SNAPS frogs (not that kind)

I almost forgot about this snap I took this past fall from an antique store in Petaluma, Ca (forget the name of it--used to be the Roost on Kentucky St). Anyways, I got a kick out of the display--flower frogs and scrabble squares.

New Design Project: Fairmont Mable Campus

This summer, Fairmont Private Schools is renovating its Mable campus and I'm helping out with some of the design choices. First up is the exterior paint color. Above is an old photo of the main school building which is a 1910 American Foursquare from what I can tell. It leans heavy towards the craftsman side of the foursquare era, and doesn't fit either description perfectly. (If you happen to be an early century architecture expert, I'm all ears.)

The building was the old Carroll Residence in Anaheim (they were beet farmers)--the building was purchased by Fairmont in 1955 and has been home to the 1st-8th grades ever since (for the most part). Anyways, I'm a big believer in maintaining the integrity of an old building as much as possible in a modernization. In this case, my goals are to find an exterior paint scheme that updates the look of the school without being a complete departure from the foursquare era, somehow incorporates the school's colors (blue/red), looks good painted on the rest of the campus buildings, and feels like a school as much as possible. Oh, and I'm kind of starting off with a bias not to bring the red in--thinking of just sticking with the blue for now.

Today's research took me to a great website called Antique Homes, and its sister flickr pool Daily Bungalow, where I dug up a ton of pictures including the above advertisement. Fascinating, but not very helpful. So, I created the below collages and could really use some opinions:

• Is tan too boring? How about the slightly green-ish tan in the Craftsman at top right?
• Is navy and white (like the Tyler Florence - Mill Valley storefront) too East coast?
• How about this light gray color (in the Bernardo Urqiueta - San Francisco home) with a red door?
• Is this white/dark blue/light blue detail on this Austin Gingerbread too hokey or just right?
• Is gray (below) too dark for a school?

(Photos from Daily Bungalow, Remodelista, Antique Homes, Desire to Inspire & Google Images)

Part of my Week

I love you because print by SeattleShowPosters found via Swiss Miss

Lara of Ink & Spindle's New Wall Stickers!

Dog Stache, found via Swiss Miss

Liberty of London for Target debuts today

Design * Sponge's DIY Woven Cork Ikea Skala Tray

Alphabets All Around

I was born into loving alphabets as some people are born into money. It's as simple as that. I can't help but notice how they are everywhere these days too. Check these out! In rows, left to right (click on image to enlarge--don't miss the details of these babies!)...

• Angela Liguori Brocade Ribbons (Edizoni)
• Stamp Chart (The Small Object)
• Jessica Hische (Design Sponge)
• Alligators All Around (via my childhood memories of growing up with the Nutshell Library)
• Girard Alphabet Blocks (Moma Store)
• Paper Nut (Black Eiffel)
• Please someone, help me find the artist to this image that I pulled years ago and still love to death--if I remember correctly, she is an artist around Seattle who makes individual square prints and will do custom numbers. I recall N, Z or "rette" being in her name some how...anybody recognize?
  
• Found Alphabet (Black Eiffel)
• Beauchamping (Simple Song)
• Proverbial Quilt Pattern (Denise Schmidt) - Not exactly the alphabet, but close enough
• The Blueprint-made-famous Binth Alphabet poster now available in individual prints
• Ink Tree Press (Etsy)

SNAPS i think i might go gladiator

J.Crew Spring 2010 - It took me a while to warm up to the idea...

Part of My Week

Better late than never! This weekend came and went too quickly...the leisure time was grand and the homework not so bad either...anyways, here are a few things that caught my attention last week. Clockwise from top left...

• Ixelles Settee from Casamidy (Remodelista)
• An email from Heath Ceramics announcing their Spring/Summer 2010 collection
• Bobbi Bear (Purl Soho)
• Lumi Doll Print - collaboration between Julie Morstad & Le Train Fantome
• Fog Linen Book (Lena Corwin)
• Photo from Cathinca's Flickr album (via Morning's Light)
• Cupcake Kits (Oh Joy)

Good Company

In my dream world, I craft and blog all day. In the real world, I have a great "real job." Since the fall, I've been working with my team to develop the program, theme, collateral and website for Fairmont's 2010 Summer Program. It is with great enthusiasm that I share with blogland, Fairmont's Summer Circus, aka. my "real job."

I've been living and breathing the circus and am happy to see that I'm not alone. Check out some of Fairmont Summer Program's recent circus-y company. Something tells me, we couldn't have picked a better theme for 2010!

• Giant Dwarf Pinwheels found via Design is Mine
• The Winding Road's Circus Birthday Party featured on The Sweetest Occasion, found via my girlfriend Jayna who incidentally designed our amazing look!
• Circus Tent Ring found via Greedy GirlAnthropologie's February 2010 Circus Catalogue
• J Crew's Crewcuts Circus

Bookin' Good!

Who doesn't heart books? (BTW, at what point did heart take over love in the land of blogs? I still get a kick out of that.)

Here's a little something I learned from Dr. Krashen, language acuqisition researcher extraordinaire, at Fairmont's last teacher in-service: Need to expand your personal library, but on the cheap? Book Mooch lets you do it for (almost) free.

And here are some things that caught my attention blogging and twittering the past few weeks (clockwise from top left)...

- Stack of Cookbooks photo from Geninne's Art Blog
- Penguin Postcards (via Design Crush)
- Mrs. Literary Book Club - a funny, if not a bit snotty, view of reading in style (via Mrs. Lilien)
- More Penguin Classics Books (Amazon & Anthropologie - photo from Anthro)
- Cover Spy "a team of publishing nerds hits the subways, streets, parks and bars to see what New Yorkers are reading now"
- Readeo (new partner of Chronicle Books) allows grandparents to read to their grandchildren via the internet while living far away...love it!