A Sparkling New Year!

Ceramic "Happy New Years" Banner Ornament by Rae Dunn

The new year is upon us, and before we gather to ring it in, we wanted to send you our good tidings for a beautiful year. And to help it along, we dug into our archives and found this "sparkling" idea from a guest post by the talented duo Ladies & Gentlemen . Toast the New Year in with an array of tasty mix-your-own cocktails that are guaranteed to get the next 52 weeks off to a good start! Get the recipes!

Ladies and Gentlemen

DIY Weddings & Valentines/Wedding Market - Call for Submissions

moss & moor

January and part of February is going to be wedding month here at Poppytalk and we would love to feature some beautiful handmade/DIY weddings! If you or you know of someone who recently tied-the-knot, and who's wedding hasn't been seen much online yet, we'd love to feature them! These features will coincide with our Wedding and Valentine's Markets at Poppytalk Handmade (our pre-Valentines/Wedding is running now to Jan. 14/11 and our 4th Annual "Love Transforms" market takes place January 17 - February 11/11). Please email us here or poppytalkblog[at]yahoo[dot]ca sending along a few photo's and/or links of the wedding with the words "Real Wedding" in the subject line.

Also we are currently accepting submissions for our upcoming online Love Transforms Market. This is one of our most popular markets of the year! We are accepting entries for "love" related items, papergoods (invitations, cards, albums), wedding accessories, cake decorations & toppers, wedding decorations, wedding fashion, flowers, etc. (Valentine's Day - Feb 14)! The submission deadline is January 7th, 2011. Please submit by emailing us here or (poppytalkblog[at]yahoo[dot]ca) with the words "Love Transforms" in the subject line. Also send in your pictures of what you would like to feature in the market (if it's not already in your shops) along with a link to your online shop. (All entries need a valid online shop to apply). We look forward to hearing from you!

Poppytalk Handmade is a curated online marketplace/exhibition site to showcase, buy and sell handmade goods of emerging design talent from around the world. Our market provides emerging designers and artists an opportunity to connect with consumers, retail buyers, stylists, personal shoppers and the press. It's a unique way of introducing new product and branding your independent product/company. Testimonials from participants can be read here. Please read our press on Poppytalk Handmade here.

Eleven for Eleven

We will be ringing in the New Year with our annual tradition of taking stock of what we accomplished this past year and what we'd like to focus on for the new one to come. It's always a fun thing to do (we never know where it will take us). Here's my personal New Year's focus (resolution) list à la handmade! What are your plans for 2011?

No. 1 Think More Positive
(Thanks for the little push Chelsea and Joanna)

a string of positivity no. 6 by alltheluckintheworld

No. 2 Love Heaps

the fuzzy monkey

No. 3 Dance More

matteart

No. 4 Make Things More Special

bananasaurusrex

No. 5 Take More Pictures

little sapling toys

No. 6 Get More Organized

maydaystudio

No. 7 Take a Family Portrait

vivienne strauss

No.8 Join a Choir

dudeandchick

No. 9 Go South

sfgirlbybay

No. 10 Get More Sleep

tastesorangey

No. 11 Get More Crafty

shoofly

2010 Most Influential (Part Five)

Print is Not Dead!

From Anthology Magazine; Photo Credit:

Yay for Anthology! A big congrats to Anh-Minh Le and Meg Mateo Ilasco for bringing us decor-crazed readers, something we can touch and carry and covet.

Outdoor Movie Night

We loved this outdoor movie party that Ashley Ann hosted this fall at their Oklahoma property. This is on my list of things to do one day!

Photo's of Horses

Photo's of horses and even better, photo's of horses with mountains. Horses in the Evening by A Day That is Dessert.

The Handbound Book

There's just something about a handbound book or journal. It's an amazing gift to give or receive. roughdrAftbooks , Julie Boyles and Erinzam makes some beautiful ones. (Above: roughdrAftbooks and Erinzam).


Cute Kitchens

Seriously, how could we not add this to the list. Read the post here. (Photo credit: Victoria Pearson).

Pom Poms

The pom poms were a-happening this summer! I guest blogged in October at Whip Up and wrote about them. Click here to read!


Hydrangea Pendant Light

I'm still in love with this hydrangea pendant light ever since I saw it in Sweet Paul this past Thanksgiving. The hydrangea pendant lamp by Sarah Foot is made from hundreds of hand-stamped ash veneer circles.

Neat Card Phone App

Cartolina Cards dazzled us this fall with their fun and creative Cartograms. The app is all about sending brief yet beautiful messages using one of their customizable cards. And they're so pretty!

Arts and Crafts

In the world of arts and crafts we were inspired heaps, and although we couldn't by any means include everything we covered this year, here's a little cute glimpse of what we saw. (Above) Little Lamb, Sweetpeatoadtots, Going Batty Treat Bucket, Smidgebox and linen pouffe by Spool and Sparrow.

Douglas Coupland

Douglas Coupland impressed us with his art-filled mid-century (second home) located here in the lower mainland when it was featured in The New York Times. Coupland an artist before he became a writer, installed many works of art throughout this original midcentury home, including his own creations. Photo credits: Martin Tessler for The New York Times. See more of our post about it here.


Ceramics

Ceramics. If I could, I would have a house full. And these little porcelain lace cups from by New York potter, Hideminy are a sweet example.

Off-the-Grid House

This Off-grid itHouse is powered by solar panels for energy and hot water, and is located in a remote valley in the California high desert. How could it not be influential? See more of it here.


Traveling Retail Trailers

We love the idea of traveling around the country in a retro trailer and selling handmade goods. If we could, we'd jump at the chance! And that's just what the folks of Wanderlust started doing this year. Even the folks at the Ace Hotel hit the road with curator, Jou-Yie Chou and Jay Carroll of One Trip Pass and photographer Nate Bressler. They hit the road with an airstream for an adventure down the West Coast highway, collecting a mix of art, craft, vintage and experience. We're in!


Pretty Organized

I think we all got pretty inspired by this awesome way to store things. Photographer, Candice Stringham came up with this clever set up for her office earlier this year. Click here to read more.

Studio Tour

The ladies at Inoui Design swooned us with their office makeover featuring their yardstick stairs

project in Victoria's Fernwood Village neighbourhood here on the west coast. A clean modern office with some great detailing using found objects, DIY installations and bright pops of colour. Visit the beautiful reno here if you missed it.


T-House

Being modular home fans, we loved the high-end T-House by BC-based company Preform. The 900sqft prefab showcased this year at IDSwest. Click here for more info.


Christian Woo




Christian Woo, a Vancouver based woodworker who designs custom furniture launched his
Covert series furniture ranging from sleek, low profile end tables to filing cabinets and sideboards.

Crib Sheets by Camilla Engman

We couldn't resist adding this adorable crib sheet by Camilla Engman for Aussie-based company, Three Drawer Down to the list!


Tastes Orangey

Bodega Bay (California) artist, Clare Elsaesser of Tastes Orangey creates prints from original paintings by printing on matte paper, which is then sewn with thread onto a piece of textured watercolor paper, giving the print a very substantial feel.

Yokoo' Bedroom

Loved this room by Atlanta, Georgia's Yokoo; a fun mix of southwestern native american and nautical. (Via Etsy's "Get the Look: Home Decor Edition ).

Recycled Wood

We saw a lot of beautiful recycled wood projects this year including a beautiful collection of furniture made of brightly colored discarded scrap wood strips by Brazilian Designer Brunno Jahara, a reclaimed wood and pipe shelving unit by Canadian duo, Hindsvik and the amazing chair by Union Wood Company via Old Faithful.

Comma Workshop

If you haven't had a chance yet to see Comma Workshop's quillts yet, they are truly inspiring and modern. As Kelly Deck stated in the Globe and Mail, "Using just cloth and thread, Comma strips the craft to its rudiments". She stitches prose across the surface, using poems such as "Three Blind Mice" or "Striped Dogs Howl". Visit Comma Workshop here or here.

Knitted Letterpress

Two of our favourite things: knitting and letterpress. Brooklyn-based letterpress Paper Sheep created this fun and adorable stationery.

Nicole Lavelle

Nicole Lavelle inspired and influenced us.

Beautiful Packaging

Beautiful wrapping inspiration from Sweet Paul Magazine and d. sharp.

DIY Books

We love DIY books, and this one is amazing. Check it out here .

Write a Bike

Write a Bike by Juri Zaech, a Swiss Art Director, currently living and working in Paris, France is working on a way to produce a prototype of one of these bikes. Lets cross our fingers! More here.

The Calendar

Beautiful calendars galore! Click here.

The Selby is in Your Place

Pictures from the CB2 / Selby “The Selby is in Your Place” contest shoot. The winner, was Eileen Peters (from Venice Beach, CA) with a space that's eclectic, modern, down to earth and unpredictable. (I want her sunglasses collection). Click here and here to see heaps more or read our post about it here!


Field Trips

We love field trips, they always turn up fun and new surprises. This picture is from the ECUAD Student Art Sale. So much to take in - we love student work. See more - it won't disappoint!


Disc String Lights

Sweet Disc String Lights from Pigeon Toe Ceramic

Looking back it was a pretty incredible year and I fear I've missed so many that still deserve notice and attention. I welcome you to take a look back yourselves, there were 1,231 posts (see left sidebar at bottom - under "Go Back In Time" heading). Thanks to all of you who create, inspire and make us grow and to all of you who come to be inspired. Looking forward to 2011! xo jan + earl

Click here for Parts One through Four.

Read our previous years' most influential:

2009 Most Influential
2008 Most Influential
2007 Most Influential
2006 (Best of '06))
2005 (Best of '05)