Before and After: The Garden Update

So....remember when I was redoing my backyard and involving y'all in the redo?

Well....we've been busy busy...designing, ordering, painting, planting, arranging, and lastly ENJOYING the new backyard digs. The Memorial Day BBQ was a ranging sucess- but we missed you both Em + Trixie! Without further ado- the pics!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

and....some non backyard pics, sure to please! ;)

blog love

Last night I fell in love. I've finally found a voice on the internet that reads like I sound in real life...

Behold, my new blog love Reclaiming Miss Havisham. Dripping with sarcasm, slang, and hilarity...

Envy

Click here.

Love tinted glasses

Nowhere in my life have I seen a place with more love than Pickle Lady Farm. They are family in its most true sense. They are home in distilled form. They grow their own food and their own people and their own ideas. Click here for their photostream and see what it looks like to live with meaning and within means.

Frenchie McFrenchstien

Just a normal Saturday morning, coffee in bed and Etsy shopping...then I saw there etchings at deadbirdfinds which may well be my favorite vintage shop on Etsy. I love them so much, and it seems as though there is a bit of Yellow Submarine to them, no?

I am sharing them with y'all as it feels as though I shall never again purchase something for fun. Life feels different when one tries to be responsible. If my 20's were about learning that my actions had consequences, then my 30's (do I get to use the plural if I am only 30? Would it me better to say 'my 30'?) are about dealing with potential consequences. Far less fun!

three for all

Ladies,

How cute are these Maptotes? Eco friendly, cute design, and a nearly perfect tote for each of us*. When we get together for the next big design fair/birthday/vacation we each have to sport one.

Love,

Me

*em- they didn't quite have 'i live in the redwood forest, so i went for the best choice!

miss you

It was wonderful to see you, to see the shop, to meet the new people that inspire you. I am so proud of you that you went after your dream, and prouder still that you are pulling it off!

Guest Star

These days the d*s guest blog is almost better than the real deal!! Last week Julia Rothman totally blew my mind with the "how to make a pattern with a repeat" and now...

If I were, say a graphic designer or ya know, getting married or anything, I'd TOTALLY be all over this invite style. I'm madly in love with the loose font, full bleed style type, and of course those amazing bold zig zags. (by Linda & Harriett)

I'm just sayin.

Madeleine Boulesteix

Now, this is how Eco Chic should be done. Painfully beautiful and highly imaginative tea cup chandeliers from Madeleine Boulesteix. Her website has lots to enjoy....

via apartment therapy

Pretty Paper Lanterns

I've been looking for something unusual to illuminate a client's home I'm working on- something inexpensive, pretty, and eye catching. I'm kinda lovin' these pretty eyelet paper lanterns. Three of these converted with track lighting adaptors for her long boring entry hallway might just be the trick I'm looking for. I bet they cast amazing shadows....!!

I'm also into the great selection of colorful nylon lanterns. I'm trying to decide what colors to mix for the backyard. I'll retrofit them with some great IKEA LED lanterns so there's no electrical or candle worries!

So Much To Post, So Little Time

Earth Cycle Compostable Packaging.

Brilliant, and as they say: "Earthcycle has used the design brilliance of nature to develop innovative sustainable packaging made from a renewable resource, palm fiber, to create an environmentally responsible alternative to plastic. Earthcycle is certified home compostable, is recyclable and complies with North American food grade standards."

I found this through the Swell Future Friendly site, tipped from my girlfriend's suggestion. Swell follows eco-friendly design, focusing on the "30 days of sustainability" project below.

"30 Days of Sustainability Society is a non-profit society dedicated to raising awareness of sustainable living in Western Canada. The organization aims to encourage individuals, organizations, government and other groups to adopt sustainable practices into their daily lives and values."

Eco-friendly design which is hip, and well built, is the direction we all should strive toward, and as more and more organizations are jumping on board with this idea the more easy it will be to obtain this goal.

Les Indiennes

I have long loved the fabrics produced by Les Indiennes. They are both pleasing to the eye graphicly and tactile for the hand. I also recently discovered that they are produced in a completely sustainable way - supporting the environment and over 50 families in the Indian village where they are made. I spend so much of my time searching for products that are 'green', it is wonderful to find out something that has already enchanted me has been that way all along.

Poser Beer Label post

Trixie, it is all on you now for the beer bottle label post...there were not many graphic representations of companies at Brewfest...I guess since I am more familiar with wine tasting I thought that we would be seeing the bottles and conversing with people when in reality I was in a drunken mob filling up there cups with beer being pumped from coolers and kegs. It was effin glorious but alas the pictures are not appropriate to post here.

You always save the day, though, (eh-hem 'white party') so I am certain yours will be ten gagillion times more awesome than mine would have been.

Next weekend I will be flying out of Oakland airport headed for ICFF...meeting up with "Le Owner" for shop talk and brainstorming. While some of the drinking may rival that witnessed this weekend past, I will be certain to take a picture 'post worthy'.

Dear Trixie,

I'm gonna get this, you should too!!!

Love,

Me

Hook Lady

I love those great Internet finds- the ones that maybe don't look so pretty but really wow you with amazing products. Enter Hook Lady. Seems simple, but who couldn't use a better plant hook, shelf bracket, or coat hook? In this Home Depot age, it's good to know there are quality decorative options out there...

My favs:

Sweet little bird hooks in my new favorite color would be amazing next to the front door!


It really is all about the little details, and this brass plant hook would be a great alternative way to display all those house plants in style!

Crazy? A bit. Strangely appealing vintage signs with modern sentiments. I'm getting one as soon as I get approval from the girlfriend.

Lots more treasures where those came from too!! And! it appears Hook Lady is at some snazzy flea in NJ....I'll have to check that out!

Harmonie Interieure

Somedays I get caught up in daydreams about opening a second store. While SITE is my edgy, edited, and modern with bits of great vintage store, Second Store would be lush, poetic, pretty and tactile. Dealing in largely modern objects (glass, metal, plastic) makes me crave something a bit more relaxed- paper, flowers, French design, linens, and such.

These amazing wall vinyls by Harmonie Interieure capture EXACTLY the feel I'd hope for. Vaugely historical yet still graphic. Perhaps slightly aged, but well worn with love.

Enjoy!

From the New York Times article on May 8th, 2008.

Go big or go home, that's my motto; and with the Steampunk Movement they definitely go big. Too often we find people who attempt bold brilliant ideas only to look like an advertisement for Hot Topic. If you ask me, I've seen one too many Tim Burton "Nightmare Before Christmas," Emily Strange, fingerless gloves look a-likes in this world and I'm ready for some change. I finally have found it in this Steampunk movement, which sadly is almost "over" if the New York Times has written an article on it. Needless to say, I'm intrigued, and find that my questioning of the movement has already been answered on the Steampunk Movement Workshop. Here's what they have to say:

How can you be authentic to yourself and part of a (sub)culture?

Through the lens of Steampunk, a meta-subculture that is currently at its tipping point of growth, we explore the inevitable question a subculture faces as it grows from disparate DIY roots. Who and what belongs? Can it transform permaculture?

Well, I guess that leaves me with more questions than answers and as such I am left with the deep exploration and fervent following of this new movement. I hope Hot Topic does find out about this otherwise we may be purchasing XXS $14.99 shirts with the "Steampunk" logo silk-screened across the front.

In the meantime we can look into making this great new computer:

Steampunk Workshop Computer

Brew Fest

Trixie - of only we could be together this weekend!

Tomorrow I am headed to the Boonville Beer Festival to taste local micro brews. "What does this have to do with design?" - Well, I am going to write a post about beer labels and advertisements (pronounced "add-vert-tis-ment" not "add-ver-tize-ment") when I get back.

Jennifer Khoshbin

I remember seeing artwork like this several years back at the incorrectly titled, "Affordable Art Fair" at the Piers and thinking how amazing they were. Then, just last week I run across the site of Jennifer Khoshbin, largely known in the blog-o-sphere as the creator of these (which totally reminds me of the mostly genius Rose & Radish Folk show):



I digress....what really turns me on about her work isn't some fancy decoupage skills, but rather what she can do to humble paper. These books transformed speak volumes about her imagination- turning books into sculpture?! I'd love to have one shadowboxed for my collection.




*I love the detail of that first one- the jump rope, the word at the center of the circle. So. Good.

Also interesting:

Second in a series of Book Projects, RfS has created 30 carved books to be "lost" on the sidewalks and alleyways of Houston Street, San Antonio, Texas.

By chance or inclination, pedestrians may discover, examine, take, or just ignore these books. RfS continues to delve into facts and fiction, as a way of understanding our world.

Just inside the cover, we have altered the books with carvings, drawings, and intricate cuttings by imagining how books might react and alter themselves as an adaptation to harsh conditions. This is a fairly open experiment, in which we are trying to ask some questions about the continual loss and recovery of meaning. We are trying to uncover the highly improbable appearance of authenticity somewhere and somehow under our feet.

I can only hope someone appreciative finds those lucky books!!

$9100.00 of love

As Le Owner (or any one else I have ever lived with) will testify, the part of my brain that would like "stuff" (ie: figurines, tablescapes, objects d'arte) is under developed. Not only does my eye prefer an empty surface, but my hands are clumbsy and awkward whenever I try and arrange a vignette.

Imagine my surprise when last evening I thumbed through the latest issue of Elle Decoration (the Brittish version of Elle Decor where lucite is persiplex and custom things are bespoke) and fell instantly in love with this set of three limited edition Lladro figurines.

Call me sentimental, but the idea that love is like a mutant patch of flowers that attacks you through the face appeals to me.