Defenders of America

Go check out THREAT (opening March 9th) by AmDC  that's all about weapon of defense in every shape & form.

Damn right this is a show about weapns! This is America we're talking about here!

All this is more about encouraging designers from all over America to all come together and have fun designing & create cool shiz.

Here's what we made....

Hit & Strangle Stick

Yup! You guessed it! You hit, then strangle! It's EASY!

This defense object is a sleek hitting stick made with the use aluminum and copper tubing and fishing rope inspired by dog catchers.

The simple telescoping action allows the defender to tighten the rope by pushing the aluminum tube forward and therefore can capture (and strangle) the invader from afar.

 

Now here's some REAL action!

TAKE THAT!! 

That'll show you to never walk in the house with your shoes on!

More sneak peak of other works below:

(Photos of Kiel Mead, and other projects provided by NYTimes)

The show opens this FRIDAY, MARCH 9th (runs from March 9 to 15) At Present Company, 29 Wythe Street (North 13th Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

 Also read this great interview on NYTimes with Kiel Mead  about the concept of the show....and other intense topics of discussions like, jail beating weapons, squirt guns with hydrochloric acid, and our dark sides.

Oh trust me...this is gonna be goooooood.

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!

PURE GREEN MAGAZINE / March / 2012

Featured Work: Homestead Candlesticks.

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I'd Like to Tap That: Pitched Roof Loft

I think with this amount of light that this loft gets, it maybe not be entirely impossible to actually get me up in the morning...especially during the winter times!!
Actually...I really need this....
You know when people's celings are too high when they start to staple pillows on it.
Sheesh....

Via Philip Karlberg

Popup Sale at Ashley Helvey's

Going to this amazing looking sale at Ashley Helvey's place tomorrow.  She'll have a mix of findings & her handmade stuff!!

Can't wait!....but also a little bit scared that I'll end up wanting everything!

L&G get's a CUTE mention on D*S!

We can't help but get a little giddy whenever Grace Bonney says anything nice about us!! Especially this nice mention about our Terra Cotta piggy, shakers, and S&P Pawz. On top of that we're also happy to announce that Grace herself have given us an official stamp of approval for bring back the "z" in place of "es"!  YESSSSSS!

Does that mean we can start bringing back using "X's" in place of "EX"again??

Because only god knows I've been dying to start say things like, "Why yes pleaZ, I would be Xtremely delighted for some some Xtra pepper on my salad, thank you very much"

FAST COMPANY / Feb / 2012

Featured Work: Chalk Piggy Bank.

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New for 2012!

That's Jean serving up a fresh tray of 2012 goodness. With the holidays behind us and the NYIGF looming just ahead, it was right back to the drawing board for us in January. We were hankering to cook up something new.

As you may have picked up in past posts about our kitchen...we've been really obsessed with the combination of copper and brass with woods and leather. We've always been suckers for nostalgia and I think these materials really strike a reminiscent chord on a different...more fundamental level. 

 To that end, it only felt appropriate to pair these warm, welcoming materials with minimalist, elemental forms that celebrate the integrity of the materials without any frivolous details. The resulting collection is a bit of a departure aesthetically from our past products, but a direction we're really excited about!

Without further adieu (follow links for more details or to purchase)...

Segment Necklace: An abstract arrangement of simple shapes and warm material combination using wood, leather and metal tubes.

Perimeter Tray: A solid wood base framed with powdercoated aluminum coupled with a carrara marble cheeseboard insert.

Cylinder Shakers: Copper, Brass, and Aluminum Salt and Pepper Shakers are designed to age and patina with use.

L&G at NYIGF Jan 29-Feb 2

We can't believe it's that time again! 2011 year ended and now L&G is TOTALLY pumped for 2012 and ready to share some brand new works!

L&G will be showing an exciting brand new line of table top items & jewelry along with JOIN and eight other Northwest based studios.

So come visit us at Accent of Design at the Jacob K. Javits Center, Level 3. We'll also be right next to other talented young designers from American Design Club and A+ Young Designers.

It's gonna be a par-tay! woot woot!

L&G in an Ukranian Magazine?!

We nearly cried when we got this in the mail! It's such a beautiful high-end design magazine...I just wish I know how to say it & read it!

 A two page spread and all!! This is the biggest feature for us EV-AH!

Also part of my amazement is actually seeing the photos we took printed in an ACTUAL magazine...especially in such nice & pretty glossy magazine paper and all!! There's something so exciting about that!!!

Most of the photos are taken by us, with the exception of our portrait by our talented friend Kyle Johnson!

Oh and ooh... how I love the stamps...

I still can't believe this amazing featuring and spread of our stuff!!

So..maybe it's NOT impossible for us to get a centerfold next time???  ;)

Visualizing Graphs

Visual Graphs from University of Florida:

"Graph visualization is a way to discover and visualize structures in complex relations. What sort of structures are people who do large scale computation studying? We can get a glimpse by visualizing the thousands of sparse matrices submitted to the University of Florida Sparse Matrix collection using sfdp algorithm . The resulting gallery contains the drawing of graphs as represented by 2541 sparse matrices in this collection. Each of these sparse matrices (a rectangular matrix is treated as a bipartite graph) is viewed as the adjacency matrix of an undirected graph, and is laid out by a multilevel graph drawing algorithm. If the graph is disconnected, then the largest connected component is drawn. The largest graphs have tens of millions of nodes and over a billion of edges. A simple coloring scheme is used: longer edges are colored with colder colors, and short ones warmer. 

uh...WOW....that's uh...yeeah...wow....this totally made me realize that I really don't care about whatever is written in that paragraph!! That's totally amazing!

How about let's just stare at these for awhile and forget about trying to analyzing whatever matrices and matrixesses in existance....I'm totally into that.

Via But Does it Float



Happy 2012!

This is what I want for 2012!!
Integrate this early century dance routine as a workout 3 times a week and of course, integrate more magic in general.
Uh...hell YAH I believe in MAGIC! Why would you even ask such a silly question?

Happy New Year!

Chalk Piggy on MOT/Times TAIWAN!

This one hits close to (Jean's) home....our piggy bank nicely written up on MOT/Times  in Taipei!

Selby Film

Of course....Selby now makes films documenting more amazing people. Here's a glimps of Lucy Chadwick's more-than-awesome-life....

Via Veveryverybeautiful

Homestead on Blogs

Our little wooden homesteads is getting some exciting blog attention! 

Remodelista

SVPPLY

White.Wood.Grey

FFFFOUND!

Mighty Funk

Vtwonen (Dutch)

Future-ish 

Edholm Ullenius  (Swedish)

The Finders Keepers

Inspiration Pad

I can never write straight or inside the lines. And when I should be taking notes I'm always doodling anyways.... this inspiration pad by Marc Thomasset is perfect.



Country Living / Dec / 2011

Featured Work: Superior Servers

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Seasons Changing

Transitioning from Fall to Winter....

fallen leaves from our maple tree

BLANC Rocked The House!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Seattle for making the BLANC pop up a success!

We had a great time this week and were so inspired by people's enthusiasm about design! With this and the OBJECT opening a week earlier, we're feeling some serious momentum for Design in the Northwest. FINALLY!

Here's a little summary of the weekend:

It all started Friday with a preview party at Sole Repair...

...A perfect evening of TOTAL wintery white festivities filled with inspiring work from 30+ designers from Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver.

Everything looked pefectly BLANC.....Wintery white but warm and cozy all at the same time. There was special BLANC themed cocktails and snacks and lots of people dressed for the theme.  It was exactly how I enviosned...perfectly BLANC! I couldn't have asked for more!

 

(photos above by Eric Becker)

On Saturday, we braved the wintery elements opening the big garage door at Caffe Vita's Bean Room for the BLANC pop up. Using bags of coffee beans, discarded pallets and crates Jean led the crew of willing volunteers in merchandising a beautiful display of BLANC and non-BLANC design items. 

The crowd was consistent and diverse from JOIN followers to coffee-sipping walk-ins. By the successful end of the first day, we knew there was no other option than to extend the hours three more hours on Saturday and open up again on Sunday!

And of course we had to treat ourselves to some hot coco with homemade marshmallows that totally hit the spot!

All and all,  it was just so great to so many people who came to support and celebrate design! It's resounding clear that Seattle is ready to embrace design more than ever! We say this is the turning point!! and that deserves a group hugs & high-fives all around!

Phew! I'm totally exhausted and need to go hibernate for the next 6 months now!!

See the rest of the event HERE!

Black Friday: 25% off on L&G items!

It's BlkFriday! and we gots some sales goin' up in here!
We're offering 25% off of $50+ total purchase starting now till NOV 28th sunday (ends 11:59pm PST) 1st. ENTER PROMO CODE: BLACKFRIDAY25
Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!