pics : brooklyn diptychs {2}

Iron Bouquet

Hi Everyone -

I hope you all had a good weekend! Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day here. Scott went with me to the fabric store to find some white linen for use as a backdrop and was very helpful making a decision. There must have been a hundred choices - if one was too yellow the other was too blue - I felt like Goldilocks. Camera-less (bad idea), we had lunch in Grand Central Station and then went over to Rockefeller Center. Here's another set of diptychs from Brooklyn. Happy Monday!

xo, Cindy


Butcher, Baker


Luxury Clothes


Produce Bus


Highway Park


Car Guitar


Bottled Optimism


Peace, Quiet

fun : a few favorites

Tamar Mogendorff via Bird

Hi Everyone -

Thanks for your nice comments about my first set of diptychs. They were a lot of fun to create and I'll have more next week. I just wish I could make them bigger, but this template won't accommodate a larger size, and I don't want to start messing around with the html code - ugh!

At this point, I feel all talked out, and quite frankly, pooped. I am so glad it's Friday and might just gaze upon some of these pretty pink-inspired favorites and pretend I'm in an English rose garden having a cup of tea. Sound good? Join me? Good! Have a fun weekend.

xo, Cindy

Art : Alex Edge's photography is so pure and real. She's also very generous in sharing a lot of information about her camera equipment.

Beauty : This beautiful powder puff from Bell'occhio looks simply divine.

Craft : The birdhouse from Tamar Mogendorff is very special, indeed.

Fabric : An English Rose will surely love Liberty of London whether it be in fabric from Purl Patchwork, or clothing from A.P.C. or Pronk.

TV : So looking forward to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency starring beautiful Ms. Jill Scott on HBO this weekend.

Typography : The beautiful hand-lettering of Jessica Hische is lyrical and lively. I'm not alone in thinking so since she was recently featured in Print magazine as one of the 2009 New Visual Artists "Design's Rising Stars".

Yums : Delicate Rose Pepper Cookies from Whimsy & Spice make for an interesting and delicious combination of flavors.

pics : brooklyn diptychs {1}

Yellow Love

Hi Everyone -

I think inspiration often gets stored in the deep recesses of our mind. We all look at a lot of content - some we like, some we don't. We take it in and move on. It becomes a component of who we are even though we might not give it a second thought.


Economic Ills

I had no plan to create diptychs when I started taking these photos in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, but I knew I wanted to capture some of the grit of the city. My Mom used to give me a hard time because I always do things with flowers and I am aware that it can get tedious.


Bicycle-writer

So, after taking the photo of the yellow ranunculus, I saw the yellow love tire, and I got the idea for a diptych. Before I knew it I saw potential pairings all over the place. It was pretty neat. When I was putting these together I thought of the Noticing Project by Heather & Alicia and I'm sure it had something to do with it. Their concept of 'noticing'.


Light Bouquet

I just hope I'm not the only one who thinks they go together ;). More to come next week.


Robotmen

xo, Cindy

life : thanks!

Hi Everyone -

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generous words of encouragement and personal stories in response to the times are a changing post. Your support is really priceless and so helpful.



For those of you with clean window envy, and it is just one window, I've included a diptych of what I affectionately refer to as 'Clean Bathroom, Ugly Tub.' No amount of cleaning is going to fix that tub. More like a sledge hammer! Cross my heart, giving up our membership card in 'The Ugly Club' is one thing that won't be changing anytime soon. ;).

[Note: The window was cleaned on the inside only. We live on an upper floor and cleaning the outside is a challenge, plus a total waste of time. Whenever we've tried, it rains within hours. Really!]


Photo credit : L'Atelier

And, please visit us over on L'Atelier for a very nice interview about Quaint. Thanks Asiye!

xo, Cindy

life : change is in the air

Wipe it clean and start a new.

Hi Everyone -

As we know, spring is the season of rebirth and this first week has me doing some serious soul-searching. Seeing the new growth, while my in-laws go through the challenges of aging, and the terrible accident that took the life of Natasha Richardson has really gotten to me. Life is fragile and not to be taken for granted. Yet, I often do.

Aimee’s wonderful post yesterday has me thinking about change and the choices I’ve made over the years. Most of them are good ones and usually work out pretty well. But, I often get comfortable and avoid the risk associated with making a make a drastic change. It's strange because I’ve had no problem working on some risky start-up businesses for others.

Since we started the blog almost a year ago, I've really learned to love photography and I’m absolutely sure I would not have discovered it beyond simple snapshots without meeting & visiting all of you. Of all my creative pursuits, it has given me the most satisfaction. It gets me up out of bed at the crack of dawn.

I realize there are many, many talented photographers out there with years of training, but I wonder if I should focus on it a little bit more intensely with real goals? Go for it and stop hiding behind 'I’m just learning' and using the abundance of talent as excuse not to take it more seriously.

We'll see, but I'm fairly certain change is on the horizon.

xo, Cindy

PS I should clarify that the photos to come are from Williamsburg, Brooklyn and they'll be diptychs - something new!

life : late today

Hi Everyone -

I hope you all had a very nice weekend! Ours was busy with level one spring cleaning and picture taking in Williamsburg (more on that to come). We also visited Scott's Mom who is getting some much needed rehab to improve her walking and his Dad who is getting a bit of a break. Scott's Dad is very independent and the apple of my eye (as well as all the senior citizen ladies in his building) - he's practically cleaning their entire apartment as Scott's Mom is quite the accumulator - while the cat's away the mice will play.

We also watched the movie Australia and we're still watching it! The movie never ends, although it seems like it's going to several times. Hugh Jackman is pleasing on the eyes, but we liked Out of Africa better.

So, I'm running very late in posting and visiting y'all. I'll get caught up and see you very soon. Happy Monday!

xo, Cindy

PS Scott chose the yellow daffodils & raspberry other flowers (name?). I didn't put them together at first, but now I kind of like 'em.

fun : a few favorites

Blue Hyacinths represent sincerity

Hi Everyone -

There is no special photo today because I didn't have anything that was good enough. Pulling together an image of favorites can sometimes be a challenge because I just can't find a good shot. Last week's pic took so many arrangements to get the color in the THINK sign to look good I almost gave up. In addition, all of the items should kind of work together and eventually I'm going to run out.

I just want to mention that the foundation of these favorite posts has been to feature artists from whom we have been able to purchase something and others we admire. Although we would love to buy something from all of our quaint friends, we're just not able to for financial or spacial reasons as we saw earlier this week. This is a personal blog and we're trying to do our part to extend support mostly to the handmade community by highlighting some wonderful craftspeople even though they might not have found a place in our place, yet.

This week's choices are from some terrific artists and everything has a certain softness. Except for the music, we're not able to say we call any of them our own, but we can admire them from a far. Enjoy your weekend!

xo, Cindy

Art : Duane Keiser's paintings can get expensive when he sells them on eBay, but we can all watch him create one. The candy apple is low on calories and won't upset your dentist.

Blog : Super cute without makeup Jessica took our ugly post one step further and started a really interesting discussion yesterday about keeping it real online and beyond.

Craft : I am always tempted by the wonderful fabric wonders from Abigal Brown, especially her little matchbox tweeters.

Music : Kathleen Smith has the sweetest sound to her voice, but sometimes I hear a little bit of Nellie McKay, too. You Try is without a doubt one of the most moving songs I've ever heard. (via Design for Mankind)

Stationery : Felix Doolittle has been my idol when it comes to beautiful watercolor illustrations for years. I've tried to paint like him, but it's hopeless. These Personalized Calling Cards look so pretty.

pics : wave hill art

Rebecca Allan

Hi Everyone -

Thanks for visiting me over at Heart Handmade and your nice comments, yesterday! It really was neat. As mentioned, I wanted to show you some of the wonderful paintings currently on exhibit at Wave Hill's Glyndor Art Gallery. Here is a brief synopsis of the two shows and I would encourage you to visit some of the artists sites, too -

• 'Arbores Venerabiles is Glyndor Gallery’s contribution to the 2009 Year of the Trees, honoring the majestic trees that anchor Wave Hill’s gardens.'

• 'Knots and Conceits, artist Cece Cole used her fascination with horticulture, technology, weather, stellar skies and unexplained phenomena as a starting point to examine the landscape of Wave Hill.'

xo, Cindy


Amy Talluto


Joan Backes


Stas Orlovski


Joel Adas


Sandra Allen


Amy Talluto


Cece Cole (see much more of this cool exhibit on Cece's blog)

blog : houseguest @ heart handmade

Ravenhill Vintage Doily Needlebook & Image

Hi Everyone -

I was ecstatic when Marichelle asked me to be a houseguest over on Heart Handmade and invite you to please join us for some favorite Scandinavian treasures.

xo, Cindy

PS I love how Marichelle pulls all of the images together!

pics : wave hill in spring

Hi Everyone -

If the New York Botanical Garden is the 'Disneyland' of botanical gardens in New York City, Wave Hill is like visiting someone's very special estate. We really love to go to this intimate haven on the Hudson River and have some lunch in the cafe. It always has something wonderful to see whether it's a patch of crocus swarming with bees in early March or an interesting art show.

We recently visited and having my dslr in a new season is like starting from scratch when it comes to photos. I've split my pics into two sets with the outdoor shots in this post and those from the conservatory & alpine house over here where you will find my favorite photo of all time at the top.

Tomorrow, I'd like to show you some of the incredible paintings they currently have on exhibit. Hope you enjoy!

xo, Cindy

style : green + pink

Lilly scarf for Breast Cancer Awareness sponsored by Ford Motors.

Hi Everyone -

I hope you're all still with us after our day of things ugly here in quaintland? It wasn't so bad and a little bit cathartic, but I have no plans to do it again anytime soon. I would definitely encourage all of you to consider it because I'd love to see your dirty laundry so to speak. Sharing is caring ;). Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled posting.

Today is St. Patrick's Day and we live in a neighborhood with many people of Irish descent and will be having the customary corned beef and cabbage dinner tonight - can't wait. I have several friends from Ireland who never really had that meal until they arrived in the US, which is interesting. I also used to work on Fifth Avenue and have seen & heard the grand parade many times. All day long the beat of the bass drum - thump, thump, thump, thump!

In keeping with the green [+pink] theme, I saw an episode last week on Martha Stewart about the 50th anniversary of Lilly Pultizer. I don't have many pieces of Lilly's or come from the customary waspy background, but I embraced preppydom when I was in college and somewhat ever since. Scott is also quite preppy and does come from the customary waspy background. Since green + pink is a classic color combination, I thought it would be fun to feature them, today.

Erin Go Bragh (Ireland Forever) and Lilly, too!

xo, Cindy


Kate Spade for Lilly : see the word lilly in green?


The Preppy Handbook is a classic. The Sea of Grass is the perfect color combo.


Brooks Brothers shirt. I took this photo the other day, which is why it's not on white like the others.


Swell paper Bermuda bag by Cynthia Rowley.


Lacoste is my preference, but Scott likes Ralph Lauren polo shirts.


I don't know why I have this Tipsy In Madras book as we don't drink. Kate Spade paisley journal.

PS I'm trying a soft focus setting on my camera and getting the white balance just right has been a challenge. The light is changing for the better as we transition into spring, but is also taking some adjustment. If I don't set the exposure just right, it is a real struggle for me in post-production as my hair tends to get very messy when I pull on it ;).

life : ugly lives here, too

The Bad : Flowers don't last.
The Good : I can get more.

Hi Everyone -

Over the weekend I got to thinking that sometimes our blog gets a little bit too antiseptic. I'm sure being a Libra and quite the fuss pot has something to do with it. But, that's not reality is it? So in the spirit of keeping it real, here are some pics of the ugliness that resides around our place.


The Bad : Someone else would have done a better job of capturing a photo of the tiniest pink sneakers in the dryer.
The Good : I don't earn a living taking photos of spinning dryers, yet.


The Bad : We've had scaffolding and construction supplies outside since November.
The Good : Our building is getting a solar roof!


The Bad : Our dining room table is often covered with papers. It's the first room you enter in our apartment.
The Good : It's the first room you leave in our apartment.


The Bad : This lace curtain is really dirty and hides dirty windows.
The Good : When I remember, I'll wash it. Also, the dirt is on the curtain, not on the floor, and it hides the dirty windows.


The Bad : We don't have enough closet space in our kitchen for all our groceries.
The Good : We'll eventually drink these and they'll be gone.


The Bad : Our cupboards are so crowded sometimes things fall out onto my head.
The Good : Our cupboards are full and I have a hard head.


The Bad : Someone's dresser isn't always neat.
The Good : He'll straighten it up on his own or if I ask him.


The Bad : We don't always put our clothes in the closet.
The Good : They're always hung up or folded.


The Bad : I have every issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine and some others with no room to put anymore. That's a signed copy of Martha's Homekeeping Handbook on the floor and I'm sure she would not think it's 'a good thing'.
The Good : None - I need help. What should I do with all of these magazines?

Bottom line, with all of the turmoil around the globe these days, we are very lucky to have a pretty nice home in a stable neighborhood. Sure, we could stay home and deal with all of this inconsequential stuff like we used to. But, who wants to? We don't live in a magazine. We'd rather go out and do something. How about you? Excessive cleaning or fun?

xo, Cindy