Sarah Kay ✿ Vivien Kubbos

Have you ever heard of Sarah Kay? I hadn't until just a few months ago. I was perusing through Instagram, when this little illustration popped up in my explore feed and I thought, "Oh this reminds me of my little Lydia." Lydia is my thirteen year old daughter, who has always had a bit of eclectic tastes, and more recently, she's been very, very into 60's/70's fashion. So, when I saw this illustration, I just knew that it would be something that she would love, and she did. But then I realized, that I also loved these illustrations and couldn't believe I had never stumbled upon them before.

"The originator of the boldest and most prolific portfolio of Sarah Kay work was the artist Vivien Kubbos. We have had the pleasure of meeting Mrs Kubbos, and celebrating her 70th birthday in Sydney, Australia.

Back in the early 1970′s Vivien Kubbos was a freelance illustrator who, whilst raising her family, began creating Sarah Kay Collections for Valentines Sands Greeting Cards.

Vivien worked from her home in the harbour side suburb of Greenwich in Sydney. Greenwich is a wonderful pocket of bushland on Sydney Harbour and has considerable wildlife including blue tongue lizards, rosellas and possums. Mrs Kubbos had only to look out her window to find inspiration in natural beauty.

The free spirit that we know as Sarah Kay was born. ʻSarahʼ was Mrs Kubbosʼ father’s pet name for her and ʻKayʼ was added as a piece of herself (K being for Kubbos).

Today, Mrs Kubbos is retired and continues to express herself creatively, mostly through the medium of painting." Source

More lovely Sarah Kay illustrations:

౨ৎ Jocelyne De Lioncourt

Blush pink ballerina doll(created with ai)

Created with Freepik AI & retouched with photoshop

& a few more versions

౨ৎ Jocelyne De Lioncourt

The Vintage World of Laura Ashley

When I look at old Laura Ashley ads or their catalog, it makes me imagine a beautiful soft, country, romantic world where all we wear are pretty powderpuff dresses and sit in our obnoxiously large yards doing absolutely nothing but enjoy this easy life, now there is absolutely no correlation between mine and this pretend world, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy pretending it. Nowadays, seeing new Laura Ashley items in store is a bit of a bittersweet feeling, I get excited seeing the name, but then I remember it isn't the same brand it once was. I've only seen Laura Ashley in a few stores, specifically at TJ Maxx and Ross, and the products just didn't live up to the name that Laura Ashley used to be. The Laura Ashley brand came to be in the 50's(way older than I expected!) but in the mid 80's, when I thought LA was at her peak, the designer passed away and ever since it seems the company has passed through many hands. Of course, the brand has had many successful years, but it is not just a name, the magic of it is pretty much gone. It is currently owned by Gordon Brothers Management who aren't entirely without credit, but I just haven't seen them do Laura Ashley justice. It could be because the romantic aesthetic of the 70's and 80's is long gone, or it could be that they only care about profits. Either way, all we can do is enjoy the vintage world of Laura Ashley that once was.

౨ৎ Jocelyne De Lioncourt