V&A Pattern: The Fifties

So excited… they've arrived! A few weeks ago I ordered two books from the V&A Pattern series. They're filled with the most brilliant wallpaper and fabric designs by (amongst others) Lucienne Day, Joan Miro and Frank Lloyd Wright. There is a CD at the back of each book which contains all the images printed inside. Here are a few of my favourites from The Fifties…

Snap-happy Friday!

Since I have a new i-phone (we are still on honeymoon) and have discovered Instagram and Hipstamatic I thought it would be nice to post some pics from the week that was. So I'm committing to something regular here (yikes!) – Snap-happy Friday! Here are some snaps from around our neighbourhood and from a school rugby game that we went to. Hope you enjoy them and have a super weekend.

London

A wave of misery has come over our household since the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday night. London is abuzz and we are, well, simply, not there. Sniff. In order to cheer things up a bit – I've found these charming illustrations by Blanca Gómez. Although she is an illustrator and designer based in Madrid these images really capture something of that London feeling for me.

Lisa DeJohn illustration

I'm always on the look out for beautiful greeting cards and yesterday I found some new ones by artist, illustrator and surface designer Lisa DeJohn. I really like the way she works in different media but her style remains the same. Something for an indecisive Libran like myself to think about…

Winter day-dreaming

It's that time of the year for a nice indoor sunny spot and a hot pot of tea. I'm taking a moment out (away from my two little terrorists) and really just loving these illustrations by Ingrid Hall. You can buy similar block mounted ones (about 20 x 20cm) from Bean in Love in Paarl for R150.

Taurus Foodscope by Toby Newsome

Yes, I have been missing in action for a couple of weeks. It's all good though… been enjoying the lovely world of beautiful food photography and styling at Fresh Living Magazine. Here's a little something I commissioned the super-talented Toby Newsome to illustrate – our Foodscope (that's your horoscope with a food twist!) page. I thought it would be cool to show you a rough and then the final artwork as it was published in our May 2012 issue.

1950's fabric patterns

I've been on the search for some new fabric (we've just moved into our new house and have a lot of old furniture that needs a makeover – most exciting!). So I've been trawling around looking for some inspiration and found these 1950's prints (some are original and some are just inspired by the era) from Sanderson. In the end I bought fabrics which look nothing like these (I will have to post them for you to see) but I do love these patterns a whole lot anyway.

Alphabet posters by Gumo

Look at these Alphabet posters (yes, I am a bit obsessed with the idea at the moment) by Sally & Andrew - the designers behind gumo. Apparently they love all kinds of objects from the 50's and 60's – especially ceramics. A quick cut and paste then and I've added their blog to my list… a nice one to go back to for sure.

Wayne Pate illustration

Deadline over and time to update things around here a bit! I'd seen these illustrations a while back in Elle Decoration UK so was super delighted to stumble upon them again and see some more of Wayne Pate's work…

Ecojot – baby colllection

I couldn't resist… some more Ecojot loveliness from their baby collection. I know quite a few mom's to be that will absolutely want one of these. Probably not for sale in SA yet but hey that's what the internet is for. Oh, and you must go look at the growth charts here… super cute.

Carolyn Gavin and ecojot

Carolyn Gavin is one of my favourite illustrators. She's the principal designer for ecojot - those gorgeous notebooks that you can buy at Exclusive Books. I've always felt drawn to her illustrations a bit more than most and have seen on her recently redesigned blog that although she now lives in Toronto she grew up in SA. So that explains quite a bit. Here are some illustrations that she recently did in collaboration with her daughter which she hopes might be the start of a book (me too!)…

Another happy day in Africa

I'm a long-time fan of Flowermill cards and stationary. I have their Birthday Calender on my wish list (anything that will help me be more organised) and couldn't agree more… for all the things we like to moan about down here it's so true that every new day is just another happy day in Africa! Happy weekend to you all!

Bruno Munari's ABC

So while I'm on the subject and search (for all things alphabetical and retro it seems) I also found this book by Bruno Munari. I'm definitely going to order one for my boys. There is very little imagery of this book available on the net but when I do get it I'll be sure to scan in some more for you to see!

A is for Acorn

I've been looking around for some Alphabet books and posters and found these retro illustrations in a book called A Child’s Alphabet by Grace Gabler. B is for brilliant!

The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman

This was my most favourite book when I was a child. My mom has kept all our old books and my two boys and I still enjoy reading them. In The Best Nest, poor Mr Bird gets an earful because Mrs Bird doesn't like her old nest. So they go off looking for a new one. Much adventure and some drama later they end up back at the old nest, which Mrs Bird decides is the best nest. Here are some scans from the 1969 original.

Happy Valentine's Day

Cheesy I know, but as my 4-year old son would say 'oh whatever', here's wishing you all a happy St Valentine's Day! To celebrate: some romantic, dreamy illustrations by Ingrid Hall. I recently spotted her illustration blocks (they sell for about R150) at my new local, around the corner coffee shop – Bean in Love. More of that to come soon… until then, lots of love!