Alphabet posters

It's Saturday morning, the sun is shining, had a bad night of sleep cos of Hannah's inability to fall asleep by herself again... so the family is rewarding me with a thrifting spree that starts in 15 mins. But I did want to rush here to wish you:

Have a great weekend!! Blessings!!

Any alphabet/ABC poster discussion has to begin with a poster I have been dying to own: BlueAntStudio's fantastic mod chairs poster which I blogged about back in October 2007. We never had an ABC poster growing up that I remember... I have to have it.



Hannah's just turned three... it's time for her to start reading. So I've been looking at ABC posters on Etsy:

Etsy seller StephanieFizer

Etsy seller CreativeNeesh

Etsy seller and well known graphic illustrator Kerry Beary

Etsy seller calobee

Etsy seller monkeypowered (limited edition posters)

Etsy seller englishmuffinshop

Etsy seller catherine08

Etsy seller AlphabetLove

But I do have some problems with them, only in relation to the fact that Hannah is only three years and 2 weeks old:

1. Shipping to Australia from US/UK/Canada for me is so prohibitive!

2. Some of the pictures for the letters do not help. For instance, "G for Gift"... when she knows the picture as "Present". Or "A for Armadillo" when she has never seen that animal (not in Australia). Or "V for violin" when she insists the picture is "Guitar".

3. The lower case and upper case mix up of the letters is not consistent and really confuses the poor child's brain. I studied education at uni and we were taught to teach lower case before upper case first.

4. Different fonts... simple and clearly recognised/read ones are best. Not that I don't appreciate different fonts myself... I am a fontaholic with a collection of over 2000 fonts.

This one is best for Hannah:

I love this one from Etsy seller oliveryaphe

I'll just oversticker
"R for Rooster" with a picture of a "Ring" (Cos she sees it as "chicken". She is only JUST turned three!)
"I for Iguana" with a picture of an "Ice cream"
and "Q for Quail" with a picture of a "Queen" or "Quiche".

I think I'll have to get her a yo-yo, to introduce this iconic growing up toy of the 80s to a baby of the 21st century!

Just thought I'd add a letterpress alphabet poster by Etsy seller sycamorestreetpress sinceI am madly in love with letterpress products. (Pity all the gorgeous letterpress stuff on Etsy are also in US/UK.) So I love this poster but I do think it's an adult version one (not enough pictures!)



I am looking to design my own... or cave in and get that one from oliveryaphe...

Marian Bantjes

I love typography. I spend many hours playing with type and fonts. I'm working on a project now with that and soon will reveal here. My passion for this is why, I was hooked on Marian Bantjes, via Orange Beautiful.

Marian Bantjes lives in Canada and illustrates, writes and draws, among other things.

One of my favourites from her work is her series of Love Stories, which was included in the latest UK-based Creative Review magazine (unfortunately, only available to subscribers). Love Stories is her story-telling of someone she loves. If we bothered to read them, she describes these loved ones too.

Her mother (through her work, you can also tell something of the person she lovingly crafts masterpieces in honour of). I'd imagine her mother to be so colourful, a many-interests lady, warm, friendly and vivacious.



Her neighbours:



I'd imagine her eldest brother to be strong, dedicated, big hearted and bold:



Her father, who must be a person who loves automobiles and mechanical processes and probably also thinks analytically:



A friend, who would be a great person to get to know, whimsical, flamboyant, big-big hearted:



For the boys who loved her back, how they've affected her heart, her life, and how deep their affect has been on her and to beautiful moments shared (this is painstaking gloriously beautiful burnt wood!):



Glorious work huh? I'd love some of these as reprints. :)

Another item of Bantjes that I absolutely love is her custom-designed clock she made for a fund-raising event for AIGA/DC.



Starts wheels spinning in my head for custom designed clocks for loved ones for Christmas... (thanks Marian, for the idea).

Etsy, Marian?? :)

New Releases at Room To Grow!

I featured Room To Grow a few months ago and kind director Lilach Weineiger sent me a lovely gift! (Thanks again!) It now hangs in my study in the new home (will feature the study when its ready) :)

Room To Grow was the first to carry Krooom's sexy range, but now you readers in the US can get it from Barnes and Nobles! The few French readers I have can go to Tropico and Hipercor in Spain.

Just to reiterate, Room To Grow/Krooom's products are made from reinforced cardboard recycled material (at least 60% post consumer waste). So go green! No chlorine bleaches and hazardous dyes used, only water based glues and a special UV coating. Done with the item? Recycle it again!

I love the funky and fun designs... suitable for the serious man, the moody teen, the funky designer and even the fun-loving little one! I love their toybox and the Maggie storage bookcase to match the lovely black and white damask Delta I got from lovely Lilach! On casters too! GREAT movable closet! Hmmm.



I think best of all these gorgeous things are so sturdy!

Lilach sent me an email two weeks ago letting me know about their new July 2008 range! Sorry Lilach, only now getting headspace to action some emails for the blog!

I love the new Manooo wall organiser! Perfect for kitchen, dressing area, children's room and the hallway. Pretty and fresh to the everyday mundane. :)



And of course, beneath the Manooo, have the Austin sideboard! Great for the hallway, these two things! One for your pickup-ables, and the other for the ubiquitous umbrella, vase, bags, scarves and berets. Great for newspapers and even the Yellowpages.