Under my Umbrella

Image: Kyouei Design

Umbrella Pot

Big fat raindrops have just started to fall. This makes me think of our gutters which have grass growing out of them like a red flag declaring how hopeless we are at home maintenance!

A much better (although just as unexpected) place for grass to take up residence is the Umbrella Pot. Created by Kyouei Design, the Umbrella Pot uses rain that trickles from your brolly to water a small plant. If only our gutters were as low maintenance as this!

72,000 JPY (including shipping); Available here.

Found via Urban Lime.

Window Shopping

Image: Supermarket Sarah

Supermarket Sarah

I don't think I have ever seen our fridge looking so pathetically bare. The lone egg and apple have asked for new tenants to join them, but instead of going to the supermarket I've spent all day procrastinating.

On one of my time wasting missions, I came across the only supermarket I fancy visiting this afternoon - Supermarket Sarah. Earlier this year, Sarah Bagner quit her day job and set up a shop in her home, just around the corner from Portobello Market. Selling a bower bird mix of vintage fashion, trinkets and pieces from up-and-coming designers, Sarah's online boutique features a shot of her 'shop window' (which is actually her lounge room wall!) that allows you to click on each eclectic item to purchase.

Thankfully Supermarket Sarah now ships internationally - if only she sold muesli and washing up detergent and I would never have to leave home and face a wonky trolley again!

Life and Sole of the Party!

Images: Rollasole

Rollasole

After a few too many sherbets, I once spent the night dancing next to what I thought was a jukebox, only to find out later that it was a cigarette machine! Moral of the story? To ensure you're not the butt of jokes five years on, don't confuse your vending machines.

Unfortunately this might be easier said than done now that there is a new breed on the block. Rollasole (available in the UK) dispenses emergency ballet flats to relieve tired tootises that have been dancing next to a jukebox all night. Or was that a cigarette machine?!

Yarn Bombing

Images: Knitta Please

Guerilla Knitting by Knitta Please

Whatever the opposite to a renegade is - I'm it. All my license points are intact, I go bright red when embellishing the truth and am pathetically law abiding. Pretty dull, really!

But if I became a rebel rouser I would want to roll with the clandestine group, Knitta Please. This tag crew of knitters - whose tongue-in-cheek street names have included Knotorious N.I.T, Loop Dogg, PolyCotN and MascuKnitity - bomb the inner city with vibrant, stitched works of art. Wrapping everything from utility poles to public monuments, this would be the thrill I'd chase!

Plan B if Knitta Please won't have me? I'm joining Wool and the Gang.

This Does My Ed In!

Image: Ed Hardy Habit

Ed Hardy Hand Sanitizer

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. Ed Hardy has just released a Hand Sanitizer. It's supposed to kill germs and stop swine flu but I'm hoping it can decontaminate me should I accidentally come into contact with an Ed Hardy tee!

Girl Crush

Images: Marie Claire

Alexa Chung

What's the female version of a bromance? A girmance? A femance? Whatever it is, I've got it for IT-Brit, Alexa Chung.

The model turned TV presenter and sometime DJ has a posse of friends - Daisy Lowe, Agyness Deyn and Kelly Osbourne - that I'd like to get on the turps with, and an effortless 'I don't really bother' style that I can't get enough of. But it is her irreverent, madcap attitude that is most appealing. How can you resist a girl who asked Gwen Stefani if her new perfume stank of bacon or if Paul McCartney could sing a song about shoes while interviewing them?

Clearly I'm not the only one who is a paid up and passionate Alexa fan. In fact, MTV is encouraging imitators to get all Single White Female and is posting a daily account of where you can get the same threads as Alexa was spied wearing on her show It's On With Alexa Chung. A bit extreme, I know. But if you're going to be a stalker, you might as well be a style stalker!

A Cup Half Full

Images: Booooooom

Coffee Cup Art by Cheeming Boey

Whenever I see someone promenading down the street with a coffee in hand, I think it looks like they have decided to leave their dog at home and take their coffee for a walk instead. Strange, I know! But it probably wouldn't be out of the question for Cheeming Boey.

Cheeming is an illustrator who uses permanent markers to create intricate designs on foam cups. Unlike flat art, they have no beginning or end and take their inspiration from his time in Malaysia and the US. His art is now in high demand with each piece selling for a couple of hundred dollars - which probably makes it the most expensive coffee cup you'll ever have, but at least it's the world's first worthwhile use of styrofoam!

Found via Booooooom.

Doh!

Image: Made in Brazil

Vogue Brazil Cover

Having a bad day at work? It could be worse. A hell of a lot worse.

You could be the one who misspelled the name of one of the greatest photographers of the 20th Century, Guy Bourdin, on the cover of Vogue Brazil.

Things don't seem so bad now, do they?!

Old Book: New Life

Images: Su Blackwell

Book Cut Sculptures by Su Blackwell

The librarian at my primary school continues to haunt me. In fact, to this day I still can't bring myself to dog-ear a favourite page of a book. So I can only image what would happen if she came across Su Blackwell's beautifully delicate paper sculptures.

Created from old books that she finds in secondhand shops, Su spends months carefully slicing and dissecting each tome to create an intricate paper sculpture. Her inspiration is taken from the book's title or a picture or paragraph from within.

While my old librarian's hairy moles might quiver with rage as she casts her eye over Su's work, I say it's turning paper into poetry.

Open Sesame

Jewellery by Rhiannon Smith

Nicholas Building Open Studios

Lately, heading into the city on a Friday night has been about as appealing as licking fur balls. It might only be Monday morning, but this week, things are already shaping up to be a whole lot different.

Over two evenings, more than 30 of the Nicholas Building's creative residents will be throwing open their studio doors. Not only is this the perfect chance to take a behind the scenes look at one of Melbourne's most thriving creative hubs, it is also a fantastic opportunity to commission a work or purchase a unique piece of art, jewellery or fashion.

For other events that are part of Craft Victoria's Craft Cubed program click here.

Nicholas Building Open Studios

37 Swanston Street (Cnr of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane)

Melbourne

Thurs 27 & Fri 28 Aug, 4-9 pm

Peace, Love and Hippie Chic

Images: Singer22

Trend Spotter: Hippie Chic

August marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, and it seems this legendary music festival is continuing to leave its mark on fashion with a hippie chic flashback. Thankfully we've moved on from the boho trend that conquered the early noughties and this time around it's all about tie dye, peasant tops, fringing, heavily patterned dresses and earth tones.

One label leading the revival is Gypsy05. With its tie dye tanks, maxi dresses and silk jumpsuits, Gypsy05 has become a fashion favourite of the likes of Alessandra Ambrosio (who was papped twice in one week in one of their designs), Lady Gaga and Lauren Conrad. Perhaps more noteworthy though, is the fact that Gypsy05 is an ardent campaigner for environmental awareness and incorporates organic fabrics, low impact dyes, and water based printing into all of their collections.

If it's good enough for supermodel, AlessandraAmbrosio, to channel the summer of love, then it's good enough for me!

Call (03) 9528 7300 for stockists.

Beauty Laid Bare

Images: ibtblogs

Supermodels Supernatural for US Harper's Bazaar

Standing in front of any news-stand, it's usually not too hard to find at least one mag with a 'Stars Without Makeup' expose. And while photos of Scarlett looking particularly pasty or Cameron with a corker of a pimple are an instant confidence boost, the latest edition of US Harper's Bazaar puts a whole new spin on things.

Supermodels Supernaturals was shot by Peter Lindbergh and takes a stripped back look at beauty. It features eight supermodels; including Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen and Amber Valletta; sans makeup. Although these genetic freaks of nature (and I mean that in the nicest possible way!) are arguably the very ones who can get away with a bare face, the result is refreshing and feels genuine.

While it would be naive to believe that these images haven't been cleaned up a little or and had a touch of colour correcting, they are the perfect tonic to the heavy handed 'Sharon Stone' treatment that is currently in favour.

Attack of the Killer Fringe

Before...

Image: Love Tripper

After...

Image: Zimbio

You don't often see a 'before' photo that is an improvement on an 'after' snap. But in one fell snip, Kristy Hinze has managed to go from smokin' hot stunner to looking like she's Kerri-Anne Kennerley's younger sister. Her heavy fringe is more of a hairdon't than a hairdo and means I haven't been able to switch on Project Runway Australia this season.

I could bang on about Kristy's bangs for hours, but what's the point? Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words!

PS: For more folicle funnies (and a great time waster) head on over to Mullet Junky...

Zip It!

Image: Shop Diary

Zipper Rosettes

I've noticed that the flower du jour of florists in my neck of the woods is the Ornamental Cabbage. Sure, they look amazing but after sitting in water for awhile they give off the overpowering aroma of...yes, you guessed it...rotten cabbage! Blagh!

A much sweeter, and long lasting, bloom for your beloved is this zipper rosette headband. Or if you're having a Martha Stewart moment, you can earn extra brownie points by making your own zipper flower. Zippidy do dah!

Share the Love

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Fast Fashion

Images: Iconology

Ryan McGinley shoots Missoni's Latest Campaign

Dad drives a ute. Unfortunately for him though, there isn't a glamour perched on the end of his tray whenever he gets behind the wheel! Ryan McGinley on the other hand has taken a tailgate and created pure magic for Missoni’s F/W 2009 campaign. As the current darling of the fashion campaign world, Ryan has also recently shot for Stella McCartney, Levi's, Marc Jacobs and Wrangler.

Fast paced and lively, these images were shot at Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Airfield and capture the essence and freedom of youth. They also make Missoni's threads look darn good and more accessible than the reality of them is.

I wonder if this campaign will inspire the ol' man to recreate a bit of high fashion as he speeds up the Hume to Yarck? Somehow it doesn't have quite the same ring, does it?!

Colour My Day

Images: AssistOn

RichColourCRAYON Set

Rain, rain, go away.

Trace a rainbow across the sky with this RichColorCRAYON Set. Inspired by ice cream flavours they are almost too pretty to use...

Found via NotCot.

Remodelled Junk Monsters

Images: Danny Treacy

Danny Treacy's Photographic Series - Them

I don't know about you, but whenever I see undies or a lone sock lying beside the road, it makes me wonder how it got there! Well Danny Treacy's photographic series, Them, goes one better.

Danny recovers clothes from lonely places, restitches and refashions them into junk monsters and takes life-sized photos of himself wearing these suits. Haunting and nasty this is the stuff of nightmares, yet also strangely hard to take your eyes off.

I wonder if Danny has any ideas about what to do with the quarter bottle of yellowed Coke that I also often see discarded curbside!

Nosey Parker

Images: The Selby

The Selby

Go on, admit it. There's a little bit of voyeur in all of us. So scratch that itch and check out The Selby, a website by photographer, Todd Selby, who goes inside the homes and studios of artists, models, stylists, film directors, designers and other creative personalities to make a photo essay of their space and belongings.

Having recently visited Australia, it's worth taking a sticky beak at Todd's pics of a selection of Sydney identities including George Gorrow (ksubi), Susien Chong and Nic Briand (Lover) and Tina Kalivas.

With Nike 6.0 collaborating with Todd for their for Fall/Holiday campaign, I'm tipping that we're only going to be hearing - or should that be seeing - more about The Selby.

Look at Luuk

Images: Luuk

T-Shirts from Luuk

We Melbournians are a pretty pathetic bunch. With the first signs of watery sunshine, out comes the Summer kit. Like today, when I spied a girl walking past my window in a strapless dress when it is only a sunny 16 degrees. 

While a singlet and thongs might be jumping the gun, today could almost pass as t-shirt weather. In which case, a tee by Luuk is perfect. Each quarter, Luke Chiswell - who is also a 2009 National Youth Portrait  finalist - brings out four new designs under his Luuk label. Each t-shirt comes in a longer cut than your average tee and is lovingly hand screen printed in his straw bail studio.  

Understated. Simple. Tee-rific! (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

Click here for stockists.