A desktop-daytrip through the mountains. Don’t you love that fresh air? Here’s a closer peek at the peaks of our upcycled Mountaintop + Skyscraper Pocket Cards. They suit either the city mouse or the country mouse!
urban art
A Spin Through the Stripey City
It’s Friday, so we took a colorful day trip, without even leaving the workspace. Our upcycled City Pocket Cards provided the backdrop to this micro adventure. Bon voyage!
Godliness is Next to Mufflers
Kinda tough to take to the streets these days without stepping into some roadside sanctimony. Take or leave the big messy bag of religion and take a second to appreciate the hand painted art on exhibit in everyday locales. Admission is free to the public. See Jesus lording over automobile shops where he protects and warranties everything from crankshafts and transmissions to windshields. And watch him preside over liquor store parking lots and back alleys, bringing hope to those with no bathrooms & no place to shoot up.
Amble along with us through the pious city streets and righteous country roads across the USA. Don’t be a-feared of the blood and apocalyptic messages. And just remember the choice is yours. Wherever you end up, send us a postcard.
Lookin’ for Love
They say you only find love when you stop looking for it. Is this really so? We took to the streets on a love quest– pounding the pavement with our peepers peeled to see what we could find.
We took it slow. We didn’t want to rush into anything, but things were looking promising.
Probably just a fluke. But then this?
And glancing down.
Looking up.
The walls.
The stairway.
The freeway.
The doorway.
The entryway.
Hold up– maybe things are moving a bit too fast.
Don’t want my heart to end up here.
Maybe we need to break up. It’s not you, it’s me. And just remember:
Thanks to all the artists out there putting love on the streets.
Find quirky handmade sweet nothings for your sweet something this Valentines day.
Field Notes for Urban Adventurers
Take note. Our handmade upcycled photo notebooks are one of a kind. Pick a theme that strikes your fancy– from Pizza to Urban Birding to Mid Mod Architecture. Original urban photography inside and out is sure to inspire some bright ideas. Tour our mini journals here and put one in your pocket!
So Close and Yet So Noir…
Over 5 years ago, we challenged ourselves to track down and watch every film noir made back in the day when noir was noir. It’s been a fun yet bumpy ride mapping our way through cross referenced lists to find rare cinematic gems and plain old lemons. We’ve scoured public libraries, the internet, local video stores, and film noir fests. Now we’re closing in on completing the list.
But thankfully, there’s always unexpected noirs popping up like weeds wanting their day in the sun. So the challenge continues. At this point, it would be heartbreaking to take a powder on the nightly noir habit.
Luckily, we’ve amassed quite a DVD collection for the dry spells. It was that tippy stack of DVDs that inspired the making of a worthy home for them. We found a couple discarded noir-ish LP covers and worked up a plan for a dapper homemade DVD Case. Over time, we perfected the construction and began selling the one-of-a-kind Upcycled DVD Holder Books.
Recently, we came across this album cover which inspired the making of our latest 52 DVD Holder Book to hit the Etsy shop.
Inside pocket pages are sewn from repurposed card stock printed with original photography, street art imagery and graphics in keeping with the noir theme.
Now you too can stylishly tote your film noir library through life’s mean streets.
Meanwhile, we’re hoping to cross a couple more noirs off the list at the San Francisco Noir City 2016, taking us one step closer to wrapping up our challenge… or maybe just a couple films deeper into the shadows.
The Hand Writing is on the Walls
It tells you where to park, what’s for sale, or how much for a haircut. I may not go in for the advertised clutch job or psychic reading, but I’m sold on the peeling-paint fonts and colorful crooked letters that make the walls come to life. A field trip through the city is a walk through a typographic gallery. It’s as if these walls can talk.
Check out our urban typography mini journal here http://etsy.me/1z0VNzF . Perfect for recording field notes on your urban rambles.
Succulent Tin Cans on a Stick– The Upcycled Urban Garden
Soaking in the last few days of summer. This means enjoying and improving the backyard– a constant work in progress. The summer garden is winding down but the pomegranate tree is coming around. It looked a bit lonely, so we decided to give it some succulent company. A few clippings found new homes in some old tin cans. With some ingenuity and some hardware scraps those tin cans cheat the fate of the trash heap once again!
Check out our Hobo Tin Can Beer Holders (cause everything goes better with beer!) and some of our other upcycled wares here: http://etsy.me/1i9heEp
City Lights
Sprouting skyward out of the cracked bubbling blacktops of abandoned city parking lots, the rusty streetlights quietly weather out their last stand against the next nondescript stucco development that will inevitably usurp their real estate. Admiring these geometric giants orbiting above the urban sprawl, one can begin to imagine how the past was lit.
To see a bunch of old LA streetlights standing together in one random parking lot, check out Vermonica created by Sheila Klein.
You can find more photos of Los Angeles’ urban landscape at stripeycity.
Art is all around us
Museums are inspiring, but sometimes a shuffle around the city is just as good if not better– easy on the eyes and the wallet. Slow down and you might catch a masterpiece before it disappears.
This art seems to pop up as magically as it is erased from the cityscape.
Who’s behind the art? Does it drive up sales of mufflers or psychic readings? Either way, it’s great wallpaper for the city.
Hats off to all the urban artists who make our city colorful and interesting. Any neat street art in your city?
See the day in the life of one street artist here. Take notes on your own urban art ramblings in a Street Art Mini Journal.
stripeycity 