hand drawn invites

I was speaking to a friend tonight who is getting married this year, and she was telling me about her invitation selection process.  In passing she mentioned that she was wondering whether an all text invite is okay for a wedding.  If you have seen any of my previous posts on wedding invites, you’ll know my answer to that question is YES! YES! YES!  There is no need to go the traditional route of calligraphy on a cream background. 

Thank goodness for all the wonderfully talented and creative graphic designers out there who have pushed the boundaries of stationery to include colourful, contemporary, and sometimes minimalist designs.  I say anything goes as long as it reflects the couple.  In the spirit of my conversation tonight, I dedicate this post to you my friend. 

I love these invites from NY based, Erin Jang.  They were designed to be part of Bella Figura’s 2011 collection.

via the indigo bunting

via the indigo bunting

via the indigo bunting

BHLDN

BHLDN is here.  By here, I mean today.  Valentine’s Day.  Today marks the official launch of the newest addition to the Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters family.  BHLDN is Anthropologie’s answer to bridalwear in “heirloom quality” bridal gowns and “mix and match frocks” for bridesmaids.

I will start by saying that to my Canadian girls who are wonderstruck by this new brand and dying with anticipation to know whether BHLDN will ship to Canada, the answer is: yes BHLDN does ship to Canada.

The gowns and designs are just stunning and in addition to wedding gowns, BHLDN offers lingerie, jewellery, shoes, accessories, amazingly fashionable bridesmaid dresses with the lookbook quality and art direction that you come to expect from Anthropologie. What’s even better about the brand is that dresses are available for overnight delivery as no one should have to wait months for a dress and with each order comes a free return shipping label. So that means you can order as many dresses as you want, try them all on and return them risk free.  But that’s not all.  As of May, BHLDN will offer decorations, tableware and favours and come fall, it will introduce separates. This is going to be huge guys, it’s going to be huge.  Feast your eyes on a couple of my favourite designs but the true beauty is showcased on the site itself.   More brand details including launch details can be found here.

via its katie win

via aisle dash

via modernpr

via laura virginia

via almalus place

artist: oli goldsimth

I find I am getting to the stage in my life where I am starting to pay more attention to art.  As kids, art appreciation is something part of growing up either via arts & crafts lessons, school trips to the art gallery or art history classes in school.  During university art appreciation, for me, when dormant.  I was no longer drawing and painting, I could count on one hand how many times I set foot in an art gallery and the last class I formally took on about art in school was my third year aesthetics class for my philosophy major.

Now that I own four walls and a roof, my interest in art has been rekindled and I make more of an effort when out and about in Toronto or traveling abroad to visit galleries and shops with art.  I scribble down names of artists so I can research and blog about their work and have started to build my repertoire of what I would like to fill my walls with when I have the budget.  One of my new favourite artists is Toronto based Oli Goldsmith.  His art is chaotic, bust, colourful, graphic, involves the repetition of patterns and is sometimes referred to the genre of pop-surrealism.  I saw his work in a great furniture store, Michael Thomas, in Port Hope.  If you would like to read more about the artist, I found two good bios here and here.

via flickr

via flickr

via flickr

via flickr

via torontoist.com

sushi cookies

Look at these sushi cookies from Hello Naomi in Newcastle, Australia!

So cute.

via hello naomi

affordable letterpress

I am laughing to myself as I write this post.  Affordable letterpress are not two words you often hear together in the same sentence but when experienced stationery designers ban together like they have in The Pressroom and Company, economies of scale are realized.  The Pressroom and Company , officially launched January 15, 2011, has a good business model offering letterpress enthusiasts a mini marketplace of designers and companies who have elected to collaborate together.  I have been trying to read up a bit more on letterpress myself as I am going to be taking a letterpress workshop at the end of February with a friend in Toronto.  The Pressroom and Company has designers such as Brown Sugar Design, Good on Paper, Ruby & Willow, Flush Designs and the Social Type among a sizeable list of contributors from around the globe.  Their blog and website are full of ideas, prices (thank you for transperency!), FAQs and links to the designers. 

via float paperie

achatz pie company

I wrote about my trip to Michigan back in the summer.  My purpose of driving the three hours was to find decent bedding for the condo which I achieved.  My other purpose was to explore all the cool bakeries, grocery stores and restaurants in and around the Sommerset Collection and to be creatively inspired.  I finally go to enjoy one of my “finds” this past week.  I had friends over last weekend for dinner (my first official dinner party in the condo) and decided to break into the pie I brough back all the way from this pie company I read about. 

My other great find on my Michigan weekend was the Achatz pie company.  Located in a strip mall not too far away from the mall, branded with the phrase, “Pie runs in their blood after 17 years of pie making in downtown Armada,” I was pretty excited.   While in the bakery, I sampled a phenomenal slice of peach pie while my bf sampled the ever-decaden coconut cream.  The company even makes “wedding pies” that they will ship to you. 

Not content with just a sample, I decided to drive a freshly baked Michigan berry pie back over the border that I could freeze and serve at a later date.  I was a bit skeptical that freezer pie would not have the same taste/deliciousness as in-store but boy was I wrong.  I served it this past Saturday night and it was a little slice of Achatz heaven in my books.  Light, not too sweet, a fabulous crumble on top and within a day or two, it was gone (another reason to drive back to Troy and visit Achatz).  What I later found out was that Achatz was rated one of the 10 best pie companies in the states according to Bon Appetit magazine.  Can’t wait for my next trip back.

via michigan 1001 daily photos

via bargain mom

via delish

via achatz pies

via bouille

hotel aire de bardenas

This is a stunning hotel in Spain.  Hotel Aire De Bardenas is located in the southernmost part of Navvare in a nature reserve, 3km from Tudela’s town centre and is built on a wheat field.  There are only 22 rooms at this place and some of the bedrooms are located in independent cubes which I have tried to capture below in the pictures.  Truly a building that is at one with its natural surroundings.  It looks so peaceful, I am dying to check this place out.

via sachiidosti

via arqua.com

via cool boom

via urban style vibes

via apartment therapy

via denbompa

via begin being

sprinkles chicago

Sprinkles cupcakes opened a shop in Chicago last fall (2010) and the facade of the retail store is unreal!  They replicated their signature cupcake style on the front of the building.  How cool is that?  I can’t wait to visit next time I am in Chicago.  Sprinkles, Toronto is calling 🙂

via chicago cupcake crawl

via chicagonista