Found

Doug has a nice collection of very old books - from the mid 1700s. He found most of them at an extraordinary farm auction that we went to about 10 years ago in a neighbouring town. The auction was the remains of a Swiss estate that had been left to the cleaner(basically the young gal was asked to clean up the house and in payment she could keep a few boxes of stuff in the basement.) Doug and I had been to this Thursday night auction quite regularly and picked up a few rustic tables and cookie tins and tools. But this night was different - the usual small crowd of locals showed to up to browse through the piles of farm equipment and Tupperware only to find ratty boxes of tapestries and paintings, engravings and volumes of old books. It was like a dream - Doug, who is the die hard junk collector, thought he'd died and gone to heaven and was hoping that none of the usual buyers would recognize the value of what we were seeing. The auction went well and we picked up quite a lot of beautiful things including this collection of small books. One of the tapestries which the auctioneer referred to as a 'blanket' sold for the extortionate price of $100 and later appraised for $20,000. Doug still talks about that auction . . .

This last piece was not at the auction but it was on my camera so I thought I'd include it here - I couldn't resist this piece from one of my regular dealers in Argentina - I don't think they could have crammed one more stamp or signature on that if they had tried!

Found

There's nothing like great props when you are decorating and I happen to think these are 2 of the best I've seen in ages. I'd snap these up immediately if I walked into a store and saw them - $30. Found at The Forgotten Attic.

Found

There are a few things, not many, that I have been known to buy purely for the packaging - and soap is one of them. I love the paper wrapping on this soap from Sweet Petula. I also like the fact that she has small soaps because those giant bars of hard soap last way too long, don't you think? I definitely don't buy items from every producer I feature here but I think I'm going to take my time and pick out a couple of treats for myself from the huge selection available right here.

Inspiration

An amazing selection of mid century fabric pillows from Midcentury Modern. Where on earth do they find such great fabric?

Inspiration

I was reading Urban Comfort's blog yesterday when I spotted a couple of great stenciling ideas - fabric, furniture and walls. I really liked the designs and noticed that you can download the directions and templates (originally published in Family Circle) from here. The coffee table looks great. Here's the link - have fun!

Found

The subtle colour and rough texture of these simple granny square pincushions caught my eye yesterday. Beautifully crafted in linen by Namolio.

Inspiration

Last week Jennifer at Modern Paper Goods tweeted a link to this tiny type book - I thought you might like to see it. There is quite a lot of information about it and more images here if you are interested

Modern Paper Goods

Our online retailer GreetQ recently rebranded their website - including a new name - GreetQ is now Modern Paper Goods. Their new site is beautiful - fully reformed and fully functional. I love the fresh new design of the site. One of the things I like is that they show the backs of many of our cards(if you know our stuff, you'll know that the backs of our cards are as fully designed as the fronts) Not only can you buy a great selection of paper products at Modern Paper Goods but they will also schedule, personalize and even send them for you. And did you know that for every 10 cards you buy at Modern Paper Goods their partner, Ecolibris, will plant a tree on your behalf! Jennifer, who runs the show, has great taste and her blog is gorgeous - take a look.

Oh, and one more thing. We have a whole bunch of new cards and 9 new notebooks debuting in about 3 weeks - so exciting. And the first place they'll be available is - Modern Paper Goods - so stay tuned!

Vintage

Three vintage flash cads from Harmonie Park. Two bucks each - going going gone!

Have a wonderful easter weekend everyone. Thanks for visiting Cafe Cartolina this week - I hope you find something here that will inspire you to put your best creative foot forward every morning. I'm going to try making some of these pretty flowers this weekend  - see you soon!

beautiful image from the amazing Finola Inger

Found

Have you seen these? I think these are clever. They are not really reproductions - they are a new take on a mechanics safety light. Something that was never meant to be decorative taking on a deconstructed, vintage hipness that really appeals to me. Also check out to the fabulous chandelier made from recycled plastic pop bottles - also very clever in a different kinda way. From - guess who?

Oh and if you're worried about ugly exposed light bulbs Anthro has that covered with their super cute designer bulbs!

Interiors

I love these images - I expect the owner of this place was planning on doing some redecorating - maybe a bit of new wallpaper - when the location scout came round and said, 'Don't do a thing - it's perfect!' This place is now available for your fashion shoots your independent movies, your rave - or whatever you feel like - from here.

Found

I really like the esthetic of this store Tuttemerull - lots of wood and zinc and linen. Very natural and northern hemisphere-esque.