Be Back Soon!

In much need of a break and well over due for a vacation; I'm heading out tomorrow with Jake of 95Total and a group of our friends to spend a week volunteering on an island rescuing and rehabilitating these not-so-little guys:

Easter Egg Contest

Hatch Design is holding its first annual Easter Egg Coloring Contest. Submit your own or judge the submissions of others.

(Found via Swissmiss)

Grady Mcferrin Can Change Your Life

This is who he is:

This is what he does:
(he dabbles in album art work)

(wine bottles)

(and other amazing illustrative ventures like magazine spreads)

(Found via Design Crush)

Candid Photography: MethodIzaz

Admittedly, I'm not really the most photogenic person. Not at all. The best photographs of me are those I had no idea were being taken.

I've always had an affinity for candid photography and the sincerity of the product that corresponds. The concept behind the photography of MethodIzaz capitalizes on just that:

"MethodIzaz is a unique photography experience. Subjects are unaware of the exact moment they will be photographed and of the photographer's identity. Instead, the subject is photographed completely naturally, living life as normal.

MethodIzaz will provide you with a portfolio of pictures representing the fleeting moments of an authentic lifestyle. The photographs will allow you to remember these moments later in life. They will also give you a new perspective on the everyday, letting you see yourself and your surroundings through the eyes of an artist.

Using information provided earlier about their weekly routine, the photographer will arrive on the scene, and unseen, take shots of the subject. The subject will be photographed walking through the streets, going about their daily business. Without posing and artifice, the camera captures only the natural beauty of the person."

(Found via Swissmiss)

The Cutlery Chair: Osian Batyka-Williams

The Cutlery Chair by designer Osian Batyka-Williams:

"Some restaurants change their cutlery as often as every nine months. The Cutlery Chair utilises these hard to recycle, unwanted cutlery pieces as building blocks to create truly unique pieces of functional furniture."

I can't help but wonder how comfortable this is. Either way, it's creative as hell.

(Found via Core 77)

Smart Bedside Table

I'm in love......with a table. Seriously! I hate cords and will go to great measures to conceal them around my house. Remember the Wall Cleat? When I saw PBTeen's new Smart Bedside Table, I knew we were a match made in heaven. The table contains a five plug outlet inside the draw and plugs into the wall with a single. Brilliant!

(Found via I Hear You)

Scrabble Coasters

Everyone needs coasters, or at least everyone who cares not to destroy their furniture on a hot summer's day. I found these DIY Scrabble Coasters and immediately knew what my next project was going to be. With a pack of scrabble letters and a tub mod-podge; these wordy coasters could be yours. I saw a few variations of this project on several blogs, one I liked suggested putting beverage words into the jumble of letters.

I also found these Scrabble Game Board Coasters over on the Etsy shop Chaos Into Art. I think the combination of the two would be adorable on any coffee table.

Dollface Design

To prove that this blog is not only about book related items:

Artists Layla of Dollface Design on Etsy has created some awesome folky collages I'd love to get my hands on. Her pieces are made from "scraps of old paper, scavenged bits here and there, stowed away for safe keeping until the perfect project comes along." Many of which flawlessly combine vintage paper with digital imagery.

(Found via Roadside Scholar)

30 Most Creative Bookshelves

Continuing with my recent overload of book related posts...Back in February Freshome posted a compilation of the 30 Most Creative Bookshelves they'd found. I saw this post a while back and forgot to save the link. For the past month I've been trying to find it again, then today (obviously) I did. These bookshelves are wild. What I would give for one!

(Found via Freshome)

100 Best Last Lines From Novels

I post about books or items related to books quite a lot I've realized. There was this one...and this one...oh and we can't forget this one. Ok, you get the idea.

I've had a long standing love affair with the written word. My first real job was at a library, I'm an English major, and truthfully I'm more concerned with adding to my bookshelf than my closet (says I with a snort while pushing my glasses back up onto the bridge of my nose).

So naturally when I saw that the American Book Review released their list of what they consider to be the 100 Best Last Lines From Novels I got quite excited. Making their list:

52. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody. – J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

77. Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all tomorrow is another day. - Margaret Mitchell, Gone With The Wind (1936)

(found via Design Crush)

ABRACADABRA Bookmark

Designers Jung-Hyun Lee, Won-Sik Chae & Rhea Jeong have created the Abracadabra Bookmark prototype aimed at helping you find where you left off last in a book. It's basically your average bookmark, only way cooler and much easier.

(Found via Boing Boing)

The Neon Lights Museum: Las Vegas

If you do not frequently visit Gigi Leonard's blog Roadside Scholar...you should. I've posted several items 'found' on her blog (as I'm about to do again) and can say it is nothing short of wonderful. Recently, Gigi (aka The Scholar) posted about the Las Vegas Neon Sign Graveyard. It's essentially a 3-acre final resting place of those infamous neon signs synonymous with Vegas. As it's officially known, the Neon Sign Museum offers tours and educational programs about their collection of signs dating as far back as the 1940s.

I've never thought about what happens to those signs, admittedly I've never even been to Vegas, but when I do make it there I certainly plan on visiting with my camera at my side.

(Photos and Information Found via Roadside Scholar)

In Honor of the Polaroid

Apparently I'm a little behind on the news, but nonetheless saddened. Polaroid announced last month that it will cease production of instant Polaroid film by next year. This news will certainly give a whole new historical context to the Outcast song 'Hey Ya' and is sure to disappointPolaroid camera enthusiasts like myself.

Perhaps in honor and an attempt to preserve Polaroid film, David Friedman proposed a concept design for the last product Polaroid should make. The Digital Polaroid picture frame.

"You just put your memory card in a slot on the bottom of the frame, and navigate using the touch screen to select whether you want to view your photos in 'Standard' mode...or in 'Classic' mode."

"The bottom portion of the frame features a dry erase surface, so you can write your own title for your slideshow by hand, using a dry erase marker."

For further reminiscing, check out Polanoid.com where they are building the biggest Polaroid picture collection of the planet in honor of the magic of instant photography.

( Digital Polaroid Picture Frame found via Core77)

Propeller Island Hotel

Propeller Island City Lodge is more like an inhabitable art exhibit than a hotel. Located in Berlin, the hotel consists of 30 rooms individually designed by German artist Lars Stroschen. Each room is entirely unique from the next.

"Unique is meant literally, for the entirety of all furnishings and other objects you will discover here are custom-made, individual handiwork. None can be found anywhere else on this planet."

The hotel has rooms offering guests the ability to sleep in a suspended bed, a coffin, and even a prison cell. It truly has a something for everyone appeal.

"The rooms are designed and constructed without compromise, varying from the tame to the extreme, and are well able to more or less alter your perspective of reality - according to your taste and sense of adventure."

I can't even imagine a night in this hotel, but it's an experience I'd be willing take. Which room would you choose? Learn more and see pictures of all the rooms as Propeller Island Hotel and City Lodge.

(Found Via WebUrbanist)

Love is In the Air: Carlos Aires

I've alway been impressed with artist who incorporate recycled items into their medium. Carlos Aires' Love is In the Air collection does just that. He's created a line of cut silhouettes from old vinyl records. They are totally fun yet utterly simple!

(Found via Design Crush)

She Hit Pause Studios

The work of She Hit Pause Studios is worth a look. Featuring the photography of Matt Schwartz, the project has been under way since 2002.

"Matt has been photographing his version of the pin-up girl for the past 10 years. His work has been described as "walking into a memory". All of his models are friends or people who have purchased his work. His work has been featured in Daily Candy and is currently for sale at Anthropologie."

There is something completely nostalgic about his work and utterly comforting. I love it!

(Found Via Design Crush)

Carin Goldberg Design

Designer Carin Goldberg is nothing short of amazing. After stumbling on her website/portfolio I've wasted -scratch that- I've enjoyed an hour looking through her work. Among my favorites is the work she did for the book 'Faces: 78 Portraits from Madonna to the Pope.

(Found via swissmiss)

Most Dramatic Chapel: Air Force Academy

Deputydog has dubbed the chapel at the Air Force Academy in Colorado as "the most dramatic chapel on earth. Their pictures make it hard to protest.

"It looks like no place of worship you’ve ever seen and from the outside resembles a row of 17 angular spacecraft sitting on their back-ends, ready to shoot off at any minute. the chapel and its surrounding complex was designed by walter netsch of architectural firm skidmore, owings & merrill and construction was completed in 1963."

It's truly amazing. To see more pictures and a video visit Deputydog.

Map Collage: Shannon Rankin

Etsy artist Selflesh aka Shannon Rankin has created some amazing map collages. In her own words:

"In search of connections among geography, anatomy and botany, I combine the visual elements of maps, anatomical illustrations and natural forms to explore themes of travel, healing and time."

As an aspiring travel writer and map collector, I'm finding these pieces hard to pass up. Check out her Etsy page and blog for more examples of herwork.

(Found via Roadside Scholar)

Pengiun Classics Inspired Mugs

I love everything about these! As an English major, book worm, and avid coffee drinker, I truly cant think of anything better. Ok...that's a stretch but these are really great! The bookish mugs are inspired by the Penguin Classics paperback book covers of 1935.

For More Information visit Penguin Mugs at Art Meets Matter

(Found via Black Eiffel)

5 Incredible Works of Architectural Genius

Over at WebUrbanist they've compiled a collection of 5 Incredible Works of Insane Architectural Genius. From "wooden skyscrapers to recycled wonderlands," these constructions are unbelievable.

Nature Scenes

BoingBoing posted this interesting depiction of a nature scene found in an English-Chinese book. Among the noted nature items include a nuclear power plant, roads, and a giant man-made dam. Humorous if not saddening.

I need a trip to the mountains!

(Found on BoingBoing)