Friday 28 September 2012

SWAN GRAFFITI LOVE

 

As part of our house makeover we wondered what to do with the side wall of the garage which the dogs love to loll against making a wonderfully filthy swatch of paint. We were going to paint a small side wall as a blackboard for Swan but Scott thought what the heck why not make the dirty wall a giant blackboard. Here is Swan's first drawing on the awesome wall, works as a beautiful contrast to our garden and the Baby Elephant shade on the other walls.


Thursday 27 September 2012

LA VIE PARISIENNE LOVE


I have always loved the Art Deco style of illustration, the drama and fashion, particularly the flapper style characters and their elaborate costumes and headpieces (plus they were usually quite saucy gals). I find the strong graphic pattern and limited colour palette contrasting with the fluid shapes of lithe bodies very beautiful - Illustrators like CHARLES MARTIN whose work appeared in the very popular French magazine LA VIE PARISIENNE (banned in Belgium, censored in America).





Wednesday 26 September 2012

ELLE DECOR LOVE


I am delighted beyond measure to be in the sparkling Spring Spirit Issue No. 86 of ELLE DECOR. In the same mag CERAMIC MATTERS, Anthony Harris and Gerhard Swart, two of my all time design idols. A very big thank you to Laureen and her wonderful team, Jenny and Marushka, for their support, interest and lovely layout. Tickled pink I am!
Look out for the amazing botanical displays in Flower House & Country Bunches Pg. 64-74.


Tuesday 25 September 2012

SONG FOOD LOVE


How awesome is this happy little tin for HARTZ MOUNTAIN SONG FOOD.
I love the cheerful orange and yellow. Similar tins available on EBAY and ETSY.

Friday 21 September 2012

CROCHETDERMY LOVE


If you are anything like me and love taxidermy/trophy heads but find the notion of dead animals lurking in your house a bit grim - here is the perfect solution. SHAUNA RICHARDSON creates CROCHETDERMY sculptures which combines two traditional crafts in an extraordinary way. I can't get over how perfectly uniform her stitches are and the lovely curves of the anatomy underneath. Muscle in mohair. It is almost as if she brings animated creatures into solid form. And they are fuzzy! Thanks to HOMES & ANTIQUES Sept 2012 Issue for introducing me to Shauna's work.







Thursday 20 September 2012

BABY ELEPHANT LOVE



Our little house is undergoing a transformation, after 6 years as Rum Caramel 3, we are taking the monumental (read tiny) step to Baby Elephant, a whole shade darker. She was looking a wee bit shabby, the elements take their toll on a gals complexion. Front wall and facade completed already, today is the epic side wall, a double story volume. Woot woot! Can't wait for the total make over.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

H&L MAD MEN LOVE


You have to buy the latest HOUSE & LEISURE magazine, October 2012 Issue. Firstly because they feature my clever friend Kirsty Machen's MINT beautiful home and secondly because of the amazing fashion slash food shoot,
MAD MEN Food Moments on Pg 123 -131. Concept and Food Nikki Werner,
Decor and Fashion Kate Boswell, Photographs Russell Smith.
It is splendid! The styling and mood are perfection and the copy hilarious.

Tuesday 18 September 2012

AYA BALM LOVE


Scott and I have been working on the identity for a wonderful product developed by Keren Pocock, THE BREATHING SPACE. It is a multipurpose topical balm free of petroleum products, parabens and vaseline - making it SO good for sensitive skin. Made from a base of beeswax (origin - beehive - made by busy bees), olive oil and sweet almond oil into which raw fermented sun ripened papaya is added, capturing all the benefits of this extraordinary fruit. AYA BALM is a glorious golden balm that can be applied just about anywhere to soothe, heal and moisturize. The 20 ml jar can be popped easily into your bag and retails at R30. Contact Keren at keren@thebreathingspace.co.za for more info or to order. Coming soon - delectable whipped body butter.

Monday 17 September 2012

SPRUNG WINNER


Hoolalay! TJOU-TJOU you are the winner of my SPRING IS SPRUNG Giveaway. Mail me your postal deets and if you would like a SPRUNG LAMB, KITTEN or BAMPO. Thank you to all my lovelies for leaving comments, I appreciate each and every one!

Friday 14 September 2012

SWAN CARROTS LOVE


Meet Sweet Baby Foot and Happy Dancing Torso. The carrots Swan grew in our outside bath tub. She is very proud of them and even took Happy Dancing Torso to school. She styled them up and asked me to do a post on them because they are very wonderful. She likes them too much to eat them.

P.S. Don't forget today is the last day to enter my A3 archival print on wallpaper 

Thursday 13 September 2012

ROTHFUSS LOVE


Just finished reading this amazing epic fantasy by the mad word skillsmith
PATRICK ROTHFUSS, The Wise Man's Fear, second installation in the series after The Name of the Wind. Boo I am so sad to be finished because I have loved every minute of this book and had to wait sooooo long for it to come out. I am sure there will be a relentless wait for the next one too. Sigh I imagine that a tome just short of a 1000 pages takes time to write but I am an impatient greedy creature when it comes to words.


Wednesday 12 September 2012

FAITHFUL TO NATURE LOVE


We have been working through all the potions and lotions that we apply to our bodies as a family, bigs and smalls, to get rid of all the ones containing evil toxic nasties. Saw the latest post on HANDSOME THINGS which featured AFRICAN BLISS , 100% natural handmade soap, which then led me to FAITHFUL TO NATURE, a wonderful online organic shop. Received my first parcel on Monday morning and was delighted with the contents. Besides what I had ordered there were great little surprises of testers and a pocket guide to safe shopping. p.s the bambi and stag are my latest EBAY purchases that muscled in on the action. Smelling tasty and feeling healthy!

Tuesday 11 September 2012

SPRUNG BAMPO LOVE


Is it a bambi? Is it a pony? We have a very dapper pink ceramic creature which we call Bampo (Swan insists it's Bappo) because we couldn't decide. He is the third happy fella in my SPRING HAS SPRUNG series. Don't forget to comment on my SPRUNG LAMB GIVEAWAY post to win one of these prints.
As before he is an archival print on wallpaper (has an amazing texture).
R450 unframed (excl. postage and packaging) 297 x 420 mm. An edition of 10.

Monday 10 September 2012

SPRUNG KITTEN LOVE

Following on from SPRUNG LAMB is this little moggy, a rendition of a ceramic kitten that lives in Swan's room. I'm keeping the little moon faces the same through design not the lazies, as I like my series to have an aesthetic link. Am working on the last of the three, I have decided that whomever wins the SPRUNG GIVEAWAY can choose which is their favourite and their best.
As before it is an A3 archival print on wallpaper (has an amazing texture).
R450 unframed (excl. postage and packaging) 297 x 420 mm. An edition of 10.


Friday 7 September 2012

JOBURG ART MAP LOVE


Today is the start of the amazing FNB JOBURG ART FAIR at the Sandton Convention Centre, a diverse and spectacular selection of contemporary African art! Scott and I, THE CURATORS, were commissioned by VANSA to design the print version of the ART MAP. This is an A1 poster which supports the online ART MAP and directs visitors to the many exhibitions and events during the course of the program. The front of the poster is a large wooden disc with dipped dowels placed to mimic the points on the virtual map. 99 dowels all cut, sanded and dipped by hand! (DIP DOWEL LOVE).


Our reference was the Dot paintings of Damien Hirst, IQ pegboards, vintage map tacks, vision deficiency tests, the contemporary trend for dipped wooden furniture and the dot patterns of indigenous cultures.




Thursday 6 September 2012

SPRUNG LAMB GIVEAWAY


SPRUNG LAMB is the first in my SPRING HAS SPRUNG series of 3 for FROZEN CHARLOTTE. I have done my interpretation of my fave kitsch ceramics, a Kitten and Pony will follow. The background is something I tried out (and loved) for the MR P install, layering vintage botanical prints. I am giving away one of these sweet lambs, all you have to do is comment on this post by next Friday. It is an A3 archival print on wallpaper (has an amazing texture).
R450 unframed (excl. postage and packaging) 297 x 420 mm. An edition of 10.

Wednesday 5 September 2012

TINY TEXAS HOUSE LOVE


I was just mindin' my own bizness this mornin' while doing a wee bit of PINTEREST when I came across TINY TEXAS HOUSES. They are so beautiful I can't decide which photos to use for this post. Brad Kittel re-harvests unwanted building materials to create sub zero carbon footprint mini houses. He calls his work Pure Salvage Building. So tiny, yet so wonderful.








Tuesday 4 September 2012

VINTAGE WIRE BASKET LOVE

AGENT GALLERY

I did a post a little while ago about SKETCH BOK and how much I love their wire baskets. Did some online trawling for vintage ones. So many uses, so little time, wish their contents and all of them were mine!

FRENCH TWINE

APARTMENT THERAPY

YES YOU MAIGH

URBAN WOOD GOODS

KATIE DID

Monday 3 September 2012

SOURDOUGH LOVE


I have been buying lovely breads and ogling pastries at the little bakery inside Woolies at The Pav but even though delicious and very pretty buying such things from a chain store holds no romance. I am having dreams of a wee shop with sticky buns, swirls of pastry and crusty loaves. Big arm chairs, books and magazines. Iced coffee. Ok so now I am having flashbacks to my morning ritual at The Seattle Coffee Company in London which ain't no artisan bakery either. Instead I am thinking of making a sourdough starter, Swan will love the process but I am sure will complain bitterly about it if there are any wiffy smells.
SOURDOUGH COMPANION