Image Envy

I'm loving this image of Eddy Slaton in Greenwich Village circa 1959.
The haircut.
The clothing.
The textiles.


Found here at Tomboy Style.

Textile Love - Eames and Panton Prints

I mostly disregard the emails I get from Design Story, not because I don't love all the sales they have or even all the inspiration they provide, but simply because the stuff is still out of my price range. But today I got one about the above - gorgeous vintage textiles, (reissued?) done by Maharam. These are my favourites but you can find the whole collection here.


Top - Vernon Panton, 1965
Second - Alexander Girard, 1952
Third - Ray and Charles Eames, 1947
Fourth - Ray and Charles Eames, 1947 

Insta-Gratification

Here are a few shots from the past little while.
I have to say, Instagram may be my favourite app ever.
It's easy and the themes are fun. Plus, it's made me snap more images of day-to-day things (which can be bad if you don't reign yourself in) and it's been nice to take a moment and capture an image as something nice is happening. And it's free. Yay for free.


1. Chris bought an unopened puzzle at a thrift store. It was hard. I mostly watched him put it together because even though I consider myself a "visual" person, I'm garbage at puzzles.
2. Vintage bag, fun lining!
3. Mail
4. Brainstorming
5. Mail 
6. Actually working. Henry kept me company. And I didn't realize until after how funny the cover of Uppercase looks in the shot.

Handmade Suite Henry

This past Saturday, I had the immense pleasure of attending the Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup. It was a night of good food, good conversation and a lot of "so that's you! I've been wondering what you'd be like." This is what happens when online communities get together in 3D! It was really great to get to know some people I've read before and to meet other new bloggers.


It did occur to me earlier in the week (umm, like Thursday) that I might need tangible cards to hand out with my blog information. So knowing that there was no way I could get anything printed (anywhere) in two and a half days, I picked up some nice and heavy cardstock and decided to tackle them by hand and typewriter. Word to the wise, never never convince yourself that using an exacto knife to cut paper will be accurate or worth the time. You'll spend so much time correcting slightly slanted lines and slowly eat away at perfectly good cards. 


I used my Suite Henry stamps for the front of the cards and my trusty typewriter to jot down my information on the back. At first, I was just going to do a simple, suitehenry stamp on the front and call it a day but out of imperfections came inspiration. After a few botched attempts, I started to stamp repeatedly on the front of the cards and produced a really chaotic, graphic look. I'm a sucker for repetition and bold design so this was right up my alley. Each card was different and original.
My humble efforts were rewarded when they were well-received by the lovely group on Saturday. Bonus points to all the people who noticed the quality of the paper. I think I found some new friends ;)






P.S. that last shot is of a vintage bag I found years ago that conveniently had a card holder. I could keep my purse closed while leaving the pockette out, keeping the cards accessible - which helped as I tried to juggle a drink, hors d'oeuvres and shaking hands.

Daily Musings

Things that make me smile inside:
1. Paper goods full of colour inspiration.
2. A vintage card for our one year anniversary. This card is probably older than I am and definitely older than our marriage - here's hoping that if its fragile paper can survive, we can beat it with our love!
3. Crafty supplies, ready on my shelf. 

Vintage Books - Sewing for Men and Boys

Sometimes old things are ridiculous.

Sometimes old things are fabulous.

This vintage book from the seventies is both.

I like the idea of boys learning how to tie a tie properly.

Even if the expressions in the pages are a little much.

Seen here.

Vintage Vogue

Love the whimsy of these vintage VOGUE covers. 

Makes me wonder why the covers* have been so lacking for such a long time. 

I'm already pretty frustrated by the typical whatever-celebrity-has-a-new-movie-out-right-now selection of the cover girls - but seriously, why can't you do something beautiful like these?

Am I really supposed to believe that covers like these just would not sell a magazine?

How did they sell magazines before? 

1. October 1945

2. January, 1964

3. May, 1935

4. June, 1950

Found here and here.

*I should specify that my issue is mainly with the American edition of Vogue - I know that other editions like French or Italian Vogue, take more risks with their covers. And it's really not fair to single out only Vogue, most North American editions of the major publications tend to be on the stale side. I remember subscribing to ELLE not too long ago and being really upset that the subscription covers were completely different than the news stand covers - much more artistic and creative. Why not make the cool covers the real covers? Every single ELLE cover I see at the grocery store is a celebrity in front of a white background. Like an afterthought. Thanks for nothing, Gilles Bensimon.

A Vintage Home

In our new space, I'm gravitating towards clean and tidy.

We lived in a cramped space before with all our collections on display (vhs, cd, dvd, records, cassettes - yes, cassettes!). While I loved having everything on hand, I think it will be nice to have everything orderly for a change. Or at least as long as I can keep it that way. 

That being said, I still really like the above images - a rather collected little home - something about it feels put together, slightly cluttered but still right. And that's hand-carved ebony and ivory jewellery, reclaimed from an piano!

Found here.

Felt & Colour - Rachel Castle

Needing to get inspired to do some laundry and some packing...

I think these colourful art pieces from Rachel Castle are a good start. 

They are felt on vintage linen and I love them even though I can't afford them.

Seen here.

Interior Envy - Lizzie Janssen

I have been finding myself hooked to the Design*Sponge archives.

It's a good, quick way to get a dose of design and often the homes featured actually feel "attainable."

You know what I mean? I love elleDecor but some of the houses in there... well, there would have to be lottery winnings involved for me to even live in the bathroom.

Design*Sponge does a great job of featuring real homes 

- and great apartments too for us city dwellers.

The above images are from Lizzie Janssen's place in Philadelphia. 

My favorite things?

The black walls.

The vintage furniture.

THAT STAIRCASE!

Happy Friday People!

Blast from the Past

I found this vintage address book in an overcrowded store in the east end of town.
I picked it up for one of my friends who loves all-things-old.
It was mainly unused, with only a few addresses throughout.
After closer inspection I saw that the entries dated back to before there were postal codes in Toronto.
Then we found an address that looked like a military address in France.
It read, "Capt. Harold Orr."
My friend sent me this link later that night.
It talks about a man named Harold Orr, his family, his love of skating and even how he taught his "little dog to sit on a chair with spectacles on and a pipe in his mouth."

I have no idea if this is the same man but I am fascinated either way.
It was kind of crazy to hold something so personal and ordinary to someone from what now seems like a completely different world.

Texture Taste

I have some chicken in the oven and some lentils on the stove.

It's been a quiet day.

I wrote a couple of letters, found these images full of woven pieces and vintage homely things, and then to top it off laid down with Henry the Cat for a bit. 

Very nice indeed.

Pillows found at The Black Strap.

ABCs

Vintage book found here.

I Heart HearBlack

I am a sucker for paper goods.

Throw in some type and hand-made elements, and I basically want to hand over my coin purse.

I found this wonderful work on HearBlack blog. It's run by an adorable blonde, tanned couple living in paradise. No, seriously, they live in Hawaii. They won my heart when they described how fun it is to send packages to friends or to strangers! 

I agree! With all my heart!