gestalten books

gestalten is a danish design firm and art book publisher. i recently came across them on this blog. if you're looking for mind-blowingly creative, brilliant and impactive art and design books, you've got to check these out. the art and design itself is not just scandinavian... and the site has lots of interior page shots to lure you. above, from altitude:contemporary swiss graphic design. below, from friendswithyou have powers. (friendswithyou is a multidisciplinary agency in miami)



from tactile:high touch visuals



from hidden track: how visual culture is going places




from spacecraft: fleeting architecture and hideouts

it's ideal!

ideal x2! so we had to get it! (thanks r for negotiating the price down!) now i've got to make some dough to help pay for it!

two more reasons to love egg press

large house numbers

after watching the documentary helvetica (fascinating flick for us art + design nerds), i started seeing thinking about oversized house numbers. . .don't ask me why. (from flicker, left to right: mr kelsey smith's photostream, kakadu's photostream)

etsy find: pile of paper!

25 bucks from one good bumblebee (they have mini piles of paper for 10!)

the ones we love

the ones we love is an online 'project highlighting young and talented photographers from around the world'. each photographer contributes six photographs of the one(s) they love photographed in a natural setting. some self-made diptychs of some of my favorites. (top to bottom: michelle by peter baker, isabel and molly by morgan jones , revaz by marina beloklokova)
want to be considered for contribution? check out the info here

asako masunouchi

i came across illustrations by japanese artist asako masunouchi on skinny laminx's blog (via print and pattern ). wow. here are some of my favorites:



masunouchi also has amazing 3D work like these tags for imaginary products/clothing:


and a little many part book inspired by the song "i don't love anyone"


but more than anything else i'm totally inspired by masunouchi's animation work, which you have to go to his website to see in all it's glory. a snapshot of 'the magical tea party' below.

amie

this (in the center) is my friend amie. that is her marrying d + i at our wedding. who or those of you who weren't there, a few things of note: this b&w picture does not do justice at all to amie's technicolor nature. first, her tattoos are the most beautiful ones i've ever seen. also, she was wearing a bright blue shirt and a fuschia bustly chiffony skirt. and again, for those of you who weren't there, she was the most stunning and amazing priestess of the unitarian universalist church. i do believe she carries a laminated card as evidence of her minister-dom.

so, i'm writing about amie today because amie recently donated her kidney to a stranger and i just wanted to blog-e-brate her as a really crazily amazing chick and well....i definitely feel guilty that i haven't yet sent her a little special something for her kidney recovery (i'm working on 'making' something but am very picky about it being "just so" ) and since a blog is in some semblance a diary, i needed to give her a little shout-out. (this is the same woman who hulahooped for hours in public to earn money for a local animal shelter). . i have never even given thought to removing one of my organs and giving it away. . but amie does it like it's a no-brainer, just giving away one of her organs to save someone's life. she'd probably hate that i'm blogging about her right now. she's like a little buddha in that way.

check out the local (boston) news spot on amie certainly food for thought on the meaning of generosity

paper cuts

of chinese horoscope animals by heather moore (aka skinny laminx), which she did as a commission for obrigado magazine

elisabeth dunker

i have been admiring from afar (afar=across the atlantic ocean) elisabeth dunker for some time. after exploring her blog for hours this weekend, i'm all blushy and happy. . a much needed jolt of goodness on some dreary, long days. (thank you elisabeth for being so damn cool)

elisabeth dunker is a designer/artist and a mother of two from gothenburg, sweden. i first came across her work on lula, a swedish design collaborative that features her photography, styling and graphic design. she seems to be a jane-of-all-graphic-trades while still maintaining a gorgeous blog that celebrates her children, their creations, her creations with them and her wonderful home (which was featured in cookie magazine ) how does she do it??? have time for the kiddos (two!) and the husband and her professional and personal work and inspiration sessions with friends!! . . .her photos give the impression that it's so easy and seamless, the blending of personal work and commercial work and home life. . . how authentic and unfussy and committedly modern and clever handmade AND personal her vision is. it inspires one to throw the tv out the window, turn on some music, get barefoot and play in that intuitive way that produces the most lovely "real" things. . . like this dollhouse she created with her kiddos

or these lovely photographs with lots of color and pattern

or pictures like these that make me wonder if "stuff" in sweden is just cooler than anywhere else

or this wallpaper!

or this, which is just plain perfect.

this is just a small portion of elisabeth's work. visit the lula site for some amazing (and sleek modern) design work, check out her flicker site or her fine little day blog for more visual candy

a little plug for david (aka harvey l.)

my lovely hubby has written two books. they are called "curios and tidbits," the most recent sequel of which is hot off the press. both books are under the pen name Harvey Lungrenmunfrenjensen*. the books-real! bound! cute! and oh so funny (like d)!- are available here

*side note: it is under this fake name that david and i got fake married sevenish years ago on the back 'deck' of rudy's bar and grill (to it's fans- the place with duct-taped red pleather seating, the best classic rock jukebox in town, free hotdogs and a semi-famous petite and elusive jean-jacketed bartender with a handlebar moustache) in hells kitchen, a ceremony performed by a man wearing scuba goggles. . .dear brendan as the only known witness to this strange event. . .i do digress.) ah rudy's. the bar with the giant wooden pig out front.

david's photo column #2

looks like a painting, no?

studio inspiration

i posted a while back about danish artist, mette, who is a potter and children's clothes maker. in the past, i've blogged her blog, her home, and her homemade couchbed. her blog, mettes potteri is a gorgeous source of inspiration- all her photos of her spaces are styled effortlessly, simply, beautifully. now i came across pix on the decor 8 of her studio which are. . .well, breathtaking. i love the glass window wall between seperating the pottery studio from the inner room. . . .and the view is breathtaking.

the lake house

i lived here when i met david. . .i think we counted it was ten large steps from the back door to the lake.

outside

inside

red road

an incredibly moving, shaking movie. very quiet, mysterious and disturbing. one of those unforgettable ones. if you're into dark (relatively foreign- it's scottish with subtitles) films that are also beautifully shot and moving. . .this is based in glasgow and the dreariness is definitely infective

read synopsis here

our house for a week?

it's quite possible our maine longing has got hte better of us. if all works as we'd like, we'll be taking ruby up to stay in this house in camden this summer for a week in july and catch up with the maine contingency. i love that ceilings of most of the porches in town are painted sky blue. this place is right across from laite beach i think and just a short walk and david can stroll on over to french & brawn like he used to in the good old days.

fantasy shopping

for waterfront and waterview maine real estate.

this one's in friendship


in owl's head


camden, ON megunticook lake

union

and in friendship

craft book love: pomadour's craft cafe

i just stumbled across this great collection of pattern and felt crafting books on etsy by pomadour's craft cafe.
from girly style wardrobe


felt wool sweets. how adorable are these?

cotton friend 2007 winter