Inspiration - window decals

I thought you might like to see these pictures. This is one of our local businesses here in Nelson that has recently applied these very cool, and very large, decals to all the windows of their building. I think they look great - the bright pink is a real show stopper don't you think?

Happy Canada Day!

It's a holiday in Canada today - it's Canada Day.

Most Canada Day weekends we go to George's birthday party. George Coletti is one of my all time favourite people. I met George the day we moved to Nelson in 1994 - we rented a very cool old apartment from him. Since then the Colettis have become like family to us and I'm really looking forward to this weekend because it's George's 90th birthday party. George and his family have owned the local junktique store in Nelson for a long time and I can genuinely say that most of the vintage furniture in my house is from their store. When we had the Dominion Café it was right next door to George's store and Lou, George's son, built the café interior for us. Lou is also the lucky owner of the best boat shed in the world - which I blogged about here. Here are a few pictures taken at George's store over the last few years . . .

John Ward

We have a new café in Nelson. My friend Amy opened the John Ward Café 2 days ago in THE BEST location in Nelson. I'm very excited for her and very excited that she asked me to design a logo for her. Thanks Amy! So I headed in to Nelson yesterday morning to have my first latté and I was so impressed with the space - especially the cool vintage wall treatment. Apparently a friend had found these old boards, from vintage packing crates, in the wall of an old house they were renovating in Nelson and asked Amy if she could use them - she's so creative(as is her whole family) So they put them to good use, on the wall and I thinks it's fab fab fab! I couldn't wait to show you because I know you are going to love it too. . . . .

Found - vintage, galvanized wire card spinner

Okay so some of you may wonder how a person could get so excited over a vintage wire postcard spinner. Well to a card maker and postcard collector like me this is the bee's knees. I've had my eye on this for so long in the local antique store. I keep asking the guy when he's going to sell it to me. So on Saturday, he flagged me down on Baker St and told me I could have that card spinner I'd been coveting for so long - yes, that's right - he just gave it to me. Some people are so kind and generous - I luv it! And it even came with a few old cards!

Can you see, it even has a little clip on the top to put a business card.

The Makeover - Episode II

So off we went to Kelowna on Friday to pick up the sofa and love seat that we found last weekend. I'm so glad I still loved it when I saw it for only the 2nd time. We loaded it onto Doug's truck and got home, after the 4hr drive, at 9pm on Saturday. It was a very hot evening but we hauled the old furniture out to the carport and hauled the new furniture in. I love it and I think it's a great start to the makeover. I picked up four, nice, feather filled pillows from Homesense in a graphic, black and white design - keeping in mind that the plan is to paint the armoire a soft matte black.

So below is a photograph I took yesterday morning and the last picture is after I have Photoshopped a black armoire and different wall art into the shot. I think that with some more editing of the 'country'accessories and new white walls it's going to come together quite quickly. I am realizing as i go through this process that though I crave a slick urban look it really doesn't suit our house or our location so I think I will call it 'eclectic modern' - or 'urban country' when I am finished!

Thanks so much to all of you who have sent me your great ideas and inspiring links - it has helped so much! I love getting them!

Road Trip

We took a ride on the Kootenay Lake ferry yesterday over to Crawford Bay, on our way to Doug's parents' place. I thought you might like to see the studio of one of our local artisans - North Woven Broom Co. It really is a log cabin! They make the most fabulous brooms in this log studio which they sell all over the world - and we picked one up for Doug's dad's workshop. They make dozens of different shapes and styles(they even made the flying broom that's featured in the Harry Potter movies.) the smell when you walk into the cabin is overwhelming - smells like hay, smells like horses in fact! Crawford Bay is rather remote, and really just a summer season kind of place - so the broom makers make brooms for 7 months of the year and vacation for the other 5 - sounds good doesn't it?

Give me a shout if you are coming out this way for a vacation - I'll give a list of all the artisans in the area.

Happy Earth Day!

It's Earth Day. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about what we do here at Cartolina to protect the world we live in. It's my belief that if you are in the paper industry you are obligated to take responsibility for the environment in whatever ways you can. When we first started out we researched our options until we came up with a product and a process that we felt good about. We chose a recycled paper to print all our products on and we jumped through the hoops that enabled us to use the FSC logo on all our products. You've probably seen the FSC logo - it represents products produced from well-managed forests, controlled sources and recycled wood. You can't automatically slap that logo on your products they have to be approved - the paper and the printing process have to meet all the requirements of the FSC before they can qualify. When we chose a printer it was important to us that we could develop a relationship with a company that cares about the environment as much as we do. Our printer has been named the most environmental printer in Canada for 5 years in a row - they run a carbon neutral plant - and strict recycling program.

Our decision to stop packaging all our cards in clear plastic sleeves has proved to be one of best decisions yet - clear sleeves are produced in China(a country with less than stellar human rights records - and on Earth Day it's not just all about the trees.) We have always been proud to be a domestic product - thus reducing our carbon footprint and supporting local business. Retailers have been thrilled with sleeveless cards and sales have gone up. Waste has been reduced which is very important to us.

It's great to be connected to other business that care like Modern Paper Goods who are our sole online retailer in the US - for every 10 cards you buy at Modern Paper Goods their partner, Ecolibris, will plant a tree on your behalf! They have already planted a thousand trees - we think that's very cool!

On a personal note - Doug and I chose to flee the big city 16 years ago and move to a quieter lifestyle in the country where we can be closer to nature. Living and working surrounded by such beauty makes you very aware of how fragile the world around you is every day, not just Earth Day, I am grateful to be so lucky to live and work here. Yesterday, as if on queue, Doug was out picking up a huge shipment of envelopes - he was crossing the bridge over the wetlands near Creston and noticed a Painted Turtle crossing the road. With cars whizzing past - he stopped the truck, got out and rescued the turtle from it's inevitable demise - here's a picture . . . . it's beautiful thing . . .

[Top photo is the view from our studio]

My Neck of The Woods

We took a little drive up to Kaslo on Saturday morning and on the way we stopped at the Balfour Hall for a rummage sale. The West Kootenay is made up of a few little towns surrounded by mountains and lakes with Nelson(where we live) being the largest of the towns. The sale at the hall was fun and we picked up a few nice vintage things. I grabbed a vintage volume of Audubon's birds(lots of wonderful prints) and my friend Linda, who came along for the ride, scored a set of gorgeous bark cloth drapes in mint condition and some other little treasures pictured below. Which reminds me, we really need to have a yard sale this spring(to get rid of all the things I'm always picking up at rummage sales) - that'll be fun - I'll take lots of pictures.

I'm going to start posting more local stuff now that the summer is finally on it's way. I'll get out and about with my camera and introduce you to some of our local talent again. Last year's "My Neck of the Woods" posts were very popular. Let me know if there's anything in particular you would like to see. 

Random Object | My new mirror

This is my new mirror. It's very big and heavy. After a bit of a struggle we managed to hang it on the wall yesterday. I really love it and I have to tell you what a good deal it was . . . it is handmade, it is solid wood and it has a beveled mirror. It was reduced from $600 down to $90 at Homesense which is the home wares division of Winners(or TJ Max as it is called in the US). I think it really works with our eclectic style and adds a little bit of pseudo industrial drama to our living room. Homesense really is one of the best places to find fabulous mirrors, rugs and lamps.

Random Objects | Post Office Posters

I wanted to share this with you because I thought it was such an oddity when I found it at the little antique store here in Nelson. I think it is a poster for Canada Post probably designed and printed in the late 1940s. It is screen printed onto a hard board and I think it's quite unusual and funny. I can't imagine anyone at Canada Post approving such a graphic for their walls these days - they are a rather conservative bunch!

The weekend | Treasures

Did you have a nice weekend? I did. It was very relaxing which is good because I have a busy week coming up at Cartolina and then we are off to Vancouver for a few days at the end of the week. On Saturday morning we headed into Nelson for our usual Saturday morning routine - coffee at Oso Negro and then down to the farmers market to buy fresh fruit and veg for the week. On the way we took a detour past a yard sale that turned out to be an ephemera lover's dream. Boxes and boxes of vintage magazines, wood type, type catalogues, maps, newspapers, postcards, posters - you name it. Doug and I felt a little overwhelmed at first but by the time we had got our breath back we were walking away with an armful of treasures.

So what did I buy? Well I bought a lot of vintage magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s. I love this 1937 New Yorker. I also bought a Shanghai poster for my friend Linda who has been searching for one for a while now. These posters are quite collectable these days. Originally printed before the war, as advertising, they have survived quite well and look fabulous framed. We also bought some vintage litho'd children's books(I'll show you those another day.)

You can find these Shanghai posters on line here there are lots to choose from - I think they are really pretty and unusual.

Studio News | 3x3 Magazine

Congratulations to Doug who has had two illustrations accepted into the 5th annual 3x3 Magazine international "Pro Show" illustration annual! He is one of only 200 illustrators, worldwide, accepted from out of 4000 entries. Winners will be featured in the 3x3 Illustration Annual N0.5 available on newstands in the U.S. Canada, the UK and Europe.

3x3 Magazine is a magazine devoted entirely to the art of contemporary illustration. Three times a year they publish articles on the best international artists working today and encourage a new focus on the use of illustration by the advertising and design communities.

You can buy these posters at Doug's Etsy Store.

More of Doug's work can be seen here 

My neck of the woods.

It's a glorious morning here - hope you enjoy your weekend. I'm starting off my day the french way - with fresh brioche and a cappuccino from Au Soleil Levant.

I took this picture this morning outside the bakery - check out the flowers!

Au Soleil Levant is a rustic french bakery at 281 Herridge Lane here in Nelson BC.

Make Art Not War

I bought this poster for the studio the other day. I really like it. I don't know much about it, except that it is by Shepard Faire. It has a lovely art nouveau feel. You can purchase it online here. 

I bought my copy at a local store in town here called Still Eagle. I saw it in the window. Still Eagle has been a Nelson institution for many years. We moved to Nelson 15 years ago and it was already an established hemp store back then. They carry a simply amazing selection of organic, sustainably produced, and fairly traded products. Everything from clothing to stationery to bedding. It smells like pachouli oil and tiger balm in there and there is more tie dye and macrame than you will see in a normal life time(but then again this is not a normal place  - this is Nelson!)

Here's what it says on the Still Eagle web site, "Still Eagle Planetary Persuasions began as a small alternative environmental storefront in the Kootenays of BC. That was 1990. Shortly thereafter, we became one of Canada's first hemp stores, wholesaling the best hemp products we could find to other hemp stores across Canada. Today, we carry everything from twine to food to rope to clothing to bags, body products, hats, socks, jewellery, rolling papers, posters books and information." 

One of the things I love about Still Eagle is that everything in the store has 2 prices on the tag - and you can chose which one you feel like paying . . . I think it's brilliant - they have always had this policy - and it really makes you think beyond yourself every time you purchase something. And in the change rooms there is a sign with John Lennon's face on it that says "Don't steal things - Instant Karma will get you " ! 

Still Eagle is located on Ward St, Nelson BC 

They have online catalogues and they wholesale an amazing selection of hemp products.

Lilikoi and Jenna Rose.

I stopped in at Lilikoi this morning to take some pictures of the pillows that I had seen there last week .

Lilikoi is the brainchild of designer Barbara Boswell who studied design right here in Nelson at the Kootenay School of the Arts.

All her designs are gorgeous and her shop is fabulous - bright and sunny and inspiring. Her designs include clothing, accessories and home decor items. Her materials are all organic and are from sustainable resources like bamboo. Very nice!

I am also really loving these pillows that they sell at Lilikoi. They are produced by Jenna Rose - another Canadian creating wonderful silk screened fashions and decor items in Ontario. Check out the hats on her site too.

Lilikoi is located at 358 Baker St Nelson BC

Abacus Beads, Nelson, BC

Today I had to run out to Abacus Beads. 

I love Erin's store. It's not the biggest bead shop in the world but it has an amazing selection of semi-precious stones that Erin buys from locals who spend their winters in Asia and South America. If you are not into skiing then the winters are pretty long here so it's quite tempting to head off to exotic places for the season. I for one am happy to stay home and hit the slopes but I am very grateful to the non-skiers who bring back the beautiful gem stones to Abacus. Erin doesn't have a web site so here are a few pictures that I took this  morning.

I love the way Erin merchandises her shop in abundance using vintage wine glasses and old cabinets. I can spend hours in here!

New business cards.

Just took a picture of Dougs new business cards. I love them. He whipped these up in about 10 minutes and I think they are the prettiest business cards I have seen in ages - though I may be biased!

The following posts are from a week long guest blog that we did for Poppytalk in June 2008

My Neck of the Woods - day 5.

Grass Roots

When I started this guest blog on Monday I wanted to talk about the challenges of living and working in a relatively remote, small town. Nelson is an 8hr drive from the closest big city, Vancouver. But I got a little distracted over the last few days by all the talented designers and artists who do business from here - and they all make it look pretty easy. But it does have its challenges. At times you have to be fairly resourceful to live here. Most people live here for the peaceful lifestyle - I don't think I know anyone who chose Nelson for its variety of industry and career choices. So to begin this last post of the week I want to acknowledge the grass roots entrepreneurs who give Nelson its soul. From the radish farmer to the potter, the weaver and the panama-hatted herb guy, what they do everyday, in our small community, is beautiful, simple and really important.

The Craft Connection and Nicole Bigg

The Craft Connection has been a cooperative of Nelson artists for 25 years. Craft Connection members share in the operation of the store through staffing, advertising, marketing, and display. Since most co-ops are community and regionally based, investment in, and surplus revenue from, the co-op stay within the local community. The Craft Connection recently bought and renovated this lovely old building and converted it into a great gallery space for all their members. Nicole Bigg is one of the member artists at the Craft Connection and I have enjoyed watching her art evolve over the last few years. Currently I am loving her belt buckles, there are lots on display today at the store - aren't they amazing?

Nicole has a few things to say about living and working in a small community, "Some cities are great for a bit but over all I enjoy living in a small town especially Nelson. There are many things here to inspire great artwork like beautiful lakes and mountains-and it's relaxing, it doesn't have the traffic, pollution and distractons that the city has. Nelson keeps me as busy as I would like really." Nicole has a great web site with lots of images of her work and also her fabulous jewelry. Enjoy!

Cabin Fever.

So if you get in your car, in the middle of nowhere, and drive for 2 hrs, you might be surprised to find that you are still in the middle of nowhere - though in a different country. Sandpoint Idaho is a beautiful 2 hr drive from Nelson. It's an even smaller town than Nelson but they are lucky to have one of my all time favourite little shops - Cabin Fever. Owner Rebecca has amazing good taste and a wonderful talent for merchandising. The store is split into a clothing section and the other side of the store is furniture, with bedding and bath downstairs - a great rustic mix of vintage and new. 

So there I was on Wednesday admiring the John Robshaw linens stacked high on vintage dressers, when I saw these amazing handmade linen pillows designed and produced by local artist Melissa Neufeld. What struck me most about these pillows was the frill which is made of burlap webbing - the kind you see underneath the seats of antique dining room chairs. The screen printing is beautifully done and really unusual. I think I was drawn to them because I love the combination of natural linen, burlap and black ink. You can see more of Melissa's work here.

Gotta love this lamp from Uncommon Goods and its vintage wood base. It fits the whole rustic vibe at Cabin Fever.

I have really enjoyed blogging this week and giving you all a glimpse of life in Nelson BC. Thanks for all the comments. I have uploaded some pictures to this Flickr location if you are interested, and I will continue to add some more in the next few days.

I am leaving you with a photo taken from my studio window. I hope you enjoyed the posts this week - and if you're ever in my neck of the woods, give me a call we'll go for a coffee at Oso Negro.