Cappuccino and Cases

I had so much fun having a photo shoot with my cases and my lovely model-- Kris. Her and her cute butt are available for hire! :) Anyway-- these shots didn't make it in the Joss & Main Lookbook, so I thought I'd share. Most of the pictures in the Shop are digital, so it's nice to see some live shots. We got all hyped up on cappuccinos and snapped away. I had a few people tell me that the coffee rings around the cups looked dirty, but I insisted on not photoshopping it out because that's the sign of a good cappuccino-- when it's so thick that it sticks to the sides of the cup! Mmmmmm....

Fate intervened with these amazing painted doors. On New Year's Day, I was desperate for a good cappuccino, so I went to my local spot- Hi-Hat (YUM- they do it right!) but it was closed, so I hit Broadway Cafe (equally delish). The place was packed, so I had to park down the street. Coincidentally, I parked right in front of a Moroccan Restaurant I had never noticed before-- and you know how I love all things Moroccan. And check out these doors-- cool, right!? 

Color Lover: Tangerine Tango

This year's Pantone Color of the Year is PERFECTION. Orange has always been my fave. It's bright, vibrant, happy, and I think it's a little unexpected. I think Pantone nailed it this year. (Unlike last year, where I had to declare that Honeysuckle was yellow and not pink). This bright reddish orange was the inspiration for designing Happy Habitat Eco Throws. I was on the hunt for an Orange Moroccan Fretwork patterned cotton throw (those should be everywhere, right!?). When I couldn't find one, I designed one, and now sell them in my shop! So I suppose I should change the color from Paprika to Tangerine Tango, huh?!

Happy Habitat Fretwork Eco Throws in Paprika... I mean Tangerine Tango

Happy Habitat Lattice Eco Throw in Tangerine Tango (Paprika)

NEW! Patterned Holiday Photo Cards

Send a fresh holiday greeting with your choice of pattern, color, and greeting. The options are endless to make your card uniquely yours. Mix it up this year, and deviate from the traditional holiday colors. I really like turquoise and red together-- it looks festive and wintery. Or plum and navy makes for a cool New Years card. I love to see what combinations my customers come up with-- always something I haven't thought of. I'm loving grey or taupe paired with red-- traditional, but a little different. Visit the holiday card shop to see all the patterns and color options.

All photos featured on my cards are from the amazing Amy of Amy Berg Photography-- a childhood friend of mine who always had a fantastic artistic touch.  Her photography is so cool and bright. Thank you Amy... your photos make my cards look great!

Happy Habitat Eco Throws on Fab.com!

How sweet is this!? You know I'm kind of famous now because I'm on Fab.com: Ashton Kutcher is an investor of Fab.com, and apparently Demi likes to tweet about great products from Fab.com and well, can't you see the connection? Okay, so it's a stretch. But I'm honored to be among such great designers. I recently signed up and have been exposed to the COOLEST products. Nothing mass produced, all made by someone. If you are in the market for a Happy Habitat Eco Throw, stop by Fab.com and pick one up for 30% off! Oh-- and you have to be invited to Fab.com-- so here's your invitation. It's 3 days only, so don't hesitate! Big Ole Thank You to Fab for including me!

Fabric Faves: Michael Devine

Michael Devine: do you think that's his stage name? If so, I want to change my name to Karrie Fabulous. With a name like that, he is destined to do something great, right!? Well, I'd say his fabrics are right-on. Hand-printed, and you can really see that in the texture of these prints.

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And while you are in his shop, 

make sure and check out the cool accessories. 

I SO want one of these trays!

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Can't get enough FRETWORK!

I'm sure you've noticed that I have a thing for fretwork. It's a huge inspiration for my patterns and seems to add architectural interest no matter how it used. "Fretwork" is a term that most often brings readers to my blog, so I feel obligated to tell everyone about this. I fell in love when I saw these fretwork panels made for adding to furniture, walls, doors, whatever you can think of. They look so easy to use, flexible and lightweight. I hope to find a way to use these somewhere soon. Great job Danika and Cheryle! Be sure to check out their shop and Danika's blog. Here's a lil sample:

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By the way, I'm not compensated in any way to endorse O'verlays. I just think they are too great to keep to myself.

I'm back...

Miss me? Apparently there is a big problem with spam blogs out there. You know those junky websites that you land on and think to yourself, "what is this? how did I get here? and how do I get OUT of here as fast I can?" Happy Habitat was cloned to look like a legitimate website/blog, but then the spammers added a bunch of inappropriate junk to it. It's a bit foreign to me, but what I do know is that Blogger shut down Happy Habitat until they could verify that it was the original and not one of the spam sites. Frustrating.

The good news is that while I wasn't busy blogging, I was busy getting ready to open my shop. One step at a time, but I have a mountain of items in my head that I'm excited about. Everything in the shop is inspired by geometric patterns from around the world, such as: Moroccan fretwork, Indian jali work and Spanish tiles.  Here's a peek of some of the patterns I've been working on:

PS- If you look closely, things are a bit out of whack on the Happy Habitat site. Please excuse the site construction while I work to get my shop up and things back in order. 

Privacy Please! The Coolest Window Coverings

How cool are these!? Roller shades. You can select the level of opacity, and you can reverse the design. I've had my eye on these for years. Why oh why did I put boring wood blinds in my bathroom when I could have done this for the same price! Easy way to add architecture for cheap!

Hello Greek Key!

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Similar idea, but these are a stick on window film.

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Adding Architecture: More Fabulous Fretwork

After my last post on fretwork, I found my original inspirations of fretwork panels shown in rooms. (Apparently I really have a thing for fretwork since I had three separate files on the subject.) The customized woodwork give these rooms a one-of-kind feel. It is artful and handcrafted. I think the best place to utilize these would be as a room divider. I love how older homes have smaller compartmentalized spaces, but sometimes they can feel closed in, and not convenient when you are entertaining or have small kids you need to keep an eye on. Sliding fretwork panels would give you the cozy feeling while still having an airy lightness and could be flexible to be opened or closed. They would be great to put in a newer home too, that might be lacking in architectural elements or maybe whose floor plan is 'too open'.

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Adding Architecture with Fretwork

All design elements look better when placed in an architecturally interesting space. If you've ever noticed catalogs such as Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel, the rooms that showcase their items are fantastic. There are big old beams,  high ceilings, wall moulding, archways, beautiful windows. But many of us live in houses that lack those things. I came across this idea from an old Oprah show, when Nate Berkus was just a pup (okay, well it was just over a year ago, but before he was a household name). He did this Moroccan kitchen, and I took note of the Moroccan style fretwork he incorporated into the door.


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 I found this company that does amazing work. I'm guessing they did the door for Nate Berkus. Here's some stunning examples of how to bring some interesting architectural elements into your home.

Of course I'm partial to the Moroccan style patterns, but with almost 100 different patterns, there's something for everyone!

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