Just saw these series of beautiful carved sea stones vases by Mitsuru Koga on Tortoise shop's website. Toroise is a fantastic shop showcasing many contemporary Japanese crafts, art, and designs. I got to check out the their two shops on Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice Beach when I last visited, and I have to say it was one of my favorite shop! I'd love to see these vases in person and hold them....and carry it in my pocket where ever I go. Aren't they precious?! 
Since the last post, I've been wondering about that book "The Fugitive Pigeon" written in 1965 by Donald E Westlake...So I looked it up and this is the ACTUAL story line...
"Listen carefully to this story, originally published in 1965, to catch the occasional telltale clues to its age. In this comic crime caper, Charlie Poole works the bar in Canarsie (Brooklyn) for his Mafia-connected Uncle Al, occasionally holding packages for late-night pickup. Suddenly, life gets exciting when two hit men show up to silence Charlie. He manages to escape, but he's on the run, hiding from the organization and at the same time trying to contact the boss to find out what error brought all this upon him. Of course there's a beautiful girl."
I do like how it says it's the "gayest chase of the year!" But, seriously...how can a story about someone running for his life be "gay"? But it doesn't matter, because there's a beautiful girl involved.
Still, I think I like my story line better (not to be cocky).....I just like the idea of an actual pigeon running for its life from two humans. Just picture that in your head for a second.....yeah...heh heh....that's WAY funnier. :D
Spotted this fun colorful upholstered chair in quilted wool blankets by Jan Schouten from All The Luck in the World based in the Netherlands. The colors, the patterns, the warmth of the material, the little added delights of the doilies and stitched on words...everything about it makes me want go to the Netherlands and steel that chair. 
I especially love how she treated the back with the fringe still intact. It seems as if the blanket is just draped over the chair. So cleaver!
Jan also has a vintage shop where there are lots of awesome stuff that..once again... makes me want to go to the Netherlands and raid all the flea markets to find stuff like that! I want that black Joe Colombo-esque lamp so bad!!
Check out Jan's flickr with tons of great photos of her space and work.
I was browsing around on ebay and found this ebay store selling tons of great vintage books with awesome graphics!! I just love the fantastic color pallet and the simplicity of shapes and illustrations used. Since I'm on a spending freeze (recommended by you know who), I figured why not just save all the awesome graphics for reference!I spent way too much time looking through every page to find the best ones. So you're in luck ladies & gentlemen. Here's a little feast for the eyes of fun book covers!! ENJOY!
All the muted colors on these kid's books look so well all together!
My favorites are the two covers using pink and grays with the playful texture. The beaker filled with letters! It's just brilliant!
You can see all these covers plus more on my flickr vintage graphics set.
I'm REALLY curious to find out what this book, "The Fugitive Pigeon" is about..... Maybe it's a suspense thriller story of those two guys (on the top left corner) chasing the pigeon for stealing their lunch. But the main character (the Pigeon) was in fact framed by another pigeon who looked a lot like him. The fugitive pigeon had to leave everything behind...even it's family of 3 eggs. He migrated to an entirely different state with a new identity, life, wife and eggs...everything. The Pigeon was living a peaceful life working at some small town Wal-Mart getting by with amazing employee discounts. Until one day, the guys tracked down the pigeon with their GPS navigator & iPhone and found the Pigeon and kidnapped his family. Will the Pigeon save his wife and couple of eggs? Will the Pigeon be able to find out who framed him and be able to resolve this misunderstanding? Will the Pigeon escape this predicament? Will the guys come to a realization of how ridiculous it is to be chasing a pigeon? What could this book possibly be about?!
-Jean
All images provided by Locobeans Loft
Just spotted these series of darling little photos of fall leaves with faces on it!! It was on Fine Little Day, by multi-talented illustrator/graphic artist, Elisabeth Dunker, based in Sweden. I love things with faces on it....as you may have remembered from my last week's post about my coffee cup. I think everything should have faces on it! I wanna design a whole line objects with just faces... a pencil...a spoon...remote control...door knob...underwares...etc. The possiblities are endless...
Elisabeth had recently started a callaborative shop and blog with another artist, Camilla Engman, called Studio Violet with more adorableness! I'm VERY envious of their amazing looking loft studio...all the natural lighting, the cool mid-century chairs, and the simple stark white interior...sigh. Why does god tourture me like this? 
You can see lots of her other lovely work via Lula.
This is it! Finally are we able to catch our breath since our move from our apartment to our NEW HOME!! Our new home is a duplex in Ballard, Seattle, where Dylan and I purchased it with Chika and her boyfriend, Jared....yes, two unmarried couples buying a place together and living next to each other. I know what you're thinking...."that's crazy!"
But besides all the fist fights, I promise you that this is actually a super well-thought out plan that's even better than the new economic bailout plan.
This is a set up where 4 designers still gets to live in a city area and work together on their first home while sharing all of their resources. And at the same time, running 2 home-based businesses (Chikabird, and L&G Vintage).
Chika took the time to write up an introduction for our group blog, Thrity. Thirtytwo (that's the last two house humbers to each side) Which will be a seperate blog from L&G blog specifically documenting all of our home improvement projects, our decorating ideas and processes, our life in Ballard and as home owners, and all the drama that happens in between....the best part. :D
So check it out!
This is a darling animation by Jon Klassen & Dan Rodrigues. I love their use of colors, patterns and texture....they also play a recorder for the music! How cute is that!? Watching this made me feel as if I was getting a big warm hug! :D
It's about a cute little creature, Annai, with one eye in search for a matching eye....the moral of the story is...you'll always find what you're looking for when you least expect it. So remember boys & girls, just think of one eye Annai whenever you're down and turn that frown upside down!
Found via For Me For You.
FINALLY!! The moment I've been waiting for....Beard Papa is in Seattle!!! I've been dreaming about him ever since my unforgettable encounter with him in Japan when I studied abroad there in 2003....Oh! how I still remember it like it was only yesterday! I don't talk about Beard Papa to Dylan much.....since he gets jealous. But it wasn't 'til now that he came to understand my obsession with him.
Last weekend, we went to Uwajimaya by the food court, and from the corner of my eyes, I saw this BRIGHT yellow & white booth with Beard Papa's adorable face and a whole table covered with beautiful golden cream puffs!!
If you don't know about Beard Papa, you should watch this animated story which will explain everything. Beard Papa is a Japanese franchise that started in Osaka, Japan. Not only is Beard Papa super cute and kind, he also makes the BEST cream puffs...actually WORLD'S BEST! They have great texture and are not too sweet or heavy. I love Japanese sweets for that fact.
For mere $2.75, you can get these delicious cream puffs with the perfect outer crust and creamy filling that are freshly filled right when you order! Their Choux pastry puff is this brilliant well-engineered patented TWO layered crust with crunchy texture on the outside and soft within. Their original whipped vanilla custard cream is a classic. They also have special flavors like green tea, strawberry, chocolate, earl grey where they change it up everyday.
I think even Dylan is in love with Beard Papa now. :D
So this is it! It's our final goodbye to Dylan & I's very first apartment in the hip Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. We did what our landlord called "terminal" cleaning on every inch of the 1400 sqft apt/studio....one that would get us back the non-refundable $150 cleaning fee. We thought...."$150..that's money that we can use in our home improvement fund! YAY!"
Little did we know...it took us a whole week to fully, TERMINALLY clean!!
We had to scrub the walls, all the cabinets and doors, the lights, the ceiling (10 ft tall), all the appliances(inside & out, behind & below), all the molding, the radiators, the tub inside and underneath (the curse of claw foot tubs), and the toilet, etc....EVERYTHING!
We gathered the most essential and effective cleaning tools ever assembled..as we switched between a spray bottle to disinfect, a sponge to scrub the wall, a toothbrush to brush the nooks & crannies, a rag to wipe, and a bucket to rinse. We cleaned through the late nights while the city slept. We scrubbed, wiped, sprayed, and then scrubbed some more.....We were determined.
But mostly it brought out the worse side of me (Jean)...the anal retentive, OCD side of me....or I like to see it as the BEST side... the detail-oriented, meticulous perfectionist! Is the glass half full or half empty? HMM? There's really no right or wrong answer for that now, is there?
One may ask...Was it worth it? But I would ask... can one put a price on a spiritual experience that taught us the value of patience and endurance? And can one really put a price on the intimate personal experience I had cleaning the bathroom where I was practically giving the toilet a lap dance as I scrubbed the walls behind and around?...no, you can't...neither can one put a price on the feeling of accomplishment and success as one walks through the dust-free dirt-free space and seeing the apt is cleaner than ever!
But I suppose you CAN break it down in money terms...so Dylan and I each put in about 15 hours....and also Chika help with the studio where she put in about 5 hours....so that gets us... $150 divided by 40hours of work...3.75. That's what we made on an hourly basis for terminally cleaning this place. Wow...$3.75/hr huh? I didn't realize that's what we'd get. Why didn't we calculate this out before we started cleaning??
We gathered the most essential and effective cleaning tools ever assembled..as we switched between a spray bottle to disinfect, a sponge to scrub the wall, a toothbrush to brush the nooks & crannies, a rag to wipe, and a bucket to rinse. We cleaned through the late nights while the city slept. We scrubbed, wiped, sprayed, and then scrubbed some more.....We were determined.But mostly it brought out the worse side of me (Jean)...the anal retentive, OCD side of me....or I like to see it as the BEST side... the detail-oriented, meticulous perfectionist! Is the glass half full or half empty? HMM? There's really no right or wrong answer for that now, is there?
One may ask...Was it worth it? But I would ask... can one put a price on a spiritual experience that taught us the value of patience and endurance? And can one really put a price on the intimate personal experience I had cleaning the bathroom where I was practically giving the toilet a lap dance as I scrubbed the walls behind and around?...no, you can't...neither can one put a price on the feeling of accomplishment and success as one walks through the dust-free dirt-free space and seeing the apt is cleaner than ever!
But I suppose you CAN break it down in money terms...so Dylan and I each put in about 15 hours....and also Chika help with the studio where she put in about 5 hours....so that gets us... $150 divided by 40hours of work...3.75. That's what we made on an hourly basis for terminally cleaning this place. Wow...$3.75/hr huh? I didn't realize that's what we'd get. Why didn't we calculate this out before we started cleaning??
Oh wait! I take it back. We actually got $150 AND a quarter!! After cleaning all 7 radiators in the apt coughing and sneezing away...it wasn't till the VERY last radiator I cleaned that I found a quarter!! Maybe it's not so bad after all. Oh yeah.... I also found a dust ball weighing roughly a pound, one little baby sock, and one popped kernel of popcorn!!
...Life is just full of freakin' surprises, isn't it?
We're really gonna miss this place...especially the kitchen....So, goodbye....and hello new home!
Just wanted to share this little happy accident I had while drinking coffee at home today. I was just doing some emailing, I turned over to get my cup, and then I see THIS! A perfect little happy face! CUTE huh?
It brighten up my day even with rainy weather in Seattle. I drank from a different side and kept it till I had to wash it off. It was pleasant while it lasted. :)
Have a good weekend everyone!
I recently found this great bag company, Dolly Bags based in Amsterdam. They use fabulous colorful one-of-a-kind, retro/vintage fabric for all their bags. They're limited edition and handmade with TLC. Once they're gone...they're gone! I was looking at their etsy shop and found myself favorite-ing so many of them...it's a tough decision. 
...And of course they have to make this adorable clutch to make my decision making process even more difficult!
Chika forwarded me this AWESOME video which she describes as,"people getting punched in the head at 1000 frames/sec, but much art-ier."
I mean, who would of thought that punching a bunch of people would create such a work of art....It's amazing to look at people's faces as they get hit....the distortion that happens is absolutely captivating to watch! I had to watch it multiple times!! It's both comical and fascinating all at the same time.
Watch more great videos by Pleix.
These tiny houses are so up L&G's alley it's ridiculous. What's better than taking the "waste" from cool old demolished buildings and building new places out it that emphasize all the charisma and charm of the originals with a great modern twist?
I want to have one airlifted here and put smack dab in the middle of the new L&G homestead. Too bad our backyard is about as big as one of these guys and that our pockets are drained :(
Great work Texas! (don't find myself saying that too often). Click here for Tiny Texas's site and more info/pic
Thought I'd share some images of this incredibly incredible teak desk that was posted on ebay. Gorgeous mid-century teak, funky shape, nice details, and oh yeah, a swanky secret bar door complete with mirrored interior. Doesn't get any classier... Auction has ended and alas I was not the victor...last thing we need is another oddly shaped piece of furniture. But go there and check out more pics.
Chika showed me this fantastic graphic design blog, Grain Edit with lots of collections of graphic design posters/packaging/books/etc. from 50's-70's...which we can all agree was the best time to be a designer....oh the good old freakin' days....before I was even born. UGH! It's so unfair!! It's not my fault that I was born in the 80's!! 
What really got me was this recent post about these set of alphabet animal match boxes by Jose Maria Cruz Novillo + Olmos! It's like a kids' book, but 20 times better, since they're in little precious match boxes!! It’s all just WAY too colorful and clever…it’s unbearable for me to look at each of them. I can't stand it!! The monkey…looks like he’s picking his nose!? I mean COME ON!! SHUT UP!!
Okay, I think need to shut myself up now…. :D
Impulse Boutique, Seattle, recently posted a bunch of amazing designer clothes for the new season....my favorite season...Fall! It's the time when I can start wearing layers, boots, and scarves and still stay warm and dry...for the most part. 
They've been adding great designs from Junya Watanabe, Yohiji Yamamoto, Isabel Marant, and tons more on their new online community shop called Totokaelo.
I'm really likeing the loose, drappy look. It seems very versatile in terms of being able to wear over and under layers. And I'm all about layering!!
There are times when people start to collect thing they don't use or need. They just simply find the need to have things...then there comes a time when people have to move to a smaller place (Our new home!) and realize that it's time to give up certain things they have collected over the years in order to move on. That time has come to for both Dylan and I. 
Yes...we are slowing coming to terms with giving up some stuff you see here and are offering some of our proud findings at the L&G shop. As I'm posting the Dansk Flamestone pot and enamel pitcher, Catherineholm pots, Langenthal Espresso cups, and all these other cool items, I keep finding myself changing my mind about posting it!! It's hard to let go of the things that I wish I can keep but I know in the back of my mind that it's for the best to just let go of them.
Which brings up the question...why do people get so attached to inanimate objects? Is it because we subconsciously project our own personalities and life on to these things on a daily basis? Is it that we're so used to seeing it and having it around that when it's not around, it feels like something is missing? Can I possibly ever let go of my owl figurines that sit so nicely on the shelf next to some antique books? Can I live without that one plate that has served us well on the few occasional social gatherings in serving cheese, or that bowl for chips, and snack mix..then the smaller ones for dips and such...Can I let go of the rocks, sea shells, and branches that I've collected from trips to the beach and hikes on the mountain? I can't!! Why not? I don't know! There's something innate about this whole hunting and gathering process. But it's another thing to hunt and gather things that are not under the category of human survival needs. I don't have an explanation for our desire to collect things. Nonetheless, I know that's one of my NEEDS in life....which is to collect objects to create our perfect nest....with useless junk. I mean, useless AWESOME junk. There. That sounds a little bit more justified now. :D
Finally!! The moment that I've been waiting for....Seattle Ikea gets the fabric by the yard department! For the longest time, the Seattle Ikea never had the fabric department and I was always bummed about it. I would go to Vancouver Ikea just so to get some yardage of some sort to fulfill my itch. (even though that's usually just a detour after a dim sum meal, a walk in Stanley park, a visit to the art museum, and another Taiwanese meal in Richmond.) Nonetheless, it wasn't the most accessible.
So Last week, Dylan & I went to Ikea to do some shopping for our new home and I found this fantastic FIALENA line with this adorable bold black and red heart pattern for only $7.99/yd! I had to use it for something, so I decided to make an reversable apron for Chika (my biz partner)as her birthday gift!! So this is it! My first stab at making an apron....
It's reversable...
with pockets and button hoops on each side to hang hand towels or oven mits.
It took me a good 5 hours to figure out the pattern, cut it, iron it, sew it, and iron some more...I think I'll have to modify the design so it's not so tedious to make. It made me kind of depressed to see Ikea selling their clever aprons for mere $7.99. But I suppose that's not the point...the point is that I had fun making the apron! On top of that, I think Chika did appreciate it much more knowing I put all my "hearts" into make the apron for her...Well, she better!! I'll be checking her kitchen regularly to make sure she's not cheating on me with some other aprons!
Just spotted this site Bon Bon Kakku where you can design your own fabric! Similar to Threadless t-shirt's designing format where anyone can submit their designs, and the winning design will get produced and sold on their site. Doesn't that sound fun!! Finally, maybe this is a good way for me to tap into the world of textile design....All the designs spans the whole width of 149cm, which makes it even better when prints are at that scale.
There's tons of fantastic designs and you can buy them at 25 Euro/meter. I only wish that the dollar isn't so crappy right now! Grrrr....like that dog.
Remember my last week's post about how Goldfrapp's Happiness song makes me wanna take do-nothing-but-spin-around-breaks at work? Well, I found another great song by this lovely Swedish singer, Lykke Li to add to my dance break list. 
I've just finally purchased Lykke's new album 'Youth Novels'...it's SO good!! (Great cover, too) Now, I can do this dance dance dance of hers any time.
The music video captures that exact feeling that I was describing...a carefree lady in a adorable outfit dances around in the middle of a train station....now..you don't have to do it at the station if you're no comfortable...just do it from your own home!! It's easy! It's like workingout while watching Jane Fonda's Jazzercize videos at home... yeah! It'll shave off at least 50 cals or so if you spin around for 10-15 minuntes straight....for the intermediate level, just spin around and move your arms up and down simultaneously to maximize the workout....and do a kick once or twice while you're at it, if you're REALLY up for the challenge. :D I say why the heck not! You go for it!
Okay, now get your butt off the computer chair and go spin around like you just don't care!!
Have a fantastic weekend!!
PSSST! For those who're in Seattle, Lykke will be at Neumo's on October, 29th!! I'll be there dancing like a crazy person!