Flensted Mobiles

I love a well designed mobile – in theory, in practice...not so much, I never know where to hang them. These fanciful little lovelies from Flensted Mobiles just may make me change my mind.

I believe that you need just the right corner for a mobile, out of the way but visually important…..I have three candidate corners, in the LR, BR and Bath. Oooo, and my entry stair!

Loop Bulbs at Sundance

I'm so in love with these victorian styled loop bulbs and fixtures from the Sundance catalog.

I use primarily CFLs at home for environmental reasons, but I'm thinking just 2 of these wouldn't be to harmful, right? I like to get a pair of the oval-shaped bulbs to put in the puddle pendant lamps that I'd like to buy from cb2. (We only use that corner lighting sporadically) I think the mix of modern/industrial would look pretty sharp. I've got some other ideas for adding some industrial touches to the apartment, hopefully the flea market gods at Brimfield will be good to me this year.

Mass MoCA

Last Saturday I headed home to Albany to borrow a canoe, and brought a friend to help car-top it. To make the trip a little less boring, we stopped at Mass MoCA on the way over. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time.



There were three exhibits that really stood out for me:

"Projections" by Jenny Holzer: This was fantastic, a dark cavernous room with huge white projected words moving through the space. Giant bean bags on the floor for relaxed viewing. Simultaneously disorienting and relaxing.




"Interpretations" by Devorah Sperber: Spools of thread hung and viewed trough small crystal balls revealing the pixelated image - absolutely delightful. A diy interpretation of this may be in order - a new way to store my thread.




"Personal Biospheres" by Vaughn Bell: Floating plexi "houses" that you can stick your noggin into - this had us giggling, they smelled wonderful, fresh.

Charles Street Stroll

On Friday, I lefty work early for some much needed time off. I stopped and wandered around Charles Street for a bit, and headed to Rugg Road Paper Company (my favorite source for Gocco supplies), and Koo de Kir to check out some swank housewares. I'd love to get one of the Chilewich floormats that they carry for my kitchen someday.

It was a lovely stroll in an equally lovely neighborhood. There was much more to explore including some antique stores and boutiques, but I was in desperate need of a nap.

Eames Lounge Reupholstery Project

I found a great deal on an ottoman on ebay - $20 + $30 shipping. It's a bit unusual, the shell has much more of a curve that the standard eames ottoman, and has shockmounts (?) on the base. The big selling point was that the base exactly matches the base on the chair, so they will appear as a set.

I like that it's a bit different, and I'm not going for historical accuracy, just a chair that I love!

The vinyl came in, and it looks like I ordered a bit too much, but better to be safe. It's so soft and lovely!!

LAB Online Magazine

While tooling around on Ray Fenwick's website, I linked to LAB - an pretty neat-o online magazine. Check out the interview with Natalie Zee, co-editor of Craft and the piece on vernacular typography - interesting stuff!

"LAB is an experimental web/print publication featuring the work of creative folks who are passionate about what they do: DIY media makers, freelance artists, independent business owners, craftsters, zinesters, cultural entrepreneurs, and those that blur the borders between all of the above-mentioned categories. Put another way, we like to talk to people who love doing what they do."

Things I want to buy!

This is a bit of a random post, but it's been a while since I've listed the things I've been obsessing over and almost buying - anyone else put things into online carts and then get to the last checkout screen and totally wuss out??

Awesome reverse saddle shoes from Muffy's:


Poker Hand Values Print at Threadless:


Puddle Pendant Lamp at cb2:



"Hall of Best Knowledge" at Tiny Showcase:



Sigh.....I can't get them all, but maybe 2 of them!!

Hairpin Legs Coffee Table

Finally finished! I love it! I bought a Pronomen counter top from Ikea, lightly sanded it, and stained it using Minwax's Water-Based Wood Stain in "American Walnut" in 3 coats, after drying I applied 3 coats of Minwax's Water-Based Polycrylic. I painted the bottom gloss white, and screwed the legs on.

It takes up much less space, and can double as a bench if we needed extra seating. I'm really happy with the stain, it was a test for the eames lounge project, and I'm confident that it will look awesome with the vinyl I ordered.

Peter Milton at the Currier

On Friday, I spent some time touring the Currier Museum in Manchester, NH, and I fell in love with this print by Artist/Printmaker Peter Milton. If I had an extra $4k, I'd have one of his prints hanging in my living room.

This image doesn't do the print justice - it's highly detailed and atmospheric - check out his website to see larger images.

Eames Lounge Reupholstery Project

I started sanding this weekend, and I need more sandpaper already!! I thought it would go a lot faster honestly - but you learn as you go. I'm not going to try to get down to bare wood, as the walnut satin is much darker than the old stain, and I think it will cover fine.

My "mouse" sander is working okay, I think a more professional orbital sander would cut my time down, but my equipment budget is going towards an electric staple gun.

(I also need to get a mask, cough, cough)

Boston Blogger's Ball

I'm really looking forward to attending the Design Salon's Blogger's Ball this Thursday. I'd like to learn how to grow my blog, make some local connections, and meet Grace of Designsponge!!

I made some cards to take with me using my Gocco - it's the first time I've used it, and I think it's my new best friend!

I'm so sad that the supplies are running out, I need to go get more! Save Gocco!

Eames Lounge Reupholstery Project

Until I get rolling on the next project steps this weekend - I thought I'd post about Swivel Chair Parts.com, I discovered them while researching my Selig lounge. Luckily the hardware on my chair is in working order (although it does tip waaay too far back, but I'm hoping some adjustments/tighening will fix this) so I won't be ordering anything, but they come recommended by others who have gone through this process.

(The website is a little difficult to navigate, but worth it!)

My Living Room

The light was nice on Sunday so I took a snapshot of the living room. This coffee table is gone, and replaced with the hairpin/ikea countertop project. I'm pretty happy with this room, but I'd like to find a better pendant lamp and change out the side tables, and get new smaller speakers that I can wall mount and hide.

Spoonflower!

Thanks to Holly at decor8, I've been clued into Spoonflower - custom small-run printed fabric! Sweet Heaven!! I've signed up for an invitation, and will be keeping my fingers crossed!

I could finally get exactly what I want for my bags, pillows, and clothing. My roomate would also really dig this, she's going to start making Blythe doll clothes for her etsy store, and complains she can't find prints small enough!

Eames Lounge Reupholstery Project

Quick update: The vinyl has been ordered and should arrive this week - I haven't started sanding the shells yet, it's been dreadfully hot here in Boston, and I don't want to pass out in a sticky pool of sweaty sawdust. I still need to go get black gloss spray paint to get the metal parts painted this weekend, and I'm still ebaying for a deal on an ottoman.

Poetry Reading at Booksmith: Go Carl!

On Sunday evening I attended my first poetry reading, my friend Carl (of Airforce Joyride) gave a reading with three other talented poets. I'm kind of a poetry dunderhead, but I enjoyed myself - especially the funny ones.

Carl posts tasty morsels quasi-daily including some of his own work, as well as news regarding his press, noise band, and flikr account. go see it!

Lattice Smocking Pillows

I made these 2 lattice smocked pillows for my a birthday gift. I used Ikea pillow inserts and Ikea fabric and made the pillow closure envelope style so she can wash both the pillow and the insert.

The smocking goes pretty fast once you get into the rhythm (and start in the correct place for each row! Grr!) I also used gridded fusible quilter's interface to make the grid easily visible and to avoid using a ruler. I got the directions from Sew News originally - but a reader alerted me that the tutorial is now missing - this one from savyseams.com is just as good!

I think they really came out lovely, and I'm considering opening a new etsy shop for handmade homegoods - these pillows and maybe the hook & eye curtains I made. (maybe I'm being to ambitious here....lazy summer)

Built-in Inspiration: Color Interior Bookshelves

I found this image in the Sept/Oct issue of Design New England, and have kept it as inspiration. I love the top molding detail shape, which is repeated over the doorway. It makes me think "medieval modern", and some version of this is going into my imaginary future house.

Dutch Door Press

I ran across this lovely etsy shop and wanted to share. Dutch Door Press is a two-person design & letterpress studio located in San Francisco.

The dutch/folk inspired greeting cards are beyond lovely, but I'm really loving this print!

New Summer Curtains & Bye-Bye Roller Shades

Summer is here and we needed a new window treatment right quick. While I love the vintage cotton drapes we had up, they're a bit too wintry and heavy and the cheap-o roller shades were really getting me down.

I designed new curtains made out of cotton muslin with a hook & eye system to raise and lower them to different levels. The machine sewing was simple - just hemming and 3 folded bands width wise. I hand sewed the hooks & eyes and hung them with Spring Sash Rods for a simple, almost hidden hardware look. The math was the hardest part. I'll post my measurement doodles soon.

So fresh and white!

Before:



After: (Badly lit early morning pix..grrr)