Time for a break. 

I am taking a break for a few days. Will be back in the studio at the weekend. Thanks for visiting Cafe Cartolina and thanks for leaving comments when you can - I love to read them and to know that you are out there! Oh, and congrats to all my U.S. neighbours - from up here, the future's looking very bright :-)

Here are a few yummy images I have been meaning to post. Lots of brilliant inspiration for us all.  See you in a couple of days.

Your big day is here!

How exciting! You know I could have posted a couple of head shots of the candidates in honor of this historical U.S. election. But, oh well, I didn't. Instead I decided to go with some vintage imagery to inspire you all to head out to the polling stations today. Vintage campaign buttons and wonderful map of the states(made from old license plates - from Sundance!)

Well it's time to do the right the right thing folks. Get out there and vote. Oh, and remember, vote for the right guy  - your neighbours are watching :-)

Artists | Naomi Joy Yamamoto | Flight Path Designs

I posted about Naomi's work a few moths ago when I was obsessed with her beautiful belt buckles. Well yesterday she sent me some wonderful images of her new necklaces. They are so pretty and Naomi and I definitely love the same kind of imagery.

You can see more of Naomi's work here at her Etsy site. And don't forget to check out all her work at her web site. Thanks Naomi!

Cartolina | New Online Sales

We are very excited to announce that we are now able to offer online retail sales for individual Cartolina Cards. We get so many retail requests for single cards and now we have found the perfect partnership to begin selling online. After a long search we settled on online card retailer GreetQ. One of the things we like about GreetQ is that they offer  fantastic customer service and the option to personalize cards with your own message. You can even schedule your card delivery dates and they will mail them for you in time for the occasion . . . no excuses for missed birthdays anymore!

Another reason that we like GreetQ is that they really understand our respect for the environment. So for every 10 Cartolina Cards that you purchase they will plant a tree on your behalf in collaboration with Ecolibris. We love that! 

The philosphy at GreetQ is, in their words: "At GreetQ we believe that everything can be made more convenient and easier by the smart use of the internet. If you can rent DVDs, buy shoes and read books online, why can’t you buy and send real paper greeting cards? We also believe that people still appreciate the act of receiving a note or beautifully made card in the mail. That’s why we want to make staying connected with family and friends as easy as ordering a pizza. You never have to leave your home or office; just select a card, type in your message and we will handwrite or print your message, mailing it directly to the recipient in time for that important occasion."

Inspiration | Pattern in the work place

I love this idea of using bold pattern in clever ways to make a simple office or workplace more inspiring. I love the grassy green of the first image. It looks like a piece of fabric stretched over a frame(just like the one from Mulberry Home in last week's post).

This map is so brilliant on this wall. The colours are so pretty and the graphic quality is really dramatic in this white space. Perfectly styled - makes me want to decorate with vintage maps - though not wanting to look like a vintage school room!

Random Objects | Map crafts

After doing a quick search on decorating with vintage maps these images showed up here. Really intriguing objects made from maps. Love both the pairs of shoes and the car clasp on the bag. And here are the instructions on how to make your own map bag!

Halloween | Pretty pumpkin pictures

Okay , I am not going to lie to you  - I am not much into Halloween. Sorry folks. But I am going to post some nice pictures of pumpkins. Just bear with me if I get distracted!

What do you mean, those aren't pumpkins? Sure they are! Nice colourful leather ones!

Ephemera | Halloween 

Great Halloween ephemera from here.

Random Objects  | Orange for Halloween :-)

Finally a good excuse to post these 2 wonderful orange things. Vintage Paris souvenir from my collection and very fun pillow from Pedlars.

Inspiration | Hand painted signage

This hand painted type is on a shutter on the outside of a cafe in France. The guilded trompe l'oeil trim is hand painted too. I have many photographs of this cafe - the signage is so beautiful. Type setters and sign painters were considered skilled artists in their time.

Here's another sign from the same cafe this time it is a mosaic! 

Only in France would they go to so much trouble to advertise hot chocolate!

Ephemera | Matchbox covers

I have thousands of these beautiful little works of art in my collection. I bought an entire lot at an auction once just to get the "PETITE" one. And the Italian ones below are such brilliant examples of Victorian type design. Love em.

Random Objects | French Jugs

Two very handsome jugs with great type slapped boldly on their sides 

- get yours here at Posh

Inspiration | Textiles | Interiors

I am thrilled that so many of you come to Cafe Cartolina everyday. I am hoping you come because you love the same rich colours, bold patterns and interesting, vintage inspired objets d'art that I do. Everyday I am so inspired by the design world and how lucky we are to be able to source and share fabulous images like these from Mulberry Home.

Don't you love these images? Some of the design houses have such talented stylists and photographers to really showcase their products. I can get lost in some of these images they evoke such style and emotion. Next time you are looking for style inspiration checkout the best of the textile design houses and get lost in their pages and pages of imagery.

Random Objects | Vintage wire baskets

A simple, utilitarian item like a vintage wire basket can look like a work of art when it is styled and photographed beautifully! Check this out . . . 

I am such a sucker for artistic styling. I get great satisfaction out of artfully arranging mundane objects into stylish vignettes. And on the switch side, a wonderfully designed object may not catch my eye if presented poorly(and it certainly won't make it to Cafe Cartolina!) Beautifully presented, antique wire baskets from Rocket St George. 

Inspiration | John Derian

Whenever I see John Derian's work I am reminded that Mr Derian and I must have very similar collections of vintage ephemera. I love his choice of images especially these cakes.