trans-pecos love letters

desert adventure 2009 | el cosmico

american lens

mathew scott captures the essence of america in the 21st century. see more of his photos here.

wiry bits

pretty wire creations from fil di ferro.

practical need

practical note pads from the clever people at knock knock. i feel like i'm always looking for something like this every time i go on a trip and when i try to responsibly plan menus.

floor to heaven motif

via idtextile

refreshing summertime baths

don't know if this is available worldwide, but it's a great summertime bath product. chestnut bath from weleda

ties with tradition

exhibit at the powerhouse design museum in sydney: macedonian apron designs.

bag lady

colorful bags by RUDA
via la tercera

summer naps in a tree

tree house from la cabane perchée. good video here - in french and still good even if you don't understand. via maire claire maison

color tick

i'm a big fan of the swatch. it's practical, simple, durable and has a fiscally sensitive price tag. these watches from triwa are a mix of rubber and stainless steel. they're a nice alternative to the swiss standard - and in succulent colors. available here

cup of beauty & funny

yoran morvant's pierres graphiques

ashes & milk is an online gallery that straddles the time/space challenge of modern vs. traditional with grace. its mission is deeply rooted in nature and simplicity. they have curated a lovely, organic and singular selection in their online gallery space.

they best express their mission in their own words:

ashes & milk is an online gallery space founded on the principle that a lot can be created from very little. We are driven by modern ideas with a reverence for traditional methods and believe that the things we bring into our homes should have a soul and a sense of history.

Our collection is a boutique of texture, organic materials, and nuances of white, brown, and gray. Each piece is made by hand - an original work of art. Created by one person, designed for one person.

Ashes & Milk is honored to present our patrons with a very fine selection of artists and their work. We love the artists we represent: for they observe the world in amazing detail and respond by constructing the most unexpected, beautiful things.

hairy chested swimmer by helen beard

natural | imaginative | delicious

sarah weiner, my new food crush, has a few restaurants in berlin. she's a promi-chef who puts her focus on traditional, simple and healthy foods. she's one of the leading foodie activists against gen-manipulated foods.

i have one cookbook of hers, frau am herd (lady by the stove) - i love it. i am looking forward to trying her food at her cafes and checking out her set up. specifically menu design, uniforms, decor and operations.

majakowski.gasthaus | berlin

with my summertime schedule and 'new to berlin' status, i've been doing a lot of research about my new surroundings.

i found this great design work about this restaurant on the outskirts of town. i haven't found much else about it and am very intrigued. the identity is done by a berlin/vienna cooperative called up designers.

design*sponge | biz ladies

woohoo! new piece on design*sponge on the basics of preparing presentations & proposals

ship of dreams

been trying to find a way to rent a house boat in berlin. today while searching i found a post on ouno design about ships and boats hanging from ceilings. this dragon photo is from their site. it got me thinking about my friend patty's idea some time ago about hanging a boat from the rafters and using that as your bed.

it got me searching for other hanging bed options and i found these:
this hilarious, so 1970's nest bed
and a source for my favorite playground swing that's like a bird's nest:
so, if i can't find that houseboat, maybe one of these options will do...

spanish zebras

these zebra bike lane dividers are made from reclaimed tires and plastics. They are designed by Spanish designer Curro Claret and is the winner of the 2009 award in Design for Recycling, organised by the Catalan government.

{via treehugger}

texas gets better and better

Open publication - Free publishing - More style

incredible feature in refueled on friend and client, liz lambert. amazing photos, background and design insight on liz's newest project, hotel saint cecilia. friends bobby & steve of mercury design studio get a shout out, too. hooray!

summer sunday

on a bit of a summer holiday and not blogging too much.

biking, reading/writing, walking, cooking, swimming and catching rays.

i found these great illustrations by london artist fiona woodcock. this one is from a series called | sunburn.

interview with style

Marije Vogelzang - Interview from Design Blast on Vimeo.

in june, Jill Enders and Chris Spatschek (students from the Arts and Design academy in Karlsruhe) interviewed dutch eating designer marije vogelzang. their approach was very whimsical and creative. they crafted a box of treats that had questions hidden underneath them. marije was allowed to choose eight from the eleven bits and answer those questions. clever, indeed....

spectacular spectacles

scott urban in chicago makes handmade wooden eyeglass frames. his shop is urban spectacles.

simple men's

homecore | men's basics with interest

see more on their site

wow | stunning on the ligurian coast

found this hotel in vernazza, italy (on the cinque terra): la malà. the rooms seem so full of light and the furnishings well edited with clean lines.

vernazza is the birthplace of pesto and a great place to take a swim.

their site really captures the mood they're aiming to strike - because really, it's all about the food and the sea and the hotel is done in such a classy way that it frames it all perfectly.

wooden design for your every need

berlin firm {wood begood} designs and builds customized wooden dwellings, furniture, kindergärtens, huts (!) ....more more more. they have some lovely photos on their site of a project in finland. the one above is a sample. check out their site for more.

{store front in berlin}

woohoo! design*sponge | biz ladies!

very excited about my first contribution to design*sponge's biz ladies section. it's about calculating your rate. the entire series of biz ladies contributions are helpful guideposts for entrepreneurs of any size (or gender!). thank you grace for letting me be a part of your site that i so admire. my next piece on the site is on presentations....stay tuned!

Golden Twigs

My sister Lexi forwarded me this pretty jewelry image from Melissa McClure : Jewelry Alchemy. The leather combined with the golden twigs is just my kind of bracelet.

Organization Necessity

In the category of things that you know you need, but didn't know they existed: Cable Drops from Blue Lounge

Yesterday at Vitra

It was rainy and nasty yesterday and I thought - how 'bout an outing?!

Got my stuff together and launched out to Weil am Rhein (close to Basel) to the Vitra Museum. It's a beautiful train ride there and the museum and grounds are fantastic.

main vitra entrance | building: frank gehry

balancing tools : claes oldenburg | coosje van bruggen

Saw exhibits by the Campana Brothers, Fernando & Humberto, of Buenos Aires, viewed the architecture of Frank Gerhry & Zaha Hadid, saw a very cool Oldenburg | Van Bruggen sculpture and fell in love with the bus stop.....a great day.

vitra holds workshops on a regular basis. I would love to go to the Re-Design workshop they have in September.

the best new accessory....

Typically I'm not a techno accessory person, but these headphones are worth stepping away from my normal aversion to gadgetry as fashion. They work great with iphone (with the mic chiclet thingy) and have ones great for ipods, too. Best feature: they do not tangle....swoon.

Available from Danish design collective AIAIAI. Here's what they have to say about themselves:

The company AIAIAI was born out of Copenhagen’s nest of creativity known as the A-house. Apart from hosting a club on top of the old industrial building AIAIAI initiated a collective consisting of more than 200 young artists, musicians and designers in the years 2005-2006. We, the 4 partners of AIAIAI, started off with a vision that hasn’t changed: Together with a variety of different people, designers, musicians, artists etc. we create earphones, headsets, headphones and other kinds of consumer electronic related products that makes a genuine statement.