Archive for Design

[Design Thursday] Night Owl Paper Goods

Just as a follow up to my 2010 calendar round-up, I wanted to share some pics from Night Owl Paper Goods and their Critter Calendar, which I already own and adore, and the Pattern Calendar, which is also lovely.

Night Owl Paper Goods Critter Calendar

I love the April duckies and the August otter.

The calendars (as well as many of their single notecards/postcards) are printed on eco-friendly yellow birch wood which has been sustainably harvested (yay!).

2010Critter Calendar_right

Here’s the Pattern Calendar:

NightOwlPaperGoods_2010PatternCal_2

I especially love those blue/green/yellow flowers of October.

If you follow them on Twitter, they often have one day sales which you can take advantage of, and visit the sale section of their website for some really good deals.

Night Owl also designs for Tiny Prints. You might remember that not long after Christmas last year, I totally fell in love with these Valentine’s Day cards:

Night Owl Paper Goods Big Hug valentine Night Owl Paper Goods Big Hug in blue

So, yeah, I’m pretty much a big fan of Night Owl. Can you tell?

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[Design Thursday] IMOGA Children’s Clothes

Last weekend, I fell in love with a few pieces of IMOGA children’s clothes, which I found at Tippy Toes in downtown Princeton (a totally adorable kids’ shoe store with a small collection of beautiful clothes). The founder of IMOGA, Haejung Chung, used to send gifts for her nieces signing them “i moga” or, “from auntie” in her native Korean. By the look of these designs – simple, elegant clothes with an Asian influence – I bet she gives great gifts!

From their Fall/Winter 2009  collection:

Imoga Fall 09 1 Imoga Fall 09 3

Imoga Fall 09 4 Imoga Fall 09 5

(I saw this coat at Tippy Toes – it is SO gorgeous, so beautifully constructed).

From their Spring/Summer 2010 collection:

Imoga Spring 10 2 Imoga Spring 10 3

Imoga Spring 10 4 Imoga Spring 10 5

You can take a look at the IMOGA collections on their website.

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[Design Thursday] 2010 Calendar Round-Up

So, there have been a lot of calendar round-ups lately (I’ve seen and liked ones from Oh So Beautiful Paper, Design Crush, and Twig & Thistle). I’ve been working on my own version for awhile, but in the meantime, many of them have already made the blog/twitter rounds, so my apologies for the duplicates. I hope you see some new ones in here that you haven’t already seen.

Linda and Harriet 2010 Calendar

Linda and Harriet 2010 Calendar Postcards

This Linda & Harriet calendar is such a clever design. When you’re done with the month, cut the bottom half and use it as a beautiful letterpress postcard! I just love design that incorporates multiple functions into it. Well done.

Elum Press 2010 calendar

From Elum Design, their “Four Seasons” calendar.  I love the colors and design. Something about this calendar seems beautifully unusual and different to me.

Lisa Rupp Circus Train Calendar

I can’t remember where I saw this Lisa Rupp calendar originally – I think Oh So Beautiful Paper – but I just love it. What a nice addition to any wall.

Parrott Design 2010 Calendar

Parrott Design 2010 Calendar 2

Parrott Design – don’t you love January? So beautiful. I also really like Sarah’s Etsy shop. Please take a look.

ps paper good 2010 calendar

p.s. paper goods’ 2010 calendar (which comes with your choice of colorful wooden cube stands!). You can get this desk calendar in her shop.

Satsuma Press 2010 calendar

Satsuma Press designs are so elegant. I own a few of her really beautiful notecards.

Dutch Door 2010 Calendar

Dutch Door Press makes this pretty wall calendar. If you’re not familiar with their work, check out their Etsy shop. I especially love the color combinations in their designs.

ilee 2010 calendar

ilee paper goods‘ 2010 desk calendar. I  love the variety in this calendar. It would be such a treat to turn to each new month and find a totally new and unique design. I love her October.

Peony Paperie Charlotte Calendar

I had to include this “Charlotte” calendar by Peony Paperie. So clean, simple and colorful – and the name is brilliant. (See the other totally adorable calendar in her shop).

Egg Press May 2010 Calendar Egg Press May 2010 2 Calendar

Egg Press September 2010 Egg Press September 2010 2

This is two months’ worth of Egg Press, one of my favorite letterpress shops. Makes you want to see the rest, right? If you read my Top Ten List on Indie Fixx, you saw that I list Egg Press (along with Hello! Lucky and Snow & Graham) as my top three favorites. They are the ones whose designs I return to again and again.

There are many other fabulous calendars out there:

Night Owl Paper Goods – I bought their Critter Calendar last week and it arrived this past weekend. I absolutely could not resist. I’m not including a picture, just because the picture on their website is really too small for you to be able to appreciate how amazingly cute it is, but take a look at all of their paper goods and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Pistachio Press – Always beautiful. You can’t go wrong with Pistachio Press.

Paper Source – Paper Source has several different calendars to choose from, but this wall calendar is my favorite – it’s got big, bold, beautiful colors.

Erin CondrenI wrote about Erin Condren last year. I’ve been buying her jumbo wall calendar for three years now. It’s indispensable to my family.

Modern Printed Matter – I’ve never bought anything from this Etsy shop (not yet!) but I’ve had it in my favorites since I started shopping on Etsy. She has really pretty things, including a very pretty desk calendar. Take a look.

A Little Hut – I love Patricia Zapata’s calendar and her paper designs. She does some pretty amazing things. You can find her Etsy shop here. She also has a new book out, “home, paper, scissors.”

Sweetbeets – You know I love Lisa’s designs. She has a printable calendar that I think you’ll love too.

Ana Aceves – Last but definitely not least, I wrote about Ana Aceves a couple of months ago, because I was the lucky winner of her desk calendar giveaway. I truly adore her work, and she has a new blog and a new online shop where you can take a look for yourself.

Good luck picking just one, now that I’ve completely overloaded you with too many great choices!

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[Etsy Wednesday] Raquel Castillo

My brother-in-law is gettin’ hitched in a couple of weeks (sooner, actually).  Two ceremonies + one reception = I have to come up with three outfits (dresses, shoes, jewelry, clutch, etc.). I have some nice things in my closet that I can wear, but I’m seriously lacking in the jewelry department.

I’d been ogling the vintage-inspired jewelry at Anthropologie, so when I stumbled across Raquel Castillo’s Etsy shop, with her beautiful necklaces and earrings (mostly from revamped vintage jewelry), I decided to ask her to make a necklace for me.

Want to see what she came up? I love it.

Rose Pendant by Raquel Castillo

Rose Pendant by Raquel Castillo 2

The pendant is about 3″ wide, to give you a sense of how big it is. I don’t own anything like this – which is nice. I think all of my jewelry is too conservative. I’m glad to have something really different.

I looked through Raquel’s sold items to get some inspiration, and found it when I came upon this Bed of Flowers necklace. It’s a very clever design, and I was so drawn to the pendant – it seemed like the right size for me, and I loved the colors too.

Bed of Flowers Necklace by Raquel Castillo

Although I ultimately decided on a variation of the Bed of Flowers necklace, this Yellow Flower Layered necklace was my second choice. I love the color combination she used.

Yellow Flower Layered Necklace by Raquel Castillo

Going through the sold items in her shop is such a treat. I think this Garden Wedding necklace, for example, is just stunning. Don’t you? I can only imagine how beautiful the bride looked that day.

Garden Wedding Necklace by Raquel Castillo

And currently in her shop, I’ve got these Vivian earrings in my list of favorites. I just love the milky white glass jewels.

Vivian Earrings by Raquel Castillo

Take a look at Raquel’s shop and the next time you’re thinking about giving jewelry (or looking to buy something for yourself), support artists like Raquel who put a lot of time and care into handmaking one of a kind (and affordable!) pieces.

Also, I’ve added a few new shops to my Etsy Love links – take a look. ‘Tis the season to shop handmade…

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[Design Thursday] Card Society + Halloween Cards

Just received September’s Card Society cards (they come at the end of the month). Aren’t they pretty?

Card Society September Card 1

Card Society September Card 2

And if you are thinking about sending out a Halloween card or two, I’ve got some suggestions:

Egg Press Candy Corn Anemone Letterpress Boo

Egg Press and Anemone Letterpress

Hello Lucky Haunted House Hello Lucky Trick or Treat
Lab Partners for Hello! Lucky.
Love Lab Partners. Love Hello! Lucky. Love, love, love.

I Hang With Dracula Mr. Bones
Halloween cards from Red Stamp. Check out that crazy scary skeleton!

Happy Helloween Tiny Prints

Frightful Sight Tiny Prints

Cute kid Halloween cards by Tiny Prints. My daughter Rosa is a Hello Kitty fiend (which is an easy thing to be, because Hello Kitty is licensed to every product known to mankind.)

Tiny Prints has way too many great designs. I already have my holiday cards (you know I’m an addict), but I’m thinking about splurging on custom valentines.

Erin Condren Halloween stationery

Halloween stationery by Erin Condren. Those colorful spiderwebs are great.

Tomorrow: Karin’s gettin’ silly.

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[Design Thursday] Johnsons Juice Co.

On my way back from Switzerland and Germany, I had to fly through Heathrow again, and in a different terminal than last time, so I was pleasantly surprised to find another EAT restaurant. And pleasantly surprised, again, to find more beautiful product packaging – this time, Johnsons Juice Co.

Take a look at their label, which I love. (I think the people sitting next to me thought I was totally weird for taking a picture of my juice.)

Johnson Juice Bottle

So I checked out the website, which is equally stylish:

Johnsons Juices

Freshly Squeezed

All About Taste

Really nicely done, don’t you think?

I’ve mentioned this before, but if package design interests you, check out Lovely Package and The Dieline.

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[Design Thursday] Pinakothek der Moderne Munich

At the top of my “Must See” list for Munich was the design section at the Pinakothek der Moderne museum, which, it turns out, has quite an extensive collection.

Pinakothek der Moderne

Here are some of the highlights (please forgive the glare in some of these pictures):

Design Wall

Giant wall of design objects which greets you at the entrance to the Design section

Design of Cars

Germany and cool cars go together, right?

Car at Pinakothek

This was a truly beautifully-designed car — and I just love this slightly off-kilter photo

Tea set

Silver tea pot

Tea and Coffee Service

Tea and coffee service

Record Player

Super cool record player

Toaster

One of my favorite pieces in the collection: this is a toaster! Keep your kids away from this thing…

Wooden Desk

Beautiful wooden desk

Montessori Blocks

Montessori blocks

Striped Glasses

Another favorite: aren’t these striped glasses gorgeous?

Tea cups and pitcher

And more pretty striped cups and a pitcher.

This is only a small fraction of the collection, which also boasts a really fun exhibit on the evolution of design in computers. I was in heaven for the hour and a half we were there.

You can see a little more about the collection on the museum’s website.

Tomorrow: some of the prettiest puzzles you’ve ever seen.

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[Design Thursday] August Card Society

I’m a little late in posting these letterpress Card Society cards that I received at the end of August (the first of my membership, thanks to Karin), but they’re so pretty that I wanted to share:

IMG_8277

IMG_8278

If you’re interested in joining the Card Society, or think it might be a wonderful gift (it is!) for someone you know, check out their membership info.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s post. It’s a hoot.

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[Design Thursday] EAT + This Water

My husband and I stumbled across this place to grab a quick bite at Heathrow Airport called EAT (which seems to have a lot of locations in and around London). Great packaging, great food. (Yes, I just called airport food “great” and I wasn’t being sarcastic.) I even had a nectarine, and it was juicy and fresh.

So, if you find yourself in Terminal 5, and you’ve simply had your fill of your shopping at Harrod’s, Prada, and Chanel, seek out EAT for a very good little meal.

EAT - soupsEAT - sandwich

EAT - CupcakesEAT - Salad

EAT also sold This Water drinks, which were excellent. Plus, they have rainbows, hummingbirds, butterflies and rain clouds on the packaging, so how could you possibly go wrong?

This Water Mangoes and Passion Fruit This Water Lemons and Limes

I don’t know about you, but package design is a very big factor (usually sub-consciously) in my decision-making process, and undoubtedly why I gravitated toward EAT over other options at Heathrow. I especially notice this influence when I see beauty products on Etsy – many of which I pass right by because the packaging is too generic. Have you had this experience too? How important is the packaging when you’re buying a new product?

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[Design Thursday] Feast for the Eyes

I was thinking about design, generally speaking, when I took all of these photos in Spain – but they’re just snippets. There were so many more I wanted to take. I promise I’m done talking about this trip, but I hope you enjoy these pictures.

Would you believe that this is the ceiling of a church? This is Gaudí’s famous La Sagrada Família.

La Sagrada Familia

I would like to live in a place where I stumble across beautiful buildings like this:

Apartment Building Barcelona

Another Gaudí landmark, La Pedrera. This is the front door.

La Pedrera

Wouldn’t you like to live in a place where all the sidewalks are as beautiful as this?

L'Eixample sidewalks

Art in my hotel room. Not your standard Impressionist flowers or sailboat scene:

Market Hotel room art

Mercat de Santa Caterina, Barcelona. Not Gaudí, but obviously heavily influenced by him:

Mercat de Santa Caterina

The ticket window of the Palau de la Muúsica Catalana (Barcelona):

Palau de Musica Catalana

Street lamps along La Rambla in Barcelona:

Street Lamp Barcelona

One of the courtyards of the art museum in Seville.

Art Museum Seville

The middle row of polka dot shoes are kids’ flamenco shoes. This store had the most fantastic, most colorful kids shoes you have ever seen – like leather mary janes for toddlers in every color imaginable.

Flamenco Shoes Seville

The Alcázar gardens (Seville). I’m thinking about landscaping my backyard to look like this. A small project for next summer, right?

Alcazar Gardens Seville

The next few are from the Alhambra in Granada. This might be my favorite photo from that day:

Alhambra 3

Restored tilework:

Alhambra 1

Unbelievably beautiful ceiling representing the celestial heavens:

Alhambra 2

I loved this door:

Alhambra 4

Our gorgeous hotel room in a 16th century mansion in Granada, which deftly combined old and new:

El Ladron del Agua Granada

And finally, I just couldn’t get over how cool the street lamps are in Granada:

Granada Street Lamp

And by the way, the Market Hotel in Barcelona (see last week’s post about it) really lived up to my expectations for it. It was hip and gorgeous but not pretentious. Their restaurant was stunning too; you can see pictures of it on their website, if you’re so inclined.

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