Leather Engraved Brooks Saddle Bicycle Seats By Kara Ginther

Talented leather artisan Kara Ginther creates beautifully carved Brooks saddles. The intricately engraved bicycle seats are created in various colors, styles and types of leather.

She turns a 'blank slate' into a unique and functional piece of art, embellishing it with imagery that encompasses everything from western, nautical and nordic styles to floral, graphic and patterned ones:


Kara Ginther engraved leather Brooks Saddle Seats:

Nautical 2 (private commission):

Limited edition of 20 for London's Tweed Run:

Plaidle:

Fair Isle:

Artifact and Herringbone for a tandem bike:


Artifact 2:

Herringbone:

Damask:

Thistle (private commmission):

A paisley inspired design for Ahren of Banjo Cycles:

for Black Sheep:

For Sundance:

For Topanga Creek Bicycles:

Kara at work in her studio:


Kara Ginther also carves boots, luggage and more. Visit her site for more information.

all images courtesy of the artist

One Darn Cool Pool. Swimming At The Casa Devoto (Devoto House) In Argentina.

Andres Remy Architects designed this private residence for a couple with two children in Devoto, Argentina. The home, situated on an 18 x 24 meter lot, is a modern, luxurious home with an open floor plan, most of which has angles which allow one to view the unusual above ground pool.

A Lip Balm That Makes You Lose Weight? That's What Burner Balm Says.

above image courtesy of gettyimages.com



A Fat Burning Lip Balm? Are you kidding? Give me a case!


above image courtesy of gettyimages.com

It's got hideous packaging, cheesy ads and a super ugly website. But if this product does what the company claims, it's a winner.



According to the company, "Burner Balm is the only lip balm on the market which infuses Green Tea, Hoodia Gordonii Extracts, Chromium Picolinate and Caffeine - all well known in dietary supplements." They claim that Burner Balm’s effectiveness is twofold.

First, the ingredients are absorbed into the blood stream through the many blood vessels located in the mucus membrane in a person’s lips. Secondly, as with any lip balm or lipstick, a person will continually lick their lips and swallow while the product in on their lips. Thus, the Burner Balm ingredients are absorbed faster, steadier and more efficiently into the bloodstream than ingesting pills, powder supplements or drinks. By using Burner Balm along side of a healthy diet and exercise regimen, you should be able to achieve and maintain your desired results.



Below is a press release that suggests the latest clinical trials support their claim:

LOS ANGELES, July 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Shore Holdings, Inc., today announced the release of the highly anticipated clinical trial results for Burner Balm lip balm. According to lead clinical investigator, Dr. David E. Toomey, who has orchestrated a multitude of clinical trials for some of the top pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United States, "Over a twelve week period, 120 study participants who were overweight participated in the study. The Burner Balm group lost an average of 7 to 9 pounds versus the placebo group who lost an average of 1.43 to 1.64 pounds in the 12 week period. Many of the patients in the Burner Balm group commented that meal portions shrank considerably while using the product and most were able to cut out snacking all together."



"As the study came to an end, several participants in the Burner Balm group expressed a desire to continue the study due to their positive results. Nine participants from the Burner Balm group were selected to continue the study for a total of 12 additional weeks. Anecdotally their average weight loss over the 24 weeks was 21 to 28 pounds. The largest weight loss by one individual was 41 pounds over the 24 week period. This test subject was 5'5" and started the study weighing 186 pounds and completed the extended study weighing 145 pounds," states Dr. Toomey.



Over the last year or so, Pacific Shore Holdings, Inc. has been attending events and tradeshows around the country and has managed to create quite a name for its Burner Balm and Energy-X lip balm brands. During this time the company has also been filming doctors and patients as well as a wide variety of professional athletes like All Star, Los Angeles Dodger, right fielder, Andre Ethier, Professional Big Wave Surfer Bonga Perkins and other professionals in Martial Arts, Mountain Climbing, Motocross, Skateboarding, Wake Boarding and Sky Diving. According to the company the films are being produced and will feature the doctors, patients and athletes in a number of thirty second and one minute television commercial spots as the Burner Balm and Energy-X lip balm products arrive at retail.

The buzz at 2010 tradeshows around the country has Industry insiders predicting great success for the brands and thinks Pacific Shore Holdings, Inc. has managed to create a very unique niche for itself in the fast-growing market for cosmeceuticals.

"We are very pleased with the results of the clinical trials, and are committed to providing consumers with low cost, effective products that are friendly to our health and environment," states Matthew Mills, President and CEO of Pacific Shore Holdings, Inc.

Let's just hope that someone tells CEO Matthew Mills to hire a decent ad agency and design firm- if he doesn't see this himself.



Burner Balm®
6520 Platt Ave. Suite 636 West Hills, CA 91307
Phone: 818.885.9870
Fax: 818.885.9874



You can purchase Burner Balm® as a pack of five or as individual favors here

MADMEN Your Living Room! DWR & AMC Promote Season 4 With A Sweepstakes

If you're a fan of the AMC TV period drama about advertising, chances are you've already MADMEN-ed yourself. So, what to do next? How about a chance to MADMEN your living room?



In celebration of the much-anticipated fourth season of AMC's "Mad Men," the network and modern furniture store and company, Design Within Reach, announce a collaborative promotion to give one winner a chance to "Mad Men" his or her living room with a collection of new furniture that embodies mid-century modern aesthetics.


The Grand Prize is two pieces from DWR's exclusive Raleigh collection, the Skagen Coffee Table and Nesting Tables, and the Strata Rug, and the AJ Floor Lamp designed by Arne Jacobsen. (The winner may choose from in-stock fabrics and colors.)


colors and fabrics:


Four first place winners receive "Mad Men" Seasons 1, 2 and 3 on DVD.

Raleigh Armchair and Sofa:


Raleigh is a comfortable, modern collection that draws from mid-century Danish design. Wrapping around the back of this Armchair is a solid walnut frame that brings visual lightness and satisfying aesthetic tension to the design. The collection includes an 85" Sofa, Two-Seater 60" Sofa and Armchair, available in various colors.

Skagen coffee table and nesting tables:

Inspired by the mid-century designs of Arne Hovmand-Olsen, the walnut wood Skagen Table Collection (2009) includes this set of two Nesting Tables, as well as a Coffee Table.

AJ Floor Lamp:

Arne Jacobsen's AJ Floor Lamp (1960) echoes the oblique angles of his Series 3300 furniture, which included the Egg Chair and the Swan Chair. The heavy cast iron base of the lamp is a sloped wedge with a circular cutout that was originally designed to hold an ashtray and to maximize the lamp's functionality as a reading light, Jacobsen created a shade that tilts up or down, directing maximum light to where it's needed.

Strata Rug

The hand-knotted Strata rugs (2009) are handmade from wool using a technique that was inspired by a method for tying Tibetan knots. To create the structure of each knot, a stainless steel rod is temporarily placed along the width of the rug. The yarn is then wrapped around the rod, knotted and then wrapped again, with the process continuing for the entire length of the rug. The quarter-inch pile height won’t interfere with the opening and closing of most doors. The manufacturer is a member of Rugmark, the global nonprofit organization fighting to end child labor and improve educational opportunities for children in India, Pakistan and Nepal.
Available in various colors.



"Viewers of 'Mad Men' are already fans of the elegant, iconic furniture on the show, so a promotion with AMC was a natural for us," says DWR President and CEO John Edelman. "We are passionate about modern design, whether it's a contemporary take on mid-century lines, such as our Raleigh and Skagen collections, or original designs licensed by the manufacturer, like the AJ Floor Lamp by Arne Jacobsen, legendary creator of the Egg™ Chair."

Now through August 4, the "Get the Look of Mad Men" Sweepstakes is promoted in every Design Within Reach retail location, in more than 50 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Visit dwr.com/madmen to enter the sweepstakes and to view the complete Official Rules.


The season premiere is on Sunday, July 25 at 10pm EDT/CDT.