hi blue (it's me, neon green) design

sometimes i think the only reason i continue my subscription to dwell magazine is for the ads. most of the aesthetic in the homes they feature is too modern and cold for me, but i really do like learning where to get cool stuff. most of it is out of range price-wise, but is good to keep in mind for when i'm rich and famous. here are some finds:

how cool is this??

(from the food map container website)
"the food map container is a growing space for an edible garden (it could also be used for non-edible plants). The curvillinear form of the container base is specifically designed to let water drain quickly and evenly...the food map container has rubber casters so one could move the container easily to the best growing space as weather and sunlight conditions change...the hdpe used in the food map container is 100% post consumer recycled content hdpe, and the frame is 40-100% recycled steel."

man, i'm really going to want these for growing my mini-gardens on our 2 new balconies.

i have no idea where i'd put these, but the self-adhesive metal tiles from interior 51 make me want to come up with a place.

definitely my favorite find of the day is the romp store. are these egglings the cutest things ever or what??

oh...if only the birdhouse lamp weren't so expensive and out of stock. also, notice the cool wall decal behind it. romp cuts all sorts of trees, animals, and other objects out of vintage wallpaper and sells them. once again, when i'm rich and famous. or...maybe just a splurge for a kid's room some day.

i just wanted to show you what the film and plates looked like for my current 3-color letterpress job that i'm working on. you design your stuff on the computer, then send it in to be made into film:

then you take your film and your sheet of photo-polymer, stick it in the magical machine and ZAP!! 20 minutes later, here is what the plates look like:

soo...last weekend we had the cleaning people over to get rid of all the construction mung, and also got the trovata sofa and lounge chair delivered from crate and barrel. we set up the new dining room table and chairs from pier 1, and unveiled the rug from west elm. it turns out our new hallway is a lot longer than i thought it was - and the 2 runners from west elm might not be enough. ian thinks it's ok to have some space between them and i agree - but not if there is more space than rug! trouble is, the rugs no longer exist at west elm. so i might have to do some digging. anyway, here are photos from the place as we transform it into our new home:

i'm really pleased with the quality of the table from pier 1 - it's really pretty. also, love the trunk from pottery barn that i got on sale. the wirey thing is some wall art i got at pier 1 for above the sofa, and we're going to have to figure out something for the light fixtures in the master bathroom. the ones that are there, besides being ugly, don't give off nearly enough light for my makeup-applying self. so we'll have to get george the electrician to come take a look.

if you remember a little while back, i went about explaining the process of registration for a letterpress project i'm working on for my chicago locavores group. well...i got a little sidetracked but finally made the first attempt last night. after working through an odd squeaky roller problem, registration for the first 2 colors went swimmingly! here's what it looks like:

you'll notice that two of the bottom crop marks are missing - something i had to do to get the piece to fit in pairs on a sheet of paper. since i've got all the other marks, though, cutting these up shouldn't be a problem. i'm pretty happy with how i mixed the colors - the scan doesn't show them 100% accurately but they look great on the paper. if you look closely you'll see how the green and blue crop marks line up fairly well - well enough for this particular registration anyhow. i used french paper speckletone in true white, cover weight.

when i add the 3rd color and the back, i'll post it.

thing #1: needing some retail therapy after we lost one of our furry friends last weekend, i went to pottery barn and bought the green weston trunk i have been eyeing, which was on sale:

although it didn't elevate my mood as much as i would have liked at the time, i'm still quite pleased with it. we're supposed to close on the new place tomorrow, so we'll be brining in the trunk, rugs, and a few other bobbles i've already purchased.

a friend helped me decide that the green trunk and bench would look best in the bedroom - i was trying to be democratic about it, but green is definitely my favorite color. so, now i'm trying to figure out the curtain situation. i've put a few options from anthropologie into the diagram: the ulla looks really nice with that floor lamp, but i'm not 100% sure i'm going to be getting that. the bird reference nicely picks up the green hues from the trunk and bench, but might be a little busy with the quilt. i'm not sure why i'm considering illyria - i just like it. ulla also looks nice with the quilt.

...we salute you.

actually, this is for anyone who's interested in this mysterious "registration" process. i'm designing a flyer for my new chicago locavores group (dedicated to eating locally), and i've decided to embark upon an ambitious 3 color letterpress print. so far i have successfully registered 2 colors - so why not try for a third?? here is the flyer broken down into its 3 parts:

so, if you've not of the designerly or printerly type and you've heard people talking about registration, here's what happens. in the case of this printing (which i'll be doing on a letterpress), i'm going to have the above images turned into photopolymer plates. although they are shown in the ink colors i intend to print in, first black and white film is made. then ultraviolet light is shown through the film onto a sheet of polymer (plastic) and wherever light goes through the plastic hardens. that's the basic process anyway.

you then cut up your plastic so that the three images are separate, and load plate #1 (smushy blue text) onto the press. print a whole bunch, because you'll need extra (or "makeready") sheets to practice registration. after you've cleaned the press of your blue ink, you load plate #2 (green text) onto the press. you then run you blue prints through the press again, adjusting placement until your crop marks all land right on top of each other. clean up again, load on plate #3 (orange), and go through the adjustment process until your crop marks all line up again. theoretically, once you're done you'll have a lovely 3-color print like this:

all ready for trimming! and there you have it - the magic of registration. i'm going to attempt this print next tuesday - i'll post about how it goes.

for anyone who has ever wondered what the term "typeography" means, or who has wondered what us designers sit around doing all day (besides blogging), check out these great videos from youtube. cred to prairie mod for the finds:

i just want to show off what is going to be OURS by next week. i have already done the mental move in (clearly), i have already jinxed as many things as possible by talking about it extensively, so don't give me any of your hoodoo warnings. it's going to be mine, dammit, and here's how awesome it is: