Hair Fantasy vs. Reality

I'm in need of a bit of loveliness on this dreary rainy day; these fanciful flowery updos from J.Crew and Anthropologie will do the trick. They are truly gorgeous, in a magical fairie-land kind of way. But this is definitely hair fantasy land. For realsies - I am lucky if my hair even gets a good brush-through, let alone any kind of complicated styling on a regular basis. Thank goodness for things like Ban-Do, below, where you can get a luxe special-occasion-worthy 'do in about 3.2 seconds.

Drape-y Spring Looks

Loving these Spring/Summer looks from Salvor. Pretty and unusual draped tops in amazing prints and colors. My mom is sporting a snazzy new cast post-wrist surgery, and these sleeveless numbers would be easy for her to get into. Also digging the totally fierce tiger scarf.

Etsy Vintage Finds

While doing a little research for my trade show booth, I was searching for vintage side tables (for my notecards and wedding invitations display) and candy dishes (because who can resist a cute and friendly bowl of candy, I ask you?) on etsy.

Here are a few of my finds, along with some completely unrelated items that were too cute not to share. When I look at vintage wares I am inevitably drawn towards the kitchen items. The striped pyrex bowls and ombre mugs are just too much! Makes me want to bake a cake and sip a cup of coffee with an old friend. And the rooster recipe box is excellent; it's good luck to have a rooster in the kitchen.

Top, left to right: "Smoker's table" with painted crane motif, Blue-topped pedestal table
Above, left to right: Scallop-edged blue and white bowl, Milkglass dish with raised botanical pattern

Below, left to right: Wave candy dish, Blue glass candy dish
Center image: Vintage rooster recipe box
Bottom: Striped Pyrex nesting bowls, Cool "ombre" coffee cups

Innovative, to a T

How cool is this? A monthly magazine you can wear... T-post, a completely ad-free artistic collaboration, produces a new t-shirt each month, working with different designers. Printed on the inside is the magazine text. Each tee is intended to inspire, provoke, and engage. Read it..then wear it! The ultimate re-cycle, re-use, re-purpose.

The current issue (above) deals with the hyper-reality of new 3-D film technology (for example, Avatar) and how this affects the perception of our own reality in comparison. Past issues have dealt with everything from politics in Nepal to the recent resurgence of the cassette tape. T-post only produces the exact number of t-shirts as there are subscribers so each issue is completely limited-edition.

For the birds

The sun is shining, the windows are open and the birds are a-chirping. Spring has sprung here in Brooklyn, at least for the time being, although I'm a seasoned-enough New Yorker to know better than to store my hat and scarf away just yet. I've just stocked up on birdseed for our feeder since we get tons of apparently hungry (judging by how they usually decimate our stockpiles of seed) feathered friends out on the fire escape, from cardinals to bluejays to those cute little brown chickadees, so I've got birds on the brain today.

Here are a few super-cute birdie items I spotted in some favorite shops, clockwise from upper left: birdcage wall decals by PopWall, mod blue bird hook at Urban Outfitters (designed by Joy of Oh Joy!), song bird felt ornaments by anna joyce designs, and set of Partridge collage notecards from my etsy shop.

Explosive color...

...literally. I was struck by the beauty and intense color of these abstract works by NYC-based artist Rosemarie Fiore. And then I read they were firework drawings, a two-word phrase that was totally new to me, and I had to know more! Turns out Fiore actually explodes fireworks in contained areas and captures the super-saturated, abstract results on paper. Check out her site to see a few shots of her work in action. As an artist, she's no stranger to rather dangerous, large-scale works; Rosemarie has also created enormous"drawings" by attaching paint to a Scrambler amusement park ride, and heated paint in a waffle iron before applying to canvas (bottom image).

I must admit those last ones do kind of make me crave a warm crispy buttery Belgian waffle though... maybe it's just me.

Mystical, Magical

As soon as I finished leafing through the latest Anthropologie catalog (which was pretty much the moment it came out of the mailbox, as usual; I love my catalog eye candy), I had to stop and do a little digging to find out where they did these fantasic shots. My first guess was Bali; turns out it's much closer to home - at least on the same continent.

Ranging over 60 mountainside acres near the village of Xilitla, Mexico, Las Pozas is the fantastical surrealist garden created by Scottish ex-pat artist Edward James in the 1960s. Sure would love to see this crazy place in person. Hmmmm... road trip!

domestic contruction

I'm in the process of designing my first-ever trade show booth (only 2 months + 5 days til the NSS! oh my goodness.) so I've been searching high and low for interior inspiration of all sorts to get my brain going on the 3-d side of design, a new and exciting challenge since I'm usually a 2-d kind of gal, creatively speaking.

I was completely psyched to find the website of domestic construction, comprised of daring design duo Trish and Maureen, both alumni of SCAD (shout-out to my hometown of Savannah, GA!). The multi-disciplinary design studio specializes in interior environments, custom fabrication for windows and events, and the like, creating groovy incarnations that are equally eco-friendly and design-savvy. Truly inspired and inspiring.

And, oh yeah, they make clothes too!

Knitting Gone Wild

Whoa.. as a very beginner level crocheter/knitter, I can't even imagine how this was pulled off... Spotted over on Ladybird Sews Her Nest.

Dutch Duo

Scholten & Baijings is an Amsterdam-based design duo that creates simply beautiful things. They've got that northern Europe, minimal-yet-playful aesthetic down to a T.

Chirp!

Love these state bird and flower letterpress prints by dutch door press. A good reminder to refill our bird feeder, which seems to empty out as fast as we can fill it and provides endless entertainment for our two cats.

Thankful...

...for the plethora of great creative work that has come my way lately.
...for my amazingly talented friends who helped make a boatload-size job a total blast.
...for lessons learned that will surely make me a better creative business owner in the years to come.
...for the fact that spring is really, truly on the way, even if it doesn't feel like it yet.

Beautiful shot by Cheryl Zibisky.