Canadian Emblem Vases By Katharine Morley

Miss your native Canada? Or want something to remember The Great White North by? Then consider these sweet Emblem Vases by Canadian artist and designer Katharine Morley.



Each of the porcelain vases features a hand drawn icon- be it flora or fauna- reminiscent of a province or place in Canada;
Pink Lady’s Slipper - PEI
Common Loon - Ontario
Great Horned Owl -Alberta
Inukshuk - Nunavut
Fleur De Lis -Quebec
Woodland Caribou -Newfoundland & Labrador
Spirit Bear -British Columbia
Red Spruce -Nova Scotia



Photos by Noa Bronstein

Title: Canadian Emblem Vases
Material: Hand drawn on porcelain, glaze
Dimensions: Approximately 7″ tall by 2.5″ diameter
Available: The Design Exchange Shop
Price: $50

Katharine Morley

A New "Old" Set Of Wheels By Harry Allen For Areaware. The Pick-Up.

above photo by Mark Rabiner for The New York Times

Designer Harry Allen loves trucks. His immaculately restored 1964 Willys Jeep was recently featured in the New York Times, but it was his fond memories of playing in the dirt that lead him to the idea of "Pickup". The beauty of any pickup truck is its utilitarian aesthetic - four strong wheels and the capacity to haul cargo and Harry turned that aesthetic into functional art as his latest piece for AREAWARE.

Below is Harry Allen at his Pound Ridge home with his restored Willys and his basset hounds, Ben and Emma:

above photo by Mark Rabiner for The New York Times

Harry had function on his mind as he cast a toy pick-up truck and turned it into a catch-all bowl. As with all REALITY products, it is the material transformation that completes the idea. The cool-looking "Pickup" is an objet d'art that can serve as a bowl for keys, coins or even a planter for small succulents.



The Pickup by Harry Allen is now available in chrome ($150) or white ($85). Blue chrome ($180), gold ($150) and orange ($85) are available for pre-order. Made of resin and marble, measuring 5 x 12 x 6 inches. Buy them here.

Mann Made: Bowls For Driade By Mann Singh

Mann Singh's silvered brass baskets designed for Driade incorporate nature-like elements of twigs, petals and open foliage shaped into vessels and containers. They combine inorganic materials with organic shapes to give off a kind of spiritual and mystical feeling. All this from a bowl. Cool, huh?

Here's the Shalemar collection:


Above: Chitai and Chitai II

Above: Kachnar I

Above: Kachnar II

Above: Kachnar III

Above: Muqarna

Above: Muqarna, top view

Above: Shamadan

Five Fun New Finds To Hip Up Your Home

Five fun new finds!

From top:

1. Anna Carin Dahl's Deer vases. Ceramic, 6" tall by 2.5" in diameter. Orange, Pink or Green with colored interior glaze.

2. Chris Collicott's Toy Soldier candleholder. Heavy enough to be a bookend too! Size: 9"h x7"w

3. Pig Cooking Lid by Marna, Inc. Made of soft silicone with a pig face in the center, this multipurpose lid can be placed directly over ingredients in a pot to help them cook evenly, releasing steam through the pig's snout. It can also be used to cover food in the microwave, and as a grip to open lids. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Size: 1h x 7"diam.

4. Crystal Cloud by Yumiko Yoshimoto, 1979
Water in this cloud-shaped glass sculpture creates repeating natural phenomena such as forming water drops, becoming cloudy based on temperature, and shining when the water sways. Created by glass sculptor Yumiko Yoshimoto, each Crystal Cloud is mouth blown and shaped by hand. Made of borosilicate glass filled with distilled water and a polished chromium-plated brass stand. Hand-wash only. Size: 2.75h x 3l x 1.5"diam.

5. The Matwalk has slippers integrated into the bath mat so you can wipe up the wet floor with ease. Designed by Paolo Ulian for Droog.

Buy any of the above items by clicking on their picture to be taken to a link to purchase.

See more cool things to buy on my If It's Hip,It's Here. list. Art, accessories, appliances. A list of items that celebrate design, functionality and art. Items to appreciate and admire.

Vitamins For Your Home

Vitamin Living designs some terrific new products.

You're probably familiar with their 'urban gnomes'(immediately below),
but did you know that Vitamin makes many other cool products as well?


Above: Vitamin's hip china urban gnomes, also available through their site.

Shown Above:
Tab A (a vase and ashtray in one), Tab B (a planter and ashtray in one) and two their new salt and pepper shaker designs are shown above. "Hoody" where the salt and pepper come through etched butterflies in stainless steel tops and Pebbles, where the salt and pepper come through the etched designs.

Above: The E-light. Lights that subtly interact to movement sound and the arrival of emails.



Above: their Hex lampshades and dinnerware collections.
See more about Vitamin and shop their online store by going here.

It's White. It's Wood. It's Wonderful.

It's also long been known loosely as 'faux bois'. Belleek (the irish porcelain maker) had a series of glazed white tree trunk vases long before Roost was ever in business. But that doesn't stop these simulated trees, branches, bark and wood grain items from being in every hip tabletop and accessory store out there.


above: The Ted Muehling designed Bark vase for Nymphenburg Porcelain

The blending of inorganic materials into organic shapes is one of my favorite art forms.

Roost is company that has a log and driftwood collection (they have birds and leaves and mushrooms too) made of white porcelain.

And Nymphenburg Porcelain of Germany has Ted Muehling designed branch vases and candlesticks in white. Both are stunning and are available in different prices and sizes from the stores below.

As well as some other lesser known, but equally as beautiful, products.

From Jayson Home and Garden:



Click here to order

From Rose and Radish:

Nymphenburg's porcelain vase by Ted Meuhling available here.

Or Ted Muehling's Branch Vase with Moss, available at Moss, online for $845.00 USD:




And Roost makes a series of log vases and accessories:

Available by clicking here

And the Curiosity Shoppe seems to have the same log vase in size medium (Jayson carries the large and small):

Only 40.00 here.

And lovely white branch candlesticks by Ted Meuhling available at ER Butler:

Buy them here.

Porcelain driftwood votive from Sprout Home:

Only $15.75 here.

And Greener Grass Design also carries the driftwood vase and votive, but a bowl too!:

buy them here.

The Burls collection of subtle wood grain relief platters and dishes in Oyster are beautiful too!:



Buy them here.

Also commonly referred to as Faux Bois, this tableware is from Room Service:

buy it here.

And this faux bois bowl is on sale right now at Gumps for $34:

...and these faux bois votives are on sale for 19$ for the set of three:

buy them here.

And Ty Travis of Stonewater Studios on etsy has some faux bois products as well:


And lastly, more subtle, but still beautiful are Coe and Waito's Bark vases:

Buy them here.