julia rothman.

Today's illustrator spotlight: Julia Rothman. Not only is Julia a fabulous pattern designer, but an extremely talented illustrator. She is a part of the animation team of Also (the website is grand!) and runs the adorable book blog Book By Its Cover.

giant dwarf.

Sue of Giant Dwarf is quite inspiring. She makes beautiful things, has an adorable little studio, and also designs t-shirts. She's a catch!

illico : mur-mur vase.

The mur-mur vase designed by C.Quoi Paris, as seen at Illico. So savvy!:

betsey johnson : shoes.

Ever since I was a teenager, I have been completely and madly in love with almost everything that Betsey Johnson has done. Her designs are courageous, loud, girly, sexy, and oh-so romantic, which equals nothing short of fabulous design.

And oh, how I love her shoe designs. So. Very. Sexy.



(from Zappos)

scandinavian surface.

I really adore the idea of Scandinavian Surface. They design patterns that can go onto any surface: chairs, coasters, tables, walls, etc. Their patterns are modern, romantic, colorful, and simple.

cake design.

Since design falls under a number of categories, I thought I'd show some lovely things that fall under one of my favorite subjects: cake design. I've found a number of beautiful cake designers on the internet that I just love, but today I shall show some examples from just two of them. More later though!

hand painted wedding cakes by Amanda Streeter:







wedding/specialty cakes by Mary & Brenda Maher, a.k.a. Cake Girls:

betsey walton.

Today's illustrator spotlight: Betsey Walton. I just discovered her recently through a show she has been featured in at Compound Gallery this month. Her paintings/drawings are too beautiful for words and so very gorgeous in person.

You can view more of her lovely art on her flickr page.

the collection : wall art.

I find this wall art from The Collection to be absolutely wonderful. Lengthy vinyl pictures of books to fill those small spaces... brilliant!

little bird designs.

Adorable new bags from Shael of Little Bird Designs:

branch : hobknobs.

Beautiful vessels, or "hobknobs", designed by one of my favorite ceramic artists, Amy Adams. They're made to hold "(almost) everything life throws their way."

local : greg's on hawthorne.

Continuing with my local shop of the week feature, this week I am spotlighting Greg's, another shop located on the ever-so trendy Hawthorne Blvd.. Greg's is a cute little shop nestled next to Oasis Cafe (a cozy cheap pizza joint) and features the works of independent artists, such as Queenbee and Apak, as well as a number of gift-type items: soaps, clocks, toys, wallets, greeting cards, etc. It's always a nice place to stop in the neighborhood.

french connection : dresses.

Just a couple of dresses I love from the Summer collection from French Connection:

my my : new goods.

There are a couple of fab new crafters/artists at My My:

address file by ugly kitty:



lovely notecards by 12fifteen:

tokyomade.

I'm quite smitten with this heart bathroom set from Tokyomade.

And just look how cute their bags are...

bo lundberg.

Today's illustrator spotlight: Bo Lundberg. Bo is another example of someone creating fabulous design work in Scandinavia. His work reflects his love of modern furniture design and objects & patterns in everyday life. His editorial clients have included Wallpaper, Elle, Vogue, and the Los Angeles Times. He has also designed a fabulous line of notecards for Vigo which can be seen here.

doe: new!

New items added today to the wonderful San Francisco shop Doe:

pretty ballerinas.

Oh, I am in love! Few things make me swoon more than a good pair of pretty little flats. Thanks to Julie of Belle Viver, I found Pretty Ballerinas today. I would be happy owning every single one of them!

mamadelic.

These pillows from Etsy seller Mamadelic are quite cute. Mona is a part-time vegan chef and a member of the Miami Craft Mafia. You can check out her other site here.

uniform studio.

"uni form: An idea of constancy. A unified idea of making, where underlying qualities are constant and form, structure and texture are inherent in the way the garment and fabric are made."

This is from the site of Minneapolis-based Uniform Studio, one of my new favorite designers. The clothing, which is for both children and adults, is perfectly simple, modern, and well-constructed.

You can view her journal and flickr photos, which are both quite ravishing.

coco & milkweed.

Coco & Milkweed is the small home run operation of Evan, Lila Maleah, and Coco. They make super-cute infant and toddler clothes that are hard not to love.

Check out their photo blog here.