Goodbye to this & Hello to more!

The time has come and we have to say goodbye to this blog....we've loved blogger for the fact that it was the first blog I've started! But there comes a time when we have to end one thing in order to start something new....

Like starting a tumblr page (lgstudio.tumblr.com)

We hope to share more visuals of our process, findings, and inspirations...and more frequently!

Lately I've been bad about posting on the blog only because of how time consuming it is for me! And yes...guilty as charged, I've had my share of back posting!! :P

So I think using tumblr will be really good since it'll force me to do short & sweet updates!

But for those who likes to read more in general, we'll still continue to post on our website blog especially for times when sharing just one sentence or one photo doesn't do justice on the subject....or for when I absolutely need to ramble and share all my nonsense. :)

So...long blogger! We've had a good run!!

....and HELLO to ALL these other ways to stay connected and follow us!

Website

Blog

Tumblr

Facebook

Defenders of America!

Go check out THREAT by AmDC  that's all about weapon of defense in every shape & form happening on March 9th.
A show about weapons? Hey, don't judge! This is America we're talking about here!

All this is more about encouraging designers from all over America to all come together and have fun designing & create cool shiz.

Here's what we made....
Hit & Strangle Stick

Yup! You guessed it! You hit, then strangle! It's EASY!

This defense object is a sleek hitting stick made with the use aluminum and copper tubing and fishing rope inspired by dog catchers.

The simple telescoping action allows the defender to tighten the rope by pushing the aluminum tube forward and therefore can capture (and strangle) the invader from afar.

And now...in REAL action!

TAKE THAT!! 
....That'll show you to never walk in the house with your shoes on!
Below is a sneak peak of what's also gonna be in the show. 

(Photos provided by NYT)

The show opens this FRIDAY, MARCH 9th (runs from March 9 to 15)
At Present Company, 29 Wythe Street (North 13th Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Also read this great interview on NYT with Kiel Mead  about the concept of the show
....and other intense topics of discussions like, jail beating weapons, squirt guns with hydrochloric acid, and our dark sides.

Oh...This is gonna be goooooood.

BLANC Rocked the House!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Seattle for making the BLANC pop up a success!
We had a great time this week and were so inspired by people's enthusiasm about design! With this and the OBJECT opening a week earlier, we're feeling some serious momentum for Design in the Northwest. FINALLY!

Here's a little summary of the weekend:

It all started Friday with a preview party at Sole Repair...

...A perfect evening of TOTAL wintery white festivities filled with inspiring work from 30+ designers from Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver.

Everything looked pefectly BLANC.....Wintery white but warm and cozy all at the same time. There was special BLANC themed cocktails and snacks and lots of people dressed for the theme.  It was exactly how I enviosned...perfectly BLANC! I couldn't have asked for more!

 

(photos above by Eric Becker)

On Saturday, we braved the wintery elements opening the big garage door at Caffe Vita's Bean Room for the BLANC pop up. Using bags of coffee beans, discarded pallets and crates Jean led the crew of willing volunteers in merchandising a beautiful display of BLANC and non-BLANC design items.

The crowd was consistent and diverse from JOIN followers to coffee-sipping walk-ins. By the successful end of the first day, we knew there was no other option than to extend the hours three more hours on Saturday and open up again on Sunday!

And of course we had to treat ourselves to some hot coco with homemade marshmallows that totally hit the spot!

All and all,  it was just so great to so many people who came to support and celebrate design! It's resounding clear that Seattle is ready to embrace design more than ever! We say this is the turning point!! and that deserves a group hugs & high-fives all around!

Phew! I'm totally exhausted and need to go hibernate for the next 6 months now!!

See the rest of the event HERE!

plainMADE for BLANC

I'm SOOOO stoked about these limited edition of 30 hand-painted and screen printed posters I had specially requested Chelsea Heffner of plainMADE to make for BLANC!!

I literally thought of the idea randomly while working on something else , texted Chelsea right away, she totally got on board with it, we bounced off some ideas over the phone, she painted and printed them, I got them in the mail,  and VOILA! we got ourselves some beautiful BLANC prints made! She's amazing.

It's been super fun art directing the event, especially it gave me a great reason to collaborate with talented people to do fun special projects like this! But the main intent in making these posters is meant to offer something (like a special souvenir) to further extend the concept of BLANC even after the event ends.

As I started thinking about ideas for the posters, I was thinking more of what the sense of white means and what that could look like.
I started throwing out words to Chelsea and started thinking more about natural phenomenons like light, fog, cloud, fluffy, air, water, transparent, reflection....and gradually lead to other mood words like simple, pure, airy, austere, clean, calm, quiet, mysterious....

And final result is this...

Beautifully lightly washed watercolor in layers on slightly textured thick paper.
Looking directly from the front, you can only see the soft gray and light color hues over lapping each other.

and looking at the print from a different angle......

...The word "BLANC" printed in semi-transparent white paint appears as it catches the light.
....and changes from another angle.

I just REALLY love the subtlety and personally think the effect she did added a lot of depth.  It's simply magical...

All these prints was SO spot-on in conveying all those concepts that I had in mind...  It's as if Chelsea was able to read my mind better than I can!! creeepy~!

Each print is numbered and stamped by plainMADE.

These will all be for sale on both days of BLANC preview party (and if they don't sell out) will also be available at the BLANC popup the next day!

Sorry to say that I get first dibs! yes!

BLANC Mailers!

I'm excited to share these special mailers that Chelsea Heffner of plainMADE  and I collaborated on to reach out to some special museums / shops / press from Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, and NY.

Each card is unique and it's just a little something that we hope will entice them to come check us out and/or support the event!

....but mostly I just wanted an excuse to get Chelsea to do some beautiful hand-painted artwork! :)
Her free-hand color washes is totally perfect for what I had envisioned for BLANC.  She even got these beautiful slightly textured thick water-color paper to paint on. Then I did the layout for the text and printed it with just my printer!

I was more than surprised and happy to find that my ghetto Canon MP470 printer did SUCH a stellar print job, didn't chew up the paper or die!

I really hope people will get them and keep these for awhile....I know I totally would!

Home Sweet Homestead

Instroducing a new L&G item...Homestead Candlesticks!
We've heard that there's no place like home and got to thinking...does that apply to candles as well as people? Assuming this it does, we've created these sweet wood house-shaped candlesticks out of solid Hemlock and Copper tubing.
This is a combination of our love for wooden blocks, iconic houses, and copper!!

These Homstead candlesticks stems from some of the elements & pallet we're using for our kitchen re-design project (see below post). Even the shape of the candlessticks partially reflects the silhouette of our duplex as well!

 Presented as a set of two, these Homestead Candlesticks add the right mix of homey charm and modern simplicity. Available  HERE!

Almost Finsihing Touches

Finally! We're at the fun part of the kitchen process where we get to start accessorizing!

We gathered something we had, along with some material & color samples to compose this pallet.

One of the main element we're most excited about is the idea to integrate copper as an accent color & material that adds the prefect amount of warmth to the overall feel.

We wanted to use vintage knobs and found these simple standard 50"s copper knobs from Second Use to go with our oak and europly cabinet fronts. It's one of those things where we weren't totally sure if it was going to make everything look too dated or out of place....

But once we put them on, the whole kitchen instantly glowed....it just felt 100 times more special and complete! Who would have thought that something as small as cabinet knobs cab make such a difference!

Here's the special nook for our collection of found glass jars with cork tops. I love how the onions even goes with the whole pallet!

I was especially happy to have found couple of these simple copper light sockets to hang above our island  area! I was actually debating on whether to splurge on these brass ones from Restoration Hardware for almost $100 each for a simple light socket!!
Good thing we waited, did more research, and ended up finding these similar ones from Grandbrass for only a tenth of the price! I should take that extra cash I saved and  buy some bottles of champagne to celebrate this triumphant score!

We're getting SOOOOO close to the finishing line I can smell it!  I'm picturing all our friends and family awaits for us at the end with warm towels and hugs....it's gonna be great! :)

Fresh Molds

Getting ready for the first pour on a new crisp set of pig molds for CITM piggy v4.0. More on him soon!

Kitchen end in sight

We're nearing the finish line with our kitchen and it's starting to feel real nice.
Today we finally got the sink plumbed up and working...no more trucking dirty dishes to the basement to be cleaned in the laundry sink.
We also received our whitened birch cabinet fronts back from the finisher today...they look great!
We're days from presentable overall shots and more details so stay tuned!

Time for Fun: Mr. Paintbrush

Lately, we been spending a lot of time picking out paint colors for our kitchen. But I also just end up spending too much time picking out colors just for the fun it. Thinking of some new color inspirations~!

Also I've been doing a lot of painting and been drawn to this handsome Mr. Paintbrush...especially with his sparkling eyes, sharp haircut, and warm presence....

think I'm in love with Mr. Paintbrush....

Kitchen Progress Report

Alright, i know it's been a long time since we've updated on the progress of our kitchen. No, we're not done yet but yes we have made progress (unlike in the the past when we say we're doing but we're actually not). It's actually starting to get frighteningly close to a real kitchen...OH-EM-GEEE!