A baby in a knit turban?

I just found this blog today while blog hopping and although there are no babies in this house I wanted to put this pattern and photo out there.  The pattern for the sweater is adorable and check out the turban!! It's so Alexis Carrington from the TV Show Dynasty.

via www.pickles.no

Click lazy daisy baby jacket for the free pattern. I found it on the pickles website:  a blog created by 2 very enthusiastic craft-loving women named  Heidi and Anna.  The blog is in Norwegian and English.  It looks like a great resource so go check it out.:-)

This is an awfully cute baby too!!!

[DYOF @ Spoonflower]

Design your own Fabric at Spoonflower.

Had you ever thought of designing your own fabric?  In Art School I learned how to make a pattern using Illustrator and I remember Phototshop being involved somehow as well... Instead you can go to Spoonflower where you can either make your own design and buy as little as a yard or look at the zillions of other patterns available. 

Here are a couple of patterns I like. Clicking on the swatches will take you directly to their Spoonflower page. 

Love Fiesta by Sammy K

Poppies by C'est la viv

   

Tattooed Together by Heidi Kenney
Make your own doll.

I think I'm going to have to dig up some of my own watercolors and drawings to see what I can come up with for a pattern.  In the meantime check out these unique patterned fabrics for making quilts, pillows, clothing- whatever you desire!!

Detroit - In Ruins

Ok... There is nothing crafty or cute about this but these photos are so beautiful.  Akin to the Ruins in Rome only these are of the (late) 20th Century kind.  I am from a suburb of Detroit so I grew up seeing some of this happen... Detroit was at one time a healthy, bustling, sophisticated city. Whenever I try to describe it to someone I compare it to Beirut.... I discovered this  book The Detroit Ruins  photographs by Yves Marchand and Romain Maffre.  Here are examples of their photography from the book:

Michigan Central Station

Denist Office David Broderick Tower

National Bank of Detroit  aka NBD

William Livingstone House

Atrium Farwell Building

[Pratt, Paper and Pucci in MACY*S windows]

Generally I don't go to Macy's but I had to return something today and was there at opening time.  Much more pleasant experience and the added bonus was the windows on Broadway.

This week Macy's windows are featuring "Pratt+Paper & Ralph Pucci "dressed" with Paper clothing.  It is the result of a collaboration between the  Pratt Institute and Ralph Pucci.  Students from the disciplines of fashion, industrial, interior design and fine arts worked a full semester (Sounds like Project Runway) on creating beautiful paper dresses using these modern Pucci mannequins.  I took these photos with my iphone so please bear with their quality.

Origami, folding , bunching, snipping and laser-cutting were all techniques used to mold their pieces to the figure.   There were some really beautiful pieces...I bet the same could be done with very stiff fabric.... Try to get there before they take them down on January 26!!!

[Koos van den Akker's influence on the Street]

In December I saw a painter finishing up a wall for desigual near Macy's before leaving on Christmas Vaca and all the snow.

I guess the painter is whatever color he happens to be painting...

  It would have  been fun to see it go from a blank slate to what it is now.  Love all these colors together and finally checked out their line of clothing.  Here is a page from their website.

Desigual Winter 2010

Not for me these days but looks alot like Koos van den Akker  from the 70's. . Koos was very popular back then and I lucked out and have one of my mother's coats from that period.   Guess that means it's vintage....(ouch)   He likes to mix all sorts of textures and styles and created his own patchwork of sorts.

Here are some pics of that coat.

front and back

 And Close-ups....

boucle, tweed and corduroy

 See the similarities in the Desigual line?  I wear this coat for black tie affairs.  I love putting it on.   It has a real weight to it the way a lot of clothes did back then...dense dense wool.

It's always interesting to look at vintage and see where designers get their "inspiration".  Nine years ago it was Balenciaga  (Nicolas Ghesquiere)  whose work looked very very Koos.

Balenciaga Spring 2002

Maybe a little too Koos!  I've read that Koos really doesn't care about the fit but Ghesquiere took it that step further by molding the mix of patchwork to the body.

When I photographed the painted mural I didn't realize this is where it would lead me.... but it was fun connecting the dots.

[The list]

 This all started when Peggy at Paul et Paula forwarded an assignment given to her by her pal at papier, ciseaux, cailloux.   Peggy passed it along  and asked a bunch of us to do the same so here are the questions she poses (and my answers)

1 Why did you start blogging?
2 What kind of blogs do you like/ read ?
3 Your favorite make up brand...
3b Your favorite car ...
4 Your favorite fashion label...
5 Your must have bathroom product...
6 Your favorite color...
7 Your perfume...
8 Your favorite movie...
9 Which country would you like to see and why?
10 What would be the perfect working enviroment for you?
 
Here are my answers:
 The list by CinderellaPatch
as collage:
 

1. Curiosity and a need for structure
2. All things handmade, photography, interior design and cozy
3. NARS
3b.old Fiat
4. This is a tough one.... Marni, Lanvin, YSL and J.Crew
5. Redken
6. More than one: eggplant and shocking pink
7. Jo Malone
8. The Painted Veil
9. India for the cultcha, food, and brilliant colors (esp shocking pink)
10. using my hands to create and working along side friends in a sunny huge studio
11. My favorite book: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

This is my first attempt at polyvore. spent wayyy too much time on it but it was fun making the collage!!

You can also check out how other bloggers approached the questions by clicking on:

papier-ciseaux-cailloux
pauletpaula.blogspot.com a bit more about me....
lula honey
dragonfly lifestyle
 hiccupings

'S all for now....
Have a good weekend!!

[Post-Buche de Noel]

I know.   A day late and a dollar short but had to show you some of the Christmas "Boosh de Noelle"  (correctly spelled buche de noel )we eyed in the Paris Pastry shops.

A selection:

Super Girly.  Took this for my girls:

Then there is the Purple Mountain Buche  (wha?)

 It was part of a vignette..... yes a vignette in the window:

We had the basic buche:

It was a lovely Christmas. How was your holiday?   A special note: Whether in Paris during Christmas or not you must visit la duree.  The serve a huge assortment of macarons  and it is the tea salon to visit while in Paris (or NYC for that matter)

Paris Day 2 - Le marché des enfants rouges

At the suggestion of my new pal at paul et paula  and after  we had somewhat slept off our jet-lag I managed to drag one of my daughters to the Farmer's Market in the marais.  It was worth the visit and I imagine that it is beautiful when the weather is better.  There are lots of little tables and chairs and so many kinds of food to taste and admire!

Le Marche des Enfants Rouges is an open- air market dating from the 1600,s and located in the marais.  It is filled with stands providing specialties from all over the world.  On our visit we saw the usual bounty of cheese, meats, vegetables and fruit as well as Morrocan, Chinese and Korean prepared foods and ingredients.   The stands were beautifully displayed:

 

Sea Urchins and Langoustines

We also saw some beautiful flowers and Christmas wreathes in the market:

 On the walk back to our little apartment I saw these flowers on the sidewalk. It's actually a chain called "happy"  I love the idea of double faced black/color paper to present the flowers.

That's all for now.  Next time some of my favorite  Christmas windows...