This will be my final post here on Tumblr. However, you can now find me at:

generalmerriment.com

While Tumblr has served me well as I felt out the blogger scene, I’m moving on and up to Wordpress, including a new service site called General Habitat. Hope to see you there! It will be a good time, for sure.

Last year I heard so many wonderful things about Clover Market but had conflicts with almost every date. So yesterday I fought my way through the traffic of Philadelphia to get to Ardmore and see things for myself. It was a lovely day to be out and about, so lovely that I made it a family affair with Tom and Lucy. I met some new local vendors with handmade and vintage wares, including Made by Liddy, whose paper Kusadama balls made me want to get an early start to Christmas shopping (I’ve done it before). 

I even loved her signage, which was the nailhead-and-string effect that I’ve been noticing a lot lately. Nevertheless, Liddy’s booth was simple and inspiring - I’m looking forward to what she cooks up in the future!

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Though I always carry with me a notebook and a few different writing instruments for sketching, FiftyThree’s Paper app is quite intriguing. Watercolors with the mess (although that’s half the fun, right?), Rewind (don’t you wish you had a Ctrl+Alt+Del on your pad?), and custom journal covers are just the beginning of this fun and intuitive app. If only I had me an iPad… that’s a write-off, eh?

via hwentworth

Scientists, musicians, and researchers in the UK are busy… working on a “paper app.” 

“The Listening Post” is an example of such an app in development. It’s an interactive concert poster that allows viewers to press on conductive ink to hear clips of music from different bands - even book tickets! While it’s still in the beginning stages of production, this could mean a whole new kind of media interaction. ”We’re trying to recapture some of the tactile experience you got with vinyl records. There’s a really different reaction from users to physical media as opposed to digital media, especially when it comes to music,” said Paul Thomas, head of the Liverpool-based Uniform agency that helped co-ordinate the poster’s creation.

“Printing” music with conductive ink seems relatively inexpensive, so we may be experiencing this new technology soon - tapping along the walls at Starbucks or sending less-bulky singing cards to friends and family. My question (of course) - how do we recycle that? 

via BBC

This image greeted my this morning in my mailbox from Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co., making me wish for sunshine, fresh flowers, and brunch with friends and family. Despite springtime palettes on my Pinterest boards, this shiny black is doing the trick. All handmade in the US of A, too? Bruce would be proud.

I’m doing research on pieces for an office today and am in love with the NY showroom WYETH. This Edward Wormley for Dunbar desk and chair are gorgeous.

The combination of rich walnut, brass hardware, and a pop of green makes me happy - an important consideration for a space you work in every single day. Here’s some more eye candy to get you inspired for your own home office dream makeover:

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We recently joined the yupster revolution and bought ourselves a DSLR. Um, yeah. But it’s ok - we don’t think we’re photographers or anything. With the responsibility of owning such a beautiful machine, we thought we’d get to know her a little better. Enter Project Basho, a photography studio in Philadelphia with (affordable!) classes ranging from beginners to professionals. We scored a Living Social voucher, making it even more of a deal. Both Tom and I attended a few beginner’s courses, and love the down-to-earth, accessible atmosphere they have going on there.

I recently attended my first class - I’ll admit I was a little anxious stepping into a studio with my Canon Rebel not knowing much more than where the on/off button was, but soon I felt comfortable asking anything. Now my only problem is I want to take more classes. Fortunately, they have a rotating schedule of different classes, workshops, and tutorials that can easily fit into my schedule. Interested in taking classes? Be sure to tell them Mrs. Jamie Adjemian referred you - and score me some free bucks there, ok friend?

Not only do does Project Basho teach, but you can rent space, attend exhibits, teach, and much more in the converted studio. And please do check out the upstairs - the subtleties in architecture, such as reveals around doors instead of trim, pocket doors, curved wall, and even the center-screwed floor tiles all tie in to the calming energy of the studio. (Interior designers notice these sorts of things.)

Photo: Pia Johnson, as featured in the current show now Feb 11 - March 25.

Possibly the best valentine ever. Especially that one on the left…

Blackbird Studio via Poppytalk

© Milagros Lecuona

So apparently the Tappan Zee Bridge is scheduled for demolition? I’ll admit I’m quite busy at the bottom half of New Jersey, where we choose to attach ourselves to Philadelphia instead of NYC. However, I still think I should have known. At least someone is ahead of the game. Actually, a few people. The Tappan Bridge Park Alliance initiative, led by Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner and White Plains Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona, has started a petition to save the bridge and restore it as a park and walking path. Originally proposed by resident Jean Schneider in a letter to the governor, the park is a way for New York to re-envision the structure for a similar purpose - connecting two pieces of land across a river - but with a different mentality. It’s an interesting concept that few other cities have considered. The project’s mission has realistic aspirations, beginning with a feasibility study to determine whether it is, in fact, possible. I’d assume the next step would be to determine the fiscal responsibility and maintenance of establishing the linear park, all while garnering support for the project.

I can safely say that I’d rather be skipping with an ice cream cone than sitting in gridlock. And it would probably take just as long to cross the Hudson River by foot than inch across in my car.

Happy Monday.

Here are some tunes to start your week off on the right foot.