japanese fabrics by karaku tokyo @ etsy
Japanese Flower Fabrics by Karaku Tokyo @ Etsy.
I cannot think right now of anything more exquisite in terms of color and pattern than Japanese fabrics. They always seem so perfect ! In a sense they are the epitome of “A thing of beauty…”.
And I cannot thing of a more exquisite shop than Karaku Tokyo @ Etsy. All her fabrics are simply gorgeous and beautiful. They have amazingly nice colors, not to mention the patterns which are all superb.
Besides the flower patterns, you will of course find geometric ones like this one :
And she also has a lot of Japanese Papers. I absolutely love that yellow one !
I discovered her through her Flickr. She lives in Tokyo, Japan where she is an interior designer. Her company website Karaku Tokyo is about Japanese home decoration.
blythe fashion : funny hats & bonnets @ etsy
Golden Yellow Gnome Hat by neuart @ Etsy.
Blythe dolls seem to have been made for hats & bonnets. They simply look great in them, obviously it has to do with that big face of them, and they might look funny or gorgeous but one thing is certain, Blythe fans will never be out of inspiration when it comes to creating something, anything, to put on those heads.
I know some great creators have their own shop, but on Etsy alone there are plenty of great shops so this is only a tiny selection of what’s to be found there. Starting with one of my very favorites, neuart (see photo above) who has always the most beautiful knitted stuff, be they hats or sets, ponchos… She also has a Flickr by the name of miss modular and you can see more of her creations in various files there.
And some more wonderful stuff :
Shimmery Sparkly Sequined Helmet for Blythe by flissy666 + Green Pointy Bonnet for Blythe by loou.
Crochet Hat for Blythe by Sassylassie + Knitted Ear Bonnet for Blythe by xoxo,Blythe.
Blythe Hat – Lime Green and Red Pompom by CannonBelle.
“Sarah Jessica Parker” Blythe Hat by lado.
Blue and White Fleece Helmet Hat for Blythe by nectarine.
Blythe Rectangle Pom Pom Hat, earthy tones by CannonBelle.
Decadent Mohair Hat for Blythe by Ttttemma.
Cream Beret by PinkPetal.
And I only saw this one this afternoon while finishing this article, I just couldn’t resist :
Luxurious Fuzzy Hat Hood for Blythe OOAK by bonspielcreation.
To Be Continued…
the world in technicolor #2 new balance
New Balance M1300 – Made in England
I’m not much of a sneaker girl but I saw those New Balance the other day on glltn.com and I must say I wish I had a little bit of money. My favorite ones are the blue and orange ones, but I also like the yellow ones a lot.
Source glltn.com via Sneaker Files
gary taxali’s green toy monkey
The Toy Monkey by Gary Taxali – Exclusive Green Version available @ Kung Fu Toys
While Gary Taxali’s new vinyl figures “Oh No” + “Oh Oh” are on the verge of being released by Bigshot Toyworks, you can still find some of his Toy Monkeys. The yellow version (500 numbered pieces signed or unsigned) is the regular one and not many people are aware that a green version was also released in a limited edition of 200. It was at one point sold by some museum – I think it was the MOMA but I am not sure now – and I just found that Kung Fu Toys has it for $150 dollars.
You can still order the Original Toy Monkey Deluxe Edition @ Chump Toys or @ Orbit Gallery space.
Also see the Original Hand Painted “Toy Monkey” on Gary Taxali’s website.
Oh No + Oh Oh by Gary Taxali – sculpt by Scott Wetterschneider
Note that you can buy the Oh No Bronze Statue along with some artwork by Gary Taxali @ Magic Pony.
OH NO Bronze Statue – Gary Taxali
yellow toys
Michael Lau x Prodip “After Dark Project” – Pascagoula Alien in Yellow
I am not sure yellow toys are even sought after by collectors – some people collect black or GID toys for instance – but they are favorites of mine. This Pascagoula by Michael Lau has been on my wishlist ever since it was released about a year ago and since it still is a winter of financial discontent for me, this will be just for the fun of it…
400% & 100% Be@rbrick set Genevieve Gauckler
Shikito in Yellow by Superdeux
Rolitoboy – Gloomy Pity Boy by Mori Chack x Rolito
Onion Love Invader by Jaime Hayon
Astronaut Jesus by Doma
+ Ecstasy of Gold by krysto_O on Flickr.
too young to die
“Too Young To Die” Ashtray™ – Yoshitomo Nara
So this is Day One of “At last you won’t risk getting lung cancer from spending too much time in a café-bar-restaurant-nightclub-pick your choice here” in France and what with the big fuss around that and the so predictable reports on the radio – I don’t watch the news on TV anymore, I got spare the smokers vs non-smokers images – but what it really made me think about this morning waking up was this ashtray based on a painting Yoshitomo Nara made in 2001. (I wonder however whether anyone has ever used the thing as an actual ashtray…)
Anyway, besides the other well-known figures made from Yoshitomo Nara’s work, the PupCup™ and the Little Wanderer™ – my favorite one so far – I recalled that this year another figure in a Limited Edition of 300 had been released by How2Work. It’s called “Sleepless Night” (sitting), retail price was HK$7800 (around EUR 730 or US$ 1,000 at the time back in July), but even though you might have had the money it was still a tough job to get one. But the only thing that really matters is that it is amazingly and breathtakingly beautiful.
“Sleepless Night” (sitting), Yoshitomo Nara, 2007
However, if you happen to be interested in the financial aspects relative to art, while researching for this article – believe it or not I do research before writing – I found out that there has been a recent auction at Sotheby’s Paris about Contemporary Art and that number 276/300 of “Sleepless Night” sold there for 9,850 euros (14,415 US$).
Yoshitomo Nara @ Blum & Poe + Yoshitomo Nara on Flickr
Shopping @
Addict Galerie + Artoyz + Giant Robot + Inhabit [Canada] + Little Fashion Gallery + Museum of Contemporary Art [Chicago] + My Plastic Heart + Raw Space [Australia] + retromodern.com + unicahome
the world in technicolor #1 applepiepussy
Phony Pie – “Gerry Glitter” + Phony Pie – “Tom Pussy” by Applepiepussy on DaWanda.
I’m a sucker for colors. I just seem to never get enough of them. They’re one of the reasons I started buying toys and as a photographer I don’t think I will ever want to use black & white much more. So of course when browsing sites like Etsy, DaWanda or Flickr colors are mostly what I am looking for and my lists of favorites are bursting with them.
This is why I’m starting this series called “The World in Technicolor”.
They’ve got names such as “Crazy Cupcake”, “Phony Pie”, “Female Chauvinist Pig”, “Lucky Bastard” etc and for the most part they are meant to get attached to your phone (or whatever you like). They’re wonderfully cute, beautiful and full of colors. They’re not expensive. They are made by Mariko who has started Applepiepussy to be able to create “cute accessories” while she is mainly working with her boyfriend in their design agency Loaded ink in The Netherlands.
Edit : On March 2nd 2008, Applepiepussy no longer has a shop on DaWanda, you will now find all her creations on applepiepussy.com + she also has a great gallery on Flickr.
Edit 2 : March 2012. I’m in the process of re-uploading all my old images because they did not show in my wordpress media library following the database import I performed in February 2008 when I decided to switch to an English-only version of the blog and editing this post I am noticing that Applepiepussy is now called Applepiepieces.
