Samantha Hirst is the artist behind Inklore, a block printed housewares and accessories company, based in San Jose, CA. Her work is all block printed and sewn by hand so you can be sure that what you are buying is unique, well-made, and has a story. In addition to managing the Inklore website, she also writes a journal that follows her work and the lifestyle blog, Good Measure.

6:00 AM: Stumble out of bed and into the kitchen to make coffee.

6:10 AM: Turn on computer and publish blog post to Good Measure, say hello on Twitter.

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Smart Furniture’s newest contest is up and running: “Smart Space Design Contest: Design and Win Your Dream Space.”

SmartFurniture.com is giving away some awesome chairs to folks who design the best interior space plans using its new space-planning tool: the Smart Designer®. You could win your choice of a Herman Miller Aeron Chair, Herman Miller Setu Chair, Herman Miller Mirra Chair, or a Herman Miller Embody Chair, and be entered to win the grand prize of $2,500 gift credit to Smart Furniture so you can buy your very own dream room!

Each week in February, the Smart Furniture Team will pick their favorite Smart Space Design to be a Finalist — go here to get the software and the details!

In addition, the Smart Space Design entry receiving the most votes on Facebook and the Smart Space Contest Page will be the People’s Choice Finalist. The $2,500 Grand Prize Winner will be chosen from the five Finalists. The Grand Prize Winner will be decided by a panel of guest judges (one of them being yours truly!) So, get your act together and go to the site to get started now — time is ticking! Or, just check out all the entries here.

If you’re missing our Milktastic art posts, you will need to sign yourself up to follow Art Milk, our new sister site. Don’t miss out on the inspirational stuff we’re posting over there!

Choose one of the below subscription methods:

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Exclusively available in Korea, this LG Series 1 Retro Classic TV runs at around $216 and has a body that comes in either orange or brown. Its 14-inch screen can transition from full-color to black-and-white to sepia at the switch of a button.

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Artist/gallery curator David “Netherland” van Alphen lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Though David’s family was from Holland, he was born in Toronto, and has been in Chicago for the last eight years. Being a child of the 70’s has influenced him greatly and is reflected in most of his work. Juxtaposing images, his color choices and the new modern context comes through in his nostalgic imagery and helps to isolate and enhance them into a beautiful montage. David does not resize, photocopy or scan any of the images he uses. All images are cut directly from their original source and pieced together to keep each piece unique. David has shown at many galleries throughout the U.S. and sold out his first solo show in January 2008.

Here are the five things that inspire me lately.

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You may have (or not) noticed the lack of art posts this past week. That’s because we’ve been preparing for our biggest and most exciting endeavor yet — Art Milk. We’ve been so absorbed and amped up about this at the Milk headquarters that we can hardly contain ourselves.

We get so many art submissions here that we finally said OK enough. Art people: you need your own website. Art Milk will to bring you the best in emerging, new, innovative, young, independent, and inspiring modern artists. It will serve as both a daily dose of eye candy and a place for emerging artists to get exposure.

Art will remain a category here on Design Milk since we do post about it here and there, and full Art archives will be available on both Art Milk and Design Milk until further notice. You will see that Art Milk and Design Milk have quite a lot in common, but are two separate and unique sites. We’ve also added navigation tabs at the top of both sites so you know where you are and can easily navigate between the two sites.

In order to continue to get great art every day, choose one of the below subscription methods:

Subscribe to Art Milk via RSS

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From all of us at Design Milk, Happy 2010!

Book before 1/1/10 (that’s Friday!) and save $50 off registration.

Just a reminder that the Altitude Design Summit is fast approaching! Be sure you’re at the event that’s not to be missed. The Summit is being held January 21-23, 2010 in Salt Lake City, UT, and just so happens to coincide with the Sundance Film Festival.

It will bring together designers, design and lifestyle bloggers, stylists, photographers, artists and creatives, social media companies, and design companies to get together and talk, well, Design. Check out the amazing schedule of topics and keynote panel (did someone say DOOCE?).

Plus, you’ve got to take a gander at the all-star speaker list. I am so excited to be speaking alongside some superstars. Why don’t you join us?

We will be back on Monday.

In the meantime, enjoy the first nine days of Christmas from designer Brandon Oxendine created graphic art based on The Twelve Days of Christmas. And check back on his blog each day until he completes all 12 days!

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The Great Indoors Award is an award that gives recognition to interior design worldwide. One winner has been selected in five different categories: Show & Tell, Relax & Consume, Concentrate & Collaborate, Serve & Facilitate, and Interior Design Firm of the Year.

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