My absolutely favorite resource for fine teas is finally shipping to the US! Check out Le Palais des Thes' new website for US-bound orders. If you're an Earl Grey fan (like me), do check out their Blue of London, it's the best I've ever had.

Check out William Hundley's "w/cheeseburgers" series, some are really funny (my favorite is with the chihuahua).

The NY Times' Abstract City blog always puts a smile on my face! Above are some of my favorites. See Christoph Niemann's full post here.

In case you haven't seen these...I first heard about Coralie Bickford-Smith's designs on Design Sponge. They're so beautiful I couldn't resist not passing this along. She's a senior designer at Penguin Books and recently designed their hard-bound classics as a series. Each cover has a different pattern, using a symbol inspired from the book itself, 2 colors and a metallic finish. Each one is so unique yet clearly part of a collection. See the interview on Design Sponge here. See Coralie Bickford-Smith's website here.

This is really beautiful...it's the spatuletail hummingbird, a rare bird that lives in Peru. I saw this video on the BBC News website, it shows its mating habit. This particular hummingbird does a dance to entice the female, you have to see this!

This is a great place to browse all sorts of rare LP covers, it's a site called LP Cover Lover. Some have interesting designs and some are just hilarious and strange. Is that a whale, or is that a shark?

BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN

My friend just told me about this show by Livia Marin. It's called "Broken Things" and it's taking place right now in House of Propellers (a gallery in London), the show is up until November 7th. For more information about the gallery and her show click here. Also check out this interview with the artist, where she explains her work a bit.
It all looks absolutely beautiful, I would love to see these pieces in person.

GETTING INTO THE SPIRIT

I love the look of these home-made lollipops from Martha Stewart. Make these Halloween treats here.

I went to Joe's Fabrics yesterday...so many options!!

I saw this wallpaper in the Anthropologie catalog this morning. It's by Tracy Kendall and is only available on the store's website. She took Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and hand-stitched a passage of it onto the wallpaper. It must have a nice effect once on a wall, with the tactile effect of the stitching.

Ha! Check out these lunch bags...genius! See more about (and purchase) this product here.

I came across these images on Apartment Therapy. They were taken on a visit to Marimekko's factory. The top image shows the different screens and prints being stored. The bottom two are of the press itself. It's so cool to see the whole process. To see more pictures check out always mod, they have a real detailed look into the process, from design to garment.

I saw this sign recently, while walking to Gowanus. I wonder if it still lights up at night?

PATTERNS IN CHURCHES

I saw some interesting patterns in many of the churches I visited in Tuscany. The columns are from San' Antimo, a church an hour away from Siena. Each column has a different pattern along the top. The church overall is quite austere, but it's filled with small details such as these.

The bottom two images are of the ceiling in Santa Croce (in Florence). Who says you can't combine different patterns?

LOVELY LETTERING

The top two images are packaging for some artisanal pasta that I saw in a store in Montalcino, Italy. The last image is packaging of calligraphy pen nibs, found in a pen shop in Florence.

BACK FROM HIATUS

Now that my summer travels are over, I should be back to more regular postings...

I flew Swiss Air to Italy and couldn't believe how faithful they were to swiss typography. All of their branding (from in-flight magazines, sugar packets, utensils, to their barf bags!) was beautifully consistent. Yes, it wasn't ground-breaking, but props to them for keeping it clean and very swiss! They use a tick (-) to mark headers and use the red cross as a pattern, as seen on the back of the chocolates' packaging (2nd image from top).

The 3rd image is of some after-shave lotion. Although it doesn't scream grooming product, it still has a nice aesthetic.

The last image is of a building in Florence. I loved the fake window painted in the middle!

More images to follow soon...

Beautiful works on paper by Simon Schubert. (Thanks L!) It's all made by folds and creases made to the back of the paper. Genius! See his website and more of his work here.

Wow! What a straightforward ad! I spotted this on Flatbush in Brooklyn this weekend. Notice how they incorporated the prostate to their logo. They do not play around!

I walked through the High Line last week. It's really wonderful, here are some pics...

The road to nowhere.



Some cool patterns and color schemes. Go see it for yourself!

To make a long story short I had to return my McCullers' book, even though I was only half way through with it. (Thanks O!) I went to The Strand, hoping I'd find a neat used copy, but this is the only one they had. Aside from the cover image of the author, it's not as interesting as my previous copy (see my 6.01.09 entry). Boo.


And this is something I spotted in my backyard. Nature is so cruel!