Flower

Love is the only flower that grows and blossoms
Without the aid of the seasons.
~Kahlil Gibran

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.
~Emma Goldman



Painted by Anne Olaug Soleng nov '07

Sea weed thing

I love working with pattern design. I try to experiment with shapes and patterns whenever I get inspired. Here's my latest creation. I started out with two random shapes, and it reminded me of shells and black seaweed bladders. I found some images later on which confirmed my impressions. When applying the pattern to the metal canister, it seemed to look like a box of Sushi to me.

Teakettles

I need a good, traditional teakettle. And today I fell in love with Bodum's Calorius (bottom picture). But I was greatly disappointed when I read the Costumers Reviews. It seems to not function at all! But it is so beautiful… I wish they could develop this product so that it might work…
Le Creuset has some cute ones, though.
I haven't read anything about the Chantal Prodesign Teakettle, but I guess it's my favorite.

Amazing artist Camilla Engman

Camilla Engman is a swedish artist/illustrator, and her work is just Wow! Enjoy it!

Spring thing

I guess Spring is my favorite time of year. I can't get enough of the color green.
This is my celebration of Spring.

Emmanuel

Daily Poetics is one of my favorite blogs. Daily Poetics has so many categories, and you can just go treasure hunting here. Some of the categories are: art/design, black, blue, creative impulses, Dictionary Poetry, secret spaces and wallpaper…

Today I looked at ARTIST, and discovered the artist Emmanuel Polanco. Wonderful colours, and I love the style!

Giraffe cup

Sometimes a beautiful cup is all you need to bring a smile to your face. I wish I had a cup like this to drink my coffee from. It's a quick photoshop mock-up of one of my own designs.

See more of Anne Olaug Soleng's work at smakogse.no.

Ajay Singh from India shared the photo of the cup on Stock.Xchange, which I used for this post.

Nantaka Joy – new webstore

Philadelphia-based textile and graphic designer Joy Deangdeelert Cho creates the most delicate and wonderful cards. I love the details and admire her work. Her cards are really high quality work. LOVE!

She is also a blogger, and it's worth a daily visit. Most inspiring!

Egglings

These egglings from Curiosity Shoppe are simply irresistable! I love the egg 'n herb it self. And the packaging is lovely, too.

The film the VCR ate

"Glas" is a 1958 documentary by director Bert Haanstra about glassblowing. It made a great impression on me when I saw it in the first year of film school. In the second year, we were making our own process documentary about glassblowing, so of course we wanted to check out this classic for inspiration. But the VCR died and took the tape with it, so I never got to see it again.

I can't show you the film I helped make because I don't have the rights to publish it, but here's the great original. As one YouTube commenter says, this is the movie that made him become a glassblower himself. Any film that inspires anyone to do anything with their life is worth watching.

Flea Market Project

I got this chair at a flea market this fall, and I am giving it a makeover! A light paint job and sowing some cushions is what I have in mind. Can't quite decide if I want it black or white. I'll keep you posted…

Kvist = Twig

Inspired by nature, industrial style and recycling, Kvist is one of my favorite interior design shops in Oslo, Norway. Their shop has a mix of designer classics, vintage and 'innovative stuff'.

Here are some of my favorites: At the top you see a Bird welcome matt & designer classic chair (Designed by Norman Cherner 1958), the fragile cups by Sara Skotte are quite unique (they're called movement), the candle holder represents Kvist in a good way (and I love it for it's originality) and in the bottom right corner a set of vintage china with new photo transfer. Love it!

Explosion of Color

Artist Jen Stark's creations are like colorful explosions. It truly is amazing how line upon line, paper on paper, evolves into something quite organic and alive. Stark is not limited by the material, but rather sees the potential in a single pencil line or a small piece of paper.

Kachoo!!

How can having a cold possibly add flavour to your life? I found these sniffle-inspired vases and lamp today, and it makes me feel a lot better about my red running nose…

Cute set of vases from Steuben called the Handkerchief Collection. Vase from Not on the High Street. The Kachoo Accent Lamp at Amazon.com. The beautiful yellow vase is from The family store.

What exactly is UMAMI?

"The flavour of food is determined by a number of different factors including taste, smell, colour, temperature and overall appearance, as well as by physiological or psychological conditions. Some of the most important factors are the basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.
It was Japanese scientist Dr. Kikunae Ikeda who first discovered that glutamic acid, an amino acid, was responsible for the umami taste of Konbu.
Although there is no English word for it, umami is a savoury taste imparted by glutamate and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate, which occur naturally in many foods including meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products.
The taste of umami itself is subtle. It blends well with other tastes to expand and round out flavours. Most people don’t recognise umami when they encounter it, but it can be detected when eating ripe tomatoes, parmesan cheese, cured ham, mushrooms, meat and fish. Umami plays an important role making food taste delicious."

This text was cut from umamiinfo.com where you can learn more about UMAMI!