Happy Friday.

It has been a really long and tricky week -- I am happy it is Friday. Have a good weekend everyone. I can't believe Monday is March 1st!

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second." ~William James

(Photos by the extremely talented Gaelle Le Boulicaut.)

Dolce & Gabbana

Maybe it is the snowy weather or watching the Olympics, but I am enjoying this funky Chalet inspired D&G Fall-Winter 2010/2011 line that showed at Milan fashion week. Isn't it cool and sexy - something you may see Snow Bunnies wear in Aspen?

(via Telegraph)

Found Alphabet

I love a good alphabet -- and this found typography is especially charming.

(via Hello Bauldoff > Design Notes)

Vampire Weekend - Giving up the Gun

We had a very crazy weekend -- our 3-year-old daughter ended up fracturing her arm and will have surgery and pins put in tomorrow, yikes! In honor of V, I thought I would share a recent video from one of her favorite bands, "Vampire Weekend". I love the tennis theme and the Jake Gyllenhaal and other cameos crack me up. Do you or your kids have a favorite band or songs you like to hear lately?

Have a lovely weekend...

I wish I was hanging near the water and sun -- oh, I miss the sunshine and beautiful sunsets. Hopefully Spring is just around the corner -- have a good weekend all!


(photos taken in Puerto Rico + Hawaii)

Famille Summerbelle

I mentioned Famille Summerbelle a while ago here, but it is even more amazing, and mind-blowing to see their craft created in fast-forward action in video form. She has mad knife skills. See all of the beautiful creations here.

Flaming Lips pad

My brother Jake emailed me over a link he saw at Gizmodo (via Design Milk) about the very cool and psychedelic pad of the Flaming Lips singer, Wayne Coyne designed by Fitzsimmons Architecture. Wow -- what a fun place to hang out. Can you imagine?

(Photography by Joseph Mills)

Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall 2010

As usual, I am loving the Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall 2010 Ready-to-Wear Collection that debuted yesterday at Fashion Week. Khakis, blacks, reds, and golds yes -- love the color palette and the straps on those bags, those well-designed bags ... fabulous.

(All photos by Marcio Madeira from Style)

Road Trip

We are taking a last minute road trip to Southern Utah where there is lots of red rocks, tumbleweeds and warmer weather. Have a great and love filled weekend everyone! Any fun Valentine's day plans? I'll be back Tuesday, and will announce the giveaway winner then.

Happy Valentines Day!

(image credits : 1 : Kate Spade Ad, 2: Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier - January Vogue 3: From Stephane Massa-Bidal via A Cup of Jo)

Kate Spade Valentines

Didn't get your snail mail cards out? Check out a sweet gallery of E-Valentines over at Kate Spade.

Harvey Faircloth

Like a couple of my blogging friends Jordan and Chelsea, I am estatic about the Spring/Summer 2010 collection from Harvey Faircloth. It is splendid! I also love, love their inspiration section.

Heart Invitations

As my daughter and I are still working on our homemade valentine's I am very inspired by these accordion-fold heart invitations that Erin Jang did, they are very clean and clever. You also have to see her designs for her nephew's King Kong party - love!

Maan - kid's fashion

I can't get over how adorable this Belgium Maan line is. Aren't these well styled get-ups incredibly cute? I'd wear them too. There seems to be a lot more girl selections, but I threw in a fun little boys outfit on the lower right.

Eat Cake Be Merry

A little while back, I received an email from Liz who started a new custom cake business called Eat Cake Be Merry. Check out these and other beautiful cake creations at their website, so pretty.

L Letterpress + Giveaway

*WINNER randomly selected and announced : Congrats Lauren! and thank you again L Letterpress.



A few months ago, I had the opportunity to personally meet with one of the creators and staff behind the L Letterpress at Lifestyle Crafts in their QuicKutz office building. I was very impressed with their back story and how they are wanting to extend the art of letterpress to be more accessible to the average Jane or Joe.



I don't think it will ever replace the nostalgia, impeccable perfection, deep impression, and process of my dear friends that have letterpress companies, but it can be an extremely useful tool for the at home designer crafter. I like to think of the L Letterpress as something similar to a Gocco created all the way back in 1977. (Are you familiar with what a Gocco is? If not read here). Seeing it in action, and they also gave me a machine to try myself I am amazed at the quality and how it has a similar look and feel to letterpress, but don't be worried letterpress businesses --- you will be fine.



They have a variety of plates to choose from, but what I really like is that you can also upload your designs to make your own custom plates which makes it a lot more versatile.

It is a pretty cool machine and I am very happy to be able to share one with you readers! Lifestyle Crafts is giving a L Letterpress Combo Kit and custom letterpress plate to a lucky Black Eiffel reader. (A nearly $190 value) You can find their product line here to purchase and I've also seen them at Paper Source, but you can also find them at select craft stores.

To enter: please leave only one comment below, no anonymous please and make sure your email address is accessible. Giveaway will close on February 15th. Winner will be selected randomly, contacted and announced on this post on Tuesday February 16th. (GIVEAWAY CLOSED & WINNER ANNOUNCED.)

(Photos from L Lettepress)

Citrus

I felt like eating lots of citrus today, and my old dislike for grapefruit has changed and blossomed into a new thing that I love. Are you enjoying the citrus season? I've been juicing oranges and other citrus like crazy -- fresh squeezed juice is the best.

(Photo by me)

Cute shirts

Look at the cute shirts by French Connection over at Ideeli today -- the heart one definitely fits the season.

Reliving the 90s

At my brother Jake's music venue and recording studio Muse Music, they are doing an awesome collaboration and creative project started by Drew Danburry called "Reliving the '90s" where they play covers and record video episodes from the 1990s by local music artists. I wanted to share these two clips with you -- they are excellent!

Kate Brandeburg's voice covering "Stay" is incredible and I love the quirkiness of hearing Micah Dahl Anderson cover, "Nothing Compares to You". I can't wait for more, you can subscribe to the youtube channel here.

Keller Spring Summer 2010

These shots from Keller NY Spring Summer 2010 lookbook are charming don't you think?

(photos by Matt Sudin)

Essimar Papel

Pretty valentine cards by Essimar, and if you're in Chicago you can meet up with the artist Esther the 12th and 13th at Renegade Handmade during her Valentine-Making Workshop. Cool.

Airplane Party

Did you get a glimpse of the party that Amy Atlas threw for her son? I love the airplane theme and it is very well done -- she even suspended a airplane cake! See more photos here.

Sophisticated Family Home

Sophisticated elegance and that kitchen is super lovely, it makes me sigh. See the rest of the home here at Style at Home.

(Photos by Donna Griffith)

Dr. Doolittle

My daughter and I started to watch Dr. Doolittle the other day and I really liked the opening animal credits. Aren't they cute?

Anthony Zinonos

Loving these color collages by Anthony Zinonos as well as the rest of his wonderful collection of work.

(spotted at Pitch Design Union)

Dressing on the Side

Hello! I hope you all had a nice weekend. I thought I would start off today with a little giveaway from one of our sponsors Dressing on the Side. The winner gets to pick their very own t-shirt out of her Dressing on the Side's etsy shop. Aren't the shirts quirky and fun? Please leave a comment below by Wednesday night.

UPDATE: Winner randomly selected is : Stacey Haslam. Thanks for entering everyone and thank you Dressing on the Side!