A gift.

A few months ago I shared with you that my sweetie was heading off to Afghanistan for a job. We are right now enjoying his first R&R (rest & relaxation). That is why my blog has been been a bit sporadic lately.

Anyway, my birthday was 2 weeks ago and was amazing because I got to spend it with the most important and special person to me. On top of that he gave me !3! hand-made Afghan rugs! They are so beautiful! I took photos today but the colors look so washed out on the photos. You will have to use your imagination for now.

This one is 100% wool. The pattern is fantastic!

This one is my favorite-100%silk! The yellow really is that bright yellow!

This is the backside of the silk rug. I love looking at all the hand work.

This is made of 50% wool and 50% silk. The red is intense!

I love the rugs but more importantly, I love that they were picked out by my best friend especially for me. Still the best gift was when I heard a knock on the door and saw his face for the first time in 4 months.

chocolate + good design = Róysavölgyi Csokoládé

Two of my favorite things...chocolate and good design. When they are together you have Róysavölgyi Csokoládé (Rose Valley Chocolate). A cute and tasty chocolate shop in Budapest.
Steven and I have walked by this chocolate shop many times. We are always walking by on a Sunday evening when they are closed. We would look through the window and admire the shop. Well, Saturday we walked by and it was open and one of the owners Zsolt was working. I fortunately had my camera so I snapped a few photos, talked to Zsolt and ate some chocolate. What a treasure!!!

Zsolt greeted us with a smile and helped us pick out a few tastings.
Zsolt and his wife make all the chocolates themselves as well as design the packaging.
Talk about hand made!

Lets start with the chocolate...delicious interesting flavors that I would have never put together...Porcini mushroom chocolate? Green tea chocolate? Lavender chocolate? Spicy paprika chocolate? we are in Hungary you know We were intrigued. We actually tried all the above and I was surprised how much strong the flavors were and how well they went with the chocolate. The porcini mushroom gave the chocolate a natural earthy taste - absolutely delicious! The erős paprika or spicy paprika was great. Sweet and tasty with a little kick at the end. I think green tea was my favorite with a clean refreshing taste.

Now lets talk design. The packaging and the style of the shop draws you in. Black interior walls lets the packaging pop of the shelves. Not only was I impressed with the wonderful display, the unique packaging and the tasty chocolate but the molds used to make the chocolate. see below.

The chocolates were calling my name. So many interesting flavors!

The packing has a Japanese feel.We bought a couple different kinds of chocolate.

Once I got home I had to open and see what the design was inside.I LOVE this design. Look at the chocolate!So Hungarian, so beautiful!

Steven and I were so impressed with this shop that we will be taking all our visitors here. Everything about this shop is just right. I wish much success to Zsolt and his wife!

I recommend you swing by Róysavölgyi Csokoládé! It is unique, handmade, tasty and Hungarian.

Róysavölgyi Csokoládé
1053 Budapest, Királyi Pál u. 6.
www.rozsavolgyi.com

attention designers and color enthusiasts!

I started writing this to tell you about the "Let's Color Project" and then my colorful world started spinning and well....I ended up at Pantone's website and reading their newsletter called "Tones". Color everywhere! And I want you to be as excited as I am!

(My friend Josephine will laugh at this post since when we first became friends the only color I owned was black and I am writing to tell you to be excited about color. hehehe)

So, I got lost in blog land last night and I don't know how I finally arrived at the site but here it is. The coolest project I have scene in a long time! Let's Color Project. Instead of explaining what it is...watch the video and click on the site. I can think of a few places in Budapest that could use a little color...give me a paintbrush I am ready to help!!

Let's Color Project

What did you think??? What color would you paint your town?

Now onto Pantone. Did you know that they have a FREE color newsletter called TONES! Yes I said FREE! AND did you know you can download their Fall 2010 color palette directly into Adobe Illustrator! YES I said !!FREE!! and from Pantone!

While reading through TONES I came across a link to their fashion color report for Fall 2010. What a great resource.

And one last cool an article on The 25 Best Color Apps for iPhone. I just downloaded the free one from you guessed it, Pantone.

I am super excited about all the color - especially the "Let's Color Project". Color is so important! It really does make a difference. In the neighborhood where I live in Budapest, there are tons of large prefab concrete apartment buildings. I hate to say it but they are very ugly. Recently they have started painting them - lime green, red, blue. It is amazing how much better they look! I will take some photos and post soon. There is a lime green one down the street from me that makes me smile whenever I pass it. A coat of paint does a world of difference!

sometimes you just need to paint

Sometimes I just need a brush in my hand instead of a pen. Sisters Gulassa had a post a few weeks ago that I can't get it out of my head. It was a simple post but it has inspired me so much! I just must paint. Let go of the pen and computer and let my relaxed hand holding a paintbrush...paint.
Last year I was on a mission to find silk paints locally. I bought many different brands but the colors and technique did not compare with what I bought in the states. So, I have all these silk paints that I will never use. Well, today I found a purpose. They makes great paints on paper!
I primarily used only used black paint because I thought it would be easier to scan and manipulate in the computer. Who knows? Maybe these will turn into actual prints...or maybe just stay as reminders of a nice day of painting. Either way, I must thank Cyrille and Lise over at Sisters Gulassa for inspiring me to pick up a paintbrush!

gotta love it!

I want this!

photo from alaskan eyes

Hungarian Design Awards

The Hungarian Design Council celebrated the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian Design Awards with an award ceremony and a poster exhibition at the Iparművészeti Műzeum (Museum of Applied Arts).

The exhibit was really impressive. It was great to see so much great Hungarian design all under one roof-it was very inspiring!

Special Award from the State Secretary for the Culture
of the Ministry of Education and Culture
Designers: Maurer-Kimes Ákos, Kucsera Péter, Ivánka András Rudolf, Ivánka Katalin
(I love this design. It is simple and yet so beautiful and peaceful.)

Hungarian Design Award
Designers: Je Suis Belle, Dévénzi Dalma Alma, Kiss Tibor

Garment Designer: Vereczkey Szilvia
(This is a dear friend of mine-I love the way she makes the fabric!)

Sport Kayak
Designer: Szilasi Gábor
(This design is so clever! I want one!)

Porcelain Cups and Packaging
Designer: Ágotai György

Finnish Design: Reinterpreting Nature

Two weeks ago was Budapest Design Week. The Iparművészeti Műzeum (Museum of Applied Arts) had a Finnish design exhibit called "Reinterpreting Nature".

"The importance of dialogue with nature is an approach determinative of the entire Finnish design history. The exhibition organised with the participation of Design Forum Finland shows how designers are inspired by geological and biological formations and how they conceive the beauty of the ever changing environment in the language of objects. The 60 pieces of the exhibition are from some of the bests and examine the possible links between design and nature through technological achievements, as well as the application of traditional materials and processes."
-taken from www.designhet.hu

The exhibit was fantastic! Just see for yourself. I took some photos that can be seen below. Look at what they are made of!

Ritva Puotila
(Interior Textile) Woodnotes 2007
Knitted by hand from paper yarn and copper thread.

Janne Kyttänen
(Lamp) Freedom of Creation 2006
Close to nature form which echoes the leaves of a plant.

Soili Arha
(lampshade) linden, copper and iron wire

This is made of leaves!!!

Janna Syvänoja
(birch bark!) Sunrise, Sunset 2004
"Nature gave me the theme and material and
dyed it. This will also go back to nature."

Maria Jauhiainen: Body Jewelery 2009
Well...what do you think? Are you impressed?

thank you!

Thank you for your help! This worked out better than I expected. Based on the results from this blog and my facebook page I will be dropping the geo design C & E and coming up with something different. C & E received the less votes. Ironically, they are the same design in different colors. So, I think this means it is the design that is weak not the colors.

I am heading back to the drawing board to design something new.

For those interested, A had the most votes followed by B, F and G. So stay tuned. Once I finish the card line I will be asking for your help again!

A B

F G

PS. I am getting ready to visit friends in Brussels! I am very excited! I will have WIFI so hope to post some photos from there.

need your help...

I have been stuck. Stuck in a creative whirlpool. Swirling and changing my mind over and over. Designing and redesigning. Thinking too much! ...over-designing. I miss the constructive criticism, the feedback and the brainstorming I once had when working with other creatives in a company.

I have been designing a line of cards and notebooks. I found a printer and am going to have 50-100 of each design printed. I think this is what has thrown me into this rut. I have to commit to a design...and I have to pay for that commitment....what if I choose the wrong design? The wrong color? If I choose the wrong design, I am stuck with 50 of something that I won't be able to sell.

So, I ask you, yes you. Please help me! Please comment on what notebook designs you think I should sell. Which ones should I print? Should I change the colors? I need some feedback. I don't care if you are a designer or not. Everyone is a consumer...would you buy any of these?

I can print 4-5 designs.

A.B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

I think I will sell individually and in sets of two (except for the bird design...still working on another design to go with this.)

Please comment and choose your 4-5 favorite designs and send me any comments you have on how I can improve the designs.

PS. You should not need a Google account to comment. Just choose anonymous.

FANTAstic!

Sometimes you find cool designs in the strangest places. Steven saved this for me. He thought I would like the details in the label. He was right. Click on the image and it will open up so you can zoom in. The little bird, the tree made of oranges and lime and the "folk" like pieces that are part of the orange in the upper left hand corner. Very clever Fanta! I like it!

Hungarian Design and The New York Times

When I started this blog, my goal was to post once a week. However, there is so much going on that my posts are becoming more and more. I can not resist sharing a link to the New York Times article written yesterday about Design in Hungary!

Click here to read the article!