Have a great Friday and a great weekend!

Thanks for joining me this week. Hope you have a great weekend and are inspired to do something creative. I'm hoping that the new note books will arrive in the next couple of days so that I can show you them next week and then we'll have another giveaway - Yay! See you Monday!

Inspiration | Upholstery and Wallpaper

I should probably apologize - I went a bit mad with these images from Roma - I start to hyperventilate when I see prints and colour combinations like these. I actually posted 6 more but I took them down and will save them until next week - it's a bit OTT don't you think?

This sofa has my name written all over it - no really, it does!

Hope you get as much creative inspiration from these images as I do!

Prints and Textile Inspiration | Urban Outfitters

Pretty prints from Urban Outfitters.

Inspiration | ephemera

A couple of nice old European stamp - French and Yugoslavian. The green one is so pretty and pastoral. The blue one is a very common old french stamp, you often see it on old french postcards in red. It came in a huge array of colours and is known as the Seed Sower.

Perfect Pillows | Bonjour Mon Coussin

Well how could I resist these? These are right up the Cafe Cartolina alley don't you think? They were just made for me. And they have the cutest web site with so many to choose from - you must go and look at them right now in their puffy splendour - pillows are all they do and they do them very well!  From Bonjour Mon Coussin -  au revoir!

Cartolina Press | Canadian Mags

If you are in Canada your mail box is probably full of all the holiday issues of our favourite Canadian design mags. I love it when the big fat holiday issue shows up - I save them all from year to year don't you? We are delighted to be making appearances in most of them including the above which came in my mail box yesterday - Style at Home and Lou Lou. Thanks to the editors for picking us - we love you!

Cold Feet ?

2 great options. One from Les Indiennes and the other from Toast - I personally like pom poms on my slippers, I expect you do too :-)

Inspiration | Jill Bent

I am so inspired by these 2 images of Jill Bent's work. I found her site via Angela Liguori's beautiful blog(which you must check out asap!) I just know that you will love all Jill's pieces too - they are so simple and honest. I would like one of those bags, Santa, please?

Etsy Seller | Stiksel

I found all these curious things in Etsy seller Stiksel's shop via the Poppytalk Handmade Market. There's something about these objects that I am drawn to  - perhaps the muted colours and the utilitarian materials.

Random Objects | Le Souk

Nice little collection of objects from Le Souk - the little bags at the top are so odd and crooked they look like they need a home - you can get yours here.

Vintage Finds | Blue Bell Bazaar

No matter what your choice of poison, Blue Bell Bazaar has the vintage bottle you need to store it in! Aren't these great?

Mary's Monday Mosaics | Suffix Abuse

I want to introduce you to fellow designer Mary from Suffix Abuse. Mary is a graphic designer who is passionate about and draws inspiration from photography, typography and stationery design. Every Monday she posts a fabulous mosaic of images that have caught her eye either for their colour, their styling or their je ne sais quoi.. She has an amazing skill for finding and arranging these images. {When I see them I want to climb right inside and be part of that world for a few minutes.} I am always so impressed and so inspired by them - and judging by what I have learned about my readers here at the Cafe, you will too!

Mary's site is wonderful inspiration for designers in all mediums. Her design talent and her keen eye for colour and typography make for top notch visuals and interesting commentary. I've been reading Suffix Abuse for a long time now and it is one of my favourite morning reads. If you have a blog that you think I should take a look at just send me a line, I'd love to check it out.

New Cartolina Cards!

I am so excited about our new cards. I really wanted to design some fun, sophisticated animal cards for kids - that might also crossover to adults too - and here they are! When I was a kid I really enjoyed the illustrations in The Wind in The Willows, Beatrix Potter books, Alice in Wonderland etc. (And, come on, who doesn't love animals dressed up in peoples clothes?) The backs of these cards are really fun too with vintage wallpaper and a framed "portrait". I'm not sure which one is my favourite - maybe the bear, no, maybe the fox . . . here are some pictures and some details too.

Our birthday animals are living happily in their fantastical settings - kind of reminiscent of old portrait studio backdrops don't you think? 

First Annual Cartolina Open House

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came to our open house yesterday. It was so fun! And congratulations to Sally who won our door prize(a full deck of Cartolina Cards) Let's do it again soon. Great food, drinks and music. It was wonderful to see everyone - I really enjoyed it!

Inspiration | Patterns

Wonderful, inspiring patterns from Anthropologie - where else, she says, with a shrug . . . .