1.31.2008


Baby + grad school + husband's 3 art exhibitions in 1 month + indie craft fair= 1 tired mama! I have no idea how I've forgotten to post about this, but I'm happy to announce that EZ E and I will be selling our goods at the Second Storie}} Indie Craft Market in Rochester, New York tomorrow. We're sharing a table with the lovely (and talented) Kris. Here's a list of the other vendors. It's at Spot Coffee from 6 to 10 pm...please stop by and say hello. I'll be the half-awake girl holding a red rose...I'm kidding...I'll be holding a smiley baby.

Collected...



This week's Collected post features a mad-for-plaid collection that belongs to Lauren, owner of an etsy shop called Aunt June. Lauren also writes a blog called My Aunt June, where I discovered that we shared an unusual childhood interest...making clothing for troll dolls.  Unusual, yes...but that just makes us more interesting, right?  Two of our other shared interests include digging things out of the trash and plaid.  Look at these thermoses!  (spelling that makes me think there should be a plural for thermos...thermi?) And...as if the "thermi" weren't awesome enough...look at her plaid chair! If I lived at Lauren's house I would fill every thermos with coffee and spend the whole day sitting in the plaid chair making little plaid shirts for troll dolls. OK, maybe that's not true (I'm clearly a bit sleep-deprived). Goodnight!

1.30.2008

It's a wrap...


Of all of our friends and family members, our friend Tim always sends me the strangest (and most interesting) links. Recently he sent a link for this site that has "a gallery of 21 paper-based condom envelopes". I suppose I've never considered the amount of time and thought that goes into designing things like this. I also suppose that you never would have thought that you'd meander over to Aesthetic Outburst and find a bunch of condom wrappers...my answer to that: life is full of surprises, now isn't it? Surprises or not, my point is that we often overlook the graphic quality of things like these "envelopes" and I personally appreciate when an odd little site comes along that makes me take a different look at seemingly mundane objects. So, thank you Tim and thank you odd little site. My particular favorites are "Poncho" (because I had a friend named Poncho once) and "Devil Skin" (how couldn't that one be a fave?!).

1.29.2008

Shop update...


I added some vintage finds to my shop tonight.  Take a look!

Around the world...


What is it about globes that people (myself included) find so fascinating?  I used to collect globes and then gave my collection away (I know...D-U-M-B). All of these lovely images make me want to start up again. Take a look! (photo above by lovely days)

Photo (below) from spring globe...


amyla174...

karen peacock...

IwateBuddy...

girl hula...

louise.design...

and last, but certainly not least, doublewinky...



Check out this site for some more amazing globes that you can make!


1.28.2008

I'd like to know...




Today is Monday, so that means it's time for I'd like to know, a weekly post dedicated to talented artists, designers, musicians, etc...all people I'd like to know and who I thought you may like to know of too. This week I'd like to know...Lyndie Dourthe. I found her stunning site via the equally stunning blog Decocentric (which I can't read, because I think it's in Greek it's not in English). I actually can't read Lyndie Dourthe's site either. Language barrier or not...I still think I'd like to know this person.

Game over...


Thank you to all of of the folks who entered the 24 things contest this week. The results are in and we have a...tie! The winners...drum roll, please...are Benita of Stockholm, Sweden and Emily of Seneca Falls, New York! Congratulations, Benita and Emily! In all fairness, however, Emily and I have been best friends since kindergarten and she already knows the breadth of my insanity so Benita is the W-I-N-N-E-R (Emmy, of course you can have whatever prints you want). Here are the answers in case you're interested in how my mind works (click on image to make it larger).

1.27.2008

Crossed out...



I am by no means religious (not even a little bit), but I think this hill of crosses in Lithuania is gorgeous! Our friend Tim passed along this image and I can hardly believe that it's real. You can take a look at more photos here.

1550 in 2003...


I've seen this image before, but just saw it again on funky delights. Being the chair freak that I am, I'm madly in love with this installation...my only wish is that I could have seen it in person. According to Wooster Collective (one of my favorite sites): "This amazing art installation was made by Colombian sculptor Doris Salcedo for the International Instanbul Biennale in 2003. She used over 1,550 chairs stacked on an empty lot between two buildings!" You can read more about Doris Salcedo at White Cube.

1.26.2008

Red rubber ball...


I am constantly amazed at the pools over at flickr. Today I happened across a super balls pool! I know that I have some intense collections (bread bag ties, anyone?), but take a look at this! This collection (above) belongs to lorihighfill who says that she has 2100 super balls (at last count). Holy crap! I think this photo from alde is quite nice...


and this photo by sharna11 is a great idea for displaying your super balls...


They're not all new either! These are from allball.org's collection...



Allball.org also has a website, which claims to be "The World's Largest Ball Archive". I don't know about you, folks, but this makes me feel a lot less guilty.

1.25.2008

Numbered...


These are the stairs of my dreams...what, you don't dream about stairs? I don't believe it. I found this photo via Idaho Studios (originally from Pottery Barn kids' rooms books) and am madly in love. Plus, I remember going through a counting phase when I was little where I'd (you guessed it) count everything. This would make it much easier for EZ E if he goes through the same phase.

Previous behavior...


My parents are coming to visit tomorrow, so of course I'm racing around trying to clean at the last minute. Not because it's my parents visiting...but more because that's pretty much the only time our house gets properly cleaned (you know...the shower, the floors, the whole nine). As I was cleaning I came across a pile of knitting needles in a little case that our friend Marcie made for me (probably my best birthday party ever). Looking at the needles laying there untouched I realized that I actually don't like to knit...I just like to buy knitting needles. How sad is that?! I would love to have a vintage display case like this one (found via fun_is_always_in_style), but I'm afraid I'd go crazy and collect way too many needles. Judging from previous behavior with regard to collecting...I'm right to be afraid.

1.24.2008

Shout out...


I wanted to give a shout out to our lovely (and talented) friend Myra whose work is on exhibit at The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery at New Jersey City University from January 22 to February 27, 2008. The reception will be February 4 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. with an artists talk at 5:30 p.m. Here's some more information: "Character Recognition is the photographer Myra Greene's latest project and consists of 35 plates of small black-glass-plated Ambrotype, installed in a darkened room. The questions which inspired her to create these photographs include: "What do people see when they look at me?"; "Am I nothing but black?"; "Is that skin tone enough to describe my nature and expectation in life?"; "Does my character resonate louder than my skin tone?" Using a photographic process linked to the times of ethnographic classification, she has repeatedly explored her ethnic features. The lessons learned are haunting and frightening in these modern times.

Many of Greene's projects include photography, printmaking, sound, as well as digital production work. She melds these processes into exploring issues about the body, memory, the absorption of culture and the ever shifting identity of African Americans. Her work was recently included in of Double Exposure: African Americans Before and Behind the Camera, at the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in Hartford Connecticut. Greene is currently an Assistant Professor in the Photography Department at Columbia College Chicago."
Congratulations, Myra!

--

Collected...



It's Thursday, right? This week has just flown by! This week's Collected post features a collection of natural objects belonging to my friend Meghan. In Meg's words, "I don't collect many different types of things, but natural objects are hard to resist. I was the kid what was always picking up pine cones and acorns on the way to school". Meghan is just one of those people who has an inherent talent for art and design. Her two parakeets, one of whom is named Charlie Parker, left behind these feathers; not only are the feathers themselves lovely, but the way she's photographed them is beautiful. Who knew "sea-things with holes" could look so good?!


My favorite photograph is this photo of her father-in-law's wood pile. All of these natural objects help to inspire the designs for Meghan's line of screen-printed apparel available in her etsy shop Kaybu. The greatest part of Meg's collection? Everything was free!  This proves that you don't need a bankroll to be a collector...you just need to take some time to pick up pine cones and acorns on the way to school (or work or where ever)!


1.23.2008

Jar 'o hearts...





My best friend and I made these "Jar 'o Hearts' valentines when we were about 8 or 9 years old (remember, Em?). Being the pack-rat that I am, I held onto mine and eventually gave it to my boyfriend (now-husband, PRH) many years later. It's just an old Lipton tea jar filled with paper hearts that I cut out of construction paper. Most of the time the Jar 'o Hearts lives in our kitchen cupboard, just sitting and waiting for it's big day. Every year on Valentine's Day I pull it out and give it to PRH. Each year I add an extra little message and it's fun to go back and read them as the years tick by. We've been a couple for seven years now and every year my sweet husband pretends that he's surprised (which makes me adore him even more). The lovely blog Black*Eiffel is hosting a valentines show-and-tell, so I think you should run over and share your best valentine.

1.22.2008

Chalking it up...


Are you ready to hear my latest obsession? Are you sure?!  Chalkboards. Yup...you read that right...I'm obsessed with chalkboards. I've just been seeing them everywhere and totally love the wide variety of styles and colors. Take a look at some of the amazing chalkboard images I found. My obsession started with this image (above) from etsy seller twotrees (a.k.a Shanna Murray).




found via the unquiet librarian (both images above originally from Cottage Living)

image from h-e-d..


image from Amanda Gardner


image from lucky me beads (found via etsy-love)


found via luvs2sew (image originally from Martha Stewart.com)


and last, but certainly not least...this image from Decor8 today. Are you ready to run out and get a chalkboard yet? Well...I am!

Shop update...


Hey folks! Here are a few vintage finds in my shop. I love that deer planter and am so tempted to keep it for myself, but I'm sure PRH would be forced to leave me if I added one more thing to "our" collections. Take a look...and feel free to take it off my hands. PRH will L-O-V-E you forever...not just on Valentine's Day.

1.21.2008

I'd like to know...



Today is Monday, so that means it's time for I'd like to know, a weekly post dedicated to talented artists, designers, musicians, etc...all people I'd like to know and who I thought you may like to know of too. This week I'd like to know...the folks behind Sukie (Darrell and Julia). I love their work and adore these fabulous tea towels! Plus, it's always refreshing to read about talented people who are able to successfully balance having a family and a career. Three cheers for Sukie!

1.20.2008

Game on...


Our friend Robin is organizing an invitational exhibition called The Festival of 24 Things. She gave us all a list of 24 words and asked each participant to take a photograph that responds to each of the words listed below. I'm finally done with my images and am planning to send out the photos today. I thought it would be fun to have a contest to see how many words you, ladies and gents, can correctly match to their corresponding pictures. The winner will be the person who correctly matches the most and she or he will receive one of my prints (of their choosing). Just take a look at the images (above) and try to match the words (below) to the correct image. Then, send your guesses via email to hownowdesign [at] yahoo [dot] com. Here's a hint to get things rolling...a) tower is #2 (oops- not #1...thanks for catching that, mimulus. I suck at games!) Oh, and if you're interested in seeing this exhibition in person, it's at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York from February 1 through February 29, 2008 with an opening reception on February 1 from 7 to 10pm. Game on!

a) tower
b) tension
c) else
d) passive
e) enemy
f) equal
g) greasy
h) math
i) dissipate
j) hair
k) auxiliary
l) guilt
m) marginal
n) surrender
o) awkward
p) lateral
q) collectivism
r) patient
s) permanent
t) wrestle
u) dumb
v) modular
w) biting
x) index

{P.S. This contest will end at midnight on Sunday, January 27th. Only one entry per person please.}

1.19.2008

Onion bag obsession...



I can't believe that I'm going to admit this, but last week I sent out a mass email requesting that folks save onion bags for me (I quite positive that no one on my email list was too surprised). As I said before, I was inspired by this photo by flickr user caramimi and decided that I would start an onion bag collection of my own. I'm going to be a total dork...like I wasn't already...there's just something so satisfying about transforming a mundane throw-away into a lovely object. I guess that's what I like most about caramimi's collection. Here are a few more photos of our odd shaped belongings. I'm planning to add them to an awesome flickr group that I joined called Curiosity Cabinet- Handmade Specimens. The tall gourd shape was made by a woman we went to undergrad with and I made the other two things. Can you tell that I'm obsessed with flickr?! Who knew that onion bags and flickr went hand-in-hand?



1.18.2008

Vintage, vintage...



Yesterday I had to run and buy some books for a class, so PRH watched EZ E. While I was out by myself I decided to swing by the thrift store and do a quick run-through. A "quick run-through" ended up being an hour of me wandering around picking up the best finds! I particularly love odd thrift store finds like this...a bag full of orange-red yarn balls. I like to imagine the person who would save a bag of orange-red yarn balls...probably a friend of the old lady who saved a whole bag of bread ties (and then sold them to me at a yard sale for 25 cents). Anyways, I'm really into putting everything in jars lately, so I threw the yarn in a jar when I got home and really like how it looks. I ran out of light to take any more photos today, but I'll try to take some photos of my finds tomorrow to share. Oh, we also got the wooden moms in the mail the other day; here's an image of them on the shelf. Vintage, vintage...rah! rah! rah!

1.17.2008

Collected...



This week's Collected post features the amazing collections of Natalie Jeffcott, a talented photographer and the gal behind Arthur's Circus. Arthur's Circus is a shop in North Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) specializing "in the sale of hard to find vintage toys, collectables and lighting". I discovered Natalie's photos via Flickr and promptly added them to my faves. They're just so gorgeous! Naturally, I was also drawn to her collections of colorful vintage finds...total eye candy! If you're like me and can't get enough of these photos, Natalie also writes a blog. And if you're in Australia, be sure to visit the (clearly) fabulous shop filled "with more vintage inspired loveliness than you can poke a stick at"!

[P.S...Holly included Natalie in one of her posts the other day. Take a look!]
{photos by Natalie Jeffcott}


1.16.2008

Back to school...


I will admit that I was dreading going back to school this week; it's so hard to leave my EZ E and PRH after such a good break. I have to say, however, that it actually feels pretty good to have a regular routine again. I finished up a couple of new drawings and added some things to my shop...it's been a productive day! Many thanks to Holly of the wonderful blog Decor8 for including my work in her Etsy: Take Five Tuesdays column today. I read Decor8 every day and was SO excited to see my work there! The other work she posted about was awesome...I especially loved these lamp pieces (below) by etsy seller Re-Surface. What a great idea!

Dreaming the day away...




As I've mentioned before, PRH and I are extraordinarily lucky to have many talented friends and family members. One of our friends, Kris, is a total powerhouse...she takes beautiful photos and makes amazing artists books, she's the force behind a non-profit organization of great art historical importance, and she is the co-founder of Preacher's Biscuit Books, a small artists book press. These images are a few of Kris's pieces that I particularly love. They're so ethereal and dreamy...so dreamy that they're making me want to skip school and dream the day away!

1.15.2008

Chair party...



You know how much I love chairs, so you must know how excited I was when I found this amazing rocking chair poster by Design Boom via Ohdeedoh (formerly known as Apartment Therapy/Nursery). They also carry an awesome folding chair poster for ten dollars. Don't tell anyone, but I just bid on these yesterday (below). That's a stack of Heywood Wakefield school chairs, baby!!! What am I going to do with all of them, you ask? I have no clue, but I like them a lot...maybe I'll have a chair party. You're invited!

Update...


Take a look in my etsy shop! I've posted some recent vintage finds and some new prints!

1.14.2008

Toothful...


I'm sorry...I can't resist sharing the news. Our best boy EZ E got his first tooth this week! It's on the bottom in the front...a gorgeous jack 'o lantern smile!

I'd like to know...



Today is Monday, so that means it's time for I'd like to know, a weekly post dedicated to talented artists, designers, musicians, etc...all people I'd like to know and who I thought you may like to know of too. This week I'd like to know...Lindsey Carr. Lindsey owns an etsy shop called LittleRobot. Her work is so beautiful and I particularly love how she creates one composition using multiple pieces of paper. Go check out LittleRobot...especially if you want to be inspired big time.

1.13.2008

Rocking it...




Thanks to Rachael, Bloglines has rescued me from a serious amount of time spent looking at blogs, most of which haven't been updated. As I was organizing my blog bookmarks I looked at each one and voted it in or out. I ended up with 74 on my final list, including Nina's absolutely beautiful blog. She recently posted these amazing necklaces by etsy seller Kjoo*. I like to think that I could rock these, but I'm not sure I could. Maybe you could! And maybe you should read Nina's blog too!

1.12.2008

P.S...


PRH's opening went really well tonight. We had a great time and EZ E was quite a good boy. There were a few minor meltdowns, but nothing that chewing on a water bottle didn't solve. Thanks to everyone for coming out (most especially Rachael, Lyndsay, Tate, and Kris)!

Multiple pleats...


I was in the grocery store today and almost freaked out! As I was leaving, out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed...bundt pans...a ton of bundt pans in amazing colors. I ran right over and oooed and aahhed over the designs and the variety. You're not go