d*s reader rebekah sent over a link to a beautiful collection of paper goods and home accessories designed by a korean firm called o check. o check sells their work at a website call and, spring and it is chock-full of beautiful things i’d like to call my own. not only do they design beautiful journals, notebooks, and calendars, but they also design some gorgeous tote bags and a series of free, download-able calendar pages (a new one each month). click here to check it all out! thanks, rebekah!

good morning! after a sunny weekend break at the jersey shore (thanks for all the tips!) i wanted to kick off a new week with this beautiful “wooden carpet” by elisa stroyzk, via sam tanis at the laser cutter (a new blog devoted to all aspects of using laser cutting machines). all those details and facets are incredible.

i’m also thrilled to welcome a new team of guest bloggers to the d*s guest blog- ryan and alissa of horne! i’ve been a fan of their shop since it opened and have only grown to like them more after meeting them at icff and getting a peek into their gorgeous home and stunning spring wedding. today they’re joining the d*s guest blog with a beautiful post on oriental rugs and the launch of a fun contest! ryan and alissa are looking for photos that celebrate summer and will choose their favorite at the end of the week- and the winner will receive one of miranda meilleur’s gorgeous silver cups. click here for more info!

i’m heading out a little early today to pick up ac and drive down to the jersey shore for the weekend (here’s hoping it doesn’t rain all weekend). but before i go i wanted to end the week with an incredible project from arjowiggins, li edelkoort and french photographer gregoire alexandre.

arjowiggins is an international paper company that decided to celebrate the launch of it’s new paper range, “curious collection”, with the help of trend forecaster li edelkoort and photographer gregoire alexandre. gregoire created a seriously fantastic photoshoot that was designed to portray the creativity behind the papers. all i know is, they certainly make me look at paper in a different way. can you imagine what advertisements would look like if all companies thought this creatively about what their products could become? i’d love to see supply companies that make straws, cups, bags and other basics approach promotion this way- perhaps teaming up with people from anthropologie’s visual display team, or the visual merchandisers at a store like bergdorf goodman. the possibilities are endless.

on that note, i’m closing my laptop and will wish everyone a happy weekend! stay tuned next week for a gorgeous series of sneak peeks, a fun terrarium how-to video with sprout home and much, much more. see you monday!

• must-read posts of the week: lydia’s embroidered headboard, the yellow kitchen of my dreams
• biz ladies 09: free software for small business owners
• shows: vera at anthropologie
• sneak peeks: elephant props, basak of small square design, morgan satterfield, delphine, dave and surya
• diy projects: lauren and derek’s postcard journals, kate’s sprouting shelf, lydia’s embroidered headboard, erica’s tote bag pillows
• before & afters: barb’s knack nursery makeover, pierce and ashley’s bathroom, amy’s straw chair, kati’s dining room and dominique’s hall, lucie’s cabinet and heather’s living room
• misc: la dolce luce (photographs by jen altman), porcelain ice cream cones, unique boutonnieres by fritts rosenow, new textiles from three sheets 2 the wind, cards from we collective, ceramics by natalia gamez, plush figures by olivia mew, porcelain skulls by beetle and flor, reiko kaneko’s table and disco light, floral stationery by claire nereim, flowers by studio choo, caitlin moran interiors, yellow dream kitchen
• new d*s guest blogger: posts and great DIY projects from haylie waring!

our friday columnists are both taking a day off (kristina is in amsterdam and sarah is swamped with weddings) so i thought i’d share some beautiful flowers courtesy of sarah’s blog, since weeder’s digest is “off” for the day.

studio choo is the work of two best friends alethea harampolis and jill pilotte. alethea and jill share a love for flowers that are “just a little bit wild” and things that are made by hand so they decided to start a floral studio where they could create beautiful arrangements for weddings, local deliveries and events. sarah’s posted some of their work this week and i thought it shared so many of the qualities that i love of about saipua that it would be a perfect subsitution for weeder’s digest today.

i love the simplicity of their arrangements- nothing’s too “perfect” but it’s all just right. great work, alethea and jill! click here to see more of studio choo’s work. (how cute are their business cards?)

yesterday i hopped on the subway and headed into the city to check out an exhibition of vera neumann’s work at anthropologie in rockefeller center. vera: a new look is a beautiful exhibition that celebrates the life and work of designer and artist vera neumann. best known for her colorful silk scarves, neumann produced an incredible amount of work in her lifetime (over 20,000 scarves and 7,000 pieces of original artwork), some of which was on display at anthroplogie last night. while visiting the vera company in atlanta, anthropologie discovered stunning screens and drawings of vera’s and decided to showcase them in their store, along with a wall-full of her vivid scarves.

i really enjoyed seeing these black and white screens of vera’s work. even before they were realized in their final form, vera’s drawings are exuberant and her brush strokes have such a sense of energy and vitality. and when you add her sense of color on top of it all? unstoppable. i’ll be a vera fan for life and it was a real treat to see a collection of her work, and drawings, together like this.

inspired by vera’s designs, anthropologie recently launched a lovely collection of home goods and clothing based on original vera artwork. the design team created plates, cups, trays, skirts, blouses, bedding and dresses. the ‘we heart vera‘ series is now available online at anthropologie (the bedding is available at select stores)- you can see a sampling of it below, but you can also click here to shop the full collection online. it’s so nice to see a company going beyond using a classic designer’s work and actually recognizing, celebrating and honoring their talent.

there are many more pictures from the event below, so be sure to click “read more” below to see the full post. thanks to sara goodstein at anthropologie for letting me poke my head in a little early to grab some pictures!

read more …