Summertime...

Please excuse my absence...I've been gearing up for a work convention so I've been in-and-out this week. So, expect things to resume back to normal next week when I have my relative sanity back.

Meantime, enjoy this graphic find I stumbled upon, Wintergarden, the extendable orgami flower card, made by Singaporean designers at gagatree. When the card is fully extended, it makes a beautiful display, perfect for hanging up in the office as decoration. How ingenius is that? Buy it in the States at Shopmodi for $9.90.

Kraftworks followup: Indie Designers & Etsy

This Saturday, I went to Kraftworks, the indie craftster fair, held at the Rag Trade Clothing Co.'s parking lot. Small and slightly disarrayed, Kraftworks would be a promising start to fostering a crafts community in Miami if it becomes an annual affair. I think that's a win-win if Kraftworks can manage to smooth out its rough edges, curate their selected vendors, and add in more artists. I also checked out Rag Trade Clothing Co. and met owner, Stephanie Spiegel.

I met some promising local designers at their booths and featured some photos below.
Beanblossom: Playful, vintagey, whimsical craft goods that showcase an eye for color and patterns. Who would have thought but she's on Etsy? Social networking exposure at its best. Check out her booth items at top and below, beanblossom and eclectica had one of the more interesting booth setups at the fair.





cheepcheep: Unapologetically feminine designs are featured on her Etsy page. See some of her wares down below from her Etsy page. I didn't get a snapshot of her booth so I had to find screengrabs of her goods. Perfect for accessorizing my playful librarian chic work-play clothes.




At Rag Trade Clothing Co., I and my friend scanned its selections. The boutique's selections were a bit of grab bag but definitely skewed toward a vintage/hipster vibe. The small room in the back housed original works by designers. My friend nabbed two graphic button-up shirts for a good deal. I definitely approve of trading clothes for cash concept, it's similar to Plato's Closet (in Fort Lauderdale) and Buffalo Exchange (in San Francisco). 'Bout time Miami gott something similar! We'll see how in the longrun the local natives will take to the concept.

Looks like Miami's indie community is attempting to incubate its first craftsers fair. Props to the folks behind the
rag*trade clothing company who are sponsoring it in the Miami Design Destrict. To read more about them and the fair, check them out on Myspace.
This Saturday, July 21, 11am-5pm @ 4600 NE 2nd Ave Miami.
See you there.

Tory Burch - Spring '07

Tory Burch's Spring 2007 collection rocks. I've never given her name much a glance since all I knew about her previously were her infamous medallion flats (though I have to give her cred about helping flats popular to wear) but I found some outfits in a fashion mag and searched her, it's rare for me to find clothing that I like--on sight--but I fell in love with 90% of her collection here. I love how the clothes are neat, crisp, colorful, and youthful. Her eye for patterns and color are spot on. The only store that offers similar California prep/lifestyle wear has to be Penguin. They work in a creative professional setting and also could be worn for a play date or a day appointment. According to her site, she was "inspired by the sophisticated style of Grace Kelley mixed with the youthful 60s vibe of Edie Sedgwick."
Love, love, love it.

Crafters: DIY Transformers

In the spirit of Transformers, I present you Ready Mech, a site dedicated to serving your inner child's needs for fun DIY toys (remember cootie catchers?) by bringing you these ingenius fold-flat, paper cutout toy designs, perfect for your desktop or adult play room. If you're insistant on finding a Transformers-like fold-flat toy design, Martin Gee, designer at the San Jose Mercury News, made this cute robo here.
Scissors, printer, and tape not included.

Base Annex: Miami

Here's a recent boutique I found in Miami that
visually satiates my love for crazy, madhouse design--at least until, Art Basel hits down again this winter.
Base Annex is an offshot of Base, the trendsetting lifestyle boutique, on Lincoln Road, Miami Beach. Whereas, Base offered retail, music, urban toys, this boutique is aiming its cooly curatorial eye for refinement.

Stepping into this retail space is pure eye candy. Base Annex models itself as a madcap Alice in Wonderland curio shop, minus the hallucinogenic drugs, offering many well-placed curios and knicknacks that compell you to browse and poke around. Each room is elaborately styled with the wares serving as set props, properly placed for browsing. Peering around, I found many decor ideas serving as inspiration from this space.

See below:







[photo credit: coolhunting]

Some interesting products I caught here:
porcelain garden gnomes (personal collectable fetish)
Karl Lagerfeld's mix cd collection
skull-enscribed houswares in the black room.

Base Annex is located @
927 Lincoln Road, Suite 118
Miami Beach, Florida 33139