warm and trendy feet

photos: : www.modernseed.com

: : I was reminded of these adorable felt slippers by Swedish designer Pia Wallen today when I was introduced to Canadian online design store .uptoyou. available on their website as well as on modern seed. oh, I would love a pair of these for the winter! .mamma. [mom], christmas present..hint, hint... and the kids sizes are just too cute!

check out Pia Wallens other work at her website

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marimekko in cambridge

photo: : Globe Staff photo/Michele McDonald www.boston.com

: : oh, the excitement!! everyone knows I am a color freak, and what company has more bold, bright colors than marimekko? well, my friend .gisela. sent me a link to an article in the Boston Globe [Oct 5th] announcing that marimekko's very first retail store in the US has opened in Cambridge!! of all places!! so exciting! anyone want to meet me there this weekend?

here's a piece of the Boston Globe article

"It makes perfect sense that the country's first Marimekko major "concept" store, which opened last week, would be in Cambridge. "We think of Cambridge as the birthplace of Marimekko in the US," says Yossie Bitton, managing director of Marimekko North America.

Local design afficionados of a certain age associate Marimekko -- the Finnish textile and clothing company -- with Harvard Square of the '60s and '70s. It was Cambridge architect Benjamin Thompson who first brought Marimekko products to the United States in 1959, selling them in his legendary home furnishings store, Design Research, on Brattle Street. (It now houses Crate & Barrel.)

Known for their vivid, uninhibited colors and exuberant patterns, ``nothing like it had been seen in America," Thompson wrote in 1985. ``It matched the mood of the times . . . Marimekko was freedom of movement -- women in an equal rights world, breaking out into a new life."

find the store at 350 Huron Ave., Cambridge. 617-354-2800.

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buster vacuum cleaner for kids

: : my wonderful, sweet designer friend .tina. has just graduated from Lunds University School of Design. grattis!! [congratulations!] and is ready for the real world as an industrial designer. her thesis project for Philips is this very cute and practical vacuum cleaner for kids. children are invited to help out with the cleaning of their home in a fun, responsible and inspiring way. when they are very young they can sit on it and ride along, then when they get older they can start cleaning areas by themselves.

buster doesn't have to be hidden away like most other vacuum cleaners, he becomes part of the interior when not in use. the shape derives from a fantasy animal that adds a story to the product which will inspire and enhance the power of play. .tina. is available at tina.id@gmail.com

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compact living

photo: : www.bonbon.co.uk

: : these clever solutions to compact living were passed along to me from my very good friend .leo. what first drew my attention was this sofa bed that converts into a bunkbed. i then realized that bon bon trading offers a huge variety of bed transformations to save space. "murphy beds" was something I thought only really existed in movies...but here are some modern and very well executed versions of the "murphy bed"

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creative ad campaigns

photos: :www.flickr.com/photos/liveu4/131931031/in/photostream/

: : these creative ad campaigns have been circulating the internet for a while, I found them again yesterday on people against dirty and they just make me smile.

the nose cup....clever way to advertise plastic surgery [Toronto plastic surgery. agency: DDB, Canada]. the gun; this bag was given when the customer bought a book by Belgium's most famous crime-writers. [ agency: Duval Guillaume Brussels ]. Stop'n grow's nailbiter bags, and Folgers coffee NYC ad campaign, YKM creative jump rope bag and Blush Lingerie "x-ray bag".

[find high res pics on liveu4's flickrsphotostream ]

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herman yu

photo: : hermanyu.com

: : my nature inspiration from this weekend reminded me of designer .herman yu. who makes these beautiful prints [calendars and cards] with motifs inspired by nature. so many beautiful colors. i like the warm reds and oranges, appropriate for the fall.

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...it is the season

photo: : red.house

: : ... for apples, pumpkins and leaves of all colors....everything that comes with fall! i love fall in new england. it's absolutely beautiful. the leaves are changing a bit more slowly this year I hear, must have been because the warm summer stayed with us for so long.

spent my saturday in a pumpkin patch and in the apple orchard. found the perfect pumpkin! he's sitting on our doorstep, and picked too many apples. they better turn into apple crisps at some point soon.

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