TSANG Kin-Wah, Hong Kong

Saw his works before in magazines, then stumbled upon it in September last year. It was an unexpected pleasant surprise to find his work in the ladies washroom of MOCA Shanghai.

Above is TSANG Kin-Wah's commission work for a private collector in Hong Kong, Wallpaper "I Love U" red on white. *love it*

3D Wallpapers by Studio Pirsc, Czech Republic

Studio Pirsc Porcelain was founded by Daniel Pirsc in 2005. Their 3D Wallpapers are currently being featured on DesignMagazine.cz (another great design magazine, btw), as they were exhibited at designblok 08 recently.



Don't you just love them? :) I adore their lively combination of raindrops and airplanes. What a perfect wall of art. More pictures here and here. Enjoy!


(via DesignMagazine.cz)

Couture: Girls and Boy by Marcel Wanders

A friend of mine drop this on my FB wall this morning. Couture: Girls & Boy is the new collection of luxurious wall prints created by Marcel Wanders for Graham & Brown. Click here to see Suzanne, Alice, Grace, Kelly, Audrey, Isabella, Stella and Henry, the names of the Couture: Girls & Boy wallpaper collection. *hmmm.... this Henry must be quite a popular boy then. ;-)*


Thanks, ciska!

Villa Lagoon Tile, USA

Yesterday, Lundy of Villa Lagoon Tile, an Encaustic Marble / Cement Tile producer in Gulf Shores, Alabama, USA, sent me an email after she saw my recent tile photo. And I was so glad she did. Really. Not only she carries a fantastic tile collection, but she also has a long list of other Encaustic Cement Tile manufacturers around the world on her site(!). *a Must See!*



Above are my top picks from Villa Lagoon Tile, (top) Venetian, and (bottom) Surf tiles. And guess what.., each of Villa Lagoon Tile is handmade-to-order in the same way that hydraulic encaustic tiles have been crafted since 1857. Amazing, isn't it? Click here to learn more about encaustic cement tiles, Lundy's site offers everything you need to know. :)


Thanks to Lundy and her list, now I know we have similar manufacturers in Indonesia; in Jogja and Bali. :)

Pekalongan, Central Java, Indonesia

Two saturdays ago, my brother, sis and I went for a day trip to a small charming town in Central Java called Pekalongan. My brother suggested the idea sometime last year, but I only took up the offer when I was in Jakarta recently. And I'm glad I did. *thanks, bro!*




We first visited a weaving home industry, Ridaka, which house those gorgeous tiles, btw. But I hesitated to take pictures of their business as I was afraid I might offend their privacy, so I didn't take any pics of their old spinning wheels, making their own yarns, and their 10+ huge weaving looms(!). I was quite surprised to see such large operations inside a house that actually looks small from the front yard.

Only during our lunch at a nearby eatery, we learnt that the owner of Ridaka has a sister who runs a batik home industry. *entrepreneurship runs in the family apparently*. And they offered to bring us to Tobal Batik soon after lunch. Tobal Batik sits on a bigger house than Ridaka, but really, both houses just look like other houses, you wouldn't expect any big operations going on inside the house, or such large land area behind its front door. Well, I guess.. that's why it's called a home industry. :)

The moment I saw rows of batik, I knew I just had to ask if I could take pictures there at Tobal Batik. So I did, and.. permission granted! *yay!* I was quite overly excited already at this state. :) Then as we turned into another section (stamping) of the workshop, the first look I had into that section was their shelves of copper blocks. I was stunned, gasping, and I felt like fainting on the spot. No kidding, it was my first time seeing tons of copper blocks everywhere, on the shelves and tables(!). By then, excitement was nolonger the word to describe how I felt. It's heaven. Heaven was the word. :) Afterwards, we toured around the coloring, dyeing, and sewing sections of the workshop. And finally, we visited their batik shop, where I bought dresses for my two girls, and fabric for myself. :)

I had uploaded my Pekalongan pictures more than a week ago, but I only managed to share the story today *sorry*. So please enjoy the rest of the pictures here.


Thank you, Ridaka and Tobal Batik, for such priceless experience and for your kind hospitalities. Thank you.

oh btw, Ridaka will be at INACRAFT on April 23 -27, 2008 at Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Kitchen & Bath, anyone?

Melissa of K+BB (Kitchen and Bath Business) emailed me sometime ago, asking me to check out kkbonline.com. So I did.

K+BB is a business to business magazine for designers, architects, custom builders, and remodelers, published by Nielsen Business Media, Inc. K+BB magazine features cutting-edge design installations, new products, business developments, industry personalities, best practices and solid market research.

Here are few links I found via K+BB:

Ceramica Bardelli designer tiles

(left) Primavera by Tord Boontje; (right) tema e variazione by Piero Fornasetti

Hakatai mosaic murals

And don't miss their mosaic glass tiles in yummy colors!

e-kale Reptile Snake tiles

Hmm, I love this kind of snake. :) Brilliantly gorgeous, aren't they?

To read more of K+BB, click here. And oh btw, K+BB has just recently launched K+BB Green blog, go and check it out!


Thanks, Melissa!

Moooi Carpets at POAA

Michael of POAA informed me about their "Swing with the plants", designed by Marcel Wanders for Droog Design. Then I found out that POAA has more of Wanders' on their online shop. I'm loving their Moooi Carpets by Marcel Wanders. As POAA described, reasonably priced and very beautiful! Right on.

This Moooi Carpets Nr. 1 is my top pick. Can you guess why? ;-)

Thanks, Michael.

GaGatree, Singapore

I first learnt about GaGatree when I saw its christmas card collection at one of my stockists, EGG3. I bought the green one, btw. But that's not the only thing GaGatree produces. They have this and this, too. And look, Tony of GaGatree emailed me their latest creation, Lazy Milk Pouch. Click here to find out where to buy GaGatree products.

Thanks, Tony.

Lace Paving Slabs by Jethro Macey

I found this super cool tile at Art Esprit couple days ago, and I fell in love with it instantly.

The Lace Paving Slabs were created by using both conventional materials and high tech surface design techniques, converting lace into a three dimentional form using CNC miling and cast in concrete. The tiles can be used for both interior and exterior wall and flooring. Available in white, grey or charcoal, all tiles are handmade to order. I can imagine all the tiles in white. What a beauty!

Don't miss Jethro's Birthday Candelabra, too. Love it.

Emma Burlinson

Emma Louise Burlinson is a UK based ceramist. And I'm loving her ceramic tiles and stripe vases, the patterns, the subdued colors .. aaahh .. just divine!
She makes cards & necklaces, mugs, beakers, and more. Did you see that baby owl stoneware? TOO cute! I want to bring him home! :)

Jo Scholar

Who would've thought that a simple household object, like a doily, could create other beautiful decoration objects for various surface areas. Well, that was what Jo Scholar did for her degree show in 2004 at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Jo played with light and shadow to create distorted images of the doily, and transformed the graphic images to metal by using photoetching technique. What is photoetching? click here to find out more. I love them embedded onto a wooden chair/table, like the pictures above, or onto cement flooring. Beauty.

Studiobility

Found studiobility on one of MoCo Loco IMM Cologne 2006 flickr photos.

Gudrun Lilja Gunnlaugsdottir and Jon Asgeir Hreinsson are the two brilliant designers behind Studiobility, a graphic and product design company based in Iceland. They have the most beautiful sideboard and side tables I've ever seen! Made with plywood, the laser cut pieces randomly put together creating the wonderful pattern that won my vote.

Click here to see the rest of their furniture collection, and check out their graphics works, too.

Anna Chandler

As promised yesterday, here's the other amazing product that is carried by Danielle. Anna Chandler's plaques and tiles are inspired by her travels around the world and her Tasmanian garden. You can obviously see her love of colors, beauty, and great detailings on most of her works. I just love her lamps and antique fragments collections. Her site is using frames, so I couldn't help much on linking direct to the pages. So start clicking, don't miss her new arrivals listed on the bottom menu bar.

The wall plaques will be available in Singapore around May this year. Care to know more? Email me, and I'll forward your message to Danielle.

Ineke Hans

Here's one great product designer, Ineke Hans from The Netherlands. Graduated from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Arnhem (NL) in 1991 and the Royal College of Art in London in 1995, she worked for Habitat UK for three years before moving on to her own studio in 1998.


From furniture to interior products to her projects, you will find your own favorites there. She has too many amazing creations, like the laser-cut Forest for the Trees coat stand, 3d shape polyurethane carpet, Cinderella double sided table cloth, the laser-cut MDF Black Magic chair, and more. Check out her schoolyard project for Willem II College. I wish my school had this. ;-)

Susan Bradley

Known for her award winning Outdoor Wallpaper, Susan Bradley developed a new range of tables and shelves called Creep. Aim to bring the creeping nature of plants indoors, these lovely products are available in scarlett, black gloss, white or gold powder-coated steel. Check out the rest of her wonderful creations here.

Susan will launch her new work in the coming Salone Satellite Milan Furniture Fair, April 5-10, 2006. Have a visit, if you're in Milan, that is. ;-)

Studio Ditte

Studio Ditte is a young Dutch design agency, specialized in concept development and product design. Other than producing design works for clients, they offer their own product collection. My top favorite is their Garden Carpet. This would be my definite carpet for ourdoors! It's made of rubber, engraved with Chinese pattern of birds and flowers using water jet cutting.

Hmmm, what if they come in colors, heh? :) but, that wouldn't be a good idea to leave it outside, would it?

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

I'm not really a museum goer, but hey, with a museum like this, I could stuck there for hours. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York is surely one museum I would visit. Permanent collections include Hella Jongerius' series of 10 Sampler Blankets (pic shown here is Sampler #2), Wallcoverings by Arthur and Robert, and more. You could view the collections online at their eMuseum:

• Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design


• Product Design and Decorative Arts


• Textiles


• Wallcoverings

For fashionistas, don't miss their Fashion in Colors exhibition till March 26, 2006.

Flavia Del Pra

Oh, I love patterns by Flavia Del Pra, a Brazillian ceramist. With bright & colorful colors, she combines both fashion and nature into her works. Lots of pretty pictures on her site, but I can't display them all here. :) She has plates, boots, wall tiles, tabletops, notebooks, and more. I have way too many favorites from her site, but I love her plates and wall tiles the most. To see Flavia's collections, click here. Simply Gorgeous!

A RUG STAR!

Rug Star is the brainchild of Berlin-based architect Jurgen Dahlmanns, who was actually born in Holland. His designs are so quirky that I have to post it here! He takes a very unusual, innovative approach towards rugs. He views rugs as versatile objects, which are used as decoration, upholstery, art, and even pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. His Mix & Match and Hybrid & System are my favorites. I have to say his work for IKEA, VORK, is a real smart product! VORK is an interactive carpet system, which allows the customer to be part of creating his own carpet. You could have more varieties if you purchase more pieces of the complete 6 modules of VORK. Pricey? hm, you do the math...