What to buy at Moss

Chad and I have about $600 store credit at Moss that we don't know what to do with. We need to use it before it expires (yes it does expire!) and it is not an easy task, $600 does not go far at this store! I've picked out these pieces that just might work, we can probably get 2 of the things from this list (with an extra couple hundred bucks!).

The ring above is by Gijs Bakker, it's made of carved jade.

Sabrina 5-piece place setting

Dieter Rams book
Font clock by my hero- Sebastian Wrong

Snoopy lamp by Achille Castiglioni
Nouvel stacking tumblers
images: Moss

New Etsy Friends!

Lab Partners bought a print of mine on Etsy a while back, so I checked out their profile and was delighted to discover that they have such a cute Etsy shop. I don't know much about them except that Ryan and Sarah met in 8th grade Science class and they make really sweet Gocco prints together. You can see more of their work on their blog. Hope they will have more new prints out soon because I'd like to buy a bunch! They inspire me to make some Gocco prints with Chad, I've never worked on a project with him before so it will be quite interesting!images: Lab Partners and Etsy

Obama Silkscreen Poster

Shepard Fairey made 350 of these beautiful posters of Obama to raise money for the Senator's California campaign. Personally, I am aesthetically interested in the print more than the subject matter, but no matter what and who you support, you can purchase one on his website this Wednesday, it's $50 for the 24" x 36" print.
image: obeygiant.com

Great Talent

I was reading IDN Saturday at a newsstand and saw these amazing illustrations for Keane's album covers and I immediately came home and did a search on the artist. Her name is Sanna Annukka, she's half Finnish and half English who lives in Brighton, England. She was commissioned to do illustrations for Keane's album right after she graduated from college a couple years ago! I love that she does her artworks digitally but always silk screen her prints because she likes the vibrant quality of the inks, I agree with that. Her style reminds me of folksy Scandinavian art but she's definitely original by adding contemporary elements to the nostalgic style. You can read about her here, and you can purchase her prints at her online shop! I really want that silk screen print in metallic gold! I am now officially a big fan of Sanna's and I cannot wait to see more great things from her!!!images: Keanemusic.com and sanna-annukka.com

5 bags I think I like

I've been trying to find the perfect everyday bag for a long time and still nothing really interests me. Today I went to Soho to look at a few bags that I saw online in person and I was disappointed, either the quality was not as expected or the bag was too heavy and bulky, who needs 20 pockets in one bag, seriously?!!! So now I'm back to square one with my search and I'm liking these 5. If you have any recommendations, PLEASE write me. The one above is Botkier Nicole Tote

Miu Miu Chevron Hobo
Miu Miu Large Leather Tote
Gryson Olivia Satchel
Vanessa Bruno Leather Hoboimages: Bergdorf Goodman, Tobi, and Shopbop

She Rocks!

Why does Amy Ruppel rock? Amy is a very talented and successful busy illustrator, AND she's the most down-to-earth, genuinely nice person you'll ever meet! I'm so proud of the fact that I've worked with her for my last job, since then she's done holiday graphics for Target's holiday campaign, has done a t-shirt for Uniqlo, AND a wall mural at one of my favorite stores Rare Device, see below. If you would like to start a collection of Amy's artworks, make sure to check out her online sale today at 1pm EST, be on time coz those prints sale out in MINUTES, it's crazy!!!images: Design Sponge and Amy Ruppel

Year of the Rat

That is the name of a lovely Badly Drawn Boy song, did you know that? But we're not talking about the band here, we're talking about my all-time favorite holiday- Chinese New Year, and this coming year (Feb, 7th) is the year of the rat. For my Etsy shop I made this print to celebrate the year dedicated to the animal I fear most in real life! But this Wonting rat is mighty cute, isn't he?! (note: the gray is actually metallic silver)Also available is my Knock On Wood- wood version, back by popular demand! I had a hard time getting the wood blocks for the last 2 months and I finally got my hands on 20 of them last week. Get yours soon because I may not sell anymore of these blocks once they're gone.

Kiel Mead

I've met Kiel Mead once through my friend Lisa and was impressed that he's the guy who created the ingenious Forget me Knot ring. I went to The Future Perfect last Saturday, he had a display of his hand-made jewelry in an aluminum gun case that looked pretty cool (I'm NOT pro gun, fyi). Below are more of his great designs- retainer necklace, matchstick necklace, ring cast from an old Ford Mustang key, and screw bit necklace. They are the perfect Valentine's Day gifts for guys, don't you think???

DFC

Last Saturday I spent the afternoon shopping in Williamsburg and the visit to The Future Perfect really made my day. The place was filled with super cool designs by a duo called DFC from Mexico City. My favorite is the lady pillow, the "lady" is a very cleverly simplified face of Frida Kahlo, it is made of a soft knit fabric and is reversible (white on black on one side and black on white on the other). My other favorites are the baby hand incense burner, the creepy Marg vase in red, and the ceramic pill necklace (see below). But the one thing that I most consider buying is the burnt stump stool (the last picture below), isn't it beautiful?!

Illustration Hero

I needed to write about Laura Ljungkvist after I saw the post on Print and Pattern. Laura was one of the great illustrators that emerged in the late 90's, and she was one of them that inspired me to get into the business (Anja Kroencke, Hiroshi Tanabe, Bo Lundburg, Liselotte Watkins and Mr. Z were the other ones). I first saw her work in Wallpaper magazine, and since then she's done a few children's books as well as countless ad campaigns and editorial work. Her new children's book is called Follow the Line, the artworks are so beautiful that adults would enjoy reading it with their little ones! I love the fluid but rough line art and her use of colors, they are vintage-inspired but her style is totally original and modern.

Get Dovey

As I mentioned in previous post my Etsy prints are running low and I desperately need to make more prints, so voila, here is a new one called Get Dovey, just in time for Valentine's Day. I decided not to do V Day cards because it makes more sense to sell this print all year round, not just a holiday piece. This print is a spin off of a Christmas card I did for Etsy called Lovey Dovey (see below). I can't wait to work on my next print, hope I'll get it done by the end of the week!

Inspired!

I've been a fan of Friends with You's for a few years now, I finally had some free time to read their book- "FWY Have Powers" last week and I was blown away by the amount of work they've done in such a short time- from art installations, animations and videos, to toys. I really admire artists who get to do the kind of art they love and are commissioned to do large-scale installations all over the world, the guys from Friends with You are those artists who get to do so. But such success didn't happen without hard work, I know that they work very long hours every single day, and most of their installations are labor-intensive. For example, the white furry object below, it's an installation of a Volkswagon Fox covered in fake fur called Albino Fox, they also did the interior of the car! I don't think I would ever want to devote so much time to my career like FWY, but their hard work and fun attitude towards art are very inspiring.

He is Rad

For those who don't know me, I'm married to a wonderful guy named Chad. And if you want to more about him, go here, it is an interview about his job at Kidrobot and the Nike Air Max 1 that he designed for KR. I don't know anything about Syndication but I gathered that it is a website about sneakers and sneaker fans, like Chad. (Note: the girl in the pic is not me, it's his "sister" Nichole of Kidrobot) I got a little teary eyed when I got to the middle of the interview (awwwww!), you have to read it to find out why!

New Year, New Art

Happy New Year my friends! I've been sooo lazy over the holidays, actually I was busy hanging out with my mom-in-law so I had very little computer time. I checked my inventory for my Etsy shop and most of the 8" x 10" prints are runny really low, so I need to get back to my Gocco-printing mode starting this weekend! I made this 5" x 7" print before the holidays and have been too lazy to post it on Etsy, it's called "Thea", very different from the adorable animals that I have in my shop, but I hope you guys like it.