A girl’s hidden treasure

Or, more accurately three girls’ treasures. Three tortured souls, three great artists. What were their favorite objects, their magic talismans? Bett Norris illustrated the (imaginary) most precious possessions of Sylvia Plath:

Frida Kahlo:

and Edith Piaf:

Flowers and death being the common denominator…

You can find these treasures on Bett Norris’ Etsy shop

See also:

• I shall not live in vain
• James Joyce Pornography
• The Man in the Black Coat

Those damn pigeons

Print by the lovely Etsy shop OliverandLyvia via istanbul loves Athens (Athens loves Istanbul back)

See also:

• Never le’ go…
• Etsy finds: Claudia Varosio’s movie posters
• Prose before Hos

Never le’ go…

Get it?

From the witty Heng Swee Lim and her Etsy shop, ILOVEDOODLE.

via buymodernbaby

See also:

• Etsy finds: snap it in an instance
• Escher in LEGOland
• See fig. 2

Follow @itsasmallweb

Prose before Hos

One of the rare, true LOL moments online.

From the lovely people at Busted Tees, who also brought us little gems like:

See also:

• See fig. 2
• I shot the serif
• The dark side of the loom

Etsy finds: Uloni’s crochet sculptures

I’ve been following this Etsy shop since my first days in Etsy. And I am always amazed by Uloni‘s creativity. She takes a most traditional, if not boring, medium (crochet) and completely reinvents it.

The forms she creates are organic, fluid and sometimes almost alive. And always unique. In fact, they are never replicated and once they leave the shop you can never find them again. thankfully, here is some of her best past work, from her flickr account:

Truly one of a kind.

Etsy finds: retrowhale’s indie portraits (and more)

Who’s your favorite writer? Your favorite movie director? Your favorite band? Animal? Chances are that retrowhale has already created a quirky drawing of them in a wood panel. The discovery that lead me to this shop was this portrait series of writers: Hunter S Thompson, Charles Bukowski, Silvia Plath and Jack Kerouac. Amazing, huh?

Or you can go all nouvelle vague and get a set of french directors:

And if this sounds a tad pretentious to you, there is lots of pop culture to choose from, too. For example this series of (mainly John Hughes) 80’s teen movies:

Or choose your favorite music band out of these almost infographic illustrations:

The rest you have to discover by yourselves!

Etsy finds: Claudia Varosio’s movie posters

This shop is a true find for the cinephiles. Claudia Varosio creates custom posters for some of cinema’s most iconic movies.

Minimal, wonderfully designed and coloured, these posters vary from the conceptual to the whimsical.

Also of note are Claudia’s series of cut-out paper dolls: the dude, Margot Tenenbaum, David Bowie and other surprising personalities.

Etsy finds: animal kingdom

It’s a jungle out there…

Etsy finds animal kingdom treasury list:

1. What are you afraid of – Sculpture by alfalfalovesme
2. the strange planet by thegoodmachinery
3. Fred- Large Moose Trophy- White by CardboardSafari
4. Mook with Aardvark Mask by ilovegreyskies
5. Elebee (Elephant Bee)– Contemporary Folk Art Ornament– MADE TO ORDER by cartbeforethehorse
6. Handmade Fabric Jewel Beetle Soft Sculpture – Coleoptera Made to Order by BlueTerracotta
7. Smoking chicken… by OhMafelt
8. Piergiorgio the whale – Handmade in Italy by contemori
9. Orwell Clutch – Penny Copper Piggy Purse by tsurubride
10. Retro rhinestone sparrow hat by janinebasil
11. Rusty Foks by celapiu
12. House Fly Pin by annarubyking
13. The Lovely Kitten Tee – Made to order by ThePetiteChouette
14. Heather Grey L/S Sweatshirt – Golden Owl by sealmaiden
15. Animal Farm (series of 3) by MissCrowland
16. Octopus silk screened cotton canvas throw pillow 18 inch black by utilitarianfranchise

Liberty trainers, oh my!

This is love at first sight. Fabric legend The Liberty of London have collaborated with Nike (again) for this amazing series of Art Nouveau trainers in their classic designs.

Available from April 1 at Liberty’s. You’ve been warned.

See also:

• Converse ♥ Marimekko
• Etsy finds: origami fashion
• Black Swan: Europe vs US 1-0

Etsy finds: geometries

Geometry is an endless source of inspiration from Ancient Greece, to tribal design to futuristic shapes. You simply cannot go wrong with geometrical shapes.

Geometries etsy treasury list:

• Geometric Carpet by EnRoute Studio
• Kart Chair by HarBenger2
• GEOMETRY SET JOTTER – Set Square by presentandcorrect
• Triangle Tank Dress by jessalinb
• Geometric Triangle necklace Gold by spoonfullofmint
• Triangle Array Pattern PERF Laser Cut T-Shirt by perfapparel
• Ascendant Earrings by LauraLombardiJewelery
• shapes necklace hexagon by cristinapires
• Warehouse IV – double finger ring by melaniefavreau
• Chunky Necklace and Earrings, made of copper brown leather triangles by SchickiMickis
• Ivory Towers Cuff by jewisaha
• Let’s Go – Away For A While by letsgoawayforawhile
• Paired Hexagons by locallibrary
• METAL GEO – Cuff Bracelet – Stainless Steel by arosha
• TWO TRIANGLES ring by marmod8
• wavy navy art card by MAKEatx

Etsy finds: helvetica

If you’ve ever met a designer you’ll know that they only worship one thing: helvetica,the sans-serif typeface that made history. It is of no surprise then that all those crafters at Etsy have created beautiful objects with it.

I ❤ helvetica etsy treasury list:

1. ASCII Heart Necklace by bekathwia
2. helvetica typography acrylic necklace (red) by plastique
3. Large Wood letter D by Hindsvik
4. Uppercase Scarf by TheLittleFactory
5. perpetual necklace – 8am by ofmatter
6. END WAR html by punkpatriot
7. Hellvetica Moleskine – Lined, Screenprinted by VictoriaGabrielle
8. Urban Throw Pillow – Style no17 – NYC – Pillow Cover Only by NestaHome
9. Helvetica for Typography Nerds – Choose your letter and color by Cupcakes and Mace
10. Doodle jewelry / Connect the numbers necklace in silver by tickette
11. Type Nerd 4-Color Process Card Pack of 6 by ShedLetterpress
12. You and Me – Ampersand pendant by melaniefavreau
13. Spell It Out for Me Clock by chromalab
14. Ctrl Alt Del – Black and White Typography Word Art – 8×10 by colorbee
15. TYPO-BAG: Helvetica by caratterino
16. Helvetica Hello Kraft/Ice Blue Note Cards by madebygood

See more etsy finds

Wasted time

We are huge procrastinators. As such, we don’t believe that there is such a thing as wasted time. No time is wasted, no matter the activity.

Alyson Provax, however, is self-conscious about it. She has created this witty series of one-liners, documenting the time she spent not being productive:

You can buy her print at her etsy shop. See more wasted time experiments after the jump.

Etsy finds: life’s a stitch

What I love about the hand-craft movement is how it has reinvented old crafts. Take embroidery, for example. It’s no longer just for grandmothers and old maids. Just look at these quirky stitches that find inspiration from such diverse sources as music from the Pixies and Tears for Fears, the paintings of Frida Kahlo, human anatomy, Twitter, and toilet etiquette:

Life’s a stitch Etsy treasury list:

• hand embroidery-connection no. 1 by marysgranddaughter
• Tears for Fears embroidery – Shout Shout Let It All Out by GraceyMay
• original embroidery by mummysam
• Bicep Muscle Diagram Handmade Embroidery Wall Art by itsastitch
• Subliminal Wall Wear by neawear
• CMYK Color Wheel Cross Stitch by youheartus
• Art Heart – valentine softie. art plush. pincushion. toy by DollsAfterDark
• Lady Marmalade by Moxiedoll
• John Hodgman Tweet Stitch by youheartus
• Embroidered Notebook Paper Love Note by cornflowerbluestudio
• PDF Mini Embroidery Pattern – Vote by wildolive
• Pixies Inspired Embroidery by coppywanna
• sprig – original hand embroidered artwork by Benandi
• stiched paper collage by kspago
• House 2 – Wall Art (6′ x 4′) by donnarule
• Je t’aime Embroidery by naomicayne

Read it elsewhere

This is an unnecessary introduction to a bunch of (interesting) links:

• A working place that inspires innovation and creativity: Pixar Studios (video) – devour
• Perhaps we should reconsider our food blog promise because foodies are the new hipsters – lost at E minor
• When we saw the Pixies live two years ago, we could feel the tension of them not getting along in the air; but could they be working on a new album after all? – New York Magazine
• Did you understand the end of Lost? Can you tie the loose ends? This guy will buy you breakfast if you do – Craigslist via movieline
• Buy Lars Von Trier’s camper on e-bay (he’s selling  it because he can’t stand the smell of diesel anymore) – ebay via vulture
• Stream PJ Harvey’s concert in Paris online (70 min video) – 24bit
• Eszter Burghardt’s edible landscapes – Eszter Burghardt via shortlist

Compost your pen

We used to say ‘think before you print’, now it seems that we will start saying ‘think before you write’.

Over the last 60 years, 100 billion disposable pens have been sold globally. They are made from non biodegradable petroleum-based plastics and their ink contains toxic chemicals, which are bad for us and the environment. Pretty amazing? Now, it’s time to change our habits and use this new 98% biodegradable pen, composed by environmentally friendly ingredients, where everything but the nib of the pen can be composted.

via Lost at E minor

Etsy finds: origami fashion

If there is a place for origami in MIT and in space, then there is definitely place for it in fashion:

Origami fashion: folds, ripples, pleats, drapes etsy treasury list:

1. Honeycomb MADE TO ORDER by emilyryan
2. Grey Origami Fabric Necklace by chomelchomel
3. Rippled by MQuin
4. Origami Charcoal Top by LaBronz
5. Origami kurukuru necklace B/W by Homako
6. check print. kimono dolly. soft pleats top. by annyschoo
7. Medium Eggplant Leather Petals by HakNik
8. Pleated Batwing Tunic by emilyryan
9. cropped double t-shirt dress by takeoffyourclothes
10. CUORE Wave Statement Neckpiece – Cowl – Snood – Scarf in Pebble Grey by giia
11. Origami Curve Tunic Black color by isabelamyo
12. Red Recycled Origami Clutch by Relogyyy
13. starburst clutch – metallic by yorktownroad
14. Ruffle Dress by lizarietz
15. Ninfea in black. Vegan bag by ninu
16. Folded Top for Fall black white grey by outofline

Arcade characters invade urban landscapes

Merging the digital with the real always captures our attention – as on this quirky video.

Illustrator Jamie Sneddon and photographer Kevin Rozario-Johnson do exactly that, in their series 8-bitscapes. They put iconic arcade characters in urban and other familiar landscapes. The end result is not simply a nerd’s delight. Their images have a sense of emergency and a haunting beauty.

Converse ♥ Marimekko

We were anticipating them, and now they’re here. The new Marimekko Converse All Stars have hit the market. You can buy them online at Converse. Until you get your hands on them, enjoy this short documentary on how they were conceived and produced:

Etsy finds: Black Swan

Or, as our friend S. put it, the fragile power of perfection.

We recently went to watch the Black Swan. In typical Aronofsky fashion it is a tale of a person’s downward spiral of self-destruction, in this case though, and as opposed to the realistic third point view of his previous works, we – the audience – are trapped in the mind of an introvert ballerina; a mind that soon becomes a battlefield between the Apollonian White Swan and the Dionysian Black Swan. It’s a world of quiet disquiet, filled with intimidating stage moms, manipulating directors, alluring rivals and decadent divas and we are powerless spectators of her painful metamorphosis, until she reaches perfection in her art. To what cost though?

The movie is haunting in its imagery, and climaxes in one of the most poetic scenes of recent cinema. To that scene we dedicate this treasury list:

BlackSwan etsy treasury list:

• Couture Black Wings Headpiece by ArturoRios
• BLACK SWAN – She’s After Me T-Shirt by lovejonny
• Coral Bridal headpiece by spacecadetjewelry
• Ballerina – 8×8 Original Signed Fine Art Photograph by alicebgardens
• The Swan by damestarbaby
• Perspex swan cut out chain by genmotley
• White Feather Long Full Bridal Skirt – Bird Feather by austineshu
• Coco Black Silk Chiffon and Lace Backless Dress with satin bow by hollystalder
• Swan by simonabarbu
• Coque feather collar by Kathycoleman
• Black Feather Necklace – Black Leather and Gunmetal Chain by LoveAtFirstBlush
• A loss of dance 20×16 by whitshoots
• Couture Black Feather Knee-High Skirt 45cm Length by austineshu
• Black & White Acrylic Feather Necklace by byalamode
• Black Swan inspired head-piece by elizlfe
• SECONDITION Queen No.1 by irisschwarz

Time put to words

QLOCKTWO is a clock without hands and without numbers. It just tells you the time in words.

Created by Biegert & Funk, it is available in English, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Spanish, Danish, Russian, Swedish and Arabic.