Don't you love that anticipation after you've ordered something special, knowing that anytime your little bundle will arrive addressed to you? My order arrived from Restless Things and I just adore every bit of it...


...I had to share these pretty prints with you.

(image from holly becker for decor8.)

Here are some fabulous prints that caught my attention today over at Thumbtack Press, who happens to have a very strong collection of prints online featuring the work of some of my favorite artists. I'm hoping that you'll enjoy them along with me. :)

I adore Bride Diving by Penelope Dullaghan and Gossip by Chris Silas Neal. I always seem to go for images of girls jumping, not because I secretly have thoughts of suicide or anything (he he), more because I am constantly jumping into new things and love the thrill of just getting involved in something I'm passionate about. Also shown above is Bluebell by Lilly Piri and Presagio di Primavera by Gianluca Folì. Drool.

Long Beach Shoreline by Shiho Nakaza, I Miss You Already by Jared Drew Moody, Angel by Irana Douer, and This Flooded World by Sarajo Frieden. Isn't Irana amazing?

The Great Flood Series (set of 3) by Oksana Badrak, Spam One-Liners: Happy Life by Linzie Hunter (fun!), HiFi by Chris Silas Neal, and India Dawn by Oksana Badrak.

And finally, Don't You Leave Me Here by Matthew Woodson. Isn't this a melancholy, tender, emotionally charged glimpse into the life of the modern relationship? We all have fears of being abandoned at times and I think artist Matthew Woodson did such a great job capturing this emotion here.

(images from thumbtack press.)

Back in February we discussed using dress forms in the home for both practical purposes (sewing of course) and for displaying favorite items as more of a decorative element. I was pleasantly surprised when an email arrived today from decor8 reader Cathe Holden of Home Grown Logos who wanted to share her newly created dress-form-as-decor with us. Yay! DIY done right!


You can view her entire DIY project from start to finish right here, the finished product is shown above. Lovely job, Cathe!

(images from cathe holden)

It's funny how your own work can inspire you, isn't it? But then again, I constantly refer to decor8 archives for ideas and inspiration. Here is a little garden-themed post for your enjoyment today, inspired by this. If you blog, maybe you'd like to pull together a garden post of your own and share it with us? You can link to it by clicking on Links To This Post below (near comments) and then click on Create A Link.

Flower garden seed, some pretty doormats from Anthropologie along with a pretty pot, and a great book and blog that I go to when I'm in need of some gardening help called You Grow Girl.

The Sun Was Blinding by Wren and Chickadee, A Little Bird Told Me pendant by Little Put Books, Summer Day tea towel from Skinny LaMinx, Swan Lake by Pepperminte, and Lola French Market Summer sac from Dottie Angel. All of these things are totally putting me in the mood to plant my flower bed and hit a flea market!

Felt ipod cover from Suezy Bees, Field Guide print by Dolan Geiman, Creation by Betsy Walton, and Quail print from Stephaine DosReis.

(images linked to their source above)

I'm still feeling a bit groggy from all the meds I'm on, but I can't stop thinking about you and your many emails and comments that continue to wish me a speedy recovery. Thank you so much for your caring words but it's just a virus, nothing major really! :) I thought that since I'm not up to blogging at my regular Holly speed, I will post a few things today and tomorrow to keep you inspired until I'm back on Monday. Since I have a few more posts from the What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do series, I think I'll start with these...


Today we'll hear from creative lady Paola Thomas who is a Seattle-based mother, wife, blogger, and online shop owner of MirrorMirror. She, alongside Velocity Art & Design, just recently launched a creative meet up in Seattle called The Lab, too. Busy lady! Let's talk to Paola, shall we?

How do you think a person can find their spot in the world of design?

Take a long hard look at yourself and what you can do and what you enjoy doing. What do you really LOVE to do? I guarantee the business you end up doing will not be the one you envisaged, so don?t wait for something fully formed to drop into your lap, start experimenting with something TODAY and then watch it unfurl and grow. Do a new thing to your baby business every day, and grab every opportunity with both hands. You can always stop and change direction if you?ve made a mistake.

Let's say a person found what they love to do, is there more to it than creating pretty things?

Oh yes! Be truly honest with yourself and also focus on what you CAN'T or don't want to do. emember if you want a real money-making business that there's an awful lot of selling and marketing and networking and finance that needs to be done. You can hire people to do some of those things if you've got the money, but you have to at least be able to manage those people. I happen to love that side of things, but if you don't, then I really would think long and hard about whether you want to turn your creative passion into your business. I've seen people end up hating their passions. Instead have a job that pays the bills and develop outlets for your creativity in your spare time.

One thing I've heard a million times over is to see if there's a market for your work. Just how important is this?

One should think seriously about whether there?s a market for what you do. Just doing what you love is not enough. Keep testing and experimenting to see what will get you an audience. If you make stuff, get an Etsy shop; if you take photos, get on Flickr; if you want to write, start a blog. If can get an audience in these challenging environments, then maybe you have the beginnings of a business.

Great advice. Speaking of blogging, I met you in 2005 long before you had a blog. Can you tell us how that came about?

I find my blog tremendously useful for exploring ideas. It started as a marketing tool for my shop, but has now become a way for me to experiment with ideas, practice my writing and photography, and act as a platform for the things I like doing such as cooking, knitting, decorating etc. I doubt very much I?m going to make money out of these things, but having that outlet for my personal creativity is enough. For example when I started my blog I didn?t possess a digital camera. Now photography is a huge part of the blog and of my life.

Do you feel that you've found your 'calling' as a web shop owner and blogger?

I'm definitely going in the right direction but I'm nowhere near where I want to end up. My background is in finance and business development ? I worked for many years as an investment banker and then management consultant, before losing my job at a small Internet company in the dotcom crash. I realised then that I liked cushions and colour more than spreadsheets and legal docs and started combining some freelance journalism with doing a home study course in interior design. I soon realised that I don?t think spatially enough to be a great designer (and I want to be great at what I do) and also really missed the commercial side ? I love marketing and I love the Internet. Which is why I decided to set up a business that's actually primarily all about selling and marketing and the Internet, but focused on a market I really understand (women like me) and brings me into daily contact with beautiful things and creative people. And along the way I've had to write a business plan, get a bank loan, manage the building of a complex e-commerce website, run a customer database and PR list and pay sales tax etc. It?s not all about cushions.

You mentioned you lost your job and launched your web shop, but how can one afford to do that?

The upside for me is that my husband's salary has been enough to support us in this ?experimental? phase ? every penny the business makes gets put straight back in - though we have far less money than we used to. The downside has been that I've been combining it with being at home with a baby/toddler, so am only doing this stuff very part time so far. But I love what I do, I have created myself a ?job? where reading design magazines counts as work, so therefore I'm happy.

Thank you Paola! If anyone has questions to ask Paola about running a web shop, etc. please use this as your opportunity and ask some questions in the comments section below...

I was really happy when I saw how this piece that I pulled together for the Boston Globe came out today -- it looks so bright and happy!


... Though I don't know where line about the hideous planter from Christmas came from because I didn't write that, but when you work for others you have to expect that they'll revise your text a bit. Doesn't this look so nice?

(image from the boston globe)

I thought you'd be interested in checking out Whitney English Paper and Little Pretty Studio's new collection of hoop.de.doo bulletin boards. Aren't these adorable?


Thanks Whitney!

{update: This blogger wrote about her idea on how to make these in her post back in early March, so if you want to DIY a hoop for yourself -- instructions here. Thanks, Jessie!}

(image from hoop.de.doo)

I'm taking the next few days off because I'm still quite ill but I will meet you here again in a few days once I'm back to my 100% Holly self again and then it's full steam ahead! :)


I've been battling the flu for over 10 days now and the doctor told me that I won't kick it until I stop working and just sleep... So that's what I plan to do. But I should feel better soon and when I do, I'll return with lots of lovely product submissions to share along with another office redux so I'll meet you back here in a few days. Thank you so much for understanding!

(image by holly becker, a woodpecker outside of my bedroom window taken last week.)

I wrote about a few blogs that inspire me today over at Simply Stated... Maybe you can comment there with some of your favorite blogs, too!

Vanessa wrote in to share that she heard India Hicks will host the next season of Bravo's Top Design and Todd Oldham will continue in his role as mentor (minus the host part). Of course our dear Kelly Wearstler, Jonathan Adler and Margaret Russell will still serve as judges. Kelly must stay, we need her advice and her clothes to check out each week. It will be fun to see what India is like (does she have a fabulous British accent, I wonder?) and what she will wear too. I have no clue either way since I've only seen her in photos throughout the years.


Here's a little bit about India that you may not have known that I find quite interesting, "Host India Hicks is the daughter of famed interior decorator David Hicks and Lady Pamela Hicks. Born in London, England, she was named in honor of her grandfather, Lord Mountbatten of Burma the last Viceroy to India. Her godfather, HRH Prince Charles, chose Hicks to be a bridesmaid in his wedding to the late Lady Diana Spencer in 1990." - Bravo TV.

What do you think of adding India to the mix to replace Todd as host?

(image from bravo tv)