My notecards at Type books

I took an inspirational trip to TYPE books on Queen West today and was happy to find my teNeues boxed notecards there. What a gorgeous home for them.
Felt inspired to post this photo - as I just love the colours plus the boy in the background immersed in his book is so cute. :-)

ps. If you live outside of Toronto you can also buy my cards online here. 

16 cards for only 10.95. USD. Dealio.

My prints in Covet garden magazine

The latest issue of Covet Garden is online and it's beauty!

It features the home of my talented friend Colleen Nicholson 

+ gorgeous photography by Jodi Pudge.

 Photo by Jodi Pudge

My Empty Belly print over Colleen's fireplace. 

How great is that brass turkey? love!!!

 Photo by Jodi Pudge

My espresso pot print over Colleen's sink. 

Really like the mix of textures in this shot. 

#silkscreen #print #art #affordableart #InteriorDesign #Toronto #decor

Highlights from LA and PalmSprings

A few photos from a very fun trip to L.A. and Palm Springs.

 The stunning Venice Canals

Blown away by all the contemporary architecture in Venice

This is along the boardwalk

 The lobby of The Palihouse West Hollywood!

Staying here was a huge highlight of my trip.

#dreamy!

Interior Design by Heather Ashton

Look at this gorgeous space. Full kitchen! Gorgeous mix of materials rugs, marble, velvet etc etc. Loved.

 Gjelina on Abbot Kinney!

Great food and people watching.

 On Sunset Blvd.

Another highight was visiting my friend fellow Illustrator Betsy Everitt in her beautiful home in Brentwood. Here she is in her garden.

Betsy's House on Canyon Road

#wow

 Fantastic cafe!
Joan's on Third in L.A.
Best grilled cheese sandwich ever

The Getty

Architect Richard Meier

My sketch

Incredible midcentury architecture in Palm Springs #Donald Wexler

Banff Vacation: A few pics

 Stunning beautiful Lake Louise and our Australian boots

 Cocktails at Chateau Lake Louise - Dreamy!!!

 Hiking. :-)

Banff Spring Hotel. 

Isn't it so great/unreal looking? Very Wes Anderson.

Learned alot about the history of the CP Hotels. So interesting.

#dreamstay

Getting Away...

A favourite place to be.

Maggie and Pete's cottage in Quebec

Family, lake, birds, G+Ts, big dinners with lots of wine, and many cozy spots for reading.

Homemade raspberry pies made with raspberries picked from the garden.

Sketch: Tolix chair

Below: a sketch from last week. 

 

Here is the chair the sketch was based on.

I love drawing chairs and learning about the history of furniture.

The Tolix chair was created by Xavier Pauchard in 1934.

It was originally meant as an outdoor cafe chair but is now often found inside 

- in a rainbow of colours - in very styley kitchens!

Tolix also makes great industrial looking stools.

the chair is part of collections in the MoMA in New York, the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Vitra design collection in Weil am Rhein in Germany. - See more at: http://themustardceilingblog.com/2012/04/tell-me-tuesday-bam-or-slam-14.html#sthash.mv9dRUq0.dpuf

Very special night

Last night was a very special night.
My friends Jeff + Tori got married and then proceeded to host the best wedding reception ever.

 

Tori cutting the wedding cake with newly minted husband Jeff behind her.

What a space!! 

(Note blissful wedding couple canoodling in bkgd)

The reception took place in an incredible space  - a former sheet metal shop on Dundas West that's been converted into a fabulous home with stunning art, built ins, lighting and the world's longest kitchen island! I think it's true - you can never have enough counter space. :-)

If you're planning to visit Toronto sometime soon you're in luck... as the home is available to rent through air b+ b!! It can be viewed + booked here. It was also recently featured in Dwell magazine.

 Jeff's fabulous brogues. (He's a styley guy)

Me + Rachel Giese.

Love this pic.

Another view of the space.

Great lighting.

(The upstairs was stunning too!)

  

Who would guess such a special place lies behind this unassuming storefront?!  

Above: Leaving after a very special evening of wonderful conversations, too much champagne, and a

room bursting with love and best wishes for Jeff + Tori. Corny but true!

Drake General store Revamp!

I popped into The Drake General Store tonight and was blown away by their revamp.
Carlos Colacci + Joyce Lo did a great job of enlarging the space and incorporating all sorts of interesting vintage pieces into the new design. Pop by for a big dose of decor inspiration.

I LOVE the wide plank white oak floors set in a chevron pattern plus that very quirky lighting fixture.

To display their collection of soaps + shampoos they've installed an old timey sink and fantastic neon perscriptions sign. (Where do they find these things?!) Just Perfect.

Just love how they incorporated this old leaded window into the changeroom design. Such a clever use of materials and found objects.
Plus I think the entire reno was done in under 2 weeks!!
SIGH! I wish Carlo could come across the street and project manage my reno!

Dinner with Sasha

Dinner last night with Sasha at Enoteca Sociale.

Fresh baked foccacia
homemade pastas
+ great people watching.

A new Toronto favourite.

1288 Dundas St West.

ps. Check out the great ring on Sasha's right hand. Made by Albert Zuger. 

Couldn't resist the plug.
:-)

Wonderful evening with some great women

Rainy night + red wine + chili + great woman = fun.

Kim + Jennifer

Colleen + Janet

Donna

Colleen deep in thought.

Janet + Donna

Wonderful evening with Janet, Kim, Jennifer, Colleen, + Donna... all of whom will probably kill me when they discover that I posted pictures of them.

Underground Organics - So gorgeous!

Shane Eby of Underground Organics


What vibrant pinks + oranges!

Great bouquet coming home in my bicycle basket
Aren't those green ones great? Very 'Dr. Seuss' .
(Shane told me they were poppies. (?) Must research this...)

At home. Just love the organic nature of the arrangement.

Today I went to the farmers market at Trinity Bellwoods park and was completely bowled over by the gorgeous flowers sold by Underground Organics. The intense colours + quirky nature of the flowers was really striking - and I love that they're organic! Just had to take some home with me. Hope to pick up some more Thursday afternoon at the Dufferin Grove farmer's market to have for my open house Friday. (Doubt I'll make it tho'!) ps. Just learned on the website that Underground Organics = Julia Hitchcock, Shane Eby + Dan Riegler.

Images from the Weekend

My favourite barista at the Drake makes it a good morning.(Check out that latté art)

This is my new favourite restaurant.
Wonderful food + interiors: lots of wood + metal and wine bottles used as a decor element.
The manager is gonna get back to me with the name of the interior design firm.

Dinner at Mercatto. So lovely.


Documentary by Corinna Belz on the German painter Gerhard Richter.
I found it amazing that she was granted access to his studio.


It was incredible to watch him push this enormous squeegee across the underpainting. It is what created the magic as it made all the colours schmush together. (Do you like my profound art historian terminology? :-))
Also so interesting to watch his earnest assistants prepare for the exhibitions with elaborate maquettes + see the great gallery scenes in Berlin, London + New York..
You can watch the trailer here.

Weekend Images: Cabbagetown Festival + Making Jam

SCORE! Just what I was looking for: Stools! These will be painted red.

Liz Kingstone

And below some gems that got away!

Loved the quirky curvey shape of this dresser. I woulda changed the hardware + painted it black.
Alas SOLD for 75 bucks.

Great church pew. Woulda looked great in hallway. Sold for 50. What a steal!

Damson Plums

mmmm...

:-)