Wonderfully Repurposed

Ok, so this post is seriously long overdue but I definitely wanted to give some blog space to Will Holman and his awesome repurposed designs. Will is a young designer and architect in Alabama who builds furniture on the side. Pretty much everything he uses is found and repurposed. We're talking vintage license plates, pool noodles, six pack rings and traffic cones. Very cool. It's always amazing to me how the items we so often view as garbage or single purpose can be so visually appealing in a totally different application. Will currently has an etsy shop going and a website with some really interesting designs. Head on over and check 'em out. PS: This rubber hose chair is definitely my favorite and yes, that is a traffic cone lamp.










Source

Have amazing suitcase. Will travel.

I saw this beauty of a piece of luggage over on Swiss Miss today. There are a few items in this world that I have quite the penchant for and they include luggage, office supplies, organizational tools, stationery, and things that happen to come in metallic silver. This bad boy makes it into THREE of those categories which means I could be in big trouble. This gem is called the Trip and I've decided to ignore the fact that it costs 595 Euros. It's a Dutch design (surprise, surprise) and it's small enough to fit into an overhead compartment of a plane "yet big enough to create the highest amount of comfort we could offer." For sure, my Dutch friends, for sure. It easily transforms into a chair for all those times when you'd love to be sitting in the airport, subway/train station, or park. I don't know about you, but whilst waiting in customs and check in lines for HOURS at the airport, I HAVE tried to sit on my big roller suitcase with disastrous and embarrassing consequences. Use your imagination here. No worries with THE TRIP though! I also like the fact that it would force me to travel super light (a new goal of mine). AND for a few Euros more you can get yourself a Trip Sound with a custom integrated sound system: top quality speakers that enable you to listen to your own music in the comfort of your hotel room. I'm not so interested in the speakers (which you can detach) but the overall design really rocks my socks and if I had a hefty luggage budget I'd totally buy this!

Renegade Craft Fair-Los Angeles!

Ok, folks, I think we all know I've been super neglectful lately. I have been in a massive no-blogging-rut the past week and a half. Between my new jobs, running, personal projects, and general day-to-day business, my poor blog has been ending up at the bottom of the list. I'd get home feeling exhausted, make dinner, tidy up a bit, shower, and then think about posting and it just never happened. Sorry!!!!! I'm determined to get back on track and thanks to a lovely reader's request for me to get my bum in gear (haha, my words not her's) I'm bringing you a brand spankin' new post about the Renegade Craft Fair from two weekends ago. The fair was nestled between the Chinatown Metro station and Dodger Stadium in the lovely LA Historic Park. It was seriously toasty and seriously CROWDED. I can't really complain about the crowds as I'm glad people are so supportive of handmade goods and the artisans who craft them so lovingly. Although the big people-pet-stroller clusters made it hard to photograph the way I wanted to and I had Luke with me (and being the thoughtful partner that I am, I didn't want to make him spend 6 hours in July heat looking at letterpress cards and succulent terrariums). Therefore, to preface my images, I don't have the names/links of all of the vendors I photographed. So sorry! It was just too crazy to keep track. That being said, let's look at my highlights from the FAIR!!!



Here we go!




It looks a bit more like the owl is eating me and thumbing for a ride...no shame.


{paper & type} Display... Their designs are so sweet and basic.


Scarlett Garnet jewelry designs...lovely! They also win my Most Unique Business Card Award because their logo rocks my socks. I love the cool art nouveau design!!




Miniature Rhino had this cool message in a bottle display and their awesome embroidery (see their Etsy link).


Succulent Terrariums!! It took everything I had not to buy one of these. But I knew I probably kill it in a month.


Cool way to display these vials of seeds!


Another great display idea! This would be so easy to recreate at home too. Just find some interesting frames and a bit of mesh or a few pieces of pretty chain, add a few staples or nails and hang them in a cluster by your dresser or in the bathroom. Bonus point: arrange your earring collection by color or style *wink*.


Crafty and inexpensive and recycled display! I thought this was such a great way to house these earrings!


Yay! I can't wait to have my own Etsy shop.


Hah.


Poster Displays. I saw a few that were new to me. I feel like I've seen every poster design out there lately.


I loved this paper crane mobile. Another cool idea to make at home on the cheap!


Ok, now on to one of my favorite parts of the craft fair! Threadless Tees had an Airstream trailer you could go in and post your own shirt design on their templates. It was a really fun idea and there were some pretty funny ones in there.




T-Shirt designs EVERYWHERE!


My favorites:




This one summed up what I was thinking all day.


On a more serious design note, I really liked this one a lot.




So, there you have it! My experience of the Renegade Craft Fair! Oh, I was VERY good and bought one SMALL print from Honeylux (I was a bad photographer and totally blew out my image of her table)! This is the print I bought! If you're interested in attending a fair, the next stop is Chicago on September 11th and 12th. They are also having holiday events in Chicago and San Francisco. Check out their site for more information. Over and out! Thanks, special reader for throwing some accountability my way!

Futuristic Nap Time

I first came across the amazing "Nap Pod" during a trip to SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). Their student building is bananas! I was quite jealous at the time. Rather than passing out in the reference section of the campus library (yes, it happened), you could take 5 or 500 in one of these babies. Complete with interior lights, alarm clock, and earphone jacks, you can get some serious high-tech sleep. Oh, they also recline! Here are some (really unfortunate) pictures of me testing out a pod in 2007. I look confused but I'm not sure why. These things are awesome!




Photo credit Laura Jernigan

Pretty cool, huh?? So here's the official low down on these bad boys via one manufacturer called Metro Naps.
"The MetroNaps EnergyPod solves a contemporary problem: most work spaces do not offer their employees a place to rejuvenate. Based on two years of research and thousands of design hours, the MetroNaps EnergyPod is the perfect place to quickly and effectively enhance your energy.
Raise your feet to improve circulation, set the built in timer and relax to the ambient music. At the end of your rest you will be awoken by a combination of light and vibration leaving you to return to your day with renewed energy. "

According to the researchers at Metro Nap...


Image via Metro Nap

Check out some more images that don't feature me and my incredibly attractive clogs and crazy hair.


Image via Salon.com


Image via Pod Collective

As far as product design goes, I think these pods are quite something. How amazing would it be to have these at your place of work?? What if there were enough for each employee to take a 20 minute nap each day? I think we'd all be much healthier! Anyone else tried out a nap pod before??

On a tea tangent...

Ok, I just keep on finding incredibly cool tea related design. This very cool design was created by Yuree S. Lim and Jieun Yang. Tea coaster art? Why not?! Check these babies out!








All images via Yanko Design

I brake/break for tea...

Last week, Luke and I went to Chado's Tea Room in Pasadena. They have a great selection of teas and the cranberry orange scones are super tasty. Chado's also sells loads of tea paraphernalia but most of it looks like something you might find in a 90 year old cat lady's cottage. Pink knitted tea cozies and way over the top floral, um, everything. Not really my style at all! We do tea in a more minimalist, streamlined, Jetson's sort of way. Which brings me to my post.... While Chado's had way too much unfortunate granny chic-ness going on, they did have a pretty good selection of Bee House tea goodies. I love this Japanese line of highly functional, no frills teaware. They make everything from creamers, sugar pots, coffee items, iced tea pitchers, and every shape and size of teapot (in loads of colors to boot)!

Here's the small size teapot complete with loose leaf basket.

Image via Tea Total

Pitchers (great shape and flow to these)

Image via Decorology

Coffee Goods

Image via Bluelines

Cream and sugar?

Image via Breadbox

My favorite (after white)!

Image via The Tea Table

Tons of colors

Image via Apartment Therapy

Unfortunately, I don't own a Bee House teapot yet. Although there is something pretty cool sitting on the kitchen counter right now. Behold, the Sorapot! This was one of those things that Luke "had to have" about two years ago and I definitely agree that it's probably one of the coolest teapots around these days. It's made out of 304 stainless steel, borosilicate glass (Pyrex), and food-grade silicone. Check it out!


Image via Homme Star


Image via Pure Modern


Image via Idea 4 Home

I love the packaging. Quite eco-friendly.

Image via Sorapot.com


Image via Sorapot.com

If this instructional pic above didn't quite do it for ya, here's a video!

Sorapot instructions from Joey Roth on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for some more tea related fun (coming soon)!!