percent

tumblights 2/12

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 04:48:00 +0000

Happy Sunday evening! This week's tumblights are heavy on the Design for Mankind. I must say, Erin Loechner has been killing it lately.

Interesting comparisons between cecilia paredes’ urban camouflage art via Design For Mankind and Kim Joon 's Awakened Ceramics via alecshao

World map created by chipping away layers of the wall behind the map to reveal the landforms via design boom

Art created by painting while suspended in air via Design For Mankind

Prestige and Decay in China, photography of Harry Kaufman via The Fox is Black

Wrapped trees show the horizon via Design For Mankind

Large scale paintings by collaborative husband-and-wife team of Emma Biggs and Matthew Collings via Design Milk

Necklaces 8 & 9- February Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:53:00 +0000

[Apple Necklace]

You don't have to be a teacher to want this apple necklace. Vintage lucite in green and blue and two strands of awesome flat gold chain hold this vintage apple charm with a jade colored natural stone "leaf" dangling. The lucite I found at my favorite Bay Area bead store recently and is originally from Japan.

[Calcite Necklace]

Close friends will recognize this necklace as a riff on one I wear frequently myself but these calcite stones are too amazing not to share. I wirewrapped the stone to attach it to an amazing gold toned rope necklace. I love the hazy pink color of the stone and how it vaguely resembles weaponry while remaining feminine.

Necklace Ten coming soon!

A Necklace A Day will continue all of February. See all the daily necklaces here. I'm joined in this challenge by a fellow East Bay Arts Collective member, Gwen of Gwen Harlow Design who will be crafting and blogging as well.

photobooth sf

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:04:00 +0000

Have you noticed my new Facebook/ Twitter/ all over the Internets photo? I had it taken at Photobooth SF, an amazing photography studio and event space that specialized in analog photography. Polaroids, Dianas, Lomos, even tintype. Not only can you have your portrait taken there, they sell refurbished Polaroids so you can snap your own retro art.

You can schedule your own shoot, or attend the Pre-Valentine's Party tomorrow that benefits Creative Arts Charter School. You can even get a tintype with your sweetie for a special price. If you are in the Bay Area, you need to check this space out. And if you aren't local, the images on the website are incredible on their own.

Serenity Necklace- February Challenge Day 7

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:14:00 +0000

[Serenity Necklace]

For those of you who like your jewelry to be a bit calmer, today's necklace is the Serenity Necklace. It's classic percent jewelry- a mix of vintage beads, chains and natural stones- but in a very simple piece that you wear daily.

The chain is the same used in the Cascading Necklace, but the best part of this necklace is the beautiful vintage beads hung off center. With light blue, purple and magenta, they add interest in the otherwise organic feeling necklace.

The lighting has been poor and Partner-in-Crime hasn't been home to help me take pictures of my necklaces being worn, so apologizes about the low quality of this pictures. The colors on the top image are true to life.

A Necklace A Day will continue all of February. See all the daily necklaces here. I'm joined in this challenge by a fellow East Bay Arts Collective member, Gwen of Gwen Harlow Design who will be crafting and blogging as well.

weekend review: marin adventures

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:52:00 +0000

[Check out those ripples in the distance- that's ocean waves!]

It's been a while since I posted a weekend review, but I figured if I was late on my necklace challenge, I should share why. This series of images is a little of the "this is my perfect life" variety but I have to say, anytime I have a rare weekend off and get out of the city, it does feel like a perfect life. Just for the day. Images after the jump.

[Mossy trees]

[Trees with odd, slightly creepy red growth]

[Climbers]

[The lookout tower that we weren't allowed to use]

[Old school sepia- image shot through sunglasses]

[Bolinas]

[Bit of antiquing. Book title: This is My Best]

[Low tide]

[It was too cold for anyone to take them up on the offer.]

[We weren't the only group enjoying beers on the beach.]

[Close to the last of the day's light]

Necklaces Five and Six- February Challenge Days 5 & 6

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:19:00 +0000


[Glass and Pearl Necklace]

Okay, a necklace a day gets even tougher when it overlaps with my first weekend off in a month. Instead of making a necklace yesterday, Partner-in-Crime and I lunched at Thai Temple, ran errands for the house, took Gracieface to the dog park, and even went to a potluck in the city. Since I didn't get it posted yesterday, today is a two-fer.

Day Five's Necklace is a multistrand necklace with two strands of pearls in cream and gray, gold chain and green recycled glass made in Africa. It hangs from a cream ribbon and is adjustable to whatever length you'd like to wear it.

[Sydney Necklace]

Necklace Six is the Sydney Necklace, named after my friend Sydney who gave me the amazing necklace that is the base of this piece. I wrapped it with orange, lime green and blue embroidery floss down one side and continued the blue onto the charm. A shorter piece, this necklace sits on your collarbone.

A Necklace A Day will continue all of February. See all the daily necklaces here. I'm joined in this challenge by a fellow East Bay Arts Collective member, Gwen of Gwen Harlow Design who will be crafting and blogging as well. If you'd like to join the challenge, email me at kat.mceachern (at) gmail dot com.

Prism Necklace- February Challenge Day Four

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:51:00 +0000

[Prism Necklace]

I'm especially excited to share photos of this necklace because I'm on Instagram! If you follow me on twitter, you got to see a special sneak peak this morning. Then I was off to Marin County for hiking on Mt. Tam and lazing on the beach in Bolinas.

I've done many necklaces with chandelier crystals before, I cannot get enough of them, but this is the first I've combined with natural stones. These are dyed green stones that are an incredibly variegated green. Simply gorgeous. The Prism Necklace is available now on Etsy and I have a handful of these green stones left. I have the feeling they won't make it through February!

Cascading Necklace- February Challenge Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:03:00 +0000

[Cascading Necklace]

Day three of the February Necklace Challenge and I'm having a great time. My desk is just staying messy with beads (sorry, Partner-in-Crime) and I have a half dozen ideas brewing for the coming days. Today's necklace I almost named Fishtail, because it reminds me of these rainbow fish children's books but "Fishtail" isn't the most enticing thing to put around my neck. This necklace deserves a better name, doesn't it?

The gold chain is a vintage piece that is absolutely gorgeous. It has a nice weight to it and looks gold (though as you can tell by the price, it is not.) The beads are glass and each row has a pattern of different sizes and cuts in the same color. I hand formed the wire to bend in a nice curve and wrapped it closed around the chain. And once again I was inspired to make matching earrings!

[Earrings!]

Neon String Necklace- February Challenge Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:20:00 +0000

[Neon String Necklace]

Happy Groundhog's Day! (And happy birthday to my big brother.) Apparently we're getting six more weeks of winter. If this makes you crave something bright, today's necklace is for you!

[Wire wrapping]

A bright pink neon string has been repurposed to replace my usual gold chains. Neon is everywhere (including my purse) so why not around your neck? On the string is a big bright orange wood bead with three light blue clay beads on one side and six on the other. The blue beads have a great variegated color that adds texture and interest. Hangs perfectly offcenter just below your collarbone. This piece is finished with wire wrapped ends that keep the string secure and let it lay smoothly on your neck. The Neon String Necklace is now on Etsy, get it before it's gone!

[Necklace two]

Colorblock Necklace- February Challenge Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:25:00 +0000

[Colorblock Necklace]

Necklace One is complete! I'm so excited about this piece. When collecting vintage jewelry and bits and pieces, sometimes I buy something I like but don't have any clue what to do with. Other times, I find something and know immediately what I want to make. This necklace started as one and ended as the latter.

I recently bought a strand of multicolored vintage lucite beads, unsure of how to use them but I never pass up gorgeous lucite beads. Then a friend who also makes jewelry (check out her work!) gave me this necklace to cut up and remake.

[Okay, I didn't take a picture before I cut it open. You get the general idea.]

Pretty cool, right? But also a little boring. I knew it needed more color and less symmetry. I love the colorblocking trend that is going on so I made a colorblock necklace. I used the vintage lucite beads, the necklace from Sydney and one extra awesome rock shaped teal bead that I found long long ago (it's the awesome rock shaped teal one below.)

[Random rock shaped bead really makes this necklace]

Oh, what's that, you ask? Did I overachieve and make earrings too? Yes. Yes, I did. Both the earrings and the necklace are listed on Etsy. Perfect to add color to any outfit you wear on a rainy day like we're having here.

A Necklace A Day will continue all of February. See all the daily necklaces here. I'm joined in this challenge by a fellow East Bay Arts Collective member, Gwen of Gwen Harlow Design who will be crafting and blogging as well. If you'd like to join the challenge, email me at kat.mceachern (at) gmail dot com.

February Challenge- A Necklace a Day

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:55:00 +0000

[Champagne cupcakes from Some Kitchen Stories]

Happy February! In my family, February is a month of celebrations because of the many family members with birthdays. My sister just escaped being a February baby by one day and was born on March 1- of a leap year! My brother and I still lament not being able to constantly tease her about being four years old on her sixteenth birthday.

This February I won't get to celebrate with any family members in person, but we'll be celebrating everyday on the blog with a new necklace every day! I'll share a bit of a story of the necklace and it will be up on Etsy for puchase. Making, blogging about and listing on Etsy is a big task to undertake daily but I'm excited to both spend more time on my craft AND more time sharing it with you!

Plus, all Necklace a Day necklaces will be 20% for the month of February with the code (what else?) FEBRUARY.

To make this even more exciting, I'm joined in this challenge by a fellow East Bay Arts Collective member, Gwen of Gwen Harlow Design who will be crafting and blogging as well. If you'd like to join the challenge, email me at kat.mceachern (at) gmail dot com. See you tomorrow with the first Necklace a Day jewels.

tumblights 1/29

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:49:00 +0000

It was a scary week. Little Gracie got into some raisins, which are toxic for puppies, and spent the last two days in the pet hospital being observed. I'm happy to say they treated her quickly, and she was never in pain. We picked her up last night and are so glad to have her home, safe and sound. She's curently snoozing away next to an also-sleeping Partner-in-Crime.

Here's this week's tumblights:

Test tube chandelier can be a hanging garden, rainbow via Design*Sponge

‘Billboard House’, a residential prototype that combines the concept of outdoor media with housing via designboom

Andy Goldsworthy’s newest installation in the Presidio via inhabitat

Noemie Goudal’s site-specific sculptural installation photography via designboom

Pep Ventosa takes hundred of photographs of one subject then re-constructs them into one image via Honestly WTF

Enjoy these? Find more daily at percentblog.tumblr.com. And even more stunning images on my pintrest.

how to: spray painting leather

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:33:00 +0000

Sometimes I have pieces on my closet that I love, but over time I come to love more out of sentiment than the style itself. A purse I bought on a trip in early high school to El Salvador is one of those favored items. I love (most) the memories of the trip, but haven't actually carried the bag in many years. On the style and DIY blogs I read, I've been seeing lots of neon and spray paint and a jolt of color is just what this bag needs to wake it up. So thanks to Geneva of A Pair and a Spare for the many neon inspirations, including a market bag, and to Kristen of Glitter and Glue for helping me be brave enough to spray paint a leather purse.

I mentioned on twitter that I painted another bag that didn't turn out so well. It was a canvas tote with writing so be sure to use primer if you need to cover up a design first. If you can find the color you want, I'd definitely recommend using fabric paint on canvas instead of spray paint. Additionally, make sure you have that tape down securely at the edges!

This how-to is for spray painting leather though, so follow the simple steps below!

[The purse originally]

[Taping off the area to be painted. Prime first if you need to.]

[After one coat, a little splotchy]

[Two coats, a little bleeding but luckily on the hidden area]


[Done!]

I have thought about making the design highlight the embossed leaf/feather design more, but I like the simplicity of stripe of neon showing through. What do you think- did I make the right call?

recipe: lemon squares

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:25:00 +0000

I'm posting this with a disclaimer: making this recipe may ruin all other lemon squares for you. Ever. You know a recipe is going to be great when it comes from a Junior League cookbook. Okay, another disclaimer: this does not apply to anything molded out of jello that contains fruit or cottage cheese. However, lemon squares? Those ladies have it perfected.

I grew up eating these lemon bars on special occasions. They are not overly time consuming but do require three steps and a long time chilling, so you cannot whip them up right before your luncheon. Luncheons being what I assume they originated for. The ladies of the Junior League of Cincinnati are still hawking cookbooks, but neither on sale is the one to originally contain these so I will share it with you. In fact, when I google searched "junior league of cincinnati cookbook lemon squares" they were sharing a recipe with no cream cheese icing! Cue pearl clutching. Enjoy the icing loaded version here.

Frosted Lemon Squares
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 whole eggs
Juice of two lemons
4 Tablespoons flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons whipping cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together the flour, butter and powdered sugar, either with a mixer or food processor. It will be quite crumbly. Press into ungreased 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes until a light golden color.

Beat the eggs. Add juice of two lemons, flour, sugar and salt. Mix together. Pour over baked crust. Bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool completely before icing, 2+ hours or overnight.

For the icing, cream together the butter and sugar in mixer or food processor. Add whipping cream and vanilla and mix. Add the cream cheese in pieces into this mixture. Spread icing on cooled lemon layer. Chill and then cut into small squares. Store in the refrigerator. Freezes well.

If nice presentation is desired, partially freeze before cutting as icing remains soft at room temperature. But if the Junior League ladies thought they looked fine, they look fine. And I can promise you, they taste great.

tumblights 1/22

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:25:00 +0000

Hello, dears. As you've seen, it's been an exciting week. The weekend rounded out with a homemade pizza party with friends and a rainy night in. Now it's a rainy Sunday, perfect for a football game (go 49ers!) Happy Lunar New Year- it's the year of the dragon!

Brian Dettmer creatively destroys solely vintage non-fiction books via design boom

This bike would be designed in SF via Design Milk

Steven Spazuk creates art with flames, allowing the images to emerge naturally via Design Milk

Maybe not sexy, but necessary and, in this case, attractive. Fuseproject (yves behar) newest health and wellness brand ‘sabi’ via design boom

Eat Me: Appetite For Design book via MocoLoco

Enjoy these? Find more daily at percentblog.tumblr.com. And even more stunning images on my pintrest.

the magic of twitter

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:54:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, you may have seen me post something on twitter that looked like this:

If you were confused, it was in response to this:

Which resulted in this:

Yes. Those are my fingers. No. I have not become a hand model (the current burn from the oven on my right hand should prevent that.) Instead, I have started an internship for Anne Sage, a wonderful blogger, stylist, and Executive Editor of Rue Magazine. Last Friday we had a wonderful time shooting the Valentine's Survival Guide that is featured on pages 34-36 of the just released issue of Rue Magazine. Our photographer, Molly DeCoudreaux, was a trooper, making our shoot super fun even while she felt under the weather. Check out the rest of the shoot!

what the world needs is people who have come alive

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:59:00 +0000

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr Day. A day named for a specific great leader, but one who worked with countless other leaders, some who we have heard of and some whose names are not transcribed in history books. Today I want to share a poster I created, because it was inspired by the words of another civil rights leader, Dr. Howard Thurman. A friend from high school had posted the following quote as her Facebook status and I immediately was struck by it. Learning more about Dr. Thurman I was even more inspired.

The quote attributed to Dr. Thurman in whole reads: Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

I am learning to balance what I feel the world needs with asking myself what makes me come alive. Do you know what makes you come alive?

You can download the posters as pdfs here, posters are 11x17 prints. I'm sharing them freely, so feel free to use them in any non-commercial use.

tumblights 1/15/12

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:13:00 +0000

Sunday again and a holiday tomorrow. Partner-in-Crime is taking off work which makes up for me working both days this weekend. Tonight we're having a cozy night in with pizza and beer. Here's a bit of design goodness for you to cozy up to. Exciting news coming early this week.

Fuck design, let’s set the world on fire via The Fox Is Black

Fighting Global Injustices and Poverty…With Crafts: Meet the Craftivists via TreeHugger

elisa strozyk’s wooden textiles via Design For Mankind

Marianne Breslauer's photography via Miss Moss

Knitted yarn filling potholes along Paris roads via alec shao

Enjoy these? Find more daily at percentblog.tumblr.com. And even more stunning images on my pintrest.

architectural history and preservation

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:25:00 +0000

I just read on The Fox is Black that one of architect Richard Nuetra's buildings is currently empty and possibly to be demolished. I spent a semester analyzing every aspect of Nuetra's VDL House, even exchanging emails with Nuetra's son and architect in his own right, Dion, but hadn't learned of the Cyclorama. In fact, this style of building is one I missed completely despite History of the Interior and the many lessons on architecture I had in school. According to the Alex from The Fox is Black, "Built to display 360-degree paintings, Cycloramas were popular in the 19th century when hundreds of looped paintings traveled through dozens of cycloramas across the States."

Because the building is adjacent to Gettysburg, and even blocks the view of the battlefield, its fate is uncertain. The park service would like the Cyclorama removed to restore the view, architecture lovers want to preserve Nuetra's work. I lean toward preserving the building, either by allowing it to stand where it is or by moving it, if necessary. I am a architecture lover, but also a history lover and I think Alex put it well when he wrote:

Cycloramas do not carry the same historical weight as the Civil War, nor does any single architect. But we aren’t going to forget the Civil War anytime soon. Cycloramas and legacies of modern architects are much more fragile; when they intertwine with such a historical behemoth, it’s strange to think that agencies interested in historical preservation would fight for their erasure. History might be inconveniently located, but it’s history nonetheless.

Perhaps by keeping the building where it was intended will serve the original purpose of a building built to hold a 365 painting of Gettysburg- to teach history lovers a little something about architecture, and to remind architecture lovers that our history is what allows us to create today.

Images from The Fox is Black.

tumblights 1/8/12

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:43:00 +0000

The holidays are over and tumblights are back! This encompasses the last few weeks of the best of design, food and culture images and stories that I've stumbled across.

Chris Palmer's furniture design builds in storage via Design*Sponge

Art Heist makes great art accessible- for free via Honestly WTF

Video: Ben Chestnut of MailChimp delivers powerful address on workplace creativity via SwissMiss

Form follows manufacturing: “the Gravity Stool gets its unique shape from magnetic fields and the power of gravity” via Mocoloco

An exploration of culture through photographs of hanging laundry via Design Milk

Advice to Sink in Slowly: Designers Share Wisdom with First-Year Students in Poster Series via Brain Pickings

Enjoy these? Find more daily at percentblog.tumblr.com. And even more stunning images on my pintrest.

harry potter love

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:04:00 +0000

One reason I shared few Christmas projects is that projects I did make this season were very personal and I didn't want to spoil the surprise. For my younger sister, I made a set of Harry Potter quote posters. We are both big fans of the books (and lesser fans of the movies, though one of these quotes is actually from the movie. It's a good quote, though.)

I used the same font as the books and left the posters in black and white, to look most similiar to the books. It's been a while since I've played around on illustrator or any Adobe CS products, but since making these I've done a few more projects that I'll be slowly sharing.

You can download the posters as pdfs here, posters are 11x17 prints. I'm sharing them freely, so feel free to use them in any non-commercial use.

Happy 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:10:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

This year was a big one, involving many big changes including leaving my job and moving across the country. There have been setbacks and challenges but I have been moving forward and have big goals for 2012, especially for my design work and this blog. I'm excited to continue exploring what community based design means to me and how design can make a difference. There will be more learning sf posts as I explore my adopted home, more recipes, more tumblights and, I truly hope, more conversations.

Looking forward to sharing 2012.

tumblights 12/28

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:28:00 +0000

Here is this week's collection of interesting design, intriguing concepts and delightful images.

Cinemascapes: The Google Street View Edition. “Photographs” created online via The Fox Is Black

Scenes of Life by Lucie & Simon via Miss Moss

Map Sculptures of Cities Made from Books About Each City via Brain Pickings

Instead of using wood as a source to make paper, NewspaperWood uses the paper to make wood via Design Milk

Pine cone structure plays with line between nature and architecture via design boom

Enjoy these? Find more daily at percentblog.tumblr.com. And even more stunning images on my pintrest.

design intervention: doing it right

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:29:00 +0000

[Santa Marta community, Rio de Janeiro, image from Favela Painting]

I love the colorful buildings of artistic team Haas & Hann's projects. The duo's favela project, originally conceived in Brazil, pays local youth to paint buildings vivid shades. I love that the project is "not about cosmetically 'camouflaging' an area, but rather rejuvenating deprived areas of a city and creating a positive social effect on the general district at hand." I was first introduced to the pair's work on Apartment Therapy when in an article titled "Should New York Go Neon?" The proposed images of New York were thrilling to me, but the article and the idea struck me as misguided. The proposal of an unsolicited "intervention" in lower Manhattan from a pair of designers from outside the United States lacked the community input I think is necessary for a project to be truly uplifting instead of just aesthetically pleasing. And while they certainty are pleasing to me, many may find the colors an eyesore especially without community consultation and buy-in.

[Proposed NYC project, image from Apartment Therapy]

Tonight I took the time to look at the Favela Painting website in more depth. There were things that heartened me, such as the education in painting skills and safety the local youth received, which can serve as job training. Additionally, "inside of the sambaschool was painted in [the area's] traditional colors"

While of course there are many other improvements that could be made to those communities (either in Brazil or New York,) even small physical appearance changes can have a very positive affect. The Favela Project was started in 2006 in Brazil where the Dutch team works and lives, and the New York proposal was more of a creative design exercise than true proposal. I would hope a team that has had such successful projects in the past understand the important of community in the design process should such a project actually move forward. What works in one community does not translate to all communities, especially if the similarity in the communities is largely on of economic status or political power instead of culture and identity. I encourage Haas & Haan to continue the painting project in Brazil if it as welcome in the community as my google-ing suggests but to think deeper about ways to bring the same joy to other cities.

What do you think are best practices for community-based design?

[Painters at work in Rio, image from Favela Painting]

belated tumblights 12/12

noreply@blogger.com (percentblog) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:22:00 +0000

A quick post of tumblights and then back to your regularly scheduled holiday programming...

I Love Stripes by Daphne van den Heuvel via Mocoloco

St Petersburg pier nominee designed to weather storm surges, climate change via design boom

Temporary Trees- performance photography by Raw Color and MKGKvia Inhabitat

Tantra Song: Rare 17th-Century Indian Paintings That Look Like 20th-Century Western Art via Brain Pickings

Enjoy these? Find more daily at percentblog.tumblr.com. And even more stunning images on my pintrest.