reasons i love you #12

i love the pictures you take of tv


and the ceiling

brocade home

a few snippits of pretty and interesting styling from the brocade home catalog (i had never heard of them before and the catalog just arrived at our door). the furniture is part urban outfitters (modern takes on dye cut graphics and damask silouettes and . . .um. . .brocade), part west elm (sleek, clean lines) and the styling is very anthro. now i am inspired to scour ebay for a big bag of award ribbons. . . or buy a new bright yellow hose. . .or to do something crazy with. . .balloons. oh wait, that was a recent anthro window. . .hmmm.
check out brocade home's website, sign up to get your own catalog, flip through one of their online catalogs

the website is getting there. . .

here's a little preview

two women who design for girls and women

lately i have been drawn to clean, ethereal pieces. these two designers do such beautiful pieces that translate so well on little girls and women.

le bouton:
i have determined that le bouton's clothes are some of the most beautiful, simple pieces i have seen. the line is based out of venice, ca and (per her etsy store) "designed and sewn by Lisa Dorr, inspired by her 6 yr. old daughter, Frances, and vintage styles. Our shop will be dedicated to creating modern clothing out of the finest natural material." i couldn't resist getting a dress/nightie for ruby but most of her styles are available for both kids and adults. she currently is moving and working on some new styles, but stay tuned to her etsy store for updates this fall. or. . .follow her on her beautiful le bouton blog



pipsqueak chapeau:
designer sveta dresher is based out of brooklyn. if i had to only own three articles of clothing, i think i could live in that dress in the middle for quite some time. my friend katherine bought her tokyo dress in an adult size and says it's amazing. i think i could pick one of lisa's pieces for another of the three. from top left clockwise: tokyo dress, june dress, apron dress, apron dress. check out the pipsqueak chapeau website and her sveta dresher blog

do a dance, on the floor. . .

does anyone read this?

david and i have a question and i refuse to google it.

it regards m. jackson's song 'billie jean'.
there is a line that goes a little something like this:
"do a dance, on the floor. . .[and then is it]
a. and around
b. in the round

i think it's b. but david thinks it's a, which is grammatically ridiculous.

ok. . .i admit it. i heart target.

ok. i have a confession. we went to three targets today. to find stools for the tradeshow, and to try to manipulate rube's nap schedule (note to self: not possible. first napless day in her 19 month life). so. . .i knew libertine was coming to target mid-july as their new designer series. . .but when i saw the pieces in person , i couldn't help myself. plus i also got this amazing devi kroell faux snake/alligator skin silvery white clutch for 20 bucks that is amazing. i didn't even realize i was that girly until i saw this clutch. get your own here.

target: good for kitty litter and for silk bolero jackets.

side note: when talking to a target associate he concluded our conversation by saying "i copy" which made me think he really uses his walkie talkie a lot.

side note 2: aisles of shrink wrapped crazy colored plastic toys make me feel nauseous.

a fine feast

i have been craving hohos all week. don't ask me why. so tonight, after a long long LONNNNG week i am kicking back and blogging with some hohos and a glass of red rover white wine. an impeccable pairing. cheers (clink clink)

canvases after. . .and tradeshow setup

this weekend birdlette will be represented at the enk children's club show in the city so i went in friday to help set up. the booth is next to diesel. . .there's caroline (my rep from yoka showroom standing in front of the unfinished DIE(SEL) sign. . . caroline reps the BEST lines. i'm not just saying that because she reps us- in fact, i feel very lucky to be amongst such amazing lines (check them out for yourself on her website)!! tocca's dresses are stunning. and i am also in love with these cotton-cashmere blankets from another one of caroline's lines,
amber hagen:

small magazine

small magazine is a great online kids magazine whose mission is "to support independent creators, designers, photographers and illustrators making work for children." it's an antidote to the standard kids stuff as well as the mini-modernist stuff out there and they feature some clever and unusual furnishings even adults would like, toys and apparel. PLUS the site is excellently designed, pretty modern eye candy and is easy to peruse.
check it out here. . .

ahhhh.

me, rubes and david at dinner in atlantis a couple weeks ago.

kiddo-o-rama

the last couple weeks i've felt like the paparazzi snapping hundreds of pictures of kiddos in our tees. they're all local cold springers (and garrison-ers) with such personalities! from top left clockwise: connor, everett, shaun (ruby's surrogate baby bro), patrick, ruby, anneke, everettt, connor and the rubester in the middle.

windsor chairs

inspired by a near-future or slightly-less-near-future trip to maine. ahhhhh. i need some maine "whitespace" if you know what i mean. windsor chairmakers in lincolnville beach are the real deal. their chairs are handcrafted by artisans and made to order. the way life should be.

oh my. . .

i just REALLY discovered etsy (i think i'm a little behind). . .i've visited before and tons of friends have pointed me there but i had no idea that it's like small store boutiqueville!! there is definitely a good amount of crafty craftster stuff and there is also a lot of unique art, apparel, and just general goodness. and the money you spend goes to little makers and businesis, which is way cool. all of the above images are snagged from one of my favorite finds, oh my cavalier. julianna swaney graduated with a bfa in printmaking from maine college of art. check out her website here,her etsy shop here,and her live journal (lots of great drawings) ici!

k-street

these are some images from my friend katherine streeter . we bought ruby's first artwork from katherine- a girl in a bunny suit. i love katherine's style, her use of handwriting and humor and quirky details color and whitespace. . .which means i like em a whole lot. holla! check out her work on her website

canvases. . .before. . .

these are the boxes primed and ready to be hand printed with birdlette images. we'll use i think they're quite lovely as is (i'm such a minimalist sucker). i'll load an 'after' picture once they're printed.

flea market panache

from flea market style by emily chalmers. very lifestyled and inspirational. i'm all for a select hodge podge of furniture pieces that each have their own quirky charm and history. this book does an awesome job of celebrating unique pieces and the images are very well styled and edited . . .and has that happy non-mothbally air of not trying too hard or taking itself too seriously, as if everything was just tossed together just so. you can peruse some pages and get the book here

i heart ebay

some vintage animal rummy cards i bought on ebay. i love the slight variation on primary colors. fawn card i think would make a beautiful poster silkscreened on cardboard

if only

little patrick

i just shot these pics of ruby's friend patrick in birdlette tees at the end of the week

i hope she won't mind

two pieces by my friend and artist meghan brady.
i haven't talked to her in a while but was thinking of her tonight.
(hi meghan!)

from left to right: untitled, ramona

inspirational studio shots

ah... some fantasy pix of backyard studio spaces...
first the weehouse from alchemy architects (totally unrealistic for our little tiny backyard but the feeling in this picture is oh so perfect). they do really great work, check them out here
second, a very cosmopolitan white and lacquery garage reno from domino feb 07.
third, and most realistically, a nice shed renovation where one can work barefoot. this last picture is from angela adams' website (she is a maine-born and -inspired rug designer) and is the current inspiration for stuff i've been doing to our shed (pix to come). i love this. it evokes just enough of a mainey, islandy, breezy essence to be a happy place to work. if you can ignore that the guy does look slightly grumpy. . .

poolhouse and garage remix

how nice would it be to wake up here and take a dip in the pool? (unknown source)

lovely modern garage/poolhouse conversion (dwell may 06)

i'm obsessed with poolhouses where the pool and the house each provide oasises (is that a word? oasi?) for each other. water and shelter- two fundamentals married just a step or so away. gives a different bent to a 'water view'.

martha rich

my friend katherine forwarded me a link a while back to this west coast artist/illustrator martha rich. since then we have purchased two of her pieces and we LOVE them. her online painting-a-day site freedomwig is refreshingly personal, funny, vibrant and beautifully simple. check out freedomwig or her personal site. her handlettered work reminds me of margaret kilgallen

bringing the outdoors inside . . .

it's summertime. . .and i have been thinking alfresco, the blurring of borders between indoor and outdoor, and the whole florida/california concept of the lanai (read: golden girls), so here are some of my favorite inspirational shots where the outdoor is brought indoors. two of four of the pictures are my current favorite inspirations for clean, open air california living- from the dwell june 06 issue, story titled "the bellwether of belvedere"

clockwise from top left: dwell may 06. dwell june 06. dwell june 06. met home feb 07.

candy i bought strictly for the packaging

kids rooms

a collection of my latest faves. clockwise from top left: domino february 07, cookie may/june 07, i have no idea where, cookie may/june 07, elle decor

hudson

took a field trip to hudson, ny on sunday- it's a design mecca!

ferdinand

our friends meghan and gideon got us a onesie from ferdinand when ruby was born. . .a squirrel playing the drums. she wore that thing into the ground. ferdinand is a design studio and storefront in portland maine. they sell everything from tees to cards to dishtowels- all hand silkscreened and all unusual and quirky designs. i haven't yet visited the store but i really dig the concept of a working-studio-storefront thing. they have a pretty extensive online shop

sweetness on wheels

i love the idea of a mobile store/happening-mobile.

this adorable pink truck, conceived by LA-based artist couple leyla safai and ben pollack, is now a small troupe of trucks driving in LA and NYC this summer, serving up 'international ice cream treats', the artists' own concoction of electropop music, and a rotating supply of indie trinkets and japanese mixtapes and just all around good juju it seems. safai and pollack are available for hire- and have worked a variety of hipster events like sxsw. check them out on their website

picture from the nyt style magazine: living spring 2007

birdlette limited edition prints

here are a few of the limited edition prints i'm working on. i like to leave breathing room for thought or talk bubbles or for landscapes the cars might be driving through. . .that way people can put their own touches on them. some images are from my kids tees, others are brand new. particularly fond of the paper airplane. in a month or so they, along with the kids tees and all sorts of other goodies, will be available on the birdlette website

german felt thingies

thanks to christine to this link for a great german felt goods store, parkhaus, in berlin. as of yet they have no webshop but you can browse their collection here:

pools

clockwise from top left:
pool at the raleigh hotel in miami, david hockney's Day Pool With 3 Blues, slim aarons' photograph of cee cee guest at her pool in palm beach, still photo from Sexy Beast, another slim aarons shot, still photo from Swimming Pool, , david hockney's Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)

it being summer and just having come back from atlantis, where there is water water everywhere, i had to do a pool montage. i've always loved hockney's pool paintings. so california. slim aarons' photos could make anyone want a pool (and the moola that goes along with of course). i'm on a current slim aarons (ok yes, and california and miami) obsession. aarons' colors are so vibrant and his high-society portraiture is just yum. . .

david's obsession with malarkey

. . .and hickman, and shaughnessy, and mcintyre. david likes to collect baseball cards. specifically this kind- T206 cards from 1909-1910. they're called tobacco cards because they came in a pack of cigs. i like looking at them. they're like victorian portraits but of baseball players. someday when i have more dough i'll get him his dream card: shag shaughnessy. someday maybe they'll pay for ruby's college.
check more out here:

pottery to change your life

this weekend we went to a pottery sale at white forest pottery studio down the road. ceramic artist nancy bauch does simple, beautiful work that's super duper refreshing and inspirational. she is also a very nice lady! we lucked out and got the a bunch of 'imperfect' pieces that were actually just perfect. and her fine art- equally inspirational. i love the crocheted rocks. one of them in her gallery had a little crochet hat. which reminds me of annette messager's birds. . .

organic pioneers

stewart+brown are good peeps. the kind of peeps you want to know. the kind of peeps who manage to make organic look effortlessly (and bra-lessly) chic and running a business naturally fun in that way that californians can. karen stewart and howard brown started their organic empire a couple years ago after leaving jobs at urban outfitters (my former employer also!). their tees are supersoft and feminine and not at all patchouli scented. and their daughter has a cool color name like ours. their whole lifestyle seems lovely and inspirational. the july issue of ms living has a piece on their compound in montana

speaking of urban outfitters, their new naval yard offices in philly are like one big art installation. for great pictures check out the decor8 blog

the kid stays in the picture. . .

so. . .we are going to be in print!
print magazine, that is.
just an itsy bit, in their nov/dec design annual.
i shot this little amateur strip using the rubinator as my model.
so. . .rube will be in circulation this fall.
yipppeee. i heart design

crazy german doohickeys

http://www.okversand.com/
this berlin boutique of odd household items (mostly plastic) collected from around the world was mentioned in a recent nyt sunday magazine piece. on the 'cologne shop' page, it says "In front of the cologne shop you can get some products all around the clock, 24/7! If you need a soapholder at 3am, no problem..." how marvelously endearing! one has to love that egg purse. and the toothbrush lockers. which look like they should be dressing rooms at dylans candy bar. ummmm. . .where you could try on a bubblegum shift dress. . .