Illustration: Toggle Coat

It's always fun to draw clothes that I love ... and I've never met a duffel coat I didn't like!
I did this illustration a while ago and reworked it this morning with different colours to make it more christmasy.

Liz Kingstone's Jewelry sale

Last night I attended a jewelry sale at the home of my friend Liz Kingstone. 
I've written about Liz many times - as she is one of the most creative people I know and Suzanna Dimma has listed her home as one of the most creative she has ever visited. :-)

 Liz in her colourful kitchen wearing an apron fashioned out of my spring bay tea towel.
(matches perfectly with the kitchen!)

Liz's entrance way and livingroom.
You can view a House + Home video tour of her home here.

Liz's jewelry collection includes gorgeous chunky silver rings + bangles, great necklaces (one named for her cousin Pippa!) and fun stud earrings in gold + silver.

You can see her whole collection on her Pinterest board here.

Gravity Pope and Campers

Gravity Pope - a great shoe store from out west has just opened it's first Toronto location at the corner of Ossington and Queen. They have an amazing selection of shoes and very friendly staff.
Above my new pair of Camper boots. Love Campers. They'll last for years. :-)
Welcome to the hood Gravity Pope!

Franny has a good home

My Franny print in the home of my friends Sasha and Al.

New Penguin title: Down and Out in Paris + London

A George Orwell fan from St. John's NL requested a custom Penguin title last month: Down and Out in Paris and London. As I was working on it several folks commented that this title really resonated with them so I decided to do a complete edition.

 As with all my Penguin prints it measures 26" X 40" and is 795.00.
A few pics of the process below.

 Print with first orange layer.

Second layer with penguin and cartouche.

 Me with new screen.

 Test print.

 Getting inky.

Ta da!  The final pass is always so satisfying.

 Tea staining the print. (The jar of almonds is just holding down the paper) :-)

Complete and ready to ship to St. John's.

Hudson's Bay Christmas teatowel in stores now

Arren Williams just tweeted this pic.
The teatowel is 100% Linen and is 14.95.
Doesn't Walter look handsome with his holiday mistletoe?

ps. Apologies to anyone who headed down to get these earlier in the week. I didn't realize they weren't gonna be on the floor until today. :-)

Drake General store Revamp!

I popped into The Drake General Store tonight and was blown away by their revamp.
Carlos Colacci + Joyce Lo did a great job of enlarging the space and incorporating all sorts of interesting vintage pieces into the new design. Pop by for a big dose of decor inspiration.

I LOVE the wide plank white oak floors set in a chevron pattern plus that very quirky lighting fixture.

To display their collection of soaps + shampoos they've installed an old timey sink and fantastic neon perscriptions sign. (Where do they find these things?!) Just Perfect.

Just love how they incorporated this old leaded window into the changeroom design. Such a clever use of materials and found objects.
Plus I think the entire reno was done in under 2 weeks!!
SIGH! I wish Carlo could come across the street and project manage my reno!

My Christmas tea towel now available online

My Christmas tea towel which was created for the Hudson's Bay is now available online.
As you can see it features the same daschund which appeared in my spring tea towel - now complete with mistletoe. (FYI His name is Walter and based on the dog of two dear friends Alan + Ken) :-)

I have also included 3 of my other designs which were in the running.
Arren Williams let me know that one of them may be produced for Christmas 2014. Fingers crossed!

Vintage Christmas ornaments

 

Christmas kitties

Christmas pudding

All illustrations copyright Alanna Cavanagh 2012.

Sketch

Press: Design Sponge

My big scissor print appears on Design Sponge today in a sneak peek post on the home of textile designer Bev Hisey.

Gorgeous photo by Donna Griffith. 

All my prints are available through my online shop. 

I had seen Bev's home pre reno and can tell you this new sunny space is a stunning transformation from the previous tiny dark kitchen. I love the farm house sink and especially the large pantry which eliminated the need for upper cabinets and made the space feel much bigger.

Bev did an amazing job of her reno. You can view her entire home here.

If you like Bev's style you'll be happy to learn that in addition to her textile work Bev has recently opened a shop full of her curated finds called EveryDayHousewife. 

New York's Newest neighbourhood: SOPO

Very clever illustration by Jake Levine.

It was an incredible adventure to be in SOPO this pass week.
Feel very grateful to be home and thinking of those less fortunate in New York.