Carnation

Lately I've been smitten by all things carnation pink. Maybe it's the Spring-like weather, or excitement for renewed energy and ideas. Just this past week I caved and bought a gorgeous sheer carnation pink maxi skirt, partially inspired by the skirt seen here, and have been wearing it around my apt in the evenings while I wait for summer days. Shhh...it's my dirty little secret ;)

Safety Nest

Photos from Lee Myung Su's site

How incredible is this bag?! It's one of those perfectly designed, perfectly functional and practical things that makes you say "Duh! Why didn't anyone (namely me) think of that sooner?" Lee Myung Su, who specializes in wearable design (little different than fashion design), designed this SEIL bag that features LED lights that glow on the back of your pack to let drivers and pedestrians know when you're turning or stopping. Any city bikers out there? *Raises hand* This bike is invaluable for anyone in a metropolitan or even semi metropolitan area. Next, we just have to get the model a helmet :)

Check the video for more shots of the back in action.

Estelle: All of Me

Yesterday Estelle released her third album All of Me. I love that her vocal strength has grown and she's found a more sultry, soulful sweet spot while still being playful. You can check out a few tracks here, but I'm really obsessed with her album cover. The photo, shot by Roxanne Lowitt, is stunning!

And you know this track "Cold Crush" is going to be a basement party hit for sure.

Move Love

Robert Glasper Experiment's Black Radio is being released to the masses tomorrow, Feb 28th, the official close of Black History Month. And in honor of what will no doubt be a top album of the year, here's a track I've been vibing to all day. But interestingly I was introduced to this track via a recent remix contest hosted by the RGE. The band is offering producers, DJs and anyone with an ear a chance to remix their song "Move Love" featuring the phenomenal group KING. Top prize is $500 and a royalty-free one-of-a-kind piano sample from Mr. Glasper himself!

Check out the original track here, but listen here for my favorite remix version by the DJ Apple Jac. He elevates the song to something more intergalactic. The voices of KING singing the chorus actually feels more airy in the remix. Where the RGE already infuse hip hop, jazz, soul, and R&B into their sound, this new remix introduces an experimental element that I definitely associate with KING, but don't think I've heard from Robert Glasper before. It's a good look.

Perspective

 Photo by Elizabeth Weinberg

This morning I wanted to talk about a really sincere post from Bri Emery over at one my favorite blogs, DesignLoveFest. Bri is the blogosphere's bright spot for creativity, color, and positivity. Her energy is off the charts and she is so head over heels in love with design and each project that she innovates that it pushes and inspires you to work that much harder on your own. And once you are bitten by Bri's infectious smile, you instantly want to befriend her. She's a blogger, designer, founder of BlogShop, Art Director of Rue magazine. In short, Bri is a creative powerhouse. 

And that's why I'm so grateful for her most recent post about how she literally crawled under the covers from feeling overwhelmed and stressed at seeing time spent with her boyfriend and friends being sacrificed because of the seemingly endless load of projects she is constantly juggling. It was such an honest post, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect for me to read. This blog is a place to be upbeat and offer colorful, feel-good content for my spirit and yours. But sometimes you just have a crappy day or weekend. And as Bri said, if you have a fight with your boyfriend one night you may not vent about it on your blog, but you're still dealing with it. Or sometimes you've stretched yourself so thin with exciting freelance opportunities that you forget how quickly those demands and details pile up. And maybe you hold it in because you assume no one will want to hear you complain or that no one will understand. That struggle for work/life balance, that unspoken desire to juggle it all ourselves seems to be ever-present, and it's nice to hear people who you admire say they also struggle with it. It adds a little perspective and some definite comfort.

Read Bri's post here

Do any of you feel overwhelmed sometimes with achieving balance? How do you get centered?

Local Craftsmanship

Designer Stephen Kenn launched his The Inheritance Collection as a way to pay homage to the soldiers of the military, particularly from his grandfather's generation, who served in WWII.

A chance discovery of an abandoned warehouse in L.A filled with discarded uniforms, belts, parachutes and other sundry items from WWII would lead Stephen to create this collection and use unique, re-purposed items as the upholstery. And on top of offering one-of-a-kind furniture for someone with a more adventurous or rugged sense of style, Stephen is appealing as a humble and thoughtful spirit. Enjoy the great craftsmanship that went into creating The Inheritance Collection, as well as the filmmakers behind the lens, The Process Collective

Music by Helios & Jonsi

Branding 10,000 Lakes

Cool design alert!

Just came across this awesome project by graphic designer Nicole Meyer. In an effort to put some sexy back into logos, which she feels can be a little ugly sometimes, Nicole is designing one logo a day for each of the 10,000 lakes in the great state of Minnesota. Pretty rad! And for the next 27 years you can keep up with all the radness (we're calling it a word today, honey) over on her site. I'll put my bias aside that she's also a Minnesota girl named Nicole (woot!) and instead just gush over how original and clever each design is, playing off the titles so perfectly.

This is one of those projects where you give yourself a throat chop and say 'Dang! Why didn't I think of that?!"

Love List

Happy Thursday, folks! I feel like I've been fawning over some of the same things this week, and wanted to share them in a little mixed posts called the "Love List".

First up are boutonnieres! No, nobody getting married here just yet (except my uncle pretty soon!). But I've been checking out a lot of beautiful DIY boutonnieres around the blogosphere, and these by graphic design empress Justina Blakeney make me wish I had a friend's wedding to plan :) Love the green and yellow combo.

The Tasting Room

Next up are smelts! haha...not just any smelts. But beautiful salty and lightly fried smelts in breadcrumbs, lemon and herbs. Seriously, what is not to love?? I've been collecting recipes for a few spring/summer parties I'd like to have, and this one in my back pocket. (Snap! Spring is right around the corner! This warm winter we've been having has completely thrown off my calendar. )

Musical Musing

This song, because it's the most dreamy, gorgeous blues track I've heard yet this year. Tedeschi Trucks Band is the band to add to your Spotify playlist right away. Great guitar solo half way through.

Design Love

And wowza! I came across these awesome prints from a series called Iconantomy by Swedish George Chamoun. His near-perfect super imposing of current iconic film stars (Natalie Portman, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Robert Pattinson) over film icons of the past (Audrey Hepburn, James Dean, Cary Grant, and Elizabeth Taylor) took me a minute to decipher. But his execution is so original.

Style

I can't help but swoon over this blue, and the color combination of tangerine with turquoise plus a cool swagger is always a win. Photos by the effortlessly cool Guerre

You can see more of the things I'm loving over on my Pinterest!

31 Bits

This morning via Facebook I was introduced to a gorgeous jewelry company called 31 Bits where all 100+ of their designers are Northern Ugandan women. Every piece of handmade jewelry is made from recycled material, and if the beautiful craftsmanship does not blow you away, the spirit of this organization will. Proceeds from all sales go towards helping the women of Uganda fulfill their goals like starting businesses, learning English, raising money to buy land or farms, and take care of their families.  31 Bits has been able to establish programs to help each woman cultivate her finances and even tack vocational training. Women empowering women through design and fashion. I love everything about this mission. 

Check out the latest collection by 31 Bits called Chasing Daylight. And if there are any pieces that speak to you definitely support the cause!

D.I.Y: Gold Glitter Chevron Design

Alrighty. On the heels of the previous acrylic paint project is another. I LOVE Chevron prints. Love them. On skirts, folders, pens, pillows, and especially framed art. So using one of my favorite prints and favorite colors, I thought it would be great to add a little twist to this one by using gold glitter nail polish! Check it out

Here's what you'll need:

1. Liquitex acrylic paint; gold glitter nail polish (Urban Outfitters); scissors, painter's tape, paint brush

2. Using your painter's tape, create "V" shapes to replicate the Chevron print. Feel free to use 1" or 2", depending on how thick you want the lines to be. I drew lines withe pencil to help make sure the lines were straight

3. Go crazy coloring the canvas what ever color or color combinations you like! Even though the canvas is white, I like to paint on a layer of white paint so that once I peel the tape away, there is a faint almost gray line dividing the white and the yellow. It just helps add dimension.

4. Once the paint has had a chance to dry, peel away the tape.

5. Using the gold glitter nail polish and water, brush the polish lightly over the yellow to give it a final sparkle. Done!

D.I.Y: Photo + Paint on Canvas

This past weekend was such a great creative charge. I got back to my art student roots and went out and bought several canvases, some acrylic paint and brushes and went to town on a few great pieces. Dave and I recently decided to move in together and found a beautiful three-story home in the city. With all the incredible space in our potential new home my mind has been on Pinterest and DIY overload, collecting and thinking up great ways to design our space with our own resources. When I moved into my current apartment a year ago next month, I was so anxious to buy new pieces of furniture and little knick knacks. But my love has shifted back to creating more personal things with my own hands.

So I'm super excited to introduce more DIY features on the Chestnut, and the first up is a cool photo/canvas project that I found via Promise Tangeman's site. The goal was to create some handmade art that we can hang in the house. The first canvas was practice, but I kind of want to keep it since I don't want to waste some cool photos :) Enjoy!

Here's what you'll need:

1. Liquitex heavy body paint; Liquitex Medium Self Leveling Clearing Gel; Acrylic brushes

2. The images I used are on the right. Find 3-4 photos that you really like and cut them into triangles. I had a 16 x20" canvas so I cut them at 11" on the longest angle. Using the leveling gel, adhere your photos to the canvas in the way you'd like.

3. Be sure to paint the gel over top of the image as well so that they fully adhere. It's okay if the paper bubbles a little. I think it helps add nice texture :)

4. After you've secured all of your images, trace additional triangles and paint them however you'd like. I initially chose teal, silver, and white.

5. Et voila! You're all done. Looking back on this one I would have liked to use a different color scheme, and laid on the paint a lot thicker. But I made a second canvas and changed up the composition and colors and love it so much better!

 

Hope you've enjoyed this one! Go out there and hit up your local art supply store for items. This weekend there are some great President's Day sales. And stay tuned for more DIY's!

Vintage Matchbooks

Today was such a gorgeous day in D.C weather-wise. The sun was bright and the wind so warm that at one point I had to come back home and downgrade from a coat and scarf to just a light sweater. Score!

And with the weather being as great as it was I was able to enjoy one of the most peaceful meanderings through the city's vintage and antique shops I've taken in my four years here. If you have not heard of nor been to Miss Pixie's in Logan Circle it's well worth a stop. Miss Pixie's is such a haven for one of a kind antique furniture and sundry items. I ventured out to find some antique pieces that I can incorporate into future photo shoots, and came across these amazing matchbooks! Bowls and bowls of vintage matchbooks, and at $1 each I couldn't resist sifting through all of them and picking out a few for their great design.

     

Photos by Nicole Crowder

Musical Musing:
 Happiness//The Foreign Exchange

d.Ra Spring 2012

 

 

The latest collection from independent label d.Ra. 

Musical Musing:
Muddy Water//Madeleine Peyroux

 

Minted

Arguably the color punch of the season is Mint. Lovely, light, soothing mint. Can't wait to incorporate more into the wardrobe this season and into spring/summer. And it's been so long since I've created a collage that I forgot how great it feels to play around with one again! Do you all have any colors you're digging this season?

Musical Musing:

Live Your Life//Yuna