A project from Japanese design firm NENDO… “A treehouse designed for the Ando Momofuku Center, a facility devoted to promoting and increasing access to nature activities. The facility is located in a forest in Komoro City in Japan’s mountainous Nagano Prefecture. Our treehouse is collective housing for many birds and one person. On one side, the treehouse has entrances to 78 nest spaces for birds. The other side has an entrance for one person, who can look into the birds’ nests from inside the treehouse” My friend Shaun from stoneblitzer sent this to me…he was also the builder of our treehouse….
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The publisher of Found Free & Flea (Random House / Clarkson potter) asked us to document the latest project: Rescuing the Sterlingworth Cabin… so…one sunny morning, david, bill, chuck and I decided to move it with only a pickuptruck, trailer, canvas strap and a prayer…. 5 hours later we had her moved to her new little perch at camp. here is the post on the origins of the cabin … kids: DONT TRY THIS AT HOME. stay tuned for the next phase- fixing it up….
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I hit the Walworth Co. Flea Market a few weeks ago and found some fantastic finds for pennies on the dollar. You gotta love that flea. Amazing (but dangerous) arrows with superb fire red feathers. A gorgeous vintage backpack (Alpine style) with a beautiful patina on the leather and canvas straps–carved into the back brace ‘Dillon Snell Nov. 1, 1941.’ Amazing. A new-old stock wool plaid blanket with its original labels and ads. Large tin with hunting dog. It looks to be 1950s era. Faux wood grain? (Be still my heart!) A few vintage aluminum flashlights–that work! Leather-clad whiskey flask with engraved…
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I am in love… With a book. Sitting here in prague, I discover that I am surrounded by all of these amazing little summer houses, and that the author of the book, Veronika Zapletalova, lives right here. what it’s about:SUMMERHOUSES – Devoted to original self-build summerhouses, a disappearing Czech phenomenon. The Czech “chata” – or “summerhouse” – is a simple, small, out-of-town dwelling, often improvised and self build by it’s owner. This project documents summerhouses, that mirror the extraordinary personalities of their builders, in both negative and positive way. These summerhouses dot the Czech landscape in their thousands, yet, very often they are forgotten,…
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10 characterful US hotels and B&Bs: The founder of designtripper.com selects 10 great small hotels, inns and lodges in fantastic, often off the beaten track locations across the US, from arty city guesthouses to rural hideaways check it out here! Owned by ad execs David Hernandez and Tereasa Surratt, this 25-acre Wisconsin retreat, an hour and a half from Chicago sticks close to its roots as a Latvian summer camp, offering canoeing, archery, hiking, fishing, shuffleboard … you name it. Though they like to call it “camping indoors,” the collection of buildings – a rustic main lodge, a two-storey hotel, a…
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Good Voyage is a design duo, Kate and Katie, working out of “the unexpectedly great town of Bloomington, Indiana”–their words. I discovered their business on Etsy, where I fell in love with their amazing constellation print (also available on notecards). Clicking around, I found their Big Cartel shop where I realized I had seen, and pinned, their cool painted ducks before (via Design Sponge). Their work is so fun and campy! Check out their site and Facebook page and shop their Etsy and/or Big Cartel site. [images from Good Voyage‘s various sites and Design Sponge]
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Browsing Etsy for some cool camp gear, I came across the shop of Philadelphia-based designer and illustrator, Jim DiGiovanni. Under the name Up North Co., Jim creates cool camp / backwoods / adventure / Americana inspired prints and patches that are fun and a bit retro. You can buy his work on both Etsy and Society6, or check out more about his adventures on his blog. Awesome stuff, Jim. [all work by Jim DiGiovanni–purchase on Etsy or Society6]
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We’ve gone on and on about how much we love MADEWELL in prior posts…and we’ve also blogged about the PENFIELDS / WANDAWEGA co-branded catalog… so it was exciting to get an email from our friend Eleanor yesterday that Madewell is now carrying the brand. Yay! Gorgeous, rugged, outdoorsy, classic clothes. And, as we were checking in on Penfield, we found that their new website features Camp Wandawega on all of the homepage images! Aaaawwwww. [images from Madewell and Penfields]
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I love maps of summer camps. There’s such a sense of wonder and discovery at a camp, so their maps end up feeling more like treasure maps than regular road maps. Actually, maybe a treasure map is a bad analogy since it’s not really about showing you how to get somewhere so much as it’s about showing you where you are once you’ve already stumbled upon somewhere. It’s fun to be able to compare old maps to new ones. I love to see how the illustration styles have changed and it’s interesting to look at how a camp’s layout evolves…
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You may remember us featuring Keely and Jason’s wedding invitations and engagement session here on the Wanda blog recently. Now we are ready to bring you their summer camp wedding – shot again by the incredible Anda Marie. Keely and Jason’s beautiful and homey wedding (quilts and pies and sparklers…oh my) was even featured on 100 Layer Cake yesterday! Check it out and check out Anda’s blog for her thoughts on the celebration and many more photos. Here are some words from the bride, Keely, on her incredible wedding: I did not have a specific image of my dream wedding when…
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