Window Shopping | Watson Kennedy

I want to tell you about one of my favourite stores in the Seattle area - Watson Kennedy. I love this store and I always come away with something I love. There's a really good mix of vintage and new product. The owner has such amazingly good taste and a brilliant knack for merchandising and display - their front window will stop you in your tracks - here are some images.

There are 3 locations - the store I enjoy the best is at First and Spring in downtown Seattle(the other locations are in bellevue and in Pikes Place Market.

Blogger with a camera | My Nottinghill

I emailed Michele at My Nottinghill blog and asked her if I might borrow her photographs of the Hudson store wall that she took last week. The images on her site are bigger than these and you might prefer to check them out. I just really loved this idea of covering my walls with letters and snapshots - it would make for a such a good hunting trip every time I went into junk store.

Inspiration | Eley Kishimoto

Gosh, I like these. Fabulous explosions of pattern and colour from Eley Kishimoto.

You can see more of these wonderful patterns here - via Oh Joy.

Window Shopping | Poppytalk Handmade Market  - January

Here's what caught my eye this month at the market.

Great pillow from Decorative Instincts - yummy fabric!

Pretty woodgrain coasters from Avril Loreti

Simple, pretty, linen pillow from Chakra Pennywhistle

Custom map jewelry from Anne Holm(I am such a sucker for this style of jewelry - embedding images under glass!)

Recycled bag from Chikabird

Window Shopping | Castor and Pollux

Found myself at Castor and Pollux gallery the other day (online that is). They have lots of interesting stuff including this cool wooden block set by Miller Goodman - for little kids and designers who are just young at heart! (I can see us all getting obsessed with these at the studio!) 

WINNERS - WINNERS - WINNERS - we've got lots of 'em!

Thanks to everyone who entered our notebook giveaway. This has been one of our most successful giveaways with 93 people entering( I had decided that if we got over 100 entries then everyone would get a prize - but that didn't happen - maybe next time - just kidding!)

So on with the important stuff.  I printed out all the comments - cut them all out individually and tossed them in the big glass salad bowl. Then we used the old blind fold technique - scooped out 3 winners and threw in 2 runners up. Winners will receive a full set of notebooks and runners up will receive the 3 that they voted for. 

So, without further to do, drum roll please, the winners are: 

Suzanne,  and  Abbie and melbean.  Runners up are carey and susan. 

Congrats to all of you! And if you are wondering what the 3 most popular notebook designs turned out to be, they are 3, 9 and then 5. My faves are 4, 1 and 5 - so I'm way off!

Yay! - we'll have another giveaway next month so stay tuned!Please email me with your mailing address and I will pop these prizes in the mail asap. Thanks!

Inspiration | Stylist Finola Inger

Bold texture and colour inspiration from stylist Finola Inger. 

Imagine showing up at a shoot and seeing all this wonderful stuff you have to work with - I would feel like I had died and gone to heaven - and then you get to spend the morning organizing it all into nice piles so that someone else can fiddle with the camera and take great pictures of your work  - and then you get to rearrange it all into new piles - and take more pictures - sounds too good to be true . . . .

Window Shopping | Yokomono

I like this big bag - I like big, multi purpose bags like this that become a big part of my outfit. You can barely see what this woman is wearing because of her big bag - that's fun - and I like the oversized pattern(of course!)

This bag and other fun stuff are available at the Yokomono Etsy shop right here - go now.

Notebook Giveaway | Last Chance

Last chance to enter the notebook giveaway. I'll pick some winners at 6pm tonight(Pacific time)so it's last call at the cafe! Enter here!

Ephemera | Ebay

Snapped a few nice things on Ebay recently including these very old matchbox covers and a whole bunch french stamps ( my favourites pictures above.)  Feeling very inspired by these - love the bonsai tree.

Inspiration | Vintage Indian Textiles

It's no secret that my work is really influenced by my grandparents' textile export business in India years ago. So I was excited when I found these wonderful images of Indian textiles here. These detail shots give me all sorts of good ideas for patterns and textures - I love the crude random stitching and the once rich colours faded to muted tones. I could look at these images all day. 

We interrupt this post with a photo of my grandma on an elephant in India - we have so many elephant riding pictures in our old family photos it must have been a very popular past time!

Update - Notebooks now available online!

Well I have great news - especially for everyone who emailed us last week to ask how to buy the notebooks online - Our online card retailer, GreetQ, is now going to also be carrying the notebook collection - YAY! The notebooks should be available by the end of the week at GreetQ(or just as soon as the mailman gets them there!) We are thrilled! They will also have a whole new selection of cards including the new animal cards.  And remember, with GreetQ, for every 10 cards you buy GreetQ plants a tree on your behalf with  Eco-Libris - how great is that?

Notebook Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who as entered our recycled notebook giveaway. I am astonished at how many entries we have - I guess that means we will just have to have a few more winners too! You still have until Wednesday to enter!

Photographer | Trevor Dixon.

While I was checking out this photographer's online portfolio I couldn't help noticing the fabulous props used on this shoot. I especially love the box the socks are draped on(I could find a much better use for that box!) And I love the big letters and the tobacco boxes - all fun . . . . . 

Licensing News | Print Source

Some exciting news from Jan DiCintio -  Daisy Janie/Scoutie Girl.

Jan will be showcasing her new designs for home, paper, textiles and childrens at the Print Source Show at the Hotel Pennsylvania in NYC starting next Tuesday Jan 13th thru the 15th. Jan's booth number is #19. I have had the chance to see a number of Jan's new designs and they are all so fresh and wonderful - here are a couple of my favourites . . . . 

Jan walked the show in 2005 when she was looking for original fabric designs for her line of fabric handbags. It was a very "aha!" moment for her, realizing that she could design her own fabrics for her handbags! She's been in the business of making art for 11 years, but most of the strides she's made in professional & personal growth have come in the past 3 years (since that show). "I knew I wanted to get back there as a designer - and working toward that goal has been the silent motivator for everything I've done. I love, love, love what I do - and I hope that my designs project as much passion as I put into them."

We LOVE the new designs Jan and we are sure they are going to be a big hit at the show - good luck!