Douglas + Bec's New Store in Australia

One of our favorite store and stockist, Douglas + Bec , just recently opened their beautiful new store in Melbourne, Australia! This is the first store that has the most comprehensive representation of our work.  I nearly cried when I saw these photos of their amazing  store AND with all our pieces so well displayed amongst all these other coveted design pieces.

Its rare that we ourselves get to see that many pieces of our own work shown in such a nice context, so we feel extremely lucky that D+B is so supportive of our work and studio especially coming all the way from New Zeland & Australia! . 

Read more about D + B's new store opening on Design Files.

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So Surreal

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This happened when Glasser came to town yesterday and played an amazing set. 

Photos from  Ashley Helvey for Totokaleo, shooting Cameron of Gasser.    

New Cake Servers on BHLDN & Terrain!

We've been hoping to get our products in Anthropologie for awhile now...but so far we've only had some loose email correspondence that've yet mound to anything....

But this last winter out of the blue, one of the the buyers from Terrain (with great home & garden goods) contacted us about making custom servers for them!  

Then a month later, another buyer from BHLDN (with beautiful wedding things of all sorts) contacted us about making more custom cake servers, too!

Not only are both of these shops great, they're also under the same umbrella of Anthro & Urban Outfitters! 

We feel like we're just one step away from getting something in Anthropologie! Let's hope that next step will happen in the near future! 

Holiday Shop Frenzy

Every year, we tell ourselves that we need to prepare early since this is always our busiest time of the year. But of course, no matter how much we think we prepared ourselves....we still end up working late hours and feeling sleep deprived for the majority of the time.

....And this holiday especially seemed extra actioned packed. 

We're totally stoked to get orders from some of our favorite shops from all over!

The Cool Hunter's pop-up in Australia / Douglas + Bec in New Zealand  / Makers & Brothers in Ireland / April & May in The Netherlands / Le Kiosk in Sweden / Die Sellerie in Austria / The Drake General Store in Toronto / Nineteenten in Vancouver / The Future Perfect , Sight Unseen, and American Design Club in New York / Unison Home in Chicago / Terrain in Philadelphia / Propeller in San Francisco / Woonwinkel in Portland / Frye Art Museum Shop in Seattle!

Besides cranking out orders for all those awesome stores, we also couldn't help ourselves from other fun happenings/events in Seattle! Here are some photo documentation below taken from our Instagram.

We made a fun lookbook along with our Seattle friends from Grain and Iacoli & McAllister.

We did a Himmeli ornament workshop at the Meet The Makers event at the Frye.

We designed and made our own special L&G letterhead that folds into an envelope! 

And finally, we organized and put together The BLAK design popup the last weekend before Christmas at Caffe Vita! 

There's still so much I need to blog about, but needless to say, we're just happy that we made it through the holidays!

Now it's time to unwindulax!

New Excitement at Frye Art Museum

Something awesome is brewing at the Frye Art Museum. Charlie Schuck at Object totally transformed the museum shop with works from 50+ local designers and artists, and we're excited to be part of it all!

We're also working with Charlie & The Frye on some winter events which will coincide with Frye's current exhibit, Moment Magnitude-A cross-platform project of visual art, performances, readings, concerts, dance, rehearsals, and specially designed arts engagement programs.

The Frye is hands down one of our favorite 'secret' Seattle spots. It's beautifully understated and tucked away on First Hill with a great mix of traditional & contemporary artwork...and on top of it all, its free! Every time we go, we're always amazed by the place.

The shop & exhibit will be up through Mid-January, so go check it out! 

Bloc Necklaces Spotted

Jill from Sight Unseen recently spotted our necklace on Creatures of Comfort where they used it for styling! We're crossing our fingers that they'll start carrying our necklaces soon! 

L&G on Craft & Culture

Lots of exciting things are in the air for L&G....we're SOOOO excited to be officially part of this new online shop, Craft & Culture, that recently launched beginning of the year!

The founders of C&C (Hana & Jason), also based in Seattle (yet another awesome point for Seattle!) has a vision to create a super well-curated platform featuring self-makers, designers and artists. They're starting off with talented local artists / designers like Meghann Sommers of &C, Ashley Helvey, Elizabeth Patterson and Actual Pain...and now added, US! 

We're so excited to be part of something as special as C&C. Both Hana & Jason have such a great eye and vision for the company... not only are they providing a platform for designers to sell their work, they also go an extra mile to capture the personality and work philosophy by interviewing the designers and photograph their space!

They took all these amazing photos and we're just ecstatic with how nice and professional everything looks!

....so it DOES make a difference when a pro takes photos compare to my ghetto photo taking skills! ;P

C&C will be adding plenty more new and exciting national & international designers in the coming month, so stay tuned!

Seriously...Shape Shop

We're SO excited to see photos of the Shape Shop popup on Sight Unseen they just posted!  Everything looks amazing and the range of works there is all pretty insane. They've selected works from bunch of great designers and artists, and we're just super happy to be included!

There's so much excitement that I wish I can integrate bunch of  explosive graphics like "AWESOME!" "WOW!" "AMAZING!" "NO WAY!" or "I REALLY LIKE THAT AND WOULD LIKE TO GET IT PLEASE!"

Anyway....here are some photos of the popup:

Here's our BLOC necklaces!! yay~~

It was a total coincidence that our necklaces happened to be totally inline with the Shape Shop theme...using simple shapes and block, and even colors....it freaked me out a bit...but in the best way possible!! We hope to have these up on our site next month!

There are bunch of great things from some friendly AmDC folks ( Fort Standard, Patrick Kim, Brian Persico) and other awesome designers we've admired like, Shabd, Fredericks and Mae, Tanya Aguiniga, Fort Makers and tons MORE! See more HERE.

ON TOP of al this, Sight Unseen also released their new book!

Also, the popup will be up at Creatures of Comfort in NY until May 6th!

Thursday Shopping Result

Well...I went to this awesome sale last Thursday and have to say that I did REALLY well and did not end up buying EVERYTHING...but boy was it hard!

...if only I haven't been a hoarder of things already, I would have gotten everything she had there in a heartbeat!

In any case, I'm still super happy with I went home with... 2 japanese lifestyle  magazines, vintage silk dress, a bronze pebble necklace and a macrame plant hanger both made by Ashley herself.

Ah...Japan. How I miss you so...

I just love the color and the material of this dress. It's so simple and versatile pieces where I can easily layer with cardigans or blazers and/or add belts to accessorize with.

Apprently these rocks are casted from real ones Ashley had found at some beach in San Francisco. The original rocks even had the holes where she said it was some sort of insect that was eating it away....quite amazing. really.

I'm super excited to add the plant hanger especially now being able to add a fern plant by our bedroom window. I love looking at these plants first thing in the morning.

Oh ...also here are some shots of her place below.  I couldn't help it....Ashley has such an elegant and warm sensibility that is incredibly unique and her space just feels like a gallery! I totally admire how she can keep things so minimal.

It's a total talent to be able to edit things down in having all the right perfect pieces to complete a whole space. Check out her space on D*S so you know what I mean!

I am definitely still in the process of learning how to do that.... edit, purge, edit, purge!

Pretty In BLANC: Part II

some more inspirations for more of an everyday-look of BLANC...

 Some classy combo with white and off white from Sartorialist.

Simple but bold from Bu of Bu the right thing.

Crisp and fresh from Stand Up Comedy in Portland.

Flowy and light from Totokaelo.

I'd wear all of these not just for BLANC, but for, like, ever....

Pretty In BLANC: Part I

Been seeing some great inspirations for what to wear at BLANC preview party this FRIDAY where we're asking everyone to wear something white! I still got lots to do on the list to prep for the show....Obviously, I totally have my priority set here....

I especially love this whole collection by Rodarte for Opening Ceremony...totally BLANC.

 Some great pieces for the boys, too!

AmDC Pops up in SF

Wish we're in SF for this!  Kiel from American Design Club is working with  Rand + Statler in curating a pop up shop this coming Saturday, August 27th with bunch of designers we adore.

List of designers includes:

Kiel Mead, Silva/Bradshaw, Emily Rothschild, Fort Standard, Kai Williams + Chen Chen, Annie Lenon + Valerie Gnaedig, Lara Knutson, Jill Peterson, Studioooij, Iacoli & Mcallister, Steph Mantis, Pat Kim, Alexandra Snook, Chuck Routhier, Andie Olive, Mark McGinnis, Grain, R&L Goods, Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, Michael Cummings, Thomas Im, Marianne van Ooij, Evan Clabots, Seldon Yuan and Annika Jermyn.

If you're in the SF area, go check it out!

Woonwinkel Swoon

We're excited when we first read about this new shop in Portland called Woonwinkel (means Home Shop in Dutch) that opened in June.

What's even more exciting is that our Chalk Piggies, Gem Necklaces, Superior Servers, and Mega-Doily rugs of various size are at the store!

It's a beautifully curated shop with things I've only seen from the far and magical place of the Netherlands combined with some great designers we totally love such as, Studio Gorm, Iacoli & McAllister, Von Tundra, and Chen Chen.

....pretty much a dream store. Perhaps if I make myself look small enough I can be a squatter and live in that shop....

Summer Drink Recpie for D*S Behind the Bar

We love Ryan & Alissa from one of our favorite online shop, Horne, who also carries our Superior Servers on their shop!

We couldn't be more thrilled, when Ryan asked me to write something for their Behind The Bar column for Design* Sponge.

I've always loved having picnics (especially an impromptu picnic that I did for this post!). And lately I've been really into using cucumbers...even just in water! So I came up with the this Summer Cucumber Lemon Vodka drink!  You can read the entire post HERE.

The best part of doing all this was that after taking the photos, Dylan & I got to enjoy the drinks with some friends for a real picnic! 

Yah....work is rough.....

Have a great weekend!!



All Tied Up

I still can't get over rope jewelry!
Check out these bold necklaces by Eleanor Bolton. These are a limited edition especially for Darkroom's Aztec Camera season.
Each are handmade & hand-dyed from 100% cotton rope .



L&G Chalk Piggies at Crewcuts!!

So....we had to keep this hush hush until recently...and we can't wait to share this exciting news!! Our Chalk Piggies are available on Crewcuts online HERE for all the stylish & adorable kids! Like this lil' adorable girl!We've been excited about this ever since one of the buyer from J.Crew first contacted us after purchasing a piggy after the holidays!This is our first time working with a big company such as J.Crew and we were more than happy that everything went as planned and now they're actually in one of the Crewcut store in NY and online! This is totally what I envisioned where the piggies would end up... to be with stylish kids & parents and be part of both of their worlds!

I think I'll be visiting our piggies at the Crewcut store when I head to NY this coming August!
Can't wait!

Dark & Beautiful

I'm obsessed with everything at this London based shop, Darkroom!!
Everything is just insanely striking and beautiful....



Japan Sight / Taste / Find: 3/9

Day 4: Full day of visual stimulation

SIGHT: Seiya & Mami's took us to visit their kids, Aika & Yume's, elementary school to talk about the difference of school & lifestyle between the States & Japan.

TASTE:
Dinner at the Minatos and hand 手巻き寿司 Temakizushi with super delicious & fresh fish of all sorts.

FIND:
A used restaurant supply store filled with fun things of all sorts that made us want to open a restaurant just for the fun of it.


Japan Sight / Taste / Find: 3/8

Day 3: Roaming around

SIGHT:
Playground with a globe marry go round.

TASTE:
Mami made us a well-rounded breakfast with the best tasting egg.

FIND:
Got stuck looking at tiny microscopic miniature people of all sorts in the model making department of 東急ハンズ  Tokyu Hands....a department store of 7 floors filled with materials, supplies, and everyday items of anything you'll ever need and everything you CAN'T think to need but feel compelled to get....Pretty much, it's like heaven and hell at the same time.

Japan Sight / Taste / Find: 3/7

Day 2: Woke up and saw this...

SIGHT: Snow in March?!

TASTE:
Lunch & a lovely dessert set at a close by Japanese-Italian restaurant in 市川 Ichikawa where they made their own desserts.

FIND:

Got couple of vintage  暮らしの手帖 Kurashi No Techo lifestyle magazine at Seiya & Mami's friends vintage book shop, Smoke Books. They had a whole shelf of them from the 70's & 80's filled with the best photos of everyday delights!