I am so excited that I just updated my tote bag with a new notebook. This beautiful lined journal by my friend, artist and illustrator Samantha Hahn. Her Parade of Shoes Journal ($11.01 on Amazon, published by Potter Style) features a bevy of fancy watercolor painted shoes from Louboutins to vintage Dior. Artwork for the journal is from the fashion/astrology gift book, Shoestrology.
The 128 page journal also features many more beautiful shoe illustrations inside, giving you that extra eye candy inspiration as you write. The hot pink elastic band is also a great colorful bookmark that keeps everything in place. It's been fun to spot the various designers shoes like the studded Valentinos, alligator Gucci boots, and more. The blank journal is the perfect gift to a shoe lover in your life!
I first fell in love with the little birds and owls by Susie Ghahremani almost eight years ago when I was working in the DIY world at MAKE/CRAFT. (I still sport the starry owl t-shirt I bought from her many years ago!) This spring, she's got a new crop of paper goods from Chronicle Books that I am absolutely in love with. First off is the Keeping Tabs: A Productivity Portfolio ($11.01 at Amazon) that has been my lifesaver in terms of keeping me organized. It comes with to-do lists (two designs), sticky notes, and sticky flags that are perfect to note special pages in my cookbooks, magazines, notebooks and more. The whole thing is packages so perfectly in the thin portfolio and I like the circle tab closure. There's nothing like seeing the cute little birds to jump start me to start cracking down my to-do list!
I also adore her new Forest Animals Journal ($9.31 on Amazon) that is the perfect place to write any kind of notes you need and to carry it along with you in your bag. The notebook also comes with the most adorable animal shaped sticker tabs that can help mark a special page you need to flip back to. I use this journal to hold my notes for the day and I love that each page features a scene of a forest animals(foxes, birds, squirrels, beavers, and bunnies) that seem to play along with you on each page.
You can see more of Susie Ghahremani's beautiful paper goods with Chronicle Books here. Visit her site boygirlparty.com for more info about her artwork and crafty goods.
Susie did this beautiful illustration of my daughter Chloe and my pom Lulu together back in 2009. (My daughter was almost 1 year old at the time.) I love that she captures the essence of their adorable friendship.
I'm a paper junkie and the one thing I cannot have enough of is pretty notebooks. My friend Lorraine at Chronicle Books gave me this Botanical Notebook Collection ($12.95 at Chronicle Books) which features a set of three beautiful soft-covered centersewn bound notebooks. I keep one in my purse at all times and jot down all my important notes in it. I love that it's the perfect size -- not too small so I can really write and not too big that it's bulky, heavy and cumbersome. I love that the lined pages are accented with floral metallic gold illustrations.
Treat yourself to some pretty notebooks from Chronicle Books. There are plenty to choose from! The mini journal sizes are great for your smaller bags.
Hello! Lucky's holiday photo cards are a beautiful way to spread some holiday cheer this season. There are lots of different designs to choose from featuring gorgeous typography and clever designs. I just ordered my cards yesterday and chose this woodblock ornaments design. I love that stamped look of the card which gives it a handmade feel. You can also customize everything you see for the card. Choose your own custom color scheme. I've never seen so many color choices available for customized cards. There are 35 standard ink colors where you can create your own custom palette. You can choose the pre-set text or insert your own special message. Plus I love the selection of stylish fonts. Preview it all online so you can see what you are getting. You can even choose what color envelope you want for your card. (I chose chartreuse for mine.)
I looked for a lot of photos to use from this past year of my girls, but kept coming back to this photo of Chloe and Lulu from last month. We had just come back from the salon for Chloe's first haircut and her hairdresser showed me how to do a cute twist to her hair. I wanted to snap some pictures of her hair before it unraveled later so I had them pose for me. I never expected such a cute photo to come out of that ordinary day.
Get 20% off your order at Hello! Lucky Just for Coquette readers, shop for your holiday cards (and more) at hellolucky.com and get 20% off your order with the code Coquette2012. Offer is good until December 31, 2012.
Here's a preview of the great selection of holiday cards at Hello! Lucky:
Note: Cards were provided by Hello! Lucky for review.
October 2nd is Batik Day, a celebration in Indonesia and around the world for batik fabric. Batik fabric is created by an intricate technique that uses a manual wax-resist dyeing. The technique is very detailed and batik artisans usean intricate copper tool to draw out the liquid wax. It can take from a month to a year to finish a piece of batik cloth, depending on the complexity of the desige. Because of this complicated production process, batik can be considered to be high end and expensive.
I was honored to be asked by Shinta from BatikAntik in Indonesia to help bring awareness to the art form and help celebrate the amazing artisans in Indonesia who painstakingly create these beautiful pieces.
In 2009, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, which is "the totality of tradition-based creations of a cultural community expressed by a group or individuals and recognized as reflecting the expectations of a community in so far as they reflect its cultural and social identity."
I am wearing a pink chiffon crinkled batik scarf made by Riana Kusuma. The colors are beautiful pastels of pink, purple and coral featuring beautiful hand drawn flowers. As a crafter and fabric lover, I am amazing that I had not known about all the details on what goes into creating batik fabric. I of course knew about the patterns, but didn't realize how tedious the actual production work was.
This fantastic BBC article about Batik designer Josephine Komara of Obin explains a lot about the creation of this artform. Obin has brought batik out from the shadows of state functions, to to trendy cocktail parties where batik and Hermes bags go hand in hand. Watch the video above to see more of the handmade process of batik.
Today you can see batik fabric designs used by some of the top fashion designers like Dries Van Notten, Diane Von Furstenberg, Armani and Nicole Miller.
This Saturday, the Hello! Lucky studios will be open to the public from 11am to 5pm in celebration of SFMade Week. The letter presses will be running and cards/gifts will be on sale. To make it even more fun, a fellow crafter I adore, FeistyElle will be selling her beautiful jewelry (pictured below) in the studio as well!
More info on the event is here on the Hello! Lucky blog. RSVP on Facebook if you can make it.
Hello! Lucky Saturday May 12, 11am-5pm
977 Howard Street (b/t 5th and 6th St)
San Francisco
I'm in major spring decorating mode since I cleared out and reorganized all the closets in the house these last few months. Now I'm looking to add little decor enhancements and these Mattie Luxe personalized mat in lucite tray ($99) are a cute way to brighten up a buffet table or bathroom. Choose from a variety of designs and colors. You can also dress up your dinner table for the whole family or a special event with stylized placemats that are only $15 each.
Valentine's Day is a great way to send a love note not only to your honey, but also to your BFF, your parents, and friends who now live far away but are still dear to your heart. I took a little visit to the Hello! Lucky studio recently and got a preview of their new Year of Love box set ($24). It features 12 letterpress cards in an array of beautiful designs. You can also purchase individual cards you like from the set or others in their greeting cards category. There are also some fun all occasion card kits for sale too.
Don't forget you can get 10% off Hello! Lucky holiday cards! Just enter the special code Coquette at checkout. This offer expires on December 31, 2011. Hello! Lucky now has custom photo cards as well as their beautifully illustrated letterpress favorites. (See previous Coquette post.)
I'm in the process of organizing and sprucing up the decor in my apartment and the colorful prints of Hammocks & High Tea are calling my name! The eco friendly fibers are designed by Karen Young bringing a modern perspective on global textiles. The pillows come in three sizes 12X16 for $90, 14X24 for $140, and 20X20 for $140.
Disclaimer: Posts on this blog include affiliate links. Review items that are provided for free by a brand or company will be noted on the individual blog post.