GIMME BAR

There is a new visual booksaving service out there called Gimme Bar. It was created by Fictive Kin and looks to me like the geek guy version of Pinterest (which I've noticed appears to be populated 99% by women!) The demo video is adorable. (I think those Fictive Kin guys have a great sense of humour) It's official: There is too much going on on the web. :-(
via swiss miss

This was how i felt this morning

Do I have to get out of bed?

wow. I wish I drew this but it was done by the wonderous UK based Pia Bramley.
I just discovered her through Pinterest. Am impressed by the vulnerability + fearlessness in her images.

And the Winner is...

Sarah Ward! Congratulations Sarah.
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for my Empty Belly print at The marion house book. It was really great to hear from so many of you + I was touched by all your comments. Thanks also to Emma Reddington for hosting the giveaway.

:-)

.
After a sad week I was in need of a laugh.
Found on FFFound

Jack

Here is the transcript of Stephen Lewis' eulogy at Jack's funeral.
Rev. Brent Hawkes's eulogy was also wonderful.

Comfort

“Listen, I am the hugest mistake maker; there are things I do sometimes and I don’t know what I was thinking."
- Jenna Lyons

Boy was that comforting to read.
From an interview with Amy Verner in today's Globe (on the occasion of J.Crew's 1st store in Canada)

Press: Interview at Design Traveller

Interview at Design Traveller today. This great interior design and architecture blog is based in Oslo, Norway and written by interior designer Anna Smith.

My Head is full of Wallpaper

My livingroom yesterday.

Yesterday I began sketches on the wall mural I'm working on. In the research stage I hit my usual textile/pattern suspects: Lucienne Day, Josef Frank, Alexander Girard, + Piero Fornasetti* All amazing.
There are also so many new wallpaper designers cropping up. Lots of inspiration.

Here are a few images.

Raoul Dufy for Bianchini-Ferier
Did you know he did a lots of textile design in addition to painting?


Piero Fornasetti's Mediterranea for Cole & Son. So dense. Fantastic.
Would look wild in a bathroom!


Harlequin Boutique UK. Whimsical


Small whales by Geoff McFetridge - So fun + graphic!

I saved my images to my pattern + wallpaper boards on Pinterest so if you wanna see all of my faves just go there. I am finding Pinterest to be a very QUICK way to do research + store reference images. Am grateful to my lovely neighbour Valerie for introducing me to it.

ps. Read this book on Fornasetti last month - but too busy to write about it.
He definitely deserves his own post! Such an interesting character.

Thinking about Steve Jobs today

and like so many can't stop feeling a bit worried about him since his resignation was announced yesterday . :-( Above is photo with new CEO Tim Cook.
I know goofey but what can I say I have a huge soft spot for him.
God Speed SJ.

ps. Recently watched this great documentary him. Its free! + Highly recommended.

Photographer Donna Griffith

Photo by Donna Griffith

Photographer Donna Griffith just sent me this great shot from the out takes of the Chatelaine shoot at Bev Hisey's house. I love the composition with the mod credenza + wacky bird.
Decor types will be very familiar with Donna's name as she's shot for almost every shelter mag out there. Thanks so much Donna!

Oliver Yaphe's Online shop

Katherine Yaphe has written a nice blog post about my work today.
Reminder: If you're not lucky enough to win the new print below through Emma's contest you can purchase it through Oliver Yaphe's Online shop. It is 125.00 and International shipping is available.
In Toronto my prints are also available through both locations of Telegramme prints.

Photo by Emma Reddington

Zerply is the New Linked In

Two days ago swiss miss tweeted "Goodbye Linked In" and today announced that Zerply is the new home for her professional profile. I'm sure like me you're not thrilled to be starting up with YET ANOTHER social media platform (That would be an understatement - Oy vey!) but Tina has a great track record for spotting excellence + the new best thing so it might be worth making the switch over! Also she assures us that you can import all of your info directly from LinkedIn during the setup so that the transition will be "easy peasy."
I might do it soon but right now I need to draw some pictures!

Beautiful words from Jack Layton's Letter to Canadians

Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can restore our good name in the world. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,
Jack Layton

News: Print Give away!

Exciting news: Starting today Emma Reddington of the Marionhousebook is holding a give away for my new print.

The print measures 23" X 34" and is hand printed on Somerset archival paper.
It is a signed open edition print and retails for 125.00
I think it'd serve as a great conversation piece in a dining room or kitchen or be a splendid gift for your favourite foodie!

Here is a pic of it in my friend Emily's house.

Photo by Janet Kimber

Run on over now and enter for your chance to win. Then come back and read the rest of this post! :-)

I have mentioned Emma Reddington several times in previous posts. In additional to writing her extremely popular design blog she works as both an exhibition designer at the AGO + an interior designer at marion melbourne. (I am trying to figure out how sleep fits into this senario).
Deemed "a woman with great taste" by House and Home a list of Emma's favourite interiors is included in their web photo gallery and... this just in: currently her home is featured in the latest House + Home Makeover issue!

Below are a few shots of her fantastic home which I plucked from her blog:

Emma's kitchen with son Henry
It was Emma's gutsy use of dark colours that first attracted me to her blog
The wall is chalkboard paint.

In Emma's great dark bathroom she used Ben Moore Raccoon Fur. Love it.

These 2 photos below are from the new H+H Makeover issue.

Entrance way / Photo by Per Kristiansen


Emma's livingroom / Photo by Per Kristiansen

I love the giant mirror which Emma found at Thrift town in Parkdale (yay for thrifting!) and I really like how it's contrasted with the wonderful stack of wood.
ps. I have been to Emma's house and can tell you it looks even better in person. :-)

For the rest of the photos see the H + H mag on news stands now.
Now... remember to cast your vote for the print give away! Good luck!

On Meeting Judy Ross

Since a bunch of you let me know that you enjoyed the post on Kate Spade I thought I'd share some photos of my first visit with textile designer Judy Ross. I first met Judy on the same business trip in 2006.

When I entered the lobby to Judy's building in Union Square I was so excited to see her name in the classic new york type directory. The humble old school signage (which I love) was in complete contrast to her gorgeous colourful office below.

Judy's office. I loved the beautiful arched windows facing out to Union square.
(I visited at 6pm so it was dark out!)
On the wall is her Cheerleader design in three different colour ways. On the table you can see her Seeds pillow. Both are made with a traditional indian chain stitch.


Close up of the yellow Duet pillow which made it home with me. :-)
These pillows are so dense + juicy with colour. Just one can do so much for a room.


At home Judy and her son Gabriel. (He is much bigger now!) You can get a tiny peek of one of her juicy rugs on the floor and behind her a print by Kiki Smith. (She also had an original Sonia Delaunay - !!)

Close up of Judy's shelves filled with fantastic art, pattern + textile reference. I love that paper maché vase with the diamonds.
Recognize those little pink scissors? :-)

Inspiration for Wall mural

I'm beginning to work on a wall mural for my bathroom. Step 1 is to collect inspiration photos.
I've started a board on Pinterest for this purpose. This photo of Spanish artist-designer Jaime Hayon is one of my faves.

Girl with a dreamy job: April Walsh

April Walsh

As former Visual manager at Anthropologie April created these fantastic giant flowers.

Close up
(I think these would look great in a little girl's room)

April loves working with unexpected + sometimes discarded materials. The installation above was made of accordion blinds that were getting thrown out by Blinds to Go!
Fantastic - no?

A window display April created for Anthropologie

Yesterday Artist April Walsh popped by my studio for a visit. April seems to have a knack for landing jobs most gals only dream of. In the past she served as Visual manager at Anthropologie where she was responsible for the window displays as well as all the groovy props through out the store.
Most recently she has been hired as store curator for Indigo Books where she will again be working her magic both on the floor + in the window! It'll be very fun to see what she comes up with in the coming months....Keep your eyes peeled.

Press: Bev Hisey's home in Chatelaine

The home of textile designer Bev Hisey is featured in the current issue of Chatelaine.


Photo by Donna Griffith.

My Big Orange scissor print can be seen in her new bright + airy livingroom.
It was amazing for me to see the pics of her newly renovated space because when I dropped off the scissor print last fall her space was full of muted greys + dark furniture.

Photo by Donna Griffith

When I last saw this space it was a dark + tiny victorian kitchen. Bev + hubby Dan replaced the back wall of the house with glass to make the small space feel large + bright. What a difference!

A post on Bev must include a pic of my all favourite Bev Hisey textile ... her juicy Moroccan rug. (Happy to say those are my feet... cuz lucky me it's in my bedroom)

All the photos of Bev's house are fun + inspirational. Check the magazine out on news stands now.

Company I really admire: Threadless

My neighbour Jeff passed along this issue of Inc to me today. As a longtime admirer of Threadless I was happy to see them described as the the most innovative small company in America. yay.

The creators Jake Nickell + Jeffrey Kalmikoff were completely ahead of the curve in terms of using social media to build a company. Not only did they figure out how to create a loyal customer base... they got them to design their product! Pretty genius.

Great bathroom + paint colour

Great bathroom of Illustrator Sandra Dionisi found in back issue (May 2011) of Covet garden magazine. Love the paint colour - so serene + looks great contrasted with those bowling pins! Sandra let me know the colour is Para paint B748-1 Jadeite.

ps. Speaking of bathrooms... Reno update: Last week I painted my bathroom. I chose Ben Moore Florentine Plaster and it was a Disaster! (that rhymes) so it's back to the drawing board. These pics inspire me to try a jewel tone...

New Photos of my prints in Location

Big orange scissors in Living room
( Decor note: I love Emily's African stool!)

Green Brooks Brothers suit
(Judy Ross pillows always add such a great hit of colour)

S is for swing

My new Kitchen Quotations print in Emily's diningroom
(I love Emily's big tray + teapot: both from Lamu in Kenya)

Close up of Kitchen Quotations print

Here are the shots that my friend Janet Kimber took yesterday.
I love Janet's compositions + beautiful lighting treatment - so soft!
*Unfortunately these photos don't do justice to Janet's work as Blogger does not publish them at a super high res - or I haven't figured out how to do that!)
For better shots please visit my Tumbler.

Photo shoot day

Today my talented friend Janet shot a bunch of "in situ" shots of my prints at my friend Emily's house in Cabbagetown. Janet has shot for many magazines including House + Home, Gardening Life + Style at Home. I love the shots she took and can't wait to show them to you!

Pinterest + Tommy Smythe's bedroom

I joined Pinterest today. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can collect + organize things you love. Decor types have embraced it with verve! I plan to use it to organize my renovation ideas. My first pin was Tommy Smythe's bedroom which I've long admired. Something about the dark walls + red chevron bedcover makes me just wanna cuddle on in there and read a book!

Comfort

Today was kind of a lousy day. I felt like I hardly got anything done.
When this happens I take comfort in this Fran Lebowitz's quote.