Photo by 3L Photography

Show me a person who loves billboards, and I’ll show you a shocked expression. Those towering advertisements, often an intrusion to urban skylines, are loathed by many for their disruption of a city’s otherwise beautiful horizon. Billboards are consistent news-makers; recently, motorists in Brooklyn, New York, escaped a billboard toppling onto a major highway while residents of São Paulo are enduring heated social debates sparked by the banning of the over-sized adverts in 2007. With some cities outlawing billboards and others struggling to redefine laws surrounding public advertising, designers and architects have taken to reimagining these structures.

In a housing design competition, Apostrophy, a Thai-based design studio, presented the billboard, repurposed as a living space. Since the structure would be made financially viable by the advertising on one of its sides, the dwelling is designed as a new kind of urban subsidized housing. Customized for up to three stories, the billboard house is mounted on a trailer base, making it instantly mobile. Though this idea might seem outlandish, in some ways, billboards are ideal for providing shelter. “They are incredibly strong to deal with wind loads,” explains Lloyd Alter of Treehugger. “They are usually tall in wide open spaces so that they can be seen from a great distance, but that means they also have great views; They are exposed to wind and sun, creating lots of energy generating opportunities.” Apostrophy realized the positive impact their project could have on the environment, installing solar panners on the roofs of the billboards.

Bre Gehrken

Apostrophy’s mock ups are beautiful, looking more like an a modern, furnished home than a billboard. The design studio gave careful consideration to small details — the iron lattice work decorating the façade even mimics a style found in conventional Thai houses. But Apostrophy isn’t the first to attempt a billboard revolution; rethinking the billboard is a common assignment in design and architecture schools. Students, enamored with their newfound skills, often get carried away with the fantastical structures they can create, tossing practicality out the window. I can attest to this experience; in one of my undergraduate design classes, I recall repurposing the billboard as a sort of public transit system, converted into landing docks for cable-connected aerial gondolas. Though this free-thinking approach is refreshing, leading to creative solutions that otherwise might’ve gone unnoticed, many practical questions are ignored. Would people actually want to live in billboards? For those seeking subsidized housing, living in such a prominent structure might be unsettling. But with housing prices skyrocketing in urban areas, Apostrophy’s project is a creative solution to overcrowding in countries where the population is booming.

Architecture on the Blog

Photo by Stone Crandall Photography

As soon as Christine and Ian were married, they packed up their things and moved north to Portland with their cat Connor and two bearded dragons, Ray and Mordecai. Rarely at home on the weekends, they stay busy with a good mixture of travel, eating, photography, crafting and backpacking. Their Etsy shop, Wood & Grain, specializes in creating custom hand-stamped goodness for weddings or small businesses. Christine’s sister (a professional event coordinator) and Christine will soon be expanding the business with complete wedding/event design and coordination in hopes of helping create dream DIY weddings for couples on a budget. Keep up with the latest at woodandgrain.com.

Last January, my husband Ian proposed to me on the steps of a snow-covered cabin in the forests of Alaska’s Chugach State Park. He got down on one knee (to tie my shoes) and surprised me with a custom-designed engagement ring, inspired by a ring my mother had given to me.

We scoured the Northern California coast for the perfect venue in the woods, but none of them exceeded our first choice, which was Ian’s parents’ home in Nevada City, California. After deciding on the date, we had less than five months to turn a nearly untouched wooded area into an outdoor wedding venue for more than 100 people.

We created our invitations with a design that would give our guests a sneak peek of the event that they would be attending. The front card included a laser-cut, pop-up forest surrounding the phrase “Join Us in the Woods.†Also included was an RSVP card that doubled as a map of the area and a handmade Field Guide with illustrations of local wildlife. We bundled these three things together with butcher’s twine (from Annie42 and TheMissingThread) and a wooden button made from a variety of branches found around the property.

The design of our wedding was heavily influenced by nature, particularly the venue itself. Many of the materials we used in the construction – stumps and branches of birch, oak and manzanita – were amassed from the property or donated to us by friends and were used to make laser-engraved signs, wood buttons and many other decorations.

One of my favorite components of the wedding was a trail that we created that snaked through the woods down to the ceremony site. Along the trail, we hung a timeline of photos on the trees from the six years we’d been together, so guests would be able to “Walk Our Story.†The white chippy frames we used were from DirtRoadDecor.

The most intense and memorable part of our wedding was the ceremony. Ian and his dad created an amphitheater using a fallen pine tree to seat the 110 guests. It was made all the better by having our closest friend, Tarla, officiate our marriage. We were married on a stage constructed from old deck boards and decorated with fabric streamers made from bedsheets.

I wore a simple, yet elegant dress and accessorized it with necklaces and earrings from Edor and a beaded belt my sister made. The bridesmaids wore beautiful gem necklaces that were also from Edor. Ian, the groomsmen and both our fathers sported handmade ties that I had made to match our colors. We loved the bow ties from Xoelle, so we got one for Ian to change into during the reception. My gorgeous bouquet and all the boutonnieres were created by my sister, Carol Srivongse, using flowers from a local wildflower farm down the road. She also made all the flower arrangements that decorated the dining tables. Ian’s mother, an avid gardener, also covered the grounds with plant-life she had grown.

Our reception was located on a terraced hillside next to the house. Escort cards hand-stamped with names, “table numbers†(different woodland animals or vegetables), and their food choice were hung on a nearby tree. We added an elastic band to the cards which was used for wrapping around the rim of a mason jar, which would be taken to a handmade bar made from a gorgeous six-inch slab of madrone tree. Some of the other smaller reception decor included laser-engraved table numbers of woodland animals and vegetables, green tea test tube favors with hand-stamped linen labels, clothespin place cards and dusty miller planted in soup cans decorated with burlap and wood buttons. We also made coasters from slices of logs with our C/I logo engraved into them.

On our guestbook table — an old door that we painted — we placed a fingerprint guestbook with a drawing of the back of our car and a variety of vintage items we had been collecting. We had a photo booth and made a backdrop from an old pallet decorated with wallpaper.

For the food, we converted the basement into a “food cart†with three windows, each serving a different style of food. Framed chalkboards made from old planks of wood were used to create the menus. The bride and groom table was constructed between two trees and elevated off the ground so we would be able to see all our guests. We didn’t plan for it to be as high as it was, but we ended up feeling like a queen and king — as every bride and groom should on their wedding day.

Dessert was a red velvet cake with cream cheese filling. Our cake topper was made from blank wood kokeshi dolls and we painted them to match our outfits. We glued the dolls to a birch round and decorated it with plastic pine trees from SweetTreatsSupplies with a mini version of our fabric streamers between them.

With hard work and a lot of help from our friends and family, we were able create a wedding that was truly our own.

All photos by Stone Crandall Photography.

Thanks to Christine for sharing her special day! Do you have a handmade wedding to share? Submit your photos to our Flickr group.

Handmade Weddings | Weddings Category

Photo by ThreeElementsStudios

With feet soles slapping the basement floor to a sticky vinyl beat, you lose yourself in the rhythm of rattling rib cages and quivering fingertips. Whether salsa or trip-hop, body movement knows no bounds. Leave a spot on your dance card for Keep It Weird this weekend.

joelsisson

American Spirit Dance Outfit

khalper

Interpretive Pole Dance

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Photo by Myki Roventine on Flickr

My freshman college days were spent frequenting a sandwich shop near campus, where fresh, local ingredients could be had between two slices of wheat bread, all for just $4. When one of my friends started working there, the deal became even sweeter. However, this friend soon became an informant; the day she revealed that the shop’s wheat bread was exactly the same as their white bread, save for a few drops of food coloring, I was crushed. This was my first inkling that color, even in food consumption, is a powerful selling point for consumers. My deli-centric experience proved that our associations with colors often lead to blind assumptions — just because the bread was brown instead of white, I assumed I was making a healthy choice. It doesn’t stop with my faux wheat bread; an article on GOOD reveals how brown is the choice color when companies seek to convey a wholesome, eco-friendly message.

If you want proof of this trend, just take a look at fast food restaurants, where disposable napkins, once blindingly white, are now oatmeal colored. The Wall Street Journal highlights Seventh Generation, a company who adds brown pigment in the process of making disposable diapers. “[It's important] not so much that it’s brown, it’s that it’s not white,” says Louis Chapdelaine, who directs the fibers department of the company.

For a while, “greenwashing” was the buzz word du jour, wherein companies would repackage a product to appeal to eco-conscious consumers. Everything from tote bags to cleaning products are now smacked with green-colored labels, insinuating an environmentally friendly product. When we so heavily depend on visual cues to make shopping decisions, this is extremely misleading — how do we know when green, or brown, truly indicates an Earth-friendly product?

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Photo by Cara Robbins

Tell us a bit about yourself.
We are two girls in Santa Barbara who make simple, letterpress printed stationery.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
Sarah: I’m a freelance graphic designer, as well as the associate production manager for the Santa Barbara Independent. When I’m not working or making cards, I love to take walks with my husband and  French bulldog, Stuart; sit with friends over coffee or cocktails; grab a nap (I’m really good at napping); take photos, catch up on Hulu (no cable tv…) or sit in the sunshine. My new year’s resolution is to bake more!

Karis: As a seventh- and eighth-grade history and English teacher, I have my hands full with grading essays and creating cards. I’m originally from Texas, so I’m always up for exploring Santa Barbara. Have you been here? It’s amazing. Come visit. There’s so much to do! I really love biking around town, baking cookies in my tiny kitchen, or soaking up the sun at the beach. I also am in love with my summer vacations. What teacher isn’t?

What would be the title of your memoir? Why?
We’re Really Doing It, Harry! That quote from Dumb and Dumber constantly rings true because sometimes we’re amazed with how far we’ve gotten. What started as a hobby has grown into a small business, almost unintentionally. To be honest, we are just figuring things out as we go. It’s an adventure!

Cara Robbins

Where does your inspiration come from?
Our inspiration comes from our Santa Barbara surroundings, friends and family, architecture, textiles, paper cut-outs… Really, anything and everything that’s bright, cheery and geometric. A lot of our cards’ short sayings are taken from simple things we find ourselves saying every day, like, “you’re a peach†or “I like you.â€

What does handmade mean to you?
Handmade means fun, creative, imperfect and created with love. There’s beauty in the imperfections. None of our cards are exactly the same. It’s so cheap, easy and fast to print digitally these days that we’re seeing a real resurgence in the artisan art community and an appreciation for the handmade process. The end product is often more tactile and personal. We think people respond to that, and there’s a connection made between the crafter and the recipient.

Who has been most influential in your craft?
We’re fortunate to be surrounded by creative friends and supportive family members who have helped us along the way. They inspire us to keep creating and offer feedback (and sometimes gentle criticism), which has been truly a great thing.

And honestly, Etsy! It’s such a perfect resource that anyone and everyone can use! We think it’s been revolutionary for the independent artist. You don’t have to be computer/web savvy to have your own shop! What a wonderful, creative community it’s become.

Cara Robbins

When did you know you were an artist/maker?
Always! Both of us have always loved making things pretty, whether that’s decorating someone’s birthday present, taking photos, or rearranging the furniture.

How would you describe your creative process?
Our creative process is simple, easy, and tailored to what we like. It’s about knowing what you’re into and sticking with it.

If you could peek inside the studio of any artist, designer or craftsman (dead or alive), who would it be?
Richard Diebenkorn‘s use of colors and simplicity is amazing. We’re in love with his work. We could go on forever with favorite artists or designers: Frida Khalo, David Hockney, Anna Bond, Jessica Hische, Bjork, or Grady McFerrin… We’d also want to visit our friend Garrett Kautz‘s Strawfoot Handmade studio to steal some of his bags.

Sarah Wilkinson

What handmade possession do you most cherish?
Karis: A gold charm necklace my dad gave my mom in the ’70s. I wear it every day. It’s the perfect length with simple, sweet charms of two birds on top of a heart, a pearl and a starfish. I love it.

Sarah: My engagement ring. The diamond was my grandmother’s, and my husband and I worked with a local designer to create the setting.

How do you get out of your creative ruts?
The Internet is full of inspiration, and trips to the library help. Sometimes even just taking a break and doing something totally different is a great way to refresh when you’ve hit a roadblock.

Where would you like to be in ten years?
Still making things!

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