Vintage Vogue

Liz Lange - Domino

Using vintage Vogue magazine covers has always been a favorite design look. I always wanted to do this, it makes for a highly visual wall of glamour doesn't it? These ones are shown framed tight and with an exact frame fit. If you have a spot for just a couple, you could matt them with a wide border to extend the size and impact. Conde Nast has a vast online library of reproductions, fashionable covers from Vogue, House & Home, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Gourmet, and an older magazine called Charm which I vaguely remember. They aren't inexpensive, a 12" x 14" will set you back about 185.00 US but are of a magnificant exhibit quality. The fun is in the searching for a cover or photo that has meaning to you, whether it subject matter or date.

The early days of civilized air travel..... I seemed to prefer the older illustration covers. This one is from a January 1, 1947 issue of Vogue Travel and was drawn by illustrator Carl Erickson. This would be a great gift pick for the travelling friend or a fashionable travel agent.

See you later darlin....
another wonderful illustration by Carl Erickson for a November 15. 1938 Vogue issue.


It's fascinating to see the progression of cover artwork, this quaint Vogue illustration by David is from 1910!

Yachting by Edward Steichen 1928

The Conde Nast archives also includes photography. It was in the Vanity Fair archives that I found that fabulous shot of Katherine Hepburn that I used in my Friday Finally post a few weeks back. I think I should buy that image........especially since Vanity Fair is my top magazine read each month.

Top photo from Domino archives on Flickr/All other illustrations and photos from Conde Nast

Blogger award

My lovely new blogger friend Mandy from A La Parisienne and my long-distance French teacher {click here for her French Fridays} recently awarded me with the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you Mademoiselle Mandy! In order to accept it I have to post the award logo, then tell you 7 interesting things about myself and then in turn, pass this award on to 7 other blogs. I will post my 7 blog award recipients in a future post so I can do them justice. Hmmmm........where to start?

How about 7 things I really shouldn't be telling anyone?

1. I like my pajamas way too much. Technically, I am only 'dressed" for about 6 hours a day. This was particularly obvious during Jan. Feb. and March when it got dark about 5:00 pm and my husband gets home about 6. I knew I had gone too far with this casual dress when my husband finally said "weren't you wearing that this morning when I left?" I still think Hugh Hefner has the right idea.
2. I eat the same things every morning and every evening snack. I only vary the dinner meal. I do make sure I make my hard-working spouse a delicious dinner each night. He's on his own for breakfast and lunch. My low-cal evening snack is a caramel chocolate chip rice cake topped with no-fat peach yogurt, fresh strawberry slices and toasted slivered almonds. A yummy open-face sandwich treat.
3. I absolutely hate doing my hair these days. It's going grayer, thinner, and is totally uncooperative. Sometimes I forget and have rollers in for hours while I wrap or blog. The UPS guy thinks that is my permanent hairdo and my hairdresser calls frequently to ask if I am alright. Yes I am.
4. I used to read about 5-6 books a week, speed reader and all. Now I fall asleep when I read. I really, really miss reading but have discovered a latent interest in history to replace fiction reads. For now.
5. I do not miss my former career as interior designer at all, not one bit. I did it for 20 years and it is a tough, tough job which requires youth and energy. I do miss my client gal-pals though and keep in contact with many on a regular basis. Hug your designer if you have one.
6. I absolutely love good conversation. If no one is around, I will carry on a delightful conversation in my head to amuse myself. I enjoy this quieter pace but will admit blogging has helped a great deal.
7. Since blogging, I have developed several deep lines on the bridge of my nose right between my eyes, a wider butt (which I am working on), and a bad attitude with my dress code. I have googled Botox 40 times but I am really wussy with pain. Any pain.
8. An extra just to clarify.....I really, really enjoy being 55 years old. After all, I'm still here.

This should answer the Botox question.....here is Lauren Hutton in 1966 and then not too long ago in a Gap ad. Looking fabulously Botox free. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Bottom left photo by Bert Stern-Vogue -Conde Nast/Bottom Right Photo from Hello Gorgeous blog.

A Jo Malone Kind of Gal

Photo by Chris Everard

Doesn't she just look like a Jo Malone kind of girl?

I am definitely a JO MALONE kind of gal and have been for a very long time now. Not only do I love it's clean, but woody smell, I am acutely fragrance-sensitive and the JO MALONE 154 seems to be one fragrance I can tolerate and it has a chameleon-like ability that I enjoy. My day doesn't start until I shower with the 154 shower gel and occasionally I will wear the more floral Blue Agava & Cocao (as my husband loves it like crazy). 154 is the address of the original London shop where JO MALONE created her first fragrances .The appeal of a Jo Malone gift is it's understated packaging, this company has always understood the importance of elegant gift presentation and it's legions of devoted followers must feel the same. As a tasteful gift, you just can't go wrong, everybody adores a JO MALONE gift. Most JM gals have a favorite, sometimes several as Jo MOLONE has a philosophy of fragrance combining that encourages the creation of your own bespoke signature scent. You can start them (of gift yourself)with their purse-size bottle of Grapefruit, Lime Basil and Mandarin, or Amber &Lavender. Don't forget to ask for the samples so you can experiment with layering other combinations as well. I buy it at the little JO MALONE shop located in Saks at Somerset or at Holt Renfrew in Toronto.

The cream and black JO MALONE boxes are like Laduree boxes, just too nice to throw away. After 10 years I have all sizes and shapes (anybody who buys JM knows what I am talking about). Do I dare to re-gift a classic JO MALONE box? ...........shouldn't mess with perfection, but you're darn right I'm going to try!! You should if you have a large selection of wonderful shopping boxes, it's environmentally correct to re-gift boxes in this way. I wonder if Jo Malone would agree or mind? First, if it isn't JO MALONE product in the box, then figure out a way to cover the logo, no point in pretending.......or getting someones hopes up! I used an over sized Paris sticker (this one is Versailles)to fit over the logo nicely.

I could re-gift this box a zillion ways ( I will show you a few more soon) but you know by now how my inspiration works, a designer sees a great photo (especially by Chris Everard-maybe I should send her a gift soon?) and off I go on a little gift wrap challenge. This silk ribbon in the most exquisite green colour is heaven to work with and does this gorgeous box it's due justice. I almost feel guilty......but not quite enough to stop

JO MALONE packaging is so distinctive, when I do gift this product I still wrap it up the box anyways so there is at least some surprise. A triple ribbon layer of double face satin, black and ivory striped cotton ribbon and a wispy garment binding over pearl paper give this petite box a crisp, spring look. And by now, you know I couldn't resist adding petite cabbage rose ......a perfect match in soft green.

Top Photo by Chris Everard-Sarah Kaye/2nd photo from Jo Malone/Bottom 3 photos by Sande Chase- OoohlalaCadeau

Happy Easter

Rabbit & Doves ~ Photo by Chris Everard

Laduree does chocolate eggs for Easter.

Martha does Golden Eggs & Basket

I borrowed this bunny from a wonderful blog called French Blue. Go visit her here

Have a gorgeous, gorgeous Easter .....see you next week.

Top photo by Chris Everard-Sarah Kaye/2nd photo from Laduree/3rd photo from Martha Stewart/Bottom photo from blog French Blue.

Kitchen Lust

design by European designers Baden and Baden

No wrapping today, lots of grocery shopping, cooking and baking for the weekend ahead. Our son is packing up and heading home for a few months to study for a big exam so our kitchen will be busier than usual again. I love my kitchen and all that it represents, I hope you love yours as well, but if not, here's some design ideas to file away.......
This neutral-based kitchen reminds me of Flamant, a upscale lifestyle store located in the Saint-Germain area of Paris. Talking about spending hours in a store....I wanted to live there! More about the Belgian-based home retailer located in Paris and other European cities coming in an upcoming post. I hate picking favorites, but if forced to.......and in another life, this high-ceiling working kitchen would be the one.

design by Elaine Griffin via House Beautiful

This distressed celery green finish is so European, especially since they used it on both the cabinetry and panelled walls. . .....a brilliant stroke of design. This colour looks fabulous with the copper hood and warm wood floor tone. I bet this room is delicious when the sunlight filters in during the day.

image from Canadian House & Home (no designer source given)

According to last weekend's Globe & Mail style section, red is back in kitchen design. Count me in, I could slice and saute quite happily in this kitchen with tomato red cabinets. Red in a kitchen stimulates the appetite, so chose accordingly. This room would sizzle at night.

design by Gwyn Duggan via Canadian House & Home

Along with this crisp and soothing palette, I love the cozy seating arrangement around a generously-sized wood table. A Scandinavian colour palette and comfy white cotton wing chairs.......so serene.

design by Michele Allman via House Beautiful

More distressed furniture-style cabinetry in a lovely washed turquoise. The burgundy toile fabric and lantern give the room a complementry boost and fits the ambiance so well. Cleverly-disguised, the refrigerator poses as an armoire seen on the left. I always prefer two windows instead of one big one, seems cozier and gives the stone hood it rightful prominence.

Top photo from Baden and Baden/2nd and bottom photo from House Beautiful/3rd and 4th photo from Canadian House & Home

Royal Purple

Have nerves of steel? Decisive in your choices? Not a colour for the faint-hearted.

Positively brave.......gorgeous isn't it?

The purple storefront of VV Rouleaux, no.... not in Paris. Two locations in London, England, one at 54 Sloane Street, the other at 102 Marylebone Lane. Known as the Chanel of ribbon and passementerie. Full of ribbons, trimmings, tassels, flowers and display decorations.




People spend hours there.....obviously! They must mean days....


V Rouleaux owner Annabel Lewis has a book
Ribbons & Trims - Embellishing Furniture, Furnishings and Home Accessories.
She forgot to mention gifts. You can see and order it here.


Layered ribbons and colours wrap Spring Fresh sachets for Easter.

Top photo by Domino/2nd and 3rd photo via Flickr/4th photo from VV Rouleaux/Bottom Photo by Sande Chase-Oooh la la Cadeau

Armful of Lilacs

When I think of spring I think of lilacs and their incredible fragrance. I used to pick them on my way home from school and bring them by the armful to my mom. There's a mature tree across the street that is laden with them every spring, I keep hinting but as yet none have shown up at my door. I got to thinking of this luscious colour yesterday after mentioning it as the complementary colour to chartreuse and then it showed up on another blog (see below), off I went........it's a day of luscious lilac. Actually it will be two days, tomorrow's post is the colour purple, Easter week and all that. Oprah had a chartreuse sweater on yesterday afternoon, did anyone else notice that? This gorgeous image of Lovely Lilacs is available from a Canadian Etsy seller by the name of Broomhill Pictures, see their beautiful selection of cards and photo prints {click here}. This one is a 4"x 6" glossy print mounted on a 5"x 7" card at 4.50 Can. with envelope.


The box colour would be considered lavender, the sheer ribbon more lilac toned, either way they look more interesting when combined. Sometimes I forget about my check ribbons, not because I don't like them, they are just stored in a spot where I don't notice them as much. Note to self: Move check ribbons forward and order silk lilacs. They would look gorgeous on this box.

It sometimes happens (actually more than you would think-weirdly so) that you are working away on your post and up comes a completed post about the same topic. Blogger friend Mandy from the french-themed A La Parisienne used this lovely photo and did a beautiful post yesterday titled Le Couleur Violet, sounds so much better in French don't you think? But it gets even weirder, not only did we both pick the same blog topic (or colour in this case) but I was actually writing about her French-themed blog and the new French Lesson Fridays that she just started on her blog last Friday. The former French teacher (and new mom) has put her blog students into beginners, intermediate and advanced levels and has a lovely set of rules for us to follow. I'm thinking I'll do much better this time around, Mandy is way nicer than my rigid high-school French teacher. C'est magnifique! I learnt that last Friday....go see.

Here's a lilac petite gift combined with orange.......c'est adorable! But this is definitely feminine.....so I may be wrong saying c'est in this case......may have to move down from beginner to novice level. Sometimes I add in a little extra surprise, in this case a petite spool of velvet ribbon in a strawberry pink. C'est la surprise?

Top photo from Etsy/2nd and bottom photo by Sande Chase-Oooh la la Cadeau/3rd photo from Domino via A La Parisienne.

Love Love Chartreuse

photo by Polly Wreford

I am fascinated with the colour Chartreuse. I adore the colour, I even love the word, how it rolls off your tongue as you say it, when I'm looking for visual impact, it's my go-to ribbon choice. As an exact reference, her bag and the wide bow on the fourth box above are chartreuse. I try not to play favorites, but I admit to being partial to this vivid tone. It's a potent, potent colour..... chartreuse is the exact colour located halfway between green and yellow (50% green 50% yellow) and it is the most visible colour to the human eye since it sits directly in the middle of the frequencies of visible light. In other words, if I was to wrap 50 gifts in all different colours and arrange them all together, your eye would immediately drawn first to this vibrant colour. As a colour description, it's first recorded use in the English language was in 1892, before that this brilliant colour was simply referred to as yellow-green. I much prefer Chartreuse.

First and foremost, green Chartreuse is a famous french liqueur developed as the "elixir of long life" and named after the La Grande Chartreuse monastery, the Mother House and headquarters of the Carthusian order of monks. Originally developed for medicinal purposes in1764, it is composed of distilled alcohol flavored with 130 herbal extracts, one of them known to be chlorophyll. The recipe took over a hundred years to be perfected and is a closely guarded secret. At any time in it's long history, only 2 monks (some say 3 monks) know the identity of the 130 plants that give it it's distinctive and natural green colour. Though originally located in Vauvert near Paris (the chartreuse mountain region), back-and-forth property disputes over several hundreds of years (and the French Revolution) led to it's present location in Voiron near the French Alps. There is also a yellow Chartreuse liqueur, a knock-off so to speak, it's a milder and sweeter taste and more yellow tone is likely due to the addition of saffron.

A Chartreuse flapper dress by fashion designer Philip Lim. Not a wearable colour for everyone, but if the colour suits your complexion...go for it, you'll will be the most noticeable in the room. Put a turquoise necklace with it and it's positively electric. I bought a chartreuse scarf last month at Target for 12.99 and I can't stop wearing it.

Though it's complementary colour (opposite on the colour wheel) is violet, it's a colour that gets along happily with all the other colours, it loves pink, red, turquoise, you name it, it works. It certainly isn't worried about any competition. I have only been able to find one true chartreuse ribbon and I go through this slinky double face satin quite quickly. Used with black it makes for a sophisticated gift wrap, here I wrapped black glossy paper with a wide black damask flocked ribbon that lies flat better than it ties. It's not the least expensive ribbon so this is a clever way to use it sparingly to great efect. A fuchsia silk floral pin gives it a fashionable zap of even more colour. Soon I will tell you why that ribbon has a Chartreuse imprint.

Top photo by Polly Wreford-Sarah Kaye/2nd Photo via Chartreuse Fr/3rd Photo via Neiman Marcus/Bottom Photo by Sande Chase-OoohlalaCadeau

Finally Friday......

Katharine Hepburn by Cecil Beaton 1935. Vanity Fair Archives. Conde Nast

Yes, it was that kind of week, pondering too many things, without many answers. No one's life is gift wrapped all the time!

Photo by Polly Wreford

Should I bring out the drinks tray? I rarely do, but what the heck?

Oh......that Vera Wang! I bet she's having a great week. She just knows how to do everything so elegant and understated, so focused in her design vision. This gorgeous black leather box with box is also available in white leather. A lovely gift for the bride (to save her veil or shoes), well actually just about anybody with extremely good taste.

Have a wonderful weekend. I will too.

Top photo from Vanity Fair Archives/2nd photo by Polly Wreford-Sarah Kaye/Bottom Photo from Neiman Marcus

Artful Anne

Courtneys Favorite Things- a private commission piece by artist Anne Harwell.

12" x 12" Giclee on matte canvas, ready for display. She accepts private

commissions, have a lovely corner, a setting, or house you want drawn?

She's your girl.

Yes, you may have seen this photograph before (on my very first post) but this time I want you to look in the upper left corner and you'll see a wonderful notecard image with a fabulous chartreuse chair. I had just received my first Etsy buy, these most wonderful notecards from a most stylish artist....... doesn't her Courtney Barnes chair look perfect sitting on top of all those colourful wrap papers? I'm a newcomer to blogger land, but even here it doesn't take long to know who the really nice bloggers are, they comment, they promote other talent, and they just have a positive tone to whatever they do. But blog land aside, Anne Harwell has some serious talent for someone her age and I just adore what she does with all of it. She draws, she blogs, she has an Etsy store, a Zazzle gallery, a Flickr photostream..........

I'm at the bottom of a long list of people who have written about Anne, her blog and Etsy shop, both under her beautiful ANNECHOVIE banner, are hugely popular. Her iconic Courtney Barnes chair artwork is also available in a framed format for 75.00 US.

I also Etsy ordered these scalloped flat notecards for a friend, but little secret.......I kept them for myself. It seems a designer can never leave their old life behind, how could I resist? A boxed set of 8 cards and envelopes is 16.50 US. A wonderful gift for the friend who sits at the top of your gift list.

A more recent collection of her Chair Silhouette boxed notecards.

The colourful set gives you 4 images (8 cards total) for 16.50 US.

She also has a gallery at Zazzle where you can buy her fabulous chair images
on postage stamps, coffee mugs, aprons, and mousepads.

I told you she was a clever girl!

Photo images 1, 3,4, and 5 from Annechovie/2nd photo by Sande Chase

Girly Girl

I would have to make some serious physical modifications to wear this dress, but I am entranced by this dress! what is it about blush pink that captures my attention? Am I a girly-girl? Must be, but I'm not alone, today when I went to pick up my latte, a line-up of school kids had to cross my path, every single little girl had pink on in some version.............all girls, young or old, it's obviously embedded in our DNA. I love, love pink, there I said it! And by now, you know where that always leads me........

Remember those wallpaper book samples I have stashed away? That double face satin ribbon I love? Those paper flowers I twist and probably use too much? A girly-girl gift for sure, don't you think?

These wired paper roses come in packs of 20 and in three colours, ivory, coral and green. They seem to finish off any girly-girl gift so wonderfully. They will be added to the Wrap section of my website soon. It's the same pink ribbon but my camera has a mind of it's own these days. Note to self: quit looking at girly-girl dresses you can't wear and actually read camera instruction book.

Top photo from Martha Stewart Weddings/Middle and Bottom Photo by Sande Chase - Oooh la la Cadeau.

Red Crystal

Oooh............I love. covet. desire. crave. want this blast of colour. A Ranunculus crystal dome paperweight from John Derian. His crystal paperweights, decoupage platters and trays are a collectors favorite. Something for Mother's Day (hint,hint) or those new Bose headphones (small and light) would be good too.

Look.........the Peacock chair from Haute House with a bow on the back. Well, actually it's a buckle, but close. What a great mix of patterns and that chair fabric is wonderful. This company likes adding rear details to their chairs. Makes sense doesn't it?

And...............put it with this Georgia Flower square rug in a brillant red. Quite an entry statement for a 3'x 3" size. See it in the Haute Red collection at Neiman Marcus here.
Gorgeous..........Nr. 22 Red Parrot Tulip oil painting from Dutch Touch Art. Their old world paintings are fabulous. They still send me product emails so I still have my eye on one, I'll show it to you in an upcoming post. View their gallery here.

Top photo from John Derian/2nd and 3rd photo from Neiman Marcus/Bottom photo from Dutch Touch Art