craftjuice

anthropologie

I've always loved the creative, innovative and fresh seasonal windows of US store Anthropologie - their visual merchandisers are wizards!  These are some of my favourite images from their Facebook albums (even though they are not in Australia, I can still live vicariously!)

 

So so amazing.

visual mechandising:The display of products which makes them appealing, attractive, accessible, engaging, and enticing to shoppers in a retail store. Visual merchandising utilises displays, color, lighting, smells, sounds, digital technology and interactive elements to catch customers' attention and persuade them to make purchases. Visual merchandising helps convey the image of the brand and reflects the personality of the target markets that the retail store wants to attract.

Like bees to a honey pot in this case!!  Buzz Buzz.

colour in wallpaper

Last week Miss M let me know (in a very unashamed proud-artist kind of way) she'd drawn on the wall under her bed, but she would 'help clean it up'. Yes you will young lady! It was a magnificent example of mono vector art.

Got me thinking about those restaurants where they encourage you to draw on the paper tablecloths and when it would be acceptable to draw on the wall...and look what I found...colour in wallpaper!!! A whole world of keepinginthelines pleasure...

This one by Jon Burgerman...

Or this incredible array of amazing paint-by-numbers wallpapers and borders by Jenny Wilkinson...

And loving this range by Mini Moderns - retro Colour Me wallpaper for, well, maybe adults who feel the urge to keep their shading consistent and within the lines...(my favourite is the C60 cassette tapes!). These wallpapers are also printed with water based inks on paper from sustainable forests.

 

Be great to do your toilet in colour in wallpaper? No? Probably not with a three year old in the house.

And just because its so freakin cool (aka thank goodness they finally found a better use for hypercolour)...check out this colour changing wallpaper that reveals a hidden pattern with an increase in temperature...interactive design. (THIS type of stuff is why I've always wanted to be an industrial designer!)

Kudos to you, Shi Yuan. You are one cool design chick.

lustful object of the day: ritchie fahey hand coloured photographs

One of my favourite friends in the world Louise has recently purchased this Ritchie Fahey photo for her art collection and I'm in love. I'm in love with this beach bungalow baby in all her tiki pin up girl glory!

Here's another smoldering shot...

 

And I'm loving these lusty lips (and the plunging satin clad cleavage)...

 

(Do you think he's interested because of her red flower or how she's placed her bananas up? I never know which is best.)

So pouty!

 

Find more of Mr Fahey's great stuff here...

His retro style reminds me of another of my very favourite artists, Josh Agle aka Shag. 

 

The Marauder

Mr B recently came back from San Diego bearing Shag merch. He freaks my freak. Makes me want to go all hedonistic and dangerous romantic.

what is james wearing?

Lisa at the red thread has posted this thoughtful and hilarious link to James Andrew - a well known interior designer who posts various art directed photos of himself at his various jobs and in various locations about the place in his usual day and travels.

It has made my week...James is STYLIN! I love it!

Lisa writes...

What is James Wearing is part interiors and part fashion, as he is photographed in various Manhattan locations, shops and homes, as well as some more exotic spots he frequents, itemising what he wore on the day (always head to toe Gucci, Dior, D&G... get the picture?). This quote at the top of the blog is from Elle Decoration UK: Our favourite blogger... possibly of all time... is James Andrew. A pretty big rap huh?

I enjoy what James writes about the places he visits and the interiors he is working on, and I love the shots of him. I love them because I think they are absolutely hilarious. I can't quite figure it out though... I'm sure he's being completely serious about it all, but to me it comes across as a send up. It's the poses that get me more than anything - although admittedly in the last photo James says he was channeling a famous pose of Yves Saint Laurent's.

He's even just brought out a paper doll of himself!  Love it! One fan gushes..

James, you provide a truly visual feast. I linger over your exquisite images and descriptions and am transported into a place where everything is beautiful! Your elan, immaculate style and joie de vivre are inspirational and exciting. I feel your passion, you truly live out loud.
Congratulations on an amazing life, I adore you x

Jame's replies

WOW! I really live for this kind of connection.

Can't get enough? Check out James' blog.  I think he's fab!

against the grain

My crafty and talented friend Eileen also has a very crafty and talented partner - Mr A!  He has been wood carving for just over a year and all his fine work is to be shown at his first exhibition this weekend!

(Mr A is looking 'very serious artist type' in this photo)

Mr A's  Against the Grain exhibition of woodblocks and prints is on at Nine Lives Gallery in Fortitude Valley – opening at 6pm Friday 17 July through to Sunday 19 July - three days only! (You get to the gallery through Mellino’s restaurant on the Brunswick Street Mall via the stairs at the back.)

He has carved blocks, skateboards and has done a whole host of fabulous prints from the woodblocks.

I love man craft!

just plain cool...sound wave jewelery

These amazing brooches are made by Sakurako Shimizu, Japanese artist, curator and designer of conceptual jewelry.  This is part of her Waveform Series - laser-cut shapes of the waveform of the sound in sound editing software environment. She has used some human sound such as yawn, atchoum, giggle, wow, and the sound of church bell.

Just plain cool juice.

our smiley sky

what's this smiling in our sky this evening?  Here's a picture I've taken from the front of our house...

it's this...!

And it won't happen again until 2036!

(Check out this Sydney Observatory blog for more info and other people's photos.)

Wow - I've had over 700 visits to see my pictures of our smiley sky via the Sydney Observatory - thanks for visiting and hope it left a smile on your face too!

just plain cool juice

I'm needing to add another category to my blog called 'plain cool juice'.  I see so much stuff that is not necessarily crafty, but just so plain cool! 

Have a look at these...

Hanna Nyman 3-D wallpaper - this is just too cool...but not for a two year old...or a person with cats...

Skateboard deck steps - my brother would have freaked his freak to have these

Album Cover wall organisers - very very very good idea!

Dwarvan Battle Bonnets (+ pattern) - these are hilarious, yet functional..

Double sided desk solution - this is awesome for those of us who are spatially challenged in the office...