the art of the cube!

 

  

images above: 

the rubitone by ignacio pilotto

groovik's cube @ burning man by naturalturn 

rubik's photo by greatbeyond

stack of cubes necklace by spinthread

cube art by invader

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happy 30th birthday this year to that puzzling + brilliantly-hued superstar, the rubik's cube!

as child of the 80's, it's a nostalgic throw back to think of the many roadtrips, evenings around the living room,  + saturday mornings after breakfast spent trying to solve, trying to trick another, trying to best the fastest times around the house and out-wit that magical cube-y puzzle.

{i know.... i'm happily a GEEK!} 

so homage paid today to that icon-o-colour, and the cube, itself: one of my fave design elements.

great to see the cube everywhere this season in the geometric  fashion frenzy- woohoo!

ever peel off the rubik's cube stickers 

just to try and beat it?

c'mon. confess.

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images below: 

giant rubik's cube @ disneyworld by daryl_mitchell

 rubik's cube art by eric limeback via ctv

rubik's cube art by invader 

cube art by invader

 

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the ekphrastic challenge {part one: Brueghel}

The Hunters in the Snow / The Return of the Hunters by Pieter Brueghel the Elder


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colour palette inspired by The Hunters in the Snow,
in Adobe Swatch Exchange (ASE) format

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often times in these wintry sorts of days, as the family & i jaunt thru the northern landscape or drive through the snowy countryside, the view will elicit a common "how brueghel-y!" ; a term made-up by art-history-loving mr. rikrak + i that just means: how reminiscent of old master's painter pieter brueghel's work!

where i live in canada, the colours of this painting, seen above, seem to be everywhere for most of the winter.

and while i think these tones have often been described as gloomy, now that i see them all the time, i find them wonderfully familiar + lovely.

and i've come to just love them.
do the colours of a piece of art ever inspire you?

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so, here's the challenge for you:
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using the idea of ekphrasis , a "graphic or artistic description/representation of a visual work of art." study the colours of the painting above, and/or the colour palette generated to match it. leave a link here to a handmade item of yours, (or another's) that is inspired by these colours + tones!

in one week, i'll compile the suggestions and post them as 1st our collective *ekphrastic response.* just keep in mind, i'm looking for handmade works that fit the colour-palette of this piece! thanks!

so show me your *brueghel-y*, nicies!
can't wait to see what you come up with!

and may your day be filled with gorgeous tones!

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an *inspiring* little game! { part 4 }

wall A

it's time again for another fun round of gaming!
a little while ago we played the 1st 3 parts, seen here. so try your hand @ round four and be inspired! the person who guesses the most correct matches wins a little feature here on the blog!!

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i love games.
and i love seeing others' inspirations!
so here's a fun game for all of us.
i've become very fascinated of late with the idea of inspiration boards or idea walls. i've seen images of many amazing little walls or boards dedicated to carefully collecting different little goodies that inspire the artist!

i love it! i'm fascintated with how they look. how they feel, and what folks choose to add to them. i'm also interested in how they relate (or not!) to the artist's work! so i found some of my faves in the blogosphere, and I thought we could do something fun with them!

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the FUN RULES:

take a look @ the images below (and the one at the top!) .... each inspiration board or wall belongs to a fun artist who is, this round, also a brilliant blogger! i've featured the accompanying blogs at the end of this post in the *the bloggers* section. see if you can, without looking/researching, match the inspiration board to the blogger. (i.e. A1, B2, etc)
and please post your guesses below in the comments!

...................................

each image links to the artists’ photostream... BUT try not to look until after you’ve entered your guesses. it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong - i just thought it'd be fun to try and guess! thanks so much to the artists/bloggers for sharing their amazing boards and work. i’ll be posting the answers later (wednesday-ish) in a separate post.

at that time, i'll also feature the person who commented with the most correct answers! so be sure to play! (but if you're REALLY eager to know which belongs to who.... just click on the board photos!
HAVE FUN!

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wall B

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wall C

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wall D

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wall E


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and now for the crafty bloggers!....

blogger 1: the fabulously talented kim of desire to inspire.

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blogger 2: the brilliant she.likes.cute.

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blogger 3: the lovely lu summers of summersville

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blogger 4: the inspiring seaembraces of the seaembraces blog.

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blogger 5: the wonderful cleverkaren

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ps: have an inspiration board? let me know!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

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the answers: an *inspiring* little game { part 3}: sketchbooks

question mark cross stitch pattern by andwabisabi

yay!
i'm so glad some folks added their fun answers to part three of the *inspiring* little game post from yesterday!

PLEASE NOTE! if you haven't had a chance to play the game yet,
please stop reading this post lickity-splitly and head on over to the game post here!

then you can come back here to see the answers!

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the answers to the sketchbook & artists matches are...
A5: tad carpenter
B6: carina envoldsen-harris
C4: ouou
D1: mondopanno
E3: alanna risse / angrypirate
F2: senyol

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many congrats to two entries who both guessed 4 out of 6 matches correctly!
here's to:

the lovely eNVe jewelry shop!
just look @ her beautiful creations. so pretty & with so many great deals in the shop.... she has a new clearance section, too! hurry & shop & save! great guessing!



and congrats to
annemarie, of the shop dinah's friends,
who makes these adorable teeny tiny needlefelted sweeties! oh heavens! aren't they so sweet?!


and congrats to the wonderful ouou, who guessed 4 of 6 correctly as well,
including her own fun sketchbook entry! :) thanks, nicey!

great guessing everyone! and thanks for playing!

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an *inspiring* little game! { part three }

sketchbook A

it's time again for another fun round of gaming! last month, we played part two, seen here.
so try your hand @ round three and be inspired!

the person who guesses the most correct matches wins a little feature here on the blog!

..............................................

i love games.
and i love seeing others' inspirations!

so here's a fun game for all of us.

i've become very fascinated of late with the idea of inspiration boards & sketchbooks & the like. i've seen images of many amazing sktechbooks dedicated to carefully collecting different little drawings & so-called "doodles" ...goodies that inspire the artist & their art! i love it!

i'm fascintated with how they look. how they feel, and what folks choose to add to them. i'm also interested in how they relate (or not!) to the artist's work! i love it!
so i found some of my faves in the blogosphere, and I thought we could do something fun with them!
........................................

the FUN RULES:
take a look @ the images below (and the one at the top!) .... each sketchbook belongs to a fun artist whose work I’ve featured at the end of this post in the *the artists* section.

see if you can, without looking/researching, match the sketchbook to the artist. (i.e. A1, B2, etc).... please post your guesses below in the comments!

...................................

each image links to the artists’ photostream... BUT try not to look until after you’ve entered your guesses. it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong - i just thought it'd be fun to try and guess!

thanks so much to the artists for sharing their amazing sketchbooks with us!

i’ll be posting the answers later tomorrow in a separate post. at that time, i'll also feature the person who commented with the most correct answers! so be sure to play! (*in the event of a tie, i will feature a couple of the winners!)

(but if you're REALLY eager to know which belongs to who.... just click on the photos!)

happy sketching!

...........................................................................

sketchbook B

sketchbook C

sketchbook D

sketchbook E

sketchbook F

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the artists!

artist #1: mondopanno

artist #2: senyol

artist #3: alanna risse / angrypirate

artist #4: ouou

artist #5: tad carpenter

artist #6: carina envoldsen-harris

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

thanks! do you have a sketchbook you'd like to share with us?

leave us the link below: i'm looking for more to share for next time. thanks!

and don't forget to enter the fabulous bayan hippo's wonderful totebag giveaway, on now here on my blog! & thanks to everyone who's taking my survey! keep 'em coming!

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the rikrak slumber party { part 1 } : your top 3 topsecret tv crushes!

Got Me a TV collage by kareemrizk

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don't you just love a slumber party? comfy pjs, silly movies, telling your friends, old & new, your thoughts & crushes & dreams.... such fun! so i thought i'd invite you to a new series on the rikrak studio blog... the rikrak slumber party. come on over... here's the first question :
:: your top 3 topsecret tv crushes ::

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i must admit, i'm not such a tv watcher. but over the years, i have had a few spurts of tv - ing - fun! they heyday for my tv watching was really when i was in my preteens. there were a variety of great 1960's and 70's reruns on in that era, that were right up my alley!
and so...
my first tv crush was was born...

Russell Johnson autograph via cerebral_intoxicat ion's photostream

tv crush #1: the professor from *gilligan's island.* (played by Russell Johnson) if you don't know gilligan's island, the premise sounds a bit like a comedic *Lost.* (just kiddin'!)
i loved the professor's good-guy charm, thoughtful approach to problem-solving, and understated wit .... i thought he was so cute! ahh...

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fast forward to the mid-80's ... tv crush #2.... *sigh* ... remington steele (pierce brosnan) ... to be honest.. i don't think i ever really saw this show about a former conman turned detectivey guy, as a youngin'.
( surely i wouldn't have been allowed! it still seems so racy in my mind! ha!)

but i do recall a glorious full-sized poster of remington steele that my very cool babysitter had up in her bedroom... and i was hooked! everytime i would be @ her place, i would just stare and stare... is it wrong to have a crush on a poster? i could just tell from that photo..
he was so dashing, so debonair, so clever and with such spy - ly intelligence! that's tv crush #2.

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George Stroumboulopoulos via vancouverisawesome.com

well... we've all come a long way from professors stranded on islands and dashing private investigators... so we're down to tv crush #3.... late @ night if i'm cutting fabrics or ironing orders, i love tuning in to see the very wonderful george stroumboulopoulos on cbc's current affairs/ news show *the hour* - it's true - i've certainly got a crush here! sadly, if you're not in canada... you might not know of the wonderful george... yet! i think george is a great host. he's gregarious and witty and has a fun intelligence to him... and he happens to interview some of my favourite advocates, humantarians, politicians and writers. i do have a little crush on george. it's true. *sigh*: tv crush #3

so there's my 3 not-so-secret top 3 tv crushes.
let's snuggle into our cozy sleeping bags, open another bag of sour cream & onion chips,
turn on some cyndi lauper, giggle & whisper and hear yours!

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an * inspiring * little game! { part two }

wall A

it's time again for another fun round of gaming! last month, we played part one, seen here.
so try your hand @ round two and be inspired!

the person who guesses the most correct matches wins a little feature!

..............................................

i love games.
and i love seeing others' inspirations!

so here's a fun game for all of us.

i've become very fascinated of late with the idea of inspiration boards or idea walls. i've seen images of many amazing little walls or boards dedicated to carefully collecting different little goodies that inspire the artist! i love it!

i'm fascintated with how they look. how they feel, and what folks choose to add to them. i'm also interested in how they relate (or not!) to the artist's work! i love it!
so i found some of my faves in the blogosphere, and I thought we could do something fun with them!
........................................

the FUN RULES:
take a look @ the images below (and the one at the top!) .... each inspiration board or wall belongs to a fun artist whose work I’ve featured at the end of this post in the *the artists* section.

see if you can, without looking/researching, match the inspiration board to the artist. (i.e. A1, B2, etc).... please post your guesses below in the comments!

...................................

each image links to the artists’ photostream... BUT try not to look until after you’ve entered your guesses. it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong - i just thought it'd be fun to try and guess!

thanks so much to the artists for sharing their amazing boards and work.

i’ll be posting the answers later in a separate post. at that time, i'll also feature the person who commented with the most correct answers! so be sure to play!

(but if you're REALLY eager to know which belongs to who.... just click on the board photos!)

...........................................................................

wall B

wall C

wall D

wall E

.........................................................

the artists

artist 1: photographer paper pony

artist 2: one good bumblebee

artist 3: red velvet art / o!rachew!

artist 4: phatsheep textiles

artist 5: paper valise provisions

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
ps: have an inspiration board? let me know!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

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