Daub & Bauble

One of my very favorite designers, Richard Boynton, of Wink (he also happens to be my husband) has designed the packaging and collateral for a new series of soaps and hand lotions called Daub & Bauble. Above is a poster for the line. I love the look of it so much. The designer ain’t bad either.

George & Gracie

My husband and I will be getting a Miniature Bulldog eventually — and while we’re both pretty sure one puppy will keep us more than busy, we joke (and dream a little bit) about also getting an Italian Greyhound. The Bulldog has always been Richard’s dream doggy and he loves the adorable, sturdy build and laid-back couch potato personality, while I love the way the Italian Greyhound looks like a fragile baby deer and is snuggly and playful. They’re funny little opposites and would be so cute as a pair called George & Gracie — an homage to that adorable, funny couple George Burns and Gracie Allen. Say good night Gracie. Good night, Gracie.

(Good) Affordable Art

Lumas. When I happened on this site it blew me away: limited edition prints of beautiful photography at pretty reasonable prices. Featuring work from established photographers like Slim Aarons and Juergen Teller besides brand new talent and archival work. Unsolicited advice: freeze your credit card in a block of ice before clicking on the link.

Sixx Design

Sometimes I see interiors that induce fantasies of winning the lottery and becoming a collector of, well...residences.This fantastic work from Sixx Design based out of New York (which I found via Decor8. Thank you!) inspired a recent lottery fantasy. Mmmmm.

Margaret Kilgallen

A few years back my good friend Dawn introduced me to the work of Margaret Kilgallen, and I loved her work immediately. It has a beautiful naive quality to it, with masterful use of color and funny juxtaposition. Dawn and I were fortunate enough to see her show, “In the Sweet Bye and Bye” at the Red Cat Gallery in LA back in 2005. It was a retrospective of sorts and downright captivating (Sadly, Margaret died in 2001 of breast cancer at the young age of 33). A really gorgeous book by the same title was produced for the show, and is in its second printing and available at Giant Robot. There are some nice photos from the show posted on flickr here.

Trina Turk 4Ever

Who can argue with the flawless aesthetic that is Trina Turk? Her collections seem classic and new all at once and have style for days. Not to mention she hired Kelly Wearstler to design her LA boutique and another of my interior designer crushes, Mr. Jonathan Adler, did her New York shop. The girl knows what’s up.

My New Favorite Thing

It’s really just a simple collage technique, but lately I’ve been experimenting with printing onto pages from vintage books. I just tape the page to a letter size piece of paper and run it through the printer as usual. The printer can get a little finicky, but for the most part it’s really forgiving and really easy. And I love the end result. Above is one of Mimi Haddon’s images (see previous post) I printed onto the pages of a book on Southern Europe from the late 19th century. The time worn pages add a gorgeous warmth and depth to her already beautiful image.

Hello, Beautiful

Can a car be cute and beautiful at the same time? The Figaro seems to insist the answer is a resounding “absolutely.” It has the stylings of a 50s European car, but is in fact a Japanese (Nissan) model from the early 90s. It started as a concept car in ‘89 and was produced in very limited quantities in ‘91. My husband showed me this piece of design genius a few months ago and we have both been harboring little car crushes ever since. And who can blame us? It’s beautiful as a button.

Pin-Up Girl Extraordinaire

Autumn Whitehurst is a favorite illustrator of mine. Her work has a super-styled, surreal airbrushed quality that is, plainly put, nothing short of stunning. And there’s always a little sass and naughtiness thrown in for good measure. Her work reminds me of a modern take on that of pin-up artist Alberto Vargas (see below) — with perhaps a bit less cheesecake and a lot more chic.

Obligatory Wearstler Shrine

O.K. I’m totally aware that Kelly Wearstler has legions of admirers and dedicating a post to her (amazing, I must say) work is nothing noteworthy or new, but this blog will hardly seem up to snuff if I don’t at least acknowledge how much I love (we’re talking head-over-heels) her style. It’s like a David Hicks and Dorothy Draper smoothie with a dash of the Billys (Baldwin and Haines) sprinkled on top. Ever since I stumbled across the Viceroy Santa Monica several years back I’ve followed her work with bated breath. Her books, Modern Glamour and Domicilium Decoratus, are cornerstones of my library and I highly recommend both to anyone who’ll listen to me go on and on about the divine Ms. W.

Starry-Eyed

As corny as it sounds there’s just something about a little patterned light splashed around a room that always seems a bit magical to me. So of course when I saw this pendant light from Materialise.MGX and this little beauty called “Moonstruck” at Feinedinge, I immediately got wistful and wondered how possible it might be to talk my thus-far very tolerant husband into yet another girly, pattern-casting light fixture....(Sigh).

Crazy Good Style

Lil’ Edith Bouvier Beale (Jackie O’s cousin) may seem an unlikely style icon just because she wore skirts upside down and sweaters on her head, but then again that’s probably precisely the reason she is. Her fascinating and completely unselfconscious style is showcased to perfection in the 1975 documentary “Grey Gardens” (recommended to me by my good friend, Kelly), which features her and her mother (Big Edie) living in squalor in the Hamptons. It's an oxymoron from start to finish and it’s wonderful.

In an Orange and Blue Mood

I happened upon this sweetly beautiful mood board by Starlee Matz when I was over at Decor8, which just hosted a mood board contest. There were lots of great entries, but this one stole my heart.

Screaming Mimi Haddon

In the search for good stock photography I came across Mimi Haddon at Jupiter Images. She has a series called “Summer” that’s breathtaking. The lighting and styling has a soft nostalgic/vintage feel, but the overall effect is absolutely fresh.