Friday Faves: I Want a New Mug

The cooler weather here in the Pacific Northwest has made me start drinking more coffee in the mornings. I think I need a new mug to add to the rotation. Here are some I found recently.



Left to right, top to bottom: Pantone Universe Mug in Pumpkin 1505 at amazon.com || Mixed Messages Mug from Perpetual Kid || The Original Lionel Richie "Hello" Mug by LennyMud on Etsy || Eames House of Cards Pen/Pencils Mug at Pop Deluxe || To the Letter Mug at ModCloth || Orla Kiely Car Print Mug at dotmaison.com || Face Mug from Uncommon Goods || Marimekko Rasymatto Mug from Marimekko (Vancouver) || Emma Bridgewater Happiness Mug from One Brown Cow

Enjoy! I'm actually on vacation this week, so I'll be back next Wednesday, September 26th. Have a nice weekend!

'80s Flashback: Typography Shoes

When I was in high school...ahem, 25 years ago...Keds were pretty popular. Most girls wore plain white with thick, shin-high, scrunchy socks. But I found a pair that suited me better, and I laced them with white and green shoestrings--yes, two different strands on each shoe. Recently I saw a pair for sale on Etsy and rushed up to the attic to find an illustration I had drawn of mine, way back in the day. Below are pictures of those shoes, and the drawing, as well as two other pairs from that same Keds collection. Ahh, the '80s!

A Cut Above: Vintage Razor Blade Wrappers

My Pinterest 'stash' ephemera board is littered with pins of vintage razor blade wrappers. I just can't get enough of the beautiful graphics and colors. Here are some fine examples:






Love these? Well, then you might want to check out the hundreds of international samples in this Russian collection (the text is almost all in Russian, but you can click on the page links on the left for the images to appear). You will also want to view the Grinebiter collection here.

Friday Fotos & Faves

This week all free time has been spent planning my son's birthday party. Late at night, though, I've found a few things while de-stressing at the computer...

1. Pleasantville (via Dear Sukie Gets Crafty)
2. Flowerprint Shirt
3. DIY glitter sneakers
4. Flower Construction
5. Barbie Doll Anatomy
6. DIY Macaron Coin Purse

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Clip and Save: Vintage Coupons

I love old coupons. They are a great documentation of old packaging design, pricing trends, and even design and illustration trends of the time. Sometimes they're matter-of-fact, sometimes they're colorful and eye-catching, and sometimes they're made to look really official, like certificates, and even money! You'll notice the coupons below are so retro (going back to the 1960s) they don't have barcodes. A few even use the old IBM punch card system for processing!













Want to see hundreds more? Check out the Flickr group called "Clip and Save" here.

Friday Faves: Kids' Stuff

1 Gummy Candy Letters from Sugar Plum Chocolates || 2 Fabric Sun Art Kit from Think Geek || 3 Tetris Link Game at Amazon || 4 Pac-Man Cookie Cutters from Suck UK || 5 Penny Boards by Penny Skateboards || 6 Stache Straws by Gama Go || 7 Eco Stars Recycled Crayons by International Arrivals || 8 LEGO Mini Storage Boxes at Think Geek

Hunt & Peck: Spoonflower Fabric-of-the-Week Contest (Typewriters)

First, I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone for all the wonderful compliments and congratulations upon winning last week's Spoonflower contest! It was a big surprise, and your cheers warm my heart...and jazz me up to try to do it again! So...THANK YOU! Now on to this week...

Today voting kicks off for the Spoonflower's "Typewriter" Fabric of the Week contest. The only "rule" for this week's contest is that the design be done in black and white only. So all of my shading is done using halftone dot screens. (I found out after I completed this design that apparently gradients are acceptable, but I love the look of the dot screens--it just emphasizes the retroness of typewriters.) Below is the design I am entering this week. If you like it, please vote for it by clicking here.

Once you're there, all you need to do to vote is click on the Vote in This Week's Contest link on the right, then find my design and click on it (a green border will appear around the image). Make your way through the remaining pages, clicking on any other designs you'd like to vote for (you can vote for as many as you like!), and click the Review My Votes button on the bottom of the last page. When you have reviewed your votes, you can click Submit...and that's it! Designs that make the Top Ten are automatically offered for sale on the Spoonflower site!

Handpainted Type by Street Painters in India

HandPaintedType is a project that is working towards preserving the typographic practice of street painters around India. Now that desktop publishing shops have become so common, and much cheaper, these painters are going out of business. Started by Hanif Kureshi, who always wanted to become a street painter himself and now works for advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy New Delhi, the project documents the typefaces of road side painters across India, which are then digitized into fonts by Sarang Kulkarni of the WhiteCrow type foundry, as a resource for present and future generations.







Contributions to HandPaintedType are split 50-50, with half going straight to the painter, and the other half being used to continue the program. Fonts will be coming soon and available by making a contribution, except for the first font to be released, Painter Umesh (pictured below, at the very bottom), which will be free!