Window Shopping

Let's go to Chicago, to Greer - stationer extraordinaire. Now, we can't really go there(at least I can't) - but we can go to their awesome website. I follow Chandra Greer on Twitter - love her wit and enthusiasm for her industry but it was only yesterday that I clicked through to her fabulous website - this gal takes good pictures - and she must know that we have a mild obsession for card catalogs - here's a great one . . .

You must go to Greer - or go to their website and check out their wares - so much to see. And if you are a regular Greer customer leave us a comment below and tell us how fabulous it is

Illustration and submissions

Every day I try to promote creative people and their businesses. I was lucky right from the beginning with Cartolina because lots of bloggers featured our designs and it was great exposure - I had never even heard of a design blog until Jan at Poppytalk featured our first line of stationery about 4 years ago on her blog. When other artists ask me for advice I always suggest that they cultivate relationships with bloggers. I am surprised that I don't get more submissions here from artists but very pleased when Khristiana Howell sent me a link to her very pretty surface designs - here are my favourites

You can see more lovelies from Khristiana at her site here. Thanks for getting the ball rolling Khristiana!

Feature wall anyone?

Have you ever wanted to create one of those feature walls that you see so perfectly displayed with a montage of picture frames? If you've ever tried it it can be quite a challenge. But now you can by this kit that includes a template, all the frames and a system for hanging - from the Picturewall Company - it's a great idea. I wonder what the quality is like?

Found

Frequently, when I am preparing posts, I think - "this must have been featured dozens of times before on other blogs, it's so great, why haven't I seen it before?" Like these very clever magnetic spice jars from Gneiss Spice. When grouped together they have such a fabulous honeycomb look. So am I the last one to have seen these?

Inspiration

Wow - Amy Atlas just never fails to impress. This is a new one for me - the Moroccan themed cake party. I always thought Martha was the queen of cake design but I'm afraid some one is going to have to tell her that Amy's got it in spades! Brilliant fun!

Inspiration

When you have a minute I think you should go and check out this web site - Alabama Chanin. Here's what it says on their site, "Alabama Chanin is a lifestyle company that focuses on creating an array of products through focusing on slow design and sustainability. We craft limited-edition products for the individual and the home. Our products are made-by-hand using a combination of new, organic and recycled materials. Each piece is constructed with care by talented artisans who live and work in communities in and around Florence, Alabama." Their work is quite fascinating and they offer books and workshops along with a shop load of other beautiful products. Very Inspiring!

Cartolina news

Just wanted to update you with some Cartolina news. I have finally added our list of UK retailers to our retailer's page on our website. It includes some fabulous stores like Harvey Nichols and Selfridges in London but also some wonderful smaller shops including this one here, Paper Tiger, that I have visited many times when we lived in Edinburgh in the 90s. The list is not organized very well but I promise I will have it all sorted out soon! Also, we will be in Toronto at the CGTA Show starting on the 31st of this month - so if you are planning on being there I would LOVE it if you would stop by and say hi - or I'll stop by your booth if you are exhibiting - just let me know. We will be at Booth 11257 in the north building.

Paper Tiger

Crafts

This is cool. Vintage masking tape - what a great idea for crafts, maybe for bookmaking? I found this at Design Vagabond. Apparently you can buy it at Nothing Elegant - not for long - ha, ha!

Inspiration

Great wall covering ideas.

All pictures are from this amazing Flickr collection - a gal with a very good eye and impeccable taste!

Inspiration

Here's some vintage inspiration for you this morning. I think these were first posted at sfgirlbybay - and I found then at ffffound.com Lots of nice type design and vintage colours. It's funny - I used to think those Watkins spice tins were so old fashioned - but now they look so hip!

Treasures

Woo Hoo - nothing like sparkles and sequins on a Tuesday morning to keep things happy here at the Cafe. These are so fun - I'd like to pick up a new crafty hobby just so that I can use these scrumptious little treasures - any ideas?

Cobi

Hey - don't forget to visit cobistyle.com and sign up for clubcobi - today! Because if you do, you will be the lucky recipient of Canadian design guru, Cobi Ladner's first bi-weekly newsletter that comes out tomorrow - and, psst, don't tell anyone, but there might be a very good deal for Cartolina fans in issue number one! So go sign up right now - (top right corner of the page}

Found

The colour, the pattern and the symmetry of these pieces from SHINE are really jaw dropping. They'd look amazing in a white room, wouldn't they?

Found

Oh I think any artist or designer would love to have one of these from Maria Cristina Bellucci via a Tweet by the lovely Hey Zee

Proud as . .

I think these are brilliant. The colours of these feathers and the graphic impact when they are grouped together is very attention grabbing. I would definitely wear one of the smaller hair pieces and the ring. Just wonderful. You can find more of these at the Pretty Peacock Shop - but you'd better hurry because they are going to go fast - I just know it!