Blue is the color of the day. Now, I'm not very fond of this color, and you can't find it anywhere in my home, but I challenged myself to find some pictures where I think it actually looks good. Here they are, enjoy!

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Going from calm and peaceful to more intense.

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OK, so you live in the city, and there's a park in the neighborhood and every once in a while you take a stroll. And because your park is no different than any other park in any other metropolitan city, it attracts all kinds of people. Some normal, like you, some weird, and some, well, let's just not go there now?

But actually, that's exactly where Tristan Zimmermann, designer extraordinaire went. Drawing inspiration from the bonsai, the Park Planters were created to elevate the common household plant to the status of full grown tree. The potted plant becomes the backdrop for an urban park scene. This is the first in a series of two different park scenes investigating the dark side of the park, the stuff that happens when the sun goes down and you're not supposed to play in the park any more. You'll find a lost salesman, a flasher, a gay couple and a mugger, with no two scenes being alike ensuring the autonomy of each piece. Beautifully crafted out of porcelain each set contains a plate, the planter base and two parts of the lid, one blank and one with the scene of your choice.

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I just received a newsletter from Ferm Living, with a picture of the teatowel and pillow range they are going to launch this summer. I am definitely looking forward to it!

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ICA is one of the largest food store chains in Sweden, and this week they are launching a new product range called I Love ECO, consisting of organic food, and some are even Fair Trade. Ok, so now you are wondering why I am writing about this?
Well, firstly because I like the packaging, designed by Identity Works, it looks good enough to get a place in my pantry (without the need of pouring the contents into a new container, which I usually do). Also, the packaging is actually informative! It has little texts on how the product tastes, what you can use it for, and even some short recipes.

The second reason I am blogging this is of course the fact I am very interested in ecological, organic products, and feel that a green lifestyle should be encouraged and promoted. The fact that this big food store chain is taking a step in the right direction is worth noticing.

One thing that bugs me though is the fact that not all products are presented with its sugar content. Sure, they say it contains sugar, but exactly how much is impossible to find out! Now that really bothers me, and makes me think twice about serving it to my kids. This is not the case on all the products though, luckily.

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I discovered this magazine somehow, you know how it is, you surf the net and then suddenly you find something amazing but you have no idea of how you got there... Well, I'd love to read Once More With Feeling! The first 32 page issue is called Woodlands, and features Lisa Congdon, Takashi Iwasaki and Paul Paper.

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A Vietnam native, Diem Chau and her family came to America as refugees in 1986. Chau is a BFA graduate from Cornish College of the Arts and has received an Artist Trust GAP Grant and a PONCHO Artist-in-Residence Award. Her work has been exhibited in New York, Miami, Seattle and Los Angeles.

Chau combines common mediums and common means to create delicate vignettes of fleeting memory, gesture and form, resulting in works that combine egalitarian sensibility and minimalist restraint. Her work touches on the value of Storytelling, Myths and its ability to connect us to each other through cultural and humanistic similarities. Chau's current work drifts into new territory by exploring the periphery of the narrative, moments forgotten and faded, or too brief to retain.

This is her most recent work, embroidery on porcelain plates and cups. Amazing, isn't it?

And check out Chau's website to have a closer look at the tiny furniture she makes from toothpicks and paper.

Via More Ways to Waste Time

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One of my favourite artists, Heather Smith Jones, just opened up her Etsy shop! It's stocked full of her original paintings and drawings, meaning there is only one of each, so hurry over to snitch one before they are all gone! If you want to see more of her work, just click on over to her blog or website.

Ps. Don't forget to enter in the smil competition, I will draw the winners tonight!

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An easter egg full of yellow and green candy for today. Happy Easter to you all!

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Here is your chance to win a smil product of you choice!
Nadja from smil is holding an Easter tombola and asked me to draw the winners.

Berlin based designer Nadja Girod creates pouches, note books, temporary tattoos, key holders and bags from lovely vintage fabrics and own printed designs. Birds, cats, flowers and hearts - charming prints in small editions and one of a kind productions.

Here is how the tombola works:
1. Somewhere on the smil website an Easter egg has been hidden. Find it and click it!!!
2. Complete the form and with a bit of luck you're one of the winners.
3. I will randomly pick three winners next monday, March 24.
4. Three lucky winners will recieve the prize of their choice :-)

Here are some pics to get you inspired!

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Organize your stuff to make stylish stills.

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This week an old friend died, which is horrible of course, but what really breaks my heart is seeing his best friend trying to get through it.

In other news, I had my first cappuccino, my fever came back, I saw some people I haven't seen for 7 years and I felt the warming spring sun on my back. All in all, a strange week.

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Mibo Tile Tattoos is the perfect idea for anyone looking to add some 50's flair to their plain white kitchen or bathroom tiles. Tile tattoos are perfect for renovating on a budget, as they are long lasting and waterproof. They are also suitable for folk who want to make their rented home their own, as they can be easily removed once their tenancy is up.

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I just found new-to-me interior stylist Stella Nicolaisen at :Refresh Agency.

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The history of Kähler begins in 1839 when potter Herman Kähler opened his small pottery studio in Næstved, Denmark. The sense for craftmanship has since been passed on from generation to generation, giving the name of Kähler to the finest of Danish art ceramics. Today they take the best from an artistic ceramic inheritance and interpret in a contemporary light. The result is sprouting new ceramics - designed and burnt with heart.

Some of their latest products include the Cammeo lidded boxes by Louise Campbell.

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Vanessa Levis' love of wonderful food was nurtured by her Italian heritage, but her excellent technical lighting skills and passion for photography were cultivated over years of assisting the cream of Australian and International photographers. Now she has combined these, to become one of Sydney's most exciting emerging photographic talents. Vanessa's eye for composition and ability to capture the essence of her subject translates to clean, fresh, delicious imagery. Her portraits and travel work also delight.

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Anita Dube is trained as an art historian and critic. Her work is determinedly individualized yet provocatively informed by its cultural context. She has developed an aesthetic language that is partial to sculptural fragment as a cultural bearer of personal and social histories. Usually employing a variety of found objects, Dube explores a divergent range of subjects that address a profound concern for loss and regeneration - both autobiographical and societal.

The photos below are from Anitas 5 words exhibition that just ended at The Mattress Factory Art Museum in Pittsburgh.

"I wanted to work with one letter and kept writing strings of words. I could have ended up with the letter, "c" or "t" or anything but eventually I picked "w", I thought I could deal with the issues I was interested in through these words at this time."

"Everything is white because I didn?t want colors to interfere with the conceptual process."

"I wanted to make something compelling. I could have portrayed waste as a messy, repelling thing but I wanted the experience to be subtle where it unfolds and takes more time to understand. I think that attention spans are too short these days and artists need to have strategies to compete or combat this."

"I am also interested in how a word can become architecture, exploring that idea."

"Where I come from in India, we save everything, everything is re-used. The logic of capitalism is to have more, to have excess and therefore also to create more waste."

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Inspired by the way my head and throat feels this week, the theme for this weeks bag of eye candy is big, or oversized.

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I think I have caught pneumonia (caughing my lungs out, have had a high fever for six days now, and am totally dizzy), but I'm so tired of staying in bed now, I have to head out on the town to do some people watching. I guess you can read this weeks flickr favorites as a little summation of my week.

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...Per! The very last commenter! Congratulations on winning the Norm 69 light from Vit Design, please email me your postal address and I'll make sure you get the shade real soon. I hope you will enjoy the puzzle of assembling the pieces!

Per's favorite was the Music System from Tivoli Audio, but the rest of you seemed more interested in the Norm 03, the Chokladfondue set, the Grace lamp, Paus Teapot and the Hold Örtkruka Trio.

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Catarina Giarimi is one of the brightest shining stars in the Swedish design scene, and has been so for a couple of years now ever since she launched her Caribbean Cocktail glass collection which was big success! Her latest creation, Feast, are much more traditionally Swedish in their expression, flirting with cross stitches and other textile crafts. Available in 7 different colours and both with and without decorations.

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Decor Maison is a Swedish wallpaper brand that offers a huge range of wallpapers in different styles, anything from classic Nordic simplicity to more opulent patterns with medallions and metallics. They have their own Swedish designers and productions, but are also importing collections from Italy, Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark.

Decor Maison are now launching two new collections called DM Accessories and DM Photo that are both playful and modern, adding lots of character to any room.

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Swedish designer Erika Lövqvist recently won the 2007 Wallpaper* prize for best wallcovering for her Illusion tiles. Erika has a long education in Ceramics and Glass, having studied at both Konstfack and Orrefors Glass School in Sweden and Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle. However, I discovered her work through her wonderful steel Water-Lily tables, shelves and lights.

Ps. Don't forget to enter the competition if you want a chance to win a Norm 69 lamp! The deadline is tomorrow night (March 6).

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After thirty years of design experience, Nancy Bauch's work is still her meditation. Her work is largely inspired by the observations she makes of the earth... the opening in the ice, the lines in a leaf, the texture of a rock, the curve in a snowdrift, the light filtering through the forest at dawn. Underlying all is the hidden unity that nurtures her and breathes life into her pottery forms. Nancy goes into nature every day. It is her library of ideas. And it trains her eye to see.

Although she originally tried to imitate nature in her art, she has evolved to the point of working directly with the earth using a more sustainable process. She collects natural elements from her daily walking meditation in nature, and transforms these elements into new objects that dramatize and honor their beautiful qualities. She builds most pieces with clay or waxed linen coils layer by layer. This slow process allows her to contemplate the form while she is building it. By so doing, each piece becomes an experiment that leads to the next experiment.

There are numerous ways that Nancy's art reflects her love and respect for the earth. In addition to using natural elements, she actively strives to simulate the imperfection and impermanence of nature itself. Each hand-made piece reflects the philosophy of "wabi sabi" an aesthetic that honors the beauty of imperfection. Her work is a reflection to the variability that is nature, and just as no two snowflakes are alike, so too are each of her pieces unique in their beauty.

Find Nancy's pottery at her White Forest Pottery site.

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Slightly belated, but I couldn't just skip them, so here you are, my Friday Flickr Favourites:

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Okko showroom represents a selected group of internationally renowned designers like Anne Kyyrö Quinn, Form Us With Love and Moa Jantze. They are specialized in qualitative lighting and sound absorbing textiles, and can also help you decorate your home or office.
Marja-Liisa Okko is a Finnish design consultant based in Stockholm specialising in furnishings and interiors. Her office interiors reflect each company's vision and operations, and enhance the corporate profile.
Furnishing and fittings incorporating Nordic features, carried through in minute detail, create an inviting feeling of harmony and wellbeing. Functionality is ever present in her considered, pure style and elegant solutions.

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My weekend is orange.

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