My fascination with porcelain and the way light dances in and off of it has yet to subside... latest to catch my eye was in C magazine, the Lynn Lanterns from Williams Sonoma Home. "Hand cut in a beehive motif, our lanterns cast light and shadow in lacy patterns on tabletops and terraces. The glazed white porcelain has tea-stained wicker handles and removable bottoms that allow for easy placement and lighting of candles. Candles not included." See larger image on the next page.

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Tags: gifts - home - porcelain - shopping

In case you haven't noticed, i seem to be fascinated with edgy/twisted porcelain incarnations lately... Catching my eye - then sucking in all my attention - at ICFF was the Lladró booth - while i've long loved their work, their hiring of Jaime Hayon (i actually met him at the show! and he was incredibly nice... and i was a bit in awe and rather tongue tied) as creative director, and their Re-Cyclos Magical Forest Collection really had me paying special attention to them the last few years...

At their booth, the first thing to pull you in is the new fiberoptic/porcelain chandelier with leaves (much like the Niagara Chandelier with the fairies), and seeing how the fiberoptic strands were attached to the porcelain leaves was fascinating (as was the lighting itself). Next the Re-Cyclos tea set where the legs of a bowl were all porcelain horse heads, the napkin ring made of horse legs, the handles on the cups and mugs were horse legs as well! Really in description it sounds far more bizarre than the result, the juxtaposition was really quite beautiful (see the pics on the next page). Also fascinating were the porcelain boxes that have what look like barbie and ken faces pressed into them (complete with makeup for that dash of color), they actually turned the molds used to create the figured into the boxes themselves, in a stark matte porcelain and a gold interior. As you can see, its really not the usual collection of porcelain collectibles you'd expect, and really they seem like a fun match for some pieces over at the Designboom Mart, like the Blaue Blume Tea Set.

Lladró ~ for a company that i grew up knowing for beautiful traditional porcelain pieces, you fascinate me with every part of your evolution. I never expected a bizarre and edgy collection quite like this from the 50+ year old company, and love it! More pictures from the booth on the next page!

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Tags: gifts - icff - porcelain - shopping

There is nothing like a yellow box with a ball on a string hanging off of it and the hint of a secret door... it might as well have screamed "PULL ME". So we did. And i couldn't stop laughing when out popped a porcelain cuckoo bird offering me a condom in its beak. So i let go, then pulled it again. Perhaps i'm still a 5 year old, but it was amusing! Susanne Hangaard's Cucoon ~ silly play on words, craziest, yet most adorable condom dispenser i've seen.

Now just imagine being right in the moment, and as your partner goes to reach for a condom, instead they pull a string and out *pops* a porcelain cuckoo? Would it kill the mood? Help you fall faster for the playful design geek? Personally, i'm not sure how i'd react... other than a fit of giggles. My only complaint, why can't it refill itself? Teach the bird to get its own condoms... its a bit high maintenance to have to refill it one by one... also, it could make for a fun business card dispenser (if only it could refill itself!). More pics on the next page!

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Tags: birds - condoms - nature - porcelain - sex - wood

I love Mixko, but any NOTCOT regular would already know that... and i've had a particular fascination for their rings (i indulged in their felt butterfly rings as well as the first porcelain skull ring last year at ICFF)...

This year Mixko has expanded their bone china ring line, and i'm excited to show you their full collection on the next page. I think the most eye catching are the updated Skull for 2008 (deeper eyes, larger forehead, bigger teeth...) as well as the Barbie inspired collection of Barby, Cindie, and Ken heads cast in bone china to be worn as a ring (can you imagine seeing all of them in a row on a fist?). They have also created a LOVE ring and Sovereign Ring, in addition to some 1D multifaceted diamond bone china rings! Check them all out on the next page! They are also incredibly affordable at a mere 20 pounds each (check them out in the store).

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Tags: china - gifts - icff - jewelry - porcelain - shopping

The German Theosaurus - the porcelain piggy bank with nostrils so large you're sure it ought to be able to sniff out some truffles for you... or, at least, help you save up some coin to buy some! After CA Boom V (which took merely an hour to cover) ~ i headed over to Abbot Kinney and stopped in on Andy over at A+R, where he had just gotten the Theosauruses in, and he even has an exclusive on them this month! These adorable piggy banks showed up on .org as #7013, but seeing them in person, you can't help but want to pick it up and bring it home... really, it's one worth checking out in person, and would make a darling gift for nearly anyone, once you figure out which one to buy. We debated whether the sitting or standing was more cute... and personally, i think the sitting one is most adorable when next to the standing one, however if i only got to go home with one, definitely the standing one... in porcelain with the blue pattern! Although, the sitting one does have a locking bottom, versus the two cork feet of the standing one... and the family of the 4 did look most adorable together. Anyhow, take a look below to see how they look in context of the real world (versus the uber-clean product photography world).

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Tags: gifts - money - porcelain - shopping