Cartolina and Lilla Rogers Studio!

I have an announcement!

I am very excited to announce that, as of today, the licensing department at Cartolina is officially represented by the one and only Lilla Rogers. I could not be more delighted with this new partnership and am looking forward to working with Lilla and her team.

The Lilla Rogers Studio represents about 30 artists internationally. They license and sell work for surface design. They have done amazing projects with clients such as IKEA, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and loads of other fabulous retailers and manufacturers. Lilla herself is a highly successful illustrator and artists rep since the mid 90s and her studio is one of the most respected illustration agencies world wide.

So for all you lovely readers who write to me and suggest we do housewares, linens and pillow covers - watch out - you might just get what you wished for ;-)

Please check out Lilla's super fun website where you can see some fab illustration from lots of other illustrators including talented Canadians Helen Dardik and Carolyn Gavin. They also have a fun blog with lots of great information for illustrators and art buyers alike! Do I sound excited? Well I am!

Random loveliness.

I couldn't resist posting these fun lamp shades from Graham and Green. Fab-u-lous!

Reproduction inspiration

This is a pretty nice wood sign, considering it's new. A reproduction hand painted sign to hang on your wall with pride from Pottery Barn - very nice. I'd hang this in my house for sure.

I thought you might get a kick out of this. It's Fun To make a Hat. Yes it is! Especially if you follow the guidelines in this cute little book. (love that it is "profusely illustrated by the author")

Gift Wrap from Poppytalk

Jan posted some great gift wrapping ideas at Babble last week. I especially love this first one - double sided tape and confetti - what a great idea! Great post Jan!

We have another London show starting this weekend. If you're going to Top Drawer at Olympia we would love you to stop by, say hi to Ian, and check out our fab new cards (which we will be debuting on this side of the pond in the next couple of weeks!) Cartolina can be found at Top Drawer, Olympia, YCUK-Stand E42.

The Cartolina app is 1 year old today!

Thank you for all your support this year. It's been great fun and we have a couple of cool new updates for the app coming to you in the very near future! Cartolina Version 2 is developed by Denis Hennessy at Peer Assembly and is available for download at iTunes or right here http://www.cartolina.com/app.html

Inspiration - Country fair

Guess what? I found a whole collection of these Country Fair mag covers right here. We've seen a few of these here a the café over the years but this is a great collection. Check it out - and be inspired!

Vintage ephemera - from the Café archives

Sometimes I see something from the archives that I really want to republish - today's post is from a few months back - Here are a few more wonderful examples from Sheaff Ephemera that have been haunting me for the past week. Enjoy . . .

Inspiration - type

There are some extraordinary circus playbills on this website - The Leeds Playbill Archive. If you're a typography junky then you will love the collection. Here are a few of my faves. Sorry the sizes are not very good - they are much larger at the source. (Please take the time to read them through - they are very funny!)

Pool Pony

I like these prints from Pool Pony. You can see more of their art here at The Poppytalk Handmade Market.

To complete the circus theme today - charming big top sugar cookies from Bees Knees Creative. Yum!

Inspiration from 1st Dibs.

A Donegal carpet, 1870. From here.

Turkestanian rug from here - just gorgeous.

Mid century modern rug from Scandinavia from here. (Which kind of reminds me of the tiles below.)

vintage pins

Luv these! So fab. Vintage french cross stitch patterns turned into lovely little pins by the ever so talented Suzanna at Sushi Pot.

Instagram

I'm having great fun with Instagram. Have you joined yet? You can follow me at user name Fionacartolina. Love seeing everyone's pictures and meeting lots of creative people. Hope to see you there soon. Instagram is a photo based, social media, iPhone app that you can download to your phone from the app store.

New at 5 Gardenias

How fun is this? A vintage owl tape measure. I've never seen anything like this. How fun. From 5 Gardenias.

Pinterest - new board

I recently put some of my favourite store front pictures on a Pinterest board that you might like - right here.