. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. As though the crushing winter blues weren't bad enough this week... If you're in TO please go. Do it for me.

8-4, March 8-9th, 2008 at 223 Evans Avenue.

The joys (and drawbacks) of online shopping.

When you see a cute DIY sweater cozy for a French press, and follow the link to find the pattern (because maybe this is the project that inspires you to learn to knit), which shows you the comments, one of which contains a link to the oh-so-clever porcelain paper cups featured in the picture beside the cozy-wearing-French press available for a very sweet (on SALE!, in LIMITED quantities due to it being discontinued) price on a website of a store that offers brilliant shipping to Canada, and your Visa card sitting in your bag right next to you just happens to have (barely) enough room cover the cost of four of these adorable cups, and your weekly quota of self-discipline is currently being used up mentally preparing yourself to start seriously training for the half marathon you've been talked into doing in less than 13 weeks, all hope is lost.

Newly acquired radio fetish.

In the last couple of months I've developed a bit of an obsession with classic-modern looking wooden radios from companies like Furni. Browsing the NY Times today I came across this little beauty:

At $275 the Magno by Singgih Kartono is unlikely to be something I'll be buying anytime soon but a girl has to dream. Source: Areaware.

Valentine's gift guide.

Even those people who know me well still tend have difficulty reconciling my loathing of most traditional, cliched, Hallmark/consumer-driven, holiday pomp-and-circumstance, with my freakish unabashedly girly love of Valentine's Day.

Now, by no means do I support any of the tacky, pathetic "efforts" that would grace the pages of Cosmo or its ilk such as romantic restaurant dinners (I've flipped burgers in too many places on Valentine's and Mother's Day), candlelit baths (UTI waiting to happen), rose pedal covered beds and floors (dogs would likely eat them and I'd be distracted by the need to vacuum), chocolates (don't like chocolate), cut flowers (I don't like dead gifts), etc.

However, each year I really enjoy finding something random, a little campy and yet somehow personally meaningful to give to my someone special. As always Etsy has been a great source of inspiration. A couple of things that caught my eye include:

Anatomical Heart Mug.

Sacred Heart Leather Leash. For a dog, perverts.


Zombies Need Love Too Pillow.
Polka Dot Heart Keychain Bottle Opener.
Red Horned Throwing Zombie.
Sacred Heart Bicycle T-shirt.
Crochet Heart.

Handcuff necklace. Ok, this one's not for the dog.

Squirrel valentine
.

Affordable, non-gender-based, non-religion-specific winter celebration gift-giving guide.

Discriminating against none but those without taste. Oh, and maybe the elderly, but you can't win them all ok.

Smartwool socks ($15+): These are the most comfortable pair of socks you will ever own. When I bought my first pair, the sales person told me about a friend of hers that went months without washing his and they still didn't smell. While I don't recommend subjecting them to that sort of abuse, they can handle all sorts of harsh indoor and outdoor activities while keeping your feet feeling toasty, pampered and importantly, non-itchy.
Furni's Alba clock ($88): so cool even design-unconscious people will appreciate the aesthetic value side. Plus, according to my hubby, one can never have enough alarm clocks.

Black Diamond Headlamp ($35): even if your special someone thinks outdoor activities (especially those in winter) are for the uncivilized, masochistic or mentally unstable, they'll appreciate one of these babies for those late nights they need to find the keys they dropped or that pile of dog poop their (normally obedient) pupper placed on the neighbour's front lawn. Sigg Water Bottle ($20): apparently my beloved Nalgenes are killing me with every sip. These sexy things keep your water carcinogen free and tasting fresh all day.

Purdy's chocolates ($23 for 1 pound): I don't even like chocolate and I eat these. The coffee creams alone are worth killing your grandmother for.
Envirosax ($40 for 5/$8 each): a reuseable shopping bag that allows you to coordinate your outfits while saving the planet. Save someone else from being tempted to use those damn ugly 99cent President's Choice bags as purses.

Stovetop Bialetti espresso maker (~$20): this sturdy little sucker can be used on any type of stove to make tasty expresso-based beverages on-the-cheap. Best unadvertised feature: can be (carefully) used on the BBQ when the power goes out.
Pac Man hot water bottle cover ($15): Gen-X nostalgia and winter comfort - what more could you ask? Yes, even boys get cold toes sometimes.

Chunky handmade mug: even people who don't like hot bevies would find this a handy beer stein. If they don't like beer or hot drinks, they're probably not someone you should be wasting money on.

Screen printed band posters ($20): give the gift of instant street cred by buying ones for obscure, up-and-coming bands your friend has never actually seen or heard. FYI: the Weakerthans are not new but merely Canadian and, as such, naturally underrated but loaded with cred.

Ikea's knock-off Le Creuset cast iron pot ($70): so you can help someone else discover the miracle of no-knead bread.
Tasty Kicking Horse coffee ($40): help to convince another coffee lover that Starbucks is only good as a place to take an emergency potty break.
The Riddick Trilogy ($22): At the risk of overgeneralizing just a tad - men want to be him, women want him to impregnate them.