new york

The New York Times's Design Notebook blog has an interesting article about Canadian (now NYC) designer, Peter Buchanan-Smith... aka "the ax guy" . His company is called Best Made Company , and yup, they make axes. Good looking axes. But he has clearly struck a nerve. At a time when entire neighborhoods (like Williamsburg, Brooklyn, or the Outer Mission in San Francisco) are being remodeled by young entrepreneurs selling limited-edition handcrafted products like handmade cheeses, or exhuming old ones, like Edison light bulbs, or teaching their peers how to butcher the deer they bagged over the weekend — that is, selling products and skills that hark back to a pre-megabrand, pre-globalism world — someone like Mr. Buchanan-Smith can become a mini-star, the designer-turned-merchant, a Martha Stewart for this millennium. Read the full article on the New York Times site.

Booooooom.com is partnering with the Vancouver Sun to inspire a lil' bit of cuteness and summertime goodness. Be a part of the Little Drifters project by creating a tiny boat using natural materials like twigs, leaves, grass, feathers or whatever you like. Then head down to Trout Lake Park on Saturday July 24th at 1pm to launch your creations! Send your photos of your boat launch in to Booooooom. You don't need to be in Vancouver to participate: they'd love to get photos of mini-boats from elsewhere, too! Read more about Little Drifters on Booooooom.com.

I've never seen this technique before and I think it looks pretty cool.... Fourteen Countess embroidered French knots on cloth of the same colour to create a subtle but savvy monogram. Very patient work! But pretty great results. Read more about the project on Fourteen Countess' blog .

Severe cuteness alert. Much like the fake model photography ( blogged about before), this video of Vancouver makes the city look oh-so-tiny and oh-soooooo-adorable. The video was created by dangerous68 (his YouTube name), who's also made a  Mini LA . He created the film using time-lapse photography shot with a tilt shift lens, inspired by the work of Keith Loutit .  Check out  Keith Loutit's website  or Facebook page  to see a whole bunch more cute-ified locations he's filmed for his  Small Worlds Project.

"The home does not have to be planned out in detail, just put together by pieces its inhabitants love." - Josef Frank (via ScandinavianDesign.com ) Google's all dressed up today, to celebrate the125th birthday of Josef Frank, an Austrian/Swedish architect and designer of furniture and textiles. Google homepage on July 15, 2010 I don't know much about Josef Frank (and his Wikipedia entry is pretty limited), but I like what I see. Reconfirming that I have a weakness for eccentric Scandinavian fabric design... " Brazil " pattern on the walls (1943-45) " Terrazzo " Fabric (1944) "Green Birds" fabric (1944) I also like what I read about Frank -- this is from ScandinavianDesign.com : Josef Frank's, life could be wonderfully characterized as on always in motion. Moving with ease from architecture and furniture design to glassware, lighting and metalwork--his was an eclecticism fueled by curiosity. and nothing captures this roaming imagina

Are popsicles the new cupcakes? It sure seems that way. A few years back, Magnolia bakery in NYC started a cupcake trend that spread across North America: today you can find cupcake shops in most major cities. Now popsicles seem to be the new hot (or cool) thing in the Big Apple. A post on iVillage Food gives the lowdown on where to get the best popsicles in town. People's Pops sells at markets and focuses on fresh and local ingredients. Sounds like my kinda dessert. Even Martha 's a fan. Where do the flavor ideas come from? D: We go to the GreenMarket each week and try to build flavors around the best produce that the farmers brought to market that week. ~Interview with on People's Pops on Gothamist La Newyorkina 's mission is to "Bring modern Mexican ice pops to the streets of New York". I'd love to try their Aguacate (Avocado), Jamaica (Hibiscus) or Mango con Chile (Spicy Mango) flavours . PopBar (pictured above) is packed with a whole lotta style. Y

Today's Craft Rock Friday is possibly more of a Gardening Rock Friday ... or maybe a Magical Rock Friday? In any case, it's full of the summertime lovlies. Enjoy Avi Buffalo 's video for "What’s In It For".

I finally got around to taking some more photos of my pottery from my first course. I took a ten-week class at my local community centre, and totally loved every minute of it. (It was the first time I'd done pottery since grade 8, when I made a, um, bowl? pot? pencil holder? Heh.) Every Wednesday night I'd some home exclaiming things like "Tonight I made a bowl! a BOWL! Eee!" and "I learned how to make a HANDLE!" And when I actually got to bring my first piece home... ahh! Amazing. It's infinitely satisfying to eat and drink out of dishes that I made myself. I'm used to working with fabric or paper... having made something so, for lack of a better word, solid is a whole new feeling for me. This lil' guy is the smallest piece I made - just from a tiny bit of clay left over from something else that fell over on the wheel! - but he's one of my faves. This one was fun to make: a planter pot. You can't see it in this photo, but it has a drai

Movie poster designs typically follow certain formulas... but when your film is all about design, things get a little more interesting... I love these posters for the upcoming documentary Coast Modern , a film about West Coast Modernist Architecture, from LA to Vancouver. This is the kind of poster I'd want up in my home as artwork, not just as a movie promo. (Actually, they're selling a limited run of 100 right now... but are a bit too pricey for me!) The other poster is also lovely (and less pink). Learn more about the Coast Modern film , watch a trailer , or buy a poster in the shop . 

I'm totally loving the table that the awesome Kim Werker and her hubby Greg made for the front entrance of their home. And from an old door, no less! I especially love the mix of rustic and modern, plus the splash of yellow, which I have a serious colour-crush on right now. Read more about the project, with more pics (and an owl plate!),  on Kim's blog .

Hello, July! It's finally full-on SUMMER ( please don't let me down now, Vancouver weather! ) and it's an extra-long long-weekend for many ( Happy Canada Day and Fourth of July! )... so today, Craft Rock Friday comes with an extra helping of sunshine. And I know just the girl for that. Sophie Madeleine is completely and utterly charming. Her voice is lovely, her lyrics are brilliant... and did I mention that she plays the ukulele?! Sophie has the perfect song for Craft Rock Friday: "The Knitting Song" Lovely, right? Have a listen to this one -- "Take Your Love With Me" (aka "The Ukulele Song") Sophie also plays with a partner as Rocky and Balls . Here's their song, "Love Cake" OK, a couple more! Just to carry you through the long weekend. :) Rocky and Balls perform "I Heart You Online" Sophie Madeleine and The Sailor Jerrys' cover of "Goody Goody" (with kazoos!)