Birthday Card + Color Collective Palettes

The Happy, Happy Birthday Challenge is now open for voting over at Minted. I only submitted one design to this competition, but I love it and that is all that matters. When choosing my color palette, I looked to The Color Collective website for inspiration. If you havent discovered Lauren's amazing blog, be sure to check it out. Here is the design that I submitted, along with the image that inspired the colors. Feel free to go on over and vote for your favorite designs!

Banner Year Birthday (above) inspired by this color palette (below)

Papillionaire Bicycles

My grandmother has the most fantastic red bicycle, it is a Schwinn Breeze and once upon a time had a super comfortable lambswool seat cover. Every summer that I visit her, I like to take the Breeze out for a spin along Lake Michigan even though it is in a serious need of new tires and the seat cover has gone missing after years of zooming around.

These vintage style bicycles from Papillonaire remind me so much of the Breeze, and with a relatively low price tag (not sure if they ship outside of Australia yet) the Sommer model would be perfect for the streets of Philadelphia. Check out the Papillonaire website where you can customize your own bike with special touches like leather handle grips and a wicker basket!

Botanical Posters

I love these hanging canvas posters from Evolution, the unexpected black backgrounds are incredibly chic and make the colors pop off the page.

clockwise from top left: Cherry, Dog Rose,  Cowslip Primrose,  Pea

According to their website, these Scientific German Educational Charts were originally illustrated in the middle of the 20th century, and continue to be reproduced by the same printer. I think these would look great in a white and grey kitchen like this:

originally from Domino, found on Flickr

The Great Minnesota Get Together

Allan Peters found via Twig and Thistle

I spent the first 18 years of my life in Minnesota, and while there are many things I miss about growing up there, it is the State Fair that I miss the most. Our house was within walking distance to the fair grounds which meant that for the last two weeks of summer my nights consisted of corn on the cob, strawberry milk shakes, rides on the big green and yellow slide and hanging out with friends in the midway.  I saw my first concert of my life there (Peter Paul and Mary), stuck my hand into the side of a cow to feel its stomachs, watched Princess Kay of the Milky Way get her likeness carved into a block of butter, and got the living daylights scared out of me in the haunted house. I haven't been to the fair since I went away to college, but I saw this poster and couldn't help but miss the cheese curds, giant hogs, tractor pulls, pickles on a stick and nightly fireworks displays of my youth. I really am still a midwest girl at heart!

The Haiti Poster Project and a Graduation

On Friday my husband graduated medical school with honors and I have never felt so proud in my life! 

In light of his achievement, I thought I would share some posters from The Haiti Poster Project to benefit Doctors Without Borders. Check out some of my faves:

A World United to Rebuild Haiti by Andy Mangold

Hope for Haiti by Jason Dean

Waves of Hope by Corina Bermudez

All of these designs and many, many more are available for purchase from The Haiti Poster Project. All profits benefit Doctors Without Borders.

Vote in the Latest Minted Challenge, Birth Announcements!

Voting is now open, so head on over and check out all of the awesome designs that people entered.
I submitted three for your consideration, lets start with my favorite shall we?

Grid in Green Baby Announcement  

I wanted a modern boy color scheme, and this can be adjusted for a little girl too!

Sunny Baby Announcement

I like orange and magenta for little girls, and was inspired by French bistro menus

New Package Baby Announcement

Honestly I wish I had a few more hours to spend on this one, but I love it anyway. I wanted to make it look like a cereal box (lets not forget that I spend my days designing food packaging). 

Anyway, head on over and vote! You can find my portfolio of designs on Minted here if you are interested.

Vintage Character Inspiration from The Imaginary World

I am really bad at drawing people and animals, as in I draw stick figures.... Yes I know, it is horrible. I recently came across this treasure trove of awesome vintage packaging over at The Imaginary World and am in awe of how simple some of these characters are but how much expression you get out of them. We just finished watching season one of Mad Men last night (Yes, I am that far behind. Don't judge me), so these are right up my alley! 

I am guessing Cecil is the fish/ swap thing?

That bird kills me!

My personal favorite!

All of these can be found over at The Imaginary World, along with a lot of other images of vintage packaging.

Minted Challenge- Wedding Invitations

Here are my three invitations that I submitted to the Minted Breakout Wedding Challenge, I had so much fun doing these in my free time!

Alicia Invitation

Cherry Pie Invitation

City Prep Invitation

I decided that even if i don't win I will start selling invitations on my Etsy site! I have always wanted to venture into that arena, and since it was so cathartic for me, I think the time is right. I will keep you posted about new items in my shop when they become available. Remember, if you are looking for wedding invitations or know someone who might be, send them right on over this way!

Jewelry by Maria Christina Bellucci

Check out these amazing baubles made from colored pencils by Italian artist, Maria Christian Bellucci

All From Maria Christina's Klimt02 site. You can email Maria Christina here for more information.

Vote for Me in the Latest Minted Challenge!

Voting has just opened for the Minted Design Challenge, and I need your help! I have created four designs, (two for men and two for women) for the personal stationery challenge. The goal was to create a note card and matching address label for the envelope. The designs with the highest number of votes with the best score will be sold on Minted.com! You can click here to view my submissions all on one page, or here to view all of the entries in the contest. Without further ado, I bring you the designs:

The Pizzelle, perfect for girly-girls and little ones

Spring in Sevilla, for the world traveler or bohemian chic

MidCentury Man, masculine and mod

Peak Valley, architecturally sound design

If you like what you see, please head on over and rate them and then tell all of your friends to do the same! You have to create an account (so that you can only vote once for each design) but it is really easy and you won't get a bunch of spam or anything. I would like to thank you all in advance for supporting me, your comments here are really appreciated!  Love, Sarah

Check My Shelf

Avi's Shelf

I cannot for the life of me remember how i got to this site, but I bookmarked it because I thought it was really fun to look at! We are always moving things around on our shelves to make way for new books and treasures, nice to know i am not the only one. Ookah is curating a collection of images of bookshelves that people submit to her website. I love seeing what people around the world are reading!

Sylvie's Shelf Super Organized Shelf

Alice Lambert's International Packaging Shelf

You can check out more shelves here or contact Ookah to submit your own!

Maps as Artwork

I recently saw this photo from Trisha Brink Design on the Decor8 website, and it really made me want a vintage map to hang above our bed.

Photo via// Trisha Brink Design, by way of Decor8

We have a globe next to our couch, and I love looking up places we hear about on the news and planning our next adventures. I love how Trisha's map is a pull-down style, it reminds me of elementary school. Here are some other options I found:

Mercator Projection map via// Vintage Maps

National Geographic map// via Art.com

17th Century World Map via// Art.com

Political World Map via// Allposters

While none of these are antiques, they are quite beautiful and affordable. I can see the brightly coored ones in a child's room, and happen to love the National Geographic map.

Ohema Ohene - Beautiful shoes, beautiful clothing.

Ohema Ohene is a new boutique by British born designer, Abenaa Pokuaa. The name means "Queen and King" in the Ghanaian language, Twi and the shoes they design are royally amazing. I have a funky footwear obsession, and these are satisfying my craving for something completely original for spring.

These with a yellow sundress, perhaps?

Perfect with frayed jean shorts and a flowy white top.

Did I mention they also make cute dresses and rompers?

For more information, and to order, visit Ohema Ohene's Big Cartel site here.

Niki Jones home decor and accessories

I recently discovered Niki Jones through a Finish blog, Sanctuary and thought the images from the latest catalog were gorgeous. After attending the Scottish College of Textiles and the Royal College of Art, Niki worked as a textile designer for Habitat and then as a design director for Wedgwood. Her eponymous shop is a well curated mix of styles from around the globe that blend seamlessly from floor to ceiling.

Beautiful Uzbek Pillow Coverings

Toasty Icelandic Bed Stockings

Handmade Notebooks from India

Hand Knit Tea Cosy

I personally love the restraint in color that the shop uses. The pallet is consistent and allows for the many different patterns to combine perfectly without being too busy. Oh, and did you notice the little egg cosy in the last picture? Adorable!