Blogging it Forward

Today I am delighted to be Blogging it Forward! 300 bloggers, are partaking in a chain letter of blog posts. Yesterday's post in my group was by Button and Bean. If you have been following along you will know that the theme is "What Inspires Me." Cafe Cartolina has always been a collection of things that inspire me, so this was an easy task. I decided to be completely self indulgent and to pull from my favourite posts in the last couple of years. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed putting it together. I'd love to know what inspires you - write me a comment way down at the bottom right after the 3 lanterns . . . . .

I'm inspired by Vintage ephemera:

Map from here, Above from John Derian

I'm inspired by decaying surfaces:

Elephant from Bella Luna

Above from Butik Sophie

These tile images are all from a fabulous collection by Rosa Pomar right here.

I'm inspired by vintage industrial anything:

Above images from "The Recycled Home" via Curious Sofa Diaries

Best shelving system on the market, above, from the Sundance Catalogue

Above from Cleveland Art - below from Style at Home

Above from Butik Sophie

I'm inspired by vintage storefronts:

I'm inspired by the colours and textures of other eras and cultures:

Above image by Kim Kyung Soo for Vogue Korea

Lastly I want to quote from my Blogger profile because I think it sums up my love for vintage . "I have a need to actively interact with vintage design - not just collect it and display it - it's a way for me to play with it and share it with others. Old steel engravings, lead type, wood block prints and hand written documents. I have a love of the old but a desire to be current. It's not that I am obsessed with everything old, it's just a reality, in the quest for artistic inspiration, that one will inevitably often end up back at the old stuff - you don't find inspiration at Walmart!

Don't miss tomorrow's post by Candied Fabrics. Thanks Victoria from sfgirlbybay for organizing the Blog It Forward Event.

Note: All of the images on this post have been seen here before - and credited before. If there is a particular image that you would like information on please email me - thanks.

Treasures

This Etsy seller has a great eye. A wonderful selection vintage treasures. These birds are very cool - and I bet they don't last very long! You can pick out your favourites right here at Great Findz!

Interiors

I ran across these cool interior shots at Mustard and Sage. This is so me - I love this style, as you probably know by now! A bit of vintage, a bit of industrial - dark colours - yes please!

Random Objects

Great selection of odd vintage items from Ruby Beets to accessorize your vintage/industrial space. I have no idea what these black numbered tacks would have been used for you do you? I like to take items like these and group them in containers for display.

I collect these little spikey flower things(what do you call these again?) - they are so useful for propping up cards and postcards etc.

What kind of box is this? A camera box maybe - any ideas?

Inspiration

I found these super cool images on a site called TeenAngster but I have feeling they are originally from from The Constant Gatherer. So intriguing! Please check out these sites - you will love the imagery!

Inspiration

This is such a simple idea - I love this - postcards out of vintage paperback books(you know, the ones that have their covers hanging off!) This fun project is part of a collection of great ideas by Jason Thompson of Rag & Bone. It can be found in his new book,Playing With Books: The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book, coming this spring. we need to watch out for this one - looks like lots of great ideas. You can see the full directions to make your own postcards right here.

Random Image.

This wonderful image came from here - but the link doesn't seem to be working. It's wonderful - so I hope whoever owns this picture doesn't mind if we admire it. Update - apparently this image is from Sandra Juto Thanks Nathalie!

Inspiration

These little beauties are known as the Gould Hummingbirds from 'A monograph of the Trochilidae' by John Gould, published between 1861 and 1887. They are some of my favourite bird illustrations - hope you like them too.

We Have Winners!

Firstly, thank you all for entering the Great Canadian Mitten Giveaway - almost 350 of you! I have had so much fun reading the comments and getting to know you all through your Tweets and blogs. To make it fair I printed out all the comments, sliced them up and picked the winners out of the giant salad bowl.

Here is the list of winners:

Deanna Gabriel

Pamela Angus

David Ramirez

Anali - www.analisfirstamendment.blogspot.com

Molly - Artful Sentiments

Krissy - Paper Schmaper

Jenna - www.spirographs.blogspot.com

Allison - www.allisonjw.blogspot.com

Robin(Robin Beth)- Luxe Earth

Sasha - mango-family.blogspot.com

J.Me - Jamie Billington

It was fun to sponsor this giveaway because, did you know, that the proceeds from the sales of the red mittens goes directly to the Canadian olympic athletes. What a great way for us to support our team! So if you see your name in the list of winners email me and send me your mailing address. Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS!

Inspiration

These gorgeous images are from The Paper Is Lovely collection on Tumblr. I know that all you paper peeps will love these. I start to hyperventilate when I see such loveliness. Imagine being surrounded by all these pretty things while you work - yes please!

Illustration

One of the nicest things that came out of the mitten giveaway - apart from warm hands across the country - was meeting some great new people. Including surface designer/illustrator Jenean Morrison. I really enjoyed looking through her online portfolio and her blog. This pretty design that she did for Sigg really caught my eye and I thought that you would love it. I'm going to watch out for this one in the store soon. Thanks Jenean!

Inspiration

Have you seen this? From Country Living - a fantastic example of how to turn a very basic bedroom closet into a home office. I'd love to do this. I have a nice office but the idea of it all fitting into the alcove in the wall is so appealing - everything at arm's reach. And this one looks so cute and cheery, can you see the little chandelier? Have any of you guys tried this?