We know it’s corny and commercial, but we’re lovers–and we love Valentine’s Day. We found this DIY project on DesignSponge this week and couldn’t help but wonder all the ways we might riff on this project. Instructions can be found here.

For the traditionalist, you can’t fail with a heart-shaped box.

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Swedish designer Elisabeth Dunker made business cards using Moo Cards, and shared her results on her blog, Fine Little Day. This is a great, inexpensive idea if you’re in transition or wearing multiple hats.

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Maybe it’s the winter weather, but I’m gravitating toward felt. Joseph Beuys saw fit to make felt part of his survival story.

If a Joseph Beuys installation isn’t practical for you, Josh Jakus makes beautiful felt bags

and Ashley Helvey makes beautiful hand-felted rugs. I love this description of her process.

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I know most of us are too *adult* for summer camp, but every year, I still dream about it. Over the last decade, various programs have sprung up–programs that seem to recognize that adults want to continue to learn new skills, meet new people, and get a little summer camp feelin’ back in their lives. Some of these programs are new, while others have been around for decades. If you want to learn to make wood bowls, lithographs, furniture, viking boats, or documentary films, here’s a sampling of classes that might speak to those designers harboring additional art/craft fantasies:

PENLAND

Oxbow

Maine Media Workshops

Wooden Boat School

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I loved this essay so much, on Braille. Stephen Kusisto is a beautiful writer (I recommend his memoir, Planet of the Blind). More recently, a NYT magazine article covered the subject of Braille. I’ve always been drawn to it–my grandmother had a clipboard, on which she hand-poked braille letters onto paper, with a metal stencil and a small stylus. I wouldn’t mind collecting these Braille objects–copies of Playboy. It seems so strange and wonderful that the magazine would be felt all over. The Library of Congress houses all issues.

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Thanks to designer Lena Corwin for links to designers/shops donating to Haiti relief. Please let us know if you hear of additional shops/companies that are putting proceeds to this effort.

gallery hanahou
20% of sales from the upcoming 20/10 vision show will be donated.
(i have a print in this show, along with some of my favorite designers)
611 Broadway #730 New York, NY
jan 21st – feb 19th

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health ceramics
january 15-17: heath will donate 25% of sales from their sausalito, LA & online stores to architecture for humanity’s earthquake reconstruction efforts in haiti.

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claudia pearson
25% of sales from her two new valentine prints will be donated to yele haiti.

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If we could only choose one room in a home to stealthily spy on, we’d choose the one with the desk. We’re not alone; lots of sites feature desk porn. But this feature, WORKBENCH, from SEED Magazine caught our attention, with the beauty of Oliver Sack’s desk exposed. You can find the interview, in which he annotates his own space, here. [via Hoping for Happy Accidents]

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Be on time–with style.  You can download this fliqlo screensaver for your computer and phone![photos via designsponge and swissmiss]

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Happy New Year! If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to roll up your sleeves and get dirty, here’s a good place to start. Look at this gorgeous dirt poster designed by Roland Reiner Tiancgo. The text emerges only after you cover the paper with “dirt” (click on image to enlarge). For the right person, this gift says it all. This is a great project to do with children, too! [via Swiss Miss]

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If you’re looking for a great adventure but can’t stomach something overtly and aggressively athletic, what about going to Japan, on a craft tour?

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