Friday Quote: Greener grass

Via You can't be serious

Blue

Eco del mare beachclub on Designeurlife - spotted on Apartment Therapy

Photograph by Riikka Kantinkoski from Weekday Carnival

Cabinets and Concrete: kitchen by Studio ThoL

Kitchen by Studio ThoL 

The same guy who designed this amazing bathtub:

Remember?

For more information and even more great projects, check out Studio Thol's website.

Magic: indoor clouds by Berndnaut Smilde

Nimbus D'Aspremont, 2012 - photograph by Cassander Eeftink Schattenkerk

Dutch Artist Berndnaut Smilde found a way to create real clouds in an enclosed space.

Love it.

Nimbus II, 2012 - photograph by Cassander Eeftink Schattenkerk 

For more projects and images check out Berndnaut Smilde's website.
Here's a link to a video of the process (in Dutch).

Spotted on Freunden von Freunden.

Etsy things

1. Soft sculpture moth by Mister Finch
2. Black and White Slingshot by Hella Slingshots
3. Cat do it yourself paper lampshade by Donkey and Friends

Friday Quote

Spotted on Down and Out chic - original source unknown

On my wishlist

1. Circus Sack by Varpunen.
2. Dustpan & Brush by Andrée Jardin - spotted on Pinterest
3. Grey Angle Table Lamp 2.0 via Douglas+Bec

White marble

For me, white marble used to be a definite NO.

Used to be.

Lately I noticed that my aversion against white marble counters or tabletops gradually started to become less and less.

Don't get me wrong, I still wouldn't invest in a full-sized marble-topped dining table (if only because we live on a first floor), but the idea of a small side table with a nice roundish white marble top, or a little cabinet with a top of the white stone doesn't feel so 'grandma-ish' all of a sudden.

On the contrary... I might be gradually starting to lean towards the 'have to have'-idea.
Hmm. Let's see what T thinks about this.

Jardan's new Sydney showroom - photographs by Ward Roberts
spotted on Pinterest



Kitchen of Caitlin van Horn by Designsponge - via Pinterest

Bathroom by Coastal living - via Georgica Pond

Spotted on DoYouFancyThis

Paper bags by Ilvy Jacobs

Bags by Ilvy Jacobs - photographs by Igor Kruter

Magical beginning of the week

Looking at these photographs from artist Lee Eunyol, I just get the whole 'Neverland' experience: Dreaming away into the fairy-world that surely exists in these magically lit up landscapes.

Aaaah...
Drifting off into fairytale lands.
I don't think there's a better beginning for this new week.

All photographs by Lee Eunyeol - via Thisiscolossal

On little ones wishlist

1. Hippo and Giraffe Explorer Canvas Art by Pottery Barn kids - spotted on Pinterest
2. Block tower by Janod - via PSikhouvanjou
3. Waldi und Sprinter by Ellen Heilmann - via Bloesemkids

Yellow / Rock

Lionel Esteve, "La Rivière à midi" - 2008
Stone, embroidery yarn
Image courtesy of the artist
(via Design for Mankind)

Soap rebatching DIY attempt #01

You know those little hotel-soaps?
I'm one of those people who always has to take them home 'because they make such a good souvenir'.
Right.
Reality is that by the time I'm home I forgot I even brought them, and the shiny hotel-wrappers have long since gone to waste in some forgotten corner of my beauty case.

By now I have a little glass jar full of broken pieces of my scavenged souvenir-soaps, which made me think: perhaps those pieces can be made into one new block of soap?

A little search on the web brought up several options to make new soap out of old soap, a.k.a. 'rebatching'.
I kind of went along with this DIY-tutorial from a website totally dedicated to soap, but instead of using a crock-pot, I opted to melt the soap 'au-bain-marie', because I thought it would be safer.

Here's what I did:

1. First I got all the things together that I would need:
- Soap left-overs
- Cheese grater
- Saucepan
- Large pan with boiling water
- Wooden ladle
- Little bit of olive oil
- Flexible mold

2. Then I grated the soap, which took a while + I had to clean the grater a few times while doing this, because it became a bit too soapy. 

3. I started warming the soap au-bain-marie.

4. While the soap gradually warmed up I went along with my business and checked every 15 minutes or so. After the first 15 minutes I added 50cl of hot water to get make the mix a bit less dry. 

5. After the soap had been gradually warming up for about an hour it looked like this:

6. I left the soap to warm up and melt for a bit longer, in total about an hour-and-a-half, before adding a bit of olive oil to help make it even softer. 

Now I didn't use a lot of oil, just a little dash, because I was afraid the soap wouldn't harden well if I would use too much. In hindsight I think I could have easily used a bit more.

7. After mixing the oil through the soap, the mixture had a consistency similar to mashed potatoes (truth be told: mashed potatoes with lumps), and I went ahead pouring it into my paper mould:

    

8. After letting it sit for a day the new soap-block was hardened and ready to be taken out of the mould. Now doesn't that look pretty and rustic?!:

Truthfully: this rebatching project didn't work out completely as I hoped it would. It seems not all the soaps I used melted as easily. Maybe a few of them just needed a bit more time, or my au-bain-marie method didn't generate enough heat.

But still, I made good use of my soap left-overs. I'll start saving them up again for a new attempt in a few months.

Question:

Have you ever attempted to rebatch soap? What method did you use and how did it work out?

Donna Wilson (colourful, smiley, messy, bendy, Scottish)

Lately a lot of times when I really liked something knitted and I followed the link back to the original source, the name 'Donna Wilson' would pop up.

Time to find out a bit more about this designer:

Donna Wilson is originally from Scotland, where she studied at Grays University in Aberdeen. She worked  as an assistant designer for a knitwear company for a year, decided her education wasn't quite complete yet and went on to specialize in mixed media textiles in a master at the RCA.

After finishing her MA in 2003 she thought it would be about time to set up her own company in London, passionate about 'making things that our customers will treasure'.
Her studio is committed to use UK based manufacturers and suppliers as much as possible, in an attempt to keep local craftsmanship alive. Furthermore: she always uses natural yarns, mainly lambswool.

In 2010 Donna Wilson won the prestigious Elle Deco British Designer of the Year award, which she considers to be one of the highlights of her career until now.

There's a bit of Dutch pride to add to this story: Donna was part of a student exchange in Maastricht, where she studied for one semester.

Enough with the words, here's the work:



For more information about Donna Wilson (and a webshop), visit her website.
She also has a Blog, here.

Friday quote: what you should do

via here