New type sample

I would love to see this on a grey tshirt with letters popped out in white....

Thinking about Boston and my brother

My Percy plate put to good use

Natalie Mitrovich + Rae Upton took this shot of their delicious cookies on my Percy plate.
Thanks!

File under Funny people

I went to hear Canadian mom turned Hollywood screenwriter /Twitter sensation Kelly Oxford this week.
Funny and inspirational both in terms of both her writing + style.

My Favourite exchange:

Interviewer: Why do you put in so many specific references in your writing like Orphan Annie's broken locket? Aren't you worried that people won't get the references?

Kelly: I put them in to bring my people closer to me. My people get the references. :-)

It's inspiration for me to always create + write from the truest part of myself - and then have confidence that it will resonate with others.

A Give Away!

Happy Monday!

The Bay has generously donated two complete sets of my capsule collection below for a Give Away.

To enter leave a comment here or send an email to alanna(dot)cavanagh(at)gmail.com and I'll post below.

Contest closes Wed April 17th. Good luck!

Now Available! My Capsule Collection at The Bay

My capsule collection at the Bay is now available in all 90 stores of the Bay. 
It consists of: 4 canapé plates, a garden themed tea towel, a butterfly mug, floral oven mitts and a matching apron - all united in a very springy palette of juicy oranges purples + lime green.


Here's a close up of the canapé plates, butterfly mug and tea towel from the Queen St display.

FYI The yellow bird is based on my canary Lord Percy and after creating so many drawings of my furniture and shoes... Percy is thrilled to be (finally!) featured in my work. :-)

The Production team at the Bay headed by Pinakin Mistry did a great job on the packaging of the collection. I particularly like the adorable round box for the canapé plates.
Thanks also to the talented Jenna Russelle of PRNT for helping me with the floral repeat.

Here's another shot from Queen St store display.

And Great News: The Bay very generously donated two complete sets of the collection for a Give Away! Tune in tomorrow for a chance to win an item from my collection! 

One of my favourite places in the world to be

Saturday night at the bar at F'amilia with MM.

Covet Garden

The latest issue of covet garden is out with cover illustrated by me.
What's more exciting is that the issue features the happy home of my wonderful massage therapist Michelle Yee of Soft Mechanic and her fella Glen.

Here's a pic of Michelle's massage room with my Room of One's Own print on the wall.
I just love getting under that moose blanket! One of my favourite places to be.

Thanks to the fabulous Lynda Felton + Jessica Reid of Covet Garden for the gig. xx

Illustrations for the LCBO

Not too much blogging going on here as I've had my head down for a full month working on a new project for the LCBO in conjunction with Blammo Ad agency.
Last year I created illustrations for 3 videos for LCBO and I'm now working on 4 more.

This is the full version of an illo which was created for a LCBO video titled " How to shop for Wine".
In the final edit the client chose to crop out the light and part of the heads.
You can watch the video here.

This is a rejected sketch. I like her big chunky necklace + glasses and think she looks like she works as an art gallery curator. I've named her Miriam! :-)

Inspiration: Dorothea Lange

Am listening to a documentary on Dorothea Lange.
She's the photographer who took the iconic Migrant woman photograph during the depression.

Inspiring, Kick Ass woman.

Design Salon: The Brunch Edition

Last Sunday my Design gals got together over brunch in Heather's Shaw's lovely home.
(When I'm at Heather's house I feel like I'm walking around in a decor magazine come to life :-).

Love this pic.
Note Alanna's ever present note book.

 Heather talks business. :-)

Delicious brunch including spinach and cheese strata (yum) buttery croissants + yellow tulips!
And LOVE the shabby comfy chair in the middle of the kitchen! Oh Yeah.
For a full tour of Heather's gorgeous house see the Aug 2012 back issue of Covet Garden magazine here.

The Perfect Mother's Day Gift: The Everyday Bangle

With Mother's Day approaching I'm inspired today to put in a plug for my friend Liz Kingstone.

Liz makes gorgeous jewelry and is also one of the most fearlessly creative people I know.  

I've written about her many times before - here + here + here!)

Liz's own Everyday bangle in silver with the names of her 3 boys custom stamped on to it.

Also shown: the Everyday bangle in brass

The Everyday bangle has long been one of Liz's best sellers. Why so loved?

1. Each bangle is handmade so the piece has a beautiful edgy imperfectness to it. 

2. It has weight + presence but can also blend in with other pieces. 

3. Very comfortable - Liz never takes her off!

4. Makes an IDEAL GIFT as Liz can custom stamp the names of your nearest and dearest on them for a truly special piece. (Great for Grandnothers + Mom in laws too)

ps. Some Celebrity name dropping:  

Liz counts Cindy Crawford amongst her loyal customers. OOh Ahh

 

Here is Liz rocking her Everyday bangle.

 The Everyday Bangle

Solid sterling silver or solid warm brass

Up to 10 names custom stamped

300.00

To order: lizkingstone(at)gmail.com

 And this just in ... Liz has now started to make Custom sterling silver cufflinks.

See above. Perfect for Father's Day.

News! My first Tattly was launched to today

Happy to announce that my first Tattly was launched today. It is a perky lemon.

Above: My Tattly page. Just love the photography by Brooklyn based Julia Robbs.

Tattlys are temporary tattoos created by designers + illustrators around the world. The company was created by designer Tina Roth Eisenberg - aka swiss miss - who had grown tired of putting poorly designed temporary tattoos on her 5 year old daughter’s arm!

Since launching in 2011 the company has grown in leaps + bounds and Tattlys are now sold in more than 400 countries worldwide. See list of great shops below.
Torontonians take note! The Drake General store is on the list. :-)

Don't you need one of these zesty lemons on your arm to perk up your spring outfit? :-)
Only 5.00 for 2!
You can order here.

A Month of Great Design in Toronto

The last 30 days has been absolutely chalk full of great design adventures in Toronto including:

 1. A super inspirational talk by Jonathan Adler at the DX

(Took 6 pages of notes!)

 2. A visit to Kevin Austin's stunning new shop Vintage Fine Objects in Corktown

(Could buy everything in the shop!)

 The Opening of Revealing The Early Renaissance at The AGO (curated by my friend Sasha Suda) (So proud of her!)

A fashion show of Comrags' Fall Winter 2013 Collection at Andrew Richard Designs. 

(Loved the clothes + check out this new swanky event space!)

All were very juicy experiences and deserving of their own post -- which will come next week when I'm caught up on my illustration work! Stay tuned.
Toronto - you are a great design city and sometimes terribly distracting. :-)

New Sketches: DOGS!

New Drawing

A couple weeks ago I watched Episode 6 of GIRLS Season 2. (The one that featured Marnie + evil Booth Jonathan + that great plastic dress)
When Marnie appeared at the bathroom door I just had to draw her.

Here's the screen grab which the drawing in based on.