PIF

I'm home from Nairobi and one of my first stops once home was to pick up my beautifully wrapped PIF from the post office. This lovely set of herb markers from Helouise of My Imperfect Garden. I worked with this talented lady quite a few years ago and know how creative she is so I must admit I knew I was in for a treat when I commented on her PIF. Many thanks Helouise, the herb markers are lovely! I'm so impressed by the decorative detail. I'll shoot them in context soon and they'll definitely spruce up my herb pots.

Dr Livingstone, I presume?

I'm off to Kenya bright and early tomorrow morning - ok, not so bright - I need to be at the airport at 5:30am... Going to Nairobi for a week (it's work not play but I'm sure we'll fit in some interesting things.) So I won't be around the blogosphere for a while but have left you a few posts. My hotel is The Stanley. Typically colonial.

Have a happy week!

Imperfection

Via Design Crush. Might possibly be my new favourite blog. 

Coco&Kelley's virtual wedding

Coco & Kelley is running an 'inspiration board' competition. To design the look of a wedding based on her selection of interiors. I couldn't resist putting together some images. I'm a fan of inspiration boards and a sucker for the romance that surrounds weddings. (Though I must admit the "commercialness" surrounding the industry irritates me a bit - just seems sometimes we forget the point of the event.) Regardless, when I came across her blog I had the perfect excuse to re visit all the wedding links I'd bookmarked when planning our own happy day.

See them all on her flickr page.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

And repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

I spent a large portion of the last weekend doing laundry. One of the biggest, possibly the biggest bane of my home keeping chores. Laundry is something that seems to have a life of it's own ... I'm aware that this isn't the most interesting thing to post about but I think I may just have a breakthrough idea:

Not to advocate wasteful behaviour but imagine if you just took off your clothes at the end of the day and THREW THEM AWAY. Disposable clothes.

After some investigation (yes, I'm serious about this and after all the internet knows everything) I discovered that I'm totally behind the curve and that in 1961 we were already working on this. Present day we have inventors who have cracked biodegradable clothes hangers but until further breakthrough we should all be wearing bamboo or tencel if we want to be disposable.

Of course my intention is to be environmentally conscious and conserve energy in every respect, just especially my own.

Paper clothes seen here.

Sangria blanca

I've always considered Sangria as a bit nasty... the kind of drink that'll knock you sideways... and apparantly there's a good reason that the tourists are the only ones drinking Sangria in Spain.  However, I came across the following recipe on Donna Hay and I think it sounds worth a try - especially since our weather has become a little warmer recently.

White Sangria
You will need a thinly sliced orange, red apple and green apple. One bottle of sparkling wine, 450ml apple juice, 330ml orange liqueur, 250ml soda water, ice cubes and mint leaves.
Place the fruit in a large jug or bowl, top with sparkling wine, apple juice and orange liqueur. Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the fruit to soak up all the lovely flavours. Top with soda water, ice and garnish with mint leaves. Serve in simple glass tumblers.
Experiment with your favourite fruit or use a bottle of dry white wine instead of sparkling in this recipe.

Photography Con Poulos

Natasha Lawes

I was introduced to Luna and Curious via the lovely Freshly Found. That in turn led me to Designers Block and the work of Natasha Lawes.  (Don't you just love following link upon link, thanks Denise for this great find!)

So above are some of my favourite images from the portfolio of yet another amazingly talented creative person. Must admit some of her stuff a bit too gory for me but I can certainaly appreciate the time and effort that this type of hair, wardrobe styling and make up must take!

Cath Tate cards

Hanlie introduced me to some humorous greeting cards by Cath Tate today. I love the restrained design of the Haute Couture section. I can almost hear the sophisticated biting voice that belongs with these statements. This is etiquette quite unlike the beloved Emily Post.

Irina Troitskaya

Beautiful work by Irina Troitskaya. This red riding hood pattern is one of my favourites.

Richard Hutten

Perhaps this is what I should have done with my old books? Might be a bit of a problem if you need to reference one of those books that make up the legs. : )

Table made of books by dutch designer Richard Hutten.

From the Vogue Living digital sampler July/August.

Doggy bag?

Even though we don't have a pet I thought these poo poo bags were so amusing and well designed that I had to share. 

Seen at Design Crush.

Mixed bag post

Some links into my life:

1. I recently made one of these successfully. Successfully enough to give to my MIL. (Mother in Law)
2. I followed this classic South African recipe well enough to serve the result after last Sunday lunch.
3. I'm going to the city of sun in about 10 days time and I still have to have one of these injections...
4. I'm healthy. I must be according to this article about blogging.
5. I can't stop marveling at the type design by this woman.
6. These shoes rock. Perhaps because they're so different.

Telescopic text

Play here By Joe Davis

The grass is not always greener

From Toothpaste for dinner

I've edited my collection

The number of books in my home had begun to overflow my bookshelves. Piles had started here and there, gathering dust. I love to read, and occasionally re read particular titles. But something had to be done to alleviate the pressure on those shelves! I heard about a little swap concept bookshop and thought it would be worth investigation. Yesterday I spent time sorting through novels and happily headed off with two large bags full of books. I was impressed with the set up of the little store and returned with a fistful of cash (they give you 50% of what they will charge for a particular book) and of course another 3 novels (including Moxyland by Lauren Beukes which I've been meaning to read). I'll definitely be visiting again.

For some ideas on curbing your book clutter visit here.

For anyone in Cape Town the store I visited is 'The Book Shoppe' in Tokai 021 7131528.

Don't you love the cover design of this book? It's by designer Dale Halvorsen. The book even has it's own soundtrack.