April 30, 2012

FOUND: Handmade Hooded Towels

I was in Durango, CO a few weeks ago and came upon this amazing store on Main Street.  It featured products by local artists and crafters.  One of the products that caught my eye were the adorable collection of hooded towels.  All hand made, good quality and very reasonably priced.

I wanted to buy one but then couldn't choose between all the adorable animals. It came down to these three as my favorites.  
What makes these towels even more extraordinary is that you can't just click a button and order them online.  Nope -- if you want one of these towels you are going to have to pick up that antiquated instrument called a phone and order them the old fashioned way --- OR go to Durango, CO and pick it up for yourself (which I also highly recommend). 

The store is 
KIDS ROCK 
563 Main Avenue  Durango, CO 81301
tel. (970) 259-9400



April 27, 2012

Vegan Taxidermy for the Nursery

source
In a previous Post the Recent Paterfamilias asked if Animal Heads in the Nursery were appropriate or not?  I wasn't sure at first, but then I saw this nursery tour by Esther at Buy Modern Baby, which featured a moose head with a flower in it's antlers and I was sold.  

This convinced me the proper placement and maybe a well chosen accessory and animal heads can definitely work in the nursery. So after an intensive internet search I bring you some of my favorite Vegan Animal Heads. 
1. Resin Moose Head at Z Gallerie
2. Soft Sculpture Rabit Head by Mister Finch 
3. Deer heads out of paper by French Melody
4. Wire Water Buffalo at Aha Life

I also love this fun tutorial on how to make your own
DIY Thrift Store Head found on the I love to Create Blog

But for the Creme de la creme of Vegan Taxidermy you must check out artist Rachel Denny's work.  She uses all sort of material from Pennies to sweaters to create beautiful works of Animal Art.


April 26, 2012

New Designs Preview


Sneak peek at some of the new screens I just made.  Exciting stuff!!!

okay the screens themselves may not be THAT exciting.  But what is exciting is that I purchased an Exposure unit off of Craig's list, which made MAKING the screens very exciting and much easier  and faster than how I had been doing it before.

April 25, 2012

Photographic Follow-ups


In recent weeks, the proprietress of this blog, a certain Madame S.K. of Skårtshop, has strongly suggested that the R.P. (the so-called Recent Paterfamilias) forward certain photographic evidence in relation to the columns he has penned in recent weeks. 
            So, this Recent Paterfamilias (or the so-called R.P.) has decided to delve into a genre with which he is unfamiliar:  Photojournalism. 
            And, thusly, we have this:
            The Federalist Mirror.
Click HERE to read the full story behind this mirror  
            This is the Federalist Mirror in its current configuration (although the R.P. will admittedly attest that he has been known to move household items without preamble, without explanation, and without apology, per his own interior design and Feng Shui whims).  The chair in the foreground is upholstered in fabric by the Finnish design firm Marimekko.  The “stone” throw pillow thereon is from Marimekko, as well. 
            The Ghost Chairs.
Click HERE to see the full story about invisible chairs
            One can easily see why they are called “ghost chairs.”  They’re transparent.  They’re like a ghost.  Where did they go? 
            The placemats upon the table are from the Finnish design firm Marimekko. 
            The Eames Rocker.
Click HERE to see the full story about Eames Chair
            This is the reasonably-sized rocking chair that replaced our aforementioned unreasonably-sized rocking chair.  The individual occupying said reasonably-sized chair is Bob “The Gorilla.”  The pink pillow in the chair is from the Finnish design firm Marimekko. 
            The Cubino Chair.
Click HERE to see the full story about this Chair
            Here Bob “The Gorilla” is again.  No one is quite certain how Bob moves from chair to chair, but it should be noted that the baby bottle holding tray (by Finnish design firm Marimekko), which historically resides behind “the Cubino Chair,” is nowhere to be found. 
Some people on this end (although this Recent Paterfamilias is loath to point fingers) are beginning to believe that Bob “The Gorilla” is not a big fan of certain Finnish design firms. 
            And thus ends this Recent Paterfamilias’ foray into photojournalism.  

April 24, 2012

100 Sales


I've hit 100 sales on Etsy.  Woohoo!!! Do I open the Champagne now or wait until I hit 1000?

If I do the math: I've been open for nearly 3 years aka 34 months that's less than 3 sales per month. Oh Dear, all of a sudden 100 sales doesn't really sound that impressive.  Then if I look to the future and see how long it took to get to 100 sales, will my bottle of champagne still be good in 30 years?

So although 100 sales is an exciting milestone it has made me realize that I need to start doing a few things differently to speed up the process of making my next 100 Etsy sales.  Now I just need to figure out what and how?!

April 23, 2012

Weekend Antics and Hi jinx

My back aches and my calves hurt this morning.

Could be from the "race" I ran yesterday morning.  A little 5k in Irvine California called "The Color Run".  At every kilometer  along the race you are pelted with a different color  powder paint so at the end you look like you dropped into a vat of tie dye.

Also could be from a short film I was helping some friends make about an evil chair that eats people. 

Puppeteering an evil chair is HARD work! 

A fun thing I got to do for this film was transform the Evil chair into a sickeningly cutesy DIY upholstered chair.  I used a 96" curtain panel, a sewing machine and a lot of duct tape (ahhh the beauty of film making - you never have to see the back, and it doesn't need to last more than 1 day!) 



The Decor is not MY taste -- but it worked for the characters and that's the fun part of being a set designer, getting to decorate in all sorts of different styles.  Do you like the look of this Matchy match living room? All the curtains and cushions are "borrowed" from Bed Bath and Beyond.

April 19, 2012

Airplanes get a New Look

A little variation on my original plane set - These ones are on dark wood, sans the floating frame.  Available as a custom request - through orders@skartshop.com

April 18, 2012

The Recent Paterfamilias on: Invisible Chairs


Whoever heard of something so stupid as a “Ghost Chair”? 

This makes the Recent Paterfamilias think of chairs that move across the room on their own.  Or chairs that bleed bright blood at socially embarrassing moments.  Or chairs that speak to you when nobody else is around. 

Well, as it turns out, “Ghost Chairs” are true-to-life actual things, they were even featured on a recent episode of Gossip Girl (please don’t ask me how I know this), and they were exactly what I needed in my spatially-deficient apartment. 

But please, allow me to explain. 

A “Ghost Chair” is a transparent plastic or Plexiglas chair.  Sound modern?  Sure.  Sound tacky?  Well…debatable, until you see one.  The idea behind these so called Ghost Chairs is that, through their transparency, they occupy a sort of zero space, particularly when situated around tables, and more particularly in small apartments, because, being nigh invisible, the eye of the beholder tends to overlook said chairs, thusly making the small space seem larger. 

As the owner of a small space, largeness, or the appearance thereof, is exactly what I needed. 

There is a certain amount of irony not lost on the manufacturers of these so-called Ghost Chairs.  There are Ghost Chairs in the Louis XV style.  There are Ghost Chairs in the Victorian Style.  There are Ghost Chairs in the Eames chair style.  The Ghost Chairs the R.P. and his wife bought (so-called Vapor Chairs from CB2), have served their purpose quite nicely.  They are transparent, they don’t eat up a visual buffet in the apartment, they are shockingly comfortable, and they are decidedly modern in their squarish shape and limited profile. 

The Recent Paterfamilias finds himself forced to admit that his design aesthetic, since the arrival of his Recent Offspring, has become undeniably “modern.”   Which makes the R.P. wonder if certain decorative acquisitions, such as antique duck decoys and Federalist mirrors, seem a trifle out of sorts in his quote unquote Modernist apartment. 

But, naturally, the Recent Paterfamilias exclaims, “Quiet with all that nonsense!”  He likes his collections of old leather-bound books.  He likes his Federalist mirror.  And do they clash, design-wise, with his Ghost Chairs?  Well, probably, but that’s not for the R.P. to say.  (Besides, the Paterfamilias is too busy changing diapers, and teaching his Recent Progeny the alphabet and the U.S. states in alphabetical order to worry about such trivial nonsense.  But…on the sly…the R.P. is forced to wonder…and, thusly, has to ask his loyal readers…do they clash?  This, embarrassingly enough, is a real concern.)  

April 13, 2012

Travel Inspired Rugs by Second Studio

I'm loving ALL of these amazing travel and map inspired rugs by Second Studio - available at 2Modern.

April 12, 2012

Behind the Sets: Goofy goes on Vacation

If you've been following this blog - I'm sure you have been waiting with much anticipation to see the final Goofy project and the results of all those trips to Disneyland.  Well, wait no more.
So now you are asking (or at least my mom was asking me) - "What did YOU do on this?" 


This project was less about set design and more about the Props.  A few other things that we were responsible for: 

Getting the alarm clock and animating it.  As well as resetting the dozens of pillows we brought and placed on the bed for when Goofy gets woken up. 

Did you notice the giant cucumbers on his eyes when he was getting a massage.  Well of course those had to be made.  Can you tell that they are just flat paper print outs of photos of cucumbers? 
Then there was the "Shopping Scene".  All those boxes he is carrying had to be secured in a way that he could balance then and also still see where he was going. Believe it or not that took us a few hours to work out. 

April 11, 2012

Burger Place Boycott Under a Funny Moon


            This past Saturday, there must have been a full moon or a new moon or a blue moon or something, but, all day, people were downright antagonistic to the Recent Paterfamilias. 

A groundskeeper in Central Park, armed with a rake, a bad attitude, and a NYC Parks-sanctioned golf cart, came barreling down a paved path at the R.P. & Co., only to screech to a stop at the very last moment. 

            The Recent Paterfamilias, being of the sort to say something at this sort of thing, felt the need to say something. 

            “Were you planning on running us over?”

            “Actually,” he replied, “I was going to thank you for getting out of the way.”

            Dumbfounded by this response, and marginally furious, the R.P. & Co. quit the scene. 

            Later that afternoon, the R.P. & Co had a rude run-in with a wide-footed hostess at our local 5 Napkin Burger, one of my (now previously) favorite restaurants.  As she opened the door for the R.P., wife, stroller, and baby, she, the hostess, still refused to clear the doorway, all while impatiently gesturing us through.  I saw at once that I wasn’t going to clear the opening with the stroller.  My wife of the R.P. did as well, and offered to hold the door from the outside so that the wide-footed hostess could move out of the way.  But Big Foot was insistent.  She was also verbally short with us, encouraging us on, so, reluctantly, on I pressed, only then to hear:

            “Soooo, you just ran over my foot, but whatever…”

            After the wife, the baby, the stroller, and I were forgotten and neglected at our four-top table for a disturbingly long time, we decided that we’d rather leave and take the party somewhere else before anyone got any more irritated. 

            On the way out, there She was again, again offering her services at the door, but not before saying:

            “Soooo, try not to run over my foot this time, ok?”

            As kindly as possible, I related to Big Foot that, should she want her feet not run over, after opening the door for people, she should probably get the hell out of the doorway. 

            Now, historically, when the Recent Paterfamilias has a grudge, the R.P. has been known to keep it, and I don’t know if the 5 Napkin Big Foot knows what “backlash anger” means (where the R.P., having had quite enough, decides, “You know what?  Now I’m angry with you.), but 5 Napkin Burger is now on boycott list. 

            So, let it be known, should any of my loyal readers be in dire need of a satisfying de facto boycott—the 5 Napkin Burger chain restaurants are ripe, fat-footed, and available. 

            And then, later that Saturday night, when out walking his dog (let’s call him Tedward E. Edwards), the Recent Paterfamilias, along with the rest of his neighborhood was harassed by an intoxicated fellow screaming his intolerances, and the R.P. was forced to defend himself and his dog and drive his point home by giving this lovely young man an upward openhanded stiff-arm to the jaw line which consequently sent said pleasant young man running away down the sidewalk, all the while talking tough guy talk over his tough guy shoulder as he retreated forever into the cowardly shadows, nary to show his eloquent face again. 

            Soooo, as has been stated, there must have been some kind of a funny full moon out last Saturday, and, I got to admit, all things considered, I guess I’m lucky I didn’t have a run-in with an anti-social werewolf.  

April 10, 2012

Singing Giraffes - A custom Request

I got a fun custom request for someone looking to give a special Christening gift.   She wrote me that, "Jackson liked Giraffes, singing and the color green".  I did a few sketches and this is the final we came up with.  I hope Jackson likes it!  If you have a custom idea you would like to explore please email me at: orders@skartshop.com

April 09, 2012

I'm in the Windows

If you happen to be in Santa Monica during April or May, walking on Main Street, you will get to see my art displayed in all it's glory at Mindfulnest.  They rotate which artists are featured in their windows and for the next two months it's ME.  Check it out.
Of course, if you can't make it to Los Angles, you can always find me online at skartshop.com

April 06, 2012

Sunset Skårt

I've been working on a new Los Angeles/Santa Monica series.  This is one of the pieces -- Sunset on the Pier --  It's a test print and a work in progress.  Currently only available for sale at Mindfulnest in Santa Monica.

April 03, 2012

Look at these dolls ...and smile

I first came across Blabla's products when I noticed their mustache pillow at Room and Board.
Then I saw a few more of their pillows --- 
Then Buy Modern Baby shared one of their videos and I was hooked!!!  


This weekend I saw their dolls in person and wondered if it's ridiculous to buy the whole collection for MYSELF?

And now for the Piece de Ressistance I've discovered the bla bla blog.  Filled with things to make you smile all the time.  Check it out!