Today is what I define as a good mail day: one where the opening of the curbside metal box reveals a colorful surprise (and hopefully not too many bills).
This is what arrived today:
The salmon pink and orange colors in bold illustrations on the Paper Source cover gave me a jolt of happiness! And I love the Paper Source mantra. Their commission to us really:
DO SOMETHING CREATIVE EVERYDAY.
I love how when you order something from this fabulous company that their boxes are fastidiously wrapped up in papers bearing the same command:
DO SOMETHING CREATIVE EVERYDAY.
I think that heeding those words is wonderful advice. Might I add an edict of my own?
DO SOMETHING KIND EVERYDAY.
Between these two self-imposed mandates each day is certain to be full and satisfying and artful and poetic. That is what I guess I mean by “The Life Poetic” after all: make your life one that is so loving and expressive that creativity will naturally pour out of it.
I have yet to visit a Paper Source brick and mortar store, while I have ordered online numerous times. My fingers are itching for the credit card as I feel another order coming on! With these fabulous bloom kits, how can you resist? I want these and these and these and.....(sigh). Let's face it, I'd like about one of everything they carry!
People who know me well, know that I’m a catalogue junkie, and a mall is just not something I frequent that often. I think part of that comes from being the mother of someone with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. While my son seems to handle the mall environment really well now as a near-teen, as a young little kidlet he really could not process all the input offered by a mall environment. Going to the mall was really just inviting a meltdown. And when I started to break down the sensory input like he might, I think I even began to get a little overwhelmed by it. The noise level, the light levels, the unpredictability, the large population of strangers, all added up to a volatile situation. So the girly-girl shopper in me learned to compensate by becoming catalogue and online store dependent.
Just in case you are interested, here are some favorite cyber stores and catalogues:
Papier Valise
Manto Fev
Wisteria
Sugar Paper
Inspire Company
The Beautiful Life
Russell and Hazel
Room Service Home
Impress Rubber Stamps
Kate’s Paperie
Something else I’m loving right now is this:
LILY- Beautiful Living through Faith Magazine.
With the quality and beauty we expect from Meredith Corp., this magazine has gorgeous photography and inspiring editorials ranging the gamut from paper-crafting, book binding, and cooking to deeper spiritual issues. This is the premiere issue and I think I’m going to pick up several to share with friends and encourage the success of this magazine launch. If you aspire to live beautifully through faith, then I highly encourage you to pick this one up from your local newsstand.
Inside Lily were some great ideas….
this lovely paper cone (click photos to enlarge)…
and these Brussels sprout topiaries-- gorgeous!! and about the only way I could put this veggie to use in household where pretty much everyone refuses to eat it.
…and a wonderful scrapbook feature about a woman in Iowa, Amy Edeker, who hand binds her on heritage albums. With my parents being from Iowa as well, I was drawn to both the project and this woman’s story. 
I’m definitely going to be mulling over this lovely little magazine for a while. Getting some sustenance for my spirit.
On another note, it's high time we had another giveaway
....so stay tuned for that!
Hope you have a good mail day!
