A House That Takes On The Outdoors

cut_paw_paw_house

Ever feel like star gazing from your living room floor? Or sun bathing in your bath tub? Andrew Maynard Architects has, and they’ve developed a “ridiculously inside-out” extension to a suburban home in Australia that breaks conventional standards for environmental architecture to do so. The house goes by the name “Cut Paw Paw” and beautifully blurs the lines between interior and landscape design.

The space between the dining room and the owners studio, is an unclad frame surrounded by garden. According to the architects, “It is both inside and outside. It is both a new building and an old ruin. It is both garden and home.”

Kudos to them for even keeping some of the house green & sustainable. The house is highly insulated, and rainwater is directed from the roof to tanks which provide water for toilet-flushing, the washing machine, and garden irrigation.

cut_paw_paw_house-16

What Sparks our Fire: design that breaks the “rules” of traditional architecture.

Would you live in the Cut Paw Paw house?

Gloves That You Won’t Take Off To Use Your Touchscreen

Screen Shot 2014-12-18 at 4.55.11 PMNow that the winter season has officially started, don’t let the cold weather slow down your productivity.  This winter, stay connected on all of your favorite devices while keeping your hands nice and toasty with touchscreen gloves from Mujjo. Most gloves designed for this purpose, are restricted to one or two fingers, but Mujjo redefines the touchscreen gloves promise letting you use all 10 fingers, or even the palm of your hand, without having to expose your hands to the blistery elements! They’re available in many colors: black, natural gray, lavender, coral pink and made from the finest Ethiopian lambskin, known for offering the best isolation properties of any kind of leather.  Beyond touch screen functionality, they keep you warm, are durable, with a comfortable fit and they look great. If this sounds like something you’ve always been looking for, the gloves are available from Mujjo’s site.

What Sparks Our Fire: high-tech meets fashion to come up with a useful item

Would you grab yourself a piece? Let us know below.

An Object Of Desire: Elemoon

10636749_264615793729578_2573413548389599085_oWearable tech bracelets are often known to be rather bulky and downright ugly but not this time. Meet Elemoon, the jewelry that combines technology and style. Elemoon is a techy and pretty LED bracelet for the fashion conscious. Elemoon changes color to match your outfit, notifications, has step tracking (like fitbit), displays time and you can even use it to find your phone by swiping the bracelet when sync and it will make the phone emit a sound alert. You can also design individualized icons that light up when various contacts call or message you. For instance, set a heart when your boyfriend calls. Isn’t it fabulous. Inside Elemoon are an array of 75 brilliant LED lights that helps the accessory be colorful and stylish. In terms of battery usage, the magnetically charged device can last from one day to one week depending on user habits. We think the concept of Elemoon opens up the wearable market to a more fashionable crowd.  So, if you think Elemoon is something you could benefit from, visit the website now to pre-order to benefit from great deals.

What Sparks Our Fire: customizable jewelry that syncs with you

Would you consider bringing stylish technology to your wrist everywhere with Elemoon?

Get Ready To Gift Unique Items This Season

It’s that time of year again, it’s that special season when you realize you’ve been so focused working late every night to avoid having to schedule conference calls over the holidays, that you’ve forgotten to purchase gifts for at least a third of your significant others extended family. Don’t worry, we’ve come up with a list of five great gifts ideas, that your loved ones never knew they wanted.

1. Shoe Shine Boy

Screen Shot 2014-12-15 at 4.52.13 PMShoe Shine Boy is perfect to make shoes and bags shine like never before. This small gadget set has all the goodies one needs for a thorough gleam on calfskin pieces to extend their life. All you need to do is insert two AA batteries into your device, attach the microfiber pad, apply shoe polish to the pad and turn on polisher. Shoe Shine Boy works at 420 rotations per minute and can be used on a wide range of leather products including car seats, shoes and leather bags. If new, the batteries can last up to 70 uses. Think it might be the perfect gift for someone you know? Don’t hesitate to purchase it here. 

What Sparks Our Fire: A gadget that can keep our leather goods looking good with  minimum fuss.

2. Lensbaby

Lensbaby-Sweet-Spot-LensLensbaby is a mobile lens more fun than a barrel of filters. Thin enough that it won’t interfere with most cases or other lens attachments. With the lensbaby, you get an effect that’s very similar to the one you get when zooming a lens while shooting, with a depth-of-field blur. A gadget highly recommended for people looking to enliven their camera photography but still merit a #nofilter. So if you want to gift someone who is really into photography, we recommend getting your hands on this. Where to buy? Simply click here.

What Sparks Our Fire: A gadget that can make us have professional camera effect with just our mobile phone.

3. Fujifilm’s Intax Printer

image128Another gadget for photography lovers. With apps like Instagram and its many filters, quite often, one wish to have its pictures printed. With this Fujifilm’s Instax Printer, anyone can have their phone pictures printed like a Polaroid. Now, that’s cool, right. What is fun about this is that there is no need for a separate supply of ink so you don’t have to worry about running out of ink and don’t have to load cartridges. The gadget actually uses the same cartridges as Fujifilm Instax instant cameras. The camera simply uses LEDs lights along with a liquid crystal shutter to expose the film inside the printer. It is fun and you can watch the image develop over the next several minutes. Fancy this? Get it here.

What Sparks Our Fire:  A portable photo printer, because in 2015 millennials will appreciate pictures in print more than the ones on their instagram feed (maybe).

4. Hoodie pillow

Screen Shot 2014-12-15 at 5.00.14 PMAnd yes this exists. Simple as the tittle, it’s a hood with a pillow. This hooded pillowcase can provide ultimate “ Cocoonification™”, helping you tuck away the stresses of your day. Useful for long flights trip or simply for curling up with a good book, dozing on the couch, watching TV. This is the perfect accessory to enhance your lounging experience. The HoodiePillow Hooded Pillowcase fits all standard bed pillows and measures. There is alsoi the C shape version. Sometimes, pictures speak louder than words. Get one here and why not for yourself as well.

 What Sparks Our Fire: a gadget that every holiday season traveler wants, but is too embarassed to purchase for themselves.

5. Slimger

1048029_1526493884264679_3972367664762119302_oWe all suffer from short life batteries whether we have an iPhone or an Android. For some reasons phone makers have not tackled the issue yet. So, in the meantime while they get it all together, we have this suggestion that could be the gift of the year. It is called Slimger: a charger so thin and small it can fit in your wallet. This is the result of a project on indiegogo that received more than six time its initial pledge of $10,000. Thank you to all backers, we can now all benefit from the magic. If you need to purchase a devise. Here is the link

What Sparks our Fire: a useful devise that is easy to carry around and a life/phone save

We hope you found this list useful. What did you pick? Let us know.

The Bluetooth Speaker For Party Around Water

ECOXGEAR_ECOSTONEA lot of outdoor products seem like they were designed by people who’ve never been around water (beach, pool, etc.) but with the Ecostone speakers, engineers clearly understood the main priority of the poolside party. The coolest thing about Ecostone is that it is a rechargeable Bluetooth speaker that you can take anywhere and that can survive everywhere. A small splash of water on it wouldn’t turn your pool party into a meditation group. Not only can it shrug off a splash, it floats and can survive being dunked up to 3 feet underwater or even endure a sandstorm. It has a 12-hour battery life and is equipped with detachable mounting options that can attach the speaker to just about anything. The Ecostone is available now at many fine retailers in Black, Blue, Orange and “Real Tree”. You also have the option to purchase it straight from the company’s website.

What Sparks Our Fire: A perfect gadget for those who live an active lifestyle.

Would you consider  EcoStone for your next summertime pool party?