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.

Bright delight.

From Kate Spade. Illustrations by Jenny Bowers.

Like? I do.

Home is where the heart is.

It's nice to be back.

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

Jaime Hayon at Masion & Objet.

One of the many interesting things I saw at Masion&Objet in early September was the Jaime Hayon exhibit "Moving Ideas". It was a glimpse into his creative process - from work-in-progress sketches to prototypes from first projects and recently unveiled pieces. Experimental, eccentric and quite extraordinary. 

More here. Images from here. (Cameras strictly verboten so no images of my own.)

Sunday brunch at Le Germain.

Brunch seems to be a big thing in Paris. Numerous restaurants offer their brunch menu until 6pm on a Saturday and Sunday. And said menu includes a selection of hair-of-the-dog refreshments and a myriad of different ways to order the simple oeuf. We did brunch at Germain this Sunday and found ourselves amongst the well-heeled but casually chic of the left bank. A couple of Janice Dickenson look alikes who've obviously overindulged on the collagen and a more than just a scattering of LV bags casually slung over chairs (these were the real thing, baby) completed the picture. 

But the interior stole the show.

A massive bright yellow sculpture of a woman in a coat and heels breaks through from the café floor to the lounge area above. It's by artist Xavier Veihan. Interior architect India Mahdavi.

With spaces like these in which to while away your weekend, it's no wonder brunch is trés popular.

Merci beaucoup.

Last week we visited 'Merci'. It's a concept store on boulevard Beaumarchais in the East of the Marais. Outfitted in a converted fabric factory it houses a wide range of products - from designer threads to furniture to one euro bits and pieces. All carefully curated and displayed.

The really interesting thing about the store is that 'Merci' gives all it's profits to charity (a foundation that it runs is currently helping children in Madagascar). Certainly retail with a conscience.

We also visited übercool 'Collette' although this time around I wasn't as impressed. And apparently if we really want to discover the best of the Parisian concept stores then we still have 'Spree', 'L'Eclaireur' and 'Hotel Particulieur' to explore. 

Age-old advice.

Some sage advice from WWI. Kinda along trend of the reprinted WWII Keep Calm poster. From the Wallblank Vintage collection. We could all do with a prompt to be more mindful, I think.

Fine foliage.

Little Autumn Treasures.

Leaves in full colour - SkinnyLaminx.

Owen Gildersleeve wallpaper for iphone.

Fabric branches by Jane Joss on Etsy.

'Leafy' by Vanille.

Fabric print - The Artful Parent.

I seem to have stumbled upon so many beautiful images of leaves recently. From the gentle colours in the fabric printing of The Artful Parent to the Plascon cut-outs by SkinnyLaminx. We are way past Autumn in South Africa (we've actually been experiencing some glorious sunny winter days at the moment in Cape Town) but falling, fabric & paper leaves are front of my mind. Thanks to all those above for the 'bit 'o pretty' they've put into the world.

Made me smile.

Isn't it great when humour is injected to everyday design? The 'Sylvester' bird box is by John Casewell.

Feint!

This clever person has redesigned the traditional lined notebook into an 'inspiration pad'. I'd use it. You can buy it here.

Via Swiss-Miss.

Finger in the nose.

Aside from the that fact that the kids in this shoot look awfully grown up I think the brand name of 'Finger in the nose' is quite genius. The right amount of attitude to really stand out from the more common twee tags. More here.

Legends of Unity.

I went to the opening of an exhibit of portraits of African footballers by Kehinde Wiley last night. It's a collaboration between Puma and Wiley and as well as artwork you can see the range of Puma clothing, footwear and accessories inspired by the work.

It is vibrant, graphic work which I was looking forward to seeing up close - the only disappointment was that the originals were not on exhibit - apparently stuck in customs. I'm a big fan of West African textile prints so I found the bold wallpaper type backgrounds really beautiful.

Images by me & various other sources. Unfortunately so many people and press it was hard to get a decent shot. The exhibition runs from 24 June to 3 July.