shoestring home

I live in Portland, but at my core I am a midwestern girl.  Midwestern gals need to stick together, which is particularly easy when it comes to mandi of shoestring home.  both her and her gorgeous shop seem quite lovable...

I have decorated my home in my head over and over again with items from shoestring home.   I especially have my eye on the beautiful branch pitcher and biscayne chair and quilted throw and...oh forget it, I want it all. 

mandi makes us midwesterners proud...I think we will keep her. Mandi thank you so much for standing by bliss, you always have a place here.

  

xo mrs. french

p.s.

did I mention that I also want the butterfly mobile and the white devil bag....

brrrr...shop additions.

it happened without much thought really...I think my need to be toasty has definitely been reflected in my recent shop additions...

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I find photographs of blues, whites and cold to be so cosy (????).  There is something about looking at the cold from the comforts of the indoors...hope you like them too...xo mrs. french

now I want a hat.

so...this past weekend I saw the movie the edge of love with keira knightly and sienna miller.  I liked it.  I know that the main reason for this is the crazy-perfect clothing.  I wanted all of the outfits...all of them! I particularly loved the floral dresses, woolly socks, wellies and sienna's blasted hat.  I have been assembling outfits to go with my new hat in my head ever since...

there are a few problems with this: I am not sienna miller, I have an enormous head (ladies' hats rarely fit) and I have no idea which one to choose...based on my large head, the decision may already have been made for me...

cloches and fedoras that haunt me:

1. uo, 2. j.crew, 3. goorin  4. la garconne, 5. goorin, 6. j. crew, 

oh and mr. french's comments such as, "it looks like what an old man golfs in" and "you have been watching too many episodes of the hills," have me thinking too.  Actually, too much thinking makes my big old head hurt...maybe I will just go to an old man store and purchase one of these puppies...xo mrs. french

from one thing to another...

This post started out as one thing and turned into another.  Originally, it was a post about pretty clothing from sally scott (that whitney always shows me the prettiest things)...anyway, I was compiling the photos for this post and my mind wandered...

I remember living in Saint Paul and cursing the winters.  I hated the frigid winters.  I hated the scraping windshields, shoveling, endless cold days and slow-to-start vehicles.  However, for some reason I only remember the coziness.  The huddling by the fire to keep warm, tea out of necessity and beautiful frost formations on the windows.  Minds are funny that way....at least mine is.  I remember the good things...

oh and these photographs and toasty clothing really are beautiful...

if I moved back I am sure that the Portland soggy, grayness would be forgotten...replaced by...mmmm...I think I need to step away...hehe...xo mrs. french

big furry hat and some pretty awesome photos

I want B to wear this hat...

the tattoos are not a problem...we sport them often around here...sadly, I am pretty sure that he may not oblige since he no longer lets me dress him the way I would like.  However, he is used to having a camera up in his space...so maybe a few snaps wearing this big, furry thing?  Now I just need to find a way to get it here from sweden and talk the mister into a big, fuzzy hat that b may or may not wear...no biggie...xo mrs. french

p.s. regardless of the hat situation around the french household I am completely in love with these photographs taken for the adorable shop mini rodini.

fey handmade

have you been to fey handmade?  if not, you really should.  It is a sweet shop, featuring so many of my very favorites.  the curation is genius....thoughtfully plucked artistry which fits together like its meant to....

It's a bit like someone sifted through and came up with a perfect shop, with the perfect things, perfectly lined up and categorized...

It is apparent that fey handmade was created with a love and respect for each and every artist it represents.  A collaboration happened and it is a good one. Kind of like the little one we have going with fey on bliss...meant to be.  I am so grateful to have such a thoughtful sponsor, who thought enough to include me in the fey handmade family...merci. 

I feel as if the lovely christine created this shop just for me...I know you will too because I think we are sort of the same.  

xo mrs. french

my happy place: mount shadows

eep...I think I maybe in trouble.  I believe I choose a home based on my mood, the time of year, or my level of warmth.  homes are not like clothing...you cannot change them based on how you are feeling at that exact moment.  I can't have open and airy one minute and small, warm and cozy the next.  I am thinking that rather than trying to have a cohesive home I may need to change it up a bit.  I need a room for each moment or mood...my poor husband is going to go completely nuts!

at this particualar moment I am looking for a comfortable, big-hug of a cottage...

so soothing I can barely handle it.  actually, I don't think I would ever tire of living this way...problem solved.  xo mrs. french

via the amazing  bosworth hoedemaker

my happy place: the home of anja and alain

hellooooo....how are all of you this morning?  oh my does my happy place make me weak in the knees this morning.  All of the greens and grays have me rethinking my strictly white policy...too much a good thing and all of that...

I love the perfect mixture of feminine and masculine elements...animal skulls and beautiful crocheted bedspreads...perfection!  xo mrs. french

also via the stunning portfolio of hotze eisma

jamie shelman giveaway...weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Do you happen to know these cats?

I do and I love them so much.  Jamie Shelman is one of my all-time favorites.  Her cats drew me in and I can't pry myself from her produce...

The lovely minimalism in her work is a breath of fresh air.  You can tell she lives "in a place where you can still see the stars at night and cats run free."  Her work is dripping with a pretty, simpler life.  

The best part is that it is my birthday and Jamie is giving one bliss reader a gift.  Leave a comment below stating which Jamie Shelman masterpiece you like best and you will be registered to win one of Jamie's strawberry prints (which by the way, is my very first choice).  Bliss readers also receive a 10% discount..just enter the code "BLISS" at checkout in Jamie's shop.  Yay!

xo mrs. french

I heart monday...the birthday addition!

happy monday....happy birthday to meeeeeee...ever since I can remember I have been super silly about my birthday!  I have always had the idea that if I don't make it special nobody else will...actually, I am not sure a grown woman in her 30's should get 8-year-old excited, I just can't help it.  

I usually consider monday birthdays an unfortunate thing, not anymore.  I loved every second of assembling this list...

I heart this chair.

I heart these ruffles.

I heart this dahlia.

I heart this tote.

I heart this print.

I heart this memo board.

I heart this v-neck.

I heart this print.

I heart these boots.

I heart this pretty classic.

I heart these ornaments.

I heart this dress.

I heart this bowl.

I heart this pretty dress.

I heart this beautiful barn.

I heart this bag so much.

I heart these shoes.

I heart this dandelion.

I heart this tee (thank you for the intro dear melissa).

I heart this bed.

have a wonderful day and have a cupcake for me wherever you are....xo mrs. french

p.s.

come back for a lovely giveaway later this afternoon...

lucky winner

the winner of the le papier studio giveaway is...

lucky number 20...congrats hana!  

PINCH design studio

I am having a frustrating morning.  I have spent the last hour and a half attempting to install a light fixture in my front room.  The room I mentioned in a previous post...the one that is almost finished!  This light fixture has been sitting in our basement for a year and I chose this morning to get all handy and go for it.  Needless to say, I am not handy and I don not think it will work.  Light fixture shopping today friends!  Then if one of you would be so kind as to come and install it that would be great...oh and the painting thing still applies...

In the mean time, I turn to my blog.  This is where I come to get away from things like this.  Everything is done, just the way I want it.  The perfect time to introduce PINCH design studio.  I am crazy for for PINCH.  Honestly, there is not one thing I do not love....

A collaboration between husband and wife team Russell Pinch and Oona Bannon, born in 2004,  PINCH specializes in furniture, object and interior design....creating that effortless elegance I constantly admire.  PINCH objects are designed to last...design-wise and structurally...timeless.  Each item is made by hand and is truly a work of art.  

When I stop to post on bliss about loveliness like PINCH that silly light fixture doesn't seem so daunting...I become full of inspiration and shopping for a light fixture becomes an adventure.  

However, I would be willing to scrap everything and let PINCH have a go at the whole darn room....the house...you see here I go again...xo mrs. french

~via yatzer