Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Beautiful Watercolor Landscapes




Z.L. Feng grew up in Shanghai and began painting at the young age of seven. After experimenting with all kinds of different mediums, he finally settled on a favorite - watercolor. The artist always revered the medium because of its level of difficulty. “With watercolor you cannot cover your mistakes, so you must know what you are doing,” he says. One of Feng's favorite places to find inspiration is in the countryside of Virginia's New River Valley. “Usually I go around - to the river, the forest, the lake – to try and find interesting compositions.” One can only imagine the beautiful landscapes he must see during the fall season, when the leaves change colors. Before coming to the U.S. in 1986, Feng received his BFA degree from Shanghai Teacher’s University and taught in its art department for four years. He completed the MFA degree at Radford University in 1989 where he is currently a Professor of Art.


AZ Gimme Yours 2010 Remix

Spotted in Fabric by Blackburn ... DJ Beestroh


DJ Beestroh from 107.9 is one of Atlanta's hottest DJ's. He is featured wearing Blackburn's "Kanye West" sweater in grey, purchased from Sole in Atlanta.



Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Fabric by Blackburn Presents... "Signature Dip Dye Woven"




Fabric by Blackburn's "Dip Dye Woven" is a great holiday piece. It is 100% cotton, lined with our signature silk paisley lining. The buttons on this garment are dyed to match (dtm), meaning they match the exact color of the garment. If you look closely you will see that the buttons on the top of the shirt are grey and end dark purple. Blackburn's "Dip Dye Woven" is a very unique piece with many small details, making this piece essential for your holiday outfit.

In Stores Now..

The Orca Power Strap



The Orca Power Strap is a battery bracelet that provides emergency power for your gadgets. You can connect it to your iPhone or other gadgets via USB power port. It's four LED shows how much battery capacity is left. Price... $65.. I think it is reasonable, what do you think?

Casa Fez, Portugal







The beauty of great architecture. Casa Fez, a new house in Porto, Portugal, designed by architect Álvaro Leite Siza Vieira. The architect calls it “the work of my life” as it is a residence he created for himself. “This project and everything behind it was a huge challenge,” he told TCH. “I needed a lot of willpower and courage -- even more than when I decided to become an architect. I try sew up objectives, interests and goals. I followed an ideal and I finally achieved my dream.” The architect started planning his dream house in 2004 and the construction was finally finished earlier this year. He did absolutely everything himself – not just planning, coordinating and supervising the construction but also creating the interiors and the tiniest of details, including the doors and doorknobs, hand rails, furnishings, lighting, furniture and even some paintings. Mixed with the new pieces are historical and timeless pieces inherited from the family and perfect for this environment.

Sand Glass LED Traffic Lights



Some things you pass by everyday and would never think twice about they can be improved.

Riverside's Mission Inn Lights Up Christmas Season in Los Angeles







New Yorkers may mark the start of the holiday season with the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center and Washingtonians may feel the same about the lighting of the White House Christmas tree. But in greater Los Angeles, holiday cheer-seekers head east -- to the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside.

Inn owner Duane Roberts illuminates his landmark hotel with more than 3.5 million lights and stages a free Festival of Lights show, replete with an elaborately decorated Christmas tree, Dickens carolers, horse-drawn carriages and more than 400 animated characters dressed in 17th Century costumes. There's even free hot cocoa, eggnog and holiday sweets. (No, there's no snow, but truth is most of us moved here because we weren't that attached to it in the first place.)

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Blackburn Membership has it's Privileges


This Pure White Cognac is produced with grapes from the Cognac region and is distilled twice. It is not available in the United States. Having a Blackburn membership sure has it's privileges!

Fabric by Blackburn is in SOLE Atlanta



SOLE Atlanta is showcasing Fabric by Blackburn's "Stop & Go" sweater in navy. The showcase looks beautiful. Great Job Sole and thanks for all the love!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Fabric by Blackburn Presents... "The Signature Jacket"








The "Signature Jacket" is a fully embroidered, goose down jacket, available in black, grey and purple. It features our logo bird jewel piece as the zipper, giving the jacket the "Blackburn touch". It is also lined with our silk signature paisley lining for extra warmth and style. Fabric by Blackburn's "Signature Jacket" is now in stores. Come check us out !


NISSAN IV CONCEPT




This will be a man's new best friend. Imagine whipping one of these !



Brionvega




The venerable Italian brand Brionvega thinks the 60s and 70s are worth bringing back, or that at least some of the design sensibilities of the era warrant new life. The classic, groundbreaking Radiofonografio, divined in 1965 by two of the three Castiglioni brothers, Pier Giacomo and Achille, is making a new entrance as RR226. In 1965, the 'musical component robot' was a home electronic marvel that in one sleekly designed device included a radio, amplifiers and a record player (for both 45s and 33s).

The modernized model has also a CD and DVD players but otherwise it is as close as possible to the original. The amplifiers are moveable which makes it possible to create different configurations both for visual and listening pleasure. Showcased at the Salone del Mobile in Milan in April, RR226 may be a while coming to a store near you. But like so many of the Castiglioni brothers' objects, still produced and/or displayed by Zanotta, Flos, Artemide and MoMA, the Radiofonografio is most likely going to stay with us for yet another long period.
- Tuija Seipell

Mercedes-Benz Biome








We absolutely love this. Check out the tires!

Bridle Road Residence, Cape Town, South Africa

Bridle Road Residence in Cape Town, South Africa, is a beautiful example of a sizeable structure that does not impose itself onto the landscape at the base of Table Mountain.



The single-family residence does not look massive or overly grand, but instead exudes a classic elegance with Scandinavian/Japanese lightness, precision and scale. The proportions and division of the walls and windows — including the “picture windows” overlooking the Cape Town harbor — create an openness without the feel of exposure.


The architecture is by Cape Town’s Antonio Zaninovic, known for his ability to let the landscape lead the architectural solutions. The Santiago, Chile-born, Zaninovic graduated from the University of Chile’s School of Architecture in 2000 and spent five years at Steven Harris Architects in New York before establishing his own practice in 2005 with Madrid, Spain-born architect, Ana Corrochano.


The building and site feature several sustainable solutions including the self-cleaning outdoor pool, natural cross-ventilation, use of earth temperature as climactic moderator, use of heat-repelling glass, and maximal use of local materials such as poured finish concrete and balau wood.




The house and its landscape won an American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2010 Honor Award in the Residential Design category, - Tuija Seipell

MiShare-Share Your Music


One of the biggest problems that people have with iPods is that unless you have a diploma in hacking, it is extremely difficult to share your tunes, especially without getting a computer involved. That is of course until now. Want the latest album from your friends' iPod? Simply connect both iPods to the miShare unit, press the button and away you go. It's kind of like swapping football cards in the playground, although much cooler.

Providing that your files are not DRM protected (that's digital rights management to you technophobes), everything from movies to photos to songs can be transferred. Even entire playlists. Nice. There is however one downside - for now the unit does not work with the iPhone or iPod touch, although we are told that a firmware update is being looked in to.

Developed in Brooklyn and currently being shipped to all corners of the world for US$100, may the sharing epidemic begin.
By Brendan McKnight



Main Beach House by BDA Architecture


BDA Architecture have designed a house in the Main Beach area of Australia’s Gold Coast. Description from BDA Architecture.
The site is set within the high-rise domain. The restricted site area and predominantly high-rise neighbours, allowed an opportunity to develop a unique tower house. The design intent was to accommodate an extended family while providing an indoor/outdoor relationship and capture the surrounding views of the bush land, ocean and the Broadwater.The program responds to the constraints by developing a tower house which divides the house into two parts. The lower three levels are designed for a couple with young children and contains a living area on the upper level, bedrooms in the middle and a guest area and communal living area at ground level opening onto a private pool terrace. The upper two levels contain living and sleeping areas for two other family members. All levels are connected by a stair and an elevator. A shared roof terrace provides an entertaining area allowing guests to capture the magnificent surrounding views.The built form is a response to the program and surrounding neighbouring development. The lower 3 storey base is a solid white concrete box whereas the upper component of the composition is a lighter zinc clad box balanced on one edge of the structure below, appearing as though about to depart. Exterior modelling expresses the duality within the family makeup – independent yet connected. The dynamic cantilevered form was made possible by the integrated structural design. The house was designed to provide a good northerly aspect, maximum natural light and cross ventilation.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Fabric by Blackburn Presents ... "Signature Paisley Sweater"




Fabric by Blackburn's "Signature Sweater" is fully embroidered and 100% cotton. The details and vivid colors on the black background makes this a very unique piece. It is the perfect "get fly" piece for the coming holidays. The "Signature Sweater" will be in stores November 20.