7 fun, fresh Chinoiserie fabrics

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If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will have seen my fabric designs before. 

My Escher pagoda and "Tea caddy" were a fun way to take actual antiques that I own and turn them into modern, and fresh looks. I have used several around my house and lately I am inspired to dream up a few new ones based on my great-grandmother's antiques.

Escher pagoda in Radish

 It seems that I am not the only one up to the same thing. The much blogged about Dana Gibson for Stroheim delightfully captures the tradition in Chinoiserie motifs in a cheerful, stylish manner. If you have not browsed her site you really are missing out.

Canton

 Co-founder of O'verlays, Danika Herrick has a few incredible Chinoiserie fabrics also.

Her "Trellis" design is a friendly bamboo fretwork array that I have been hunting a spot for in my house. "Cloud Pagoda" by Danika Herrick comes in quite a few colorways but my favorite is the orange/pink.

Trellis on coral

Are you totally crushing on this updated Chinoiserie look too?

I dream of...

...endless pillows.

I realize that I am totally dating myself with the revelation that the TV show "I dream of Jeannie" was, for me as a young child, a visual treat that fed my imagination and started these mad cravings for textiles and pillows...more pillows!

The cushy inside of Jeannie's bottle was a fantasy of glittery cocooning that really appealed to me.

I was browsing the interwebs in search of inspiration stuff to buy for a room zhush and I noticed my additions to several baskets were all in pillow form and I lingered over other stuffed square and rectangle bits longer than anything else.

"I am coming to your house" this one squeaked.

"Me too, crazy lady!" this one joined in with.

Can I just fill my whole freakin' house with pillows?

Yes, they would lose their visual impact but not their "Jeannie bottle" AKA grown up ball pit appeal.

Why not just a bunch of generic bed pillows? 

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If it were simply for the flop of a a room sized bed, I would be imagining that, but Jeannie's bottle is pretty (in 5 year old terms) and I could love the indulgence of tons of soft, fluffy, gorgeous pillows.

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Maybe I should check into a twelve pillow program.

New fabric love

I have been meaning to design and order more fabric (for yet another pillow) from Spoonflower.

I was just going to modify one of my previous designs but I was too lazy to climb the steps and grab my color map. Pathetic, I know.

Anyhoo, I often upload a painting of mine only to see that it really does not work but today it did.

 I used this painting that recently sold and used a mirror repeat to create this fabric.

I totally dig it and ordered a yard for that pillow I mentioned. It will give me a chance to try out a new workroom.

5 Best pillows on the cheap

What is wrong with me? I covet pillows incessantly! You too?

Here are a few lovelies that wont break the bank.

This bolster is 17 smackers at World Market. Not terribly exciting but a good foundation other than square.

Chinoiserie and pink!!!? This pillow cover can, at $28, cover some unfortunate choice from 2008.
Well , only if that choice was in pillow form.

I am nuts for this "Mudhut" pillow from Target. It is not overtly trendy and for $25 its an easy pick.

Urban Outfitters simply had me at pillows
there were a few that rang my bell.

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As I was browsing, I surely said, "Shut--UP!" several times.
This one above is probably on the grad gift list for my son because it is called the "Magical Thinking Marbled Pillow" and he most likely will be doing some magical thinking that I don't want to know about in college.
 

 

This is Urban Outfitter's other magical thinking pillow. 

It looks less magical to me.

Are you obsessed with pillows or am I alone in this?

Pillow talk

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. The weather was gorgeous here. My weekend was not bad, just oddly full of encounter's with random screaming crazy people and a very unfriendly dog in the drugstore. Yup, you read that right IN the drugstore. I was not happy about a dog trying to bite my child at the checkout at Walgreen's but I do find strangers screaming at me for no reason kinda funny.

On to the real reason we are here...pillows and fabric.

My pillows made from my Spoonflower fabric arrived last week.

I wasn't feeling just the pink and the black and so I added the pink and orange lumbar pillows from World Market. There are several heavily pink paintings around the room and my Brno chairs are orange velvet but there are also the mainly citrine curtains and the gray sofa.

You can see my" Escher Pagoda" design fabric on the first pillow. It is a 12 x 12 but it was suppossed to be a 16 inch square pillow, so I was a little disappointed.

I am not loving the black and white pillow in my room. I think I should have added a citrine "Escher pagoda". My family hates them all. Hrrumpf. They don't understand the mix of furniture. I think it is time to lose the temporary coffee table and find a better looking piece of furniture for the TV. Notice I am not showing you either. Just feeling a little self-conscious.

I am thinking the color story is a bit disjointed at the moment. Thoughts?

I also received the test swatches of my "Carolina coast" collection of Spoonflower fabrics.

Here are a few quick shots I took. You can see them all here.

As yo can see, the colors are mostly muted blues and beiges.

I often get questions about these fabrics that I thought I would try to answer here.

I own the copyright for the designs but I do not make or stock the fabric. I can't supply swatches but you can get them through Spoonflower. I am working with a person who would like help in reworking the layout of the "Escher pagoda" into a larger print for a headboard. In order to change any qualities of the fabric design on Spoonflower you must get the designer's permission.

Hope your Monday is A-OK !

The Princess and the pillows

Since I did not feel like cleaning and I have a small case of painter's block, I figured I would browse Etsy for a few throw pillows for the family room.

For those of you thinking I should forget about pillows and get a new coffee table, I know, I know. Just a few short years until the little one grows out of banging on things as a form of entertainment.

I should be able to unload the citrine and gray pillows on my daughter, who chose those colors for her bedroom.

They are an ancient, one and a half years old. Gotta go, right?

Since I am bored with the matchy citrine and gray scheme I thought I'd throw in some orange.

This cotton velvet beauty boasts that it was featured on HGTV. I don't watch HGTV but that's another post. Its under $20 so it is high on my list.

I definitely want to stay away from theme-y things but I kind of like this nautical rope pillow. Its just simple enough that it is not too cute.

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Watercolor? Maybe. It is certainly unexpected but I don't know if it is my style.

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The germaphobe in me would die before buying an actual vintage pillow but the retro look fits my room.

I think this one is kinda cute

There are MANY of these sort of pillow covers available and for $16 it can't be beat buuuuuuuut I want something a little different.

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I have been thinking about designing an elephant fabric, but I digress. Here is the problem...

I saw this silk velvet pillow and now I don't want anything else. $140 seems a bit extravagant for something that everyone in my house (except me) throws on the floor. Have I mentioned how much I hate that?

The Etsy shop, Sukan, has loads of these lovely bits of heaven.

What's a princess to do?