Ephemera | Vintage Business Cards

Aren't these sweet? Vintage business cards from here.

Design Details | Spot varnishes

People ask me all the time about spot varnishes. All our large cards have spot varnishes. A spot varnish is applied to specific areas of flat or matte paper to high light certain aspects of the design. I find they work best on the darkest areas of the images and especially on blues for some reason. Here is an example of one of our cards with its spot varnish - it really catches the light when you tilt it. Also it has a slightly raised feeling when you run your finger over it.

Short term gain, long term pain.

I was in Target at the weekend(in Spokane WA, which is the closest city to us here in Nelson). I was really floored when I saw these holiday items by John Derian. I had heard that John Derian was producing a limited product range for Target a few months ago and was interested to take a closer look. John Derian's products are all about the imagery - that's what we love about his work - the gorgeous vintage images embedded in glass. These images chosen for this holiday collection are dull, predictable and cliche. But what bothers me more than anything are the MADE IN CHINA stickers on the back. The quality was so poor that the packaging was barely holding up to the handling it was receiving on the display. And the price was SO CHEAP. I really question the designers who decide to go the off-shore production route. There are many so called Indie producers these days who have made this choice and I am happy to say I am not one of them. 

These days I am frequently asked by buyers where our products are produced(Canada).  It used to be that the first question they asked was if we used recycled paper(which we do) but now its all about WHERE we produce our product. We don't sell the cheapest cards in the world(in fact they are probably about twice the price of any cards at Target) But in today's economy we all have to make the best decisions for the world as a whole - not selfish, short term decisions based on greed. We have to look into the future and understand that by supporting the poor labour practices of countries like China we have been gradually undermining the foundation of our own economy. No one gains from these practices except the corporate top level. We have to stop expecting to buy everything for cheap and we need to recognize and value quality and craftsmanship that's produced here at home with a conscience. Over and out.

Weekend Snap Shots

I am a huge sucker for beautiful interior photography especially detailed styling as you probably have realized if you have been reading this blog for very long. I just wish I was a better photographer myself. It was a lovely sunny day here yesterday so I decided to spend the morning shooting pictures of my favourite things. I took 216 shots with my Nikon D40 and, I have to say, I don't think it's a very good camera at all - most of the pictures were terrible! Here are the only ones even slightly worth posting. I am very disappointed with that camera  ;-)

No seriously, I have a whole new respect for photographers these days - taking interior pictures is very difficult - it's all about the lighting. Our house is very sunny and I swear that makes it worse - or it could just be the camera - right?

{UPDATE: Just sold that camera on Ebay this morning. Going to get a Canon G10 to replace it - that's BOUND to make me a better photographer!}

Have a great Friday and a great weekend!

Thanks for joining me this week. Hope you have a great weekend and are inspired to do something creative. I'm hoping that the new note books will arrive in the next couple of days so that I can show you them next week and then we'll have another giveaway - Yay! See you Monday!

Inspiration | Upholstery and Wallpaper

I should probably apologize - I went a bit mad with these images from Roma - I start to hyperventilate when I see prints and colour combinations like these. I actually posted 6 more but I took them down and will save them until next week - it's a bit OTT don't you think?

This sofa has my name written all over it - no really, it does!

Hope you get as much creative inspiration from these images as I do!

Prints and Textile Inspiration | Urban Outfitters

Pretty prints from Urban Outfitters.

Inspiration | ephemera

A couple of nice old European stamp - French and Yugoslavian. The green one is so pretty and pastoral. The blue one is a very common old french stamp, you often see it on old french postcards in red. It came in a huge array of colours and is known as the Seed Sower.

Perfect Pillows | Bonjour Mon Coussin

Well how could I resist these? These are right up the Cafe Cartolina alley don't you think? They were just made for me. And they have the cutest web site with so many to choose from - you must go and look at them right now in their puffy splendour - pillows are all they do and they do them very well!  From Bonjour Mon Coussin -  au revoir!

Cartolina Press | Canadian Mags

If you are in Canada your mail box is probably full of all the holiday issues of our favourite Canadian design mags. I love it when the big fat holiday issue shows up - I save them all from year to year don't you? We are delighted to be making appearances in most of them including the above which came in my mail box yesterday - Style at Home and Lou Lou. Thanks to the editors for picking us - we love you!

Cold Feet ?

2 great options. One from Les Indiennes and the other from Toast - I personally like pom poms on my slippers, I expect you do too :-)

Inspiration | Jill Bent

I am so inspired by these 2 images of Jill Bent's work. I found her site via Angela Liguori's beautiful blog(which you must check out asap!) I just know that you will love all Jill's pieces too - they are so simple and honest. I would like one of those bags, Santa, please?

Etsy Seller | Stiksel

I found all these curious things in Etsy seller Stiksel's shop via the Poppytalk Handmade Market. There's something about these objects that I am drawn to  - perhaps the muted colours and the utilitarian materials.

Random Objects | Le Souk

Nice little collection of objects from Le Souk - the little bags at the top are so odd and crooked they look like they need a home - you can get yours here.

Vintage Finds | Blue Bell Bazaar

No matter what your choice of poison, Blue Bell Bazaar has the vintage bottle you need to store it in! Aren't these great?

Mary's Monday Mosaics | Suffix Abuse

I want to introduce you to fellow designer Mary from Suffix Abuse. Mary is a graphic designer who is passionate about and draws inspiration from photography, typography and stationery design. Every Monday she posts a fabulous mosaic of images that have caught her eye either for their colour, their styling or their je ne sais quoi.. She has an amazing skill for finding and arranging these images. {When I see them I want to climb right inside and be part of that world for a few minutes.} I am always so impressed and so inspired by them - and judging by what I have learned about my readers here at the Cafe, you will too!

Mary's site is wonderful inspiration for designers in all mediums. Her design talent and her keen eye for colour and typography make for top notch visuals and interesting commentary. I've been reading Suffix Abuse for a long time now and it is one of my favourite morning reads. If you have a blog that you think I should take a look at just send me a line, I'd love to check it out.