Robot Candy cards have been around since 2001, but they just recently arrived over at Elsewares. Each card is hand printed using hand carved blocks and archival ink. The insides are blank for personalized messages and the outside features wonderful simple and friendly pictures of snails, elephants and hedgehogs. Cards measure 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ and include an envelope.

Available at Elsewares for $3.

I don’t usually venture into the realm of fashion, but these pendants are just too cute and too affordable to pass up. Made by a mother daughter team out of Madison Wisconsin, these pendants are made from origami and other fun papers which are applied, decoupage style, to 1/8 inch masonite. They then receive a layer of sealer on the front and sides for extra protection. They have a wide variety of prints available, and they are all very affordable.
Available from the Madison Craft Studio Etsy page. Prices range from $3.50 - $6.50

Our bathroom is almost completely done. We finally finished the vanity a couple months ago (more on that later) as well as installed the hand held shower wand (more on that too). All we have to do now is a little touch up paint, add a towel hook and a toilet paper holder. This one from Eva Solo caught my eye because it is very simple and I kinda like the way it sticks out of the wall. The roll is held in place by those spring loaded black parts. No idea on pricing yet as it is due to come out sometime this month along with their other new products, but how much could a toilet paper holder cost.

Here is a little friday eye candy for all of you who have ever thought about building a little shed behind your house. This north London shed was designed by Turner Castle in collaboration with Ullmayer Sylvester Architects. The home owners needed some additional space for their expanding family, but instead of adding on to their house, they decided to build a small building in the back yard. The shed is built on a steel frame, and is wood clad. It functions as a art studio, playroom, tool shed, and kitchen. I love the way it floats over the gravel.

Continue reading for more pics….

Via shedworking

Update (3/26/08) I received the following email from ullmayersylvester.com

We are writing to advise you that Ullmayer Sylvester are the sole designers/architects of the summerhouse in Hackney. Turner Castle were appointed as CONTRACTORS. They had no design responsibility. This is a serious copyright issue and we would like you to amend your article within the next seven days.

Consider yourselves informed.

Read more

Wall graphics are all the rage now, and there are no shortage of companies out there producing some great stuff. I was pleased to find that there are several people on Etsy that were making wall graphics as well. Elly Nelly’s Tree Hugger wall graphic (shown on the left) measures 29″ high and 21.5″ wide. It is available in 14 different colors and is priced at $35. One Up Design is responsible for the nice floral Early Bird graphic shown on the right. It includes 20 graphics from 3.25″ by 1″ to 30″ by 6″ (botanical) and 1 @ 7″ by 7″ (bird) and is priced at $45. That is pretty close to the price of Blik graphics or something similar, and you get to directly support the designer. You gotta love Etsy.

The only thing better than an Ikea sofa, is an Ikea sofa on sale. Their prices are already pretty great, but now through Dec 22nd when you buy any version of the five sofa’s shown above you get 20% of the price back as a gift card. Sure it’s not really like you are spending less, but that means if we get that Kramfors loveseat and chaise we have our eye on, we get $280 back to spend on other Ikea goods. Not too shabby.

Colorware PC has been adding color to the sometimes dull drab computer world for quite some time now, but just recently has it offered it’s services to the new iPhone. You can design your own style, and buy directly from them, or you can send your iPhone in to them to have it spruced up. The fee isn’t exactly cheap, $149 for an 8GB iPhone, but in lieu of recent iPhone price drops, that still makes it cheaper than a plain one was several months ago. Colorware has also included the new iPod Nano, Touch, Classic, and the new iMac in it’s lineup.

Available from Colorware.

In a market that is absolutely flooded with iPod and iPhone accessories it’s hard to get my attention when a new product comes out, but Vers has done just that. Vers currently has only one product in their line, but its a good one. The 2x is a stereo for your iPod/iPhone with a similar shape and design of Apples Hi-Fi. Instead of plastic though, Vers has elected to go natural. The enclosure is made of beautifully crafted eucalyptus and pine with a cherry veneer. The packaging is also just as natural, made of 100% recycled paper. No idea yet on how it sounds in real life compared to the Hi-Fi, but priced at $179 it is sure to be a big competitor.

Available this fall at Target and others for $179.

I put in some serious late night hours on monday night getting everything clean and today they started work on our flooring. It is a product called Miracote which is a polymer of some sort. This is poured over the gypcrete and becomes the final floor. We tried to choose a color that would look like the most like natural concrete. They are applying three coats total. This will give the interior of the home a nearly finished look. These photos show it as it is drying and the finished product will be much more consistent than what you see here.
As you can see we have functional stairs, finally! Stairs are so much better than ladders. For tread material we used o.s.b. that will get a sanding and a heavy varnish. Benchmark came and finished all of the cedar siding and it looks awesome. They also built our front and back porches and the driveway and sidewalks were poured. We are making great progress. We should be almost entirely finished next week and moving in shortly.
Read more

Our trusty mixer broke almost two years ago, and we have been making due without ever since. Most things aren’t too bad to try and do by hand, but mashed potatoes have been the biggest challenge. For those of you who have been struggling to make mashed potatoes by hand, help is here. The Chef’s Planet Potato Masher makes it easy to make perfect mashed potatoes. By simply rotating it in a circle it mashes and fluffs your potatoes to perfection.

Available at Target for $10.

Anyone ever tried this one out in real life?
Read more