Kristen Loves Design

So, it’s been a little while. I have so many, many topics I need to follow up on like the kitchen makeover, meeting the Novogratzes, and also new topics, like all the blog changes coming up (here’s a hint, I’ve been working on a completely new design, both in look and content – I even had my first professional portrait taken).

And of course I would be remiss in not mentioning the Election and hurricane Sandy – there’s so much I want to talk about. Basically both the Election and hurricane Sandy are making me incredibly anxious. Speaking of Sandy, thankfully all of our friends and family on the East Coast are just fine, but so many people in New York (my husband’s home state) and New Jersey (my home state) are still not (we still don’t know the fate of most of where my husband grew up on Long Island, and are kind of afraid to find out). The news coverage is so horrifying – it  reminds me very much of 9/11 (the city in darkness, all access routes closed, stories of every day heroes mixed with heart-breaking tragedy) , and I feel as hopeless as ever since I am miles away, now living in Ohio and in 2001 I was living in California.

So with all of this on my mind, I thought I would take a quick moment to talk about a cause I really believe in and will be providing my support – and this campaign is specifically raising funds for Neighborhood Cats and their Hurricane Sandy Feral Relief Fund.

Image courtesy of The Teal Cat Project

The Teal Cat Project was started in July 2011 by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and I heard about it from the wonderful Anna Dorfman here. The Teal Cat Project has to be one of the best ideas for fundraising I’ve seen. Basically, you “Get a cat, save a cat.” And I LOVE this “We ask that you love your kitty no matter which one you get” – because isn’t that exactly like adopting a real cat?! You can find and send in tchotchkes, so all those silly little cat figurines that can be found in donation stores – send them in! In case you missed it, the story of how we came to adopt our cats is here and I can’t imagine our lives without their little faces. It warms my heart to think there are people out there who really believe and support causes to help these little fuzzy people – please do what you can. Animals make the world a better place!

We visited the awesome town of Bloomington, Indiana several times in the past few years, and we always go into a certain independent comic book store just to look around. I’m not a big fan of comics, to be honest, but I can definitely appreciate the amazingly talented artists that create all that art! I especially like the non-corporate artists who are still creating every aspect of each comic (storyboarding, sketching, pen and inking, coloring, etc.). While we were there, I found the most amazing comic series, Mouse Guard. As I mentioned before, I LOVE fuzzy animals, and my first love of fuzzy animals was mice. As a kid, I had a ton of mice-themed knick-knacks and toys, including, I’m not kidding, the little mice dolls with the “fake” fur (ironically, I buy the same type for our kitties now, who LOVE them) who were actually dressed as a bride and groom! Those two were my favorite!

Images courtesy of David Peterson

So I now own the first two anthology collections of Mouse Guard and I am going to purchase the third soon. I only read a few pages of the first anthology collection because I don’t want them to end!

Image courtesy of Andy Runton

We were in a local independent comic book store the other day, and I saw another series that I have now become obsessed with too, Owly. And there are no words! Just word balloons with expressive sounds or punctuation but that’s it. I love the fact that someone can take a creative idea (a cute cartoon about an owl) and then make it even MORE creative by doing something different from everyone else. Awesome!

So, you’ve heard of Shanna Murray’s beautiful decals, right? I know the subject of wall decals can be really polarizing – people either love them or hate them. I love them, but within reason. I actually have a rather large bamboo forest wall in my dining room that I adore (and I *might* have just ordered a little decal for the new kitchen too), but I like decals that are tasteful, clean, and modern. Well Shanna’s wall decal designs are the most unique I’ve seen because they are beautiful, artistic, and appear as if they were just hand drawn casually onto the wall. Awesome!

Image courtesy of Shanna Murray

Image courtesy of Shanna Murray

Image courtesy of Shanna Murray

So I was hunting around for something completely different (as it often happens) and I found the cutest store in Brooklyn (of course), called Catbird. Luckily for us they have an online shopping option available and have some of the most original items I’ve seen in a while. I love all of these tiny rings. How cute would they be – either separate or in a stack with your initials or maybe have them spell out a saying? Awesome!

Look how pretty and delicate!
Image courtesy of Catbird

The cutest love knot!
Image courtesy of Catbird

And of course – a cat ring!
Image courtesy of Catbird

Perfect.
Image courtesy of Catbird

I can’t remember where I saw these originally, but I’ve had this site bookmarked for the longest time. What a great idea – shirts and other items with images of classic books. Check out their entire collection – there’s some really great images – some from the original covers and some new artist interpretations!

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
Image courtesy of Out of Print Clothing

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Image courtesy of Out of Print Clothing

I just have to say that I love Mikey Burton’s artwork oh so much better than Francis Cugat’s, for the record!

Anyway, I have to put A Tale of Two Cities back on my must-read list since I always say it’s my favorite work by Dickens. Truth be told, as an English major that’s the only Dickens I can ever remember reading (the horror!) and it was in high school. Ahem. I do remember it was good, though. Really.

Anyway, t-shirts with classic book designs on them?! Awesome!

I’ve had this amazing print by Alex Koplin and David Meiklejohn (the back story of the creative process developing this print is here) bookmarked for ages. It’s just great, isn’t it? I absolutely need a place to hang it, although the space above my desk here at home is getting crowded! I love the colors and mostly just the simplicity of it. If you’re not happy, change it. Awesome!

What an amazing print!
Image courtesy of Alex Koplin and David Meiklejohn

So I’m not sure if you’ve heard of The Cambridge Satchel Company, but their name was everywhere probably last year. Basically, they are a mother and daughter company in England who design authentic leather bags based on the Oxford and Cambridge satchels that children often carry. More about them here. Of course, as it often happens, many of the fashion/design bloggers picked these bags up as an awesome accessory to have, and their great products exploded exponentially! I’ve wanted a pink bag forever, but which one to choose? Awesome!

The Batchel in Pink Fluro.
Image courtesy of Cambridge Satchel

The Music Bag in Pink.
Image courtesy of Cambridge Satchel

The Pastel in Pink.
Image courtesy of Cambridge Satchel