Meet Amy J. Rowan aka Art School Girl

Who is Amy J. Rowan? Well, she's the imaginative force behind Art School Girl.

I stumbled upon Amy's work while browsing an online card store and was immediately drawn to not only the charming indie look of her vintage-fabric-on-cardstock cards, but the fact that she took the odd tradition of adding "in bed" to one's chinese cookie fortune and turned them into actual cards (see below):



So, I 'googled' her and found her site, filled with objects of fun and whimsy.

Below are two examples of her hand-crafted one of a kind stationery on her self-proclaimed favorite brown cardstock:




You can order a sampler of her items (as shown below):



She makes everything from hand sewn bookmarks.....:



Journals and notebooks made with recyclables she's cleverly named reNEWed:




Taken from her own "about us" page:
Art School Girl's origins can be traced back to owner, Amy Rowan's days as a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was there that she constructed what would be the first of several stationery lines—a simple blank journal made from recycled books. Fueled by a passion for paper and a love for specialty printing processes, Art School Girl specializes in one-of-a-kind hand made paper goods. Expertly crafted from recycled materials and often sewn or printed by hand, each piece is artisan quality.

She even sells 'art, some creations of vintage imagery on old index cards:




See all her fun products here.

Meet Nik Ainley & his Screensavers, Prints & Digital Art

 

 Welcome to Shinybinary version 2.1, the online portfolio and design playground of Nik Ainley. 

 Who? 

Nik Ainley is a UK based designer who has a passion for producing personal art and illustrations. After teaching himself Photoshop in his spare time while gaining a degree in physics at Imperial College London, he has since moved full time into the design world. He is constantly trying to further his expertise in digital media, and won't stop until he has mastered all the tools he needs to fully realise his designs.

Exclusivity + Luxury = 20 Ltd.

Like Luxury?
Like Exclusivity?
Do the words 'Limited Edition' send you reaching for your credit card?
Do I have a site for you!

Launched the day before yesterday, online retailer 20ltd sells no more than 20 items at a time, each of which are highly exclusive and only available in small numbers. Goods currently on offer range from GBP 2,900 white buffalo horn sunglasses (edition of 10), to a GBP 9,000 hammock covered in cashmere and black fox fur (thankfully for black foxes, only 5 of those were made). All items are exclusive to 20ltd, and not sold anywhere else. As soon as a product is sold out, it's replaced by a new object of desire.


Above: The black fox fur and cashmere hammock, of which only 5 were made.

The British retailer is backed by private investment, and will operate solely online. Calling itself an "etailer of authentic, ingenious, beautiful and unexpected things," 20ltd hopes to reach a global audience, including rapidly growing luxury markets like Russia, China and the Middle East. The website is currently available in English, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. The underlying trend and opportunities for other entrepreneurs? As regular luxury goods become available to ever more consumers across the world, luxury manufacturers and retailers are turning to 'planned scarcity' to attract status-hungry buyers who desperately crave the exclusivity that money used to be able to buy. 20ltd combines planned scarcity with niche curation: the polar opposite of Amazon.com, which offers everything for everybody, 20ltd narrows it down to a limited selection of limited edition goods for a limited group of very affluent consumers.

Here are just a few of their 'to die for' items:

Above: one of only seven men's bridle leather briefcase with solid sterling silver handle by Bill Amberg

Above: Onono's Buffalo Horn spectacles in Macassar Ebony & Walnut Root Case; only 10 made

Above: The Hellcat Combat Motorcycle by Confederate of which only 20 were made

Above: Solange Azagury-Partridge's Mary Jane ring in 18k white gold with gemstones


Above: Pinel & Pinel's ebony and gold ring in leather trunk

So, the above items are just a few of their beautifully designed luxury items by some of the most respected designers and retailers in the world. It's not only fun to see what items they are offering, but it's a great introduction to some possibly otherwise unknown companies.

I only wish I had the moola to buy all 20!

enjoy. www.20ltd.com