On Off Mug
November 30th, 2007
Today’s Soupe made us laugh when we first saw it! At plain sight it is a standard black mug as they come a dime a dozen and in big white letters it say OFF. Nothing fancy, but once you add the hot beverage of your choice, the mug changes color and is turning white and in big black letters it states: ON
Nifty eh? Do we need to explain more? Nah, we didn’t think so, we’ll just leave it to the wonders of heat sensitive pigment… Dishwasher safe of course!
Price: $25 / 16€
Technorati Tags: Charles & Marie, Epicurean delight, hip home, Modern Living, Soupe du Jour, tableware
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Remember those old drawing that could be found in traditional butcher shops that depicted the different cuts a pig or a cow could have? Well the creative guys at The Cottage Industry who already brought us the portrait/landscape sketchbook applied this aesthetic to a traditional piggy bank. But instead of reading the different cuts, this version now spells out options of what you will do with the money saved. Now granted, some of the options depicted are a bit pricier than what the piggy can actually hold at 13 cm high and 29 cm long, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
We just love fabulous china and the City Plates have been amongst our favorites ever since they came out. Never heard of them? Don’t worry, we’ll introduce you to them as they appeal to you whether you are an architect or urban planner or not. 8 very different cities are displayed in a very graphical way, making these plates a fabulous addition to any modern dinner table. The designers chose the cities depicted here for their reputation as gateways and for the way each is dealing with the effects of agglomeration as its populations begins to reach critical mass. We like them for their compelling graphic representation of these 8 distinctly fascinating cities. Key buildings are represented with red icons, while rivers and public spaces are shown in vivid blue and green. It is very impressive to see what detail you can achieve on a 12″ (30 cm) wide plate and how conversations start instantly amongst dinner guests.
Remember when everybody carried a timer around? A nice leather bound timer, where you would enter all your appointments and notes and whatever else you deemed note worthy? It seems that no one does so any more. We carry iPhones and Blackberrys and sync with our laptops and office and some even have web based calendars to manage their family appointments… It seems like a piece of culture disappeared with the switch to the handheld units, we might be more effective, but the tactile quality and the aesthetics of a Filofax can’t be beat by the iPhone, let alone any Blackberry… That’s why we like this new note book/timer series which we recently found in Germany. At 6 x 2.25″ (15,5 x 6 cm) it is compact enough to be thrown into your bag without occupying too much space. Structually it is pretty smart as well as it pivots around a central hub, eliminating the need to flip pages and it has a big solid rubber band attached to it, which keeps it from opening up in your bag… The rubber band is also pretty cool to hold your iPhone or Blackberry when you take this little companion to your next meeting, but if you prefer not to, you can slip a pencil or pen underneath it as well.
Straight out of the new Elfcraft studio comes this fabulous bracelet just in time for the holidays. We were in Hamburg a couple days ago and simply had to pop our head into our favorite silversmiths new studio and get the personal tour. The new space is fab and has a great showroom where all the pieces are on display, which is a huge step up from the previous tiny shop. Within minutes we found ourselves browsing and picked up this great bracelet which is a perfect addition to the ones we already have. This one is pitch black and the sterling silver closures sport a Fleur-De-Lis on each side which gives it a real nice touch.
Today’s Soupe makes us really happy because this fabulous cardholder has been around for quite a while in Japan already, and we loved it from the moment we first saw it, but not until now has it been available anywhere else! Designed by dutch designer Samira Boon in Japan, the entire Furoshiki Shiki line is based on the traditional Japanese way of folding a bag. This time it is interpreted in a very different way though and uses the unique structure of vinyl and the fact that it is so sticky to create a fabulous truly tight wallet without any stitching, just by folding it… We’ll start the range with the cardholder, but will be expanding to the other pieces of the series as well soon!
Super talented Fabian Seibert has done it again! Rosy is his brand new piece of jewelry and it is simply amazing in our opinion. It is a super thin, laser cut piece of metal, powder coated in black that is twisted in such a unique way that you can wear it perfectly around your neck. All you need to do is bend it open slightly, place it around your neck and the structure of the metal will make it bend back together.
Ready to open your heart for pure luxury? Good, then how about letting this set of 6 champagne glasses in; handmade especially for you so you can show off your mad champagne pouring skills?
Designer extraordinaire Michael Young has done it once again – no, not another fantastic watch, but a super sexy vibe. Not that a vibe isn’t sexy in itself, but this is also just plain gorgeous. The shapes allow for exploration in all the right places and the size is – let us quote one of the testers here: ‘just perfect’… Let’s not even try to add anything here.
When you think of organs, you probably think: gross, yucky and anything but cute. Well, think again, because since we saw those guts for the first time we can’t stop giggling and kids of all ages beg us for those organs. With these cute guts it’s easy to become an organ donor, so let us introduce you to these four hard working guys: