summertime...

the summer months are upon us and ac and i in va this week to visit my family for some much needed r&r. we'll be back on sunday so i'll see you on monday with regular posting, new sneak peeks, a new column announcement and some in-depth coverage on some of the designers we met during icff. have a great week!

so, about surtex...

this year my goal was to cover all three shows- every single row and every last booth. and of course, despite best laid plans it took me way longer to get the stationery show and icff done than i'd hoped. because of that i wasn't able to do as much of surtex as i would have liked. i was able to walk the entire ground floor (sadly i didn't find anything i liked down there) and a half of the first room upstairs (and run by the scad booth and julia rothman's booth the first day) but i sadly had to miss lisa dejohn (i'm so sorry, lisa!) and many others. if anyone visited the show and wants to share their coverage i'm more than happy to share it here but sadly i'll only be able to post work from a few people today. the good news? julia's new patterns are stunning. next year i'll make sure i plan to attend saturday, sunday, monday and tuesday so i can catch the full collection of surtex designers, rather than sat-monday. my apologies to anyone i missed at surtex.

the savannah college of art and design had a booth at surtex this year so i ran by to see if i could catch any of the teachers or students i visited the week before. luckily i was able to catch a few of them and even get some advice on those curtains i loved (and i met the girl who made them!). these embroidered pieces above were made by some very talented scad students- i love their fibers dept- so many talented students.

it goes without saying that i'm always psyched to see julia rothman's new patterns. her work really inspires me these days and i was stunned to see how many new designs she had. this is only about half of them. she's one prolific artist- and a seriously talented one at that.

icff 2007: part three

alright- we made it! the last day of icff coverage. it was a fantastic three days covering everything and running from place to place trying to catch it all. though the show wasn't the best i've ever seen, it was great to see everything in one place and meet some of the designers i've admired this year. so, without further ado: the last day! ["co-pilot" boat-inspired stools by kandice levero. each one has a working compass so you know which way you're faceing when you swivel]

i've written about this piece by charlotte lancelot before but it was great to see it in person this time. sooo much texture, i love it!

ceramics from paige russel- she was definitely one of the standouts at this year's show.

these little ceramic cup and saucer sets had a light that changed colors inside. a little novelty but still pretty cute. part of the designboom mart (which kicked major, major butt this year)

amy adams' cute new frida lamps. i love the handle for easy transport.

fun little hook/cup/tiles at the designboom mart.

MET chandelier- part of the pure austrian design booth.

more beautiful ceramics from paige russell's studio.

this wooden bench had just the right amount of detailing. [designer info coming soon]

one of the highlights of design season was meeting denyse schmidt in person- she's as sweet and lovely as her work. i loved the linens hanging behind her in the photo.

i loved this metallic bicycle-print wallpaper from flavor paper. they're always right on top of the wallpaper game...

this was the first chair i saw at the show- it wouldn't exactly match my home's look but darn was this thing cool. and of course, it was so cool i lost my notes on it. will find asap.

boca grande's storage unit was one of my early favorites- it's finished with auto paint, which gave the piece a nice high gloss.

peter loh showed a seriously beautiful glass table made with legs of reclaimed douglas fir.

lisa albin's cute children's chairs in a new walnut finish.

door hooks and small side table from viable.

i loved these bright pink flor tiles from interface's commercial division.

lush, rich new rugs from emma gardner. i love the way emma plays with colors that are both super saturated and wonderfully muted.

cup and saucer with metallic detailing from areaware.

this rug really had to be seen to be appreciated. my camera can't do it justice. warp and weft's pink carpet was one of my lust-after items this season.

wiggly, borderline alien-like lighting from vitra. very cool but about two steps away from giving me the creeps.

i covered these at milan but i had to show them again- tom dixon's stunning metallic lamps.

i loved these glass tiles from brooklyn glassworks. sorry, my camera really crapped out on this shot.

niche modern showed some great new styles at icff- i love the little pointed-bottom lamps.

adorable cuckoo clocks from progetti italy.

more pieces from the amaridian booth at icff. these rockers and chaise were designed by south african designers- i loved all the vivid red they used.

the cut-outs in tony meredith's slashBackslash chair gave it such a nice, airy feeling.

fun textured lighting from norman copenhagen.

i loved these colorful ceramic tiles from modcraft.

a lovely throwback to days of yore. this lamp was made from an old-school hoover vaccuum cleaner. kitschy, but fun. [artist info coming asap]

icff really was all about babies and kids this year- this convertible crib from industREAL design flips and turns into a chair when your baby is old enough to leave the crib behind.

i loved this simple but sleek seating from ana linares.

lamps and bowls from pure austrian design.

this luxurious wooden table from eros reminded me of golf tees- in a nice way, of course.

all of celery's furniture came with a bamboo mallet for easy construction and disassembly.

snap together glasses from angela at inv/alt design.

cup and saucer clock from umbra.

it was so nice to meet caitlin of rebound designs...