Chikabird is going on tour!

Any volunteer roadies out there? We compensate with snacks, grateful smiles, barked orders and frazzled misdirection. Ha... ha... just kidding! I think we're all set with fantastic hosting and helpers for our 10 day tour of Southern California, and have plans to meet up with friends along the way. 10 days feels like a long time to be away from Seattle in the Summertime, but here we go!

This weekend we'll be in Los Angeles for the Renegade Craft Fair! Come see us and our new sweatshirts, Patch Kits, wooden buttons, and Plant Pals(tm). These haven't made it to Etsy yet, so get 'em while they're hot! The following weekend, we'll be in lovely San Francisco for Renegade, where I'll try to set a personal record for burritos eaten in a 5 day period. Sorry Jean.

Side missions: Jesse has give us the assignment to scope out the new Intelligencia "concept store" on Venice Beach. Visiting our fave shops in the Mission - Little Otsu here we come! Any other must-do recommendations?

Chikabird in the news!

OK, so we're not credited anywhere (nor did we expect to be), but it's still a thrill to see our work mentioned in blogs like Remodelista!

By working some connections (aka Jean's fella, Dylan) we did the design and prototyping of the soft goods accessories seen in the latest home wardrobe system from Henrybuilt. In short, we did the leather handles, felt accessory pockets, and laundry basket! Take a look:

Leather Drawer Pulls with hand stitched reinforcement detail

Felt Accessory Storage Pockets for the interior door rail system

Hamper Drawer with integrated basket, constructed from mesh + recycled leather

It's great to see it all together, since we were designing a little in the dark (maybe we had a desk light on ;) and knew nothing of all the other lovely details that make the system so classic and warm.

The features around the dressing area are particulary appealing - the wooden jewelry knobs, the lighting, the shaping of the sliding tray tops - ahhhh having a system like this would make me an early bird.

The Dog Days of the Birdhouse

What's this?

Another satisfied customer!

Jared asked me to make a custom bed for Riley, the office mascot, and Travis' roommate. I was planning on dragging my feet a little, but Jared took up a collection at the office, did all the fabric shopping, pattern layout, printing, transferring, and cutting. All I had to do was the stitching - easiest custom project ever!

One last pic, because she's just so sweet.

Thanks to the General Assembly fellas for the fun project and the dough!

p.s. That's the General Assembly logo on the bed.

Current Fave - Green Pornos!

If you haven't seen these (very) short films by Isabella Rossellini - they are really worth watching, especially if you like the idea of animal kingdom sex-ed videos with low tech props and costumes AND Isabella Rossellini's uniquely alluring line delivery.

The randL Wallet Lives On....

An "old school" Square Root from the first 1000 batch of wallets that Chika made (about 5 years ago!?). I believe the color was originally baby blue and red. It doesn't look anything like that now, but still looks pretty awesome nonetheless, especially with all that wear!

B-BAM!

We're happy to announce that our notebooks are now available at the Bellevue Arts Museum Gift Shop! How great is that? Especially since they ordered mostly covers from our collaboration with local artists, Slow Loris.

To save on shipping and take in a little cul-cha, Jean and I decided to personally deliver the order and check out the current exhibits.

Prepare to be hypnotized by this video by Etsuko Ichikawa. It shows her process of drawing with molten glass on paper.


Traces of the Molten State from Etsuko Ichikawa on Vimeo.

It's tempting for me to use this paragraph to discuss the appeal of the organic forms resulting from such an elemental process - but I think I'd take away from the work. It's badass that she draws with liquid fire, but when the results are stunning and grand and meditative and calligraphic and visceral and remind me how much I dig skilled mark making in drawing - how can I not share a few words that come to mind?

Comment dit on... Always Sunday?

Ahhhhh.... le sigh.... Je veux aller a l'existence.... That's how I feel when looking at the photos of pastries and places on the French Canadian blog, Toujours Dimanche. 

Oh la la.... pretty pictures of pretty things, but also a journal about opening a bakery in Quebec. A tour de force of our favorites at Chikabird: food, design, and renovation! The BEST part of Toujours Dimanche (pour moi) is that it's written bilingually in French and English. I can brush up on my rusty high school French while reading about opening a bakery. A sugar coated pill of multitasking... if you categorize blog surfing as a task... or a pill...

(p.s. When I write things like "pour moi", in my head I say it like Miss Piggy)