anne wood's birds go camping

anne wood (annewoodhandmade.com) has a new collection of birds, they go on sale august 27 at 3 pm est...this last batch got to go camping...arn't they cute

kate spade music

from katespade.com

"this fall kate spade debuts its first-ever kate spade music cd. the eight songs, written and recorded exclusively for kate spade by beaumont, a modern pop band from the uk, offer a nod to '60s cocktail music with a jolt of modern glamour. beaumont captures the sparkle and kick of kate spade in an unexpected and vibrant style. "

more photography...omni studio

i am quite obsessed with photography lately...can you tell...any way this is the work of liesa cole of omni studio...i love these mural like photos she does

dirty laundry





magic city barber







paris metro







68th street :: birmingham, alabama

stephen devries photography

i went to auburn with stephen...did you ever meet him?...now he is hanging out here in birmingham and doing lots of photography...he also runs a non-profit called bedouins international...here are some of my favorites from his website

ryan adams at the alabama theatre

















ryan adams at the alabama theatre

















tom and emily (friends from auburn too)

















a cute wedding picture

























elepants in birmingham

















russia

renegade craft fair

"hipsters looking for a cool screen printed t-shirt and their parents looking for something to decorate a children's room" was the description i read in mary engelbrite's home companion...and so i told my mom this morning that i want to go to this craft fair...and i think we are going to go...we are going to take a road trip up to chicago (and listen to sufjan all the way)...how fun...check out their website

photography and phelps

michael phelps...13 gold medals...16 overall...one more to go tomorrow night...he is defiantly the target of every camera in beijing this year...and some dynamic photography has come out...check out nbc's olympic website for more photos too...not just of phelps but of all events at the 2008 olympics...i have also included a few of lochte as well

embroidery!

I'm not going to lie... this was pulled straight from the design*sponge blog. but it is one fabulous music video from architecture in helsinki!

It reminds me a little of the Pricked! exhibit that I went to a while back at the Museum of Arts & Design - all about embroidery in contemporary art. most interesting was definitely the hair embroidery by Kate Kretz... she used actual hair as her embroidery floss...

this makes me excited for the opening of MAD's new building! - on Sept. 27! bigger building = more room for fabulous exhibits! - can't wait!

letter press workshop at Kempis Press

a couple of weekends ago, sarah robins and i did a letterpress workshop at Kempis Press downtown...we learned so much, and had a ton of fun

LAMA :: latin america in the modern age

this e-shop is devoted to handmade items from latin america. they have very unique, colorful and cute things. here are some of my favorites. (i love the soap packaging)

ampersand

i guess there's a blog out there for everyone... this one is solely about ampersands! but i agree, the ampersand is definitely one of the nicest symbols in typography.

... and here's a little fun fact - the shape of the ampersand was derived from the latin word "et"... who knew?

muxtape

this website is kind of fun... a good way to find new music. and perfect for a day at work when you're bored with the music on your ipod... you never know what you may find!

choose the soft option

so my friends andy (the lady vanishes) and troy (the explorers club) just finished a music project...the soft option..check it out...actually check all these links out...nice tunes from atlanta

please....

could i please be a design*sponge intern???? thanks.

best day ever

so yesterday, after a long morning/afternoon at a seminar on budgeting (aren't you proud, mom?) and after getting to the post office to pick up my package two minutes after they closed (ugh... probably the collected correspondence journal i just ordered), i decided to do a little exploring around my neighborhood. i don't do enough of this, and there are so many cool shops and restaurants all around the east village and lower east side - i don't know the area nearly as well as i wish i did...if only i didn't have to work a full-time job...

anyway... i stumbled upon two amazing stores...

first up is Wendy Mink jewelry on the lower east side. there is some absolutely incredible jewelry in here, and the store itself is styled so beautifully. Each case has a different color scheme for the jewelry, and a different theme within each. absolutely gorgeous.

then, even though i was running late, i couldn't help but step into the next store when i passed by it. it's called John Derian, in the east village. probably one of my favorite stores i've ever been into. it's hard to describe why it's so amazing, but there are some great decorative items in there. but what steals the show are the plates that John Derian makes. he takes vintage prints that he collects and decoupages them onto the back of a glass plate, platter, paperweight, bell jar, etc... i couldn't resist the one called "tree of life" - with beautiful calligraphy forming the shape of a tree, with the fruits of the spirit hanging off of it, and birds flying nearby. it's now hanging proudly in my room. that's the only thing i bought there yesterday, but i would have taken one of everything in that store... everything about it is beautifully done - from the shopping bag and tissue paper to the sales receipt - i will most definitely be back soon!

details of my plate...

then to top the day off, i went to a She & Him concert at terminal 5... the only way to describe this concert was... CUTE - Zooey Deschanel is the lead singer, backed by M.Ward and others, and it really was just the cutest concert i think i've ever been to.... so fun!

so it was a great day... now i'm so sad the weekend is almost over.

rosebud design studio

rosebud design studio is based out of new jersey, and has some really cute stuff.... but i fell in love with one thing in particular: a collected correspondence journal. I absolutely hate throwing out letters and cards that i get in the mail, but i eventually do because i get tired of random cards laying around (especially with my tiny room). but this notebook has pockets that you can label and keep all your old correspondence in one place. genius! - you can buy it at her etsy shop here. i just bought mine... so feel free to send me letters to fill my new book!...

the small stakes

Jason Munn has a design studio called The Small Stakes, which has some pretty fabulous concert posters (including some glow-in-the dark ones!) here on his website...

he also designed several t-shirts/posters for several of my favorite bands for the Insound 20, a collection available for pre-order now. great design AND great bands!!!

alabama chanin fabrics

Alabama Chanin (formerly Project Alabama) has a line of fabrics which are just beautiful. Their fall/winter 08-09 catalog is also gorgeous. Alabama Chanin is a studio based in Florence, AL that produces beautiful clothes and products for the home. the artisans that make the products are from the area....a lot of them used to work in the textile factories that were in and around Florence, most of which have fairly recently shut down... a great way to revitalize an area, and to embrace southern culture.

staples for city living

So the past couple of days, I have heard much about Urban Standard, a new coffee place down on 2nd ave N in Birmingham, so today during lunch I thought I would head down there and check it out. I loved it, they serve breakfast and lunch...coffee...cupcakes...they sell ribbon, vintage jewelry and letterpressed cards...B Lesch went with me and said the chai latte was wonderful...leeanne you would be all over this place!

feist + sesame street = cuteness

how cute is this???

save the honeybees

haagan dazs loves honey bees...and their new flavor of ice cream with honey is delicious! check out their site in efforts to save the honey bees

Andrew Bush photography

Andrew Bush takes great photographs of everyday things - my favorite is his series of envelopes, here. there are some really interesting envelopes. and i love how simple all the photos are. oh, i would love to have a billion of these framed and hung on my wall in a group.

my guilty pleasure

t-minus 7 days.... season 5 woop woop!

a year of mornings

ok, holly, you've put pressure on me to upload some things to the blog today. I hate to knock Daisy out of the first blog position, so I think I should make her my photo... 

anyway... this is such a cool book that is coming out soon...  it's similar to holleeanne because it's two friends keeping in touch while they live across the country from each other. they each took a photograph of their morning every day and shared it. they've compiled their photographs into a book now, and it is coming out this fall... i may just have to buy it!... you can preorder it here.