Interiors

I was showing these photographs to Doug and we were laughing at our memories of the last time we went to Italy: I had rented us an authentic Italian apartment in a very central location in Rome, between the Piazza Navona and the Campo de Fiori. It looked a lot like THIS place! we were so excited to be in Rome and we loved our new place(so much better than a hotel - we felt like real Italians!) Little did I know that the wonderful cozy cafe beneath our apartment where we bought our coffee would turn into the loudest disco in Italy every night after midnight. Good grief it was loud! But we loved it - got ourselves some earplugs :-)

Photographs by Nathalie Krag

Fall

A couple of images caught my eye this week - with Autumn styling. This first ring of felted acorns is from Colour Me Happy is from here and the amazing tray of fall cookies are from here.

New at Cartolina!

Well I am very excited to announce today that we have a new online store in Canada - in fact this is our first and only online store in Canada. So for all the people who have written to me to ask if they can buy our pretty little recycled notebooks online anywhere is Canada - I give you ECOLUXE! Ecoluxe is a Canadian based online stationery store that specializes in paper products produced in a sustainable and environmentally conscious manner. The site is run by Lianne, who is the designer behind the beautiful card line Baron Cards. She offers various eco friendly lines(including cards and wrap from my pal Cathe at Feterie). She also offers a unique online customization and proofing system for those of you who like to send personalized correspondence. Ecoluxe currently carry our notebooks and a nice selection of our boxed notecards. It's such a pretty site  - you must go and visit!

UK & Europe here we come!

Another exciting bit of news I have for you this morning is that Cartolina cards and paper products are going to be available in lots of shops around the UK and Europe right away. You should be able to buy our holiday cards in some of your favourite stores in the next few weeks - just in time for Christmas! Shoot me an email if you'd like more specific details. {I'm very excited about this!} 

Pillow from Helkat Design

Treasures

I found these lovely little treasures through my friend Corinna at Piddix. These are produced by Diva Designs - polymer clay transfers. The effect is really interesting - instant patina. Very cool.

Wake up!

These shoes are apparently from the Marie Antoinette movie - just thought I'd throw these in to the mix this morning to see if you are all paying attention!

Found

There are a couple of new canvas backed science charts available at Evolution - I can't get enough of these - just fantastic.

Inspiration

Great fabrics and trim from Mulberry.

Found

Two new super pillows from Wisteria - gotta love that pom pom trim!

From Wisteria.

Random Objects

I don't know what got me thinking about these yesterday - I think we were talking about associating colours with numbers and I was saying how when we were in grade 1 and 2 in school in Scotland these wooden Cuisenaire Rods were all the rage to teach little kids the basics of mathematics. The principal was that math was based on a 1cm white wooden cube - 2 of these cubes made a red 2cm long rod - 3 of them made a green 3 cm long rod etc. It was very effective way of teaching math basics to little kids(we all carried around a yellow bag of rods at school) I don't know if these still exist - but what I retained from those math lessons was not particularly mathematics it was colour association. The number 1 will always be associated with white, 2 with red, 5 with yellow, 9 with blue etc. Do you associate colours with numbers and if so how did you develop this association?

Inspiration

These are lovely - such a great use of 2 colour printing. Now this is why I feature so much old stuff on this blog - it's not that I'm obsessed with antiques - it's just that if you want reference for beautiful design, illustration and type - the easiest place to find it is with vintage design - and, as I've said 61,892 times before, you'd better pay attention to the old stuff because, if you're looking for inspiration, you won't find it at Walmart . . .

Vintage magazine covers from here.

Photography

I so enjoyed looking through this photostream on Flickr - this gal has such a good eye for a composition and obviously surrounds herself with pretty vintage things - I think you will like!

Photography

I simply adore this photograph which is from here via here.

Curiosities

I have been meaning to post this for some time. This is a 17th century Dutch, handpainted miniature locket.  The locket comes with multiple mica discs of handpainted disguises that the owner can change as desired ~ transforming the portrait. Julie Reed sent me a link to this amazing treasure when she posted it on her fabulous blog Bricolage. I still can't get over how old it is and that the mica pieces have all survived. You must visit Julie's blog she often has great coverage of flea markets, antique shows and art fairs.

Photography

The work of Annie Schlecter is to die for - her photographs are outstanding and her client list is SO impressive. I thoroughly enjoyed going through her portfolio and I encourage you to do the same - there is a richness to her work that is unusual and quite fabulous!

Envy

Just to drum up some card catalog envy - here are a couple of great examples from a big selection at Desire to Inspire

Found

I thought these were really pretty and unusual when I saw them the other day. Made from a vintage tea towel by Leslie Janson. These would look so cool on a simple, mid century sofa.