Valley:: New retail space in New York City's Lower East Side

"Valley, a new retail space in New York City's Lower East Side, aims to create a living room-style atmosphere by creating a one-stop shopping experience, incorporating apparel, a nail and waxing salon and a cafe. The artistically-inspired space will host seasonal art installations and events in attempt to bring clients, friends and community together. Conceived by sisters Julia, 33, and Nina Werman, 30, a former social worker and a member of the Lower East Side Community Board, respectively, “Valley will draw in women from all over as the boutique works to unite some of the rarest treats in fashion, beauty, art and food as well as create a one-of-a-kind space for social culture.”

The Werman sisters' desire to celebrate the artistry of manicures led them to collaborate with Patty Yankee Williams, winner of Nails Magazine's Nail Technician of the Year for 2005/2006. Williams is Valley's Nail Tech Director and has helped them to create a high-end nail salon with manicures that are "like a facial for your nails." Working without acrylics, the nail salon offers airbrushing, jewels, decoupage of real flowers and marble dipsets (nails are actually marbelized by dipping them) to create amazing works of art for your fingertips. Williams herself will also work as a guest nail artist every other Saturday.

The boutique features a well-curated mix of casual-yet-chic clothing from avant-garde fashion designers, as well as popular favorites such as Grey Ant, known for heralding the high-waisted revolution, Ladies of the Canyon's candy-colored jerseys, Deener Denim's updated classics and Carolina K's Bolivian-influenced dresses (pictured left). Jewelry options include the sneaker chain by Lady Leisure (pictured right), inspired by sneakers thrown over telephone wires, which instead of a clasp, secures by a tie of the chain."
::VIA

Cocoa Locoa Bespoke Chocolate Service

"Cocoa Locoa is the creation of Karalee LaRochelle, who, like several other people who've inspired us by their midlife career shifts, knew there was a better way to make a living. After years in business consulting and marketing she earned a degree in Pastry at the New York Culinary Institute. Stints at Eleven Madison Park, Fauchon and Veré Chocolate followed.

In addition to her excellent line of hand made artisan chocolates and confections made with local and organic ingredients—the Salted Honey Caramels, made with Fireweed honey, are beyond—Karalee offers a Bespoke Chocolate Service. First she meets with you to understand the kinds of flavors and style of chocolates you like. She then creates a range of chocolates using your preferences, which you sample at your very own tasting (four costs $250, 8 costs $450).

Once you select the creations that best suit you, they can be further customized by adding a unique screened design and custom packaging. Minimum order is 50 pieces per flavor at $1.50 a piece (50¢ less than a non-custom chocolate). Still don't know what to get the person who has everything?

And what better to serve with your Bespoke Chocolate than Bespoke Vodka?

Experience Cocoa Locoa at the NY Chocolate Show today through 12 November 2006, or at the Cocoa Locoa site."

::VIA

Toothpick sculptures

"Steven J Backman is a dedicated, talented, and evidently very patient toothpick artist who makes impressive and elaborate toothpick sculptures." Link
::VIA

The JimX Wallet

"Mike O’Neill, designer behind the super-successful “not a wallet” Jimi wallet just launched his next product, the JimiX. A wallet for people who hate wallets, but love cash. It holds cards like the normal Jimi wallet, but also has a nice external clip for cashola. Of course, it’s still made from recycled plastic, locally in the US and 1% of sales revenue goes 1% for The Planet." ::VIA

Reset Design Tattoo

"A collective of international designers have been brought together to illustrate new functional and aesthetic approaches to body art in the Reset Design Tattoo Collection.

The collection is part the French design site's first curated exhibition, Eden ADN, which will be part of the St. Etienne Design Biennale November 22 through December 3 in Paris.

Some of the images offer a political message on racism and sexism, others speak to societal notions of beauty, while a few are clever pop culture commentaries. Pure fodder for hipster ironic tattoos."

::VIA

Videos we're digging

Rose - La Liste


HERMAN DÜNE - Just Like Thom's Thumb Blues / Your na

Despercepções::: New Project By Linus Oura

"Linus Oura, a graphic designer from São Paulo, Brazil, created an urban installation project called "Despercepções" ("Misperceptions") as his graduation project from college.

The project is a criticism to the citizens of Sao Paulo "about their careless of the urban vegetation in the cities and the benefits it can offer to them by creating elements of nature composed by urban elements, like street lamps, antennas, garbage cans and more."

You can see the whole process of the project here.

::VIA

Do Not Fall In Love:: Subway mod

"Spotted by ToyRobot on the door of an North bound "R" train (Brooklyn to Manhattan)"

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Paper Jet-Poet

Fly On The Wall is a terrific
collective of young creative filmmakers in Cape Town South Africa.
Recently they did a couple of short narratives with the help of Warren
Lewis ofwetpaint / circuslabs . They were so go that MTV ended up
buying them a week later. You can see more of the films on their
website site here.







::VIA

Byron Bay fashion label:: Bird ::eco-friendly collection of women's wear

"Byron Bay fashion label, Bird, is the creation of designer Rachel Bending whose "work pioneering sustainability in design started with Slingfings, a brand widely recognised for its environmental consciousness." Bending, who originally hails from the UK, studied textile design at the renowned Glasgow School of Art in the early 90's and then spent several years working as an event director for Saatchi & Saatchi in London before immigrating to Australia in 2001. Based around three different fabrics each season, all of which are designed at her studio and hand-printed using water based dyes, Bird is a beautiful, eco-friendly collection of women's wear." ::VIA

iRebel Preview

"With Polartec high-tech fabric and iPod integration, Westcomb's new iRebel jackets and hoodies are perfect for active people, whether on the slopes or on the subway. Coming out January 2007, the iRebel features an interior iPod pocket, which connects to integrated soft switch controls on the sleeve. The Polartec Wind Pro Fabric makes the iRebel four times more wind resistant than traditional fleece and the water-repellant surface sheds water and snow—yet since the coating on the fabric is not a laminate, it remains breathable. The iRebel's slim profile makes them perfect for layering and zippered pockets, long sleeves with cut-out thumb holes and—unlike some of the other wearable technology outerwear we've come across—Westcomb women's sizes actually cut to fit a woman's smaller frame are all welcome details."

The iRebel Jacket ($225) and the iRebel Hoody ($235) and will be available in various colors at Boulder Mountaineering and Back Country.

::VIA

Happy Birthday Flowbots

"Artist, tattooist and designer of one of the CH x Timbuk2 Artist Bags, Joseph Ari Aloi (aka JK5) celebrates the birthday of his Flowbots next Friday, 17 November 2006, at ToyTokyo's Showroom NYC. In addition to revealing the introductory series of three-inch vinyl toys, produced in collaboration with Kidrobot, new paintings, drawings and sculpture created by JK5 exclusively for this event will be on display. JK5 says of the Flowbots—nine distinct characters with two secret additional colorways—“Each one is a symbol, an archetype, an art form and one is my best friend.”

Happy Birthday Flowbots
Opening Friday, 17 November 2006, 7-10pm
Through 22 November 2006
The Showroom NYC
117 Second Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10003 map
tel. 01 212 673 5424

::VIA

Off The Rails::A short film by Darcy Prendergast

A short film by Darcy Prendergast about all the crazy people you can meet on public transportation.
Check his site out here.

Orange balls to throw at bad people in Japan

"In convenience stores in Japan, the cashiers keep a supply of clear balls filled with a foul smelling orange liquid. What are they for? As the shop owner explains in this video, "if a robber comes in, please hit them." You can read more here. ::VIA

Super-Bastard Box Art

"Undoboy, a talented NYC-based designer, sent us an email recently warning us he's unleashed his latest work: Super-Bastard Box Art Characters. 16 4-inch characters come in a box. The sturdy cardboard dolls have a character painted on each of their four sides and feature different pop-culture icons. The detachable heads and legs can be mixed and matched for added fun.

Born Chean Wei Law and raised in Malaysia, Undoboy is rapidly making his presence felt with his off-the-wall creations that blend his artistic talent and wacky sense of humor. Super-Bastard Box Art is available for purchase online at Karmaloop." ::VIA

Momo Tags The Width of Manhattan

"Every artist has a vision. For Momo (who's been absolutely killing it lately in New York), the vision was to tag the entire width of Manhattan. Click here to watch the video of how he did it." ::VIA

Wrappers Pinstripe iPod and MacBook Sleeves

"Wrappers just launched their Pinstripe collection, which like their other covers do not have any logos or labels and come with a personalized tag. They are cushioned and lined in microfibre to keep your gear scratch free." ::VIA

68 and 100 LED Waterproof Flashlights Introduced

"Fresh from China, comes this ruggedized, waterproof flashlight. It has 68 LEDs that are powered by four AAA batteries. If you need even more LEDs, they have a 100 LED version available. The light is obviously bright, but one reviewer says it's not as focused or as bright as Luxeon type flashlights with reflectors. The price is hard to beat though: $12.99. Right now it the only place to get this flashlight is via eBay and FifthUnit." ::VIA

Bike Lamps:: by Treeline Designs

"So you’re a keen biker, but sometimes maybe too keen. The consequence of getting some big air might be unfortunate damage to your two wheeled wonder. But it’s been such a pal through thick and thin, what a shame to say “good bye.” Maybe you don’t need to. Check out Treeline. They can convert reused bike parts into table and stand lamps. Forks might become stems, and cassettes, chain rings, and disc brake rotors, etc find themselves reincarnated as bases. The stock models seen here range in price from $140 to $200 USD, but customising is also possible." Check Treeline here. ::VIA

Chocolate sushi

"Suedy's Koo-ki Sushi is really kooky. I mean, really. If you're expecting some savory maguro or ebi, get ready for a surprise, because this sushi is actually made out of chocolate. As a novel specialty item, Koo-ki Sushi sure gets your attention. The craftsmanship is exquisite, with faithful attention to detail. Each confection really looks like sushi, but tastes very different (I'm sure.) The site allows you to shop online, and even ship to your desired destination, ensuring that even if you don't live near a Koo-ki sushi store you can still savor and give the gift of choco-sushi to your friends and family. You'll be sure to astound (or confound) them with your efforts. Even the included wasabi (green tea flavored) and soy sauce (chocolate) is a sugary treat."

::VIA