Recently, I stumbled upon Naiise (on which I ended up spending quite some time scrolling through) and I wanted to share it with you guys! Naiise is a local site that curates well-designed products from all over the world and makes them accessible to us here in Singapore. But of course, it doesn't forget to showcase our local designers! Here are a few that caught my eye:
The Paper Bunny offers beautifully designed stationery goods and even custom design services for event stationery. I was telling my friend that they are like a local version of one of my favourites, Rifle Paper Co. Lovely indeed. Can someone let them know that I would like to work for them? X)
Letterpress, to me, always adds that special detail to stationery. The Fingersmith Letterpress, started by Lasalle Design Comm graduate, Jackie, features letterpress prints, cards, and for the Chinese New Year, red packets. If I could, I would like to spend a day in her absolutely lovely studio with her dog, and watch the letterpress machines work.
I love designers who integrate local culture with modern design, and FARM does it just right by bringing their products and the products of other local designers together. Products include those from their own FARMSTORE, The Little Drömstore, Wheniwasfour, and many others! Check them out!
If you see something you like, you can sign up here (I'll get credit too if you use this link!) and get a $5 credit code (to be used in 3 months)! I've already got my eye on some, and I'm excited for more local and global designers and products to come on board!
Eunice
Hey! The past two weeks, after my exams were over, had been a pretty busy time for me, with being sick and preparing for my church's youth camp, so I had to make the tough choice to let the blog be instead of posting all the wonderful things I had initially planned to. But I'm back! Its only about a week to 2014 and boy is that scary fast.
I have quite the obsession with organization and documentation, which explains my love for schedulers and to-do lists. The source of this obsession may or may not have to do with the fact that I have a terrible memory, so terrible that I have a tough time recalling what I did on my 16th birthday, therefore I have this desire to document everything so that I can look back on all the little things that may have most likely been forgotten. One of my favourite past journals to read through is a quote book in which I wrote down quotes of all the nice and funny things my friends said everyday, and it still warms me up inside today. Maybe I should pick up that habit of taking note of those again.
When new year comes around, one of my favourite things to do is being able to bust out a fresh new scheduler and decide how I want to document things in the new year. I've been using the same system (simple noting of events) for about two years now, but I might want to re-try a quote journal or a thankful journal next year.
As you can expect, I am always, always on the look out for new schedulers that fit my needs (preferably monthly view with spacious boxes). But recently, my sister returned from Korea with quite the number of Artbox schedulers that can last me for at least the next five years, so I am pretty much on a scheduler ban right now. But what about you? Have you found a calendar/scheduler for 2014? Here are some I've been ogling at online that you can consider!
kikki.K has always delivered with it's diaries. Like this one. Or this one.
I am loving The Local Calendar, by Singapore-based online store italicandbold, which was designed by the designer behind X spots the mark.
I love Artbox schedulers and I love this super simple one that I have. But I do not love the local price. If you happen to be in Korea, you can get it at slightly more than 50% cheaper, I kid you not.
You know how much I love handlettering. This calendar features the work of many handletterers and illustrators and is so pretty I could stare at it all year.
MochiThings has quite the number of schedulers and planners to choose from. If you're looking for one that includes extensive coverage of year to month to week to day, this one might suit you!
Typo has its own collection of 2014 calendars and diaries you can take a look at.
With only 8 more days till 2014, I hope you find one that suits you! :) Eunice
So initially, this post was scheduled to go up in the middle of next week, but for reasons you will find out in just a bit, I just had to share it with you now!
Here I have rounded up 5 fun products you can make that will breathe new life into your Instagram photos, and I'm pretty sure you have tons of those. Definitely, these are not new products and have been in the market for quite some time, but I thought it would be fun to round them up in case you have not come across some of them!
1. Projecteo
This is the one I am insanely excited about. Remember the super rad View-Master Mo had gotten me earlier this year? You liked it? Well, you might like this too! Projecteo is a miniature slide projector for your Instagram shots. You get to pick 9 Instagram photos that are inserted into a teeny tiny black wheel, which goes into this incredibly tiny projector. All you need is a dark room, and you can project your images up on the walls. Honestly, you need to go to their website and check it out yourself.
A Projecteo unit and one wheel of photos will cost you USD$34.98 with free worldwide shipping, and you can order additional wheels at USD$8.99. But because Black Friday sales are upon us, you can now use the code "PRESENTEO" to get a Projecteo and TWO wheels for USD$34.98! You can check out this and other discount codes on their Facebook page. Also, if you intend to ship this in for (a lucky) someone this christmas, you might want to get your order in latest by 2nd December! Now you get why I had to post this earlier! Next week would have been too late.
2. Printstagram Tinybook
Who cares about regular sized photobooks? I don't know what is with me and miniature stuff today but can you fault me for falling in love with these? Printstagram produces tons of products but this one is my favourite. Each Tinybook holds 24 pictures, and they are sold in sets of 3 for USD$10. So you can either pick 3 copies of the same 24 photos or 72 different photos spread across 3 books. I really do love these. Can you imagine a miniature library of Tinybooks filled with your photos? Who wouldn't want to flip through these?
3. Origrami
I have seen a few friends posting about their Origrami prints and I'm just sitting there drooling over them. Sure there are tons of companies now that you can use to print your Instagram shots (even in Singapore), but Origrami (Sydney-based) has an x-factor, and with free shipping.
With Origrami, your prints come with information about the photo on its back, such as your account name, date you posted the photo, and the number of likes you photo has received. There will either be a colourful graphic, chosen from design themes, or a photo map of where your photo was taken, if you're into the whole geo-tagging thing. The prints are also packed in this cute little kraft box. These are like the epitome of prints, UNLESS, you are printing them out to stick it down permanently somewhere, then I would say, don't waste your money and just get them printed at local printing shops.
4. Casetagram
Your favourite photos wrapped around your phone? That gets a yes from me. Though probably not faces of family and friends. If my phone gets stolen I don't want a stranger knowing all the faces of the people I love. Casetagram allows you to customise your phone cover with either your Facebook or Instagram photos. They have tons of layouts you can choose from that allow different numbers and sizes of photos. And to make it even easier, you can design your own through their Casetagram app on your smart phone! It is kind of pricy though, at $34.95 for an iPhone4 case. I would very much rather pay the same price for the Projecteo mentioned above. But I thought I would just throw this option out there.
Edit: 2nd Decemeber only, use CYBER25 to get 25% off all orders site-wide!
5. Printstagram Mini Stickers
The first line on their webpage says: "You'd be surprised how much fun it is to have your Instagram photos on little stickers." Um, no I won't be, because I already imagine it to be pretty awesome. They kind of remind me of those small rectangular sticker neoprints we used to take when we were kids. Printstagram's Mini Stickers come in a little book, with 126 stickers in it. They sell it in sets of 2 books for USD$10, so thats 252 stickers in total. I am already thinking of how fun it would be to run around sticking Instagrams of friends on those friends. Or to use the stickers to seal envelopes. So many options!
So that's it for my list of 5 products you can make to display your Instagram shots in a whole new way. I hope something caught your eye, and if you're planning to get any of these as christmas gifts, order them early! Especially for the Projecteo. Black Friday sales are upon us this Friday so you can wait to see if there will be discounts offered for the other products!
Eunice
Can I just take a moment to gush about The Little Dröm Store?
I have stepped into their store at Ann Siang Hill once, and really love all the retro knick knacks they stock there. But what I didn't know was that the owners are designers and they have designed series after series of in house products, and they are all about celebrating the essence of Singapore. I was on their website the other night, and I fell in love. I love how looking at their products make me smile and feel proud to be Singaporean.
Although I didn't know it was designed by them, I have come across one of their projects in other stores, called The Playground Series. If you haven't seen them, they are a series of pins inspired by iconic old school mosaic playgrounds in Singapore. What a fantastic tribute to the old sandpit playgrounds! They even did an interview with the designer of these playgrounds!
But here are some of their other projects that I just learned about!
Disclaimer: All product photos are from The Little Dröme Store's website.
These brooches are from their latest series (and also last series of 2013): Ride of Our Lives. Featuring old school kiddy rides that we used to sit on when we were kids. This made me think of one more ride that I really liked. The one where you sit in a seat and it moves round like a ferris wheel? That was my favourite.
Aren't these super cute? I love half boiled eggs so these naturally caught my eye. These are from their Chope! project which showcases Singapore's Kopitiam culture. You should check out the two cute videos on their project page that introduce the nicknames of popular kopitiam drinks, some of which I didn't know! Only the Michael Jackson. I think almost everybody understands that one.
These Teh Da Bao and Kopi Da Bao brooches from the same series are so adorable too.
These funny glasses are from their Sounds of Singapore series about words that we Singaporeans have adapted for use alongside our everyday english. This would make the perfect gift for that one person you know who uses these phrases often! It is sure to make them laugh!
These tote bags are my favourite because they reminded me of the good years I had in primary school. This is from the series I Don't Friend You, which really made me laugh when I came across it. They compiled all the strange but memorable game tunes of hand games that we used to play and childish lingo that we used when we were kids into a book, and also had them printed on glasses and tote bags. How clever! This would make a pretty sweet gift for that friend you've known and played these games with since you were a kid.
Have you fallen in love with them yet? Well, The Little Dröme Store also has its own accessories label called Hug A Porcupine with super adorable origami style brooches that I'm sure you would love.
Seriously all their in-house designed products are so creative, I just want to ask 'will you let me work with you and be inspired by you?'. I wish I had that creative energy in me. Check them out!
Eunice
Pop-up books have always been my favourite. When I was younger, I was fascinated by the way the images popped out of the page, but now, I'm way more fascinated with how the pop-ups are constructed. I've been looking over the only pop-up book I can get my hands on: DC Super Heroes The Ultimate Pop-Up Book by Matthew Reinhart (which was actually a present to Mo, but is currently spending time on my desk), but its really not easy to figure out how its done.
Here are seven other pop-up books that are sitting on my dream bookshelf in my head. They are designed by incredibly inspiring paper engineers Matthew Reinhart, Robert Sabuda and Bruce Foster. I find it hard to get them in Singapore though, and even when I do find one, its usually super expensive. One day. Maybe one day, these books will be in my hands. But for now, we can drool over these page by page videos of each book! I'm still reeling from going 'omg' 'WHAT' 'shit' and basically gaping at my screen as I watched them (especially the transformers one!).
1. Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy 2. Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe 3. Peter Pan: A Classic Collectible Pop-Up 4. Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book 5. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 6. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-Up 7. Jungle Book: A Pop-Up Adventure
On a side note, I finally made it to my 100th post! Yay~
Eunice
