Lily, Rosemary

and the Jack of Hearts. Man, I have to change the subject (sort of). It should be about the Rolling Stones because Keith just said "honey, you tried" to Terry Gross on Fresh Air. It was a fine interview, as always. (Link to listen, also expanded Jon Stewart interview) (Tim Walker photograph via Lori at automatism.)

Why Wear Anything Else?

Hey, please do a good deed for my fellow Benevolent Postcard Society member. She needs some votes to win a very cool contest. She's tied (!) with someone else who is also talented. But I really do think hers is the best illustration. I've voted every day since Lori Langille of automatism (& creator of BPS) posted on it. Haven't received a speck o'spam. Below is the text from Lori on the BPS blog:

Interested in helping out a fellow BPS member? Samantha in Istanbul, Turkey is a finalist in a design competition and needs your votes! Last year she designed a shoe for Fluevog that was eventually made into a real shoe named the Zaza (after her). This time around, she's in the running for a competition to design the ad for the Zaza. The winner is determined by the number of votes their design receives, so Samantha needs as many votes as she can get to win. Help her win by voting for her beautifully illustrated ad, called Why Wear Anything Else?, here. You can vote once a day until December 22.

Good luck, Samantha!

[illustration used by permission of the very same talented Samantha]

Swedish Christmas Kitchen

Congratulations to Lori Langille, Canadian illustrator! Lori's blog automatism was included in the Times (UK) 50 of the World's Best Design blogs yesterday. That calls for an exclamation point. So !!!! for Lori. She was the first person to link to Giulia Geranium (& I didn't know it for months--it never occurred to me that anyone would) & has been so supportive. She's also the creator of the Benevolent Postcard Society project of which I am a proud participant.

This pretty image is from automatism's 2008 24 days of Noël series. Lori was kind enough to "lend" it for the GG blog last Christmas season. It's scanned from her personal Marie Claire Maison collection. Why, oh why, did I give so many of them up?

I had a wonderful 4th grade teacher. She was born in Sweden & remains an inspiration--of style & substance. I was thrilled to attend her Christmas-season wedding. Shopping for a gift, my mother & I decided on a silver teaspoon in Miss B's wedding pattern. That year, Santa had the good sense to leave a Madame Alexander Swedish doll under the tree. If I ever get this place in order, the doll will be part the Christmas decor, as always.

Congratulations again to Lori.