I first found out about Harriott Grace several months ago and I’m so inspired by them. A father-daughter team in Canada, Lance and Nikole Herriott have been making and selling the most beautiful hand-crafted home goods as a company for about three years. Lance makes the products in his workshop and Nikole handles the styling, photography, shop updates and sales… as well as the lovely blog. Have a look at the above video. It’s beautifully made and really gives insight into what they do. There are also some great bits of wisdom from Lance.

The other night, I watched the documentary, PressPausePlay . It’s a beautifully made film that talks about how the creative industry has changed and allowed so many people to become self-made designers/artists/musicians/film makers due to the pervasiveness of personal computers and the internet. Moby spoke much about the evolution of the music industry and there was this incredible Icelandic musician/composer named Ólafur Arnalds who was followed as he prepared for a performance in Manchester. I’m really loving his music and above is a stunning video that is mentioned in the film. (It’s not so new as it has 1.3 million views already!)

This is Ingrid Hulskamp‘s beautiful graduate project from Central Saint Martins. Her goal is to pursue time for daily contemplation in an intuitive way. She says:”these objects remind us of the candid fun we had as a child, when we fully got caught up in the moment.” She wanted those toys to catch our attention, to afford us a poetic moment with different sensory experiences: tactile, visual and sonorous.

So beautiful and so necessary.

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My bike got stolen (as often happens with bikes in NYC) last year and I suddenly found myself thinking about what my next ride would be. I was so tempted to get the beautiful, handcrafted in England, Pashley, but I knew I would be so heartbroken if it ever got stolen (that’s how we think about bikes in NYC) and they are just too heavy to carry up the stairs to my apartment. I then considered the very fashionable Linus, but after a lot of research, mainly on a great blog called Lovely Bicycle, I decided to go with an old Raleigh and fix her up.

I found my beautiful 1964 Raleigh on Craigslist for $190 – which is high, but this is NYC after all. I scrubbed her clean, using steel wool on the chrome parts, til she sparkled. I then got a basket, rear rack and saddle baskets,  new cork grips, a sweet little bell and some better brakes. A couple of months later, a very dear friend got me to most amazing birthday gift. The gorgeous Brooks saddle in honey was icing on the cake.

I love love love this bike and it is such a sweet ride. My pride and joy and the best way to commute around Brooklyn.

Last night I stopped by a friends book launch at West Elm on the Upper West Side. The book, called Bringing Nature Home, is a collaboration between the super talented floral designer, Nicolette Owen and photographer, Ngoc Minh Ngo. West Elm was beautifully decorated with Nicolette’s arrangements and Martha Stewart even stopped by. Nicolette is the most talented floral designer I know and I am so excited for this beautiful book. I was even lucky enough to have her do the flowers for my wedding.

Heath has recently released their new summer collection. It feels very 70s inspired with its color blocking and poppy orange colors. Wishing they had an exchange policy that allowed you to upgrade every season… ahhh…

Caravan Pacific is a new lighting design company founded by my friend, Shannon Guirl. Shannon left NYC last year and moved to Portland to start her business. She funded her start-up through a Kickstarter campaign this past November and raised more than six times her goal!

Shannon’s designs are inspired by traditional, mid-century modern lamps and handcrafted by local artisans in Portland. She currently has two styles available, the Alberta and the Vanderbilt, and they are available in a variety of colors and woods. These lamps are stunning and I especially love that they are crafted in the USA.

I cannot tell you how happy I am for her. She knew exactly what she wanted and she made it happen. She is such an inspiration.

Brass has suddenly become super trendy with design objects as well as fashion. It seems like every jewelry designer these days is now working with the material. I’ve even designed a couple of bags using brass detailing here and here.

I just came across this gorgeous hand crafted lamp. The Stanley brass pendant lamp by Original BTC is made in Birmingham, England using the very old technique of metal spinning. Each indentation is hammered, one at a time, by hand to create a gorgeous texture. The use of this very old traditional material suddenly looks totally contemporary with its minimalist shape and large size. I just love it and I think I need to start saving my copper for one of these beauties.

Piet Hein Eek is a Dutch product designer and brand. I came across this inspiring video the other day and then discovered that he is in today’s The New York Times Style magazine. Everything they produce is in-house, in a gorgeous studio-factory-store-gallery-restaurant in Eindhoven.

“We found that it’s important to tell people that we do it all by ourselves,” Eek says in the above video.

I’ve been following his work for several years and love his regular use of recycled materials and the sense of playfulness and soul that all of his work has. He has a way of creating things that are fresh and new, while still being made from old things. He manages the task of making things that are environmentally conscious and beautiful in such a matter-of-fact and un-preachy way. Eco designers of all fields can learn so much from him.

Two of my favorite American, craft based companies have collaborated and the outcome could not be more perfect.

Alabama Chanin is a handmade clothing label founded by Natalie Chanin in Florence, Alabama. They are known for their unique, hand stitched pieces with intricate patterns using traditional stitching techniques of the South. All of their pieces are made by local, home-working artisans and signed by them.

Heath Ceramics, a modernist ceramics factory located in Sausalito, CA was founded by ceramicist Edith Heath and has been around since 1948. Built on depression-era values, Heath was founded on the ethos of simple, good things for good people.

Natalie Chanin designed a line of ceramics for Heath and I am in love. There is a great video on the Heath website that shows a bit of the process.