Kleenex, I Say, “Bless You”

So, I’ve never really been a fan of the designs on facial tissue boxes. Not big on the crappy flowers in pastels that usually cover the box. And none of the “designer” or “seasonal” options blend into the decor. Let’s face it, facial tissue boxes should not be a critical element of one’s room design in the first place, but if they’re going to go through the trouble of adding a design to the box it needs to be a good one. Over the weekend, I actually found a “fun” one, and while it doesn’t really do anything for my home decor, I found the packaging to be unique, interesting and pricey. But I also found it to be worthy of  sharing with the rest of  you. 

 

Kleenex's limited-edition packaging - may it be fruitful

Book Cover Art

I stumbled upon these today on artist/animator/illustrator/filmmaker Nick White’s portfolio. I love the idea of taking objects and turning them  into your canvas.

The Portsmouth Project Post #1

Hasta Bella Vista Baby!

Welcome to our home. In keeping with the true spirit of our blog and the creative passion it has allowed me to initially share with you, I thought I would develop a series of posts to keep you turds up to speed with what I do when I’m not working, fathering, husbanding, climbing, or enjoying nude midget polar bear club water aerobics.  I’ve got several projects going on around the house that I will introduce you to.  First up is the entry/big planting bed in the front of the house.

I can’t even begin to explain the level of satisfaction I get when designing and working with nature.  It is last on the list, but making it my full time job would ruin the whole experience.  I’ve developed a lone man style of working that is especially effective once you’ve put in a couple years of work.  We have a pretty big piece of property and when we bought the house, it had just been built with no landscaping whatsoever.  How do I start to work on this place without paying an arm and a leg for someone else to do it?  As I said, a couple of years of building a wall here and making a bed there have started to pay off.  This approach is much like a puzzle in that the neigbors don’t notice much going on at the start, but then all of a sudden things come together pretty fast once the holes get filled in.  Most times with landscaping, this transformation can seem as if it happened almost over night.

So the first area is the big bed in front of the house.  We always knew this was going to be a problem form the start.  I observed water runoff and our traffic patterns around this area for three years to determine the most time and cost effective approach. Late last summer. I built the rock walls. This spring my project has been building the path that will cut through this bed, getting it prepped for compost and manure, and finally mulching it. We will begin planting next year.

All of the timbers for the stepped areas and rock for the stepped areas was picked up at an auction for mere dollars. This area next to the house where the faucet is will be where the path spills out into the side yard. Some gradual shallow steps will be filled with chocolate gravel. If you notice the mass of morter piled up at the bottom, this did pose a problem. I solved it, by pouring some cement and making a ledge for some potted plants. Sorry, no picks of that yet you’ll have to look for the next post. Just wanted to point it out.

The path starts out next to an pull in between the wall and the mailbox. I wanted the path to start out much like the wall and then gradually disappear within the slope. Once we fill with compost and manure and mulch, this effect should look pretty good. I’ve dropped very large flat stepping stones into the steps and we are filling the gaps with moss and chocolate gravel. The concentration of stepping stones will gradually fall off too as the path heads back to the house. The urns are not staying, although the longer they are there, my mind gets to thinking how great some potato vines would look spilling out of them, down the wall and into the yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned as I already have made some more progress with this bed and path and will be posting soon. Also be looking out for my home climbing gym/kiddos tree house project as that has been underway for a while and another big project at 95 Portsmouth.

Contemporary Needlepoint

 

Grasse Beige Journal

No, I’m not talking about the book ChickenStripper has. These are a few images from AMH Designs.  As you may know (or have figured out) I consider myself an amateur craftster (that’s master crafter). As a child, I would buy the little 99¢ kits of “Welcome Friends” and “I Love Cats” that I would stitch and put inside a heart-shaped frame and then mail to my aunt or my grandma. Touching story, I know.

These are just a little more sophisticated. The photo album/journal kits are a bit expensive (for my regular craft budget anyway), but I could see myself buying one to make for a new baby’s album or a friend’s wedding album.

AMH Designs thinks about crafts the way I do, and I like that. They suggest you use your needlepoint kit to pass the time more quickly during boring activities such as waiting at the doctor’s office. Also, they point out how crafting is good for your diet. You can’t be eating junk food if you are stitching!

There are some other cool products on the site – check it out!

Rio Red Album

Rome Brown Journal

How much do you really love your pet?

I love my pets a lot! Check this custom artwork out. You simply send them a pic or a pic and a story and this is what you can get in return! So cool! http://www.ronandjoe.com

Pet Portrait

 

Capture the essence of your beloved pet with a custom-created dimensional

piece of art by Joe. Constructed completely from corrugated cardboard, then

painted with acrylic and varnished, these small pet portraits measure

approximately 7″x7″x1.5″. Choose one of the four color combinations shown

above, send us a good picture or two of their face, tell us your pet’s name

and, in about three weeks, you’ll have unique, ready-to-hang art o’ your

beloved best friend.

Lifestyle Pet Portrait

Capture the TRUE essence of your beloved pet with a custom-created Joe

d’Anthromorphique Portrait. These lifestyle portraits measure approximately

10″x10″x1.5″ or 8.25″x11.5″. Choose one of the three lifestyles

and six color combinations shown above, send us at least two good full-body

pictures (one from each side), tell us your pet’s name and characterstics,

and, in about three weeks, you’ll have unique, ready-to-hang art o’ your

beloved best friend.

Custom Pet Portrait

No one knows your pet better than you. So why not choose exactly what you

would like Joe to custom design and create. A custom portrait can measure

up to 12″x18″x2″. Choose any frame style shown on this page, pick any

colors you want, send at least two or three good full-body

pictures, your pet’s name and characterstics, and, in about four weeks,

you’ll have totally unique, ready-to-hang art o’ your beloved best friend.

 

HAVE FUN PET LOVERS!!!!!

Take Your Time

I think we should take a trip to Chicago to see this instillation by Olafur Eliasson.

Who’s with me?

 

Flasher

DIY Coasters

 

DIY coasters/trivets made from old CD jewel cases.

I found this project via one of my favorite blogs, Design*Sponge. Here is the link to the full instructions.

Fiddler on the Roof

I went to see Topol in “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Walton Arts Center last night. I have to say, out of all of the performances this season, I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this one. I was pleasantly surprised by wonderful set design, great costumes, talented performers and an interesting story. As a matter of fact, I even shed a tear… this is not common for me, believe it or not!

I had heard that Topol was giving his farewell tour playing Tevye. I didn’t realize that he played this role in the motion picture in 1971 and has since done more than 2,500 shows as the father-figure lead. If you can, I recommend seeing this show.

Bouncing Around the Blogosphere: The Dieline

 

I for one am a sucker and a half when it comes to packaging. When I was little, I saved boxes and wrappers if there was something about them I found visually or functionally intriguing. As an adult, I’ve had to be a big more cognizant of how much more I might be paying for the packaging rather than the product, but it’s still fun to look. So when I bumped into The Dieline via Sub-Studio Design, I was captivated. Talk about eye candy. This blog is all about the packaging design industry, and each post is something to feast your eyes on.

Be sure to check out the Before and After section, and yet another neat feature is that you can browse blog posts by substrate. Yeah, Jeff, that’s for you. 😉 

Check it out at http://www.thedieline.com/

 

 

Coca-Cola's new can designs for summer