Photo by Jek-a-go-go

I’m actually a Valentine’s Day Grinch, but this card is both vintage and knitting-related, so that’s OK. And would you check out the fluffy kitten and those Mary Janes!

Illustration by Eleanor Grosch

A free downloadable desktop wallpaper to get you in the spirit of the witching season, by one of my favorite illustrators, Eleanor Grosch.

In other news, anyone want to buy a kidney?

A man after my own braaaiiins, Matt Cipov. You can find his zombie prints (and more), printed on paper with recycled or partly recycled content, at his store.

Art by Matt Cipov

Art by Matt Cipov

Art by Matt Cipov

Art by Matt Cipov

Illustration by Christian Northeast/The New York Times

I’m not a Potter-head, though my husband is¹, and one of our bookshelves holds a Polaroid of us wearing the iconic black-rimmed spectacles at a Barnes & Noble release party for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (Chekhov promptly sat on mine the next day, snapping them in two, possibly to indicate his lack of enthusiasm for J. K. Rowling’s oeuvre.) I do adore these illustrations by Christian Northeast, however, from an article about Harry-mania by an equally unimpressed Christopher Hitchens in The New York Times.

¹And he very thoughtfully keeps me abreast of everything that happens in and outside of Hogwarts, even when I pretend to have been momentarily struck deaf.

Illustration by Christian Northeast/The New York Times

Photo by freshlyblended

Nestled in upstate New York with her husband and a mini-menagerie, Nicole Lecht runs freshlyblended, a one-woman studio that churns out elegant, nature-inspired journals and notebooks deftly assembled from found materials and post-consumer recycled paper. The talented and effervescent Nicole and I chatted about sustainability in crafting, how she became a “green” designer completely by accident, and where cork paper comes from.

1. How did freshlyblended come about?

Well, I actually went to college for Illustration (that’s what my degree concentration was) and graphic design, but in my last year of school, I took a bookbinding class on a whim and totally fell in love with the structural aspect of it. After graduating, I got a job as a book-cover designer for a publishing house, which opened the door even wider for me, so I ran with it and started to do some research about materials and business.

The word “freshlyblended” came about when I was in a local coffee shop sketching and reading the back of my coffee cup. It said, “… from a fresh blend of eclectic ingredients …” I didn’t hesitate with that name because, at the time, I was struggling over how to hone in on my multiple abilities and eclectic influences. freshlyblended represents just that.

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Photo by FredFlare.com

Art by Heather Amuny Dey, via Design Milk

Art by Hybrid-Home, via Design Milk

Does anyone remember an episode of Conan O’Brien or one of those other late-night talk shows—they kind of blend together at that hour for me—where they did a skit based on Celebrity Jeopardy with a George W. Bush impersonator? The answer was “Pluto” and our esteemed Commander in Chief’s response was, “What is Mexican for pollute. As in ‘Give a hoot-o, don’t pluto.’”

Still cracks me up every single time.

Related article:
1. Remembering Woodsy Owl

Illustration by Kate Brennan Hall, used with permission

to win the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate the beauty:
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child
or a garden patch;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you lived.
This is to have succeeded.

—Emerson

Kate silkscreened this quote onto 500 postcards for a self promotion. Check out more of her amazing work on her Web site.

Two polar bears with floatation devices. Illustration by Louise Jennison

Two polar bears with lights to mark out the safe parts ice. Illustration by Louise Jennison

I’m completely awed by Louise Jennison’s delicate and archly whimsical (or is that whimsically arch?) watercolor paintings that so cleverly illustrate the quagmire global warming has placed polar bears in. (The captions are hers; you can find more of her hauntingly beautiful artwork here.)

Sea ice is vital to polar bears’ survival because they depend on it to hunt their primary food source: ring and bearded seals. Without the ice, the bears wouldn’t be able to sneak behind and ambush the fast-swimming marine mammals. Worse, as melting sea ice recedes from the coast—to which the bears migrate when it gets warmer—bears that climb aboard shore could find themselves stranded without food, as the ice becomes increasingly distant and out of reach. Drownings from exhaustion, gut-wrenchingly, are not uncommon.

So forget the cheerleader—save the ice, save the polar bear, save the world.

From The Littlest Snowman by Charles Tazewell, with art by George De Santis. Originally published in the December 1955 issue of Coronet Magazine.

We’ll be taking a wee break for the holidays. See you in the new year!

Today’s Google image. More here. Do you think the kangaroos are knitting jumpers (hur, hur)?

Art by Seamripper.net

Knitters with kittens should whirl over to Seamripper.net and download the above desktop wallpaper for December; ’twas made with generous dollops of adorable.

Illustrations by Rosemary Mosco

The genius of artist Rosemary Mosco’s Bulbs for Birds concept is staggering: switch one or more light bulbs to a compact fluorescent, e-mail her, and Mosco will draw you a bird (or other feathered creature)!

[via Water Underground]

Photo by the Jonathan Levine Gallery

I sure love them cupcakes, even if they cost $300 a piece (yikes!) These are by the retrofab Nouar.

Uh … prints, maybe, for the rest of us?

Photo by Oh Bara

Check out these pretty organic cotton and sweatshop-free tees handscreened lovingly by Oh Bara. Eireann is one amazing and talented chica!

Art by Meghan Murphy

Meghan, I want to have your babies. CALL ME!

[via Drawn.ca]

I’m smitten with these tees from Upwords, not just because I completely dig the awesome artwork, but also because these positive-’tude shirts are made from 100 percent organic cotton, are sweatshop-free, and are printed with nontoxic water-based dyes. And at $25 per shirt (or $20 for a baby onesie or cap), the price tag is plenty delectable, too. You get free shipping on orders more than $50.

Illustrations by Raymond Savignac/BG Shop

Illustrations by Rica Takada/BG Shop

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Does “Not Tested on Animals” mean what you think it means? Your cosmetics company may take more liberties with that phrase than you think. Find out more at the Animal Protection Institute’s Compassionate Consumer site.

P.S. I’m shamelessly loving the artwork.

[via Green LA Girl]

Illustration by Dylan Meconis

So. Much. Geek. Love.

I didn’t know SustainLane had an animation studio, but, hey, there’s no time like the present to check out the trailer for its seven-part webepisode, The Golden Ocean, an eco-fable about “a young woman who sets out on a quest to find a mystical ocean.” The voice-over narration is somewhat tinny and grating, but the accompanying music is as lovely as the artwork.

Of course I had to find out who did the gorgeous animation, and it turns out to be illustrator Kai-Hua Cheng, one of SustainLane’s lead artists. Cheng interned at FableVision, which, if you haven’t already heard of, is truly the Happiest Place on Earth. (I charmed the hub by reading him The Blue Shoe when we were still a-courtin’.)

I always get giddy when my love of sustainability and aesthetics collide like one BIG, ‘SPLODY COLLIDEY THING. Portland, Oregon-based art collective Tenth and Grant has a gorgeous line of note cards printed by Pinball Publishing on 100 percent, unbleached recycled paper using soy-based inks. (Available at BuyOlympia.com for $2.50 a pop.)

Carson Ellis, whose lovely and poignant illustrations grace the Web site and album covers of The Decemberists is responsible for the monkey business above.

Illustration by Wendy Gardner for Target

Target’s labor practices may be far from up to snuff, you still have to admit it has impeccable taste. In preparation for Easter, Target commissioned the work of Wendy Gardner of Naughty, Naughty Pets fame. The cute overload has completely caramelized my brainmeats (and I mean that in the most complimentary way).

This, of course, isn’t Target’s first flirtation with luminaries of the digital illustration world. It has previously used the likes of J. Otto Siebold (the Ready, Sit, Read! Book Club) and Kirsten Ulve (for its Dottie Loves line for girls), both heroes of mine. (I lament the fact I can’t shove their display signage down my pants and get past security.)

It’s almost enough to make an illustration fangirl forget Target’s sweatshop violations. Almost.

A number of organic stores I’ve visited carry Cherrybrook Kitchen’s range of peanut-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and sometimes wheat/gluten-free all-natural confectionary mixes and frostings. I can’t vouch for the taste since I’ve never tried any of their products, but the allergy-ridden bambinos on their Web site appear to be quivering with sugar-substitute-intoxicated glee (at least, I hope that’s what it is).

Anyway, not being of the nut-allergic variety (haha, SUCKAS), I looked up Cherrybrook Kitchen online because I’m completely taken with their packaging. Don’t those illos just make you want to pinch their cheeks until they’re pink?

Rebecca Hahn’s illos rock my world so hard, you don’t even know! Look, T-shirts!

Okay, I have to go to bed now.

“Baby Mine” by Amanda Visell

Amanda Visell’s artwork never fails to make my cold, blackened heart swell up with silent tears of beatific ecstasy. I’ve always felt that Visell was somehow channeling the spirit of the late, great, and sainted Mary Blair (avert your eyes, do not stare directly into the light), but this? Had me blubbering uncontrollably like someone stole my lunch money, punched my three-legged dog in the gut, and then fed crack to my space-mutie baby.

Thanks, Drawn, for pointing me to her new blog and getting slobber and snot all over my keyboard. (And I mean that in the nicest possible way.)

“Witches’ Night” by Colin Johnson (Not to steal his thunder or anything, but I’m quite convinced that he’s managed to capture the inside of my head through some kind of remote telepathy.)

I’m home at the mercy of a cranium-jabbing migraine, so here are some purdy pictures for you in lieu of a full post.

More on the deliciously surreal work of Colin Johnson here and in a spiffy interview by Art Beat Street. Also, be sure to check out the collaborative show he’s curating.

The U.S. Postal Service commemorates favorite childrens’ book animals this month, featuring one of the Wild Things (Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, 1963), Curious George (Curious George Flies A Kite by Margret and H.A. Rey, 1958), Wilbur (Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, 1952), Frederick (Frederick by Leo Lionni, 1967), Olivia (Olivia by Ian Falconer, 2000), the Very Hungry Caterpillar (The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, 1969 and 1987), Maisy (Maisy’s ABC by Lucy Cousins, 1994 in the U.K. and 1995 in the U.S.), and the Fox in Socks (Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss, 1965).

I think I just squeed my pants.

Nascent company Moody Buddha is rolling out a series of “modular art lamps” designed by a passel of illustrators that includes some of my all-time favorites Keri Smith and S. Britt.

I am particularly covetous of the lamp pictured above, featuring a blissfully slumbering beastie by Michael Slack.

The lamps are expected to become available in February.