Yesterday I was buzzing with ideas and so excited to be planning new projects. I managed to bag a little something on ebay that I am going to use as the starting point for my next piece. There may even be a collaborative project germinating, more on this soon I expect! Today of course things are a little flat, impossible to fly everyday, so I am going to concentrate on planning Ishi’s third birthday celebrations. I can reveal that so far a desire has been expressed for chocolate AND carrot cake, meerkats, a big boy bike and candles, really the cake and candles are the most important element for our son! Happily I am able to meet all of these wishes, including the meerkats as Durrell have just opened a new desert landscape enclosure with a meerkat dome, yes, you can get face to face! Have no doubt that I will be posting a self-indulgent/proud mummy something here next week. Ishi’s birthday is also after all a time for me and Adam to marvel at the fact of his existence and I always enjoy reliving the events of Ishi’s birth, it is a bonding time for all of us. I hope you enjoy the gathering of Etsy wonders I have prepared for you, I can feel a little inspiration creeping in looking at them. Especially true of The Dream Stays With Me print (above) from Gretchen Mist, beautiful colours, they sing, I could gaze upon them all day.

Butterfly Gladness Garland from Royal Buffet

Laptop Bag from Track & Field

Scandinavian Red Hare from Dee Beale

Mr Plumm from Holli

Across – Felt cuff from Drawing Room

Crawler Pincushion-sea green from Alleluja. I am obsessed with this shop! See that little pendant in the middle I have requested one with bunny ears, I can’t wait until it is ready! I love these tiny darlings so much here are a few more images.

Invincible Summer Anthology Vol. II from Spinster Summer

1950′s Housewife Dress in Pink and Grey from Jess James Jake

Nature Lover Necklace in Rock Maple from Naomi Murrell

Hello There Pencils from Simple Song

Early Bird Gets the Worm from BROOKLYNrehab

Flower Quilted Dress – Original 70s Vintage from Celapiu

Ceramic Deer from Fruit Fly Pie

1920s clip board from Blue Bell Bazaar

la dentelle needlebook 2 from Field Guided

Mr. Susan Is Angry Because Deep Down, He’s Really Sad from Mon Petit Fantome

Birch Bark flower vase or votive candle holder from New Hampshire Wood Creations

VINTAGE ISSEY MIYAKE ABSTRACT GREEN SCARF from Ramona West

Trilobite Triptych from Donkey Wolf

I wish I were a pigeon feather, sealed in a test tube and beautifully photographed by Alyssa of BROOKLYNrehab. I would become a thing to treasure, to be looked at anew, a witty and clever idea executed to perfection. Every object collected, re-visioned, customized, created in the BROOKLYNrehab studio fills me with longing and a little bit of joy, it is no wonder that every single best of Etsy post I have put together has included something from Alyssa’s shop. I have developed a serious passion, let’s join Alyssa right now!

Tell us a little about yourself, the media you work with and your creative process.

“Hi! My name is Alyssa Zygmunt, fashion designer by day and indie crafter by night. Most of what I am paid to design professionally is ultimately discarded in the cruel product life cycle also known as “the pursuit of the latest greatest fashion,” so the least I can do is make up for it with my creative hobby. The idea behind what I do as BROOKLYNrehab is to re-look at the objects around me to update, repackage and promote them as things of beauty to be saved and treasured rather than thrown away.”

“The starting point for me can either be vintage or modern mass production. Vintage objects are easy. I find the aging process a thing of beauty. The bumps and briuses accumulated along the way hint at past lives and serve to add character. I love to photograph these items in modern settings that suggest new uses and have others fall in love with them as well.”

“Brand new objects born into the world through mass production are much harder to “save” as it is often designed with a built in obsolescence in mind. These are often viewed as interchangeable and sometimes indistinguishable. Since I can’t stop the mass production of these (as much as I love handmade), my goal is to transform them from anonymity into something memorable or personable.”

” I consider these a blank canvas for my own designs and commentary. For example, I repurpose test tubes as specimen jars for my pigeon feather take on the modern New York souvenir. I customize restaurant grade egg cups to enhance the feeling of ownership. You’d think twice before throwing away a cup that has your name on it!”

“While all this is true, sometimes I just like to have fun! Even though I *think* way too much sometimes, ultimately my goal is to make people smile. I want to enrich people’s lives and encourage them to form positive bonds with their objects. It sounds silly but I think of selling my gnomes as finding homes for wayward chotchskies (sp?). It is an adoption process not a retail experience. I’ve given birth to quite a few porcelain delights which leads me to the next topic *i*n*s*p*i*r*a*t*i*o*n*”

From where do you draw your inspiration: music, books, people, nature etc?

“As much as I draw inspiration from the city and all that it offers, it is what is missing that also motivates me. I miss nature. I love the sights, sounds, textures and animals associated with the great outdoors, so I create it in the studio in the form of branches, birds, owls, mushrooms and squirrels.”

” I also enjoy being a modern anthropologist observing how people relate to the world around them and the objects they hold dear. I was directly inspired by my observations to create the “Love note series” where I pair a vintage postcard and a found object, then add a message such as “lost and found” or “secret rendezvous.”

“I hint at an underlying story that you can choose to use your imagination to complete or use as a jumping off point for your own lives.”

If you could talk briefly about the background to one of your pieces which would you choose and why? Please tell us the story behind the piece.

“The piece that everyone seems most interested in right now is the pigeon feather New York Souvenir. I’ll try to answer the most frequently asked question: “WHY?” After nearly 10 years of living in New York, I still find it a thrill to be here. Perhaps it was growing up watching Fame on TV; somehow, I just knew I would live here one day. It seemed like the place to be if one is creative. Pigeons to me are just one of those reminders that I made it here. The feathers are also symbolic to me so I started picking them up on my path between home and the ceramic studio. As they accumulated, I found creative ways to display them which I posted on flickr and on my blog.”

“After receiving positive responses, I decided to find a way to share my finds with other feather fans. A test tube is the perfect way to transform the once simple feather into a treasure with sentimental value. It also seals it from being touched which allows me to tap into the collective consciousness that we all share as city dwellers and poke fun at the notion that pigeons are dirty. I do have plans to expand on this idea which hopefully will show-up in my ETSY store soon.”

Places to find Alyssa:

BROOKLYNrehab Shop
Blog
Flickr

Thank you so very much Alyssa for sharing your work with us and for being such a sweetheart too. Really, I am such a lucky girl, I get to *meet* my heroes, ask them questions and then spend contented hours exploring beautiful images to post on LL&O. In fact, I am sitting up in bed at 10.37 am writing this, the sea gulls are shrieking and the fog horn is wailing. Next week we will be in South America and I will reveal a tiny new addition to the LL&O sidebar! Hmm, curious kittens, meet me back here soon.

The title gives away the age of this post or at least its inception. I have added a few things since I put this one together weeks ago. I have missed my Etsy roundups and my plush gatherings too. I have collected enough super fantastic softy images for my next installment but need to find a drop of time to put it all together. When I began the LL&O blog in January I promised myself that I wouldn’t use it as a forum for my whines and gripes (I can moan with the best of them. Adam and I have a ‘pretend’ production company called Cross & Grimm). I have found lately that it is becoming a little message board from which to proclaim my run of illness (scroll to the end for an update!) and lack of time-urgh! I am sure that many of you will relate to the inexorable gush of minutes and the notebooks filled with unfulfilled plans and schemes. There are so many things I would like to do with the blog, a longed for typography overhaul, giveaways, collaborations, videos, I would like to offer gratis ad space and become more active in the art/craft/handmade community. Oh so many dizzy ideas! Slow growth and longevity are perhaps the words I should be holding fast to, Lou Lou & Oscar is so very dear to me both as a project (sanity saver) and as a means to connect with truly lovely and remarkable people. Slow down Miss Hare. Ok, enough venting, feast your peepers on these goodies!

I’d Rather Be Happy With You Again print (above) from The Good Machinery.

All Secrets Sleep In Winter Clothes by Ali Aschman

Mid Century Fukagawa Plates from Monkeys Always Look

All My Peeps Out At Sea Print from Firefluff

Crow Kitchen Towel from Oola Designs

Geometry Set Jotter from Present and Correct

Twin Birches Pillow from Rural Diaspora

Andrea ring from Acts Of Kindness. Inspirational and so pretty, “Let Laughter Save The Day”, I couldn’t agree more!

Teardrop Pendant by Cathy Cullis.

Friendship Postcard from Enna.

Bugs purse from Bonspiel

Love Whale Necklace from Gypsy Rabbit.

I have had my eye on this Wooden Deer Wall Sticker pretty much since I joined Etsy, I am just waiting to redecorate! Available from Enna.

Chalkboard Flower Pot from Moxi Sisters

Nesting Material Print from Annarubyking

Warm Wishes Mug from Wee Gallery

Laundry Day In Dog Town Print from Ice Bear

Love, love, love this Collect and Carry Pouch from Forest Bound

Vintage Salt and Pepper Shaker from Shopworthy

Yes please Mr Easter Bunny, Nested Number 1 from Wunderlust.

A girl can dream of owning a Hiding Places Locket from Tiny Happy.

Not to eat, Egg Brooch from Vanilla Bug

Nautical Amelia Top in Liberty’s Mirabelle by Dear Birthday

1853 Hand Coloured Print from Slinkymalinkicat

La Lapin Brooch from Tilly Bloom

Cupcake Ring from Brooklyn Rehab

Hansel & Gretel Doll Suitcase from Shop 66

Oh Be True original painting by Lisa Congdon

Mellow Yellow Dress from Sarah Seven

Wood and Porcelain Pendant from Poodlebreath

Many & The Eucalyptus Tree print from Holli

Please Put It Away from Iviva Embroiders

Lace Print Reusable Sandwich Wrapper by ChezSucreChez

Miniature Girl from Ashley G and Drew

Porcelain Cup from Stepanka.

Yummy goodies! Ishi and me are both doing quite a bit better, we can’t seem to fight off the coughs and snivels, but we are upright-hooray! Thank you so much to everyone who left get well wishes, it is truly appreciated and helped beat the bugs I’m sure. I am hoping to wade into my inbox today, I have felt so disconnected and have missed my lovely friends terribly, I will also be trying to meet a project deadline, only a few days to catch up. I will reveal all very soon. There is of course this week’s interview to come, a bit of a Brooklyn theme for the next two weeks, a little hint! I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter break, hands up who never wants to see chocolate again?! XXX

I have the feeling that this won’t be the last time I feature a vintage camera from Thrush.

Is it my imagination or are these Etsy round up posts getting longer and longer every week? I wonder if I will ever exhaust all of the goodness to be found on my favourite shopping site. I haven’t taken a considered look at Etsy’s competitors in Europe. Dawanda is growing quickly and Folksy (British) is still in Beta mode. I would be interested to hear if any of you have experience of either sites as a seller or buyer. I have been considering opening a second Lou Lou & Oscar online shop based in Europe. I am probably not ready for this step yet but would be interested to hear any views you may have, my wise little owls.

Oh how I love these hand illustrated Ocean and Mermaid leggings from Hibou Caillou Chou. They make me believe that spring is on the way, the most poetic leggings I have ever seen!

Amazing illustrator and designer Cecilia Levy opened her Etsy shop this week, hooray! Sweet and tender Save The Fish print available from Cecilia Levy

Queen Robin from The Runny Bunny.

Linen Fawn and Lace Pouch from Track & Field Designs.

Fantastic Owlos from Holli.

Medium Raymor Ceramic House Container from Ladies & Gentlemen.

Bird Emperors cushion/pillow cover from Ellie Curtis.

Leaf Magnet from SkinnylaMinx.

Candy Canisters from The Collector’s Shoppe.

Set of Plastic Trees from Brooklyn Rehab.

Super fantastic Foks available from Celapiu .

Block No.4 from Mimidoodles.

I have fallen in love with this little fox called Paolo, original illustration in ink and pencil from Ashley G and Drew.

Deer Figures from Pinkflor.

Such love for The jumblies and for this stunning book designed and hand-bound by Angela Liguori and Silvana Amato. More on The Jumblies coming up soon!

Colour Letter Card from Aviewto. More on collections coming up here soon I hope, so many plans, never enough time!

What has caught my eye on Etsy this week? Well, the Diamond Pullovers Print Set from My Folk Lover (shown above) for one, so delicate and dreamy. There is so much amazing work out there that it is hard to narrow the field down, I was going to post a barrage of goodies but reluctantly cut it down to what you see below. Still a huge amount of handmade joy for you though!

Single Lantern Flower 8×10 Photograph from Wannabes

Vintage Valentine Bird Embroidered Apron from Allen Company Inc.

Vintage 1965 Kodak Instamatic Camera from Thrush

Medium Mini Sprout Vase by Whitney Smith.

I wish I had spotted this dress from Emily Ryan in time for my Wedding Day, just perfect for a DIY marriage.

Cat Eye Glasses for the Librarian stereotype in us all from Wicked Pen

Pretty, pretty! Hand printed linen Tea Towel by Leanne Graeff.

Hello Fifi Lapin, that yellow dress is so fetching on you!

Keyhole Flats made by Hydra Heart.

Create your own set of dishtowels available from The Heated.

White as Snow Dress from Sarah Seven.

Victoria and her new doll from wonderful Paola Zakimi’s shop Holli.

Beautiful ceramics (all 3 above) from Mud Puppy.

Beginning print from Iris Shwarz

Red Tree Earrings – Porcelain and Sterling Silver from Yasha Butler.

Ribcage with Heart valentine by xlessthan3.

Lovebirds Second Edition Print from Geninne’s Art Store.

NYC Souvenir 100% authentic New York City pigeon feathers sealed in plastic test tubes with a cork lid. Each feather comes with its own identification tag. Available from Brooklyn Rehab.

Miniature Cabinet of Curiosities 5 by Miniature Rhino.