This looks amazing – Chinese artist Song Dong presents “Waste Not”, his “labrinthine” life-as-art installation that pays homage to the power of things. For 40 years, his mother stockpiled shoes to bottle caps, empty toothpaste tubes and birdcages all in their small house in Bejing. When her husband died unexpectedly, the stockpiling turned into more of an obsession, as if the collection could offset her grief. A tale of attachment and loss, all illustrated by bowls, birdcages, and shoe laces. Now at MoMA until Sept 7th.

Married authors and photographers James and Karla Murray’s book STORE FRONT “provides an irreplaceable window to the rich cultural experience of New York City as seen through its neighborhood shops.” It’s a New York that’s quickly disappearing, and provides such an intimate look at some of the places that sustained this very busy city. Via Gawker Artists

I stumbled upon the work of f2 Images while doing my regular Etsy searches. Their imagery, available for purchase – is decidedly feminine with a touch of eery. Great for that little spot in your house that just needs SOMEthing. The image above felt like Summer.

Brooklyn based Grow House Grow specializes in hand printed wallpaper with a narrative twist. Each collection features an array of wallpapers inspired by stories of murdered frontier women to bunnies in the back yard. They’re currently featured in this year’s Brooklyn Designs, going on this weekend.

I’m very excited to publish our first Melon Made Interview with a dear friend and inspiring creative force, Vanessa Bertozzi. Editor of the Etsy.com blog, filmmaker and world traveler, she gives us a little peak into the world that is Etsy and what it means to live handmade.

Tell us a little about yourself, and what you do.
Hi there! I’m Vanessa Bertozzi. I grew up in the countryside outside of Providence, RI, and when I was little I not only loved horses, I wanted to BE a horse. Now that I’m in Brooklyn, I miss the green but I don’t know miss having to drive a car around. I walk to work and that has become an essential part of my daily routine. I have the hugest, warmest 12 lb coat meant for the arctic and that has become an essential part of my winter work walk.

I’ve been working for Etsy.com for almost 2 and a half years and I love it very much. Etsy is an online marketplace where you can buy handmade items from the people who make them and vintage items from indie purveyors. It’s also a community of creative people who help each other out, have interesting discussions, and who are ‘livin la vida etsy.’ I run the Etsy blog (http://blog.etsy.com) with a fantastically talented group of people… (more…)

Pearson Maron’s creations are made by a married couple in SoCal. Their whimsical sculptures and pins bring a little bit of the unexplained to your life. I have a few favorite creations.

Beautiful and unique items for the casa from Horne. Also, check out the casa of the folks behind Horne, featured on Design Sponge – beautiful.

Bring a little spring indoors. “Greenware Design is a two woman team that combines the talents of two longtime friends, Irene McCollam  and Leslie Geer. Irene, the potter, creates original ceramics on her pottery wheel. Leslie, the planter, fills them up with unique succulent plantings.” Kudos to Etsy for featuring them.

AJ Fosik’s updated take on folk art is both poppy and unpredictable. Plus, check out his amazing collection of vintage beer sweaters – originally how I found out about him.

The boo and I won tickets (God bless WNYC) to see a screening of the new film, Sugar hitting theaters in NYC and LA on April 3rd. Directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (the duo behind Half Nelson) this is not your typical baseball epic. Following the life of Miguel “Sugar” Santos as he makes his way from the Dominican Republic to America via a Kansas City minor league team, the film is a story as much about baseball as it is about cultural assimilation, and finding yourself in a most surprising way. Great music, beautiful shots, and breakthrough introductions to some really amazing talent. Highly recommended. (Great site too, but don’t read the synopsis provided if you want the surprise ruined…)