Inspiration | Unlikely Places

When I scroll down through the last few weeks of posts I hope that you get a feel for who we are and what inspires our work. I love this image, it has all the elements of design I love - bold colour, vintage patina, folk art styling and traditional craftsmanship. And it's a boot! The best inspiration can show up in the most unlikely places! Fabulous vintage(1952) leather work from Cowboy Boots, The Art And Sole by Jennifer June. Have a great weekend - be inspired. See you next week!

Random Objects | Pack up your troubles!

A very extravagant, exotic way to travel from the people at Free People! I'm not sure that this would last long at the luggage carousels at Heathrow but it sure is cute!

Craftiness | Free Bag

No, it's not really free, sorry, it's from those people at Free People again. It's a bit of a grade school crafty project but I like it's rather scruffy Boho hippy vibe - what do you think?

Inspiration | Curtain fabric

 I am just getting ready to start designing a new collection for Cartolina so I thought I would post a few inspiring surface designs this morning. First up some great fabric from Anthropologie.

Inspiration | Blues and Greens

Great interior and plates from here.

Inspiration | Chocolates :-)

Amazing chocolates from Elbow Chocolates in San Francisco - hard to believe these are chocolates - give me one and I'll test it for you.

Window Shopping | John Robshaw

If you have been reading this blog for a few weeks it will come as no surprise to you that I am a big fan of John Robshaw textiles. The indian influence gets me every time - bold colours, block prints and misregistered repeating patterns - love it!

I especially love the brown duvet cover(above). I first saw John Robshaw bedding at Cabin Fever(which I wrote about here) where Rebecca had it matched with nautical ticking and vintage french linen - it looked amazing. That's a lot of pillows on that bed - exactly where do you put them all when you get in to sleep?

Random Objects | Vagabond Mirror

I haven't posted a mirror for a whole week. So how about this one?

Art | L'Affiche Moderne

Melanie wrote to me and asked me to have a look at her web site, L'Affiche Moderne. They sell limited edition prints from illustrators and photographers and they ship internationally. I was immediately struck by the beauty of this photograph by Cyril Auvity - really gorgeous. There are many wonderful prints in their online catalogue. Thanks Melanie!

Wndow Shopping | Oovoo Bags

As I was going through the list of our new retailers(and checking out their web sites) these bags caught my eye at R.H.Ballard in VA. You can see the entire collection from Oovoo here. I think they are quite beautiful and inspiring. I love the hippyesque shapes and embroidery combined with a sort of Upper Mongolian, goat herder look (bear with me, as a designer, I always feel obligated to define a style no matter how obscure!) 

New Cartolina Retailers | Tinsel Trading Co.

Just wanted to say thanks to all the wonderful people who came out to the New York International Gift Fair. A big welcome to our newest retailers who may have met Cartolina for the first time at this year's show. I was going through the list of new retailers yesterday and I am very excited to announce that Cartolina Cards will  now be available at Tinsel Trading Co. in New York. Any of you who have been following this blog will all ready know that I am a big fan of Tinsel and had great fun there in July.

Design | Simple drafting stools

Thanks to Michele at My Nottinghill I found these classic, steel stools for the studio. I love this simple, industrial design. You can find them here at the Wisteria catalogue.