Key Fobs

I had a busy "key fob" mode weekend. Fun & easy to do, is there a more stylish way to carry your keys? I guess I got a little carried away, I made a lot! The colors you see here reflect my personal taste. They make an excellent gift,  no more diving into handbags for minutes to find the keys =)

Frenchy Bag

I just finished my first handbag!  I got the frenchy bag pattern (very friendly by the way) and stayed up late 2 nights in a row to finish the project, so I'm a little sleepy but proud =) My favorite part? choosing fabrics! Mission 1 accomplished! Yayy!

New lovaaa!

I have a gigantic crush, I must confess! In my personal search for new ways to challenge my design abilities, I've kind of fallen for fabrics. I'm sewing a lot lately and I can spend hours searching for cool fabrics to use on my stuff, there's so many to choose from, I love it. So, I started wondering how cool it would be if I could use my own designs. It's not an easy task, you need a lot of pattern design background, but it's not impossible, I'm trying! Here's a few examples of what I've done, basically playing with random shapes, flowers and mushrooms of course.

Dog Poo Bags

I absolutely love dogs, they're just the cutest things, don't you just love puppy paws? Well, not everything about them is lovely, dog's droppings just don't fit in the "awww, how cute" category. I found a really surprising post at NOTCOT and I just have to share it. The agency Junge Schachtel has done a really remarkable job...out of their passion for dogs and design, they came up with this amazing poo poo bags. The packaging looks really beautiful and modern, each package comes with 16 recyclable bags and you can choose from a variety of humorous prints. Applause for them!

Eco-Bags!

Searching the web, I found that the number of people designing and producing eco-friendly bags is rising very quickly. It's nice knowing that everyone is in "green mode" these days and I specially love seeing designers being part of it. I'm showing here a few pictures of some bags I found interesting. 

We are what we do launched the campaign "Plastic ain't my bag" in the UK, cool logo.

Friends of Al bag from Hayden Harnett and Mikado Flower Petal bag from Reusable Bags.

Reiter8 makes totes out of sailboat sails.

Basura Bag from Reusable Bags, made from used juice containers.

Love this planet bags from Greenraising.

Tree Hugger and Eco Mom bags, oooops I forgot where I found them!

Green is in bag from Whimsy Press.

It's good to be green bag from Whimsy Press.

We are what we do

People, we are responsible for our actions and how they affect the world around us. We wake up everyday thinking only about our lives, we don't look further. There are so many serious issues today like global warming and luckily for us, some are taking action.

We are what we do is a movement created to inspire people to use their everyday actions to change the world. They began in the United Kingdom, as a project of the charity Community Links. You'll find on their website useful tips to be part of all this "take action" movement, plus some cool graphics and you can also purchase their Change the World book.

250 Matryoshkas

This is an old event but it's still so creative. A couple of years ago, MAF (Music Art Form) auctioned fifty sets of russian matryoshka dolls for charity. They were decorated by a number of contemporary artists. The event is still online if you'd like to see the whole story and all the designs. I nearly choked when I saw the "Michael Jackson" series, pick your favourite...

Fiodor Sumkin

Lovingly crafted pen + ink watercolors + biting social commentary = Fiodor Sumkin, an Amsterdam based illustrator who runs the creative studio Opera78. His work is described as "fresh style of editorial & advertising illustration". Mr. Sumkin can spend hours drawing fonts trying out new ways of creating type.

Package Design

I found this really cool blog about package design: The Dieline. It was created by Andrew Gibbs after realizing something like that didn't exist. You can find the latest design trends and styles, plus links to great designers, I'm posting here my favourites.

Y Water has a playful bottle designed by Yves Behar

Packaging by Duffy for Thymes / The Journal of Popular Noise audio package

Design by Evgeny Kiselev

Integrity Spirit's Trillium Absinthe Supérieure / Sero2 designed by Curious Design

FLOWmarket designed these empty packages with humorous and thought awakening messages to inspire costumers to think. You can buy them via their online shop.

Patricia Field designed these Diet Coke Bottles for the London launch of Sex and the City movie.

Cool websites

If you haven't seen Havaianas or Hermès websites stop reading, go now! 

Havaianas --> Really cool, happy and fun site. Move your mouse through the screen and you'll see amazing illustration appear.

Hermès --> Beautiful and clean design. Really creative and interactive way to present each collection. Go to "travel the world of Hermès" and have fun. Be sure to check out the tie trees slideshow, the wallet jackpot and don't forget to download the kelly bag pattern for some DIY fun.