Friday, August 20, 2010

guest bloggers : unruly things.

it's been brutally hot in Portland the past few days. with most homes lacking air conditioning, the best thing to do to beat the heat is to head out to the river. with all sorts of fun activities from fly fishing to simply floating down stream in a tube, you just can't beat the combination of icy cold water and hot summer sun. here's what I'd wear and pack along on my next trip to the river.



tank: net-a-porter
swim suit: j. crew
sunglasses: la garconne
fly rod & reel: gander mountain
flies: orvis
my canon ft: my flickr photostream
beer: olympia beer
straw hat: gap
topsiders: sperry top-sider
duluth pack: deluth
cut off shorts: anthropologie

-alyson
blog: unruly things
shop: postal press

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

guest bloggers : for me, for you.

The weather is finally starting to release us from it's heat and humidity death-grip in NYC, and the back to school buzz is in the air. Even though I've long been out of school, I'm daydreaming about backpacks and totes to carry books. I can't help myself, backpacks are getting cooler and cooler lately, so you don't need the school excuse to carry one anymore. They're perfect for bumming around the city or pretending to be Tim Riggins' girlfriend at Dillon High. Hey shut up, I said I was daydreaming...

Back To School BagsFashion Trends & Styles - Polyvore




-Kate Miss

website: For Me, For You
shop: For Me, For You

flickr photo of the day : beach huts.



"Tankerton" by Rhiannon Adam.

thought of the day : the land.



"Live off the land," a gorgeous print from the folks of Britain's Bold & Noble. (£38)

guest bloggers : tea for joy.



I'm very excited to be guest blogging at Design is Mine, which has always been one of my favourites! My own blog, Tea for Joy, tries to focus on British design, so I thought I'd share a round up of my favourite British Etsy sellers (I find the 'by location' feature in Etsy very difficult to navigate, so I'd love to hear your suggestions of other British sellers I might like.)

1. Pink Portrait ($18) by Amy Blackwell, 2. Pixie's Pan Blouse ($150) by Nadinoo, 3. Swallow necklace ($87) by Lost at Sea, 4. I like people who smile when it's raining ($11) by Heidi Burton (love her blog, too), 5. Red Balloon print ($22) by Mrs Eliot Books, 6. Hand embroidered cowboy stool ($225) by Sally Nencini - I love her work, see more of her embroidered furniture here, 7. Linen pincushion ($15) by Namolio, 8. Vintage sewing kit ($22) by Clare Owen (who has just designed an exclusive screen print for my shop, Papermash - coming soon.)

I discovered many of these artists through Summer's posts, so thanks Summer, and hope you are enjoying a well-earned vacation.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

guest bloggers : poppytalk.



Hello and greetings from Vancouver! This is Jan from the Canadian design blog, Poppytalk and I'm honoured to do a guest post here for Summer while she's away on vacation. Design is Mine is one of my favorite blogs and I always stop by to be inspired!

I post a lot about affordable art and as I was perusing online the other day I came across these fun 45 rpm prints and thought I'd share them here. How can you not help but like these giant re-creations from a few of the greatest single releases of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

UK artist, Morgan Howell's large original painting of each single is photographed in super high resolution and printed directly onto a canvas sleeve, (68cm square), then a big black disc with a printed label goes inside. The slots are hand-cut and the centre is drilled so the art can be mounted on a chrome central spindle which doubles as a wall fitting. All prints are hand finished, complete with crinkled edges and small tears to resemble a giant 3D single ready to hang on a wall. Available through here. A little bit about each single (taken from here) after each image.


Apache, The Shadows

The recording for 'Apache' was done at the EMI Abbey Road Studio in London, June 1960. Singer-guitarist Joe Brown had bought an Italian-built guitar echo chamber. He didn't like it and gave it to Hank Marvin. Marvin developed a new sound using the chamber with heavy vibrato using the tremolo arm of his Fender Stratocaster. Percussion was by Tony Meehan (drums) and Cliff Richard, who played a Chinese drum at the beginning and end to provide an atmosphere of stereotypically Native American music. It topped the UK singles chart for five weeks, a month after the recording.


Paranoid, Black Sabbath

After seeing a large queue waiting to see the Boris Karloff film 'Black Sabbath,' the 'Earth' band changed its name in August 1969, deciding to create the musical equivalent of horror films. 'Paranoid' was written in the studio at the last minute. As Bill Ward explains: "We didn't have enough songs for the album, and Tony Lommi played the (Paranoid) guitar lick and that was it. It took twenty-five minutes from top to bottom." The single was released ahead of the album in September 1970 reaching #4 in the UK.


White Man, The Clash

White Man in Hammersmith Palais' helped The Clash assert themselves as a more versatile band musically and politically than many of their peers, and it broke the exciting but limiting punk mould that had been established by the Sex Pistols; from now on The Clash would be "the thinking man's yobs". The single was originally released in four different coloured sleeves - yellow, green, blue and pink.


I Can't Explain, The Who

'I Can't Explain' was the A-side of the group's first single released under the name The Who. The track also features on The Who's 1971 compilation album 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.' In the album's liner notes, Townshend noted the song's similarity to the hit single 'All Day and All of the Night' by The Kinks. "It can't be beat for straightforward Kink copying. There is little to say about how I wrote this. It came out of the top of my head when I was 18 and a half."

Available at notonthehighstreet.com

Thanks Summer for having me!

-Jan

Site: poppytalk.blogspot.com
Shop: poppytalkhandmade.com
Current market theme: Back to School