I've Got To Get You Into My Life

Holy unhealthy obsession, kids -- I CAN NOT stop looking at wallpaper! It all started when Ally asked for wallpaper suggestions to go in her new house, and now -- 6537 hours later -- I think I may have looked at every single wallpaper pattern on the internets. Problem is, I ain't got nowhere to put it. Actually, The Hubs and I are considering moving relatively soon, so we don't really want to take on any big projects that may have to be undone before a parade of buyers come through, demanding that every wall be painted band aid beige. Thus, therefore, alack, anon, as of now, I am officially in fantasy decorating mode. Le sigh. Of course, I do have real tasks that should be done, like painting trim, cleaning up the yard, switching out little hardware doo dads, blah blah blah, but who wants to do that boring crap when sexy wallpaper beckons like a siren in the mist --- oooooowwwwweeeeeeee (or whatever a siren sounds like). Dudes, I want to glue paper onto something very, very badly.

Who could blame me when there are so many fabulous papers available to us regular folk? Right now I have a serious crush on Barcelona based wallpaper firm, Tres Tintas. Their papers are Hot Diggity Dog awesome. I love the artsy, painterly quality of many of their prints; the best of them feel more textural than patterned.

1080 Cadires kind of reminds me of Kelly Wearstler's staircase. If only it were much, much bigger...

Pelos looks like line drawn hair, or softly waving sea kelp.

Sara Palmer is a contemporary take on the ubiquitous 70s jungle paper.

Mostly I just like this picture. I want a penguin, too.

My favorite print from Tres Tintas is the Selva de Mar. Most of the colorways wax Miami Vice, but I love the white on white print. Yes, it's there. Promise. It reminds me of some fancy abstract art I can't quite place... maybe Jackson Pollock's early paintings, before he got all actiontastic?

Selva de Mar is pretty similar to Jocelyn Warner's Kew print, which I also likey, but I much prefer this colorway:

Black on black, apparently printed in gloss inks. This one earns another Hot Diggity Dog! from me. If anyone out there has this paper in their house, or has seen it in person, please please report back. I need to know if it's supah glossy. I want this so hard.

And then there's Erica Wakerly. Girlfriend can do no wrong in my eyes. I've probably already used up all my allotted HDD!s for today, but if not, then her Desert print gets another one from me. Kind of 80s, totally awesome -- I love the black and coral colorways, too.

Angles has been a favorite for a while now. It would look SMASHING in my kitchen over the sink, behind my new shelves (which I am too lazy to photograph today. Sorry, dudes). Then I would hang a big, brass pendant light, and it would KILL. I would totally go for it if we weren't thinking about moving. Plus, I'm a little worried about wallpaper behind a sink. Dirty disaster in the making?

Last but not least, I like EW's Teepee print, but in the orange colorway:

In my fantasy dream house, I have a teeny tiny powder room, and this is how it rolls, with big gold lights, simple teak cabinets, and white countertops. Delicious.  Nevermind that hanging foil wallpaper would be hard as hell. It's my fantasy.

Anyone out there have a fancy, favorite pattern? I know I should stop with the wallpaper, but I. just. can't. Feed my addiction, pretty please?

Good Stuff

It's still feeling a little dreary around here -- outside it's dark, cold and rainy, Ike got four shots this morning, and an earthquake just swallowed up 50,000 people in Haiti. Yeah, that last one is a doozy. I'd say we're all due for something pretty and colorful, yes?

These gorgeous light sculptures by Paula Arntzen are handcrafted of paper which was screenprinted with fluorescent ink. They're so festive, I'm inspired to throw an impromptu dance party for me and the Ikesaurus. I think I'm going to switch on the Christmas lights (yes... they're still up), crank NWA up to 11, and get jiggy with it. Ike loooooves gangsta rap -- it's going to be awesome.

For more eye candy, be sure to check out Paula's website.

And if you're feeling some extra love, head over here for ways to help send relief to Haiti.

Wishing you all a bright and happy weekend!

I Think They Got The Alias That You've Been Livin Under

Whatup Whatup home-trons?! Happy Thursday to all and welcome back to partial health me!  Thanks for the link-love during the deepest, darkest moments of my illness last Tuesday, it certainly helped to propel me back into the land of the living.  I'm still a little medicine-heady, which will become evident as this post unfolds but, hey, I'm here and I'm ready to get down to business. In addition to battling the dumbest flu ever, I've been working with Matty Pants to welcome the newest addition to our rapidly growing herd family

Welcome Gloria Yikes!  Weighing in at 6 whole pounds, this little kitten was found by Matt last week on a job site starving and looking for a couple of suckers to take her in love.  We immediatly took her to the vet, had her checked for every kitty disease under the sun and got her lady parts fixed.  Once she got a clean bill of health she was brought into the fam and is now living, er, tolerating, her new brother and sisters, Magnus, Laser and Rowdy.

Because this is a legitimate design blog and I don't want to lose my street cred, here are some pictures that I* found that seem slightly relevant to my new kitty post.

*It should be noted that when I emailed Erin asking her if she knew of any good cat related design material to include in today's post she sent me this very same link.  Crazytown!

Artist Michael Tiger has created his Are You Tiger series to draw attention to the White Tiger, which is in danger of extinction.  (you can join is facebook tiger group here).  You know I became a fan of that nonsense with a quickness because I'm pretty much a sucker for any sort of animal in people clothing (see the zebra in the upper left corner).  Here are more pieces from his homespun ad campaign:

Gloria Yikes was quite excited to have a post written in her honor today, when she saw these pictures she insisted, via sweet little kitten meows, that I make her a personalized Are You Tiger series.  Since she was on the brink of extinction only a few days ago, I figured it was in keeping with the spirit of the ads and said:  yes, Ms. Yikes, I WILL make you your own portrait series via the magic of photoshop.

Gloria Yikes as Conan the Barbarian

G.Y. as Lady Gaga

Are you starting to see the pseudoephedrine cloud I'm living under?

And, because I'm a democratic cat mommy, here are all my cat babies as the Three Amigos.  They're pretty much living the dream right here.

In other news, my bestest friend from college, Sarah, and her husband, Andy (Anders to those that read our comments) are coming into town from Albuquerque tonight!  Hooray!!!  Perhaps I should have photoshopped their heads on something too?  Well, there's always next week.