Sweet stuff

I recently met Canadian cake diva Rosie Alyea(Sweetapolita) on Twitter. You must go right now and check out her incredible blog. Not only is she a very talented baker but she is also an incredibly good food stylist and photographer - combine these assets with a fabulous sense of design and you have the most wonderful eye candy. Every time I tune into Rosie's blog I am blown away by her skills and the way she generously shares her professional secrets. Looking for a beautiful cake for an upcoming event - look no further! Introducing Sweetapolita . . . oh my gosh this looks so yummy . . .

Found - enamel panels by Janine Partington

Enamel on copper panels by Janine Partington. Aren't these clever? The white is the enamel(glass) and the copper is the substrate. Fab!

New love

I went to Victoria last weekend. When I'm in Victoria I never miss an opportunity to visit Fan Tan Gallery - one of my favourite shops. This time I fell in love with an Indian quilt and couldn't think straight for the rest of the afternoon - so had to go back and get it! What hooked me was the bright orange and turquoise panels lying next to the muted rose and teal panels - I love it. The quilt is very crudely done and overwashed which makes it even better as far as I'm concerned. It's covered in rows of tiny, bright coloured stitches - I'm in love!

I've found some more washi tape - at Fred Flare. This time with polka dots. I know you love this stuff ;-)

Found - Narcise

Being so obsessed by old engravings I couldn't pass this by - a vintage Japanese bank note layered between glass and silver. I don't know about you but I never get bored with this type of pendant - I can look at tatty bits of ephemera under glass for hours on end! This piece is by Narcise.

It's here! The new Cartolina Holiday app is now available at the app store. We've been working hard on this for the last few weeks and are thrilled to be able to offer it to you as of today!

Our Holiday app is all about sending brief but beautifully festive messages using one of our customizable Cartograms. Choose from the selection of holiday designs, customize your message and then you can either email or text it to the lucky recipient. The Cartolina app supports dozens of languages and allows you to send to multiple recipients. I think that the Holiday app will be fabulous for pretty party invitations this season. But that's not all - due to popular demand we have added a 4th line of text for your messages. So now, instead of 3 lines you have 4 lines available to you. And, yes, we will be adding a 4th line to the original Cartolina app in the next couple of weeks when we upgrade the app with a new selection of Cartograms. The Cartolina Holiday app is available for just $1.99. *Click here for more details and a direct link to the app store.* If you are looking for the app at the app store on your phone, search for 'cartolina' and it should pop up!

The Cartolina Holiday app is a great alternative to sending a plain email or text message.

For less than the price of a card, $1.99, the Cartolina Holiday app is available from the Apple iTunes store.

For more information on the app or any other Cartolina products please email me.

Check out or website at www.cartolina.com

You can follow us on Twitter and you can check us out on Facebook!

Found - matchbook calendar from Inkello

This is such clever idea - I love it. A petite, letterpress, matchbook calendar from Inkello. It's perfect! The style, the scale - just lovely! Good job Inkello!

Spotted in Making!

I was very excited yesterday to receive these images in the mail from my friend Fiona in Glasgow. Making is a new British magazine that focuses on the modern craft revolution and we are thrilled to see our Cartolina iPhone app gracing the pages of it's 2nd issue. Maybe this new mag will be available on this side of the pond some time soon - I hope so! Thanks Fiona!

Hot stuff ;-)

Brrrrr, baby it's cold outside! I have a secret - at this time of the year I like nothing better than going to bed with a hot water bottle on my feet - must be because I grew up in Scotland where I wouldn't have dreamed of going to bed without one! I spotted this tutorial the other day on Craftgawker and thought I would share it with my crafty readers. This is such a posh hot water bottle cover from My Patchwork - much fancier than the ones that my mum knits me(I know, the visual gets better and better!) I wonder if I could bribe my quilting mother in law to make one of these beauties for me . . . .

Inspiration - Animalarium

I'd like to introduce you to a fascinating blog - Animalarium. I love to visit this site and find loads of fabulous vintage illustration inspiration. Revolving around animal imagery - you might find something that inspires you too.

All images from Animalarium