{ Ragimals }

Love these Ragimals by Shotopop! They were first made out of fabric, then photographed and re-illustrated. Go check out more of their awesome illustration work here and see their Movember poster featured here.

{ Favela Painting }

The artistic duo Jeroen Koolhaas & Dre Urhahn working under the title Haas & Hahn, has transformed favelas in Rio de Janeiro into works of art. The creative collaboration with local inhabitants has not only created new job opportunities and skill development, but has also seen the rise of optimism and pride within these favelas.

Haas & Hahn’s first art project titled “Boy with kite” involved the local youth of one of Rio’s favelas and depicted one of this community’s favourite pastimes.

Their second mural project “Rio Cruzeiro” took 8 months to complete and stretched an area of 2000m².

The project that Haas & Hahn are currently working on is called “O Morro” meaning “the hill”. This project is the realisation of a dream to complete the world’s largest community artwork, stretching a whole hillside favela in Rio. With the help of locals, phase one of the project saw the completion of 34 houses stretching 7000 m². For the completion of this project more funds need to be raised. Haas & Hahn have therefore created an opportunity for people to make donations and become official members of the “O Morrow” project. To read more about it, and see the development of the project, visit their website here.

Haas & Hahn’s work is absolutely remarkable. I find it so inspiring that the dream of two individuals can bring so much change to an entire community.

{ Luke Lamp Co. }

Awesomeness is guaranteed by lamp designer, Luke Kelly. His Etsy shop showcases a cool selection of industrial lighting ranging from hanging lamps to table lamps. He is also open to customised requests. Go check it out!

{ Nancy Straughan Textiles }

Nancy Straughan is a textile designer who lives and works in London. Her work displays a keen eye for detail, bold graphic prints created with a strong sense of texture and an organic colour palette. Inspired by motifs seen in Scandinavian and 1950’s textiles, Nancy’s designs are perfect not only for homeware fabrics, but also fashion and wallpaper.

Even though Nancy has only recently finished art school, she has already created such an amazing design collection and brand. She is definitely an artist we can expect big things from in the future. So keep your eyes open for her latest work featured on her blog and Etsy shop.

{ Land Art by Jim Denevan }

Jim Denevan is not only the founder of Outstanding in the Field, but also a Land Art genius! His monumental drawings in sand and snow are absolutely mind blowing. I am in awe, not only of the scale of his work, but the intricate beauty and complexity!

Jim Denevan has also completed the world’s largest artwork on the frozen surface of Lake Baikal, Siberia, as part of a documentary directed by Meredith Danluck. Visit the Anthropologist to read more about it. It’s epic!

{ Dinner Time }

I’m not always in the mood for cooking, I usually need something pretty to get me excited about it, like beautiful dinnerware and table setting, an interesting grocery store or even a cute apron! These sweet aprons from Anthropologie can definitely do the trick! What gets you excited about cooking? I’d love to hear!

{ Polli }

While in Australia over the holidays, my mother-in-law introduced me to Polli. I instantly loved their charming and quirky jewellery line. They have a delightful range of earrings, pendants, brooches and even cufflinks, produced in stainless steel, wood, thread and leather. I now have my very own pair of stainless steel earrings and I can tell you, I certainly feel pretty in Polli. Have you seen their jewellery before? I’d love to hear which is your favourite.

{ Clever Clockwork }

This must be the coolest clock I’ve ever seen! Designed by Christiaan Postma from the Netherlands, the clock tells time through artful evolution of lines which spell out the time from one through to twelve. These screen grabs can in no way do the clock justice, so visit Christiaan’s site to see the clock in action - it’s brilliant!

{ Hello 2012 }

We’re back from an awesome family vacation in Australia. Got to see Sydney for the first time, which was totally amazing, and had a super road trip all the way from Melbourne, through Sydney and Brisbane to Noosa. Now I’m ready for 2012 – Bring it on!

Photos by Design Loving