It's never too early to start thinking about holiday cards. I always need a headstart because picking the cards, compiling the address list, writing them, and getting them in the mail always takes me at least triple the amount of time I orignially estimated. That said, this Style Court post got me thinking if I start now, I could send Christmas cards this year, rather than Valentine's Day cards. I'd love to order an embosser to ease the return addressing. The Paper Source has customizable embossers for $31.50 available in 10 fonts.

I love this colorful letterpress mandela card from Paper Source - $20 for 8.

Volkswagen is coming up with a list of 10 designs in 5 categories: design, food, music, TV, and fashion for the ultimate list of the 50 Most Timeless. The hip carmaker has teamed up with the modern British home magazine LivingEtc to compile the top 10 timeless designs for the home. You go to the website and vote for your top 10 -- www.livingetc.co.uk/timeless50. Keep their guidelines for timeless design in mind when you cast your vote: "Great designs transcend the passing of the years and are impervious to fashion -- they offer simplicity and style and are the perfect marriage of form and function. By looking as fresh and modern today as they did when they were conceived, they have a timeless quality."

My Votes -- in no particular order:

The potter turned designer who mixes equal and opposite parts irreverence, WASP, humor, and glamor to shape his designs is now allowing you to ride the coattails of his well-tested, trademark style. Jonathan Adler has launched a "Design Your Own" section of his website.

He provides six basic products (pillows, rugs, etc), some signature patterns, an assortment of colors; and a few sizes to choose from and then -- Wham! Your designs come to life in the hands of Peruvian artisans and then arrive at your door fresh from the hands of the UPS man. 

It's chilly and rainy here in Alabama and the sun is starting to slip away much more quickly which means I'm entering my cold-weather hibernation state. I dug out my trusted winter staples this weekend -- hot chocolate, SmartWool socks, my 6th grade Navajo print LL Bean fleece pullover (with snaps and a banded bottom) and parked myself on the couch and couldn't help but think "A fireplace would make me pretty happy right now." For me a fireplace is a hopeless possiblity at the moment, but still, I researched them anyways and found some favorites. A first floor renter can dream right?  

Debuted today and is the best magazine that will never hit a newsstand. It's all online. The all digital magazine was founded by former Domino staffer, Michelle Adams, and photographer Patrick Cline. Committed to bringing hip home dwellers the lastest home inspirations, these two thought outside the mailbox and repackaged the idea of a magazine. The best part is there's no need to dig through the fine print of sourcing pages if you see something you like -- most things are linked for direct purchase (or at least more information). Read it for yourself. Lonnymag.com.

Accessories are my favorite parts of design for clothes and home. If you keep the foundations minimal then you're free, and by my reasoning, obligated to go all out with the accessories, which are often the cheaper fun things. But statement making baubles have left me with big storage problems.

What to do with the over-sized earrings, bracelets, rings, necklaces, scarves, and belts that lie jumbled in a mix of baskets, bland tupperware drawers, and 2 jewelry boxes? I feel strongly that my best accessories deserve a much more interesting place than their current residences. Like a lightening bolt, a solution came to me in the form of a forlorn mannequin (fugitive of a Southern Accents idea house pictured above) I spotted at a company prop sale.

Though it's 84 degrees outside and it's been raining non-stop for the past 2 weeks with another week of storms forecasted, Fall actually began on Tuesday. It's been hard to get in the mood with my work induced season disorder -- Christmas in August, Valentine's Day in November, Easter in February in a temperature controlled, fluorescent lighting lit office -- means Autumn's official arrival surprised me to say the least.

This month's House Beautiful is dedicated to color. I thought it was so great that I hounded most of my collegeauges into taking one sort of color assesment or another. The issue is an interesting and fun read especially pages 94-97 devoted to finding readers' color personalities. Obviously, color is a huge part of decorating, but do you know the deeper psychological meanings that it carries? 

I typically get caught up going to the same handful of websites for online shopping, but sometimes my web browser veers from its usual well-charted, type-ahead path. This morning I thought I'd check in on some of my less-traveled favorites. Most are shops that I discovered through the physical store, but some are ones that I've only found online.

The Paris Market and Brocante -- Savannah, GA -- Inspired by the owners' (pictured above) trip to the famed Paris flea market Marche aux Puces. Since then, the shop's offerings have expanded alongside the owners' travel itineraries. The inventory is a direct reflection of the international markets they've scoured that year -- Moroccan souks, check; London's Portobello Road, check; Middle-Eastern bazaars, check.

Following up to last week's post. Here are some suggestions to fill in the empty space you may have on your walls. Note: Some of the suggestions are actually the same as what I said not to put on your walls last week with a little twist. The keys are be original with your choosings. The upside to originality is that it's actually low-cost. Read on to see if you agree with my 10.  

1. Botanical Prints -- They need not be stuffy, highly detailed images of plants that make you think of 9th grade biology. They can be bold, stylized takes on anything that grows in nature. Unless, of course you like the classic look of botanical prints. Then go for the classics! You can save on the prints by scouring used book stores for old text books and then framing pages. That's also the easiest way to get a cohesive set. Since biology and I had a big fallout over the Krebs cycle, I favor less scientific, more stylized botanical prints like this one featured in House Beautiful. The picture Artichoke 1 is by Sarah Graham and elevates vegetables to a bold new level.