Going Solo.

Going Solo. from Studio Botes on Vimeo.

Breaking the silence on this blog to share the above video with you.

Temporarily closed.

Obviously it's been a while since I've posted. I've even considered completely removing this blog. However, according to google stats quite a few people still stumble upon the content that's been posted here. So I'm leaving it up for now.

My only explanation is that at this present time 'life' demands more attention and headspace than online life.

Please forgive the lapse here.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Semi-detatched series.

I love this series of 'suburban boundaries' by photographer David Malan. Beautifully observed and captured. Visit his site to see more of this series and some other great personal work.

Halloween cookies.

Happy Halloween! It's not really a holiday we celebrate in South Africa - but I did make some effort by baking the above skull cookies. Remember this post? Well, I gave in to some of that skull mania when I spotted a skull cookie-cutter at Kinderfeestwinkel in Amsterdam.

2,500 match sticks.

Artwork By Pei-San Ng.

The top piece - 'Love on fire' is made of approximately 2 500 match sticks. Representing romance and passion or destruction and jealousy? The second was titled 'Temptation' before burning and now quite simply, "Burned".

Another pursuit requiring patience in the extreme.

Cookie Boy.

Cookie Boy makes the most fantastically intricate iced biscuits. Attention to detail and the most steady hands called for here.

How NOT to cook.

"How NOT to cook" aka "lessons learned the hard way". This is a self help book with a difference - a project that invites you to share advice on what NOT to do in the kitchen. Your burnt offerings and unmitigated disasters now have a place! See more of the How NOT to series, or submit your advice.

The quiet revolution.

'Bejewelled' by illustrator Claire Scully. Beautifully intricate. Also see her blog.

Bright delight.

From Kate Spade. Illustrations by Jenny Bowers.

Like? I do.

Things I like right now.

One of my favourite blogs, Miss Moss, shares 'things that are nice to look at'. I'm never disappointed by a visit to her blog - from her track compilations to street style. Today she has posted my 'things I like right now'. (Unsurprisingly my list is heavily influenced by our 2 months spent in Paris).

Thanks for featuring me Diana, I love this series!

Save the type!

Germany has a museum of rescued letters. How awesome?

We have a couple of letters rescued from Vangard House in Woodstock before it's demolition. A friend salvaged them by negotiating with the developers in the nick of time. He chose to spell out the GRANDE below, we have the rescued O, A and H!

Time stands still.

While wandering the streets of Paris and marvelling at the magnificent architecture I often imagined what lay behind some of the imposing doors of various buildings.

Well, here's a great story about a Parisian flat that lay uninhabited and untouched for 70 years. Belonging to a woman (named as a 'demimonde' in the article) who never returned to Paris after the Second World War the apartment was only recently explored upon her death - at age 91. In it, amongst the cobwebs and dust, a Bodini painting worth a hefty sum was discovered. Ah - dust, treasure, a war and an illicit past - could only be in Paris.

Home is where the heart is.

It's nice to be back.

Credits: Bird and Banner, Necklace, Welcome mat, Illustration, Scissorspaperglue.

Au Revoir, Paris.

"There are two kinds of travelers. There is the kind who goes to see what there is to see and sees it, and the kind who has an image in his head and goes out to accomplish it. The first visitor has an easier time, but I think the second visitor sees more. He is constantly comparing what he sees to what he wants, so he sees with his mind, maybe even his heart, or tries to. "  

Adam Gopnik, Paris to the Moon.