leanimal redux

she did it again! winning with a fabulous dress. i wish the photo was better and also showed the back... beautiful.



and you can actually buy it here (if you have an Amex and the not so small matter of $650 to spare...)

korto also continues to shine. and kenley to irritate (but to put together beautiful clothes...) also of note: diane von furstenberg was such a gracious guest judge - loved her!

leanimal

my diminishing credibility as "non-tv watching" person aside, i wanted to spotlight leanne- one of the designers on the current project runway season. this is the best (well, only) re-interpretation of car seat belts (car parts etc - look at that fringe - it is a former seat belt) into clothing that i've ever seen.




leanne has her own line - leanimal - and so every time she pops up on the screen - she's very innocent looking in real life - i can't help but think - confusedly - of a tigress.

anyhow, check out ana's weekly rundown of each week's looks. ana has a great eye and its always interesting to see her take on the show. as for the designers in general, i am liking leanne, korto, kenley sometimes (she can be pretty annoying). in the extremely annoying camp: blayne and suede. hoping there are more challenges like the brooke shields one and fewer with car parts in the future...

mad men

if you don't watch this show, you need to start right now.

i am not a big tv person (usually i surf the web while "watching" whatever i am "watching"), but this is one you have to really watch - all of it. there's so much cool mid century design and clothing (and not so cool but riveting behavior) to see:






it is also - evidenced by last night's episode - brilliantly put together (plot, character etc). you must see this!

wall decals aren't new but i think they are super cool...

...especially if you want to do something fun and unexpected but are just a tad nervous about 'fun and unexpected' going horribly wrong in some spendy-to-fix other medium...

blik giraffe wall decal from velocity art & design.

fun stuff!

these are cute and sort of edgy all at once:




coin purses by ivana helsinki via bloesem.

and speaking of bloesem, the adorable booties i got nancy earlier this year from bloesem's etsy shop are super booties (according to nancy). they apparently stay on very well (in addition to being incredibly soft). nancy told me the the bloesem etsy shop will be back up soon and, therefore, more bootie buying opportunities will abound...

oh baby

i letterpressed these a while back for a friend's baby announcements:




making these was pretty hard for me - i still have lots to learn - but worth it.

i was going to put up a shot of just one single announcement but then i decided i liked this one best - the letterpress really pops next to the newspaper and other every day items.

lazy daisy

so pretty in a woozy, hazy sort of way:

you can get it here.

food + flower + style

i would like to take a flower arranging class from Anna Campbell of Food + Flower + Style...

it looks like she's only got july 12 posted but hopefully there will be more dates soon. she has a cool business with her husband that she describes (along with a description of her loft) here.

supersound

at the renegade craft fair, i particularly liked the Sonnenzimmer booth. they print and sell striking posters like this one titled Smalltown Supersound Showcase 2008:









you can buy one here.



also, if you are in sf, i highly recommend going to the deyoung and watching the movie about dale chihuly's glass making/glass blowing. what an awesome combination of brute strength and fine detail work. also, what a great example of successful collaborative work - in art or otherwise. see the movie before going into the show!

alberto seveso

i came across this by alberto seveso on .v:



dreamlike and stunning.

renegade craft fair

the renegade craft fair is this weekend in sf.

i can't wait to see what ali of designalicious brings... she makes such beautiful jewelry:



i am also looking forward to seeing sara paloma's pottery in person:



and so much more. go check it out if you can!

funky light

this pendant light fixture rocks! from hive modern.

another funky lighting idea calling out to me loud and clear right now (way cheaper too) is to get 2-3 of these from ikea and hang them at different heights...

the camaraderie of the peloton

my friend sarah is competing in the Tour de France Knit Along. i love her attitude (and way with words): "My hope is that the camaraderie of the peloton will help me to speed quickly through another knitted object."

these are pretty awesome knitted objects. i have a cool brown knitted cap from sarah and have seen some pretty sweet other creations. to wit: antonio the fish.

me and you

tomorrow is our anniversary and this card from linda and harriet says it all...

happy anniversary to my other half ;)

thanks to joanna at a cup of jo for the find!

really great ... door sets

didn't know what a door set was until yesterday, but now i do. isn't the above rad? it's from Rocky Mountain Hardware.

cooling off

it is hot here, really really hot! we're thinking of attaching shade sails to the side of our house and in the garden to cool everything off...

Image courtesy of Apartment Therapy

just pretty

suzani boxes from jayson home & garden.

babies on the brain (part 2 of ?)

more and more new babies on the way! above: a beautiful baby rattle from canoe in portland.

chairloom

via the wonderful bloesem, i discovered chairloom - a PA company doing some very cool things with virginia johnson fabric (which i adore) and vintage chairs.






i always love a contrast between old and new and a bright virginia johnson fabric will make me happy anytime - so i am really a fan!

Image courtesy of Chairloom

floors floors floors

floors are on my mind these days. secretly i want to ebonize my floors ala the marc jacobs store in nyc...





... and then paint all the walls Super White and fill the house with colorful modern art (this is what I read Michael Govan the director of LACMA and his wife Katherine Ross did in their LA house). while i luuuuv that look (the light goes literally skittering across the black floor and the art provides all the color and interest), i realize it's not so easy to live in a modern art museum. plus i actually have stuff (that needs hiding places) and oh - no budget for all the super edgy modern art.

so our house will take a somewhat different direction - someday (right now i just need to get the floors done and move into the thing and then i will be a happy camper...)


anyhow, thinking about floors reminded me of this painting the Floor Scrapers by Gustave Caillebotte:

you can see how beautiful the light is as it skims across the floors... just exactly what you want hardwood floors to do in/for a house...