Kaweco love

This week I’m sporting a new accessory: a beautiful white hexagonal Kaweco Sport pen given to me by Jordana- White Cabana‘s heart and soul.

Thank you so much Jordana! I love it!

(Isn’t it beautiful!?)

Kaweco is a German company that celebrated 100 years crafting beautiful and functional writing tools meant to be tucked in a pocket and resist leakage.

What first started as a fountain pen company, you can imagine that quite a bit of innovation went into preventing those fountain tips from dripping ink into trousers and petticoats. The Kaweco Sport no-leak fountain pen was introduced in 1913 and marketed to athletes, officers, and ladies, offering the most secure closure for every situation imaginable.

Kaweco continued to offer pens designed for specific markets such as the launch of a ladies’ pen in 1925 and a mechanical pencil in 1934. As the years went on, the Kaweco collection expanded and became something of a best-seller during the 1950s through to the 1970s, as business offices made it their tool of choice and offered it as a special promotional gift to business partners. With increased popularity, special editions of the Sport model appeared in 1965 and additional details like a leather pouch, Kaweco “clock” in a wooden case and a Stoffels handkerchief sweetened the instrument.

You may know that the pen was marketed as a pendant at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games- how stylish indeed!

Despite years of success and style, Kaweco pens went into relative dormancy from the 1980s -1994 until distributor H&M Gutberlet GMBH revived the product line and relaunched it full-force.

The beautiful Kaweco Sport pen model that I received from Jordana was released in 1999 and is a ball point in classic white with gold plated trim. Its simple elegance and compact length really do make it a perfect pen to take on the road- it fits nicely in the tiniest of clutches and looks stylish when it comes out to sign your name on the dotted line.

Even my white cat Groseille likes it:

Groseille takes a sniff (above). He likes!

Bad Kitty! Bad bad bad Kitty!

Glowy night

I came across a few fun things for fall over at our fave paper peeps, Paper Source. Is it too early to think about Halloween? Maybe it is.

Well, in that case, how about this fun glow-in-the-dark glitter? It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve seen in crafts in a while, but, then again, I’m not often searching for crafty how-tos (I remember getting very excited when I found out about pinking scissors). It comes as little surprise that the ghostly glitter is made by the creative genius that is Martha and her design team. 

Glow-in-the-dark glitter, $15.95 at Paper Source

 

I would use the glow-in-the-dark glitter on my face and body for party play (well now!) but I suppose it’s really meant for paper crafts and other projects.

Since it’s a grainy, powdery texture, you’ll need glue or stamp ink to affix it to your creations. I think it would be a lovely coating to a birch tree branch display indoors or out, or glued to pinecone tips for a table centrepiece this fall. Of course, it would easily light up any old tired mask or costume for a Halloween surprise.

Any thoughts as to how you would use it?

Spring paper flower wreath

by Johanne

I know that like me, you’ve been wondering what to do with all that butcher paper you’ve got lying around.

Well, don’t I have a project for you: a lovely spring paper flower wreath!

Project by Alisa Burke where you’ll find the easiest step-by-step how-to photos and instructions for making the wreath.

And maybe it’s just me but gosh, we could use these lovely paper rosettes in so many ways: corsages for guests at your next brunch, decorations on each plate for dinner or strewn across the table, sitting pretty on a paper napkin ring, or as an accent on a bottle of bubbly offered as a gift. And etc. and etc.!

Happy paper flower day!

What we saw today

by Johanne

This Wednesday we’d like to acquaint you with What I Saw Today, a fascinating peek into what designer and illustrator Richard Haines sees every day on the streets of New York City.

You will surely recognize Richard’s hand: he is an illustrator currently working with clients J.Crew and In Style magazine, among others.

Here we’ll feature but a handful of his black & white sketches from his recent sightings at New York Fashion Week. We highly recommend skipping over to Richard’s site and checking out more of his B&W and colourful sketches.

Below, we’ve ‘named’ each illustration with the name of the blog post and any text that accompanies it as it appears on Richard’s blog.

Katrina takes some photos…

I sketch her.

Aubin checks his texts…

and life goes on.

Observations @ Patrik Ervell: Thick Sole Boat Shoes, Jumpsuits…

Malcom McLaren, Arena Looks.

Visited Kelly Armendariz @ Splatterpool Artspace The Other Day…

Check out all the cool stuff they have going on here:

All images courtesy of What I Saw Today by Richard Haines.

Thank you to my friend David for introducing me to Richard’s beautiful world.