inspire: lovely.

A collection of inspiring images for you for today.

Hope you have a bright and loving day, friends!

via Pink Scarf

via shanna murray

via free people

via apartment therapy

Kalle Gustafsson

Alex Saberi

Deader than yesterday

Ways to tie a belt via the style mentor

Country Living

The Pursuit Aesthetic



THEO GOSSELIN
Kevin Cyr

HELLO diy / 99cent store mug:

I was at the 99 cent store and thought it'd be fun to do a DIY series of projects with dollar store items. I thought it was a pretty original idea but stumbled upon Emily Henderson's blog and the 99 cent store idea has already been done. That's okay though! What hasn't been done? ;) Anyway, here's what I came up with and a simple + easy diy project for you!

So all you need is a plain mug (the one I found at the store happened to have a gold rim at the top which is pretty cool) and a gold sharpie paint pen! (these are permanent oil based pens - they also have extra fine tip if you want to get into more detail)

I just started drawing some shapes on the mug but then realized it may be good to draw a pencil outline first? Either way would work, whatever you feel confident doing. 

The finished piece. I was going to go all the way with the triangles but just went with this instead ;) Also: I did wash the mug to test the paint and the design was fine. Go sharpie!

Happy Friday:

Hello Friday! How did you already arrive? So how did your week go? Perhaps some of you are getting special plans ready for next week.. :) These flowers are from Reinna & Christian's wedding last Saturday, which was absolutely beautiful. Ruby worked so hard on them and they were gorgeous, I saved some as we were cleaning up. A couple weeks ago while I was at the store, I came across this nutella & go - I love it! It reminds me of this japanese candy I had as a kid .. but with Nutella, yum!  So flowers + nutella, both lovely.  (oh, the ruler pitcher is from three potato four but I think it's sold out.. here's a similar one!)

Anyway, this week I have been getting ready for a show we are going to next week in Las Vegas - Pool Trade Show. It is my first trade show and I'm really nervous! If anyone is going to this show, please stop by and say hello! I've been working on an oh, hello friend wholesale line of goods for the past month so I'm pretty excited to show it at POOL. Nick and I will be working on Valentine's day, not the most romantic thing but I'm just glad we will be together, I love spending time with my husband :) I thought it'd be cool to visit the Pawn Stars shop while we were there but I don't think there will be a whole lot of time to do anything. Has anyone ever been?

Well hope you all have a very lovely weekend friends!

 and thanks to everyone who filled out the survey, it is so great to get

feedback and read all your responses :)

resource / scans:

Some more paper scans for you from my paper collection: Vintage dictionary book illustration. Graph Paper Journal. Parcel Post Mailing Label. and Green label. Free for your use in designs, whatever. Please just leave a credit or mention in a post if you use ;) File contains a .psd (photoshop) file with 4 scans, each one is on it's own layer as well as 4 separate png files (in case you don't have photoshop!)

Download file here!

reader survey:

I realized I didn't get around to doing a reader survey last year, so if you get a quick moment, please fill out the brand new survey for 2012 to let me know what sort of content you're interested in and how we can make oh, hello friend the best it can be in 2012 :) I always love hearing from you guys and truly value your opinion. And as usual, participants can enter to win some fabulous prizes:

Enter for a chance to win the lovely 4 items pictured above. Made by hank yellow zip purse, Pack of scrapbook washi tape, Key notebook from Rock Scissor Paper, and a terrarium necklace from Woodland & Belle.

Simply fill out the survey, leave your blog URL and then come back and leave a comment for your entry! A winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday, February 15th  :)

There are lots of opportunities for shops to participate on oh, hello friend. We offer advertisements, coupons, giveaways, and weekly deals. If you'd like further information on participating in any of these promotions, please email me!

Punch Box Notes:

Friends, some of you may know I am a big fan of notes. Notes that come in any form, any shape, any size. So I immediately fell in love with these sweet punch boxes from Lea Redmond. I'm sure you've heard of Lea, she's done a super awesome collaboration with Chronicle Books and is the creator of the Worlds Smallest Post Service. I actually met Lea at Renegade LA and it was such an honor to meet her, she is definitely someone who thinks outside the box.

So when she emailed me about these amazing Handmade Punch Boxes, I knew I'd immediately love them. Handmade?! What? I know. I was so impressed with the construction and quality - the front + back are letterpressed! So you simply punch with a pencil and out pops your note!

I love how novelty these sweet punch boxes are. It reminds me a little of the price is right "punch" game or something! (That is one of my favorite games! haha)  Love that you get to 'punch' through and your little note comes out. They are actually based off a vintage 1920's punch box. They did make some great stuff back then. Isn't it great that Lea has found a creative way make a fun version for others to enjoy?

These would be a perfect gift for a certain someone for Valentine's Day! They also can come with custom messages which is pretty great too. Lea has kindly put together a list of tips and creative ideas for how to write fantastic scroll messages for your own custom punch box. Make your messages personal and particular to your relationship with the person it is for. 

1) Recall a memory of a moment with her or him.
2) Start your message with: "This is a coupon, good for..."
3) Use just one word. A favorite food? A special object that makes you think of her? The emotion you feel when you are with him?
4) An inside joke.
5) A quotation from a favorite book.
6) A url to something fun to see or watch online.
7) Your phone number.
8) Your favorite cheesy pick-up line.
9) The place or situation in which you met.
10) See the "Sweet Words" scrolls for additional ideas

These fabulous little punch boxes are limited edition, so be sure to order one today. 

Lea has also mentioned that boxes are guaranteed to arrive in time for Valentine's Day! :)

Valentine's Day:

Valentine's day is in about a week, do you have anything fun planned? Here are some ideas/projects/misc things I've collected from around the internet for your vday inspiration today! Even if you don't have a certain someone to share it with, who says this day has to be all about that? Send a friend or loved one a card/gift letting them know you love/appreciate them!
1. free download: Diy stitched cards from Dandee Designs2. make: 7 days of love from the dating divas (via joy ever after)love this idea! & it doesn't necessarily have to be for a guy! make it for a friend.3. buy + send: valentine's box card from Pamela Loops4. gift: music box from bhldn, made by somethings hiding in here5. gift: i lovely love my family print from tuesday morning
6. idea: get a custom portrait from one and the same (via you are my fave)7. free download: printable valentine cards from thank you card shop8. gift: bow ring from ae.com9. wear: cute teddy from byLangley

my alt summit business cards:

I know I just did a business card diy a couple weeks ago but wanted to share my alt cards too! If you missed my cards from last year, you can see them here. Looks like I used the same yellow card stock again this year ;) Well anyway, I totally forgot all about my business cards for Alt this year, so I threw something together the night before. Here is another quick + easy business card diy for you!

Items I used:

1" x 4" Brown Kraft Labels from Planet Label

Curry business cards from Paper-Source

Paper clips + vinyl decals from The Wanderlust

'you are beautiful' custom stamp

black felt ink pad

I designed the label with a wrap around design in mind. I lay out the text in Illustrator but if you don't have that, you can probably use word or photoshop. You can download the templates for whichever size label at the site. So for my design, the info went on the front and the quote was wrapped around to the back.

I did two versions of this card. #1 - I stamped it with a "you are beautiful" stamp.

The 2nd version included a little animal paper clip + a vinyl decal.

They're fun, simple, + easy cards. Anyone can make them!

If you have any questions, just let me know :)