Sweetiepie

Happened upon Sweetiepie in the West Village this weekend. It looks like an explosion of Barbie & Veruca Salt in there and I loved it! I think I actually might have squealed...

running color

Here's a little inspiration shot (via the folks at ShareSomeCandy): Adam Dedman for Kalina Magazine. I love the seamlessness of the transition from the original photograph to his illustration. Feels a little like Winged Victory, doesn't it?

saving energy

Love this energy saving piggy lamp by Ariel Rojo. The shape of the now norm energy efficient bulbs are perfectly suited as stand ins for curly pig tails!
The lamp comes with a 9-watt bulb and is available at the MoMA Store. Thanks Dames!

sutton island

sutton island 2009 from toolie on Vimeo.

Ben Morgan created this video of his annual family trip to Sutton Island, Maine. I've seen his and Amy's photos year after year, but this really gave me a good idea of what it's like to actually be there. It looks amazing.

Panda Bread!

A friend just passed along this awesome recipe for Panda Bread.

Warm, furry and fuzzy…

Last week, Pinkergreen took a professional development day to see the Fashioning Felt exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt Museum. We picked the perfect dreary August day to be surrounded by wool, and it was truly astonishing to see all the ways this natural fiber can be manipulated and transformed into wearables, sculpture and furniture. Here were a few office favorites…

I could spend an entire winter in the solarium which was enveloped by this Yurt, designed by Janice Arnold. Dreamy and snuggly.
Palace Yurt installation Designed by Janice Arnold (American, b. 1953) Felt fabrics made by JA Felt, Engineering consulting byKPFF, New York, United States, 2009, Wool, mohair, silk, metal, linen, soy, Tencel™, Photo: Matt Flynn



The topographical NY citiscape was cut from felt with water.
Cityscape—New York rug: Designed by Monika Piatkowski for Hive England, 2008 Wool felt Courtesy of Hive Photo: Hive
Swing Low cradle: Designed by Søren Ulrick Petersen. Produced by SUP Design. Denmark, 1997. Wool felt, hemp rope. Photo: Erik Brahl
To me, these felt more like candy than stones. There was something creepy and fantastic about them. And as I mentioned before, when I was dreaming of going to the Fashioning Felt exhibit, I NEED ONE OF THESE POUFS.

Textile Stones Designed and made by Pernelle Fagerlund (Danish, b. 1960) Copenhagen, Denmark, 2008. Wool felt. Photo credit: Jeppe Gudmundsen-Holmgreen

Urchin poufs Designed by Christien Meindertsma Manufactured by Flocks. The Netherlands, 2007. Wool felt. Photo: Joost van Brug

Upstairs from the FF exhibit was Design for a Living World, sponsored by the Nature Conservancy, where they featured eco-friendly materials being used in design, like bamboo, salmon leather (weird enough for Isaac Mizrahi to tackle) and of course, Wool. There was a video (seen here) of designer, Christien Meinderstma, the artist responsible for the Urchin Poufs, talking about her One Sheep rugs. For those, she felts a very thick yarn and knits a hexagonal rug from that one sheep alone. The rug grows into a "flock of sheep" rug as she sews the multiples together.

I'm a small town girl, and New York really overwhelms me. But surrounded by these inspiring creations in the middle of a bustling city, I couldn't have felt more at ease. You've only got a few more weeks to get to the Fashioning Felt exhibit, but you must, must go.

Thanks, Mom!

ink calendar

Saw this calendar on this week's approval matrix by NY Magazine. Thought it was such an interesting concept. Artist Oscar Diaz describes his work,"Ink Calendar make use of the timed pace of the ink spreading on the paper to indicate time. The ink is absorbed slowly, and the numbers in the calendar are ‘printed' daily. One a day, they are filled with ink until the end of the month. The calendar enhances the perception of time passing and not only signaling it. The aim of the project is to address our senses, rather than the logical and conscious brain."

Picnic Posters.

I was flipping through an old Graphis Poster book from 1991 yesterday and spotted a yummy poster of peaches with whipped cream from Herman Miller's Creative Director, Steve Frykholm. After a little research I learned there were 19 of these delicious beauties, one for every year from 1970 on to advertise the HM Summer Picnic. And I swear, I have only become slightly obsessed with them since yesterday. You'd think in August I'd be sick of looking at baked beans and burgers, but seeing them in these simple and graphic representations just makes me HUNGRY.
I checked out ebay and found a store Posters Please that sells originals for a pretty penny, or more like 60,000 pennies. Start saving. But, I'm hoping to snag one from an unsuspecting seller.

looking into the past

Loving Jason Powell's "Looking Into the Past" set on Flickr. Fun to see how much some places have changed, and how others have stayed the same. (via intelligent travel)

try a little tenderness

One of our favorite moments from Pretty in Pink.

Mohawk's green calculator

Our print rep at Kirkwood Printing, knows our passion for green goes deeper than our namesake and he turned us on to Mohawk's environmental calculator. Based on the type and amount of paper you spec for a project, it helps you to determine a variety of eco-friendly stats, from how many trees to how many pounds of greenhouse gases you've potentially for your project.
Pretty good resource, thanks Duncan!

oldie, but goodie

I spent a few days with family in Bar Harbor last week and popped into a couple of very cute shops, where I saw a few oldies but goodies from Cats Studio. For years, I've developed a fondness for vintage state plates, after I inherited a huge box in high school, and their work has always reminded me of my collection. Some day, I'll bite the big one and purchase a pillow. For now, I'll just dream of napping on one from a few of my favorite places.