Happy Holidays to you and yours from all of us here at Cartolina - see you next Monday! Doug and I are going to spend the next few days overeating with our families and hopefully get some skiing in - to offset the eating! Wherever you are, stay warm, drive safe - and enter my giveaway(below!)

Let's have a Cartolina holiday giveaway!

So it's time for another giveaway! This time we are giving away a set of our new animal cards(illustrated by Doug.) These little beauties are all ready turning out to be a very hot item. So if you would like to snag a double set of these just leave a comment below and we will make the draw on Monday next week(like a belated Xmas surprise!) This time I want you to write a quicky comment about your favourite pet, now or in the past. Can't wait to read them! Thanks!

Artist | Yulia Brodskaya 

Here's something fun and colourful for a blustery winter day. Can't remember where I first saw this artist featured but her work is simply amazing - her portfolio is so fun to browse through. Makes me want to cut up some paper and start curling!

Blog Alert | Bricolage - Julie Reed

If anyone ever asks me how to get their product featured on a blog the best advice I can give is to start writing comments on the blogs you would like to be featured on. A good example is Julie Reed. Julie commented on a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago(with no expectations other than to leave her comment.) I read all the comments that come my way and if I can click on the author's name to find out more about them, I will. So I clicked on Julie's name and found myself at her charming blog and discovered she is a very talented gal. Here is one of the recent craft projects she is sharing on her blog Bricolage.

These are so pretty - I think you will love her blog and her good taste!

So, you see, you can spend a lot of time and money on press releases etc when all you really need to do is make yourself known to the blogger.

Window Shopping | McMaster and Storm

Julie's decorations, above, reminded me of some brilliant Xmas decorations I saw at McMaster and Storm. My other friend Julie introduced me to McMaster and Storm last year and, If you don't all ready know them, I think you will enjoy browsing through their store and their website. Lots of treasures. Here are a few pictures.

I once considered having a blog which purely featured the insides of stores like these because they are so visually stimulating - may still consider that!

Baby it's Cold Outside!

Wow - is it cold where you are? There's a deep freeze happening up here in the Pacific northwest and I'm thinking sweaters, scarves and winter woolies! I'm not the best at finding all the good stuff on Etsy but I did manage to find these wonderful warm woolen things to share with you.

Photograph above by Photobird.

Two glorious white cowls from Windowsill - love these!

Fabulous chunky orange scarfe from Bossyboots

Superb green cowl from Happiknits.

And finally 2 great cowls from Homelab originally seen on Scoutie Girl.

Deluxe Scarves

Super duper swanky scarves from Anthropologie. Would you like the red one or the blue one - I personally would go for the blue - though if you forced me to wear the red I would  :-)

It's a Wonderful Life - in Japan!

We got this book in the mail on Friday. It is the Japanese version of It's a Wonderful Life!  A couple of years ago Doug was asked by Penguin Books to collaborate with Jimmy Hawkins(who played the youngest child in the original movie) to produce a kid's illustrated version of It's a Wonderful Life. It was really fun for me to watch the book come together that summer. The finished book, It's a Wonderful Life For Kids has been selling well for the last couple of years. It was fun to check out the Japanese version.

Here is the first scene in the movie and the book - Doug's illustration of a wintery night in Bedford Falls! The US version of the book is available here(Amazon). And here's a link to all Doug's books(Market Day is my favourite!)

Inspiration | Stylist Katrina Cargill

I know that many of you, like myself, enjoy the work of talented magazine stylists. We get to see some great photography, wonderful images and beautifully showcased product. I love it when I find a few new stylists' portfolios online to browse through. Here are a couple I found recently - I have chosen images that I find inspiring and, as many of you are designers and creative types, I think you will like them too.

The above images are all styled by Katrina Cargill originally seen at Jubella.

Inspiration | Danielle Gori-Montanelli

Couldn't resist this beautiful felt collar from Studio DGM. So cheery and bright I almost thought it was a Xmas wreath when I saw it this morning on the wonderful Italian craft/design blog Decor E BlaBlaBla.

Inspiration | Stylist Carolyn Barber

Next up on today's stylist feature is Carolyn Barber. Carolyn's interiors are wonderful - but her food shots are positively scrumptious(but because we are not a foody blog I will leave it up to you to check those out.) Incidentally, if you are interested in the process of paper marbling she has some wonderful shots of an artist producing marbled papers.

"What's in That Box?"

There's a box on my table next to my computer that I throw stuff into that I don't want to lose - you probably have one too, right?Stuff that I REALLY like or has inspired me in some way. Doug came into my studio the other day and asked, "What's in that box?" so I emptied out piles of lovely pieces that have been stashed in there over the last few months/years - including this tiny selection(more another day) . . . . 

Christmas card from last year from Bikini.

Linocut card by Jonny Hannah

Promo postcard by Marc Rosenthal - love this guy, check out his portfolio.

Bird card - don't know where this came from.

Christmas card from last year - nothing on back to identify it.

Beautiful card illustrated by Spanish illustrator Catalina Estrada.

Mujeres de Patzcuaro by Antonio Gomez, a postcard from a set by Chronicle Books.

One of our new cards illustrated by Doug(how did it get in the box?)

Super duper Indian postcard of Ganesh - love those clouds!

So, what's in your box?

Window Shopping at Poppytalk Handmade Market

I have been browsing through the Poppytalk Handmade Market searching for Xmas presents. I am so impressed with the talents of the designers and producers featured there. I wanted to show you the things that have caught my eye and tell you why . . . . 

Painting by Hadley Hutton because it is so pretty and I love orange and torquoise together

Handmade album by Double Happiness because the cover pattern is fabulous

Photographic print from Dripstick becuase I love the old colourful bikes and I wish I was a better photographer.

Hand bound books by Angela Liguori because she is amazingly skilled and I have a feeling that we met once in Rome.

Photographic print by Bubbo because no matter how many times I have seen this image it still intrigues me.

Two clever bags from Showpony because they are an example of such a great use of vintage engravings.

A whole bunch of clip boards from Decorative Instincts because they are such a simple pretty idea that I would love to receive as a gift.