I recently received a very nice gift from the folk at Hard Graft after winning in a photo contest. I was very pleased to find the Hard Graft Tilt iPad Case as well as a calendar and new key holder in the mail. Thanks James and monie.ka!

It’s such a great product made of very nice materials as always. This one comes with premium heritage leather and dark grey felt. It’s makes a great team with my other Hard Graft gear. It fits perfectly in the back compartment of my Hard Graft 2Unfold Laptop Bag.

Leica Camera released a new iPad app named S-Magazine, is a new platform for professional photographers to freely publish their latest pictures. The S-Magazine presents current ad campaigns and editorial photo series from international photographers.

Beyond that, the S-Magazine reflects current trends in modern commercial photography – from fashion and beauty to interior design and still lifes. This essential guide for professional photographers and a great source of inspiration for me is available through iTunes. But first I have to get my hands on the next iPad to enjoy these nice publications.

Gitman Vintage released their highly anticipated new Spring Summer 2012 collection. Nitty Gritty among others have received their first deliveries of the new Gitman Vintage collection and I’m pleased to see some great shirts in the collection.

My favorites are the BD Japanese Stripe shirt, BD Chambray Polka Dot shirt and the BD Madras Check shirt. But some Oxford shirts and the Gingham shirt also have my attention.

It’s a good thing we are moving this year to a place with significant more space because I think I need some for my Gitman Vintage shirt collection.

What to do withall those broken skate decks? You might want to give them to Japanese artist Haroshi because he creates truly stunning art by solely using these skateboard decks.

HUF and DLX invited Haroshi to set up an art show related to skateboarding. Haroshi responded with amazing pieces representing stories behind some of his favorite skaters.

His creations are born through styles such as wooden mosaic, dots, and pixels; where each element, either cut out in different shapes or kept in their original form, are connected in different styles, and shaven into the form of the final art piece.

See his work and a video in the full post.

Norse Projects just released some amazing new t-shirts for the Norse Projects Spring Summer 2012 collection. They teamed up with illustration artists Geoff McFetridge (big fan of his work!), Michael Rytz and Daniel Frost. They made some very nice t-shirt designs for this seasons Norse Projects t-shirt collection.

Would love to see them all in my closet. It’s a combination of art and quality wear.

Available at Norse Store. Check them all out.

Just in. A new stripe t-shirt by Folk in Limestone Grey and Grey Golden from the Folk Spring Summer 2012 collection.

Even though it’s freezing here right now I had to catch this one before it ran out. I ordered this one at End Clothing.

This piece goes excellent with a navy short and let’s say Mark McNairy shoes. Oh right don’t forget those sunglasses.

Getting ready for the Summer.

I was so busy discovering parts of Argentina, Uruguay and Chile over the last couple of weeks that I didn’t had the chance to spend some time to figure out what’s on the menu during the International Film Festival in Rotterdam (IFFR).

No surprise, the big shots were sold out but as always the festival has lots of other interesting and entertaining things to offer. Take the Home Movie Factory, a project by Michel Gondry (the genius behind lots of movies and video clips). Home Movie Factory is a temporary make-your-own-short-in-just-three-hours studio.

Wow, last weekend I got back from a 3-week holiday traveling through Argentina. And man what fun it was. Buenos Aires, Salta, Glacier spotting in Patagonia, Punta del Diablo in Uruguay, and Torres del Paine in Chile. Lots of places were visited, lots of analog photos were taken. I will develop and try to scan some rolls of film over the weekend.

Expect a couple Argentina related posts with hopefully some nice photos in the coming weeks. Further more? I received a very nice gift from Hard Graft and received some other nice stuff in the mail which will be featured on Cloud Cuckoo.

Oh and I think it’s about time to put some more Tumblr Photo Bliss posts online. It’s all coming.

Newest addition to my tie collection. A navy selvedge yarn-dyed twill tie by The Hill-Side.

This one feels great and is made of 100% cotton, one-wash Japanese fabric. Manufactured by The Hill-Side in New York City.

I got the book The Selby is in Your Place and spotted the coolest sofa. The sofa features the complete Biggie Smalls’ Juicy lyrics written down all over it. So dope!

The book has some of the best outtakes from the digital The Selby website. Great read, great source of inspiration.

The sofa was shot by Todd Selby in Neistat Brothers’ place.

Len told me about this bike a friend of her has. Turned out it was a minimal fixie like bike by Achielle.

Achielle is a Belgium producer of no nonsense vintage and nostalgic bicycles. I personally very much like the Sam model all stripped down to the minimum. very nice! Inspired by the track (pathracer model from the 30′s), ready for the city. It comes in a Naked or Deluxe version and has a Sturmey Archer 2-speed gear.

Over the last couple of months I’m leaning more and more towards a new bike. I’ll have this one on my short list for now.

Freunde von Freunden recently released their selfentitled book called Freunde von Freunden. The book has lots of inspiring photos and captures the lives of creative people from around Berlin.

Freunde von Freunden (FvF) is an international interview magazine, that portraits people of diverse creative and cultural backgrounds in their homes or within their daily working environments.

As a sucker for nice photography and good stories from nice people I totally appreciate this book release. It makes a perfect gift for the holiday season. Speaking of… I hope Santa gets me a copy.

This sounds insane. 3.2 million dots to create just one image, wow!

Miguel Endara made a portrait called ‘Hero’ of his father of 3.2 million little tiny dots of ink. He used just one Sakura Pigma Micron pen and took him 210 hours spread out over a year to complete the outstanding image.

With that much ink dots you can figure it has such great detail. And a mather of fact, it has. It’s an amazing work of art. His dedeication really pulled of. Bravo Miquel!

Go see the making of video in the full post.

It had to be shoes week I guess. I copped a fresh pair of Common Projects Chukka Suede shoes in grey at Très Bien Shop. Tres Bien Shop had a 20% discount promo going and I was lucky enough to get my hands on these Common Projects shoes.

The description state it’s a Chukka boot in a rough suede leather with leather lining. Laced up with 2 holes and comes with a matching, sewn on, long lasting rubber outsole. Rounded toe. A classic piece of footwear that will stay with you year after year.

A big welcome to these new shoes on behalf of my feet and my wardrobe. My feet took them for a spin the other day. Loving these!  

I came across the work of Anders Oinonen and I simply had to share it.

Anders Oinonen is from Canada and really amazes me with his face paintings. They are created by simple yet very neat colorful brush strokes.

Must see.