Wordshop Wednesday (on Thursday): Summersville

From the creative mind and talented hands of the lovely Lucie Summers, I present you with the fabric brilliance of Summersville:

French Friday (on Saturday): I saw the sign

All photos below ©Words&Eggs.wordpress.com, taken by me, either in Angoulême or Paris, France. 

Wordshop Wednesday: Made By Julene!

The following intricate and pithy paper cut designs are the creations of the lovely Julene Harrison. Julene maintains a lovely site, appropriately named Made By Julene, where you can find the designs below along with other artistic creations, or even order your own customized Paper Cuts! (Hell, I’d settle for the negative space cut outs…!)

I would not have heard of Julene were it not for the always lovely and inspirational Oh So Beautiful Paper. Please visit, and often!

Easter egg hunt

In celebration of Easter, I offer you the following beautiful egg designs from The Red Thread:

Wordshop Wednesday: Storeyshop!

My oldest sister is engaged (yay!), and I’ve been searching all over Etsy for inspired invitation/RSVP ideas. I came across Storeyshop’s hand-cut cards and had to post some images. They’re too intricately whimsical and typographically exquisite not to highlight…

Enjoy! And please visit the Storeyshop Etsy store for more of their fantastic cards…

April Fools’ Fishies!

For the French, April 1st signifies le poisson d’avril (or, April’s Fish). While the history of the April 1st/joke connection remains a bit shifty, the most widely accepted source finds itself anchored in 16th-century France, when King Charles IX adopted a new calendar. This calendar, called the Gregorian Calendar (after Pope Gregory XIII, who commanded it), shifted the start of the new year from April 1st to January 1st. Some traditionalists, however, refused to acknowledge and accept the new date; still others simply remained oblivious to the change. Whatever the reason, those who remained loyal to April 1st New Year were soon deemed “April Fools” and were mocked and tricked by their peers.

Similar obscurity surrounds the origin of the April 1st/poisson connection. Some have theorized that the fish relate to the sun’s departure from the zodiac sign of Pisces. Others make perhaps the more obvious connection: fish are easily baited and fooled into being caught. Fish, the symbol of les fous/fools. (My apologies to you fish-lovers out there. Don’t hate the messenger, please.)

The evolution of le poisson d’avril finds little French children taping paper fish to the backs of adults and lightheartedly yelling, “Poisson d’avril!” once said adult discovers the fishy. Likewise, adults play pranks and, whenever the prank’s truth is discovered, the prankster will yell, “Poisson d’avril!“. It’s all fun and games until someone throws a chocolate fish at your head.

In any case, April 1st in France is a sight to be seen… particularly in the Chocolatiers, where various incarnations of chocolate fish shroud the windows. It’s INCREDIBLE. I’ve never seen anything like it. But since I’m not in France right now, I thought I’d share some images that I found online… chocolate-related and not. Enjoy, and happy April Fools’!

(Above: found HERE)

(Above: from Chocolatier Patrick Roger)

(Above: “Happy Fishing!” found HERE)

(Above: found on Flickr)

(Above: found HERE)

(Above: found HERE)

(Above: “Eaten!” found HERE)

(Above: found HERE)