bltd

I’m loving this colorful striped, zippered pencil/make up bag. The lines make it slightly architectural and the colors are perfect for spring, which is right around the corner.

Less than a week until February 14th. Do you have something for your Valentine?

The Indie Pendant is a hand-made, satin brass pendant which you can customize with a special date, your loved one’s name, or anything else, up to sixteen characters.

I’ve finally found the perfect bag for both day-to-day commuting and air travel.

Here are a few of the things I love about it:
1. Interior side pocket fits both my MacBook Air & Kindle perfectly.
2. Exterior side pocket allows for easy and secure access to wallet, keys, phone.
3. Comes with a waterproof cover(!)
4. It’s a perfect carry-on sized bag.
5. Side handle makes it easy to pull in and out from under airplane seats
6. Bag interior lined with soft material to keep all your gadgets scratch-free.
7. Configureable interior compartments with velcro dividers–perfect for keeping things in order.
8. It’s perfectly unisex.

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Nail files aren’t a favorite subject in design, for obvious reasons. They’re throw away items that we wouldn’t give a second thought, or at least they were before this little item. It’s made from natural stone from the Pyrenees Mountains and will never wear out. That’s right, never. There’s three smooth sides for finishing and one coarse side for shaping and filing down. Let’s face it, if you have to file your nails, it’d be nice to do the job with this rather than a flimsy pink thingamajig.

Size: 2.75″ L x .375″ W x .375″ H

If you’re the sort that hates wasting space, you might like this foldable luggage from Lipault that comes with its own plastic storage bag. It’ll take up less space in the closet and will be dust free when you’re ready to hit the road. It might also work well for those trips when you know you’ll need more luggage on the way back than on the way there- just pop it into your larger case. There’s an upright version as well as a duffel bag (below).

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Got a thing for minimally graphic totes? Say no more, it’s completely understandable. The selection from Etsy seller Au Retour is smash-bang terrific with their simple lines and colors, and if you need (i.e. want) a few extra bags you’d do well to check the collection out. The graph study pillow cover ($35) is pretty snazzy as well.

Shown above, Four corners tote in black and white and Floating Shapes tote in red on royal blue
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These braided bike locks were my absolute favorite product at Portland’s Bike Craft event last month. Beautiful hand-crafted design meets utiliarian function in this bike lock that will keep your bike secure and sartorial points up for you style-conscious urban riders. Sorry, the website is in Japanese and I really couldn’t fill you in on many more details. They are available in large selection of colorways as well as customizable.
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I know you’ve most likely seen this, as it’s been making the rounds, but it’s just too perfect to not feature here on BLTD. There’s no visible means of support from the front, so your view is entirely uninterrupted. This is done by the use of magnets, of course, and allow for the simplest design in providing you the right viewing angle whilst working (or playing, as the case may be).

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If the Clap Digital Camera didn’t win you over for its adorable charm, or maybe you weren’t quite convinced by its 30 second limited videos clips, the Fuuvi Bee 8mm Digital Camera may be your answer to a fun and simple retro-styled digital camera. Form takes inspiration from vintage Super 8 cameras, made pocket-sized. The 1.3 million pixel CMOS lens captures “retro” videos of 640×480 resolution or still images at 1280×960 resolution. Records on a microSD and can shoot a continuous 100 minute clip. Available in white or black and is packaged with wrist strap and USB cable.
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This Clap Digital Camera won’t compete with Hipstamatic or Instagram for its social aspect, but it’ll provide a different kind of vintage vibe to your shutter snapping; spontaneity. Keeping your camera on your necklace on in your front pocket ensures a never missed opportunity to catch that moment from last night’s party. Not having a LCD preview keeps you in the present and not mucking about uploading your photos to the web and tagging your photos. Need I mention that the camera is also just adorable?  It also records movies 30 second movies and functions as a USB drive.
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If you added your name to a petition or called your representatives yesterday to voice your opinion on SOPA, you deserve a pair of these lace on lightning bolts for participating in your government. See, sometimes it works. Actually, these little bolts are intended for little feet, but I’m sure you could make them look just as good on your own shoes, or ask the seller to prepare some scaled exactly to your size (though do be careful about not going overboard). Or you could just get some for your favorite kids.
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If you’re on the go and don’t want to put up with an iPhone-based synthesizer, or perhaps you’re an ultralight musician, the Pocket Piano from Critter & Guitari just might be your fix. A handmade pocket synthesizer that packs a vibrato synth, harmonic sweeper, two-octave arpeggiator, octave cascade, mono FM synth, and FM arpeggiator is housed in a sturdy aluminum and hardwood case with built in speaker and a 1/4” output jack. Round wooden keys give it a unique and tactile playing experience. Describing it in words isn’t exactly doing it justice, so I highly advise watching this accompanying video to see and hear some of crazy noise making abilities of this miniature machine.
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Another bike storage option? Yep, and this one is (dare I say it) a more refined option than the Cycloc. Angles, steel, leather… it’s nice, isn’t it? Designed by Stephen Tiller of Reclamation Art + Furniture, the Bike Valet currently has a Kickstarter campaign going to increase the level of production and manufacturing. For a pledge of $87 or more, you’ll receive a signed and numbered valet of your very own.
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Do you ride a bike at night? Slap on some of these reflective stickers and increase your chances of staying alive (i.e. not being plowed down by drivers). Made from engineering-grade “conspicuity film” (the stuff on emergency vehicles) the stickers reflect light back to its source and allow easy customization of your frame, helmet, rims, etc. Pledge $15 or more on Kickstarter for a Full DIY Kit (51 pieces) of RydeSafe Reflective Bike Decals.
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With its three broad stripes, the Wipe T-Shirt has an eye-catching appeal to begin with, but there’s also a secret to the design. One of the stripes is actually a strip of microfiber cloth, the go-to remedy for wiping down dirty, finger-printed glasses and gadgets. You may get some strange looks wiping your phone on your chest, but the convenience makes it all worth it.
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