hello 2011

Hello 2011 and hello my long neglected blog. I can't believe it's over 1 month since my last post. It's taken me a while to get over the mad dash to Christmas and New Year and to be honest I haven't posted here through complete lack of inspiration. Luckily today I got as little kick in the butt and I'm off and running and excited to get creative this year. The kick start came from the wonderful Color Me Pretty column on Decor8. This month the talented Leslie put together a yellow inspired post, where she mixed yellow with craft paper and soft greys. I spotted an image of a hot air balloon printed over a map and thought it was so lovely I've gone out hunting for something similar.

This digital collage,  Life's Journey1 by Crimson Circle Studios is close to the image I spotted on Decor8. This talented Australian creates other beautiful collage images from vintage books. Check out the etsy store here.

 Here's another nice graphic collage this time by Nesta Home. The above image is part of a series created for different American cities called Dark Cities. The technique combines modern photos printed over vintage atlas pages - these page are from a 1929 Atlas Book.

As well as these prints, the Nesta Home etsy store is chock full of graphic design inspired goodies. I really like the Urban Throw Pillows and this (above) Numbers hand printed pillow.

Keeping on the graphic design theme, how fantastic is this  Building Footprint Print by VisuaLingual. I like the way of celebrating a location in a non-literal way. This image combines the overview of the neighbourhood as well as coordinates of the an old German neighborhood, Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati.

I think one of the reasons 'map art' has inspired me so much is the sense of travel and adventure that a map can capture. This above print, Anywhere from the The Wheatfield embraces this beautifully.

Immediately I have started to think about nice ways to commemorate holidays using maps and graphic elements. Here is another beautiful artwork - Open Space by  LauraTwoTina - a collaboration of two artists, Laura Gaffke & Tina Hirsig. The story of this piece starts with an Italian holiday and ends here with this lovely piece. For me the ideas are already flowing about how I can use maps to create some artwork. I'll keep you posted.

looking forward

It has now been way too long between posts but I am overjoyed that I find myself with a few minutes to finally put together a post. I have a backlog of pretty discoveries I want to embrace, starting right now with beautiful illustrator Emma Kisstina. I have previously written about her sweet and indulgently girly prints here. Thanks to the great new(ish) "you might like" feature on etsy, I found Kristina's Illustrated 2011 calender.

Each month has been hand drawn and digitally coloured. The calender comes as loose A4 pages you can choose to display anyway you like. A clever idea is this one above where each month is framed and the glass is used to circle important dates or write reminders

Here is a taste of a few of the months. To preview the full calender pop over to Kristina's flickr page here.

You can purchase the calender on etsy here.

Enjoy!

pretty eggs - mizu designs

Have you checked out Holly from Decor8's 2011 calender round-up yet? It is absolute eye-candy - almost to the point of being overwhelming! I took a quick minute out today and just so happened to pick-out an Australian artist to look into further. Kylie Budge's Mizu Designs has a beautiful range of prints with a few different techniques such as woodblock, lino and Giclee. There is a strong Japanese influence in her technique and subject matter, with tea being a recurring theme. You can also see the influence of native Australia in Kylie's designs and colour palettes. It is a stunning series of egg Giclee prints which has had me gasping today.

 

  

I just love the texture, tone and colour in these prints and they are straight into my etsy favourite list! You can purchase these lovely prints from the Mizu etsy store here. They make me want to reach for my watercolours!

 Also have a look at the calendar which was featured on Decor8 here. 

Other places to find more about Mizu Designs - website, blog and flickr

i wish... for a soul bird

Todays 'i wish' has a Finnish theme to it to keep in line with my recent posts.

 {Soul Birds by Sanna Annukka}

Sanna Annukka has been on my radar for a while as I seem to keep seeing her work popping in lots of my favourite pretty places online. Half Finnish and half English, it is easy to spot the influence her childhood summers in Finland have had on her work. She has taken the folklore tales of the Kalevala and applied it to her work, including a print range for Marimekko.

 {Kanteleen kutsu fabric by  Marimekko}

Christmas pieces from Marimekko by Sanna Annukka

I really love the bold graphic style in her work and it translates so well from simple black and white, to vibrant colours (as favoured by Marimekko). Sanna has an online store where you can purchase the Soul Birds (the little ones are out of stock though). She also sells screenprints, including this spectacular city-scape.

{Archipelago}

{Magic Berry Bush}

{Call of The Cuckoo}

I certainly could find some wall space for these! Check out Sanna's website and online shop here and enjoy!

cut it out - Essimar paper craft

Having spent some time recently with a blade cutting shapes from paper, I can really appreciate the skill and patience it has taken Essimar artist Esther Ramirez to create these lovely cards.

I love the way a bright shot of colour comes through the cut-out areas of these greeting cards. The paper also looks yummy and thick and creamy.

I can only wonder how many times I would need to start over through accidents - to myself or to the paper!
All of the above cards are available through the Essimar etsy shop.
From top:  Tu Card, Mios Card, Mint Love

There are also some lovely other styles of paper craft cards like this Ama Card where each dot has been hand cut and individually glued in place. I think this one may be safer to try at home than the cut-outs!

custom cupcakes

A little sweet finish to the week.

I just discovered these Cupcake wrappers over at Alfresco Emporium. These laser cut paper wrapper slip over a standard cupcake to really dress them up! They come in packs of 12 and a range of themes, including a little boy friendly cob-web design.

It's probably a bit ostentatious, but don't they look lovely! They could also hide any baking imperfections nicely. Shown here: Seashells, Baby(which comes in both blue and pink),  Butterfly and my favourite Ivy

make work (more) fun

For some lucky people out there, work is actually a fun or at least enjoyable part of life. For others it's a bit of a drag. I'm a tiny bit of one, but sadly more of the second. Wouldn't it be great to find some ways to make any work more fun? Well lucky for us all places like Upon A Fold have a few cool and quirky products that could inject some happiness to the daily grind. They have collected some cool products from all around the world and I have picked out a few here to show you.

I know there are plenty of alternatives for the humble yellow post-it note, but these Match Post Its are by far the coolest I've seen.

I really like the retro styling of the packaging as well and would happily have these on my desk.
Next up are some "collaboration" tools. Well, it's paper you can scrunch up and throw around the office!

These Play More More More notepads are practical and lined on one side, while on the other they are printed with patterns that let you scrunch them into balls and kick about ideas with your colleagues.
Last, but not least is a great stationary product for tech-heads out there. I know  sit in lots of meetings with people who place their iPhone on the table in front of them. I would really like one of these Notepods in front of me and get to note taking in a traditional way!

There's even a iPad version already, which if I'm quick, could mean I beat my techy colleagues to the punch with having an iPad to take to meetings! I love fun stuff like this and am so pleased places like Upon A Fold bring them all together for us. Check out the website and blog here and find some papery wonderfulness for yourself.

design inspired - posters

It's been a while since I had a browse around the world for graphic design inspiration. Over the weekend I picked up some copies of IDN magazine which I buy quite regularly but never get as much time as I would like to pour over the pages. It's with this in mind that today I share with you some cool poster from London based designers Binary & The Brain.

These guys have some really cool pieces in their portfolio, but I particularly like these 2 posters (which they sell). The Birds and Better Than Nothing posters have an Escher-esq factor which I like. My grandfather was an engineer and very mathematical man who introduced me to the works of  M C Escher at a young age. I used to love finding all the intricacies in each piece. I can see the influence in the birds poster particularly, but love the way the guys have added a typographic twist. I'm on the look out for a cool, but grown-up poster to frame for a wall on our stairwell. I would like something with personality but also is a cool piece of graphic art.

a pretty escape - freya art

Today I want to share something that I think is just so pretty and a lovely escape for us all on a Monday. Let's step into the darling world of illustrator Freya from freya-art

{Garden - Let's plant our dreams in this garden and entwine oursleves like vines}

I like a good inspiration poster and places like etsy are full of them, but with all the "Keep Calm and Carry Ons", it's nice to come across original, beautiful prints with a message so sweet as this above.

There is just so much to like in Freya's work. I find her style to have a lovely innocence to it. I like the idea of surrounding yourself with little messages of hope and happiness at home and even at work (where it may be needed more). I adore this bottom piece, Skimming Stars - "We came to sit and dangle our feet off the edge of the world and skim stars across the sky". Just beautiful and delivered through the lovely hand drawn typeface.

The other prints shown here are Without You I Would Be Lost and All The Most Beautiful Things.

I discovered Freya's work through her website, but you can purchase her piece from the etsy store too.

These artworks and more are available in large and medium prints as well as greeting cards. I think these would be lovely gifts - perhaps for mother's day!

happiness is... letterpress

I'm pretty sure I have expressed my passion for type before, so today I'm celebrating the happiness I have found through some lovely letterpress posters and cards.
Letterpress is an old printing technique which leaves an impression in the paper so you get that lovely tactile sensation when you run your fingers over the printed image.

Just the other day I posted the lovely Smile print by Hijirik and today I have some more of her work to share. The above image is from the greeting card collection in her etsy store. It's a clever set using the alphabet theme - A is for Anniversary, X is for xoxo, H is for Happiness...etc

 

As the close up shows, the paper is lovely, thick100% cotton, which shows off that great imprinted letterpress effect. Hijiri also uses eco-friendly soy ink and each piece is hand printed - quite a lot of work I imagine!

 

 

The above print is from a set called 'Live what you love'. Again all handprinted using letterpress. To see this process in action, pop over the the blog.

 

Hijiri has documented the process of printing one of these posters. It's quite fascinating to see the letterpress machine in action. It really makes you appreciate the work and attention that is given to every single piece.

You can check out these and more on etsy, the blog, flickr and her own website for her freelance design work. Enjoy

Sweet Baking - Sugar & Spice Tags

As an out and proud sweet tooth, I wish I had more time for baking. I've already confessed a passion for macarons and even made a (failed) attempt at baking some for Christmas. They will take some practicing to get right. I've stuck to simpler baking since, like some sherry soaked Christmas cakes and some Finnish pulla (sweet buns). I think baked goods are always a nice gift and today I have found some great ways to make them even more presentable. These Sugar & Spice tags add some fun and colour to plates of food.

These are from Farouche's Etsy shop. I like the quirky phrases like this one above about Grandma's dentures.

I also really like the photos of these products. They are so colourful. There is a good mix in the illustration styles but they all have a great retro feel to them and the colours are so vibrant.

  

You can also check out their range of Giclee prints. These come in beautiful, vibrant colours and are all individually hand printed. Once again there is a great sense of humour in the quotes and images.

I am definitely a Farouche fan and am now off to check out their blog.

Hummingbird Hunt

There is no denying it now - Christmas is coming! I thought I would have a look around at the card offerings of some of my fav online paper maestros and this is how I came to find the Christmas collection from The Hummingbird Card Company. They are a British company specialising in laser cut cards. They have some very sweet cards for all occasions and some of the cut work is incredibly delicate.

Here is a small selection from the Christmas range.

From left: Snowflake, Folk Bauble, Christmas Tree and Vintage Baubles

See the rest here.

What I am more in love with however are the Christmas Decorations - laser cut card decorations. They are a bit of a steal I think for about $13 aussie for a set of 6 - however you will need to organise postage from the UK.

 

 

I really like the way they cast shadows on the wall. I will keep a look out for something similar locally for my own tree.

{all images from The Hummingbird Card Company}