END OF XMAS

well its the last day of 2007 and we have just one last chance to look at christmas imagery before a new broom sweeps clean and we all pack up the decorations & cards. kicking off with cute imagery from chocoa.

LAST CHANCE XMAS

christmas images from sunny style

VINTAGE XMAS

vintage christmas design from fukuya.

XMAS CRAFTS

last chance to feature christmas motifs before the year is out, all from paper creation.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

BEST WISHES TO ALL PRINT & PATTERN READERS.

have a great holiday, back on january 2nd.

PATTERN BOOK - flowers

more thanks today go to the japanese bookstore in america 'kinokuniya', it was during my visit to the san francisco branch that i bought some really good pattern books. the first is the petit pattern book 'flowers & leaves'. this small but beautiful book featuring 180 designs also comes with a CD of all the patterns suitable for use with photoshop & illustrator. priced at $39.20 (approx £20) the book is published by bnn.

all pages from : petit pattern book - leaves and flowers ISBN-86100-385-7. published by bnn, available from kinokuniya bookstores.

PATTERN BOOK - dots & stripes

also from the same petit pattern series is dots & stripes, ISBN-86100-384-9 published by bnn, available from kinokuniya bookstores. priced at $39.20 (£20)

PATTERN BOOK - uses

in the two books mentioned above 'dots & stripes' and 'flowers and leaves' there are these great lifestyle shots that show the ways in which you can use the patterns for home projects, such as CD covers, badges and sweet wrappers.

all images from petit pattern series published by bnn from kinokuniya.

JAPANESE CUTE

a pencil case seen in kinokuniya san francisco led me to research japanese brand midori. but with few products pictured on their website i landed here at paper creation where i found all these lovely designs and most midori products listed.

TEA TOWELS

i love these graphic printed tea towels by tikoli available from velocity.

snowflakes

unusual colours make this snowflake design different, from scenic route.

ILLUSTRATION

fair trade pads and t-shirts from illustrator chris haughton.

RED & GREEN XMAS

theres a real red & green theme to christmas this year, and a great place to see this scheme in action is at doodlebug. here you'll find card making, stickers, paper, ribbon and embelishments, all with fab graphic motifs on.

CHRISTMAS GRAPHICS

these designs were spotted in the window of a chocolate shop.

CHRISTMAS shapes

there are christmas motifs a plenty at oriental trading.

ARTWORK - collage

really cute collage pictures from san francisco based artist lorena siminovich at velocity. made from a mixture of painted and printed paper.

ARTWORK - prints

cool deer prints using the trend for woodgrain & lace doilys by estela lugo from modern dose.

XMAS TREE napkins

paper napkin from tesco, featuring this years popular theme 'graphic trees'.

XMAS WRAP - habitat

here is some unusual wrapping paper from last years 'habitat' christmas range. the only festive wrapping paper i have ever seen that features cows.

CATH KIDSTON - mobiles

for the pattern designer that has everything how about these new mobile phones from cath kidston for nokia.

PAPERCHASE - baroque

this christmas paperchase has gone baroque, with these ornate patterns appearing on everything from photo albums to ipod covers .

PAPERCHASE - cards

christmas cards from paperchase.

XMAS MOTIFS

above christmas trees from jonathan adler and snowflake plates, all from bed bath & beyond.

SAN FRANCISCO - japan town

from las vegas i ended my US vacation in san francisco, where my favourite shop was without doubt kinokuniya in cisco's japan town. all the photographs below were taken in the large kinokuniya bookstore or in the kinokuniya card and gift shop opposite. here you'll find thousands of japanese books and magazines ,and in j-town itself plenty more shops selling everything japanese such as housewares, kimono's, ceramics, and food.

SAN FRANCISCO - cody's

card & stationary designs as snapped in cody's book at 2 stockton street, san francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO - snapshots

above various cards seen around cisco, below various christmas tree patterns spotted in shop windows.
below christmas designs from macy's.

SAN FRANCISCO - final research

here is the final round up of san francisco photos, miscellaneous patterns that caught my eye around the city. at the top is a street holiday banner, and above the cool logo of cisco buses. then featuring from top to bottom : embossed tiles from waterworks, tree gift tags by snow & graham, bombs repeat pattern from miss sixty, street wall mural, bird cushions seen in the window of a store on market st, bags/umbrella from (left) gap (right) virgin, black & white graphics all from H&M.

ORLA KIELY - xmas cards

lovely new christmas cards (top) from orla kiely £6.50 for 6, also new in homewares is wallpaper (above) £60 a roll and cushions (below) at £60 each.

LAS VEGAS - snaps

ive finally managed to upload some more of my holiday snaps. after new york i moved on to las vegas, and at first i found very few examples of print & pattern. hence i took these pictures of the baroque wallpaper in the MGM grand casino and the decorative paintwork on the outside of a hotel, before being reduced to checking out packaging in the luxor & the venetian. then all was saved as i found a lovely big urban outfitters in the mandalay hotel. see the next post for shots. in conclusion las vegas is not what i would call a destination for trend research trips, but it is one of the most amazing places ive ever been. seeing streisand in concert, the phantom of the opera spectacular, the fabulous strip & grand canyon were all as they say in nevada 'awesome'.

LAS VEGAS - urban outfitters

this is me (left) in urban outfitters las vegas trying on some of their great patterned t-shirts. i really love this store in whichever city, but the vegas one was bright and spacious and the hot weather means they can still carry summer clothes in november ! at the bottom of the post are the great window graphics which particularly impressed me, and in the next post website goodies.

WEBSITE - urban outs

new bits and pices that have appeared on the urban outfitters website since i last looked.

VOTIVE PRINTS

all the latest trends in motifs are covered here at dixie on cute little votives; there are birds, stags, trees, baroque, and lace. this selection are my faves.

SMART DESIGNS

lovely strong graphic prints meet super smart wrapping at shop heidi. the delicious pine cone paper below is a fresh alternative to traditional christmas designs.

XMAS WRAP

cool as always, paper from the excellent imagination project.

WATCH PRINTS

apologies for the lack of posts yesterday, i had technical difficulties uploading my photos. i'll try and sort them tonight. meanwhile, interesting patterns found on decorative tins in the 'fossil' watch shop in san francisco.

PAPER DESIGNS

lovely snow & graham paper purchased in kate's paperie, west 57th st,nyc.

NEW YORK - photo round up

a few more designs seen in new york last month.

below are two prints on bags by ann millie seen in china town. i'd love to know more about this range but as yet havent managed to find any more info.

above, andy warhol themed windows in barney's, and below fashion plates in fishes eddy.

above, patterns seen at ABC home, below woodland graphics from crabtree & evelyn.

below the window display of jonathan adler.

NEW YORK - crate & barrel

visiting stores at this time of year you find that they are dominated by christmas goods, so its not the ideal time for trend research, but even whilst on holiday i cannot switch off from patterns, so as i was shopping i was also occasionaly snapping the things i saw. these pictures are from crate & barrel at 650 madison ave, new york. crate & barrel's christmas is delivered courtesy of marimekko who seemed to provide most of their range of gift wrap & cards.

website - crate & barrel

patterns from the crate & barrel website, including above this striking carnaby range, christmas items below with graphic trees (big this year) and snowmen. plus beautiful marimekko wrapping papers and cards.

NEW YORK - anthropologie

these pics were taken in anthropologie at 85 fifth avenue.

website - anthropologie

examples of the type of patterns and designs you could expect to see on a visit to anthropologie

NEW YORK -kate's paperie

next up it was kate's paperie on west 57th street. this was great shop for cards and wrap, but it has a lot of staff so it proved quite hard to take many pictures. if you're visiting new york for shopping or research this store is a must see.

website - kate's paperie

just some of the fantastic christmas cards on offer at kate's paperie.

STORE REPORT : san francisco

one of my favourite stores in san francisco was 'the container store'. obviously at this time of year all the shops were dedicated to christmas and thanksgiving, but i thought this one particularly had a great holiday range of gift wrap and boxes, (many of which were designed by the excellent rock scissor paper). these are some snaps i took in the store, and when i got home i checked their website, see the images in the next post.

christmas wrap

my instore snaps and purchases inspired me to see more, so here are some of the designs in full from the container store. the cool yule collection was my favourite, but i also loved celebrate in style. also these gift boxes (above) were great value (at just $3.95 for small) with a cool pattern and everything you need to wrap included.

everyday wrap

dont just think of the container store for christmas, they also have designs for everyday wrap and occasions.

USA purchases

well here i am back from my holiday, and suffering from jetlag ! . ive taken quite a few snaps of patterns seen in vegas,nyc, and cisco and will post them up just as soon as i can. in the meantime to ease me gently back into blogging i thought id show you a few of my purchases. at the top is a leaf print from a plastic folder from kinokuniya, followed by three gift tags from kate's paperie by rock,scissor,paper. above is a xmas tree gift card from crate & barrel. next up a gift box from the container store, complete with tissue, ribbon and label included, and below that one of their decorations - a metal star with spots on. then i found these striking napkins in crate & barrel from their carnaby range. finally a schedule book from kinokuniya and an address book by amy ruppel from kate's paperie. lots more to come on all the stores i visited, just need to sort the photos, and i'll add links as well where i can. plus i bought some great books which i hope to photograph and share with you.