Covert Candy

I love the concept of this new site Covert Candy. The idea is you riffle through your wardrobe for things you no longer wear, photograph them and upload to the site. People then trade 'credits' for your items which you can use to 'buy' other things from the site. There's loads of things I've got my eye on already so I need to get uploading! They also sell hand-sourced vintage clothes through the site so you can buy direct if trading isn't your thing.

But does it float?

This site - butdoesitfloat.com - has been getting a lot of fffound love today. I'm not exactly sure what it is - visual dumping ground a la tumblr or the work of a graphic design collective? Either way it's pure eye candy and very inspiring.

Rob Ryan for Vynil

Spotted in Magma at the weekend - lovely Rob Ryan diecut wall sticker by company Vynil. Can't find much info online about them but I'll definitely be popping back into Magma to pick up one for my new flat - looks like you can buy online from Made in Design too.

Mike Monteiro

I tumbld the above image then decided it was too good not to blog as well. Mike Monteiro claims he 'isn't good with words' but his bold statement artworks are funny, witty and occasionally poignant. I particularly like the lyric ones (Pavement, above, and Madonna, below) which take on a certain deadpan quality when rendered in white-on-black Helvetica.



See more on Mike's Flickr and buy his works at The Beholder.

Fanfarlo - Harold T. WIlkins video

I love this music video, made by my friend-of-a-friend Per under the alias Stachemou (together with partner Klaas). It looks like vintage archive footage but 'Harold' is actually Per! The tune is pretty toe-tappingly great too.

Columbia Road

Went down to Columbia Road at the weekend. It's best known for the flower market, but also contains many cute boutique-y shops and yummy looking cafes.


Rob Ryan's shop was of course particularly lovely, full of his darling papercuts and screenprints.

I tried out my new camera a bit, most notably on this gorgeous kitty who was kindly posing on the top of a car.



More photos on my flickr.

Japan in 7 minutes

We're planning a 3-week mini-tour (Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka) of Japan later this year, so I loved seeing this video for inspiration of where to visit. The deer park in Osaka looks particularly lovely.


Japan from Eric Testroete on Vimeo.

You can see all of the photos on Flickr if the slideshow is too fast for you!

Thomas Forsyth - Drawing Top

I love the idea of this drawing top by freshly-graduated designer Thomas Forsyth. Simple, innovative and beautifully crafted. I imagine it'd be hours of fun creating random generative patterns in all sorts of colours. You can buy your own on his Etsy or Folksy shops.

via It's Nice That

Crayon Physics

How cool does this look - Crayon Physics is a sweet puzzle platform game where you draw objects onto the screen (especially effective with a touchscreen, as seen in the demo video) which are then converted into 2D objects with real physical properties to help you advance the levels.

Sadly the demo is currently PC only so I can't play - but if you're PC'ed up then go download the demo and let me know what it's like!

Folksy - craft in the news

UK craft site Folksy always runs fun competitions for its sellers, and the latest one is excellent. The theme was 'Craft as News' - entrants had to interpret a recent piece of news in a craft form. I especially love this witty sampler from seller Lupin.



Check out all the entries on the Folksy blog.

Benjamin Button

I'm so excited to see the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Pitt + Blanchett + Fincher (director of Fight Club) + an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, it really can't fail to be amazing.

The website is rather lovely too, with a timeline image gallery through the decades the film is set in.

The Great British Sandwich

Forget the overhyped yet ultimately disappointing Christmas card, I think all agencies should follow Mint Digital's lead and create a gloriously silly site to brighten up everyone's January. It comes in the form of The Great British Sandwich. Go on, add your favourite filling.

Papercutting

One of my resolutions, if you like, is to try some papercutting - I'm not sure I have the patience or steady hand for it but it's worth a try. So I'm very happy to have found this lovely new blog, All About Papercutting, which shows the author Elsa Mora's lovely work as well as tips on trying the technique yourself.

I mean, sigh, these pieces are just dreamy.



You can see more of Elsa's work on her Flickr.

via d*s

Alice Remixed

Alice in Wonderland is up there in my top 5 obsessions, so I love this cute video, made almost entirely from sound clips from the Disney film. The song gets a little repetitive but I like that the video's editing is sequential so you still get the story.



On the same subject, I received a blank cover copy of Alice in Wonderland for Christmas so I shall be decorating that soon.