EYE CANDY - marimekko

im having to go off out today, so dont have much time to post. but i thought i would put up some fabric eye candy with these nice pictures of marimekko prints. many of you will know & love these designs already, but it doesnt hurt to revisit old faves and be re-inspired.

FABRICS - boras

and just for fun, some more swedish eye candy from boras fabrics.

FABRICS - shinzi katoh

and finally today - we move from sweden to japan, with these fabrics from shinzi katoh.

CARDS - kelly hyatt

'isabella' is a gorgeous new range of cards from kelly hyatt (a design hero of mine), published by beaumonde.

EXHIBITION - san francisco

one of my fave illustrators susie ghahremani is exhibiting at giant robot in san francisco from november 10th through until december 5th.

ILLUSTRATION - cecille ellefsen

beautiful illustrations by cecille ellefsen at happymeat .

GIFT WRAP - caroline gardner

i bought a lovely sheet of gift wrap at the weekend - featuring a bold christmas bauble design in a stunning colour palette. from caroline gardner.

i forgot to say that the design also features colour co-ordinated glitter for extra glamour.

STATIONERY - paperchase

ive been into paperchase again, here are some snaps of notebooks and diaries. plus a few christmas cards.

TEXTILE DESIGNER - margaretha eriksson

if you like scandinavian style you will love margaretha eriksson, a textile designer based in stockholm, who produces some really stylish prints.

COLOUR - pocket tissues

spotted in the supermarket : a nice colour palette of teal and lime with a japanese floral, or baroque motif on packets of tissues.

STATIONERY & GRAPHICS - salvia

inspiring stationery from yurio seki's tokyo based collabrative salvia.i love a nice apple print especially when in repeat as per the notebooks below, and the dvd book covers at the top of the post from yurio's graphic work at ea are beautiful .

GRAPHICS - studio kanna

i love bright geometric patterns (just as much as i like apple motifs) , and these are some brilliant examples from studio kanna. they certainly brighten up this toyota aygo.

TEXTILES - japanese

these patterns are from a japanese textile company called quarter report. as with many of my japanese posts i know very little about the company itself, but it does make for good eye candy (and inspiration).

TEXTILES - heart art

something a bit diffrerent here on textiles from japanese website 'heartart'. designed by hiroshi awatsuji who graduated from kyoto university in 1950 !

STATIONERY - cath kidston

my last stationery purchase this week was a cath kidston mix 'n' match stationery set, and in this post ive snapped pictures of all the designs. in this great little pack from chronicle you get 16 sheets of notepaper with 16 patterned envelopes plus a little sheet of 14 stickers. available at amazon usa for $8.95 or amazon uk for £6.99.

ONLINE STORE - patina

i enjoyed having browse on the patina stores website, theres a whole variety of things to see and its a nice way to spend a lunch break online. this post is my pick of the patterns - especially cute were these wooden postcards, and the plates below featuring the designs 'early bird' and 'sweet pea'.

LABELS - angela adams

more lovely labels again today - this time from designer angela adams. its the same style as yesterday's 'sukie' set, over 100 labels of all sizes and designs neatly packaged in a lovely box by chronicle books. angela is well known for her fabulous colour combinations and geometric prints and you get is a nice variety in the set. priced at around $12 from amazon usa or £7 from amazon uk.

CHRISTMAS - john lewis

i thought this was a really smart and sophisticated christmas design from john lewis. they've made a great tree out of colourful dots and snowflakes. called 'starry night' its available on all manner of christmas products from cards to tableware.

VINTAGE - new online shop

hmm i wonder whats coming at white elephant vintage ? we wont know until it opens on the 29th october. i do love vintage pyrex though so i'll definately be taking a look at this new website from the girls at love it a lot.

LABELS - sukie

this week i'll be posting up some recent purchases, the first one being this box set of sukie labels made by chronicle books and sold by amazon. i had only seen these lables online and never in the flesh but i fancied them anyway. and wow, was i ever impressed. there are so many labels included all in different sizes and designs (about a 100). they can be used on correspondence or to organise storage, and come in a lovely decorated box with a hard plastic lid. brilliant value for money at around $11 or £7, you can get yours here at amazon usa or amazon uk.

STATIONERY - missprint

spotted this weekend a new stationery range at wh smith called 'blossom'. the range consists of lovely diaries plus notebooks, journals, files and storage.

and who is the range designed by ? well i believe its the lovely ladies at missprint whose own gorgeous designs are posted below.

DESIGNER - natasha coverdale

cool patterns by uk designer natasha coverdale .

ILLUSTRATION - lisa de john

an illustrator we looked at on wednesday, john coulter, introduced me to the lilla rogers agency, who had some more terrific illustrators on their books. you may already be familiar with lisa dejohn, a painter, designer and mixed media artist. she has created some amazing patterns for use in surface designs, and i really love her bird illustrations.

ILLUSTRATION - bonnie dain

another fab illustrator represented by lilla rogers is bonnie dain who has produced these lovely little gift cards for macy's.

ILLUSTRATION - helen dardik

finally from lilla rogers comes this gorgeous typography and illustration from helen dardik.

WALL DECALS - elly nelly

you can find some amazing things on etsy these days, not least lots of wonderful wall decals from elly nelly who's stategy is a good but simple one "pattern your life!".

WALL DECALS - bg shop japan

wall decals from atelier lzc (above) and maison georgette (below) as seen at japanese website bg shop.

CHRISTMAS - cath kidston

a new cath kidston christmas print has just arrived and is available on tea towels, aprons, tablecloth, oven mitts, plus a lovely mug and cake tin, so there is everything you'd need for a stylish table on the big day. featuring a holly leaf design but in fab cath kidston style colours its make a great alternative to traditional red and green. click here to see the whole christmas range.

DESIGNER - caroline till

caroline till is a royal college of art graduate who studied textile design, and now adds her contemporary surface prints to secondhand furniture and tableware. you can read an interview with caroline here at style will save us.

DESIGNER - john coulter

illustrator john coulter has recently be inspired to turn his hand to pattern design, and by the looks of it has done a terrific job. john also keeps a blog, where he has just posted some new card designs, and a flickr site where you see some examples from his portfolio.

BEDLINEN - modern nursery

there's a lovely woodland theme to this bedlinen by amenity home as seen at modern nursery, and it follows through on wall decals and artwork. great for adults ands kids alike.

BEDLINEN - pixel organics

whilst we are on the subject of cool kids bedlinen - check out these designs from pixel modern pieces. made in the USA from 100% organic cotton with eco printing and dyes, there is lot to recommend about pixel, especially the print designs!. i loved the retro style lions and the super cool cars, and the lovely illustration at the bottom is from their website.

PRINT DESIGN - mozi

ive been an admirer of mozi's work since i saw them at top drawer, and i loved this new design from their botannical australia collection - the yellow and grey are beautiful together !

SNINZI KATOH - 2008 diaries

calling all shinzi katoh admirers, there are a selection of new 2008 diaries up on his website with some really cute covers.

CALENDARS - penguin zakka

the calendar and diary season is really getting underway now, i loved these matryoshka and tree calendars from penguin zakka.

ETSY SHOP - cup cake girls

little zakka style bits and pieces found at cup cake girls who updated their etsy shop yesterday.

WALLPAPER - wonderwalls

remember the lisa bengtsson 'family' wallpaper we looked at last week ? well this weekend ive heard from wonderwalls, an innovative London-based design company, to say that they are sole agents for lisa's designs and plenty of other cool designers besides, including meg matthews and hanna heden (see next post). wonderwalls specialize in custom wallpaper designs and you can browse their portfolio online, to see some of their wallpaper patterns and styles - or alternatively you can contact them and they’ll create the design you are looking for.

DESIGNER - hanna heden

a couple of designs by swedish designer hanna heden (now working with wonderwalls), these designs were seen on hanna's website pose4.

ETSY SHOP - yellow canoe

great patterns by erin lang norris ( you may also know her as erin scissorhands from operation papercuts) has new etsy shop called yellow canoe . her distinctive patterns have been put to good use on jewelry holders, journals and wall art, but soon there will be office supplies and textiles such as table runners, curtains and dish towels.

STICKERS - mukifu chic

mukifu chic is the label of brazillian designer ana castilhos who has put together a collection of stickers and wall decals. see here for more info.

COMPETITION

see the winner of the third tigerprint competition (for a typography based card) on their blog trendthink, or click here for their main website to enter the latest competition for christmas designs.

CUTE - chococat

my brother just returned from a holiday in florida, and he brought me back a selection of stationery featuring chococat, a cute little character created by japanese company sanrio.

PURCHASE - recent buys

a little round-up of some recent purchases, above christmas badges, and below sticky notes both from asda.

spotted and floral notebooks from asda.

notepad and camera case from paperchase.

WALLPAPER - b&q

as the public interest in wallpaper continues to grow its great to see that diy store B&Q have launched a huge wallpaper campaign featuring press, tv ads, and instore displays. they also have their huge warehouse style stores draped the largest roll of wallpaper ive ever seen ! click here to look through the new brochure online to view around 200 pages of products. apart from the wallpapers, the black & white floral canvas and shower curtain also caught my eye.

TEXTILES - fokus fabriks

contemporary urban cityscapes and trees on new prints form finnish based studio fokus fabriks.

DESIGNER - lisa bengtsson

this is a gorgeous new wallpaper from lisa bengtsson being printed, im always interested to see pictures like this and i hoped you would be too. lisa is a designer from sweden who has produced a pattern where the owner can display photographs or favorite objects within the frames. click here to see more of lisa's designs.

CARDS - paperchase

paperchase have a great range of christmas cards this year, which are already out in store. predicted themes of deer, alpine landscapes, and decorative fonts all seem to have come through. so here is a picture review of the designs available online to buy at amazon, ive put them all into my print & pattern amazon christmas shop here . but dont forget to check in store for more designs, US readers could try looking in borders for paperchase products as they have the same parent company.

PAPERCHASE - xmas card snaps

i just thought i'd complete the paperchase christmas card review with a few snaps taken in store.

STATIONERY - penguin zakka

i love to browse japanese websites and see what goodies i can find, and of course as i dont speak japanese i cant read any of the text. but that doesnt matter because as they say a picture speaks a thousand words. but with this lovely new collection at penguin zakka i would've liked to have found out more. ive searched in vain to find any western text on them to find out who the designer is, but with no luck. still it makes for beautiful eye candy !

DESIGNER - emily darnell

these are various works from artist emily darnell, who designs, illustrates, and also collects ephemera (see bottom pic). you can view her website for lots of unusual and inspiring projects including pictures from her amazing installations at anthropologie where emily works as a display co-ordinator.

STORE SNAPS - scandinavia

jewellery designer irina blok visited sweden and denmark this summer, and much to her husbands suprise she spent some time photographing all the lovely scandinavian patterns. you can see irina's full set of scandinavian snaps on her flickr page here, or check out her lovely graphic pendants here.

all pictures by irina blok - thanks irina for sharing !

ATELIER LZC - at mirror mirror

i love this new peacock hanging mobile by atelier lzc, as seen at mirror mirror.

DESIGNERS - atelier lzc

and whilst i was on the subject of atelier lzc i thought i'd take a look at some recent pictures of their work gathered from around the web.

ETSY - shop round up

autumnal deer print from signet studio

designs from dita's bazaar.

crafty birds at my happy acidents

below lovely prints by lucie summers from her etsy shop

JAPANESE - isso ecco

unfortunately i dont know anything about japanese company isso ecco, but i do like their prints. on the website you can see various designs on tableware, fabrics, bags etc.

BOOKSHOP - r.d franks

important news for anyone visiting london. the top design bookshop r.d franks has moved to new premises. if you were going to use my bookshop guide for your shopping trips - please update their address to 5 winsley street. its still in the same area just off oxford street but is one block over. and the good news is that the shop is bigger and better than ever. well worth a visit, and dont forget besides books this is the place to pick up international magazines. oh and dont worry if you're not coming to london - you can shop online.

CUTE - is in fashion

i noticed yesterday in london that top shop (londons biggest fashion store) had come over all cute, with a selection of japanese and korean kawaii accessories, and they even had aranzi aronzo's 'the cute book'. so i took a few snaps, if you want to get the book or similar titles from amazon see here or here.

CERAMICS - snowden flood

snowden flood is launching six new plates called 'the river series' which reflects the designer's love of the buildings and landscape of London's river thames. they feature the landmarks such as tower bridge, the tate modern, and battersea power station,all in a palate of blues, greys and greens to reflect the river theme. also avaialble will be co-ordinating tea-towels and aprons in bright bold primary colours.

BRITISH DESIGN - jam tart

unfortunately i missed this years top drawer autumn show, which is a shame because i missed out on this new print collection from jam tart. products include ceramics, tea towels, aprons and oven gloves all of which are made in the UK. check out their lovley designs here on their website.

CARDS - seed

designer tara dennis makes hand screen printed cards & stationery, using recycled card & paper. everything at seed is individually hand screen printed and the envelopes are printed inside and hand folded. you can view all the current designs on her website - seedprints. tara also plans on making larger sized prints and organic linen products like napkins and tea towels too, so watch this space.

HABITAT - print round-up

i wanted to do a quick round-up this morning of various prints seen in habitat. there are interesting colours used in the floral design above, and a bold range of tableware from surface pattern designer concetta gallo.

CARDS - mielle designs

these cards are by angela from mielle designs, a self-taught graphic designer with a strong love for stationery and paper goods. she recently left her job after 15 years in corporate america in order to pursue her dream of making handcrafted stationery which she sell through her etsy shop here.

CARDS - cake & milk

and here are some more interesting cards, this time sweet felt birds and embroidery from the cake & milk paperie.

ONLINE SHOP - bertine

a selection of sweet inspirational little bits & pieces spotted on german website bertine.

BOOK - hello, please

today im posting a cute new book from chronicle all about japanese kawaii characters. "hello, please" by matt alt and hiroko yoda collects hundreds of pictures of the useful and cute characters used in japanese daily life. its only a little book, which is why i put a pencil in the photo so you could see its handy size, but it does have 240 glossy pages. click here to pick up the book at the print & pattern store amazon usa or amazon uk. ideal for fans of illustration, all things japanese, or cute.

'hello, please' by matt alt and hiroko yoda. published by chronicle books. ISBN-10: 0811856747

DESIGN AGENCY - cainesclark

here's some great info for all the design graduates and freelancers out there. design studio cainesclarke are looking for new print and pattern designers to work with them on a freelance basis. the london based studio is run by sue caines and jo clark, who have had over twenty years experience in the industry offering designs for homewares, apparel, and paper goods. they also work with artists and clients from all over the world so dont be put off if you're not in the UK, cainesclark would still love to hear from you. in this post are some examples from their portfolio, but you can see lots more examples on their website, together with all the contact info. and dont forget if you're in need of a design you'll surely find something suitable in their diverse collection.

BLOG - one good bumblebee

i like to read the blog one good bumblebee and i just had to share katey's pez installation, and these vintage owl mugs are fantastic too. all pictures from one good bumblebee who have great online shop, including these new prints below..

ILLUSTRATION - little circus

two lovely illustrations from australian artist madeleine stamer, as seen on her website little circus design.

LONDON DESIGN WEEK - borderline

im continuing to post photos taken at the 'focus' show last week in chelsea. these shots are all from borderline where you will find designers such as rapture & wright and kuboaa, and florence broadhurst.

LONDON DESIGN WEEK - misc

and heres my final round up of pictures from the show.... above print seen at the sofa workshop, and below dotty design from jim thompson.

below ... prints from harlequin.

and finally below a selection of wallpaper from jane churchill.