freestyling the living room

check out dave's happy living room. the room always had the great colors, but with the couch originally on the left wall, the drawers on the right wall, the room felt too narrow and crowded. With 45 minutes of freestyling , minus a coffee table, a side table and a loveseat, replaced by the two chairs, a marble top nightstand and the straw ikea stacked pillows, we have success with this cozy retreat!

turning japanese

two good friends came by the other day to see the tatami we just had built. they said we are turning japanese :o here is a progress shot at the end of each the day contractor came. the best part... hidden storage on the sides, in the back left corner, and under the tatami mats. we are turning japanese!

passing me by

it rained most of the day yesterday and now i can't stop staring at the clear blue sky and the soft clouds that, one by one, keep passing me by...

year of the golden pig

not only is it the year of the pig, but it is the year of the golden pig which, i think, if i heard on npr correctly, only happens every 60 years. this means everyone in china is trying to get pregnant because babies born in this year are supposedly highly intelligent, but also lazy i might add. my piggy is part of a beautiful hand embroidered wall hanging i got at the airport in hong kong. happy (belated) chinese new year!

rudolph schindler

Last night we went to a lecture by Kimberli Meyer, director of the MAK Center, at the Gamble House on the life and architecture of Rudolph Schindler. We love Schindler not only because we love modernist architecture, but because there is so much of it in our neighborhood here in Los Angeles. Here are 11 new things I learned about Schindler.

1. He wrote his own manifesto in 1911 at the age of 24. How many of use can do that?!
2. It was in a tent camping in yosemite that he realized the necessity of a sense of outdoors indoors.
3. He married a very leftist, eclectic woman named Pauline who made their home a place for artists, musicians, intellectuals and the like to convene.
4. He never turned down any job even despite the budget. WIsh he was still alive.
5. The difference between he and Neutra - he always built with the land in mind whereas Neutra followed the international style meaning, like a machine, his sort of building could be built anywhere. Still love Neutra too.

6. His middle name was Michael, is that Viennese?
7. Besides architecture, he also got an art degree and was also a good writer. That's ambition!
8. He loved to optimize space by adding custom shelves and lighting in nooks that would've otherwise been overlooked. This also always made things seem bigger than they really were.
9. He prefered not to use white on the walls, but the colors found in the immediate outdoors.
10. A guidebook containing all the buildings he built in Los Angeles exists so we can do a Sunday drive. Definitely my idea of fun*

11. Lastly, we have the same birthday!

Frankenshirt Day

If you did not already know, I am finally learning to sew beyond a straight line. I bought my very first sewing machine to make my norens and thanks to sewing lessons from Joann's sewing natzis, who I love because I learn more, everything finally makes sense (Kevin take the class!). I learned from my grandmas, who I also loved dearly, but they were informal and always just maybe ended up doing it for me rather than with me.
These are shots from the workshop I signed up for at the MOCA in affiliation with the Skin + Bones exhibit (hurry! it ends in 2 weeks!) led by Honey Jernquist and Lucy Karanfilian (San Francisco–based designers) this past Saturday. It was a 6 hour day of walking the show; lunch; getting quick lesson about insertions (top image), various pleats (second image), darts and pattern making; and then deconstructing two exhisting striped or plaid (because they are also used as a grid) shirts and morphing them into very own Frankenshirts!
The key was NOT to be pretty, but experimental like many of the designers in the show. My Frankenshirt is below. Remember, not pretty... I added insertions on the sleeves and then tacked them together to create this poufy pleat thing. Also did some weird stuff to the collar. I loved that in addition to sewing machines, we could use tacky glue and staplers to save time and just create in a free form Frank Ghery crumpled paper sort of way.

yellow obi

I found this vintage obi in the sale bin at the big Marukai in Gardena yesterday for $5.00! It's gorgeous. It's hand painted in the silvery gray with the yellow, orange and red. The design and color combos are such an inspiration. My friend Dre and I were addicted to vintage ones for a while and used to hoard them at Texuba events. Those were the days when we had space!

nylon grocery bag

A few years ago I bought this mini bag (left) at Muji in japan. I just thought it was the most brilliant thing. It was a nylon bag in the shape of a typical plastic grocery bag stuffed into a little 2"x4" pouch. Of course, I gave Muji all the credit, because, hello, they're Muji, the brilliant no name brand. Nothing against canvas bags, but these are so much easier. They're so so small, kind of like the plastic raincoats that used to given out for shwag. If i can commit to fitting it in my fanny pack, it must be good! Well, I finally found them stateside (right pouch) at ReusableBags.com and plan to disperse a few throughout my car, my purses and my family as holiday gifts. The main difference are the pouches, Muji's is separate from the bag and R.B,'s is attached on the inside. I prefer the latter. Here they are expanded.

the red ruin

Burst of red on 3rd and Sweetzer.

Built by You pattern 4111

I'm loving the silhouttes for Simplicity's Built by You line from Built by Wendy. Currently in the process of making Pattern 4111. My goal, to make 3 of these tops in different cotton fabrics for an easy spring wardrobe. Also waiting to get Wendy's book Sew U.

i. ronni kappos jewelry

lately, i have been addicted to jewelry. dangerous, but not silver and gold. i've been intrigued by glass, wood, and backelite, in my opinion, more unique, colorful, unexpected. this past holiday, i discovered i. ronni kappos' jewelry. her specialty is vintage german glass beads. using thin colored string, she has the ability to create what i see as graphic jewelry - a magical mixture of lines, shapes and color. the density of the glass give such depth and quality, that i decided these would be the heirloom pieces i would pass on to my grandkids. i realized that they represent more of what i'm about.kurt and i got his and hers all white square matte glass beaded necklaces with brown string for v-day yesterday*

anthropologie

wow, Anthropologie has been rolling out pieces from the heavy hitters - Orla Keily, Josef Frank, Kevin Obrien, Marimekko, Missoni, House of KWID, John Robshaw. Once harder to get pieces, they are now being offered on a mass level. I'm having mixed feelings, but I guess... that's the way love goes. via ATChicago

the kiss

I adore this image - humor and beauty at the same time. Happy pre-valentines day (we always celebrate the day before to avoid the craziness.) It's by New York artist Laylah Ali , who explores the social dynamics of violence and cultural difference. In her words, "I aim to fuse recognisable types with question marks, fuse known narratives with things that are not easily articulated... So, we might start with what looks like a kiss, but what kind of kiss is this? Who are these people?" . Yeah! who the heck are these people?! (lol!) The Kiss and Other Warriors, inIVA, 6-8 Standard Place, Rivington Street, London EC2 www.iniva.org until 24 Feb. Via Selvedge.

colored pencils

busted out my colored pencils today. this vintage berol verithin colored pencil set may have been from the late 60's early 70's. found it at my friend abe's garage sale and have been using the pencils ever since. i love the black yellow and white corporate, paul rand, ibm look. because i have decided to discard of the box (one less thing to do before getting to the pencils), i am documenting in photos.

Issey Miyake S/S07

Got my mailer from the Tribeca Issey Miyake store yesterday. Their mailers are always so sexy - really clean and stark card with a just a tiny but over the top punch of glam or flourescent. (I wanted to use the word "womped up" by Jonathan Adler on last night's second episode of Top Design, but bummer that it's not quite the word!) This is printed on matte card stock with a gradiating magenta to copper to gold metallic. Sweet.my favorites from the S/S07 collection...

jeana sohn

got my jeana sohn painting from GRNY in the mail yesterday!

fish trivet

dansk gourmet fish trivet i found at a palm springs vintage shop.

Parker Palm Springs

Feeling inspired and rejuvinated! I just got back from my new favorite place in world... the Parker Palm Springs!! Jonathan Adler is a genius. I know I'm two years later than all my other friends, but better late than never right! Playful, Happy, Modern, Lush, Rustic, Opulent, all these ingredients under one roof. Now, how do I translate this to home?!

quilt earings by early jewelry

my new earings from early jewelry in lawrence, kansas. the patterns are screen printed on wood discs. i especially love that they're called quilt. thanks kylie.

2 good

everyday paper in the form of notecards from darling studio.

Alexander Girard Wood Blocks

Ahh. How special are these Alexander Girard wood blocks from House Industries. via love made visible.