Just popping in to wish everyone a Happy 2009! Thanks to you all who drop by each day, we feel honoured! We hope 2009 brings hope, love and prosperity to your lives!

{Tea party candelabra from anthropologie.com)}

Here's to the Sparkling New Year!


This is a public service announcement from Ladies and Gentlemen:

Friends don't let friends succumb to another New Years of guzzling bottles of cheap champagne (we all know how that kind of evening ends…). Take the high road (but affordable) and toast the years past and forward with an artful array of tasty mix-your-own cocktails that are guaranteed to get the next 52 weeks off to a good start.

Here are some ideas to set up the ultimate mix-your-own cocktail bar:



-Set up a bar: Have a designated area. We like to use our vintage ironing board for this purpose. It's portable and stows away, is the perfect height, and has an interesting form.

-Vessels with personality: Pick vessels with various forms and characters to mix things up!


-Typewritten tags: You know that vintage typewriter you bought just because it looks so cool…Now here's a good excuse to USE IT! Get some simple tags and type an individual mixing instruction for each drink. You will be rewarded by the praises from your guests. We guarantee it.



-Personalized cups: Pre-mark or allow guests to mark their glasses by getting rub-on letters (by Letraset or Chartpak). Not only does this assure that no mix up happens, it will also keep your guests entertained for good 10-15 minuets. THEN you can bust out your Wii or your good old karaoke machine for the real fun.
Pssst! The letters also come right off in the wash when you scrub it, so don't worry about your glasses!

-Top it off: Provide various toppings and garnishes for drinks loose and nicely arranged: Pomegranate, mint, lemons, cocoa powder, cinnamon or whatever you feel like! This will allow everyone an opportunity to customize and expereiment making their own drinks.

Here are some drink recipes to jump-start your ultimate New Year celebration party!



Irish Coffee (via Drink Mixer)
15 oz Irish whiskey or Irish Cream
10 tsp brown sugar
60 oz hot coffee
Heavy whipping cream
Cocoa powder

Make the coffee (stronger the coffee the better), add sugar and mix Irish cream or whiskey (or both!). Mix.
Whip the whipping cream. Put whipping cream and cocoa powder in separate bowls on the side.

Click here for our other drink recipes!

If Martha taught us anything, it's that it's all about presentation and involving your guests…this is no time to forget that lesson…bust out…go the extra mile. These mixes don't take long, they can be prepped in advance, and will make your bar look totally stocked and glistening! The best part is that now you don't have to spend the whole evening mixing drinks for everyone else…the guests can mix their own darn drinks!
Enjoy and we hope that this can come in handy for any celebrations! Happy New Year!

Jean&Dylan
ladiesandgentlemenhome.blogspot.com
ladiesandgentlemen.etsy.com

Editor's Note: A huge thank you to Jean and Dylan for this amazing idea! We are off to buy some new vessels!

Hello Australia! We're thrilled to be featured in Real Living Magazine (out of that beautiful country down under) in an article that they've written on "14 websites that will change the way you live". Thanks to Hana and all the staff there for including us (we're totally honoured, stoked and stoked!) A HUGE thank you to Lisa Congdon, who's beautiful home we featured in our blog last year (in a collecting post) who supplied the beautiful images and Jill Rosenwald's lamps to represent us! This blog would not be what it is, without the beautiful designs, displays, photographs, art that all you creative people make, and we'll never forget that! Thank you all for allowing us to feature you and your work. Other blogs featured in the article is Desire to Inspire, Design Sponge, Apartment Therapy, Bloesem and more! We haven't seen the spread officially yet, but Desire to Inspire has it up on their flickr here (where we got these from) if you'd like to take a look! (And it's summer there - so hard to imagine as we still are trying to dig ourselves out here)!

I just found these inspirational posters by Rhonna Farrer today at her etsy shop. Known for her digital scrapbooking kits, I just found she has these digital prints you can purchase online, ready to print out and make one instantly happy. Available here. Also in celebration of her new blog, she's giving away your choice of *209 of her digital kits or fonts! (*For personal license terms of use only). Click here for giveaway details!

Nice new colors in Stikel's screenprinted letter-patterned Mecanorma type sets designed tea towels. Handmade in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. stiksel.etsy.com.

Bleu Nature has done it again with their latest white lacquered covered driftwood designs recently spotted on their website bleunature.com. Driftwood slices made into a hanging pendant, driftwood and lacquered metal lamp, trunks of driftwood with lacquered tops and wood bench. A true example of modern + craft.

Today's the last day to get your submission in for the "Love Transforms" market. Running January 12th through February 13th! Click here for more details.

Britain's Royal Mail has a new series of stamps coming out January 13th, British Design Classics, a handpicked selection of ten of the most iconic and enduring examples of British design at its best. Available January 13th! (Via Pret a Voyager).

We are always being lured by the creativity that is overflowing at Stephen and Shauna's home/studio. The latest? These fonts they are testing out for their new green wall... (um, when can we move in)?

Something's Hiding in Here's photostream
Something's Hiding in Here's blog
Somthing's Hiding In Here's etsy shop

How nice would this faux cabin room be just about now. As we freeze here in the Pacific Northwest, the thought of a room one could go to that looks out onto the water like this (without the cold blowing in), would be a perfect escape right now. Spotted on flickr here (by Walldancer's).

We hope you are enjoying the holidays! You are invited to join us at our online "curated" handmade and vintage goods market from now through to January 9th, 2009 for our Boxing Day Week (well two weeks) Sale! A great time to land some of those handmade pieces you've been eyeing. Click here to check out the deals! {Items shown, may not be on sale}.

Snow is falling thick and furious today, and in Vancouver, that's a rare occurrence, we know to most of the world Canadians live in a snow globe, but - for today, that is - we actually do! We captured a little glimpse of our world and bottled it up in this virtual snow globe. It's our way of sharing our little christmas night snow with you.

Happy holidays, everyone!

What we're listening to this holiday season:

1. The Christmas Song, Catherine Feeny, The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs
2. Christmas Time Is Here, Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas Holiday
3. No Christmas for Me, Zee Avi, A Brushfire Holiday's, Vol. 1
4. Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer, Jack Johnson, A Brushfire Holiday's, Vol. 1
5. White Christmas, Bing Crosby
6. Peace On Earth, Little Drummer Boy, Bing Crosby & David Bowie
7. Skating, Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas Holiday
8. Winter Song, Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson, The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs
9. Silent Night, Zach Gill, A Brushfire Holiday's, Vol. 1

Join us here Boxing Day - for our online Boxing Day and Week Sale at Poppytalk Handmade! Lots of amazing deals on handmade and vintage items starting on the 26th!

Here's some awesome holiday inspiration. Shauna and Stephen of Something's Hiding In Here have created the most amazing holiday decor setting. From their tree (a faux tree set into a real stump); adding a drop of bleach to the inside of some ornaments so they would not feel so shiny and new; using color copies of old portraits as their gift wrapping (letting the gifts do the talking, with talking captions); and using Martha Stewart paper house kits and turning them inside out (then letterpressing the printed pieces). See their whole Christmas set here.

somethingshidinginhere.typepad.com
somethingshidinghere.etsy.com
www.flickr.com/photos/somethingshidinginhere/

When Poppytalk grows up, we want to be just like Apartment Therapy. They are just a good down-to-earth, non-pretentious blog featuring great design, decorating ideas and shopping links. And they are good neighbors too. They give credit where credit's due, they are very blog community-minded and now they've come up with The Homies. They are taking nominations for the best home design blog of the year on their site (from now till January 31). All blogs are eligible, (sans them). They want to highlight the great blogs in the home niche, and they want to know who you read when you're not reading them). "Home Design" Nominations can be entered here. Other Nominations include Home Cooking • Green Design • Home Technology • Children's Design.

Continuing with our 2008 Most Influential, we're on to Part Two today, and in creating this, we realized there may very well be 4 parts at the rate we're going. We're half way though the year, so stay tuned as Part Three and probably Part Four will make an appearance soon.

EMBROIDERED CURSIVE FONT
31. All week long barrettes from Romp by Little Something (via Oh Joy!).
32. Poetry Cuff, Cathy Cullis
33. Handmade Nation Sublime Stitching Embroidery Pattern, Indiecraftmovie's shop


LO-FI DESIGN MEETS DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
34. Crosley AV Room Portable USB Turntable, Urban Outfitters
35. Rolleiflex Mini Digital Camera, Urban Outfitters
36. Tivoli Radio, Tivoli Audio


LETTERPRESS POSTERS
37. The Scarlet Letter, Doug Wilson for Keep Calm Gallery
38. Lisa Congdon Print, Little Paper Planes Press
39. Alyson Fox Print, Little Paper Planes Press
40. Julia Rothman Print, Little Paper Planes Press

Below: Amidst Routes Letterpress Print, Pearl and Marmalade




HAND-LETTERING
41. Kate Bingaman-Burt, Obsessive Consumption
42. Will Bryant
43. Emma Trithart, You Work for Them
44. Ray Fenwick



FLUORO
45. Japanese Posters from Valero Doval
46. Weaved mats, Godefroy de Virieu
47. Life in WonderMountain, solo show by Lisa Congdon at Paperboat Gallery, Milwaukee
48. Carolyn Quartermaine
49. Life in WonderMountain, solo show by Lisa Congdon at Paperboat Gallery, Milwaukee


THE ART OF THE DISPLAY
50. Hangar art , Ladies and Gentlemen
51. Colored mats
52. Bull dog clips
53. More hangar art, O at Home

As tradition has it, we look back to see what designs and ideas were most influential in the past year, and post about them here. It's one of my favourite posts, and I always end up amazed at the outcome and how they influence next year's design. If you wish to read last year's click here. Below is part one, (part two should follow between now and the New Year).

IMPRINTED CLAY
1. Cupid tag, Diana Fayt
2. Love Earthenware Bowl, Paloma's Nest
3. Peace Woodgrain Ornament, Rae Dunn



COLLECTING
4. Plate wall, from the collection of Lisa Congdon
5. Type Tins from Janine Vangool of UPPERCASE Gallery
6. Wood Studio Pottery, collection of Katie Runnels



TYPOGRAPHICAL PRINTS
7. Can't Stand the Heat, Keep Calm Gallery
8. We Are So Good Together, Reform School
9. Hold Steady Tour Poster, from Decoder



MIXING IT UP (Different designs of the same thing mixed together as a collection)
10. Putting out the good silver, from the Designboom Dining in 2015 Contest, by Cygalle Shapiro



THE MODERN SOUVENIR
11. Canadian Animals, by Bookhou for The Souvenir Shop
12. Maplemap Hanging Lamp, by Ani + Lumigrane, The Souvenir Shop
13. Se Souvenir Show, Laura McKibbon and Jasna Sokolovic



NEW SCHOOL WITH OLD SCHOOL
14. Metalic Print on Kraft File folders, Nantaka Joy
15. Old School Exhibit, Uppercase Gallery
16. Three Potato Four Sneak Peek at Design Sponge



RECYCLED DESIGN
17. Re-purposed chair, woven with fabric belts by Sandy Stone Design
18. Vintage Frames made into blackboards, Bluebell Bazaar
19. Army Blanket Pillows, Ouno Design

Below: Linen Pillow Covers, Ernst and Thistle





THE MUSTACHE
20. Brown Mustache key hook, Ben Floeter
21. Mustache on a stick, Something's HIding In Here
22. Mustache Handkerchief, Avril Loreti



FAUX FRAMES
23. Paper frames, Ormolu
24. Picture Frame Card, Julia Rothman for Hello Lucky
25. Antique Frame on Wool, Nightjar Books
26. Framed Print, Yee-Haw Industries

Below: Letterpress frame, Sycamore Street Press





NATIVE AMERICAN/FIRST NATIONS - Plains (Retro/Modern)
27. Dedication, Kate Banazi
28. Smoke, Kate Banazi
29. Practice Kindness, Lisa Congdon
30. Inspiration from a Studio Spaces Tour with Yellow Owl Workshop. (Below) Horse print from Yellow Owl Workshop