Orange Gifts

The word for this week is ORANGE

Clockwise from top: Versailles notebook from Carrot and Stick Press, Bull Finch by Oiva Toikka, Orange & brown mosaic pillow by Thomas Paul, Orange Worktop Saver Cutting Board by Joseph Joseph, Cross-stitch transfers, Don't ashtray by Josh Owen.

Orange Tip

Images: Orange tip

The word for this week is ORANGE

I love the concepts behind these Orange Tip calendars. (Click on the calendar section to view previous years' calendars.) So simple and heartfelt.

The woodlanders pouch series are also lovely.

A Word A Week: ORANGE

The word for this week is ORANGE


I came across Ben Sakoguchi's collection of orange crate label illustrations recently and thought they really showed his wit and skill as an artist.

Photographer David Spencer made a short documentary about the historical citrus postcards crate labels from Florida here.

It's a wrap: Christo

Photos: christo

The word for this week is WRAP

Who better to cover the topic of wrapping than Christo and Jeanne-Claude (no pun intended.) The couple became famous for wrapping monumental objects. Shown above is their wrapping of Pont Neuf in Paris.


While I was reading up on their work, it was interesting to learn more about their earlier pieces, many of which I hadn't seen before.

Exerpt from the book Christo:

"...In all of his early “Packages” Christo transforms familiar objects into ambivalent presence, sometimes rendering them unrecognizable and often raising doubts about their past, present and future identity and function...

...Wrapping can connote gifts, death, preservation and eros, but it almost always implies value - that the object is worthy of such attention. But while wrapping suggests worth, it also reduces everything to the level of object: the contained object is a physical thing before it is anything else."

It's a wrap!
(Sorry I couldn't resist.)

Mina Perhonen

Photo: mina perhonen

The word for this week is WRAP

When the weather is wet and gloomy, I dream of wrapping myself in a cheery color. This wonderful textile is from mina perhonen.

Broadway Papers

Images: Broadway Papers

The word for this week is WRAP

Make wrapping fun with these papers.

Fable Industries

Photos: Fable Industries

The word for this week is WRAP

Kraft journals wrapped in melton wool strips from Fable. Their signature hardcover journals are lovely too.

A Word A Week: WRAP

Photos: Re-found and Papastour.


The word for this week is WRAP

For starters, check out these beautiful vintage blankets from Re-found
Handknitted scarves and adorable egg cosies from Edinburgh designer, INTO, at papastour.

wu and wu

The word is PAIR. As in wu and wu.

wu and wu's dumpling dynasty is lead by Fiona Hewitt and her partner Andy. Inspired by their years of living in Hong Kong, their gift collection has a vintage Chinese slant to it, with communist propaganda iconography. So fresh and funky! A pigtail kit, anyone?
Fiona is also the illustrator behind famed design firm Blue Q's line of Miso Pretty.

Koos and Tante Tini

The word is PAIR. As in a pair of shoes

The simplicity of a Koos shoe is quite stunning. But beyond the products, the Koos brand statement strikes a chord with me:

Koos is more than a shoe,
Koos is about the walk, the steps Koos takes,
the footprint Koos leaves behind:
a social footprint, an economical footprint and an ecological footprint.
Koos is not afraid to walk new grounds. Koos keeps walking and along the path others joined the walk.


I also love how the design of the site so nicely juxtaposes the fluid, loose sketches and handwriting against the clean and modern photography. Their sister brand Tante Tini is equally charming.

Introducing A Word A Day

Photo: Getty images

I had initially created this blog in conjunction with my site and was pondering upon its purpose. While I love to post about cool and interesting finds (and so many design blogs do this beautifully), I wanted to find an interesting angle to present them. That's when I hit upon the "A Word A Week" idea.

This is how AWAW will work. Each week, I will pick a word and generate posts around it. This week's word is: pair.

A Collaboration with Flybird Press

Happy New Year everyone!!

chewing the cud is excited to announce our first collaboration with Flybird Press. Joy and I are thrilled to be working together to create some fantastic letterpress goods. Our first project is a set of letterpress Valentine cards.





They are currently on sale online. If you are in the Bay area, you can also pick them up at Birch in San Francisco and Relish at Home in Berkeley. Stay tuned for more!