Vintage Matchbox Labels: Striking!

Matches? We don't need no stinking matches! Oh my! If you need some inspiration, or your daily dose of AWE, check out Patricia's exteeeeeensive collection of vintage matchbox labels from India. The images below are just thumbnails--you can see all of them up close and larger than life via her Flickr photostream. Would you say she has a plethora of matchbox labels?

Richard Scarry Is Golden

I found this Rabbit and His Friends Little Golden Book while thrifting recently, and bought it not only because it was written and illustrated by Richard Scarry (1953), but because my son is obsessed with platypuses (platypi?), thanks to Perry the Platypus from "Phineas and Ferb". Anyway, I thought I would share with you a couple of my favorite pages: the title page, with some chalk lettering (!), and the last page, which features a poster set in several kinds of wood type.

Pattern Inspiration: Security Envelopes

From Kindra: A fantastic assortment of opened security envelopes and their patterns, which themselves make a pattern. I think they look like quilts, don't you?

The Fabric8 Finals Are Here: Get Your Geek On!

After a couple stressful weeks of designing more patterns for my Fabric8 Finals entry, and then the even more agonizing process of choosing the final three coordinates (thanks to the couple wonderful fellow designers/sewists/confidants for your critiques), voting has finally begun for the competition!

What exactly is "Geek Chic" anyway? To me, "Geek Chic" could be defined as "dorky and cool at the same time." And it seems kind of dorky-yet-cool to go back to using analog cameras now when digital cameras and apps for processing and sharing are the mainstream, and so easy to use. For the final collection (pictured below), I chose to digitally create coordinates that would both contrast and complement the hand-illustrated "Make It Snappy!" design. You will find both camera-related imagery and geeky elements, brought together with an underlying retro/vintage theme, with references to the 1950s through the '80s.

So if you like my collection, please take a few moments to vote for it using this link. I know, I know--the semi-final round had you searching for my entry among an amazing group of 100 designs. Well, this time there are only eight, count 'em 8, designers' collections to choose from. Competition is fierce at this point, and my fate is now in your hands (feel the power?). I thank you whole-heartedly in advance for your support!

Pattern Inspiration: The Ceramic Geometric

Get lost in a few of the beautiful ceramic tile compositions designed by Lubna Chowdhary.

A Kaleidoscopic Wonderland of Hi-Fidelity Vibrancy

Okay, so check out the amazing stack of vintage record album banners I shuffled up on the Stereo Stack website, developed by my favorite local Seattle record shop, Jive Time Records. Shuffle the stack if you want, and purchase coordinating prints and tees. Bold, graphic, and retro. I love it!

It's a Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod World

Before I get to the main subject of this post, I want to say a big heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you who voted for my Geek Chic design in the Fabric8 contest! All of the 100 semi-finalist entries were amazing, so I am honored to be in the Top 8.

~~~~~

The past few days I poked my head above the water of the ocean that is Geek Chic coordinates to take a quick breath and design something completely different for this week's Spoonflower contest: Mod Wallpaper. When I hear those two words together, I immediately think of flowing geometric designs from the '70s, in oranges and yellows...remember when groovy wallpaper was even printed with silver foil, so some of the elements were mirror-like? But 'mod' can also refer to the mod culture of the '60s, with coffee bars and jazz...and even perhaps a bit in line with Midcentury Modern and TV's "Mad Men".

There is a specific 'rule' in this contest: Use only three colors, and optional black OR white. I had an idea of the motif I wanted to do and tried it in more of a late-'60s, early-'70s color palette and style, but found that it worked better using a more late-'50s, early'60s palette. I chose GOLD (D49F11), PINK (E9B8A7), and GRAY (C8C6C5), with the optional BLACK. One thing I love about the computer is the ability to try different orientations and palettes in just one or two clicks. The final pattern I chose was not at all what I had originally envisioned, and I love that! Although now that I think about it, having so many options can also make it difficult to choose a favorite.

I think there will be a wide variety of patterns in this contest, as the term 'mod' can be interpreted so many different ways, but I can't wait to see them all! You can vote for your favorites starting Thursday, May 23, 2013, here.

Above: Choosing a color palette. I will probably do all of them eventually--which one is your favorite?