THE INCEPTION OF INSTAGRAM

How gorgeous are these graphics?  Stunning, right? They were created by Dan Kenneally and Liz Gershman as part of a really great article for 1000Memories (a cool website where you can store and share all your old family photos). The article explores the inspiration behind the ever-present iPhone application Instagram—where you can apply one of a dozen fabulous filters to make your digital shot look like it was taken with cool vintage film—and traces the various types of film and cameras used to get 'the look'.  It makes me want to go out and try them all!


Read and see more here.

BAGGU BLISS

I love Baggu (as you know from here, here, here and here) and I have to say that I am totally smitten with their new colors and patterns. I own about 20 Baggu bags in blue, purple and green but now I am tempted by some fiery fall colors. My favorites are the red and white geometric print and fox pattern—I mean really, how could you not love it?


Check them all out here.

TOO PRETTY TO EAT: GRADIENT CAKE

As you may or may not know, I am obsessed with baking. Obsessed! However I don't always have time to make the delicious confections I dream up in my head or read about online. With that said, I think I might have to make time for this amazing cake project from Not Without Salt: an ombre fondant cake! Seriously, how gorgeous does that look?


Find the whole tutorial here.


(thanks to Mint for the heads up)

COLORFUL CASTLE

The wonderful Australian store Castle was founded in 2008 by Rachel Castle—a woman who boasts branding, designing, writing and much more on her resume. Not to mention she clearly shares my undying love of polka dots!


Check out some of the gorgeous sheets, pretty garlands, hand-stitched artwork and colorful pillows on offer at Castle here.


(thanks to Plenty of Colour for the tip.)

THE MILL AND THE CROSS

What would it be like to step inside a great work of art, have it come alive around you, and even observe the artist as he sketches the very reality you are experiencing? Lech Majewski brings to life Pieter Bruegel’s masterpiece The Way to Calvary, the story of the crucifixion, setting it in 16th century Flanders under brutal Spanish occupation. Rutger Hauer plays the artist, Michael York his patron, and Charlotte Rampling the Virgin Mary. As epic events unfold, bawdy country living continues unabated: couples entwine, musicians play wind instruments, soldiers torment their enemies mercilessly, and children scurry about. Using sophisticated computer technology, the filmmaker creates a brilliantly complex and fascinating multi-layered dreamscape that melds iconic moments in art, history, and religion with the quotidian lives of ordinary people.

I can only imagine that a film this beautifully considered would be as fascinating as it is transfixing. It is playing at the Film Forum here in New York City. Learn more and get your tickets here!

SAVINGS AND LOANS: JCREW

I know I talk about JCrew a lot, but looking through their latest catalog I truly swooned over a couple of items. Too bad they are all so expensive! Here's a rundown of my top wish list items:


top to bottom:

• Double Cloth Metro Coat, $298
• Blythe Blouse in Silk, $98
• No. 2 Pencil Skirt in Double Serge Wool, $120
• Booker Boots, $298
• Macalister Wedge Boots, $198
• Martina Suede Wedges, $228
• Edie Tote, $348

By the way, can you tell that I am totally on board with the new color blocking trend?

HEADS OF STATE

My oh my, everything the design collective Heads of State produces is stupendous. Check out their full portfolio here.

LADIES NIGHT ON TV

Have you seen how many amazing-looking TV shows are premiering this fall? And so many of them seems to feature strong female leads . . . awesome ladies like Maya Rudolph and Zooey Deschanel. I watched Up All Night last week and was surprised to find myself laughing out loud. Mostly at Rudolph's Oprah-like character, but still, I think it has major potential. New Girl looks super endearing and Whitney could be fun in a Seinfeld (the main characters are idiots) kinda way.


What do you think? Is there anything premiering this fall that you are super excited to watch?

PORTRAITS OF RESILIENCE

Along the lines of this post, I just discovered this beautiful website put together by TIME Magazine to commemorate 9/11. If you need a moment of poignant remembrance, or just a foray from the hustle and bustle of the everyday into the realm of pure humanity, visit the website here and watch some of the numerous video testimonials. They are sure to touch your heart.

WILLEM DE KOONING AT MOMA

       




       


Yesterday a unprecedentedly major retrospective of Willem de Kooning's artwork opened at the Museum of Modern Art. If you are not a crazy art history nerd like I am, de Kooning is a famous mid-century abstract expressionist painter who worked in New York and pretty much revolutionized painting as we know it for several decades. So basically an exhibition of this magnitude—which is the first to show the true breadth of the artist's work, as it progressed over nearly forty years—is a big deal!

I have already been scoping out the lovely website that MoMA has created to accompany the exhibition while I try to figure out when I can sneak away and see the show. Would do you think? Do you like de Kooning's work? Will you go see the show? Or buy the huge tome of a catalogue?

Learn more about the exhibition here.


Artwork above, top to bottom:
The artist, c. 1950 and unknown date
Father Mother Sister Brother, c. 1937
Untitled VI, 1982
Two Figures in a Landscape, 1967
Door to the River, 1960
Woman I, 1950-1952
Collage, 1950

HIGH FIVE!

There are lots of great things to be excited about this weekend: both of my parents' birthdays, beautiful fall weather, good books to read and food to eat, not to mention great football games to watch. So I am leaving you with this awesome website that allows you to give someone a 'high five' (because weekends definitely merit high fives) over the internet.  How hilarious is that?


Hope your weekend if full of fun and adventure; if you want to celebrate it like me, you can hand out the high fives here.

THE DELIGHT OF DRAWING

Oh my goodness, the new children's book 'Let's Make Some Great Art' by Marion Deuchars looks absolutely incredible.  I still remember getting this book as a little girl and filling up long afternoons by experimenting with its projects.  I would love to recapture a little of that delight and inspiration and have this book to flip through in my apartment.


Buy the book for $13.57 (a steal!) here and check out the beautiful website that accompanies it here.


(Thanks to Black*Eiffel for the heads up)