inspirational photos of the day

An all new Fall 2012 longboard line was just introduced by BambooSK8.  The photo below includes 4 out of the 5 designs (including a new drop through shape).  Stock just came in, so better photos to come soon!! (or look at the website: www.bamboosk8.com for more photos and information!)

The Psychology of Creativity

CREATIVE SOMETHING - The psychology behind people believing they aren't creative. 

The psychology behind people believing they aren’t creative.

 This is a great article!  I'd recommend reading it if you struggle with creativity.  I know I do most days and I also know that it directly ties to my fear of failure.  It's always nice to know you're not alone in your fears and roadblocks. 

Spiderman is REAL!

Spiderman!!!!

This was the highlight of my finds today... (from Pinterest of course)!  But this one had a link that went to another blog, Brains on Fire where I got a little more info.  From that, I did a little research about this seriously awesome idea and found out that it isn't staged, this is Michael Hopkins' Evelina Children's Hospital in London, England!

I grew up very familiar with hospitals since my parents both work in hospitals, but I've always found them to be terribly depressing and ugly.   I loved this intro quote to an article about the Michael Hopkins' Evelina Children's Hospital

"Hospitals are the buildings that architecture forgot. They are quick-turnaround human repair shops, driven by targets set by politicians and accountants. Despite decades of firm evidence that a well-designed, agreeable hospital environment actually helps people to get better quicker, how many examples do you know like that? So it is good to find a new one that is streets ahead of the bog-standard product, yet costs the same. The £60m Evelina childrens' hospital in London, by architect Sir Michael Hopkins, actually manages to raise your spirits." Source

A photo from inside the main area of the hospital... definitely not average!

While the article I pulled these photos from (Here) was not all positive about the children's sections of this hospital; after looking at some of the photos, I can't help but think that even if it's not perfect, this is what hospitals should be like.   Forget the dirty pastels and bad wallpaper.  This hospital reminds me of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!!  Not once do i get the queezy sensation that a needle or an open backed hospital gown is lurking around the corner!

Plus, any place Spiderman hangs out is -- AWESOME!!

BALZANE

The other day, my wonderful wallet of 5 years decided to burst.  Needless to say it was a very, very sad day.  I loved it.  It was BRIGHT orange, easy to spot in my purse, had a place for everything I needed.  Best of all it was a Marshalls steal!  I think I got it for less than $15 dollars which was about $75% off of the original price... (I love great deals!)  Now, as a temporary fix I have been using a ziplock bag which is as ghetto as it sounds.  Today at lunch I went to get my credit card and the woman behind the counter looked at me like I had just escaped from jail.  Obviously I need to find something new, but Ross and Marshalls are not cutting it with their current inventory right now.  So... for inspiration on the remaining minutes of my lunch break today I went internet browsing.  I started off on Nordstrom.com which quickly lead me to Longchamp.com...  I have only gotten Longchamp bags in the past at small boutiques from my Europe travels where the have the common Le Pliage line and that is about it.

After browsing for a couple on the website though I knew I had to look no further.  FOUND IT!  My dream upgrade and matching purse.  Perfect style and color!  I know, I know... but a girl can dream!

WASH ME?

Temporary (and almost legal) graffiti art! 

This woman makes dirty cars beautiful with art instead of soap and water!  Genius!  How much lovelier this is than writing WASH ME on the side of someones dirty car... instead, leave behind something visually inspiring and creative.  Only downside is I'm not sure I'd want to wash my car if something like this was left on it!  (image from Pinterest... where else?!!)

For the Love of Leather

This Fall I am LOVING leather jackets.  I got an amazing one a couple years ago while I was living in Florence, but I think it's time to add a new style & color to the wardrobe since the first one was such a hit.  :)  These are a few I have stumbled upon on Pinterest (go figure..) and now HAVE TO HAVE!  Is it too early to give Santa my wishlist...?

If i were to get one I'd get a black one probably similar to this.  It's simple, but has that "motorcycle edge" to it.  I do like when the zippers show on the outside unlike this one.  But the neckline of this is fabulous.

Maybe one with a hood?  How practical!  And this looks like my hair most days... so glad to see it's in style ;)

Simply obsessed with the cut and style of this jacket.  Looks awesome unzipped as well as zipped, has that amazing neckline and practical zippers that add a little flair.  While i do really like this color, if i'm going to splurge i'm going for a black one... more my color!

I probably need a dress like this now to match ;)  Absolutely love leather and lace combo.  Perfect for fall!  Maybe Santa can make an early delivery this year...?

Inspiration

I ran across this on my Pinterest today.  I was pretty impressed.  Not only do I love figure drawings (not as creepy as it sounds once you've taken a class), but the way this artist utilizes the paper color is really inspiring.  I loved the amount of delicate detail, especially in the hands, and love love love the monochromatic color-scheme!  This makes me want to go take some more figure drawing classes... I am looking up local art programs now!!

by: Franco Fusari, Italia

However impressed I am by this piece, I was not as impressed at his other works.  Maybe this can be an attainable goal for me after all!! 

Free People September

I was just looking through the Free People catalog for September.  Someday I will have a job where Free People, Anthropologie, and Urban can all just be my closet.  Until then I will resort to pinning in my virtual closet!  Sigh...

Free People - September 2012

Beach Break Cafe

Beach Break Cafe is a local favorite to North County Residents.  I don't think there has been a time when I haven't had to wait at least a couple minutes for a table.  Don't let the wait discourage you from going, the food is well worth it!  My company, BambooBuddy, supplied most of Beach Break Cafe's Bamboo in their new restoration.  I would not call myself a photographer, but I think these photos are some of the best I have taken recently.  Beach Break loved them too! They even made one of them their profile image for their Facebook page!!

Beach Break Cafe

1802 South Coast Highway

Oceanside, CA

(760) 439-6355

follow on Facebook

Surf Expo 2012 - Florida

BambooSK8 was recent at Surf Expo out in Florida.  We were part of the iRideiRecycle *Green Zone* booth where a bunch of environmentally focused small companies like ours teamed up.  (Companies such as Odina, Eqo-Optics, Tribu, and more!)  My coworker just found us on this website  where we have a photo of our booth.  However, I continued looking through the photos and had to stop at this image below!

  PT with a Letty Nowak painting in his likeness from the “Faces Of Surfing” collection

photo: Dugan

 I am a total sucker for someone who can create a unique, yet realistic portrait and this woman seems to nail it! I asked my most knowledgeable friend, Google, about her and this is some of what I found:

• Born and raised in Michigan
• Attended Michigan State where she received her BFA
• Father gave her the artistic inspiration
• He was a sign painter, screen printer, and had a unique and funky style.
• He also owned surf shops throughout Southwest Michigan.
• Started painting faces when she had to choose just one thing to paint for a semester senior year
• Faces of Surfing
• Her series of portraits of the faces of famous surfing legends in North America, Europe, and Australia
• 100 oil on canvas portraits make up this series!
• SURF: "a lifestyle, freedom, a way of expressing yourself and enhancing life through nature"

Totally Inspiring! 

Sources:
surfcollectivenyc.com
lettynowak.com

BambooSK8 Fall 2012 Catalog

This is the newest flyer for BambooSK8.  We try to limit our print because we are an eco-focused company that is trying to avoid killing trees, so when we do we try and keep it within moderation.  Having a postcard sized piece of paper, it's not only convenient to hand out, but we have included QR links to the catalog that I created a couple months back as well as the website that is VERY SLOWLY but steadily being updated.
The new longboard line being introduced was part of the longboard contest we hosted through BambooSK8 a few months back.  The winner ended up being Dylan Fant, a graphic design/business major from Virginia Tech.  After working directly with him on a couple technical kinks we got the series to really stand apart and be something we are both really proud of!  I can't wait to see the boards in person and see how fast they start flying off the shelves! www.bamboosk8.com

Instagram Obsession

Since I have been away from blogging I have shifted my attention/extra time to two other internet interests -- INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST!  Feel free to check them out and follow!  I absolutely love how simple both these idea are and I am especially impressed by how quick and simple both of these programs are to use (and how popular they are because of it!)!!

Here are a couple sneak peaks of my extensive instagram collection.  I love repetition in architecture, anything beach, and documenting fun things I do and see!

Westmont: A Top Ranked School of 2013

It's been quite awhile since my last post, but I found this article today about Westmont and the other best liberal arts colleges of 2013.  Interesting article to glance though for sure!  (I need to find the graduate school version of this now!  Venture to the east coast maybe?)

To see Westmont click HERE

and to see the complete list click HERE