the red thread

Don't forget the GIVE AWAY ends tomorrow

20 November 2008

If you'd like the chance to win a boxed set of a dozen Red Thread Cards find out more and enter by clicking here to read the original post.

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To Restore or Not to Restore...

This is my market find of the year.

How great is that?! And to think I was initially unsure whether to buy it or not. I'm so glad I did. It's in pretty good shape, but here's my dilemma... do I sand it back and do a basic restoration, or keep it in its rustic state? I'm really torn about what to do.

Since I took the photos I have removed the white remnants of some old stickers you can see on the right hand side of some of the drawers. I'm going to line the draws with some vintage wallpaper and of course replace the labels on the draws with my own. The previous owner stored some interesting things in there:
Suitcase wheels and towing straps
Sanding discs
Scrap plastic fly screens
Shoe repair accessories
Furniture rests
Roller blind drop cords
Scrap aluminium, lead and brass
My labels will be more like: japanese paper, cut hearts, vintage collage pieces, vintage ephemera.

So what do you think? Restore it or not?

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What Money Can't Buy

Innate style. You either have it or you don't. Of course if you don't have it you can still be stylish, but there is a certain type of woman (and man) who exudes innate style - you can spot them a mile off.

I took this photo on the streets of Tokyo (my favourite city) earlier this year and I just love this woman's style. Her look appears to have been thoughtfully put together, but it doesn't look studied or try hard. I love the layers and colours. She looks so stylish and comfortable. It looks effortless.

One of my favourite pass times is people watching. If I had the time I could sit for hours and watch the passing parade. I think that's why I love The Sartorialist so much. If you don't already know it, check out The Sartorialist here - these are some of my favourite recent images:

Image Source: The Sartorialist

The woman in the red jacket... fab... I want to be her!

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Inspiration: Vintage Children's Books

19 November 2008

This is another gem that my vintage-hunting pal Judy found for me recently. (I'm so lucky that Jude collects different vintage items to me - she always manages to unearth the best things) The book is called Listening For Sounds and the fantastic illustrations are by Art Seiden.

The illustration style is similar to that of one of my favourites: French illustrator Alain Gree. Alain illustrated, designed and wrote over 300 books in the 60's and 70's that were translated into 20 different languages.

Image Source: Alain Gree

You can read more about Alain, including an interview, and see examples of other work at his website here. His work has recently been licensed by a Japanese company and the products are available for purchase outside of Japan here at Japanese Zakka Online Shop. This is a great site full of Japanese cuteness that posts worldwide.

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Simplicity

Simple
organic shapes.

Pure white.

Bud vases.

Ikea
$3.95 each.

Love them.

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