Marimekko

(via whorange.com) A whole lotta love!





Last week I got away from Soy City and made a run for the Big City of St. Louis with my best friend Sherry. It was 3o minutes of business, followed by six hours of shopping.

" Girrllll, we have GOT to go to Crate & Barrel", she informed me...I guess she needed some new shot glasses or some such. After a gigantic chocolate chip cookie and a chai latte....we rolled across the street and into 'crisp design Mecca'. I was so excited when I saw the 'store within a store' that was the Marimekko section .

The name that translates to Mary Dress is synonymous with bold prints and crisp design is more often thought of now in home fashions, but it started out as garment company back in the early 50s. Well, actually it started out as a oilclotch company, but that didn't go so well, so they changed directions, whipped up some dresses and with the help of Jackie Kennedy ordering 8 of them for the Presidential campaign....a design star was born.



(via hauteworld.blogspot.com) That's Jackie and Jack on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She's in Marimekko. That's also SJP (or Carrie Bradshaw) in Marimekko.

(via glamguide.com ) Marimekko is so iconic, they are frequently 'knocked off'....this is a Dolce and Gabanna print dress, but that's not actual Marimekko textile.

But this is.....this is their famous 'Nikko Poppies' print. Probably one of their most recognizable.

(via skcnis.com )

( Crate & Barrel ) One stop shopping at the store within a store!

(Crate & Barrel) pillows, bedding, table lines, shower curtains , in Marimekko prints, for reasonable prices at your local Crate & Barrel.

(via sannaannukka.com) I really love this artist's work. Her name is Sanna Annukka and her work kind of reminds me of Tord Boontja and Mary Blair mashed up, so no wonder I love her! She has created a line for Marimekko for Crate & Barrel. ( all Sanna photos via her website )
The black and white wheels might possibly be my favorite. On a side note, her work plays into something I'm noticing in the design world as possibly a trend, but I think it may be more long lived than a trend and that is FOLK STYLE. (more on that later)

Sanna Annukka's screen prints in production.

Sanna Annakka for Crate & Barrel





Outside of ready made textiles, you can also find Marimekko yardage. In the 60s and 70s it was all the rage to stretch textiles and hang them on the wall, nearly instant art. I've been seeing this a lot lately in design mags. It's really easy to buy stretcher bars at your local art supply store and just staple the fabric around the frame.

I love looking to Marimekko's designs for inspiration for 'murals'. The designs are so crisp and clean and simple, they would look lovely painted on the wall. Here are a few that I would love to try! These great photos are via alwaysmod.com

really not sure about the color scheme in this room but I love the giant circles!

Here's a great idea...this Marimekko styled tree mural is actually made out of string and tacks. No paint required! (artist Kathryn Anderson)

Happy Shiny Place...Mary Blair and the art of It's a Small World

Mary's work is so triumphant!




When I was 17, I went to Ecuador as an exchange student. When I was 17 and 1/2, I went to Los Angeles to visit 4 American friends I met in Ecuador. We spent one glorious day at Disneyland. While we were there, we spent a good 3 hours, riding in a little boat, in "It's
A Small World". For one thing, AIR CONDITIONED. And another thing, FREAKIN' AWESOME!!! (if not slightly creepy)






** I must take a moment to apologize for the ear worm of a song that is likely now playing in your head. I read somewhere that it's the most translated song in the world. Originally, the 2 brothers who worked with Walt Disney on the music for this attraction, wanted all different national anthems to be playing at the same time. So....it could be worse!**

I took my girls to Disney World in 2007 and was completely blown away by the beauty of this ride. I vowed right then and there that someday, I was going to paint a mural in this style. Someone, PLEASE hire me!!!! (note to Disney lawyers...I said "in this style"...not an exact copy...so shove it.)
I started doing a little research and found out that the Art Director of this project was Mary Blair. You probably would recognize her other Disney work...she Art Directed Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland, and had a hand in others. (Mary Blair working on "It's A Small World"



But she was super productive and made quite a name for herself in the 60s with her charming and frequently geometric illustrations. I love Mary Blair. She is one of my all time favorites.
I have never, in all my years of stealing images off the internet, run into more copyright protected photos in my life!!!
Mary Blair didn't belong exclusively to Disney though, her art can be seen in museums from time to time, and she is the illustrator of several Little Golden Books .




I think her work would make an amazing textiles collection, and the way she laid out patterns is just so inspiring. This book is a must have: The Art and Flair of Mary Blair, but it's pretty pricy, so I'll have to let you know when you've clicked on enough ads for me to afford this book! If my darling Mikey is reading, ahem...birthday in June, used is fine. half.com or amazon...anywhere you can find it really, I'm not picky.
(editorial...I am publishing this posting w/0 photo credits. Blogger is being a butt and I can't seem to edit at the moment. Will do soon, Disney lawyers.)


Work by Mary Blair


A Mary Blair mural location unknown


Photo by Brian Kendig @ wikipedia
Tile Mural at Disney's Contemporary Resort (a small section of the 90 foot high masterpiece)






This would make an awesome skin for my ipod!!!

Valentine's treat- Oreo Truffles

via 47piecestolove.blogspot.com

I promise I will keep recipes out of this design blog. Being not much of a foodie, it bugs me to shell out six bucks for a design magazine, only to have the last half of it filled with recipes for stuff I'll never make.
BUT!
I had these at Christmas and swore I had to share this recipe with the world. Oh my God, so good. They are so rich though, you can only eat one or two at a time.
These are super easy to make, with only 4 ingredients.

These are officially called 'Oreo Balls'.... but that name is just too hysterical. So I've renamed them 'Oreo Truffles'.

1 bag oreo cookies
1 brick cream cheese
1 package white chocolate for melting
1 package dark chocolate for melting

Crush oreos in a food processor until finely chopped. Add cream cheese brick and mix well. Refrigerate until 'dough' is stiff,about an hour. Roll dough into truffle sized balls. Melt white chocolate. Dip truffles into white chocolate using a toothpick. Allow to set up on a sheet of waxed paper. Melt dark chocolate and using a spoon, allow melted chocolate to drizzle over truffles. You could also lightly dust them with crushed oreos, or colored sugars, in lieu of the dark chocolate decoration.

These are addictive, my apologies.

best.collaboration.EVER!!!!!!!

In the way way back of Target past the shapeless sacks and sweatsuits, is a section I call 'Nirvana'.
It's the 75 % off rack and I've found some pretty sweet deals there. Like the Tucker butterfly dress for six bucks and the Jean Paul Gaultier tulle miniskirt (never worn, but who cares!) Every so often I will spy something so fantastic that I wonder how it could have been passed over and declare myself the ULTIMATE VICTOR....and then I see the tag. Liz Lange maternity...
This. Happens. A lot.
I am a woman who was pregnant for the better part of six years.
In the last 3 years I have lost 30 lbs by walking a bazillion miles and doing a gazillion barbell squats.
I'm a person whose mantra is 'style is where you find it'.....so this is a MAJOR QUANDRY for me! A sharpie or a seam ripper is not going to remedy the fact that it is, underneath it all, still maternity!!!!

Why can't Liz Lange do a non maternity line for Target? It seems she has enough style moxie in her pinkie toe to cover the entire ladies' fashion department of Target.

In what is going to seem like totally unrelated news....a few months ago I finally purchased Jonathan Adler's On Happy Chic Colors book. The cover of said book completely epitomizes my personal aesthetic. (well, what it would be if I didn't have a house full of kids and dogs and a super tight budget) I have drooled over every page in this book (except the 'chambeige' chapter). I look to JA for tips on accessorizing (perfectly edited,with a sense of humor) and his use of color. I love his needlepoint pillows (even this one) and the funky pottery that first made him famous. I only recently figured out that the cover room is in Liz Lange's house.

That had to be the best collaboration ever. As it turns out, Liz and Jon went to Brown together and were best friends in college--so that's why it worked out so well! He really knew his client! (Liz Lange, Jonathan Adler and the fabulous Simon Doonan, who is Jonathan's luvah...so I'm sure he had some input as well.)
via newyorksocialdiary

Here's what J. Ad. had to say about his approach to designing this house (via House Beautiful)

"I think a room should be 95 percent chic. There needs to be a solid foundation of good design, functionality, and harmony. Then you have the remaining 5 percent to layer on a playful vibe. If a room is merely playful it's usually wildly unchic. Conversely, if it's too chic it's dry and off-putting. I try to strike the perfect balance of chic and cheeky — an inclusive, unsnobby sort of buoyant spirit."

I can't find a definitive date for when this collaboration took place, but it wasn't yesterday. Photos of this house have been all over the net, but I just had to write about it, because it's going to go down in history as one of those magnificent projects that will stand the test of time.photos via housebeautiful.com , photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo


via domino magazine


More recently, Jon and Liz worked together to create a child's room in a showhouse in New York called American Fashion: Designers at the Aldyn. It's adorable.
Take a look!



I love the foil wallpaper, it gives me some ideas for some faux work. (as a photo bonus of faux painting ideas, look at this setting in Kate Spade , Dallas.) White and silver foil stripes? Yeah baby!!!! via diaryofakatespadeaddict.com

Nothing gold can stay....unless you paint it!

like green much?

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost was speaking metaphorically, about the chartreusey green of a just barely opened leaf bud. (He's also speaking about every relationship I've ever had with a guy...except for Mike. He's golden! He stays! )

It's one of my favorite shades to be sure. The last time I redecorated, the dining room/sunroom got treated to a coat of Sherwin Williams 'Funky Yellow'. It's one room I will NOT be repainting in the 'get- this- house- ready- to- sell -painting- festivus'.

Someone left the light on in the laundry room, and as I walked by and caught my reflection in the mirror over the sink, I realized. Man....I am a "green" girl. Maybe it was the chunky 'Verdant' colored mirror over the vanity of the same color...or the Kelly green shade of my sweater. Maybe it was the reflection of that Chartreuse dining room in the mirror behind me.

Usually I'm on the back end of design trends. I have to let things simmer in my mind's eye for awhile. I am sooo not buying the fake animal head thing yet. Or arcing floor lamp. I'm the same way with music. The first time I hear a song on the radio I'm usually like 'What the crap was that noise!?' but then a couple months later I'm all ' OMG! that's my FAVORITE song!!!!'

Ra ra aah aah aaahhhh rumma rum ma ma....GaGa ooh la la .....watch out for romance.... (or whatever she says)

I'm a little bit proud of myself to say that I was doing chartreuse when everyone else was like 'that hurts my eyes.'

A really creative friend of mine with a truly inspiring house, painted her tall Victorian headboard a fresh shade of green. I have been dying to paint something architectural in a shade of green ever since I saw it. My house is a 1954 raised ranch...it has NO architecture. But I do have a vanity in my laundry room that I applied a faux crocodile texture to a few years back. I was tired of the Leather Bound color of it, so guess what, it's now Sherwin Williams 'Verdant Green'. (see mirror photo)

the famous headboard photo courtesy of Jami Wade

I think of green as a neutral, go with anything color . I mean, what does it NOT go with? If it didn't go with everything, God would have chosen it as the color of the great outdoors. I guess with this logic, sky blue also goes with everything....guess that's why my ceilings are painted that color! (Sherwin Williams Meander Blue). Getting back to my friends Jami's green headboard, look how the rest of the room is neutral. If she had a lot of color going on, the headboard wouldn't be nearly as Zazzy.

But getting back to chartreuse, this is supposed to be an EYE CANDY blog. So here you go.

Green is the color of life and money (thank you Jami for that soundbite!) Perhaps that's why my favorite lady Michelle Obama chose it for the Inauguration! I'm not being goofy when I say that this shade of green looks great with brown! She is to die for gorgeous and I think every ensemble she puts together should be museum bound. (AP photo)

Chartreuse goes swimmingly with gray too....look at this gorgeous room by Adininni Design Group. Love it love it love it. I can't believe I'm saying that, with the amount of shiny brass stuff in that photo, but the cool gray tones really make the green in this room pop! And I'm just weird crazy for a sphere or ball of any kind. That big leafy one looks like a giant hedge apple in a very good way!

This is not my dining room...but it might as well be my dining room. It's nearly identical, except that my windows are bare. I do have a red dining room table with black chairs around it. My chandalier is not so fussy but seeing this photo I'm thinking maybe it should be.

Green is great on an exterior too...I would FOR SURE keep the trim colors simple. Black and white work well. Jami and her husband Shannon have made their home the masterpiece of the neighborhood with it's divine coat of olive green! (the sweet vintage Mercedes (?) parked in front doesn't hurt either!!!) Hugs Jami, thanks for the inspiration! (exterior photos courtesy of Jami Wade)

Unconventional Muraling

Nadia Sparham uses marker, buttons,and suede for her delightful murals.


I'm planning on moving sometime before school starts next year to be nearer to the love of my life, and to get my kids into a better school district. Every morning when I drop off my high school student, I say 'Where? Again? Are the preppy kids?' I've decided I must go find them, for the children.
Anyway...all this moving business has got me thinking about the direction my business is going in. When I started out, I was painting lots of picket fences and ivy topiaries and bird houses and.....bleh! I called myself a 'muralist', which I apologize to for real muralists everywhere. I figured out that realism was really NOT my thing, and I marketed myself as a 'whimsicist'. Believe me, I have THE UTMOST respect for people who can paint people that don't look like they have an overbite and an over-prominent forehead. That's a God given gift right there.
Knowing your weaknesses is as much a part of the recipe for success as knowing your strengths.
My weaknesses....humans, perspective, lettering that doesn't go uphill..... my strengths....childlike whimsical funk.
Thank goodness there is an audience for that kind of art. If you don't think it's marketable...go to Hallmark. Which cards are best sellers? (psst...they aren't the ones with the twee paintings of ducks flying over a pond.) Just ask Picasso. Dude could draw reality, but that's not what he was famous for.
I created this bedroom for a little girl featuring a shop window with Paris in the background. It's painted in Sepia tones on pink and has lots of glitter glaze and crystals added. Super fun and whimsical and I guarantee you the perspective is wonky. That is the last mural I painted and it was over 2 years ago. For my latest round of business cards, I completely omitted 'murals' from the verbage. But....
Fun little doodle-y things are back in style. When I move, and I rename my business...is 'murals' back in? ( I have already renamed my business, but it's a surprise...will divulge later!)




Nadia Sparham


Amy Ruppel via designsponge.com


Charlotte Mann is a British artist who has elevated the Sharpie to crazy new heights. Her work is literally, MARKER, on walls. Check it out.

If I would have had rich parents who would have hired Charlotte Mann to Sharpie-fy my bedroom walls....I PROMISE you I would have colored it all in. Remember Doodle Art? That was a little slice of heaven for little kid Elizabeth. My rich parents would not have seen me....for months.


Tord Boontje is the coolest. I mean he has his hands into EVERYTHING. He is a brazilliant Dutch product designer who is best known for his lyrical, silhouette style art that features natural images like deer and bunnies and leaves and flowers, usually growing out of a garland or a tree. His light fixtures are to die for!
Here's an example of his work. He is a golden boy in the design world right now. When Target wants you, you're big.
This Tord Boontje mural is made up of seven panels, each costing over 1,000 dollars. I would have no problem at all copying this mural for HALF that! (or even less!)