Halloween Cute!

These have to be the cutest ghosts I've ever seen and that
they happen to be earrings, well just how cute can you get.
You'll find lots of amazing lampwork at ehme glass studio.
Be sure to check out the cupcake rings and the gorgeous
beaded pens. enjoy, k

A Well Designed Halloween, Outdoors

I love Smith and Hawkins Halloween topiaries and
simple orange globe lights. How fun to set the
Halloween stage in such a natural and playful way.
Instead of the lights you could tie black and white or
orange and white polka dot or stripe bows around
the animals for a daytime look. I'm also loving
the glass pumpkin and squash candleholders.
Great color and a perfect fit for a natural Halloween
theme. How fun, enjoy, k

A Well Designed Halloween

Welcome to the first in what I hope will be many
"well designed " holiday series. I love any excuse
to decorate and Halloween is a favorite. I like
to mix it up with the simple, the unexpected and
once in awhile the extravagant. I'm going to start
this series with the extravagant, from a favorite
source called The Artful Home. Their online store
as well as their catalog are filled with gorgeous
handcrafted pieces from around the country. I love
the hand blown glass pumpkins by Michael Cohn
and Molly Stone so classic in shape yet unexpected
in color.The handmade beeswax candles by artist
Alice Hoffman are gorgeous and would be such a
subtle suggestion of Halloween for a more formal
or minimal look. And finally I have posted the
handcarved "halloween set" by artist Hilary Pfeifer
where each piece is a tiny work of art. Stay tuned for
lots more Halloween finds this week. My "treat" k

A "Glass" Act

I am absolutely blown away by these glass finials by uk co.
blowzone. I could just toss all of my generic versions into the
"basura" and completely start over with these gorgoeus works
of glass art. I love the nature theme and the edited simplicity,
and as a lampworker I understand the amazing effort that goes
into the production of these unique pieces. enjoy, k

Stay tuned for my first "A Well Designed Holiday" post series. I
will be devoting an entire week to my best pics for Halloween and
I have some awesome finds. Can't wait to share. k

The Winner

It's safe to say that I have been totally
obsessing over which card to choose for the
decor 8 competition. So many sleep deprived
hours later here is my thinking. I absolutely
feel that from a design "purist" point of view
card A is the right choice. And some of you
clearly felt the same . But the majority of you
chose Card B. Ultimately I decided to agree for
the simple but powerful reason that "color"
played such a dominant role in my workspace.
I just couldn't get over the one color theme in
the first card although I think the feel of the card
was right on. So today I will submit my entry and
we'll see. At the very least I've had a great time
with this contest. Right up my design/competitive
alley. k

Introducing K style Lampwork Beads

I want to thank everyone for their fantastic
input on my "contest dilemma". Will let you
know what I decide when I submit my entry
next week.

Thought it would be a good time to introduce
my lampwork beads and jewelry since you've
now seen my studio and a bit of what I'm up
to. So just scroll down and check out my new
flickr photostream of recent work. Just click
on an image and you can view the set. Thanks
so much. k

Decor 8 Contest, Heeelp!

"Decor 8" a large design blog with a huge readership has
teamed up with "Fabulous Stationery" a wonderful, hip
stationery co. with over 350 contemporary and funky designs.
Our task is to photograph our workspace and then choose the
ONE notecard from the stationery line that most "represents"
our space. So here's where I need your help. Both the daisy cards
pictured above are good choices but one has to be chosen as the
"it" card. Tell me what you think. Card A on the left or card B
on the right? Submissions have to made by next week.

By the way besides a blogger I am also a lampworker (torch glass
to create beads as pictured above). The picture is my corner in the
garage where I work. I decided to go retro with my theme
being "flower power".

So let me know what you think. I can't decide. Thanks in advance, k

Styling With Birds

As you know by now I have a thing for birds in
just about any medium. These wonderfully stylized
owls are yet another piece in the gorgeous line by
finnstyle. Just had to show you these before we
move on to some other things. Will be entering
decor 8's "work space" contest and need your
help so stay tuned. k

Hot Handbags Under $100

Everything about this bag is hip but the
fact that it is made from recycled car tire inner
tubes makes it a conversation piece as well.
Check out the rest of this amazing line
at finnstyle. I love the clean, contemporary
look of so many of their products. Will be
keeping track of this fun site. enjoy, k

I Love Whimsy & Candles

Wow, how creative are these amazing "all in one" candlesticks
recently launched as the first product in Australian company
Mozi's new design series? I can't wait to the see the rest. Take
some time to browse the rest of Mozi's wonderful product
line. I love the vivid, playful illustrations that can be seen on
everything from aprons, to coffee mugs and even piggy banks.
We lived on The Sunshine Coast in Queensland before moving
back to Ashland and I miss the fabulous contemporary
products which so dominated the boutique and retail scene.
enjoy, k

Good Design is Everywhere

Welcome to the wonderful world of Manfred Klein.
These creative and whimsical illustrations are also
known as dingbat fonts. That's right. Each picture is
actually a letter that you type on your keyboard.
Dingbats run the gamut from your basic arrows
and signs to elaborate designs such as you see above.
There are endless collections available as freeware,
shareware and charityware. Manfred Klein asks that
if any profit is made from the use of his fonts a
donation is made to Doctors Without Borders. His
amazing site at Fonteria Manfred Klein is a treasure
trove of extraordinary graphics. The first pair of graphics
"TracesofKindinsky" can be found here, and the second
group called "Kleinbirds" can be found here.Stay tuned
for more amazing dingbat fonts. I have a wonderful
collection to share. enjoy, k

The Art of the Cake Stand

One of my favorite ways to entertain is by surprising
my friends with unique one of a kind cake stands.
They always take center stage and always elicit a
conversation. More often then not I use them for
something other than dessert and hardly ever cakes.
I love the these gorgeous handcrafted pieces by artist
Whitney Smith. One whimsical and playful, the other
simple and elegant. Check out her site for all sorts of
fabulous unique pieces. She has also designed a line for
magenta-inc. Now if I can just figure out how to store
them. Any suggestions?

The Low End of the High End

I love the possiblity of owning a few pieces of kate spade. In
my dreams I buy the gorgeous bag on the right. But you know
I coud be really happy with the just as "kate spade" deck of
cards on the left. And what a fabulous gift for under $20. So
don't forget the low end of the high end. enjoy, k

Handcrafted Excellence

These gorgeous hand turned wine stoppers
are made by design professor Tom Gattis. Both
the students, faculty and staff of Savannah College
of Art and Design have collaborated to create Shopscad
an ecelectic gallery/retail space devoted to the wares
of this very creative group. You can also shop online for
more great handcrafted products . I love
the wine bottle corks. So well priced at$28.00 and
absolutely stunning. k

T R K Can you id?

Also picked up these monogram luggage tags at
the sidewalk sale. Paddington Station is so full of
great finds. With our bland, black and well
worn luggage these should help at the baggage
terminal and god knows we can use all the help
we can get these days. And yes K is for Karen
but what about R and T. Any guesses? k

For the Pottery Lover, Davis Studio

I am so attracted to the crisp, clean, elegant work of
Mary Anne Davis. If black and white is my favorite color
combination, green and white is a close second. Her online
gallery Davis Studio is brimming with other great pieces
many of them open to custom color combinations. Mary
Ann also has a deightful blog called Kiln Openning in which
we get to experience the fun and surprise of her latest batch
as it comes out of the kiln. Enjoy. k

Presentation is Everything

On my final day wandering the sidewalk sale in Ashland
I came across this darling display of lampwork earrings by
Out of the Flame lampwork artist Annette Trujillo.
Immediately thought of Holly over at Holly's Plate who
recently emailed me that "presentation is everything." I
couldn't agree more. k

Living in Ashland Cont'd

Yes, I did go back and here are a few more coin puse/gift
pouches in different colors. Stay tuned for more sidewalk
sale pics next week.k

Living in Ashland

Okay I have to admit that while walking the sidewalk
sale in Ashland today I ended up in several stores and
walked away with some awesome finds. My absolute favorite
is the "chinese shirt" coin purse/gift pouch in the first
photo. Its small, about 4 in. by 4 in. with a zipper on the bottom.
I'm definately going back to Paddington Station
tomorrow to pick up a few more in different colors to
keep on hand. At $4.95 ea. I can think of all sorts of fun
ways to use. Will definately be my "coin purse" of the
moment for friday maj with the "girls". We bet a quarter a game.
Also love the gift bag purse from Papyrus. So clean and elegant.
Enjoy, k

Saying Goodbye to Summer

I love these elegant fans from Tortoise an unusual
and serene boutique in Venice, Calif. The owners
Taku and Keiko Shinomoto have written a very
interesting and thoughtful "mission statement"
which is also their philosophy of life. The fans shown
above are called uchiwa - fans. They are seasonal
and I am posting them to say goodbye to the summer
sky blues and ocean images and will be moving on to
fall and of course Halloween which is right around the
corner. So stay tuned for lots of fun holiday posts coming
up on K style. I will be devoting a week to "my best design"
picks for most of the major 'decorating" holidays starting with
Halloween. k

For my Friend Pat

I love the products from this scottish online boutique called
papa stour. The owner Rosie Brown a former textile desginer
and stylist has edited her collection to perfection. Clean,
contemporary and natural seem to be the prevalent theme.
My friend Pat has the most gorgeous collection of earrings,
many of which are asymetrical. This post is dedicated to her.
enjoy Pat, k

Gift Bag Addiction

Robert insists that I have enough gift bags to last both
our lifetimes but then I respond that yes while true at
least my habit is cheap and made of paper. So you will see
evidence of my habit here on k style like these gorgoous bags
from designer Ayomi Yoshida which I picked up while
browsing Target yesterday. The line includes a large
group of mix and match pieces all with bold, clean graphics
and gorgeous shapes. The origami crane "bows' were a
knockout. k

For the Pottery Lover, Suzanne Crane

I received my artful home catalog the other day which
lead met to these gorgeous teapots by potter Suzanne
Crane. Her work is stunning and while on the expensive
side what a major focal point or inspiration for a room
any one of them woud make. While the tea pots are my
favorite she also includes many other pieces in her line
which you can view here. I love these. enjoy, k

Hot Handbags Under $100

We can all find fabulous designer purses that we love from a
myriad of upscale online shops to the obvious Saks, Neimen
Marcus and Bloomingdales. But it is my personal quest to
find that great bag with the basic elements of good design for
$100 or less. So to that end I decided to post another great
find from Swahili Imports. I saw these bags in person just
yesteray and they are wonderful. Even better they were were
priced at $48.00. What a great addition to your stash of "fun" bags.
This bag also came in black, green, blue and navy. I loved them
all. Will be posting in this category often. Enjoy. k