great apartment + colorful chairs

this tour of laure's apartment (see the pics!) is so LA, so colorful. i love those wire mesh chairs (left). it makes me want to go out & buy some metal folding chairs (maybe craigslist?), and spraypaint them bright happy colors.


[photos from laure for apartment therapy]

creating with cork

we have a growing jarful of wine corks in the kitchen, and i haven't been sure how we'd use the collection... until then i saw this!! these cork trivets by abigail are one of many awesome entries in 2008 DIY contest at design*sponge. oh wow.

ok, so maybe we don't need a zillion trivets floating around our apartment. but it's one neat idea that could spark many more!

PS you can check out all of design*sponge's DIY finalists in bitesize chunks: [1-4], [5-8], [9-12], [13-16], [17-20]. And then vote for your favorite!


[photo from abigail for design*sponge]

photography grid

i have this bad habit of collecting gorgeous images off the internet, but not recording where i found them. so it makes me feel a little guilty to share them when i can't say where they came from!!

but sometimes they're too good to hold back. i came across this awesome photog wall sometime last week. not sure where. but i love it. if i get my hands on some record frames, this could be major inspiration for a new wall collage.


[photo from unknown??]

gocco swirls

here are the first prints with my new gocco press! just playing, but i like the swirls. the possibilities are sort of endless, so i haven't decided yet what to do for the first real project.

found: the road to hope + more

found today on the sidewalk of venice blvd

allison & i collected some great new treasures at the rose bowl flea market this morning [pictures to come]. plus discovered the seriously sweet bob dylan exhibition at the skirball cultural center. and found soon-to-be-closed dutton's brentwood books (why must the world stomp on independent bookstores?).


PS for new finds everyday, you should check out FOUND magazine.

opening night: dan-ah kim

i visited nearby project:gallery for the first time tonight to check out their latest opening. the show, kaleidoscope, features five female artists who represent "a whimsical and feminine style, that truly tells a greater tale than at first glance." hm.

i was really enchanted by the illustrations & stitchwork of brooklyn artist dan-ah kim. photos don't do them justice, but i love the colors, the composition, the stitching details. yup, gorgeous!

her etsy shop has a great collection of her prints for sale.

canyon cleansing?

the US Bureau of Reclamation is flushing out the grand canyon today. it's an attempt to rewind devestating environmental changes, the results of damming the river back in the 1960s. in 1971, a lone civil engineer warned that the dam would have drastic effects..."but no one listened."

so we've altered the results of 17 million years of natural history, and now we're fix the damage done by re-manipulating the river through a process called adaptive management, which involves annual flush outs like this. hmmm... a curious (and controversial) solution.

just this week i saw a sneak preview of grand canyon: river at risk (woohoo, 3d imax!), which explores the canyon and all these water issues. worth checking out.


[photo from cobalt123]

city pride

i'm so into these maps from ork posters. i just bought the boston one for our apartment. and looking forward to los angeles coming soon!

plus ork donates 2% of its sales to non-profits, sweet!

currently available: boston, brooklyn, chicago, manhattan, san francisco

coming in spring 2008: los angeles, seattle, portland, toronto, and one unknown

weekend highlights

FRIDAY
+ pirate shanties @ machine project
+ good microbrew

SATURDAY
+ drinks @ the mandrake
+ frohawk two feather closing @ taylor de cordoba
+ yummy veges @ tender greens
+ the other boelyn girl (ehh okay)

SUNDAY
+ target (pretty designs!)
+ ikea (new rug!)

MONDAY
+ haircut @ vidal sassoon academy
+ inspired @ corita art center
+ art (gocco!) supplies @ blue rooster

and now it's back to work...

"my paper mind"

peter callesen makes unbelievable paper cutouts from single pieces of paper (above). he creates from the paper--but also creates images in the shapes that he cuts. i love this play with positive & negative space.

javan ivey created a beautiful video using cut paper images, titled "my paper mind." under about, he gives some description of the method he uses, called "stratastencil." cool process--lovely results! [via tinygigantic]

all the paper cutting talk makes me think of nikki mcclure and her spectacular xacto-cut images. i still have her 2007 calendar hanging on my wall.

and the master of cutouts, matisse
(oh! just found this PBS online matisse game)

happy monday!