La neige, elle est belle...

Yes, the snow is beautiful, like a thick layer of frosting, but unfortunately not so sweet. Last week, it was a spill down slushy subway stairs. This week, I'm waylaid by a sore throat. What to do when winter's got you down and out? Curl up on the couch with a cozy blanket - ideally accompanied by a warm furry friend and a dark hot chocolate.

That is why I am a new fan of Frankfurt's The Blanket Store. Cozy, toasty blankets of softness from around the world (South African mohair, anyone?) await your discovery. This is one store I wouldn't mind being locked in overnight (as long as I had the aforementioned hot chocolate for sustenance, that is). Images via dwell.com.

Been Tied Up!

Yes, I've been busy, neglecting my blog for a few days. Whew, it's good to be back. But I have, literally, been tying knots, albeit in my very limited free moments. I've been taking Jolene's Giant Granny Square Blanket workshop with Callia at Purl Soho, and am working on creating my own granny square masterpiece (even if currently it's only a mouse-sized blanket). If you're in NYC, I highly recommend stopping in their cute Sullivan Street store - even though I can barely crochet and know next to nothing about knitting, I could spend an hour in the store just ogling all the beautiful yarns and amazing colors. (All images via the purl bee)

A Fall, and Fall Fashion

Silly me, thought I could get away with not wearing my snowboots last night for once. Traded them in for cute little ankle boots, and what did it get me? A nasty spill on the subway steps and a bruise roughly the size and color of a large ripe avocado. What to cheer me up? A quick jaunt through the Fashion Week pages - Here are a few faves from Peter Som, above.

Also loving this Marchesa skirt that reminds me of a jellyfish, below left, in the most beautiful ethereal way, and the bright orangey-red lips at Tory Burch. Images via Style.com.

Secret Garden

Fantasic botanically-inspired pillows by Swedish duo Adam & Viktoria via the Lisa Fontanarosa Collection.

Spoonflower rocks

I recently designed some custom textile patterns for a project that I will be sharing with you very soon. Just the other day, I was thrilled to open my mailbox and find these printed fabric samples of the designs from Spoonflower.com; they are gorgeous! In case you're not familiar with them, Spoonflower is a relatively new, highly innovative company that provides custom-printed fabric in small quantities, on several different types of fabric. I am so happy with the print quality and color integrity on these and I can't wait to place my order. Be sure to check out their website for lots of other great fabric designs!

Vintage Finds

I was one of very few shoppers willing to brave last weekend's bitter cold at the Hell's Kitchen flea market (thanks to my strategic tights-under-the-jeans layering system); I picked up a small army of vintage scarves in awesome patterns and colors. These make for great design inspiration, and can be incorporated into various projects - I think my fave is the insanely bright, watercolor-y floral below, but there's something really sweet about the turquoise dot pattern, above. Happy Friday!

Loving...

...these gorgeous patchwork quilts from Sally Campbell home textiles; the Australian designer works closely with many different artisans in India, who specialize in natural dye block printing or intricate hand embroidery, to create these amazing handcrafted textiles, and a percentage of the profit goes to support rural communities.

ten14 textiles

I met textile designer Josi Severson at last year's Surtex show in New York and loved her designs, so needless to say, I was psyched to hear that her eco-friendly line, ten14 textiles, has officially launched online. The textiles are printed using only water-based, non-toxic inks on organic cotton or recycled cotton blend. Beautiful and sustainable.

New Patterned Notecards!

I'm psyched about these new card designs I just added to the etsy shop. I developed a series of patterns - for another, bigger project that you'll be hearing LOTS more about in the coming months - inspired by my love of textiles and folk art from around the globe, like suzanis from Afganistan, hand-woven fabics from Peru and Tibet, and embroidery from Mexico. I took a whole bunch of my own illustrations and hand-drawn design elements and went to town, layering and coloring and adding textures as needed. As I mentioned above, these are intended for another project, but they made such awesome notecards that I couldn't resist adding them to the shop. I hope you like them too!

We're All Made of Stars

Designer Shabd Simon-Alexander's line of hand-dyed t-shirts, leggings, scarves and bags is inspired by Hubble telescope photos of stars and galaxies. I got to see her work in person recently and everything is super luxurious, taking tie-dye to a whole new level. Perfectly-cut tees and super soft leggings.

Retro Squares

These excellent quilt squares (just a few of the many now in my possession) came to me by way of my mother-in-law; they are leftover scraps that belonged to my husband's grandmother's friend's great-aunt - got that? The extra fun thing, besides all the great fabric patterns, is that most of them are stitched to newspaper bits dating from the 40's. I definitely have some collage ideas in mind for these babies - anyone else know of any good projects to create with these?

Etsy faves

In honor of that holiday marketing invention, Cyber Monday, here are my picks from just a few of my favorite sellers. Buy handmade this season!


From top: Metallic linen pouches by Marketa, Crochet and felt cuff by kjoo. Below: Say it loud and proud with this HANDMADE pillow by
Going Home to Roost; Keep it cute with this cozy Squirrellicious iphone sleeve.

Eco-consciously Cool

I've been a big fan of Loop ever since I met owner/designer Elissa Brown Barbieri at this year's Stationery Show and fell in love with her mesmerizingly intricate, bio-science-y designs adorning recycled notecards, wrapping papers and notebooks. The ultra-eco-friendly vibe of the product line is reflected in the designs themselves; some of the patterns remind me of cellular walls - something you might have seen under the microscope in your high school biology class - turned into refined abstractions.

I recently purchased some of her doodlespark notecards (a colorful collaboration between Elissa and her mom) and was reminded of how excellent her products are. I just found out Elissa has expanded her line to include organic cotton textiles (below) featuring her beautiful, intricate patternwork. So exciting! These would make amazing pillow covers, dresses, etc.

Organic. Sustainable. Beautiful.

Mika Organic is a unique, handcrafted line of dresses, tops, and other pieces created from sumptuous organic wools, hemps, and linens. Mika Machida, who hand-silkscreens the often-animal-inspired designs and crafts each garment individually, created her line with care for the environment and its creatures at its core. It's easy to see why these sheep are so drawn to her!

Mika and her super-talented photographer husband Jason Wyche just returned from a trip to Africa, where she got to see some of her animal inspirations up close and in person. The Mika Organic line can be found here in New York, at Ekovaruhuset/House of Organic, as well as locations in California, Europe, and Japan.