Friday, April 13, 2012

"Wear Nature" by Mr. Lentz

Now this is my type of jewellery.
A few months ago I contacted Mr. Lentz about his jewellery and have been meaning to write about it ever since. The artist has crafted these tiny sculptures using nature's materials, and they feel almost mythical with their tiny, yet perfect, proportions.
Once in awhile I see artwork that truly makes me smile.
These little sculptures -quite literally- took my breath away.

If I were a poet I would suggest that they feel like rain.

Maybe they feel like mother-nature in a bottle? I can't quite peg it, but unique and beautiful they are.

The Redwood Series: as soft and textured as a rainforest.
The Beast Series: as angular and lethal as some of her predators. 

Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself.






Visit the MR.LENTZ online store if you'd like to purchase. 


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Best seat in the house! Linen Barcelona Modern Love


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Taken at Pixelbrand

Many moons ago (17, to be exact) I blogged about the Butaca modern-day sustainable take on the Barcelona chair.
Gorgeous, hand carved, coffee sack stuffed, 100% covetable chair. (I fell into obsession, perhaps.)
It's gorgeous, but my budget didn't cover $3500 for 2 chairs, even if they were absolutely perfect for my space. I loved the softness of them, the idea of a leather-less Barcelona chair and the look of the repurposed materials.
Fast forward a year and a half: We found linen Barcelona style chairs at Homesense for less than $600 each. One added pillow, and a faux-fur throw left us with a snapshot worthy solution.
Almost the Butaca. Almost. Not FSC wood. But also not leather.
I couldn't be happier with my soft, cozy take on a modern classic that I will always love.

Here's the original that was my inspiration:

Friday, February 17, 2012

Backyard Offices : Hip, Hot & Sustainable Design

Garden office by IN.IT. Studios. I might never leave work if I had this in my backyard!
In 2050, will most professionals work remotely from their homes?
We seem to be moving in that direction. I am jumping on the early adopter band-wagon and thinking about moving my office to my backyard. There seem to be so many advantages...

• Instead of commuting to work, you stay at home and save both gas and time.
 (It's nice to save money, and it's nice to have more time. And it's nice to know that you aren't polluting while commuting. It's a win-win-win.)

Working from home offers more than a few perks.
(For me, this means my favorite cup of tea, the perfect radio station, and doggie-walks at lunch. Pulling left-overs right from the fridge instead of packing or buying a snack at work is always nice, too.) 

On the flip-side, welcoming clients into your personal living space for creative pow-wow sessions is not always ideal. And sometimes people find it difficult to disconnect from work, and to focus on family time.
(My office calls to me at all hours of the day, because I love my work.) 

A backyard office seems to be the perfect solution. It would allow you the benefits of being at home, and it would also help keep those home-work boundaries a little more rigid. It wouldn't be a stretch to run something this size on solar power, so you could even be absolutely sustainable in your space from 9-5.

I am drooling over some of these lovely out-in-the-back solutions that would allow me to really close the door at night. They would also look awesome from my living room window. This means that I could still enjoy the view while spending quality time where I belong: at home.

 Ecospace Studios designs these work pods, along with other equally gorgeous
backyard structures. Goodbye fence, hello ultra-cool office!



Another example of Ecospace Studios architectural design





And for my teeny-tiny backyard space, this office on
castors might be a better match! 

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Occupy Wall Street : Shifting Ideas, and Creating Art.


Designed by Richard Perez. Purchase from









































This year we were witness to huge historical political events. The Arab Spring and Occupy Movements will be talked about by future generations. In 2011, people all over the world demanded change.

*Something is afoot. And it feels like something big.* Paradigm shift? 

Even those of us who like to check out of reality by tuning in to realities - couldn't escape these ones. They were bigger than that!

So with a huge salute to those brave souls that are defiant enough to demand change, I am posting a few of my favourite Occupy Poster Goodies.

These bits of historical illustration and design are available from $10 screened onto newsprint.
I would purchase a higher quality paper stock if I were you. Your great grand kids will cherish these!



Designed by Laura Dickens available for purchase at the OccupyPosterProject.com

Designed by Dan Cassaro and available at http://occupyposterproject.com