Posts from November 2008

Laura and I would like to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving... eat lots of delicious food, take a nap (or two), watch your favorite movie & maybe take a walk and enjoy the weather. And, if nothing else, be sure to make the most of the time with your friends & family this weekend!

These lovely felt items are from the Etsy shop, Just Felt Hungry... check out the shop here and the Flickr photostream, tworighthands for more felty images!

Happy Turkey Day, Everyone!... see you next week!

I always keep up with what's new from designer Vanessa De Vargas of Turquoise - her style is quite inspirational, as are the reworked vintage pieces she incorporates into her decor.

Vanessa recently redecorated her own home and it's fun to see how it has evolved over time. The turquoise (of course) geometric-print pillow on her sofa caught my eye - I have had a couple yards of that fabric for over a year and still haven't done anything with it. The contarast of that bright, modern print paired with the black floral pillow is quite striking.

Can't wait to see what she'll do next! View more images of her home here and keep up to date on Vanessa by reading the Turquoise blog.

Images from Turquoise.

My sister Kristen (first of all, isn't she gorgeous?) recently fell for J.Crew's Astrid cascading flowers jacket - but knew she could create a similarly beautiful piece without the $425 price tag.

Using strips of satin, Kristen made all the flowers by hand and sewed them onto a $35 jacket from Old Navy. Here is Kristen on the left and the jacket that inspired it, pictured right. Personally, I prefer her version!

The project did take quite a bit of time, which is unfortunate because now I want one for myself and have to find some way to convince her to make it for me! I simply can't get this fabulous jacket out of my head...and I'm ever proud of my sister's many talents.

Did you ever think that how you arrange your bed might reveal much about your personality? House Beautiful has a funny little quiz you can take to uncover what the pillow arrangement on your bed says about you.

My results, based on the arrangement shown above? A cross between MODERNIST ("lays pillows flat and stacked, monastic-style") and TAILORED ("for someone who likes to keep all of her ducks in a row").

Click here to see for yourself!

This past Saturday was the aforementioned DIY Trunk Show and, all in all, it was a really great day... There was a constant stream of customers and we had quite a lot of sales. The best part was meeting other vendors (and drooling over and sometimes buying! their goods) -

I would say my favorite purchase from the show was this amazing yellow & white poly skirt (below) from orangyporangy - I really thought I'd walk away with something orange, but the bold pattern & color of this just called to me. I'll post pictures soon of me actually wearing it.

I also picked up a really amazing letterpress print from Shimmer Studio (which I'll post pics of later, as well)... oh, and I finally picked up some F that S letterpress postcards from RAR RAR Press and finally got to meet Reba in person! (R :: I've been thinking about those moustache posters!)

What I didn't buy, but have been thinking about constantly since the show ended, are these two items :: a dark orange vinyl wristlet from Miss Alison and a pair of tear stamp earrings (in orange, of course) from Foxglove Accessories (our neighbors at the show!... Hi, Betsy!) -

Thanks to everyone who came out this weekend, to all the vendors who participated and to the organizers of the show. It was a fun day and we're glad we could participate!

Now onwards to One of a Kind!

I'm always trying to uncover new sources of inspiration, but regularly go through old image files as a reminder of what stirred me in the past. Such is the case with Eucalyptus - a beautiful pattern, in colorways that seem tailor-made to my taste, by Chicago designer Stephanie Wadell of Agnes & Hoss. In my "rediscovery", I read the designer's story of how the print originated:

"'It's from a eucalypt...a gum tree,' answered the lithe florist, his eyes averting mine. And as he bundles my branch in white paper I think I have never seen anything so unusual or beautiful in my life. A few days later the enchanting plant begins to ooze, covering my table with fallen leaves and sticky sap. It is only now that I see the gumdrops that the kookaburra of my childhood dined on for what they really are...not the sugary kind I dreamed of. The aroma of this sap drifting across Australian shores is said to have drawn naval soldiers home from war. I breathe it in to see where it takes me."

Images from Agnes & Hoss.

Pledge Handmade // DIY Trunk Show 08

If you're in Chicago this Saturday, definitely stop by the DIY Trunk Show at Pulaski Park Fieldhouse (1419 W. Blackhawk) from 10am 'til 5pm... This is really the best place to start your holiday shopping off on the right foot.

paper goods :: 16 Sparrows

I always try to make a real effort, not just during the holiday season, but always - to buy local & handmade as much as possible. Why buy something that was mass-produced in another country when you can get unique & beautifully- crafted things right in your own town... made by people right in your own town?

felt jewelry, handspun yarn & totes :: *Biggie

This (long) post features just some of what you'll find at this year's show (I'm not including any OB items here, but we will be selling at the show, too!)...

ceramic tablewares, etc. :: Circa Ceramics

photographic jewelry + prints :: diffraction

postage stamp jewelry :: Foxglove Accessories

illustration prints & original works of art :: Laura George

vinyl fashion accessories :: Miss Alison

eco-friendly soy candles :: Ol'factory Candle Co.

totally adorable clothes :: orangyporangy (p.s. I love this skirt!)

shadow puppets (!) :: Owly Shadow Puppets

awesome letterpress goodies :: Rar Rar Press

lovely jewelry :: treesquirrel

ceramic & papi?r-mache vessels :: up in the air somewhere

*check out the DIY site for a full list of participants, directions, etc.

We hope to see you tomorrow!

I could totally use this Password Reminder Log from Bob's Your Uncle... it's available for just $12.00 at See Jane Work...

I have so many different accounts and logins for both the company and personally, that it's hard to keep it all straight... this little guy would be a big help!

images c/o SJW

Let's first get the impracticalities out of the way...

I live in suburban Ohio and have a 10-month old baby. So really, the glamorous, totally stain-prone cream waistcoat and dramatic, colored leather opera gloves combination doesn't have a place in my life. But at the same time it feels so right!

(The blue gloves are the pair I want. The putty version represents my attempt to tone down this look. But I'm not sure I actually want to.)

Images from Old Navy and J.Crew.

The Water Village, A4 print for $25.00 :: Janice Jong @ Supermarket.

While browsing all of the amazing goods over at Supermarket (which I do quite a lot), I stumbled upon these lovely prints from London-based illustrator, Janice Jong.

The Orange Box, A4 print for $25.00 :: Janice Jong @ Supermarket.

Given all the (mostly self-imposed) stress & anxiety I've been suffering from lately, these bright, light-hearted images are extremely appealing to me right now...

Hotel City, A4 print for $25.00 :: Janice Jong @ Supermarket.

Need a little cheer? I suggest checking out Janice's entire shop, here, and maybe picking up one of these lovelies for hanging in your home!

images c/o Janice Jong

Want to try something really fun? Interior designer and Simply Grove blogger, Kirsten Grove, offers a (free!) design aesthetic "diagnosis" - sort of a mission statement of your personal style - based on your five favorite images. Sometimes it's difficult to summarize yourself, so it's interesting to get an objective opinion from someone with a good eye.

I couldn't wait to be diagnosed, so I rounded up these shots that consistently call out to me and sent them off to Kirsten. A short while later, she sent me the following statement:

"Laura's Style - Electic mix of Vintage Timeless with Rustic, Glam and Traditional moments.

This fabulous style introduces moments of unafraid but elegant patterns mixed with bold colors. Enjoys pops of organic with lovely curves and lines. Eclectic rooms that makes sense because they are beautifully positioned. Fashion and Interiors are close friends in this style. Spaces that will never be forgotten."

Upon reading my diagnosis, it was clear she had nailed the style to which I aspire. I told Kirsten I was going to keep my diagnosis close to me so I can consider it whenever I'm buying something for my home.

If you'd like to be diagnosed, visit this link for more info! Thanks again Kirsten!

Image credits (from top): Lily Lodge, M Design, Miles Redd via domino, This is Glamorous, Betsy Burnham.

Here's another gorgeous calendar (that I was planning on posting about last week)... this one is from Hello Handmade Paperie's Etsy shop. HH is a collaboration between crazy-awesome calligrapher Betsy Dunlap and super-sweet illustrator Shanna Murray... their first products include this incredibly beautiful full-page calendar (available with and without the adorable vintage hanger)...

and this stunning Let It Snow Print ::

I kinda can't stand how amazing this calligraphy is... I might need a print, a calendar (with the hanger, of course!) and some of these... What are you gonna get?

images c/o HHM

After last week, we're completely exhausted :: we've been checking through prints, perforating pages, perfect-binding finished stacks, trimming down completed calendars... and shipping them out! We shipped out 100+ packages last Friday afternoon (and the postal workers that helped us actually didn't want to kill us - or at least they acted like they didn't ;)

Thanks to all of you who pre-ordered a calendar... if you ordered in the first week available (Oct 14), then you're calendar is most likely on its way to you! And if you ordered later than that, well, we're pulling all the stops to get yours out as soon as we can!

Calendars are still available for pre-order here - and, if you're in the Chicago area, come see us (and the calendars) in person this Saturday at the DIY Trunk Show at Pulaski Park Auditorium!

images c/o Jw

I was sent a copy of House Beautiful magazine's new publication, The Home Book: Creating a Beautiful Home of Your Own, and I highly recommend it for those seeking a textbook-like educational tool to aid in the design of personal spaces.

Organized into three main sections - Understand Your Home, Elements of Design (including fabric, color, lighting), and Design, Room by Room - each segment is filled with tips from well-known design professionals. Recurring features like "Designer's Top Ten" and "Expert Insight" allow designers to voice their best suggestions and tackle specific issues, such as arrranging a conversation group. In one of my favorite segments, David Jimenez walks through his approach to displaying personal collections in a tablescape.

Some of the magazine's most popular elements are present throughout the book, such as "Instant Room", in which designers create fabric palettes, and "Colorful Options", which cite professionals' favored wall color choices for specific applications (pages I have referenced in the past when trying to choose paint colors).

This huge volume functions as a "best-of" collection of House Beautiful images, and asks the same questions a professional designer would ask of a client - thereby guiding the reader through a thoughtful, comprehensive design process.

The Hayden Harnett for Target collection, which hits stores December 28, includes this darling umbrella in a fresh signature print!

Looks like Target is getting the message about the quality of materials used in its designer bag collections...some of the Hayden Harnett versions are made predominantly of canvas and only partially of PVC, which is nice if you wish to carry a bag that is not trying to look like leather.

Images from Target.

It's a little ridiculous how much I love this bag. I've been a fan of Josh Jakus' Um Bags for quite a while (I even got a Hold bag for L a while back) - and this bag is just over-the-top awesome for me.

I love this 'hands-free' version, and the greater amount of the accent color showing in the shoulder strap is a nice bonus (esp. for me and my orange obsession)!

Definitely browse through all of the Um Bags and Josh Jakus' other felt goods - available at Elsewares - oh, and be sure to check out the sweet zip-and-unzip animation by clicking on the image here!

images c/o Josh Jakus

Here's the ultimate wall calendar... coming in at just under 2ft. in length (by 4 inches wide), this 2009 Calendar by labokoff is perfect as both a way to keep track of events & appointments throughout the year and as a beautiful piece of artwork!

c/o Luphia's Design Blog.

Clearly I'm having another pink moment.

I went through a major pink phase about 5 years ago (Emily can attest), and it's making its way back into my consciousness - though this time around it's less Lilly Pulitzer-esque and more of an "off" shade - dusty or peachy, or infused with a bit of shimmer like the inside of a shell.

The latter applies to the corduroy pants pictured above; I tried them on at Anthropologie recently. In person, they are a much more subtle shade and the fine wale of the fabric makes them appear almost slightly iridescent. They are also incredibly soft and basically perfect.

These eggplant cords, also from Anthro, are a sophisticated alternative with their stovepipe leg and darker tone. I think I have to put both on my Christmas list.

Images from Anthropologie.

It looks like our lovely friends over at Etsy have included our Let It Snow 6pk (amongst 60 other finalists) in a vote for Favorite Holiday Cards 2008!

You can read the details of the contest here or get down to it and VOTE here. To vote for OB's card set, just look for the Let It Snow design (shown above, starred) and check the box. You can only vote once, so we hope you'll choose ours!

And the Let It Snow is just one of many of our current holiday cards, so be sure to check out the entire Holiday section, right here!

Thanks so much to Etsy for including our cards in the vote!

elf image (top) c/o Sherri Conley.

I got my first JHill Design Wall Calendar back in 2007 (here's a shot of April and June hung up in the studio)... and bought up the 2008 version a year later. Now it looks like it's time for Round 3!

Jennifer, the "J" in "JHill", has definitely amped up the bright colors and bold contrast in these new designs for '09... I particularly love the B&W clocks - Chester, England (top image, right) and March's design - Galway, Ireland (below)...

The full calendar features 12 different places where Jennifer has vacationed... in her imagination ::

January :: Kiev, Ukraine ... February :: Pittsburgh, PA ... March :: Galway, Ireland ... April :: Sun Valley, Idaho ... May :: Loire Valley, France ... June :: Zacatecas, Mexico ... July :: Traverse City, MI ... August :: Portland, OR ... September :: Austin, TX ... October :: Chester, England ... November :: Block Island, RI ... December :: Positano, Italy

The 11x17" Wall Calendar, as well as the 5x5" Desk Calendar, individual inkjet art prints, notecard sets & enclosure cards, are all available on both Etsy and Supermarket... and at www.jhilldesign.com!

images c/o JHill Design

Back in May (right after we returned from the craziness of NSS), I contacted Etsy seller, Brokesy, with an Alchemy request, which is a feature on Etsy where buyers propose custom items to sellers, and the sellers, in turn, 'bid' on making those items (read more about that here).

After seeing Brokesy's shop (check that out here), I desperately wanted a pair of 18x18" pillows for myself, but wanted them to be personalized in some way. What better subject matter than my two awesome cats: Pablo & Solomon!!!

I gave Sarah (aka Brokesy) a brief description of the cats, i.e. Pablo's a jerk & Solomon is fat ;) and told her which color/fabric combinations I liked from the pillows already listed in her shop... and here's the final product!!! Aren't they AWESOME?!?

I can't wait for them to arrive!

Thanks, Brokesy!

The color palette (below), based on this image from Chlo?'s fall-winter accessories lookbook, is ultra-beautiful.

Image from Chlo?.

I've had calendars on the brain for nearly two months now (our very own debut calendar is getting ready to ship out at the end of this week!!!) - and I'm really excited to see all of the interesting formats and amazing designs that are out there this year...

So, this week, I'll be posting up calendars that I want to have for myself... this first one, uh, well... I've already ordered!

This calendar is from illustrator/designer Mar Hern?ndez (aka malota) and I'm in love with it... or rather the illustrations, sketches & paintings inside. The fact that they're all spiral bound into one lovely piece that I can hang on my wall is really just a bonus.

Another added bonus is that each calendar is signed by the artist and stamped with a beautiful red "signature seal"... I love this shot of Mar signing/stamping calendars on her Flickr site.

Also on Mar's Flickr site are a lot of amazing images of work, exhibitions and sketches, like those shown above from various Moleskine journals. Check out her entire photostream, right here, and get a calendar here!

images c/o malota

I saw this adorable Old School Tools print while "browsing" through happy cavalier, and I thought it would be a lovely into-the-weekend image.

The print is by Chicago (!) illustrator & designer, Jesse Hora - and is available (4.625 x 6.5" size for $7.00) on his Etsy shop.

via happy cavalier!

Have a great weekend free from election anxiety, everyone! I know I will!!!

After L's post yesterday about textile design company, Rubie Green, I scoured through both RB's (awesome) website and owner, Michelle Adams' blog, M.A. Belle (also awesome)...

I stumbled upon this totally amazing image of a dining room (!) designed by Australian interiors firm, Diane Bergeron Interiors - who also happens to be an AU distributor for Rubie Green's fabrics.

Someday, I will have bookshelves like this in my home. Or maybe in OrangeBeautiful's studio... or both!

images c/o DB Interiors

Eco-fabric company Rubie Green's new pattern, Habibi, is my definition of classic - it would work with everything, and it would never appear too trendy or ubiquitous. Available in red, brown and black (my favorite), I also can't resist its product description - reminds me of my hubby:

"It's the balance of the room that falls off kilter when he's gone, and the way it instantly rights itself when his keys jingle the lock. It's butterflies that still haven't ceased in taking flight, and the way his smell sets alarm to your every sense. He knows how you take your coffee, your fish, your eggnog on Christmas Eve. After all, he is your beloved; he is your habibi." - Rubie Green

Images by Patrick Cline for Rubie Green.

So, I had a post in the works with images of Obama's rally held here in Chi-town last night... I was going to gush and write all sorts of things about how positive I'm feeling now and what a sense of relief I feel about the election being over.

Instead, following L's lead, I thought it better (and a more appropriate sentiment) to simply post this delightful image of Etsy seller, dazeychic's print TODAY I WILL BE HAPPIER THAN A BIRD WITH A FRENCH FRY (8x10" print available here for $23.00).

The type makes me happy :: the colors make me happy :: Obama makes me happy... 'nuf said.

image c/o dazey chic

This morning I am especially proud of our country and feel humbled that I have the privilege of being an American - that I live in a place where it is truly possible for me to be whatever I want to be.

Nothing really symbolic about this image, except that it makes me feel happy - and optimistic - which mirrors my thoughts today.

Today will mark the 4th time I've been able to vote, but this time is very different given my unprecedented enthusiasm for a political candidate and my fervid anticipation over this election's outcome.

It's truly exciting to be a part of history... and I hope all of you feel the same!

"vote." necklace is from brookadelphia's Etsy shop, $30.00]; and the poster is a reprint of Herb Lubalin's VOTE Poster, circa 1968, available at Urban Inks' Supermarket shop.

When Jw and I were walking around yesterday afternoon, enjoying the weather, we stopped in to one of our normal Lincoln Square spots, Caf? Descartes to get some delicious coffee drinks. While waiting for our drinks to be made, I spotted a surprisingly lovely soda bottle in the cooler by the cash register... it was a bottle of Dry Soda... Lavendar flavor!

So, not only do I love the super-simple Arial font & the touch of personality with the owner's signature, I'm dying to know what these crazy flavors taste like!

The Dry Soda site includes descriptions of their four signature flavors :: Rhubarb, Lemongrass, Lavendar and Kumquat (!), as well as food pairings and cocktail recipes.

I'll let you know what I think when I head back to buy a few bottles!!!

images c/o Dry Soda.

I love L's story about her quest to be en pointe... and those sweet-yet-sophisticated flats are so very "Laura"!

These shimmery metallic belts (also from J.Crew) would be the perfect companion to L's shoes.

And I'm loving these belts (in a bit bolder of a color palette), too!

image c/o J.Crew

I realize the topic of J.Crew gets beaten to death on the blogs...but I can't take my eyes off the cover of the latest catalog.

When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with ballet - more specifically, the prospect of getting pointe shoes and the coming-of-age transition that milestone signified. My ballet teacher was adamant about allowing each girl in my class to go en pointe on an individual basis, when her feet had reached the proper stage of development and her leg muscles could support the added weight and impact on the toes. Therefore, every trip to dance class was replete with a giddy sense of possibility that the teacher would finally announce that I was ready.

In anticipation of that moment, I used to try on pointe shoes in dance stores and even draw and paint romanticized pictures of them - complete with shiny pastel satins and flowing ribbons. And that's what I am reminded of every time I see this image.

Image from J.Crew.