Peacocks have to be one of the most fascinating creatures ever to walk the face of the earth. Its no wonder why you find peacock motifs in many design elements including apparel, home decor, paintings and so much more. I am not much of a bird person but after looking at some images of peacocks on Wikipedia I definitely have a new perspective. I remember seeing one at a zoo when I was really little but I haven’t really had a chance to see another one since. While I was on Wikipedia I found some interesting facts about peacocks that you may or may not know.

1. The male is called a peacock and the female is called a peahen
2. The peacock is designated as the national bird of India.
3. Many of the brilliant colors of the peacock plumage are due to an optical interference phenomenon (Bragg reflection) based on (nearly) periodic nanostructures found in the barbules (fiber-like components) of the feathers.
4. During mating season they will often emit a very loud high pitched cry.

I really love the vibrant colors of the blue and green ones. Here are some great images and designs inspired by the Indian blue peacock.

Image from Wikipedia

Clockwise from top left: 1. Anthroplogie 2. Decorative Instincts 3. La Vita Lola 4. Horvat Land

Rachel T. Robertson is a talented artist who creates beautiful collages with her sketches, paintings and paper cutouts. You can easily see that Rachel puts a lot of time and effort into her art. She adds just the right amount of detail in her work and it never seems overdone which can be a hard task to do with collages.  Below are some of my favorite pieces and I think they fit nicely with the current weather conditions. Especially the bottom left hand image. It makes me think that the leaves are falling in a more conceptual way. I also love how she has broken the art up into three separate pieces. Not only does she create beautiful collages she is also a talented crafter. She creates greeting cards and sews ornaments, pillows and apparel. Check more of her work over at her website www.racheltrobertson.com

Below are just a few of my favorite designs right now. Can you tell I love blue and green? In the first image I love the blue and green stripe with the organic looking leaf. A company called Vert which carries organic beauty products in LA has a beautiful logo and stationary to follow. I came across this blue Avant Gandhi t-shirt and it made me laugh and I love that font. I think my fiance would totally dig this. Number 3 is a gorgeous painting by Sara Singh with butterflies going from big and detailed to small and simplistic. So inspiring! Number 4 is a beautiful beach glass necklace which I need to show my mom for inspiration because she designs beach glass jewelry here on Maui and I just love the three different colors of glass on one string. Whenever I am at the beach I am always looking for some for her. Even when I was in Port Angela’s, WA I had my fiance’s family all looking for them and we found about 10 pieces. My favorite are the frosty aqua colored ones. In the fifth item I love the contrast of the bird with the blue and green cloud background on this dish from Target. Last but not least number 6 is a reminder for me to get more file folders and not the boring manila ones.

1. Vert LA 2. Emil Kozak 3. Sara Singh 4. Sea Me 5. Target 6. Eco Jot

Akira minägawa is the textile designer for minä perhonen where he produces timeless fabrics for clothing and furniture upholstery. The name was derived from his travels to Finland where “minä” means “I” and “perhonen” is “butterfly”. He says that all of his designs are started with sketches which is relevant when looking at his collection. I would say his textiles are so intricate and pretty with a touch of humor and whimsy. Below are my favorite ones from his collection. I tend to lean towards a lot of his blue and organic looking fabrics. He has also designed textiles for one of the largest fabric manufacturers Kvadrat.

You must check out Sandra Juto’s Photography over at her blog Smosch. Her photos have such a clean crisp feel to them and after looking at her blog page after page you start to feel as if you are looking at the world through her eyes. She photographs everything from architecture to nature and she even has a line of illustrations. Sandra lives in Sweden where she finds inspiration from walking around and stories told from other people.