we're searching for sheets

: : my wonderful roommate .miss robin. is looking for a new set of sheets. sitting in the big chair in our green living room tonight she asked " where are all the cool looking but good quality sheets? all the cool looking ones are usually bad quality and all the good quality ones are often boring".

I thought I'd help her look, and maybe some of my readers have some hot tips...?

one of my favorites, although a little on the spendy side is amenity's bedding series. they offer some beautiful patterns...now available on bags too [ a little more affordable].

to pee or not to pee....

: : for those of you who don't speak Swedish, the tidy whiteys above read, " don't poop in the Baltic Sea" and on the red ball it says "don't pee in the ocean".

this is related to a discovery that I made this past summer, when I learned that most, if not all, of my American friends pee in the ocean when we go to the beach!! I have since then realized how naive I was on the matter, but for years I have been happily unknowing that while we're all hanging out in the water, playing frisbee, doing headstands, chatting.....they've all been standing there PEEING!! I was appalled when I first found out! so, I decided to conduct my own survey and sent out an e.mail to all my Swedish friends, asking if they also pee in the ocean? I was dissapointed by the results...not Swedes too! although, not as bad as my American friends, about a third of my Swedish friends said they pee in the ocean. there seems to be no statistics available on this subject, but I've heard rumors that about 1/3 of Swedes is correct....and supposively, the Frenchmen are the worst! so, stay away from the French riviera!

while visiting folkform's website [Swedish design company that I spoke of in previous post], I found this ad campaign [images above] that they created for the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. The ad campaign is a traveling exhibit aimed at educating the people of Sweden about the environmental issues currently affecting the baltic sea. And informing people about what can be done on both a national level as well as a personal level to improve the conditions of the .baltic sea., where pollution levels have been increasing steadily for many, many years now. and what do you know, one of the top ten things that we can do on an individual level to help create a cleaner and healthier .baltic sea. is to........ NOT PEE IN THE OCEAN!

there, finally, I've made my point! I will continue to use toilets, porta potties, bushes whatever else is available at the beach, BUT the ocean.

folkform

: : as a nice gesture when I was upgraded to a flat screen monitor at work, .doug. set my web homepage to www.sweden.se . they always have interesting articles, but there was one that was particularly interesting as it is so relative to myself and my profession. the article is about women's influence on Swedish industrial design. through the article I connected with .folkform., a Swedish design company started by two young women, .anna holmquist. and .chandra ahlsell. they experiment with adding organic pieces to raw materials, such as masonite. above you can see images of plants and butterflies pressed into masonite boards, and glimpses of the production process.

In the article .anna holmquist. talks about an emotional approach to design.
“Our masonite project is an example of emotional, but also innovative design. Traditionally the Swedish industrial design scene has been very much about functionality and engineering. Now it’s more about bringing emotional and human values to products.”

Read the entire article here.

habitat

: : my lovely friend .maiya. has just bought her own condo!! a wonderful one room apartment in a beautiful newly built apartment structure. so, naturally she's spending the majority of her days daydreaming about how to design the apartment. she mentioned habitat the other day and I realized it was years since I last visited their site. and I found out that they were bought out several years ago, by Swedish furniture giant, IKEA, or more specifically by the IKANO group, owned by the Ingvar Kamprad family [founder of IKEA].

lovely kitchen ideas...and much, much more...

the search for the perfect watch

: : I feel like I've been searching for the perfect watch for years now. there are so many beautiful men's watches out there...but a poor selection for women. but then again, nothing says I can't go with a men's watch. but my wrist is so small...many of them would look huge. if anyone has any suggestions, tips etc, I would love to know.

.nooka. , of course, have some of the most interesting ones out there. I am also in love with the .chalet. by nixon. perfectly appropriate for women, I just feel like maybe it's a little too much...?

blås & knåda

: : what would I do without my dear friend .tina.? she is my constant inspiration. here are more of her wonderful finds. blås och knåda, a community of Swedish ceramic and glass artists. here you see work by [from the top] .mia e. göransson. .hisaku mizuno. and .magdalena nilsson.

lisa de john

: : I had the pleasure of meeting [now] local artist .lisa de john. last night...and several other fabulous design gals!!

.lisa. has some wonderful mixed media pieces, the "deer in headlights" being one of my favorites. and also some great surface design. contact her through her website if you are interested in her work.

color explosions

: : lovely .tina. shared some incredibly inspirational work by .jen stark. being a fan of colors....I of course fell in love with her work immediately. her paper sculptures are amazing, an explosion of colors that just draws you in. and her paintings are so wonderful and dreamy.

vimobot

: : finally the mimobots are available as pure vinyl art toys .vimobots. !! there are eight vimobots in each blind assortment, meaning you won't know which once you will get.

mimoco is a Boston based company that launced in 2005. making good use of their local talents, .baron brandt. , a good friend of mine, became their lead designer. and .todd taylor. their mechanical engineer.