Engrave Your (Moleskin) Bookcover

Engrave Your Book is a great company from Portland, Oregon in the US which offers customised leather covers for the classic Moleskin notebooks. I can imagine they would only improve with age and use, and are a great way to dress up a Moleskin. They come in both pocket and notebook sizes. Who doesn't love customising their favorite notebooks? Better than using your favorite scratch 'n sniff stickers (although they were pretty awsome!).

You can choose from some beautiful artist designed covers or even design your own! The image is laser engraved onto the leather and the results are sharp. They also allow artists to submit three designs for possible production, successful applicants get 15% of the sales from their design. Never being a great illustrator myself, I think I may just have to buy one or have one made from a favorite photograph!


Covers illustrated by the following (from top to bottom):

'Mermen' by Michael Hsiung
'Drawing Yourself Into a Corner' by Neil Doshi
'Saw' by Dan Funderburgh
'Knifes' by Dan Funderburgh
'Elephant' by Jacob Escobedo
'Waves' by Justine Ashbee

Big Fat Duck Cookbook

Talented photographer Dominic Davies has produced some wonderful other-worldly images of chef Heston Blumenthal's food in the Fat Duck Cookbook. Stunning, whimsical and visually exciting, I love and covert this book! It's the kind of cookbook I would adore for purely aesthetic reasons- it's not to kind of food to attempt at home, but rather dream of experiencing one day.

Blumenthal, and exponent of molecular cooking, has very complex ideas and methods. His Big Fat Duck restaurant has been awarded three Michelin stars and has propelled him to huge heights globally. Read about his culinary philosophies on the Big Fat Duck restaurant website. The restaurant is located about 50 min. outside London in Maidenhead.

Blumenthal was recently in Melbourne as part of the Food and Wine Festival where, among other things, he ran a master class. Read his festival diary on the Gourmet Traveller website. The Big Fat Duck cookbook retails in Australia for $299. I'd buy it as an art book more than a cook book. I'll put it on my wish list for now! I hope you enjoy the magical and technically stunning photographs from Davies.

Have you heard the news today?

'More Soon' will blow your mind!

Keep an eye out for this talented English designer. Working under his company name of 'More Soon', I have posted these clips from his website. His name is Carl Burgess, and his work is a great eye popping mix of the surprising, weird and beautiful. View more on the More Soon website and read an interview on Creative Review.

Tales of the Unexpected from More Soon on Vimeo.

Debris from More Soon on Vimeo.

Sartorially Inventive: The Costumes Created By Christian Joy For Karen O!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have always adored the fabulous costumes of Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Now I have investigated further to discover most are made by a very clever designer named Christian Joy. Today I have posted some of my favorite images from her website and on the web. There are lots of pictures because I am really impressed, enjoy!

Heads Will Roll

How can you not love Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? I especially am enamoured of her amazing costuming. Wild, sexy and often beautifully out-there, check out their new single 'Heads Will Roll'. Set in a dark club and featuring a Michael Jackson dancing werewolf that goes on the attack, there is enough red glitter/blood to make you smile and have you singing along in no time. Directed by Richard Ayoade, most famously an actor in the brilliant British television series The Mighty Boosh.

Winter Daydream: Hotel Aire de Bardenas

In this Melbourne winter afternoon, I have been day dreaming of a holiday somewhere warm...

Hotel Aire de Bardenas is my kind of architectural haven. Set in a dramatic landscape in Navarre, Spain, it was featured in Wallpaper Magazine and the great website Remodelista (thanks to the gorgeous Sunday Ganim for pointing it out to me!). Designed by Barcelona based architects Emiliano Lopez and Mónica Rivera, you can see more of their work here

Each room is designed as a 'cube' with one or two rooms; there are 22 in total.

These timber structures are designed as both wind-break and fencing, and are make from recycled local produce boxes from near-by farms.

Window boxes which create a cosy space for bedding, the architects call them 'inhabitable windows', I immediately want to be in this space.

Bathroom with private courtyard