Raindrops from Zakka Nouveau.

July 28, 2011

Hooray! My “needle in a haystack” raindrop tea towel from Zakka Nouveau just arrived in the mail, and it’s even prettier than I’d imagined. They’ve been out of stock for quite a while, and I couldn’t place my order quickly enough when they returned to the shop. Now I want the other two colors, too.

You know when something turns up in your mailbox and the entire process of opening it up and rooting through the packaging is almost as fun getting to the thing itself? Opening this envelope was like that. Thick vellum machine-stitched with pink thread, cotton string and a screen-printed label. So nice.

I discovered Zakka Nouveau (you can read about the name here) when I was writing this picnic post for SFGirlbyBay, and it was love at first sight. Beyond the obvious (it’s no secret that I’m a fan of raindrop shapes, after all!), I like how soft and feminine everything looks without being cutesy or little girlish…and while still being graphic and bold.

Store owner and designer Satsuki Shibuya also maintains a really wonderful blog for Zakka Nouveau full of both beautiful images and inspiring writings about creative expression, work, and life in general.

My beautiful new tea towel is now at home in my apartment bathroom. Thank you, Satsuki!

Anna Dorfman

I'm a book cover designer and art director based in New York and New Mexico. I've been blogging about home renovation, interiors, graphic design, DIY, food, cosmetics, dogs, art, music, books, and life in general since 1998. I could really use a cup of coffee right now.

✚

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28 Comments

Reply Mamma Biscuit July 28, 2011 at 10:22 am

Not only is that tea towel beautiful, the packaging is equally gorgeous! Is that a stitched envelope? I love it! I’ll make sure to check out the Zakka Nouveau blog too!

Reply Izzy July 28, 2011 at 10:33 am

Lovely! But I’m curious – why in the bathroom?

Anna @ D16 July 28, 2011 at 10:41 am
Because it looks nice there? And I like to dry my hands after I wash them. 🙂

Reply Nina July 28, 2011 at 12:14 pm

Beautiful towel and lovely packaging. I love how those simple things in life can make one happy!

I’ve ordered this feather hairpiece once and the package also included a selfmade “mixtape” CD. Loved it!

Reply Monica July 28, 2011 at 2:03 pm

I love it when this much thought is put into packaging and love the color of the teardrops. I see your plant is still going strong.

Anna @ D16 July 28, 2011 at 9:47 pm
That plant is OUT OF CONTROL. It’s huge. I really need to re-pot it, actually.

IKEA plants are terrifyingly hearty. I guess they must breed (that’s not the right word, I know!!) them to survive indoors under fluorescent lights.
Monica July 29, 2011 at 5:39 am
“Breed” gives it a nice evil sci-fi edge though. Now I have this image of a whole bunch of blue and yellow dressed people running around a green house going “booaaahaha”. Maybe cultivate? Not nearly as fun though. 🙂

Reply Dawn Marie July 28, 2011 at 6:52 pm

Beautiful. It looks so soft.

Reply Viktoriya July 28, 2011 at 10:50 pm

Hey, Anna, you might like this fabric from Spoonflower!! http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/434544

Anna @ D16 July 28, 2011 at 11:20 pm
Cute!

Reply Sara July 29, 2011 at 2:07 am

I never thought to put it in the bathroom! It’s the perfect location.

Reply Beth July 29, 2011 at 9:27 am

Random question Anna: how did you and your husband meet?

Anna @ D16 July 29, 2011 at 11:03 am
Online! Of course. 🙂

Reply Izzy July 29, 2011 at 10:44 am

Sorry if you thought my question odd, Anna – it’s just that I use tea towels to dry dishes etc, not my hands! But not reason why you shouldn’t, of course :o)

Anna @ D16 July 31, 2011 at 8:07 am
Oh, I didn’t think it was odd, I just didn’t know how to answer! There isn’t much of a “why” other than “why not”. 😉

Reply Jennifer July 29, 2011 at 2:23 pm

Hi Anna…love your blog!

Totally off topic, but of course, I immediately thought of you. If you haven’t read, Morrissey is stirring “it up” with a comment he made about the Norway massacre. Here’s the link.

It’s not spam, I promise!

Jen

Anna @ D16 July 30, 2011 at 8:33 am
Yes, Morrissey will always be who he is and say exactly what he believes, for better or worse. Here is his response to the furor over his comment, if you’re interested.

Reply Süsk July 29, 2011 at 3:17 pm

Hullo there!
Completely unrelated (well sort of related, as it includes receiving things in the post) question- I’ve had your talking Polaroid in a little box for over a month now and have sent a few emails asking for where to send it. I draw the line at 3 emails though, at the risk of sounding like a total psycho begging for an address. Ha!

Should you like it, just let me know where to post it, please.

Ta ra!

Anna @ D16 July 30, 2011 at 8:29 am
Oh good grief, I could swear I replied immediately!! (I haven’t received any follow-up emails from you, fwiw.) I’m so sorry—I’ll be in touch in a bit.

Reply Karena July 30, 2011 at 10:29 am

Anna I love this design !! I am so into beautiful linens!! I will go look at the company site!

xoxo
Karena

Reply Kyle July 30, 2011 at 4:51 pm

I would love to hear your thoughts on the new season of Project Runway.

Anna @ D16 July 30, 2011 at 5:45 pm
I don’t often have access to cable TV (or any TV) anymore, so I’ll have to get caught up online. Are you on Twitter? I usually keep my TV thoughts confined to 140 characters or less. 😀