February 2015 - Page 2 of 4

February 20, 2015

Happy Weekend

01/ Five friends got together and built Icehenge in Lake Mills Wisconsin.
02/ White balloons erupt from houses, basketball hoops, and more in Invasions.
03/ See what a cup of tea looks like in 22 different countries.
04/ Rebecca Bartoshesky turns Jell-o into modern art.
05/ Glowing terracotta warrior lantern sculptures are on display in Sydney for Chinese New Year.
06/ Winter winds have carved frozen sand towers on the shore of Lake Michigan.
07/ Lifelike galvanized wire animal sculptures by Kendra Haste.
08/ Beautiful mosaics made from painted ceramic plates by Molly Hatch.
09/ Joy Pitts turns unwanted clothing labels in to beautiful animal portraits.
10/ I now want to adopt a capybara even more since finding out they enjoy hot tub soaks.

This week on Design Crush:
Big + bold statement art and why it works so well in nearly every room.
Pretty snowy script street art by Faust New York.
I’m an adult! I got a new Casper mattress!
Check out these 12 February DIYs you’ll want to make ASAP.
Stunning textile art by Serena Garcia Dalla Venezia.
Great leather bags meet art at Epoché.
Cheuk Lun Lo turns shampooed heads into abstract art.
Stay warm with hot chocolate 12 ways.
Who knew that flowers look just as great frozen in ice as in a vase? Makoto Azuma.

Design Crush elsewhere:
Sometimes pattern-free is just the way to be!

Posted In collaboration/project, create, food, happy weekend, installation, outdoors, photography, sculpture, textiles

February 20, 2015

Makoto Azuma

As I type this I have flowers in four different rooms of my home, and it’s not even spring! A few years ago I started to notice how much better my mood was with a few blooms around, so I began making a point to pick some up every week or two. Who knew that they’d look just as good encased in ice as in a vase? Makoto Azuma‘s latest botanical adventure – Ice Flowers – exhibits the life cycles of flowers, from vibrancy to decay as each ice block melts away.

(via My Modern Met)

Posted In create, sculpture

February 19, 2015

Hot Chocolate 12 Ways

Nothing says snow day!!! quite like a steamy steamy delicious mug of hot chocolate. Your mind might immediately jump to paper packets of the instant variety, but have you ever considered expanding those horizons? Real chocolate. Real cream. Real FLAVOR. Add a little booze, opt for white chocolate, brûlée those marshmallows – so many options! Here are twelve recipes to get you daydreaming about cozy fires and layers of blankets on the couch.

Click on each image to go to the recipe.
All photos copyright of their respective sites unless otherwise noted.

Posted In recipes, round up

February 19, 2015

Cheuk Lun Lo

Let’s play the What is it? game – any ideas?

If you thought to yourself “that is definitely a head of hair full of shampoo” then you get the gold star! Cheuk Lun Lo photographs this project from above, creating an almost alien-like landscape in one of the most familiar places possible. The easily moldable medium, when photographed on black, gives the daily task of washing your hair new excitement.

(via designboom)

Posted In create, photography

February 18, 2015

Epoché

I’m forever on the lookout for a great leather bag, and when it happens to be paired with some great art all the better. Epoché manages it all by pulling inspiration from painting, printmaking, and pattern design to merge art and fashion. The bags are also very high quality and on sale right now to make room for a new collection! No time like the present to add a piece that’s sure to be a favorite for years to come.

Posted In bags, wear it

February 18, 2015

Serena Garcia Dalla Venezia

Chilean artist Serena Garcia Dalla Venezia creates stunning textile art from small handmade fabric balls that she then groups together. Growth and accumulation, order and chaos are the driving inspiration behind her work. The effect is somewhat pixelated in the end, full of thoughtful gradations in color and contrast.

Posted In create, textiles

February 17, 2015

12 February DIYs

Click on each image to go to the project.
All photos copyright of their respective sites unless otherwise noted.

Posted In accessories, bags, create, house and home, jewelry, make it, office, technology, walls, wear it

February 17, 2015

Casper

Last week a beautiful thing showed up on my doorstep in a large cardboard box. A MATTRESS.

It’s pure magic that something as large as a queen size mattress can be folded over upon itself and delivered on a doorstep. My 8-year-old spring mattress had seen better days and my lower back was letting me know about it. Because mail delivery mattresses are a popular thing lately I looked into a few different options, but one came out on top – Casper.

After I hauled the burrito-like bedroll out of the box (and took a breather, because let’s be honest), I hauled it onto my box spring and cut along the spot they indicated. And then I stood back and watched as it grew, and grew, AND GREW. It was like an air mattress inflating without the air!

Then voila – I had a new mattress.

I laid down on the thing immediately and basked in the glory of my brilliance and handiwork. When I was finished I noticed that the Casper mattress was supporting my body in all the right places. There was no pressure on my hips or shoulders, my lower back wasn’t arched in space, and I wasn’t sinking.

Each Casper is made from support foam topped with memory foam topped with an inch and a half of high-performace latex that helps keep the bed cool as you sleep. (I can hardly wait to test this out come summer.) Going a step further in sourcing, the knit fabrics come from South Carolina, the wovens from Belgium, and they’re all sewn together in Illinois and South Carolina before being distributed out of New York. And it doesn’t hurt that both Casper‘s site and social media presence have a great sense of humor about them, an all around great brand that I’m happy to support.

Each mattress is backed by a 100-night, no-hassle return policy, and 10-year full warranty. Oh, and free shipping both ways even if you decide to return it. So if you think a Casper mattress might be for you and want to give it a go, email me at designcrushing@gmail.com and I’ll help you out with a code for $50 off!

I received product in exchange for this post. All words and opinions are my own, as always. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep Design Crush going!

Posted In house and home, sponsored post

February 16, 2015

Snow Script

Faust New York has been busy this winter tagging snow-covered cars with the most beautiful snow script. He says that writing in the snow is an affinity of most children, and that while others have managed to shake it as adult he hasn’t. Not only do I want to go outside immediately and write on my own car, but I wouldn’t mind Faust showing up in Pittsburgh and tagging it himself.

Posted In create, street

February 16, 2015

Big + Bold Statement Art

Brittany Ambridge

It’s a trend that’s been slowly building momentum over the past year – big + bold statement art. While the gallery wall doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, it’s being given a run for its money by the impactful look of one large piece. So clean and simple, such a focal point. All of these things resonate with my heart and the clean aesthetic I gravitate towards. Feel free to go as big or as bold as you dare, an wall-sized mural is as much fair game as a massive canvas. The beauty of it all is that this treatment works in nearly every room, from dining room to bedroom and everywhere in between.

Posted In house and home, trends, walls