Friday Fotos & Faves

Summer is slowly coming to a close here in the Pacific Northwest. This week there's been a slight hint of Fall in the air, and the days are certainly getting shorter! So since I've had to start cutting a couple of blocks out of my nightly walk, I've had a little more time to sit down and surf the Interwebs. Here are some interesting finds.

1. DIY Day-Glo shirt using neon fabric spray paint
2. Living letters
3. A little zine inspired by traditional Japanese crafts
4. Things you can make with vintage paint-by-numbers
5. Are we all crafters?
6. LEGO realism by Bruce Lowell

Enjoy, and have a great holiday weekend!

La Boca: Color-Blocked Barrio

Though one of 48 barrios in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, La Boca is certainly its most colorful. This popular destination for tourists boasts beautiful color-blocked houses and the Caminito, a pedestrian street where tango artists perform. I'd be dancing in the streets, too, if my neighborhood looked like this! Just about anything goes where color is concerned, and yet all of the color combinations work, which is inspiring!










An example of Fileteado art, which is typical of Buenos Aires, and prevalent in La Boca. This sign says, "Good for Adam that he didn't have a mother-in-law."

For the Abolishment of Drab

A couple of colorful, psychedelic, and a bit surrealistic Dexter Shoes ads from 1971. These were illustrated by Joe Veno, who also illustrated several Sesame Street books. If anything, these should brighten your Monday!

Back to School: Favorite Finds

1 Rainbow Mechanical Pencils from Kikkerland || 2 Camera Pencil Sharpener from Kikkerland || 3 Video Tape Ruled Notebook by Monkey Business || 4 Calculator iPhone Case by Zero Gravity || 5 Sticky Tapes Sticky Notes from NPW || 6 Birdie and Polka Dot Tissue Packs at NPW || 7 Index Fingers Page Markers at NPW || 8 Double Sharpener Desk Tidy from Suck UK

Back to School: School Supplies Pattern Contest (Vote for Me!)

Today voting kicks off for the Spoonflower's "School Supplies" Fabric of the Week contest. I've been away from the contest circuit for awhile, but jumped at the chance to enter this one! Below is the design I am entering this week. If you like it, please vote for it by clicking here.

Once you're there, all you need to do to vote is click on the Vote in This Week's Contest link on the right, then find my design and click on it (a green border will appear around the image). Make your way through the remaining pages, clicking on any other designs you'd like to vote for (you can vote for as many as you like!), and click the Review My Votes button on the bottom of the last page. When you have reviewed your votes, you can click Submit...and that's it! Designs that make the Top Ten are automatically offered for sale on the Spoonflower site!

Back to School: In Glam & Groovy Style

No school supplies list is truly complete without a check box for the mega-pack of 24 Sharpies in a rainbow of colors! Check out these awesome '80s Glam colors to add to your set. Five limited-edition, retro-inspired colors: Jellie Pink, Leg Warmer Orange, Valley Girl Violet, Banana Clip Yellow, and Argyle Green. Haven't decided yet if I'd take them out of the gloriously New Wave package.

And have you ever been to the Sharpie website? Incredibly, doodle-y inspiring. Plus, if you click on the Sharpie By Color tab on the left, you can see life-size pictures of every type of Sharpie available in that color!



And while we're talking about pen love, check out this groovy 1970s ad for Paper Mate Ops 'n Pops! It says they cost $1.59 apiece, which seems like a lot of bread for back then, but hey, the price you pay for fashion!

Back to School: Desk Graffiti

I don't know about you, but when I was in school, I doodled a lot during class. I don't remember ever defacing school property by doodling on the desks, but I could have repressed those memories, remembering myself only as a straight-A student who just didn't DO those kinds of things. Ha! Here are some interesting examples of desk graffiti I found online. Most appear to be from the '90s or later, and the spelling errors in a few of them prove that the "artists" probably should have been paying attention in class!









Click here for more samples.