I was checking out my market-mates on Poppytalk Handmade and discovered this super sweet silkscreen animal parade by Icebear, and I cannot believe it is only $30!!! This is the cutest skunk I've ever seen, it's a 3 inch tall felt sculpture by Violja. Very well-made too! This weird but cute stuffed creature by Cocoon Designs is made from a vintage plaid scarf. Check out the shop for more interesting and detailed stuffed "sculptures" made out of vintage wool sweaters and scarves. photo: Etsy
On Friday I posted pictures of the NYC Waterfalls, the computer-generated version, and here they are in real life. Last Saturday on our way to Chinatown, we decided to walk to the river and we were able to see 3 waterfalls at once, to our left is the one by Manhattan Bridge (below), in front of us is the one under Brooklyn Bridge (above) and to our right, it is a little further away but still visible, is the one by Governor's Island (last photo, it's on the right side behind the police boat, I told you it's far). What do you think? I wasn't too blown away by them, but maybe I'll change my mind if I look at them from a different location.
I think I will try to check out one of the Waterfalls this weekend, just like every other New Yorker. It's hard to miss them because they are located at Williamsburg Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Piers 4 & 5 in Brooklyn and Governor's Island. Four metal structures pump river water some 30 meters (90 feet) into the air, where it falls freely in liquid curtains 10 to 20 meters (30 to 60 feet) wide. This is the biggest city art project since the Gates at Central Park, the artist responsible for this project is Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. These man-made wonders will be on display until mid-October.photos: new york times
I am not a fan of gallery openings because you don't get to see the artworks and you are trapped inside a crammed space that gets hot and sticky (with people spilling drinks all over your feet). But I am pretty excited about the Os Gemeos show at Deitch Projects and Chad has talked me into going this Saturday, wish us luck! Their show is called Too Far Too Close, the gallery will turn into a cityscape with houses, doors and passageways, all brought to life with their signature style of imagery. The show is on view until August 9th.photos: Deitch.com, xlr8r
I'm often inspired by boyish graphics like this poster by Frankenstyles. I've been eyeing it for a while now and it still looks so awesome. I'm obsessed with looking at buildings in New York and imagine them as people with faces, perhaps that's why I love this print. Good job, Stephen!!! photo: frankenstyles
I was in heaven! Yesterday I made a trip to Lever House to see Tom Sachs' giant Hello Kitty and Miffy fountains in bronze (but treated to look white), there's also a My Melody (the first bunny) who was my childhood fave. They are super cute, the biggest Kitty is about 3 stories tall! Inside the lobby, I also found a couple of chicklets, and some really cool mini urban objects in bronze. I read that Tom Sach didn't get permission from Sanrio- Kitty and Melody's licensor, but I can't imagine that they are not flattered by this homage to our pop icons! Click on pictures for enlargement.
CitySol starts this Thursday, June 26 through Sunday, June 29. Lots of events going on, Saturday is the one with music, and there's food! There are art installations throughout the park to raise awareness of urban sustainability. I'll definitely be there because the venue happens to be right across the street from my home. Bring your own mug for beer and you'll get a discount!photos: prizepony's flickr photostream
From this guy's website- it's a reproduction of Édouard Manet's 'Bar at the Folies Bergere' made entirely of old Pantone chips. Over 5,000 unused chips were painstakingly color matched and and stuck down over four long nights.photos: timfraserbrown.co.uk
It's been a while since I did one of these Etsy picks, and I really heart these new peeps. Studio MIKMIK is a new Etsian, I first noticed his work from my Gocco team on Flickr, it is really good and very different from most other Gocco prints I've seen, so congrats MIKMIK! Another great Etsian is Cabin + Cub, her collages are so precious, I love the vintage children's book cut outs with thick white outlines and the cute little droplets, everything is collaged on paper-backed wood veneer, and it's a steal for only $25 each! The third newish Etsian is Paige Russell, her Bad Beaver Vase is so clever and has a great shape to hold just a few tall flowers. I might have to splurge and get it. She also makes vessels in the shapes of classic American cars- a camper, a 4 by 4, an RV, and a monster truck, how funny is she?! The last one is Bird and Banner who's been getting a lot of great press, people are crazy over their greeting "cards" screen printed on vintage handkerchiefs, but my favorite is their "Sew" In Love DIY card kit. I just love anything that has a clever play with words. photos: Etsy
I've been a fan of Little Factory's for a long time now, it's nice to see how both of our styles have changed over the years. I'm so delighted to find (via Cool Hunting) that they are making incredibly cool accessories and blankets, which are for sale here. I really want the upper case scarf (a hint to my dear hubby), I love that it is in white because most of my clothes are dark color, and it's lightweight and holey so it's perfect to wear for the cool summer breeze!photos: little factory
I'm really a big kid at heart. Yesterday Chad an I went to our favorite Japanese book store Kinokuniya and I could not resist this vintage Scandinavian kitchen set. It's one of those mini blind assortment toys meaning you don't know what you're going to get. I was really hoping that I was going to get the pink and white basket, and look what I got- a toaster oven! The details of this toy is amazing, all the trays are removable, it even has an under tray for catching the bread crumbs, you can even turn the dials on the oven, hilarious! Now I want to go back and get more!!!
I love my Italian stove top coffee maker and I make delicious coffee every morning, but it's missing something. Last Saturday I went to Sur La Table and bought this Bonjour milk frother, it is the best thing ever!!! It doesn't use any electricity, it looks like a French press, and you don't need to heat the milk to make the froth, all you need to do is plunge it 20 times and you're done! I've been doing a lot research and this is really the best frother out there, you don't need an expensive electronic gadget to make your perfect latte, and it beats paying $4 for a latte from a coffee bar everyday. photo: bonjourproducts.com
I'm looking forward to Cocktails and tapas at the Cooper Hewitt Garden every Thursday in July, starting July 10th. I'm also looking forward to my Phillip Johnson's Glass House Tour on the 28th, a birthday gift to myself and Chad, I bought the tickets more than a year ago, and they are sold out for the rest of 2008, isn't it crazy???photos: cooper hewitt and the glass house
Today is the first day of summer, the day of Summer Solstice and people call it the happiest day of the year! A perfect day to hear this song, there are many different versions of "Oh Happy Day" but I really love Spiritualized's version of it. Here is a You Tube video of a live performance in Madrid.
So the other day I posted about French Sample Room, a great blog where fans of French Paper can submit their designs printed on French Paper. Of course I was curious and had to submit some of my work, and today I made it to the sample room, hurray! You will also find works of my friends' Mike of Burlesque of North America and Inkdesigner. I'm glad to represent one of the few female artists in the sample room!
I would go to Nashville! I know it's almost a staycation because it's Chad's hometown, but he hasn't lived there for 10 years and we tend to go to the same few places that he used to go when he was younger. Thanks to British model and Nashville resident Karen Elson, in a staycation feature on Style.com, she mentioned all the good places for my favorite things- vintage clothes, bluegrass music, Italian food, and indie movies, I am so there! She is opening a vintage shop in Nashville this summer, wonder when is the grand opening??? Don't be surprised if we go to Nashville sometime next month, Anyone interested in going with us?photos: style.com
I did my quickie website in a day and I'm pretty happy with it. It's very simple, I love courier font, it's lo-tech and absolutely cool! My web shop is open for business so go check it out!
Today I'm working on my new website and I'm hoping to have it up by tonight. In my last life I had a website called Wonglet, but I let it expire and it is no longer on the world wide web. I'm excited about the new site because it is going to have a web shop for those who do not wish to sign up for Etsy to make their purchases. (don't get me wrong, I love Etsy and I wouldn't be here without them!) I will make an announcement once it's up.
I purchase almost all of my paper from French Paper . They have really good prices, the prettiest colors and paper quality, plus it's a family-run company, how cool is that?! They have a blog where fans and customers submit their designs printed on French Paper, it is a quick way for people to see paper samples if they can't wait to get the swatch book in the mail!photos: frenchsampleroom
Amy from Perch's booth was diagonally across from mine at Renegade and I could not resist to sneak out and bought this beautiful lantern with pinholes on both sides. I put a little tea light inside and the glow coming through the holes is just so beautiful, and it looks so good with my Hella Jongerius Ikea vase!
I survived my first Renegade craft fair and what an experience! I thought I was able to set up the booth by myself easily, but I was an hour behind schedule and setting up was 10 times harder in the sun and grueling heat. By time time I got the booth ready it was almost noon (one hour behind schedule) and I was exhausted and sweaty! The booth looks nice though, my booth mate Kimberly of Chez Sucre Chez provided the cute chambray table cloth and peg boards to hang our stuff. The banner that I made came out great too, but wait 'til you see what it looks like on Day 2. There was a HUGE rain storm that started around 4, and our tent was not rain-proof at all, there was water leaking through our display boards so we had to pack up before our stuff got wet. Luckily only one card got a little wet and everything else was saved by cello bags! This was my table at 5:30, how sad!!!Day 2, we came back and was relieved that our tent was still there looking good, my last minute glued on CW letters fell off so I had to safety pin them back on. There were a few showers late morning and early afternoon, then the weather got much nicer and HOT! A lot of people showed up, for a first-timer, I think I did pretty well, and met a lot of wonderful people. It was a really fun event and glad I had Kimberly as my booth mate, we've both learned a lot from this experience and we are looking forward to doing another one!
I was checking out my market-mates on Poppytalk Handmade and discovered this super sweet silkscreen animal parade by Icebear, and I cannot believe it is only $30!!!
This is the cutest skunk I've ever seen, it's a 3 inch tall felt sculpture by Violja. Very well-made too!
This weird but cute stuffed creature by Cocoon Designs is made from a vintage plaid scarf. Check out the shop for more interesting and detailed stuffed "sculptures" made out of vintage wool sweaters and scarves.
On Friday I posted pictures of the NYC Waterfalls, the computer-generated version, and here they are in real life. Last Saturday on our way to Chinatown, we decided to walk to the river and we were able to see 3 waterfalls at once, to our left is the one by Manhattan Bridge (below), in front of us is the one under Brooklyn Bridge (above) and to our right, it is a little further away but still visible, is the one by Governor's Island (last photo, it's on the right side behind the police boat, I told you it's far). What do you think? I wasn't too blown away by them, but maybe I'll change my mind if I look at them from a different location.
I think I will try to check out one of the Waterfalls this weekend, just like every other New Yorker. It's hard to miss them because they are located at Williamsburg Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Piers 4 & 5 in Brooklyn and Governor's Island. Four metal structures pump river water some 30 meters (90 feet) into the air, where it falls freely in liquid curtains 10 to 20 meters (30 to 60 feet) wide. This is the biggest city art project since the Gates at Central Park, the artist responsible for this project is Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. These man-made wonders will be on display until mid-October.
photos: new york times
I am not a fan of gallery openings because you don't get to see the artworks and you are trapped inside a crammed space that gets hot and sticky (with people spilling drinks all over your feet). But I am pretty excited about the Os Gemeos show at Deitch Projects and Chad has talked me into going this Saturday, wish us luck! Their show is called Too Far Too Close, the gallery will turn into a cityscape with houses, doors and passageways, all brought to life with their signature style of imagery. The show is on view until August 9th.
photos: Deitch.com, xlr8r
I'm often inspired by boyish graphics like this poster by Frankenstyles. I've been eyeing it for a while now and it still looks so awesome. I'm obsessed with looking at buildings in New York and imagine them as people with faces, perhaps that's why I love this print. Good job, Stephen!!! 
I was in heaven! Yesterday I made a trip to Lever House to see Tom Sachs' giant Hello Kitty and Miffy fountains in bronze (but treated to look white), there's also a My Melody (the first bunny) who was my childhood fave. They are super cute, the biggest Kitty is about 3 stories tall! Inside the lobby, I also found a couple of chicklets, and some really cool mini urban objects in bronze. I read that Tom Sach didn't get permission from Sanrio- Kitty and Melody's licensor, but I can't imagine that they are not flattered by this homage to our pop icons! Click on pictures for enlargement.
CitySol starts this Thursday, June 26 through Sunday, June 29. Lots of events going on, Saturday is the one with music, and there's food! There are art installations throughout the park to raise awareness of urban sustainability. I'll definitely be there because the venue happens to be right across the street from my home. Bring your own mug for beer and you'll get a discount!
photos: prizepony's flickr photostream
From this guy's website- it's a reproduction of Édouard Manet's 'Bar at the Folies Bergere' made entirely of old Pantone chips. Over 5,000 unused chips were painstakingly color matched and and stuck down over four long nights.
photos: timfraserbrown.co.uk
It's been a while since I did one of these Etsy picks, and I really heart these new peeps. Studio MIKMIK is a new Etsian, I first noticed his work from my Gocco team on Flickr, it is really good and very different from most other Gocco prints I've seen, so congrats MIKMIK! 
Another great Etsian is Cabin + Cub, her collages are so precious, I love the vintage children's book cut outs with thick white outlines and the cute little droplets, everything is collaged on paper-backed wood veneer, and it's a steal for only $25 each!
The third newish Etsian is Paige Russell, her Bad Beaver Vase is so clever and has a great shape to hold just a few tall flowers. I might have to splurge and get it. She also makes vessels in the shapes of classic American cars- a camper, a 4 by 4, an RV, and a monster truck, how funny is she?! 
The last one is Bird and Banner who's been getting a lot of great press, people are crazy over their greeting "cards" screen printed on vintage handkerchiefs, but my favorite is their "Sew" In Love DIY card kit. I just love anything that has a clever play with words.
I've been a fan of Little Factory's for a long time now, it's nice to see how both of our styles have changed over the years. I'm so delighted to find (via Cool Hunting) that they are making incredibly cool accessories and blankets, which are for sale here. I really want the upper case scarf (a hint to my dear hubby), I love that it is in white because most of my clothes are dark color, and it's lightweight and holey so it's perfect to wear for the cool summer breeze!
photos: little factory
I'm really a big kid at heart. Yesterday Chad an I went to our favorite Japanese book store Kinokuniya and I could not resist this vintage Scandinavian kitchen set. It's one of those mini blind assortment toys meaning you don't know what you're going to get. I was really hoping that I was going to get the pink and white basket, and look what I got- a toaster oven! The details of this toy is amazing, all the trays are removable, it even has an under tray for catching the bread crumbs, you can even turn the dials on the oven, hilarious! Now I want to go back and get more!!!
I love my Italian stove top coffee maker and I make delicious coffee every morning, but it's missing something. Last Saturday I went to Sur La Table and bought this Bonjour milk frother, it is the best thing ever!!! It doesn't use any electricity, it looks like a French press, and you don't need to heat the milk to make the froth, all you need to do is plunge it 20 times and you're done! I've been doing a lot research and this is really the best frother out there, you don't need an expensive electronic gadget to make your perfect latte, and it beats paying $4 for a latte from a coffee bar everyday.
I'm looking forward to Cocktails and tapas at the Cooper Hewitt Garden every Thursday in July, starting July 10th. I'm also looking forward to my Phillip Johnson's Glass House Tour on the 28th, a birthday gift to myself and Chad, I bought the tickets more than a year ago, and they are sold out for the rest of 2008, isn't it crazy???
photos: cooper hewitt and the glass house
So the other day I posted about French Sample Room, a great blog where fans of French Paper can submit their designs printed on French Paper. Of course I was curious and had to submit some of my work, and today I made it to the sample room, hurray! You will also find works of my friends' Mike of Burlesque of North America and Inkdesigner. I'm glad to represent one of the few female artists in the sample room!
I would go to Nashville! I know it's almost a staycation because it's Chad's hometown, but he hasn't lived there for 10 years and we tend to go to the same few places that he used to go when he was younger. Thanks to British model and Nashville resident Karen Elson, in a staycation feature on Style.com, she mentioned all the good places for my favorite things- vintage clothes, bluegrass music, Italian food, and indie movies, I am so there! She is opening a vintage shop in Nashville this summer, wonder when is the grand opening??? Don't be surprised if we go to Nashville sometime next month, Anyone interested in going with us?
photos: style.com
I purchase almost all of my paper from French Paper . They have really good prices, the prettiest colors and paper quality, plus it's a family-run company, how cool is that?! They have a blog where fans and customers submit their designs printed on French Paper, it is a quick way for people to see paper samples if they can't wait to get the swatch book in the mail!
photos: frenchsampleroom
Amy from Perch's booth was diagonally across from mine at Renegade and I could not resist to sneak out and bought this beautiful lantern with pinholes on both sides. I put a little tea light inside and the glow coming through the holes is just so beautiful, and it looks so good with my Hella Jongerius Ikea vase!
This is a re-do of the Candy Pencils print that I posted last week, I added a border to give it a more Wonting look.
Owling Moon was a last minute print that I did for Renegade, I love the metallic silver on brown paper.
I survived my first Renegade craft fair and what an experience! I thought I was able to set up the booth by myself easily, but I was an hour behind schedule and setting up was 10 times harder in the sun and grueling heat. By time time I got the booth ready it was almost noon (one hour behind schedule) and I was exhausted and sweaty! The booth looks nice though, my booth mate Kimberly of Chez Sucre Chez provided the cute chambray table cloth and peg boards to hang our stuff. The banner that I made came out great too, but wait 'til you see what it looks like on Day 2. There was a HUGE rain storm that started around 4, and our tent was not rain-proof at all, there was water leaking through our display boards so we had to pack up before our stuff got wet. Luckily only one card got a little wet and everything else was saved by cello bags! This was my table at 5:30, how sad!!!
Day 2, we came back and was relieved that our tent was still there looking good, my last minute glued on CW letters fell off so I had to safety pin them back on. There were a few showers late morning and early afternoon, then the weather got much nicer and HOT! A lot of people showed up, for a first-timer, I think I did pretty well, and met a lot of wonderful people. It was a really fun event and glad I had Kimberly as my booth mate, we've both learned a lot from this experience and we are looking forward to doing another one!
