THE ARTIST SPEAKS

COLOR, LINE, SHAPE: MATTHAIS HEIDERICH

Matthais Heiderich has been all over Pinterest recently and for good reason: his photographs are lush, colorful, focused and downright beautiful. Lucky for us, prints of these wonderful photographs are also available at Fab.com for the reasonable price of $168. Check it out here.


(Need an invite to Fab. Get it here!)

OUTSTANDING OSCAR

Did you watch the Oscars last night? Even though I have been woefully remiss about seeing movies this year, I watched it to see Billy Crystal's big hosting return. Did you like him? I thought he was funny but did not blow my socks off. What did impress me was the production of the whole event; I loved the graphic design for the titles, the filmed interview cutaways and the set design. It was classy and glamorous and inventive. Why can't the Oscars do that sort of thing every year?


But the best eye candy was to be found in the beautiful dresses being flaunted on the red carpet. I was really impressed with everyone's choices this year, but loved what Kristen Wiig, Octavia Spencer, Meryl Streep and Emma Stone wore. Who was your favorite?


Also, did you see that Sacha Baron Cohen showed up as the middle eastern dictator from his latest movie. Wild, right?


See more of the fashion and hear about the winning films here. Also see my past fashion recaps here and here.

BLOG CRUSH: LITTLE GREEN NOTEBOOK

Do you have a home? Yeah, me too. Do you want it to look nice but don't want to spend a fortune on it? Same! :) Enter the beautiful, talented, clever interior designer and blogger Jenny Komenda. She writes the fabulously inspirational blog Little Green Notebook—chock full of great DIY projects, amazing design finds, and smart decorating tips—and is the subject of my latest Blog Crush post.


So without further ado, here is a list of the many Little Green Notebook posts I have bookmarked of late:



Huge Prints for Only $4



The Magic of a Gold Leaf Pen





DIY Tufted Headboard




     
Reader DIY: Animal Bookends and Brass Figurines





Bedding in Joanna's Room


(all photos by Jenny)

CHOCOLATE AND SPRINKLES

I am a big baker. If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I love eating sweets and love making them even more. But my crazy schedule of late has prevented me from making treats with the regularity I would normally like. Instead I am resorting to collecting recipes and ideas and saving them for later. So here's my list of chocolate inspiration with a dash of sprinkles. Bon appetite!


ONE | Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, Tender Crumb
TWO | Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats, Give Me Some Oven
THREE | Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies, Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen
FOUR | Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Waffles, Bonnie the Baker
FIVE | Best Chocolate Ice Cream You'll Ever Have, A Cup of Jo
SIX | Pudding Cups, Room for Dessert
SEVEN | Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies, Martha Stewart
EIGHT | Sprinkle Shots, unknown author
NINE | Super Duper Chocolate Kisses, Better Homes & Gardens

FLOATING COLOR

Aren't these beautiful? Artist Brice Bischoff employs a series of choreographed movements while holding different swatches of color to get these ethereal effects. Photographed in the Los Angeles' Brunson Caves, Bischoff created these works over the course of a year; you can see more of this lengthy series on his website here.


Thanks to Plenty of Colour for the tip.

ORLA KIELY: COLLABORATIONS GALORE!

How was your weekend, all? I extended mine a bit to cover all the craziness that is wedding planning at this point—choosing table linens and florists and deserts, etc. But it was productive!


Anyway, over the weekend my dear friend Courtney alerted me to some big news: my favorite lady Orla Kiely is doing a collaboration with Uniqlo and the clothing line comes out today! Check it out here; there are some cute pieces!








And this weekend I also hit up my favorite paper store—PaperSource—only to discover that they too have started to carry Orla Kiely goodies, namely four different designs of wrapping paper. My favorite is definitely the large petal print (top left); what's yours?


Get an eyeful of all of Orla Kiely's products here.

LET'S GET KINETIC

Are you excited about the long weekend? I am spending it with my parents and my fiancé's parents planning the wedding. Should be fun!


Anyway, I thought I would leave you with a look at all things "kinetic". Above are the gorgeous kinetic hanging lamps created by the London-based designer Michael Anastassiades. Meant to be a modern take on a chandelier, each arm of the lamps rotate like a Calder mobile. Learn more about these beauties here.







Even though this video, of the Kinetica Art Fair in London, is a recap of the exhibitions held in 2011, it still features an unbelievable array of technological artwork. The 2012 exhibition looked equally amazing; learn more about it and see some of the work included here.


Have a great weekend all! See you back here (with a late post) on Monday!

PUMP UP THE VOLUME: WIRELESS SPEAKERS

Now that I have officially worked my iPad into my daily routine, I am starting to be on the look out for cool accessories to trick it out. Enter the Zooka! It is a concept for a speaker (donate to their Kickstarter fund to ensure it goes into production!) that works wirelessly and fits seamlessly on top of your iPad or MacBook. Cool right? I particularly love the idea that they are making a special glow in the dark version specially for their Kickstarter campaign. Thanks to the Design Ark for the tip.












Reading about the Zooka reminded that somehow I have never posted about the Jambox by Jawbone. What?! Basically the Jambox is also a super cool wireless speaker that prides itself on being rad looking, powerfully loud, and surprisingly small. At $199 it is a bit of an investment—we are, for example, registering for one for my wedding—but one that would certainly not disappoint. I love all the colors it comes in and can only imagine all the ways you could use it: movie night, parties, midnight dance sessions. :) The list goes on and on!


Learn more about the Jambox and buy one here.

MARKO MANEV GETS SUPER SIMPLE

     

     

I have a thing for simple, clean posters (as you have seen here, here and here). But Macedonian designer Marko Manev's minimalist renditions of Marvel super heroes (including my all-time favorite Wolverine!) are the perfect combination of visual interest and clarity. They capture the power of the characters without forgoing their idiosyncrasies--I love how the posters look a little creased and worn like their rough-and-tumble subjects.

See more (and buy your own copy!) here and learn more about Manev here.

IDEAS FOR THE LAST MINUTE VALENTINE

With Valentine's Day on a Tuesday this year, you may have already spent this past weekend cuddling with your sweetheart and whispering sweet nothings to each other. But in case you are celebrating tomorrow and are still looking for the right way to show you care, here are some great last minute ideas to ring in the day of love.


write a love note | DIY valentine cards
1. Kissing Thaumatrope, The Brooding Hen
2. Valentine Scrabble Gram, Oh Happy Day
3. Pixelated Pop Up Card, mini eco


send an e-card | instant gratification
4. Big Love E-Card, Kate Spade
5. Love You To Pieces E-Card, West Elm


get crafty | cute, quick projects 
6. Sweet Nothings Mini Megaphone, Design*Sponge
7. Naturally Sweet Food Stickers*, twigandthistlestore
8. I Love You Garland, Lovely Indeed




*Though these are available for purchase (and therefore not technically "instant"), you could easily make your own version with office supply stickers—just make sure you put them on plastic containers and not the food itself.




Looking for more love-ly ideas? Head here and here.

A CATHEDRAL OF LIGHT

How incredible is this? It's called the Luminarie de Cagna and it is a huge cathedral-like structure, over 90 feet high, made out of 55,000 LED lights. 55,000! It was created as part of the 2012 Light Festival held in Ghent, Belgium at the end of January. And it is affirming my belief that all of the coolest art installations happen in Europe (like this and this).




This weekend if you need a break from valentine's candy (as if!) and are looking for some eye candy instead, here are a couple of links to tide you over until we return on Monday:


Don't have a planner yet (me neither!)? This Etsy store has some amazing (and practical) designs.


The branding for this company is perfect.


I made my own version of this cool necklace and am totally in love. Sally is brilliant!


As you know, I am graphic design geek and am a big fan of George Lois. These remind me why!


I am contemplating hanging one of these in front of my white bookcases. What do you think?


Escalators are not just for riding! These are too beautiful to be purely utilitarian.


This gorgeous video reminds me much how spectacular our country's natural wonders are. And how much I want to go visit them!




What are you up to for the next couple days? I have a fun dinner date with my hubby-to-be to celebrate VDay and afterwards we are going to watch the best movie of all time. Hope you have something fun planned too!