One of my very favourite food blogs is Matt Bites. Matt Armendariz is ridiculously multi-talented in the areas of culinary creation, food photography, styling and general design flair. The recipes Matt features are always drool-inducing and the photography? Well, it makes you want to pop through the screen and live in Matt’s world of fabulously styled cuisine. Matt’s latest post focuses on Winter Citrus and the images are full of crisp shades of yellow, green and orange. I love this citrus peel title Matt created and its handsomely handcrafted typography. Maybe citrus colours are the perfect anecdote to a grey January?

You know those round nonpareil sprinkles that are liberally tossed about during holiday cookie decorating? Imagine meticulously placing 221,184 of them by hand using jewellery tweezers and a pixelating computer program. Are your eyes burning from that thought? Mine are! Canadian artist Joel Brochu was inspired by a previous project he created exploring the pointillism technique of applying small dots of colour to create a larger image and decided to re-create a photograph with sprinkles. Using a photograph of a beagle by Shingo Uchiyama, Joel needed just six colours of sprinkles (red, orange, green, blue, black and white) to create a surprisingly large spectrum of hues. It’s amazing how colour can be suggested and created with the right combinations and placement. Nonpareils are just 1/16 inch thick so 221,184 of them were needed to re-create the 4′ by 1.5′ photograph. Crazy, painstaking work that makes me wonder what Joel could do with a dozen cupcakes…

(spotted on my modern met)

If you have trouble keeping a good dinner party pace, you need these Dinner Candles by Adam + Harborth, a Berlin-based design studio. Lit as the party begins, the candles slowly burn off the icons of each course so you know when to move on to the next portion of your meal. I love the bed illustration at the end as it would certainly inform lingering guests that it is time to go! I think the first symbol is a bouquet of roses? I now want to throw a dinner party just to test these clever candles (oh and receive floral hostess gifts…)

(spotted on sleek identity where you can buy them)

I can’t think of a music video that required more dedication to craftsmanship than this one for “In Your Arms” by Kina Grannis. This stop-motion spectacular was created over the course of 22 months by 30 people and required 1,357 hours of work. Oh and 288,000 colourful jelly beans! Sure, it would have been much easier to just employ some CGI and green screen magic but director Greg Jardin was adamant that every single one of the 2,460 frames be assembled by hand and shot individually. Insane, brain-exploded level of commitment to handmade design and crafting a true stop-motion piece. (I love the jellybean test pattern at the end of the video!)

The making of video is a must-watch. How great are those individually marked tubs of jellybean colours?

(spotted on peta pixel)

I love this cover for Domenica, the Sunday magazine of national Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. Verona studio Happycentro were asked to create a piece focused on food without actually using food as a material. The studio chose paper as their muse and designed some truly handsome shelves of modern papercraft food. I love that faceted red apple, striped pink onion and fabulously patterned banana. If only milk came in such sleek cartons…

(spotted on el jardín rojo)

I am a sucker for unique and colourful food styling. It always amazes me how textures, patterns and colours of a recipe or food can really come to life with some great lighting and thoughtful detail. A stylist with ridiculous amounts of talent in that arena is Dietlind Wolf. I was reminded of his styling and illustrating skill when I saw the series above on seesaw. A wonderfully clever fusion of handsome food and beautiful ingredient illustration. I love this mixed media approach to food styling and photography as there are endless possibilities. Collage next? Or how about graffiti!?

(spotted on seesaw; images via dietlind wolf where all credits for the shoot can be found)

I hadn’t really thought about it until today but it is quite amazing how many shades of brown you can achieve when toasting a piece of bread. For his series ‘Toasted’, photographer Henry Hargreaves created large-scale portraits of pop culture icons with hundreds of pieces of toast. The level of detail and eye for subtleties of hue are quite astounding. A glimpse at the level of work can be seen in the last shot where toasted crumpets are being meticulously arranged to create a portrait of Pippa Middleton. I may never look at a piece of burnt toast the same way again! (Bread toasted by Angela Barrow and Osvaldo Ponton)

(from top: Marilyn Monroe, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Che Guevara, Jim Morrison and Pippa Middleton)

(spotted on feature shoot & smilepanic)

The FAME Festival in Grottaglie, Italy hosts artists from all over the world for one to four weeks during the spring and summer months to create street art installations, screenprints, ceramics and large-scale murals. The festival has produced some fantastic pieces of street art including what might be my very favourite, this tiny clothesline. Last week, artists Brad Downey and Akay collaborated over six days to create some imaginative and colourful pieces including this beautiful pasta curtain and ‘tipping point’ installation featuring dramatically linked cans of paint. Throwing pots of colour off a roof to create a spontaneous colour palette is officially on my life list…

(see more of the collaboration here)

I first became smitten with the work of designer Sarah Illenberger when I discovered she was behind the fantastic cover of one of my favourite books, Papercraft (the second photo above). In addition to clever photography work like the raining watermelon I posted about previously, Sarah creates brilliant handmade paper pieces for publication covers, advertising pieces and set design. I was thrilled to read on the weekend that in September, Gestalten is publishing an entire book devoted to Sarah’s spectacular work. The cover, shown at the top of this post, is just plain fabulous. It’s amazing how a few twists of gold paper becomes a modern croissant. How great are those slices of speckled sausage? I can’t wait to read Sarah’s book and marvel at her handmade wonders and zest for making everyday objects joyful.

(read about on design boom; photographs via gestalten)

I love the Hermetic series by creative Italian company Seletti. Unlike the regular plastic type, these handsome fridge containers are porcelain with colourful silicone tops. Not only will your fridge look instantly full of good design but your leftovers can go straight to the oven without the negative health effects of heating plastic. Come to think of it, your leftovers can go straight to your dinner party table without anyone knowing any better!

I spotted this awesome DIY project on food blog Griottes and I haven’t been able to look at wooden cutlery the same way since. I would love a print of the top photograph to hang in my kitchen! Not only are biodegradable bamboo utensils better for the environment than their plastic counterparts, they are the perfect canvas for colour, tape, fabric and illustration. Oh the picnic possibilities…

(more information about creating your own set can be found here)

It’s hard not to like Wobbly Plates by ceramics designer Brigitte Bouquet. That texture is created with lace and the results are beautiful. I love those thick organic edges. Wobbly Plates is a collection of platters, plates and bowls but I think these condiment bowls are my favourite. A little bit of magic you can add to an all white dinner plate! I wouldn’t mind the whole colour spectrum…

(to buy your own wobbly plates, go here)

Vancouver Farmers Markets are city-wide weekly events created for “people who love fresh food at festive gatherings”. I am in love with the cheery illustrations created by Vancouver designer Jane Koo to brand and promote the markets. Her style is just full of joy. Have you seen a more whimsical drawing of a squash? And how about the jolly figs or stylish loaf of bread? Love Jane’s hand-drawn typography too. I can only hope there will be more of this beautiful branding around Vancouver as the markets expand. Devoted to highlighting local chow and supporting community farmers, the gatherings are not only a fabulous facet of food-obsessed Vancouver but are dramatically bursting with inspiring colour. I need to take some photos one of these days and devote a post to all of the hues that can be found among the stalls of delicious inspiration. In the meantime, I have my fingers firmly crossed that Jane illustrates an entire cookbook. Fantastic design and good food. Is there a better combination?

(images via jane koo and @vanmarkets)

While there is traditional beauty in black, stainless steel and wood handle knives, I am finding it hard to resist Kuhn Rikon Colori Paring Knives. Love the Kuhn Rikon Mini Cleaver and rather clever Watermelon Knife too. Designed by Swiss designer Philipp Beyeler, they feature unbelievably sharp, non-stick Japanese high carbon steel and ergonomically designed handles. See? Brightly coloured tools and gadgets can have technical chops too! Oh the palettes that could be created with a colourful knife and some vivid fruits and vegetables…

(photographs via kuhn rikon, williams-sonoma, cookworks and sur la table)

Are these beautiful abstract paintings by a colour-loving modern artist? Nope. They are photographs of alcohol! Florida State University research scientist Michael Davidson had the intriguing idea of shining polarized light through crystallizing drinks on lab slides and using his old-fashion 35mm camera to take a photograph of the alcohol under a microscope. This process magnified the drink over a 1000 times and the results are spectacular. The brainchild has now become a merchandise mecca called BevShots that uses the photographs to make high-quality art, scarves and so forth. The colourful patterns translate beautifully to fabric, don’t you think? Incredible to think that our favourite cocktails are made up of such insane colour.

(thanks for the inspiration Taylor!)

(alcohol shown from top: rosé, tequila, irish pale lager, gin, margarita, white russian, scotch, black russian, cola)
(photographs via time magazine and bevshots)

Sweet Paul is a ridiculously inspiring food blog and online magazine. You can definitely tell the creator comes from a food and prop styling background as both the magazine and blog are full of gorgeously arranged, photographed and styled culinary creations. On top of all that, the recipes look drool-worthy delicious! Upon reading the new Summer 2011 issue, I spotted these deconstructed summer salads and my jaw dropped for five minutes or more. A stunning mix of geometry, design and summer colour. Food as art. How great would large prints of these photos look on a restaurant or kitchen wall? I highly recommend taking a look at the new issue of Sweet Paul Magazine. You will be inspired by the curated home accessories, insightful articles, delicious recipes and yes, insanely beautiful photographs!

(food & styling by paul lowe, photography by hector sanchez)