This week on Design Crush: Showcase Mirror is a wall display for your favorite things.
Pretty folksy jewelry that’s perfect for summer from Gamma Folk. Talwst creates the coolest mini dioramas in vintage ring boxes.
A roundup of the best Mother’s Day cards out there. (Psst, it’s May 10th.)
Super sexy paper cut babes with great hair and tattoos by Belinda Rodriguez.
The stone shelf would be perfect in so many places around the house.
Neon bright reversible embroidered art from Liz Payne.
Crushing on these Atelier Dion colored clay mugs in a big way. Sybille Paulsen supports and celebrates cancer patients through her wearable hair art.
01/ Szymon Swietochowski used holi powder to create staff portraits for his agency.
02/ Lego creations know no bounds, Agabag uses them for purse exteriors.
03/ An app controlled stove knob provides the right amount of heat for the right amount of time? That’s Meld.
04/ Ice Cream That Understands PMS is a student project, but I’d totally buy it.
05/ Want to keep your glasses from sliding off your nose? Nosewax is where it’s at.
06/ Travis Rice has a way with shredded paper.
07/ Sophie and Sarah are two beautiful models, who happen to be sheepdogs.
08/ Ben Brucker used 8.024 Post-Its to create superheroes on his office walls.
09/ The lunar cycle made out of Nilla Wafers looks incredibly delicious.
10/ How to break in a t-shirt and make it feel vintage.
This week on Design Crush: Eight prints that make owning great art insanely affordable.
Have you entered our Moulton giveaway??
I love Laura Carlin‘s animal collage on tiles.
If you’re thinking spring take a look at these structural plant walls.
Creepy cool illustrations from Swan Bones. Annie McLaughlin captures pattern and light so well. Nest is saving me money in my 115 year old home one degree at a time.
Crazy sexy manipulated imagery from Eli Craven.
This week on Design Crush: Miranda Lorikeet works what can only be called magic in MS Paint.
Try rice pudding 10 ways. Laurent Chéhère creates dreamy depictions of flying houses.
A jewelry collection from Seaworthy that’s begging for summer days.
Embroidered mantras from MaricorMaricar.
Mid-century inspired illustrations by Masako Kubo.
Step away from the screen and put the Social Preparedness Kit into action.
Take a peek at the fun, whimsical illustrations of Aiko Fukawa.
If you have pets and an aesthetic above a 6th grade level, you must feel my pain when it comes to the pet dish aisle. I don’t want fish skeletons or dog bones – I want something that fits my style and doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb in my home. While my three cats may not notice what they’re eating out of, I’d like to think that I’m WOW-ing them a little with my effort. It would also be nice if it didn’t cost more than one of the dishes that I eat off of myself, meaning it’s time to dust off my do-it-yourself game.
Supplies
• small, plain ceramic or glass bowls
• acrylic craft paints
• paper plates
• sponge
• scissors
• pencil
• paper towels
I decided on two modern patterns to create in fun, playful color palettes for both a food and water bowl. Before I started I made sure to wash and dry the bowls thoroughly to remove any debris. After squirting some paints (neon pink, olive green, and black) on a paper dish I dove right into the first – a grid-like dot pattern. Using a pencil eraser dipped into the paint I freehanded a pattern of five by four dots in the olive green. I then repeated the process with the neon pink and black, staggering the grid by skipping a dot-sized width and moving the pattern down one row.
The end result reminded me of that pure sugar dot candy of our childhoods! And I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I kind of want my own bowl now just like this.
For the second design I came up with an updated take on a citrus pattern, just want these last weeks of winter called for. I began by cutting out a circle shaped piece of sponge that measured about an inch wide. After prepping my paint – bright orange, robin’s egg blue, and neon pink this time – I got stamping in a random layout. I gave the orange plenty of time to dry (about 20 minutes), then followed suit with the blue. After some more drying time I trimmed out a small leaf-shaped piece of sponge and finished up with some unexpected neon pink foliage.
We happily teamed up with Fancy Feast and their new Broths with Chicken on this project as part of their #WaystoWow campaign. My pets are part of my family, and I love finding new ways to show my love and affection. Aside from well-designed bowls, beds, and toys I also like to WOW my three finicky felines by laying super soft blankets in their favorite sunning spots and placing bird feeders outside of lower windows for entertainment. Broths are full of real, recognizable ingredients and come perfectly portioned for a reward or treat, so you can feel good about indulging your cat kids. My girl Rainey absolutely loves them – two paws up. Sign up to try a bowl on Fancy Feast!
This post is in partnership with Fancy Feast Broths. All words and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Design Crush!
This girl right here is my 15-year-old, essentially a high school freshman. She came into my life during an especially tough time, my sophomore year of college when I was going through difficult bouts of anxiety and depression. Roxy was like liquid Xanax for my life, she was six weeks old and weighed 1.1 lbs when I adopted her and we’ve been through so much. (Right down to a big surgery she had two Decembers ago for a chronic issue called megacolon.) She’s feisty to the core and loves me unconditionally as only a pet can.
Just over a year later this big love muffin came along. Peanut had been found abandoned, trapped inside a covered litter box with the opening taped shut and no hope for escape. When I heard that my vet was looking for a home for him I signed on, sight unseen. He had the biggest pink nose, the tip of his tail was broken, and patches of fur were missing from his fight to escape the litter box he’d been trapped in. And it was love at first sight! Peanut is the biggest teddybear (20 lbs at one point, now down to 15 lbs) and the guy I cuddle with every night before bed. As I always whisper in his ear, we were meant to be!
After the May 2013 tornadoes in Oklahoma I signed up to foster eight 2-month old kittens. (One of the two litters was actually discovered in a collapsed elementary school under piles of debris.) It took a few months to get them all healthy and adopted, and this girl – Rainey – was the last in my home. She was nearly feral when we began our journey and still prefers lots of alone time, but has also learned the joys of a good cuddle session. And after all she’d been through, and how comfortable she eventually became in my home, I knew there was no way she was going anywhere anytime soon.
I’m a believer in spoiling my pets, but when the holidays roll around there’s all the more reason to spread the love. Fancy Feast likes to refer to this time of year as Feastivities and this year they’re teaming up with Refinery29 to curate their 2014 Gift Guide, a collection of wow-worthy items to dazzles cats and their owners alike. The star item is the 31st annual Fancy Feast ornament, each one is crafted by hand from the folks at JJ Potts and all proceeds go directly to AdoptAPet.com. I can’t wait to order one for myself and all of the other cat lovers in my life!
If you’re in New York City you can visit Fancy Feast at Refinery29’s Tinseltownholiday bazaar December 13th and 14th and see the gift guide come to life. From the real ingredients in Fancy Feast Broth, to the carefully-crafted holiday ornament and the hand-picked items in this year’s Feastivities Gift Guide, Feastivities is the perfect way to wow cats and cat lovers alike this holiday season!
Disclaimer: I received compensation for this post, however all words and opinions are my own as always. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep Design Crush’s content fresh!
K9 Couture Co. is a small, locally owned company I was introduced to shortly before leaving Oklahoma City. Crystal Young is the dog collar creator, as well as a veterinary tech, with a passion for animals. (A girl after my own heart!) She borrowed her mother-in-law’s sewing machine, taught herself how to use it, and K9 Couture Co. was born. Everything is chosen and made by Crystal herself. The collars are especially comfortable for your pup with a dose of style for you.
Joanna Hawley created Jojotastic as a place to spotlight everything from runway-fresh fashion to home interiors. Fellow animal hoarder and blogger, Joanna spends her spare time indulging in wanderlust, climbing rocks, and questing for the perfect apple pie.
Hailing from Detroit, Shinola is a long-time favorite for beautifully crafted leathergoods and watches. Recently, they partnered with photographer and animal-lover Bruce Weber on a collection of pet accessories. Like the rest of their pieces, the pet accessories are hand-made in America and made vegetable-tanned leather with brass hardware. Shinola also hopes to raise awareness with this collection for all rescue organizations, including the Michigan Humane Society and Best Friends.
Long-time golden retriever lover Bruce Weber also lent his photographic eye to the project. His strong belief that pets add meaning to our lives truly comes through in the photos, don’t you think?
