Design & Decor Blog

It’s been a while since I blogged about stationery, no? Today’s fabulous find is from Linda & Harriett. Offering a wide assortment of notecards, greeting cards, notepads and personalized stationery and invitations, Linda & Harriett’s letterpress ink is soy-based. The greeting cards and note cards are printed on 30% post-consumer and 100% carbon neutral paper. So not only are they gorgeous, but they’re green, too.

The card collection includes all the usual messages you’d expect: Thank You, Thinking of You, Happy Birthday and a sweet collection of Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays cards. But my favourite are the paper petal pins (pictured top right). Reconstructed by hand from letterpress misprints, even the scraps don’t go to waste. Stylish and socially responsible. If this was Facebook, I’d give that a thumbs up.

Visit lindaandharriett.com for a peek at the entire collection and check out the personalized letterpress stationery and the custom invitations and announcements.

I’m at it again! More pretty papers – this time, from New York-based designer Thomas Paul. Born and raised in the Big Apple, Thomas boasts a career working for design powerhouses like Bill Blass, Calvin Klein and DKNY. He started his own collection in 2001, featuring pillows made of exquisite silks. Since then, his collection has expanded to include all manner of things for house and home, all graced with his signature patterns.

So, imagine my delight as my online travels brought me to his lovely website. (Aside: Do you remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books? I used to read them as a kid. Within the pages of one book lay numerous possible stories and outcomes, depending on the choices you made as you read. Anyhow, the Internet is just like that. You never know where you’ll end up. It all depends on what you click. But I digress … )

Pictured left are examples of the items in Thomas Paul’s stationery collection, all done in pretty colour stories. Up top is chocolate - orange – marigold; followed by persimmon – pink; and aqua - peacock – leaf. I love the chocolate, orange and marigold line! Each line comes with a variety of products from notebooks, journals, notecards and desktop accessories like pen holders and desk trays for papers and miscellaneous items. Working is not my favourite thing to do but if you have to be behind a desk, these pretty accessories certainly make things more interesting!

For more information, visit thomaspaul.com but be warned: Your credit card may be safer in the freezer in a block of ice! Otherwise, have fun shopping! Click here for a list of online retailers selling Thomas Paul products.

PLUS:

Don’t forget to check out our other Style at Home blogs, if you haven’t already.

Executive editor Laurie Grassi’s blog Natural Chic is about stylish eco-friendly and green living.

Senior editor Lauren McPhillips’ blog Tech Style is about the coolest gadgets for your home and your life, plus handy tips on technology.

Associate design editor Brett Walther’s blog Style Sleuth keeps you up-to-date about what’s on the market and behind the scenes in the design world.

Enjoy!

P.S. Follow me on Twitter!

It’s been a while since I blogged about one of my favourite things – pretty paper. Today’s selection is from Pistachio. They’ve got a small but beautiful collection of paper products (cards, wrapping paper and invitations) and gorgeous gifts and apothecary items. Best of all, the products are made with an effort to preserve the planet.

Their mission: “The story of Pistachio began with a simple idea – being generous, environmentally sensitive and engaged with life is good for us and good for the planet.

We embrace the idea that being environmentally caring doesn’t mean denying, abandoning or refusing the things we love, but rather designing, developing and using products in more informed, eco-friendly ways.”

Love these gorgeous cards and wrapping paper. Check out epistachio.com for more information.

For more great decorating and design ideas, follow me on Twitter!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about one of my favourite things: stationery! In recent years, I admit I’ve become a bit of a tech junkie; if you’re one, too, check out Lauren McPhillips’ blog Tech Style. I love my little gadgets like my laptop, BlackBerry and iPod Touch. But even still, I love the tactile nature of notebooks and journals. I love feeling the smooth cover of a beautiful diary beneath my fingers and flipping through the pages of an old agenda book. So, despite being pretty nicely outfitted with gadgets, I still find myself turning to the old standbys of pen and paper to record important things. My newest find are these lovely products from Jenni Bick.  Featuring an assortment of journals, photo albums, specialty papers, invitations and gift-wrap, this site is a paper lover’s treasure trove. Two of my favourites are pictured here. Snow & Graham sticky note blocks (above) are $14.50 each and the Moderno Italian bonded leather journals (right) in pretty spring colours are $25 each.

For more information, visit jennibick.com.

You might also be interested in:

Organizing 101: Stationery
This primer on organizing stationery makes staying connected with friends and family easy.

Pretty paper
Revive the art of hand-written letters with lovely stationery.

Flower invitations, menus and placecards
Download our free flower invitations, menus, and place cards!

How to: Organize your home office
Designer tricks for turning your home office into an attractive and efficient workspace.

P.S. Follow me on Twitter!

I’m sure I’ve bemoaned this fact before but it really distresses me. OK, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration – there are dozens of things that distress me more than this. But what I’m talking about right now is the lost art of handwritten letters. In this age of technology, how often do you sit down to write a thoughtful letter to a friend? If you’re like me, you tend to communicate via email and Facebook or send quick text messages from your cell phone when you’re on the go, go, go. These methods have certainly helped me to increase the quantity of my communications with friends and family but I can’t say they’ve increased the quality of that communication. There’s something about sitting down and carefully thinking about what it is you want to say (there’s no delete button when you’re handwriting a letter) and on the flipside, there’s something special about receiving a letter or card in the mail. I don’t know about you but my mailbox is chock full of flyers and bills, neither of which I have much interest in. But as soon as I see something personal sitting there, with my name written by the hand of a friend, I toss everything aside and tear the envelope open.

Need some motivation? Beautiful stationery always works for me. Pretty papers and patterned envelopes seem to do the trick! New stationery makes me want to sit down and tell a friend I’m thinking about them. These designs (pictured above) from Chronicle Books are fun and whimsical and someone you know will be thrilled to see a note from you sitting in their mailbox. I guarantee it. Oh, and they make a great gift for someone on your Christmas shopping list.

For more information, visit chroniclebooks.com.

A friend recently sent me a gorgeous, personalized thank you card and as soon as I opened it, I knew I’d just discovered something for an upcoming blog entry. I’ve professed my love for pretty paper and stylish stationery many a time before but with so many fabulous options out there, it’s hard to choose just one to gush about. Today, I’m swooning over the gorgeous designs from Haute Note. This Vancouver-based company makes beautiful note cards and invitations and I love that you can personalize them. Simply pick a design and then personalize it with your name or a phrase like Thank you from Natalie. You can choose from six different fonts and if you can’t decide on just one design, you can mix and match and create a custom order. A packaged set of eight cards and nine envelopes (just in case, they say), costs $24. They’re perfect to have on hand for those occasions when you want to send something special and they also make a wonderful gift. Order online at hautenote.com.

Visit us at the Style at Home Show, Oct. 17 to 19, at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto. Go to styleathomeshow.com for more information and to order tickets.

These nifty notecards from Felix Doolittle make me think of the Beatrix Potter books I used to pore over as a child. Not only is the artwork reminiscent of Beatrix’s style but the size and shape of the notecards is just like her books … perfect for small hands. (Does that matter or am I just rambling?) If you’re as fanatical about pretty paper as I am, you’ll surely want to add this find to your list of must-shop stationery stores. The designs come in themed collections, notecards, invitations, memo papers, even baker’s labels. Even though these pretty delights are born and raised in West Newton, Massachusetts, you can shop online and have them shipped to Canada via UPS. We LOVE the Internet!

Available online at: Felix Doolittle

More stationery I love. Shocking, I know. These adorable designs have a bit of a French country charm to them and portray pretty botanical images that make me think of spring, even though winter is showing no signs of releasing its stranglehold. That’s not very optimistic, is it? Anyways, the Flora and Flight collection features pocket pads, note cards and gift enclosures that are not only impossibly sweet but so handy to have at home for emergencies … OK, not EMERGENCIES, exactly. They’re no good for putting out fires in the kitchen or anything. But you know … emergencies like forgotten birthdays and last-minute dinner parties (you know you never like to show up empty-handed).

All available for purchase online at randomhouse.ca.

Flora & Flight Pocket Pads, $11.95

Flora & Flight Note Cards, $15

Flora & Flight Gift Enclosures, $15.95

I love sending out handwritten notes and cards. I love the whole process of it. I love carefully choosing a card or a piece of pretty paper. I love sharing a few personal words. I love signing off with a flourish, putting to paper the curves and curls of my name, perfected years ago as I sat doodling in one math class or another. But these days, we email. We text message. We Facebook and we MySpace, we instant message and we BlackBerry. We call from landlines, cordless phones and cells. But rarely do we ever take the time to put pen to paper it seems. And with such beautifully designed stationery, it’s really quite a shame. So think about it – pop a note in the mail. These cards pictured above are like a little piece of art that anyone would be thrilled to receive in the mail. Check out fabulousstationery.com for tons more designs.

Plus, take a look at these beautiful stationery options. You’re going to want to write a letter now. Do it.