Amigurumi

Cute Japanese crafts!


The above are eggs in a cart and the shells open up.

I stumbled onto a book about cute Japanese crocheting patterns and realize what a niche it is. People are obsessed, as one book describes "so cute you could cry..."
Amazon reviewers best love The Cute Book by Aranzi Aronzo which includes how-to patterns.



After looking at the pictures in the book, I had to feast my eyes on some tangible items for sale and the natural place to then look for the real objects was Etsy ...and look what was peeping out of the pumpkin patch:

Pumpkin Moon Bun
(artist from VA)
Happy Eggs (artist from NYC)

Hey, then I noticed that the two ones I picked out were from our places of residence... coincidence? I think NOT!

Herzog & de Meuron, Ai Wei Wei + 1,001 Displaced Chinese

I'm so fascinated with what's going on in Beijing in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. A massive "bird's-nest-shaped" stadium is being erected in the center of the city by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and so far the construction looks pretty insane.

The main consultant on the stadium is a contemporary Beijing artist named Ai Wei Wei. I don't know that much about him, but I've been reading about this extravagant art experiment he's staging this summer at Documenta in Kassel, Germany. He's bringing 1,001 ordinary Chinese people ("farmers, laid-off workers, street vendors, students, rock singers, and white collar workers") to the tiny town of Kassel to live for a week as a sort of cultural exchange. "I just want them to go to Kassel, be happy, relax, see the show, and come back safely," Ai has said.

love birds

I thought you'd like these owls and appreciate the clever allusion to the "loves me, loves me not" with the flower pedals when I saw this silk screen poster for sale on Design Public.

Bunny Hopping Contest in Denmark!

Please watch the video.

Also: If you love bunnies the way I do, please meet Oolong, this insanely cute bunny who likes to be photographed with things on his head!

UPDATE: After closely reading the Wikipedia page on Oolong, I realize that he's dead. My suspicion is that this deranged photographer in Hokkaido, Japan, overworked poor Oolong to death. I'm sad now.

Binth's Silk Screen Prints

Binth, the company where I got your letterpress notebook, also sells experimental, one-of-a-kind screen prints and this is a new one from them. This cute character, peeking out from the edge of the page, reminds me of your sensibility.

"People are like little machines, spitting out a variety of little products"

That quote above is Alexander Egger's first paragraph on his home page. He's a designer whose site I stumbled across today and I dig his collage art work - the ones that look like he used a xerox machine. The site is full of his recent projects (both art and commercial) and they're arranged like chapters in a book. (Though, not to be confused with the chapters of his actual book recently published, and viewable on the site.) Anyways. The above collage is from the section called "Scientists say until 1964 mankind will live permanently on the moon". Interesting stuff.
There's sooo much to look at on this site!

Egger's drawings are also wonderful on the section called "But the Sun Likes Me"


And more great collage art from "We have no scar to show from happiness"


His client work and layouts (such as the one below) show clear signs of being influenced by Swiss designer Josef Muller-Brockmann.
Here's Egger's piece...

Here are two examples of Muller-Brockmanm's work:

For more on Muller-Brockmann's work: click here for Image Now Gallery's online exhibition of his posters.

I Heart the United Nations

Last night, I was talking to my pal Patrick Flynn, a video editor for Unicef, about the glories of the UN logo. Apparently, its blue is pure cyan. 100 percent. wow.

Lost in Translation

I got this Chinese waterproof bag to hold Turner's toys or as a handy tote for traveling. The little faces are so happy, and the little bee buzzing around makes me smile. It seemed like an innocent purchase until one day recently I noticed what the honey jar actually says...

Their intention was not this result, clearly!

The Small Things Matter

Jason took me to this new sushi restaurant downtown last weekend and at the end of our meal, the waiter placed down for us these lovely chocolates (specially made for the restaurant). We sat at the sushi bar which is made of this beautiful wood. Jen, can you tell me what these characters mean?

Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep"

You have to see Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep! The stop-motion animation is extraordinary. Most of the objects that he animates are completely hand-made in a rough, imperfect way that gives them so much character. Clouds of cotton float, cotton skiiers glide down mountains made out of felt, Paris is imagined as a maze of toilet-paper rolls. As with Gondry's previous film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, he doesn't use any special effects...every effect is created "in camera" (by the way he shoots).

For the Love of Birds

How sweet are these bird paintings by Amy Ruppel...

Amy has new work for sale at Velocity! This is good to know b/c all the work on her website shop is sold.

Tweet Tweet.

Silk Screen Squirrelly Fun

From Design Sponge's Shop

Let's Make Things!

Wow, I'm soooo inspired to make my own cards after seeing this adorable handmade creation by Fanja Ralison in Hertfordshire, England [a.k.a. le train fantôme]

Don't You Ove When Googe Screws Up?

Today, I felt like dropping my L's because Google dropped theirs! Rather than Google, it was Googe all day. Was it a mistake...intentional...or do I just don't know how to read chocolate fonts? Apparently I wasn't the only person to notice.