Artist Claire Brewster has created these paper silhouettes of plants, birds and fish from old maps. Her work is about retrieving the discarded and bringing life to the obsolete. She uses old and out of date maps and atlases as her fabric of choice. The cut-outs are either pinned directly to the wall as a large scale installation or they are captured in a box frame. The shadows created from the light gives these installments a 3D quality and creates almost a feel of movement. These cut-outs are very creative and give a different feel on how someone else's trash can becomes someone's art. Check out more of her work on her blog.



Source: illusion

These beautifully stunning waterscapes were taken by Budapest-based amateur photographer Akos Major.  The detail and full depth and minimal composition gives the photos an eerie yet calming feeling to them. I'm not sure either how he got the water to look so flat but its sweet however he did it. Check out more of Akos Major work, I'm sure you will enjoy his other sets as well.



Source: Behance

Smoking children is a controversial topic I would assume but photographer Frieke Janssens wants you to see a different view.  The series was inspired by the YouTube video of the smoking Indonesian toddler.

The aesthetics of smoke and the particular way smokers gesticulate with their hands and posture cannot be denied, but among the different tribes of "Smoking Kids," - Glamour, Jazz, and The Marginal - there is a nod to less attractive aspects, on the line between the beauty and ugliness of smoking.

To assure you of the safety of the children, there were no real cigarettes on set. Instead, chalk and sticks of cheese were the prop stand ins, while candles and incense provided the wisps of smoke.

I'm not sure which I like better the packaging for this product or for the cool wood back panels. Monolith the company behind these designs has created three clean elegant wood back panels that come in oak, teak or walnut for the iPhone 4 or 4s. From what I can tell they're complete back panel replacement and I'm only assuming since it will run you $55 bucks for one of these. So if you want to make your high-tech glass and metal iPhone a little bit classier then you can head over to Monolith and pre-order one today.



Source: notcot

I'm always looking for sweet looking pieces for my room or just about anything that I think would look cool. I came across this wooden book rack from a friend on Facebook and immediately thought this was awesome. It was created by Gustav & Agusta from OldAndCold on Etsy. This custom made wooden book rack in Wenge wood ($199) comes with a set of 10 pins/bookmarks. These pins are detached and can be moved around on the rack. The books rest on a small wooden plate so the pages stay intact (see inlay on pic 3). The plates can be moved back and forth on the bottom of the book to control the height of which the book hangs, making it possible to use different sized books. Check out more of their items on Etsy.

I couldn't pass this up since I've always been a fan of Beavis and Butthead.  So when I saw these real life prosthetic models of Beavis and Butthead I had to repost this. The creator behind these creations is special makeup effects artist Kevin Kirkpatrick. Who I guess wanted to terrify or even shock the world with how creepy Beavis and Butthead would look in real life. Then it begs the question, what would Daria look like in real life?



Source: Buzzfeed

If you've ever wonder if a tree could make music, it can and it sounds beautiful yet haunting. In the video below a record player was modified to play slices of wood. The year rings on the wood were analyzed and then translated into music.

A tree’s year rings are analyzed for their strength, thickness and rate of growth. This data serves as basis for a generative process that outputs piano music based on the year ring data. Those are analyzed for their thickness and growth rate and are then mapped to a scale which is again defined by the overall appearance of the wood (ranging from dark to light and from strong texture to light texture). The foundation for the music is certainly found in the defined ruleset of programming and hardware setup, but the data acquired from every tree interprets this rule set very differently.

It's intriguing that each note is a season passed in the life of the tree. The smaller intervals on the wood were harder years for the tree and the longer silences filled with seasons of growth. So really when you listen to the wood record you're listening to the whole life of the tree.

Bang & Olufsen have just announced a new brand, a follow up from the company's previous release, the BeoSound 8 sound system. The B&O Play Beolit 12 Portable Music System ($800) was designed by Danish designer Cecile Manz, the Beolit 12 has a stylish sleek look that's topped off with an Italian leather carrying strap, and is equipped with Apple's AirPlay. It has a built-in power supply and a rechargeable battery which can charge an iPhone or any other connected device and play back music for about 8 hours. It currently comes in the gray style but the company is releasing later this month the yellow, blue and light gray versions of this music system. It will also be available as well in the Apple Stores as the company's authorized outlets.




Source: ecoolgadgetss

This home is located in a residential neighborhood of central Tokyo, Japan and its called House S., a single family residence for Tokyo-based studio Keji Ashizawa. The home use to be the site of an old samurai residence and is filled with beautiful pines and zelkova trees which gives this home a connection with nature and combines both nature and urban living. Each floor in this home has planting and the interior wood floors on the first level open up to a lushly vegetated garden, allowing the greenery to permeate the wood interior. The planting and the openness as well as the staircase are just a few things in this home that give it a open calming feeling to it.

Images by: Daici Ano