i want this ring!

I keep seeing it all over the internet and I want it!

ring by Dior, image by Bernadette Pascua

Kama Sutra cover art by Malika Favre

For the latest addition to their Classics Graphic Deluxe series, Penguin called upon graphic designer Malika Favre (of the British illustration agency Handsome Frank) to design the cover for the sexiest book of all time, the Kama Sutra--a natural choice, considering Malikas previous forays into sexy typography. 

At first glance, the illustrations featured on the cover of the otherwise un-illuminated Kama Sutra are merely depictions of some of the sexual positions described in the text; upon closer inspection, you see that the images are actually letters spelling out the title of the book. Pretty clever, especially when you consider that the letters depict actual sexual positions described in the book, adapted, but not created, by the artist in order to fit a specific shape.

You can read more about the project in Favres interview with Digital Arts, where she goes over her step-by-step process for creating the individual letters, and expresses her unfulfilled wish to illustrate the text internally--which would have been pretty amazing, admittedly, but I kind of like the mystique of only featuring cover illustration. It leaves you wanting more. 

Favre had to redesign the letter M at the last minute because Penguin thought it was too sexy for the front cover (apparently she was given more freedom for the inside flaps...) I wonder what it looked like before!

images from here 

Babylit Board Books

Check out these adorable BabyLit board-books: classic literature pared down into baby counting primers, written by Jennifer Adams and illustrated by Allison Oliver. Featuring titles like Jane Eyre, Romeo & Juliet, and Pride & Prejudice, apparently there are more titles coming out this spring. They also have Alice in Wonderland, a book about colors. Arent they so sweet? Heres a peek inside Pride & Prejudice:

I wont spoil the ending for you...

images from here

im lovin it: MIXED PRINTS

Its my favorite way, the best way, the only way to wear prints, and its all over the ready-to-wear collections this spring (and pre-fall, whatever that means...). So exciting! Here are my favorites:

 Diane von Furstenberg Spring 2012 Ready to Wear

Duro Olowu Spring 2012 Ready to Wear

Isabel Marant Spring 2012 Ready to Wear

Suno Spring 2012 Ready to Wear

Thakoon Addition prefall 2012

images from style.com

The Great Wall by Guy Laramee

Guy Laramees latest project, the Great Wall, has already been blogged about, but I cant stop thinking about it and I wanted to show it to you guys! Laramee takes large vintage tomes and carves out these amazing landscapes. I wonder what he uses... an exacto knife maybe?

Pretty impressive, right? I also find intriguing Laramees artists statement regarding the project, in which he imagines a 23rd century take-over of the American Empire by the Chinese Empire, followed by a campaign by the Chinese to chronicle the so-called American Panics of the 21st and 22nd centuries. He then describes the namesake of his project: The Great Wall of America, which Americans apparently built in the future over the course of 150 years in order to protect themselves from foreign (Chinese) invasion. 

Pretty convoluted, I suppose... but I love thinking about future like this, and about Empires and their rising and falling, and in general the way political geography shifts over the course of time. I find contemplating the fall of the American Empire especially fascinating and spooky, because you know is already happening! 

Rachel Comey boots

 I love Rachel Comey, as you may be aware. Her spring shoes are pretty sweet but here its still the wintriest winter and the only thing to wear is boots. And she makes some pretty beautiful boots! I would buy them all if I could (afford them, that is). Here are my favorites: 

the Pixie Clog 

$506 at La Garconne

These are pull-on, which is nice when youre trying to put your shoes on while holding a baby child. Because Im only about 5ft tall, I like the looks of that platform, and that little cuff would blend in well with the black tights Id wear with these, always. 

the Pontus

$439.95 at Sole Struck

Arent these beautiful? You can tell Comey studied architecture. I dont know if I would wear them around and about on a daily basis, but they are so beautiful and though that heel is fairly high (for me) I think its chunkiness would make them pretty comfortable, since theyre practically wedges. 

the Garrett

on sale for $207.50 at La Garconne

Despite their heel, these look like theyd fare pretty well in snowy weather--those soles look like they might be treaded, and at the very least theyre made of chunky rubber. I like their laces, too. 

the Mars

$384.95 at Sole Struck

These are my favorite! Im way into color blocking, and this mix of black and tan makes these wearable with pretty much any outfit I can imagine. Theyre pull-on, simple, and the heel isnt too high so I could wear them while carrying a baby around and not fall on my face, which is a real (if slightly irrational) fear Ive had of late. 

what to do with all those baby-food jars

Fairly recently, Felix started eating real people food which has been amazing because before, he breastfed literally every two hours and while I enjoyed our time together, I found that living my life in two hour increments made it nearly impossible to get anything done. He still breastfeeds of course, but he also loves his babyfood and cant get enough (except of the sweet peas, for which I dont blame him). The byproduct of this is all of the empty little baby food jars that we seem to have so many of. I guess we could recycle them, but the crafter in me has a problem just letting them go. A nagging voice in the back of my mind keeps trying to convince me theres a project here, somehow. 

You may be aware of the recent make-nearly-any-kind-of-dessert-in-a-jar trend: cakes, pies, and various parfaits, namely. Cute. But a baby food jar would, to my mind, yield too small a portion of these desserts to make them worthwhile, unless the dessert in question was extremely decadent--the kind you only want a few bites of anyway. Chocolate mousse or creme brule would be perfect. Since I still dont have the mini blow torch necessary to make creme brule at home, I guess itll have to be chocolate mousse. Im eager to try this recipe I just read about by Herve This which calls for only water and chocolate. 

But even if I did use the jars to make food in, once I washed the dishes Id end up with the same problem I had in the first place. So I need to think of something else. Staying in the kitchen, I think babyjars are the perfect size to mix individual portions of salad dressing. They might also be a good vessel for this project that Im eager to try: re-growing green onions from the white ends that I guess people discard... but why do people discard them when theyre the most flavorful part of the onion?

In the rest of the house, these jars would be well-suited to storing the little things that I tend to loose easily: bobby pins, hair ties, sewing needles, etc. Speaking of sewing, I love this idea from Martha Stewart to turn mason jars into sewing kits. Babyjars would make good mini-versions, but I dont know how youd get the pin-cushion on top, which kind of makes the whole thing... 

I also like this idea, also intended for mason jars, to turn them into yarn dispensers. While babyjars are too small to do this with proper balls of yarn, they would be a good storage vessel for all those little scrap balls of yarn that I cant seem to part with. Because, you never know what you might need them for. Right?

I also think theyre the perfect size for shot glasses. 

But who can drink that much whiskey?!??!

images from here, here, here, & here

i heart Jerry Seinfeld

have you guys ever visited Jerry Seinfelds personal archive website? He posts three clips a day from his collection of every television appearance hes ever made, which, obviously, is a lot. Its no big deal or anything but its usually pretty funny, and its silly to see clips of babyierry from when he was only a lad. 

check it out! 

bear skin rugs

Maybe this sounds cold hearted and ungrateful, but I wish people would stop gifting Felix stuffed animals. Its not that I dont appreciate the sentiment... but, also, the thing is, were moving to England on an airplane soon, and that means that we cant take a lot of stuff with us. Specifically, stuffed animals. With a few exceptions--the striped elephant my mum brought from England when he was first born, or the Laura Ashley teddybear my dad got him for christmas, and anything hand-made--the very first thing I think when Felix opens a present to reveal a stuffed animal is, welp, thats not making the cut. Because all I think about is packing. Well, not really, but I do think about it a lot.

And I feel bad! But also, come on people, give us something we can work with, here! Like clothes, which manage to be cute and useful at the same time. Because no matter what, you do need to dress a baby, especially in the winter. And besides, Felix doesnt even know what to do with stuffed animals besides chew them, and then they get all gross, and thats what teethers are for, anyway.

So, sorry, everyone, but the animals will eventually have to go. Having moved as often as I have, Ive gotten pretty good at getting rid of things and remaining detached from stuff and junk. But I also have a tendency to personifying things, and stuffed animals have faces, so it makes me sad to think about getting rid of them even though they dont have feelings, duh.

Then, I saw this article about artist Augustina Woodgate, who makes elaborate (and large!) hand-sewn rugs from the skins of old stuffed animals. According to Wooddgate, 'the process starts with the departure of the loving life objects have when they are in the hands of their owners. The rugs not only 

reference the personal histories of the toy's owners, but investigate the rug as an object organizing and displaying memories and lineages.'

What a clever and beautiful way to preserve and honor the special place these toys can have in peoples lives, without having to keep a bunch of ratty old teddybears lying around.    

images: Home, Galaxy, Royal, No Rain No Rainbows 

im lovin it: FLUORO

Especially with neutrals, like lemon lime & taupe, or tangerine & navy, or hot pink & russet (Why do all citrus names connote neon colors except for grapefruit?) Maybe because its so so so SO grey here all the time. Or maybe because I just want it to be summer so so so SO badly. Because of how grey it is. You know?

images: Celine totes, Christian Siriano, Cambridge Satchel, Susie Bubble

get a life, J.Crew!

Ok, yeah. A cashmere sweater. For a baby. Sure. 

Whats that? Only $125? Is that all? No problem. Totally reasonable. They promise to be good and not get shit all over it and not to grow out of it in a month, and I believe them.  Babies know when youre not dressing them in the finest fabric, and they expect the best.  THE BEST.  Who can blame them?

 THEY DESERVE IT.

Who ARE these people?!

Yeah, I want it. Shut up about it already!

p.s. how come baby cashmere is apparently machine washable but people cashmere isnt?
p.p.s a far less pretentious and more affordable alternative, even with the international shipping

color gender identity & the toothbrush mix-up

Recently, Chase and I opened a new two-pack of toothbrushes, one blue and one purple. It was a day before we realized that wed both assumed ours was the purple one. Logically (if you can apply logic to this situation) youd think I would choose the blue, and Chase, the purple, those being our respective favorite colors. Well, Chases favorite color is actually grey, but I dont think they make grey toothbrushes. Anyway. Why, in this situation, did I so readily conclude that the blue one belonged to Chase? Because, to me, the blue one looked like the Boy Toothbrush. Isnt that stupid?! 

Jake and His Blue Things 2006

When I was pregnant, I was adamantly opposed to the whole business of blue for boys and pink for girls, because I think thats silly and anyone should be able to wear whatever color they want, and Ive had no trouble acquiring all sorts of different colored clothing for Felix (thank you, american apparel baby). But no matter how I try to approach the situation from an objective and gender-neutral standpoint, I cant help but think that that purple toothbrush looks like a girl, and the blue one looks like her toothbrush boyfriend. 

Dayeun and Her Pink Things 2007

Its made me think back to The Pink & Blue Project (the source of these images), an ongoing photographic study in color gender identity begun by photographer JeongMee Yoon in 2005.  Here I learned that in fact, pink used to be a boy color, and blue a girl color and that, ironically, switching their associations was originally a 20th century attempt at promoting gender equality. Clearly, that didnt work out too well; instead, the girl-pink/boy-blue association is much stronger now than the dichotomy it replaced. 

Seyoon and His Blue Things 2007

I dont know how purple got caught up in the mix, and its not always strictly a girl color, its true. But when you pair it with blue, as in the case of the toothbrush mix up, it automatically looks feminine to me. And also, I dont know why I should see my toothbrush as a mini inanimate version of myself, but apparently, I do. Strange. Foolish!

Noelle and Her Pink & Purple Things 2006

quilling

Not so much these days, but there was a time when I used to fancy myself something of an artist. My favorite thing to work with was always paper, whether for drawing on, or using in collage. But Ive never tried quilling, a technique I just sort of learned about last night, wherein you take paper and coil or twist it up and glue it to some surface in order to make what looks like a line drawing, but is in fact three-dimensional. As far as I can tell, no one does it better than Russian-born Yulia Brodskaya. Shes made ads for everyone from Cadbury to Hermes, but its her independent work that I find the most impressive. Arent these pictures just beautiful? Id like to try this out someday, and soon. 

just in case felix feels the same way...

from smallable via baby obsessed, my new favorite baby-themed blog that i just discovered this morning!

Rachel Comey spring 2012

Of all the spring shows Ive seen so far, none can compare to Rachel Comey. Comey got her start in menswear before she began designing for women in 2003, and you can definitely see the influence. Its casual slouchy beachy perfection. I love the (mostly) neutral palette, crisp white shirts, tactile fabrics, and boyish silhouettes. She even makes bucket hats look like something Id want to wear--amazing. I wish it was spring already, for real!

images from here