Calling All Designers

You do not have to be a traditional design professional (that's the point). It's Garmz.com.

One of the advantages to feeling unwell is a stack of unread magazines. (Although--if W doesn't get better & this new editor doesn't stop putting naked Kardashians in an "art" issue, euwww, it is so over. God, what dreck.)

Vote on designs uploaded by others & winners see their garment manufactured & for sale online. I do not know how well they are constructed, etc. The site is in beta. There are some good-to-excellent illustrations. There are also some that look like I dipped into my Crayola box. If you were fairly early to Etsy, you know there was (is) some "real junk on there." (That was a friend before I gave her some things from Etsy a couple of years ago. In other words, sift sift sift.) It's the same with Garmz. There are some Etsy folk on there, too. Here's an interview with one winner, Lauren Reeser aka American Duchess. Here's Lauren's pretty Etsy shop, & wonderful historical costuming blog.

Go forth & improve Garmz. (designs/illustrations by Scarlet Movement & Anika)

Flowers on the Windowsill

Wouldn't you know that all the photographs I have for essay-drafts, poems, Venice & Strasbourg posts are b&w? Of course. Things are fairly dark/grim here lately. So...some flowers on windowsills by Christine Gill via Design*Sponge in November 2008. I ran two photos on Giulia Geranium back then. My family & friends laughed at me for doing exactly this. I'm off to read, write, figure out administrative matters (urgh), & swipe some rose hips that are about to be cruelly cut down before fulfilling their destiny. Christine sells 21 flower prints at Imagekind. (She also has a December 2008 photo set of her then-new cat's introduction to the household. He's a dignified gentleman in a tuxedo.)

Are we about to go nuclear? Right now WAMU-FM/NPR has gone off the air & the Naval Observatory Master Clock/Universal Time is repeating the universal time over & over in a computer-generated voice. [Five minutes later- Now a rattled sounded announcer has come on to say, oops, we do not know what the heck that was about. We'll look into it. You do that. It was way weird & disturbed my cat. Now, Kevin Spacey is making a joke about it. At the tone, the time will be...that made me laugh, so thank you, Kevin.]

Drawing Fashion

Early evening/overnight diversion. (Also I'm getting weird email.) A new exhibit at London's Design Museum on fashion illustration. Good slideshow on BBC. (Moving this to Thursday. Raining & running behind here.)

From the Design Museum website:

"Drawing Fashion celebrates a unique collection of some of the most remarkable fashion illustrations from the twentieth and twenty first centuries. These original works define the fine art of illustrating fashion, from the collections of Chanel, Dior, Comme des Garçons and Poiret as well as Viktor & Rolf, Lacroix and McQueen. This exhibition showcases fashion illustrators at their creative heights: Lepape at the beginning of the century, Gruau in the 40's and 50's, Antonio throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, to current artists Mats Gustafson, Aurore de la Morinerie and François Berthoud. Film-clips, news reels, music and photography will sit alongside the original illustrations to reflect not only the spirit and the style of the decades but also the wider social and cultural changes of the century.

It will be the first time this collection, which was put together over 30 years by Joelle Chariau of Galerie Bartsch & Chariau, has been displayed." (image by François Berthoud via artnet(dot)com)

Made4Aid Month

A bit of cross-pollination with Giulia Geranium & Made4Aid's new Etsy shop. I hope whether you buy anything or not, you'll check out the shop, the website, & also Sally's personal photography blog, Lettuce-Eating, from London. Many of her most popular photographs are available as cards. There's a nice badge that you can scoop up for your blogs & websites, too.

It's enough to prop up my faith in some humans (humanity? I don't know about that...) for the next several hours. This beautiful messenger bag is but one of many hand-made bags for sale. That color. (As always, I don't recommend anything that I have not already checked out. I purchased several things from Made4Aid last year via their auctions. Everything went smoothly. No drama. At all.)

Important: if you have something that you want to donate to Made4Aid, please read this guideline list from the Made4Aid organization site. Any questions after that, please contact them. (Of course, they take cash donations, too.)

(photograph via Made4Aid)

Guardian Gourds

Happy Hallowe'en, Samhain, Nos Calan Gaeaf

A Hallowe'en photograph of me-as-Twiggy via scan of a crinkled snap has failed to amuse or please. Worse, I look entirely annoyed in the picture & have no idea why. So sorry, B, one of my sisters who sent it with a sweet note ("I thought you looked so beautiful..."). Maybe we can find it on a slide for next year. Fairy-lighted pumpkins against a dark blue sky will have to do for now. Lots & lots of spooky & scary Hallowe'en posts all over the wah-wah-web. (photograph via Martha Stewart)

PS: Happy birthday to John Keats

Damson & Slate - A Breath of Welsh Air

Looking at the Vogue Knitting Holiday 2010 magazine + Dylan Thomas birthday + hand-washing Laura Ashley Welsh knit scarves & lacy cardigan = Damson & Slate website gazing. (There's also a tornado watch until tonight & therefore madly hurrying to be ready for catastrophe. OK, a bit of Welsh-American drama, so sue me.) Just about everyone on US design blogs talks about Toast & I do like them. But here is a site that actually toots their Welsh horn. Things are far too shaky to buy anything from anyone at the moment, unless it's Julie the Cat necessaries. When I can, though, I will figure out how to replace some knits from D&S. Helping to support the Welsh economy is a good reason. (At this point, I would roll around like a feline in catnip if I had their Rosehip & Baobab w/Neroli face cream.)

Anything to put off cleaning the apartment & less-than pleasant reading, I've dragged out bags of needles, rolls of yarn, & am unravelling some half-done projects. I am not one of those "whip up a sweater in a day" people. I admire those who can though. My mother made some very cool stuff when I was little. My redheaded Barbie in her bottle green bouclé Chanel-inspired suit (yep) was the talk of the neighborhood Barbies.

Scarves, mittens, & a few other projects are enough to make me feel (undeservedly) accomplished. Yarn is expensive so choose something small if just starting out. There is (or was) some lovely yarn in the Made4Aid Etsy shop (the badge & site are on the right or at bottom. Template shifting continues). On the Pringle of Scotland site, there's even a little how-to-knit video. I'm not linking it for now because it won't teach anyone to knit, really. The point is that anyone (even me) can learn knit/purl & crank out a straight scarf.

(first 2 images via Damson & Slate, 3rd via Vogue Holiday 2010 Knitting magazine)

Vote Now - Shabby Apple Design Finalists

Vote for your favorite Shabby Apple's Dare to Design finalist dress. There is a tech error that zee blogeuse at Apple a Day is working to resolve, but you can vote in the comments for now. Voting ends 15 November 2010. Vote only once. (I have seen this photograph many places. This particular version is from audrey hepburn complex via daily bits of beauty)

Fresh Flowers for Tough Times

For those of us residing in the State of Penury, here is an excellent idea by Sarah of Blossom and Branch, via Design*Sponge. It's a definite upgrade from our parsley-in-a-creamer. This is Sarah's second post in a twice-a-month series, Flowers A-Z. Take a look, you might be surprised by the ingredients.

That is from Julie's site today. I loved this idea so much that I scooped it up & placed over here. A relief from the gray & watery rumination chez nous.

I've looked on-line but not in the shops for prices per bunch/stem. I sniffed by them in the market in years past. My bad. It's very much bricolage in the French usage sense. Scent memories of cycling & walking past fields of decaying brassica on the outskirts of Strasbourg might have something to do with my aversion. I don't think that classy Design*Sponge would have anything on their site if that were the case. We shall see.

Sweetness & Light

Many new bloggers have asked where/how to collect images if they don't have huge piles of magazines & books, etc. If you look at the beginnings of both blogs, you will see that I didn't know much. (OK, anything. It still looks clueless but lacking tech funds does not help.) The following is in no way all-inclusive. So many people I link to here & on Giulia Geranium (& on the back of blogger profile) are excellent resources.

Canadian illustrator Lori Langille's automatism blog is an excellent place to be inspired but also to see attribution etiquette in best practice mode. I turned to Lori in December 2008, a few months into Giulia Geranium, for permission to use a personal vintage Marie Claire Maison scan. Lori is also the brains & talent behind the Benevolent Postcard Society, of which I am a proud if not very imaginative member.

Sweetness and Light is a relatively new label on automatism. Lori kindly linked to bricolage a few weeks back. She did so through Pinterest (via Facebook). Before the usual outpouring of Facebook-hate, listen up. I'm not that active on Facebook & you don't need to be. Remember that about any social network. No one said you have to update constantly. In fact, unless you are hilarious (& it's not just your mother who thinks so), I beg you not to. Still, it's your right to do as you wish & I'll adjust my settings accordingly. I'm sure the few who follow me on Twitter are dismayed by my bummer re-tweets. C'est la guerre.

Tina Tarnoff's Thought Patterns is wonderful, just as you'd imagine any artist of her talent would be. Visit often. You'll see such a variety of images & Tina's thoughts about them, where she found them, etc. She's always helpful & generous.

Sarai of Colette Patterns posted a very clear & helpful tools on the web for cataloging. It's now my go-to link to send to folks asking for advice.

I just realized as I was to hit 'publish' that there's an important category of photography/images that I use. That has to do with humanitarian, animal welfare, & other goody-two shoes stuff of which I am rightly accused. That will have to be another post because it's more complicated (of course it is, sigh, why wouldn't it be?) But if you need something right now go to IRIN (humanitarian news & analysis via UN) & register for fair-use photographs.

(Photograph is by windswept ribbons via audrey hepburn complex)

Dare to Design a Shabby Apple Dress

Shabby Apple's announcement of their second annual Dare to Design competition was in this morning's email.You do not have to be a professional designer to enter. I'd love it if one of you goes for it. Please pass this along to any friends who might be interested, as well. You have until 15 October 2010, 11:59 EST. SA partners in a micro-finance program in India. This is not a small thing to me when considering a purchase.

I bought a Marseilles dress a year ago & I still love it (stripes!). This summer saw a French-inspired collection (stripes again) & the new retro apron line, Boysenberry Pie. I'm selecting patterns & fabric lately, not designing a thing (although I used to tweak patterns). If you're not up to entering a competition or are looking to buy something ready-made, Shabby Apple is also having a sale. There's a dress for everyone. No fighting!

[Suzy Parker via myvintagevogue; collage from Shabby Apple website images]

Night Lights

Each day concludes in a huge splurge of vermilions/... And night arrives in one gigantic step.--from Two Campers in Cloud Country (Rock Lake, Canada)*, S. Plath

I've always wanted to see the northern lights (aurora borealis). Canadians & Americans in the north will see them tonight. (Maybe.) Cool NASA link. Goodness. Meanwhile, off to the bath. I'm looking at bath posts for ideas & as always, Tina Tarnoff has something inspiring on Thought Patterns. Ready for a Bath? from August 2009.

Good night you lucky, lucky people up north.

*the poem is not about death, no matter what lunatics write; it's about sleep. And vacations, holidays. And how beautiful Ontario was on a camping trip. The End.

[bath & tree bed via Verhext tumblr]

Le Regard Bleu/The Blue Look

Une Histoire de Bleu / From A Story of Blue by Jean-Michel Maulpoix [From Poetry, October 2000]

Nous connaissons par ouï-dire l'existence de l'amour.

Assis sur un rocher ou sous un parasol rouge, allongés dans le pré bourdonnant d'insectes, les deux mains sous la nuque, agenouillés dans la fraîcheur et l'obscurité d'une église, ou tassés sur une chaise de paille entre les quatre murs de la chambre/

************
We know through hearsay that love exists.

Seated on a rock or under a red parasol, lying in the field buzzing with insects, our hands clasped behind our necks, kneeling in the cool darkness of a church, or settled on a straw chair within the four walls of the bedroom/(continued)

Four walls of bedrooms (chambres) via Marie Claire Maison. Yes, still looking at these (& rewriting). I loved this prose poem in the October 2000 Poetry & still do. It fell off the shelf today & so it's come to this: books or journals that fall on my feet (or head) due to lack of housekeeping (or space), that's a post. That's what happens with writing, as well. It's not as dumb as it sounds or seems. (She said to herself.)

My Baroque Brain (Breathe II)

The afternoon before I had lain across

my bed and my cat leapt up to lie

alongside me, purring and slowly

growing dozy. By this ritual I could/ clear some clutter from my baroque brain...
The Cloisters, Wm. Matthews, greatly missed.

I must have 100+ images of (North African/Levantine baroque) bedrooms but not for tonight. This is from the Verhext tumblr; marvellous San Francisco artist Tina Tarnoff of Thought Patterns has a post using images from this site. I highly recommend a visit to Pleasure.

Off to the virtual Libyan desert tomorrow for more basket magic. If only he would...hold that thought.

Breathe

I just like it, that's all. And it's an unusually cool night & I took down the curtains except for the ones like these. (Sleep mask, that's how. Or drugs. Legal! If only the ocean were this close.)

[photograph by jane flanagan, via we heart it]

Dream Sleep

Good night from Julie the Grand Poobah's apartment. (Well, why pretend that I'm in control? I was up heating her favorite food at 5am & no, that is not usual.) I'll be off tomorrow doing all sorts of things, worthy & a bit of fun, too. But right now, I'd just like to crawl into this photograph & go to sleep. I'm not complaining, I love my terracotta-colored walls (a collaboration with an artist friend & self). Julie wants a pouf or ottoman to curl up on--so she can be more of a focus. Oh, why not? Many lovely (& some quite cheeky) blogs & sites both here & on Giulia Geranium. Good night, all.

[room interior via miss wallflower, via we heart it]

Sleep On It

On a search though it won't be these...& the poem &/or essay is not about safety railings & crib recalls.

A friend (who never comments here) sent an e-mail memo detailing what is wrong with the blog...ahem. She meant well but a bit of advice: if someone hasn't asked for your opinion about a painting, a poem, a song, your new hat, your latest wacky outfit, etc...stifle yourself. I know that's supposed to be a bad thing, but I don't think so. People have blogs for different reasons. I've been quite clear about mine. (And I am looking for a new bed frame, so this is fun. A lot of white rooms but I'm not feeling that tonight. Next week.)

Off to gardens tomorrow with Maria Caterina di Perugia. The only thing is, I find very few lovely straight (single) men go to these gardens. Well, it'll keep my mind on the David Austin rose collection. (Sob.)

[photographs via here, here, here, & here]

Blue Room, Gold Fish

Two more rooms I like...& one sleepy cat. Julie's meowing for her night-time CD to be played. I'm utterly serious. And yes, Happy Earth Day. I felt no need to post on it as there were so many. But the Clever Pup's post* reminded me of my first Earth Day. I saved a goldfish from an untimely & unnecessary death. Some mad scientist older boys were going to plop it into river water, thereby proving to junior high kids that their water supply was endangered. (Duh.) It might have been my first solo demonstration outside the family home. Can't remember. That was some philosophical/theological "discussion" - I cut it short by grabbing the fish bowl & running with it to the manse (of my church) across the street. We were given safe haven, of course. The fish lived in our aquarium several years. I wish someone had told me earlier: Senior boys - don't believe the hype.

*to be clear, Pup's reference to her brother was a nice one--it only reminded me of senior high school boys & Earth Day.

[blue room here; the second is an IKEA bed (yep) via a pretty blog called Trouvais (both via we heart it]

Week's End - The Plum Plum

It is a very plum plum.. -Count Laszlo de Almásy, The English Patient (film/screenplay).

As soon as I read that Toronto's Hazel Smith of The Clever Pup had opened an etsy shop, I clicked over to The Plum Plum. Familiar with Hazel's paintings from her charming blog, I was delighted to see some reproduced on paper goods. So far, there are a couple of journals, sepia postcards, & The Plum Tarts.

The latter are Hazel's marvellously evocative paintings of les femmes fatales & artist's models of the 1920s Paris art scene. Now they grace blank note cards (glossy card stock/4.25 x 5.5 inches with white envelopes) in a set of four (or separately). These are high-quality, well-priced cards. I ordered a set o' Tarts & two Marie cards. Problem: how to allow the cards go, to fulfill their destiny. Solution: I've ordered the Marie notebook & look forward to showing it off at the Phillips Collection café soon. I'm convinced that it will add to my aura of mystery & general savoir-faire. (Allow me my delusion-illusions.)

The Plum Plum is la crème de la crème. Well done & congratulations to Hazel. Now, let's keep her busy!

bonne nuit/bon week-end

[collage images by Hazel Smith/The Plum Plum/all rights reserved]

Mediterranean Makeover

Hmmm. [photographs via everything turquoise; only alice; Life in Italy; casasugar.com; ralphlauren.com; moi]

Sunday Apartment Shopping

I'm not really shopping for an apartment or a city townhouse but I wanted to thank Maria Caterina for the adorable gift to Julie (aka Giulia) on behalf of Hermione the Cat. It arrived yesterday. This is the only piece of cat "furniture" I can imagine possessing. It could not be assembled quickly enough to suit the impatient one. As I held up one large cardboard "floor" with a hole in it (see the top of the box), puzzling & swearing (I'm not known for 'assembly required' ability), she took a flying leap off a dresser & gracefully flew through it like a dolphin through a hoop...or a lion through a flaming ring (I object to forcing animals to do this, by the by). I laughed so much that I had to sit down for a while. J. has barely left her city townhouse since then (though she is sleeping next to me now on Sunday afternoon).

I've always wanted to live near The Phillips Collection where I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time. I nearly bought a co-op nearby in the mid-90s & I should have done. Won't make that mistake again. The colorful townhouse photograph is at Logan Circle, though; not terribly far away from the museum & is by OHAD via 20 Awesome Photography Blogs - Washington, DC.

[2nd photograph via DrsFosterSmith.com]