Hooked

What a relief it is that we don't have to hang our clothes on hooks that look like hooks. So, what have we here?

1. Jethro Macey Flying Duck Coat Rack

2. Harry Allen "C'mere" Hand Hook

3. Thelermont Hupton "Stuck on You" Hooks

4. Rack Oh Deer Coat Hooks

5. Michael Aram copper Acrobatic Legs Hook

6. Anthony Chrisp Steel Dart Coat Hooks

7. Susan Bradley Stiletto Coatrack

8. Michael Aram Oxidized Alligator Hook

tags:
coat hooks

Children's Rugs

I don't know about you, but this whole adulthood thing has hit me pretty hard. The long hours. All the responsibility. Not being off for three months in the summer.

But one of the worst things about being an adult is being of the wrong age for children's rugs. Which have come one heck of a long way since I was a child, according to what I found on the Rosenberry Rooms site (above).

And that's not all. Have you heard of Shelly Kennedy's Drooz Studio? If you're a parent with a sense of whimsey, you may want to check them out.

















Children or not (in my case, not), my dream house will have just the right place for the Drooz Studio "Pretend" rug, below. Perhaps just below the sunny window seat where I while away my morning reading something not too serious but extraordinarily good.















After all, a girl can dream, can't she?

tags:
children's rugs
Rosenberry Rooms
Drooz Studio

Sponsored Post: The Artful Home

The Artful Home has always been a favorite place for me to admire fine art objects for the home (and, with beautiful jewelry, for the body). I am happy to say they are now an Eclectic Detective affiliate site! With this in mind, I have been scouring their pages for things that I love, so that I can share them with you.

Above and below are limited-edition giclee prints by artist Bjorn Sjogren, whose work I find simply beautiful. In describing his creative process, Sjogren says the following:

I create pictures using my life experiences mingled with, many times, my present inner feelings and a simplicity by some regarded to be the Scandinavian way to paint. When I started to paint in 1987, I had this idea that maybe one can make a picture by simple lines, dots, waves, and other different shapes. By putting the title under the image I let the words interact with the design above--making the viewer's brain produce the full picture.

The titles, in this case, are as follows (from top to bottom): "Fragrance," "Kimono," "Wallflowers," and "Bluegrass." Please click on any image to go to the item page on The Artful Home website.




I hope you enjoy Sjogren's work as much as I do. Stay tuned for more beautiful finds!

tags:
Bjorn Sjogren
nature art
The Artful Home

Artists Florence Broadhurst and Emma Hack

Color me breathless. First I discover the patterns of Florence Broadhurst--of whom apparently everyone has heard but I. The one above is called Horses Stampede, and I think it is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. And I'm not even a horse person, particularly. Horses Stampede is available as wallpaper at Borderline Fabrics.

Then, the same night, I discover what body artist Emma Hack has done with some of Broadhurst's patterns (with the permission of her estate):














































Breathless? Heck, I'm almost speechless.

Almost.

tags:
Florence Broadhurst
Emma Hack
Horses Stampede
Body Art

Michael Michaud's Pussy Willow Jewelry

Aren't these gorgeous? They're from the Pussy Willows collection from Silver Seasons, by artist Michael Michaud. I ran across them in a recent issue of Lucky Magazine, and fell in love immediately. I've always loved the furriness of pussy willows, but hey, pearls work too!

tags:
Silver Seasons
Michael Michaud
Lucky Magazine

Vintage Vogue

Aren't these covers from the Vogue archive smashing? Don't we wish they had continued in this vein? Instead of becoming indistinguishable from every other fashion magazine. . .


via Jane D'Avril.

tags:
vintage Vogue
fashion magazines
cover art

Artist Michael Velliquette

Artist Michael Velliquette has been doing some extraordinary things with card stock and glue. The example above is the first work in his series, "The Intuitive Jungle."

"The Intuitive Jungle" represents a series of new works completed during the final months of 2006 and early days of 2007. Recurring strategies for image-making appear in several of the works and include eye-shapes accumulated into silhouettes of open hands and human profiles. These spectral embodiments are encountered in several of the works by a more visceral presence, as depicted by mass groupings of small, faceless paper figures.

Velliquette's first New York solo exhibition is currently being held at DCKT Contemporary (through March 10th). Below, a work titled "Exotica."

tags:
Michael Velliquette
DCKT Contemporary
contemporary art

Jeffrey Campbell Boots

Oh, dear. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a new Most Coveted Object. And me without an extra cent to be found.

But the weather has been nothing but lousy, and these boots by designer Jeffrey Campbell would be just the thing to brighten a dull, dreary day.

Repeat mantra to self: "No money in, no money out. No money in, no money out."

*sigh*

tags:
Jeffrey Campbell
designer boots
rain boots

Too Cool To Use . . . For This!

The latest design for a t-shirt for the hip crowd? Unfortunately not. Above is a new graphic adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Organization for Standardization for use as a radiation warning.

According to the IAEA Press Release , the symbol is

the result of a five-year project conducted in 11 countries around the world. The symbol was tested with different population groups - mixed ages, varying educational backgrounds, male and female - to ensure that its message of "danger- stay away" was crystal clear and understood by all. . . . The new symbol, developed by human factor experts, graphic artists, and radiation protection experts, was tested by the Gallup Institute on a total of 1 650 individuals in Brazil, Mexico, Morocco, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Thailand, Poland, Ukraine and the United States.

Wow. That's a lot of work for one graphic!

And it's good. The research clearly shows that it does its job, and the group of experts is to be commended for its success. But by "good," I mean . . . I like it. I want it. I want to wear it. I need to put it on my t-shirt!

Or maybe my hoodie.

via Book of Joe.

tags:
graphic design
radiation
IAEA

Home Chic Home

After posting on Friday about the stylish black and white Air Pod by Blueair, I knew I had to post this stylish black and white container of disposable anti-bacterial wipes for you today.

And the stylish black and white pattern, well, that's not all, is it? Not hardly! Check out the graphic of the dusting lady, in all her short-skirted and coiffed splendor! She alone is worth the price of admission on this one.

From the Home Chic Home line by Two's Company. Available at Solutions, a wonderful online shop that sells solutions to numerous household problems, many of which you never knew you had.


tags:
cleaning supplies
Home Chic Home
Solutions

Glen Baxter Comics

A bit of high-brow Friday humor from art genius Glen Baxter.





















via [BB-Blog] which, if you haven't visited it yet, you really oughta.

tags:
Glen Baxter
comics
art
genius

Airpod by Blueair

Appliances such as air purifiers--well, we don't have high expectations for their style. Until recently, we might have considered ourselves lucky if they came in more than one color.

But the times, they are a-changin'. The Airpod by Blueair has a style that's sure to please-- especially if your decor is anything like that shown in this recent post by Anna at Absolutely Beautiful Things.




tags:
Airpod
Blueair
air purifier

Pillows: Company C

Pillows from Company C. I want them all. And a very, very long couch.

tags:
Decor
Pillows
Company C

Love Rats

How could I not post these love rats from Archie McPhee? Well, I couldn't not. So here they are!

tags:
Valentine's Day
love rats
Archie McPhee

Ten Free Valentine Fonts

Here are some lovely Valentine's fonts I've rounded up for your downloading pleasure, and just in time to use them in writing your Valentine love letters.

As far as I know, these are all freeware or trialware or linkware fonts that can be downloaded free of cost. Make sure you read the terms of use, usually included with the download as a "readme" file, before using them yourself. The designers typically don't want them used to make money, and would often like a link back.

I've done my best to give credit where it's due, and each has a link to where it can be downloaded.

Here they are:






4 My Lover was designed by Jakob Fischer, and can be downloaded here.
*************************************************************************************






Fiolex Girls is by a designer unknown to me, and can be downloaded here. If you know the name of the designer, please let me know in the "Comments" section.
*************************************************************************************










Heart, both the regular and the embossed versions, was designed by yokoyoko and can be downloaded here.
*************************************************************************************





Heartland was designed by Harold Lohner, and can be downloaded here.
*************************************************************************************







Hearts was designed by Brian Kent (for Sarah), and can be downloaded here (click on "H" link).
*************************************************************************************






Love Letters was designed by Aileen Lau, and can be downloaded here (enter site, click on "fonts," then on page 5).
*************************************************************************************




Times New Romance was designed by Eric Perlin, and can be downloaded here.
*************************************************************************************







Valentine Hearts was designed by Character, and can be downloaded here.
*************************************************************************************







Virgin was designed by m. libby, and is available here.
*************************************************************************************





Words of Love was designed by Jakob Fischer, and is available here.

I think maybe my favorite is Fiolex Girls. What about you?

tags:
Free Fonts
Valentine Fonts

Love Goblin by Heather Louise

When it comes to Valentine's Day, I've really been falling down on the job. I suppose I could do a hearts roundup the way I did a skulls roundup for Halloween, but with hearts, where does one begin?

While I ponder this, I'll tide you over with the Love Goblin from Egg Mercantile. Designed and handmade by Heather Louise, this little fellow's a real charmer. As are her other dolls, which you can find here. Do check them out--this lady has quite the imagination! She calls them "dolls," but I'm not sure that quite does them justice.

Here are some more of her sweeties, for your enjoyment--The Three Little Bears:

tags:
Love Goblin
Heather Louise
egg mercantile
dolls
textile arts

We Love Crafts

I'm very excited to share with you a great new online magazine, We Love Crafts. Unfortunately. there's a lot I can't tell you about it because it's in Spanish, and I read only enough Spanish to make my head hurt when I try.

Here's what I can tell you: I want to know who designed the site. No, let me put it a different way. I want to be who designed the site. Its visual appeal is first-rate, and the content looks to be splendid. I can't say whether it's well-written, but where high quality is found, it is often found across the board.

Here is a shot of the Table of Contents page:

















Don't you just want to click on all of the little pictures? And you can!

There are a couple of navigability problems, which is not surprising since the site is so new. The first is that you can't use the "back" button on your browser within the site; it will take you the previous site you were on. And the "Indice" button, which takes you to the Table of Contents page, is very high up on the screen; using Firefox, I can only use it if I hide all my toolbars, which is a pain. I hope they do something to change this, as it makes the site easy to navigate forward, but difficult to navigate backward.

Also, and this is fairly minor, but. . . the "Indice" button has an arrow pointing to the right ( --> ), which we tend to think of as "forward." It would be more intuitive if the arrow pointed to the left ( <-- ), as it takes you "backward" to the Contents page.

Here's something else: when I went into Internet Explorer to see if the "back" button worked there, I couldn't access the site at all! I hope they fix this: those who haven't made the jump to Firefox are already being punished enough!

But please don't think I'm being critical. I love this magazine, I totally dig its look, and I'll be spending plenty of time there. . . with a Spanish-to-English dictionary!

But guess what? Word on the street (ok, word on Poppy) has it that the site will eventually be translated to English! That would be great--while I'm easily entertained by looking at pictures, I'd love to be able to read the text as well.

For those who read Spanish, you may find more information on the magazine's blog. Also, the magazine's chief instigators seem to be Anabel of Jugando con Hilos ("Playing With Thread"), and Monica Leon (MiKiMoNo) of Te toco la china.

via Poppy.

tags:
We Love Crafts
crafts
online magazine

Misprinted Type

Ok, now you guys are going to laugh at me, but don't. This wouldn't be a big deal for a lot of people, but remember, I'm not a designer. I'm just someone who picked up a little Photoshop between phone calls. (Some people would use the word dilettante, but some people are just plain mean.) This is a big deal for me.

I saw this Florida ad in a magazine today, and I recognized the typeface. Or font. I don't even know the difference. But I recognized it. It's called "Porcelain," and it's by Eduardo Recife, and I know that because I posted about his firm, misprinted type, on NOTCOT(.org) a couple of months ago.


















Ok, it's distinctive. Not a hard font to recognize. Someone like Ben Terrett (see below) would have recognized it in his sleep.

But I'm no Ben Terrett. I'm not a graphic designer--I've never even taken a class. I'm a psychologist.

And I'm feeling pretty good right now.

tags:
misprinted type
Eduardo Recife
Porcelain
fonts