Little stabs at happiness http://littlestabs.com Most recent posts at Little stabs at happiness posterous.com Mon, 30 May 2011 19:19:00 -0700 Molecular umbrellas http://littlestabs.com/molecular-umbrellas http://littlestabs.com/molecular-umbrellas

Photo

Walking through Surry Hills the other evening I saw this exhibition through the window of the (closed) Mils Gallery. The windows were so big that I don't even need to go back when the gallery is actually open. The exhibition is called Archimedian solids, temple of kitsch FYI.

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Mon, 30 May 2011 00:09:39 -0700 Nut noses http://littlestabs.com/nut-noses http://littlestabs.com/nut-noses
As a child I was always interested in what I called 'nut noses' - which were the nose-like structures that either protrude from nuts, or if you carefully prise the two halves of a nut open they are the nose-like structure that joins the nut together. I saw an especially fine cashew nut nose specimen the other day and decided to document it before I ate it. I did a quick google search thinking that nut noses would be a popular online topic, but found only this marginally related image. Any updates on this topic would be warmly welcomed.

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Sun, 29 May 2011 23:47:00 -0700 The whimsical side of Fredrik Paulsen http://littlestabs.com/the-whimsical-side-of-fredrik-paulsen http://littlestabs.com/the-whimsical-side-of-fredrik-paulsen
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An online collection of some small personal projects by Paulsen is worth a look.

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Wed, 03 Nov 2010 06:22:00 -0700 Channel 4: breath of fresh air http://littlestabs.com/channel-4-breath-of-fresh-air http://littlestabs.com/channel-4-breath-of-fresh-air

What a daunting task it must be to approach a brand refresh on an already legendary bit of channel branding. Rudd Studios have impressed me with a twist on an already strong idea, with surprisingly refreshing results. Nice!

 

 

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Wed, 03 Nov 2010 05:59:00 -0700 Graphic quilts http://littlestabs.com/graphic-quilts http://littlestabs.com/graphic-quilts
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Lovely graphic quilts at a Lousie Bourgeois exhibition at Hauser Wirth on Savile Row. I'll be checking this out next weekend.

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Tue, 02 Nov 2010 06:22:00 -0700 Hello (again) world http://littlestabs.com/hello-again-world http://littlestabs.com/hello-again-world
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Well I've been meaning to get back into my blogging after a long (and frankly, inexcusable) leave of absence. So I thought, what better thing to talk about is there than a chesterfield pig? I also really like the piece Stuhlhockerbank

That is all.

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Thu, 06 May 2010 05:41:00 -0700 Graphic crafts http://littlestabs.com/graphic-crafts http://littlestabs.com/graphic-crafts

Evelin Kasikov is a London based designer and illustrator who began experimenting with handmade crafts whilst doing an MA at St Martins.

The representation of graphic printing processes and typographic experiments in stitching is really interesting, the handmade books look like a labour of love (or even a total obsession!)

Impressed! I saw this first on It's Nice That.

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Tue, 20 Apr 2010 08:57:00 -0700 Charlie the horse brooch http://littlestabs.com/charlie-the-horse-brooch-by http://littlestabs.com/charlie-the-horse-brooch-by
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There's something intriguing about this little hand-painted box with a brooch inside by MummyIWantADinosaur on Etsy. Unfortunately it's currently sold out.

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Tue, 20 Apr 2010 08:43:00 -0700 Solidarité http://littlestabs.com/solidarite-15 http://littlestabs.com/solidarite-15

My friend Jamie Mitchell sent me the link to this video.

As I was watching, I was thinking 'ok this is pretty nice' but I wasn't massively blown away by the idea, as I had seen this type of water display before, but when you get to the end and realise that the promotion is for Solidarités International, whose main goal is to end deaths because of unsafe drinking water the piece has a bit more resonance.

I also think that the film has been put together incredibly well, which has the effect of making a pretty good idea look awesome.

The film appears to be by Cosa. Agency: BDDP & Fils.

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Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:49:00 -0700 Stitched & hitched: the best wedding card ever http://littlestabs.com/stitched-and-hitched-the-best-wedding-card-ev http://littlestabs.com/stitched-and-hitched-the-best-wedding-card-ev

We have a habit at The Partners of always going overboard with creating individually designed creative cards for anyone who's having a birthday, or leaving the company etc.

Before I left the country to go back to Sydney and get married my colleagues created me a card that was up there with the best (I think) we've ever done.

Because I'm interested in craft and stitching (and have been running a slightly abortive Stitch&Bitch session on and off at work) they designed and created a custom cross stitch and had it framed, writing me their personal messages on the back of the frame. They designed the two figures based on my husband and I, and our planned wedding outfits. They even took the trouble to indicate the slight difference in skin tone between me and James (who is half West Indian). They also added a small hair clip into my planned finger wave hair style, but I made a last minute decision not to wear the hair clip that I had planned.

Miranda Bolter sat up until 4am the night before my departure day stitching the piece. The card was such a lovely and touching gesture, I had a small tear in my eye. It makes me happy to know that I work amongst such kind and creative souls, its a great job perk.

I've uploaded a few pictures from the wedding day so you can see the comparison between the real and stitched elements. 

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Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:55:00 -0700 Rhetorica office - Scandinavian white on white http://littlestabs.com/rhetorica-office-white-on-white http://littlestabs.com/rhetorica-office-white-on-white

This is the office of a small communication company in Copenhagen called Rhetorica, designed by What We Do.

I like the inexpensive but effective use of white wall decoration elements, these icons, and also the picture frames. The full-on whiteness of the space is a little much for me, but I like the detailing.

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Thu, 15 Apr 2010 09:12:00 -0700 Lego dude http://littlestabs.com/famous-movie-characters-made-by-using-lego-th http://littlestabs.com/famous-movie-characters-made-by-using-lego-th

CubeDude (AKA Angus MacLane) creates movie characters using Lego. Its like 3D eboy characters, they are surprisingly personality-ful considering how few bricks he's used. Super geeky pastime, I love it.

I've shown R2D2 and C3PO, Batman & Robin, King Kong & Mr. Staypuft, Robocop & Mad Max, 'The Dude' from Big Lebowski & some other dude. Click through for complete set.

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Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:11:00 -0700 Continue time clock http://littlestabs.com/continue-time-clock-6 http://littlestabs.com/continue-time-clock-6

By Sander Mulder.

"On this Continue Time Clock, two out of the three pointers rotate around another pointer, instead of the central point of the clock face as with traditional clocks. The resulting kinetic artwork and fully functional clock continually changes its shape during a full rotation of 12 hours."

The movie is a bit too long, skip to the end to see the completed clock. From LikeCool.

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Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:06:00 -0700 Hand painted signs in India http://littlestabs.com/hand-painted-signs-in-india http://littlestabs.com/hand-painted-signs-in-india

I was researching some images for a pitch that we are working on at the moment, and needed to find some hand painted signs, like the ones you see all around the place in India. I found this nice collection on Flickr from Gavin Burnett.

There is something quite charming about the appearance of branded messaging which has been uniquely hand-rendered by an individual. There's something a bit warm and engaging about it, that I think sadly will disappear altogether soon as global brands keep striving for 'consistency' and also when printing billboards becomes way cheaper than hiring signwriters. (as has been the case in this country for a good few decades at least.) Its always lovely to see a little remnant of hand painted signs from another era around London, not least because you get a sense of the heritage of what the stores used to be way back when. I'll ponder this thought and get back to you.

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Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:48:00 -0700 Food flags http://littlestabs.com/food-flags-9 http://littlestabs.com/food-flags-9

WHYBIN/TBWA, Sydney, Australia created these rather nifty culinary flags to promote the Sydney International Food Festival. The relationship between the culture of the flag and the food featured should be pretty obvious, I'm glad to see that my native Australia seems to have only one national food that we are known for: the meat pie. Go Australia!

Click through to view all the flags at LikeCool.

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Wed, 07 Apr 2010 05:14:07 -0700 Felt mania http://littlestabs.com/felt-mania http://littlestabs.com/felt-mania
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I came across the work of Kit Lane whilst browsing Flickr for other imagery. She describes herself as a non-traditional needle felter, sculptor, painter, 3D developer living in the cultural wasteland of West Central Minnesota, USA.

She's got a massive collection of these little dudes in her photostream, obviously she's a prolific maker.

Simple but full of personality, and great colours and textures... I've got to try some felting if I ever get a spare minute one of these days.

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Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:27:00 -0700 Hot pagan buns http://littlestabs.com/hot-pagan-buns http://littlestabs.com/hot-pagan-buns
The hot cross bun is a tasty treat that is so embedded in our culture that I think people often forget its deeply Christian roots and think of it as a nice bit of 'seasonal produce' from the supermarkets or bakeries. 
 
I've always had a massive weakness for hot cross buns, so I decided this year to bake some buns at home, and to look to Easters original pagan background for the decoration, rather than just piping a cross onto the bun without giving it a second thought. As I'm not a Christian this didn't strike me as blasphemous at all, merely experimental.
 
The one benefit of making the traditional cross buns is that the straight lines would be far easier to pipe onto the bun than the more complex shapes I was attempting!
 
They were delicious. Recipe from the Guardian magazine.
 

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Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:37:51 -0700 Freya's birthday cakes http://littlestabs.com/freyas-birthday-cakes http://littlestabs.com/freyas-birthday-cakes Every time someone has a birthday at work we go a bit mad and create some themed card or something which takes up a lot of thought and more studio time than it should. For Freya's birthday we did the card messages on cupcakes as a tenuous link to the Alice in Wonderland fever that had hit London at the time. The icing was a bit of a disaster, way too runny - men should NOT have been left in charge of that aspect.

The two last photos were an experiment by Eagle to see how much Paul's cupcake really looked like him. Answer: not very much.

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Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:28:17 -0700 Springtime http://littlestabs.com/springtime-146 http://littlestabs.com/springtime-146 I saw this balcony on St Johns Street from the car on a rainy drive home after work last week. The owners spring pre-planning has transformed their small outdoor area into a magically optimistic space. Jealous, I want some spring colour popping up around our place.

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Fri, 02 Apr 2010 06:35:00 -0700 Knitted bird http://littlestabs.com/knitted-bird http://littlestabs.com/knitted-bird

I knitted this blue bird for my aunt Coralie a while ago and posted it over to her in Australia. She has a special affinity with birds, and she made it a little home in a real birds nest on her window sill. One shot shows the bird in the company of another felt bird that I'd made at an earlier time. Coralie makes tiny felt birds herself, sometimes the small ones hide under the wing of the bigger knitted bird. I'll blog the tiny birds another time.

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