ETSY LOVE 3: SKINNYLAMINX

Heather Moore of Skinny laMinx, who also happens to be editor of the Elle Deco South Africa blog, now has some awesome aprons available through her etsy shop available in her orla and spoons print.

COOL CUSHIONS

I dig these cushions and the quirky illustrations from k-studio featured on branch but found on indie guest via loving every minute.

FLICKR FIND 2: WADE GRIFFITH

I have a bit of a love affair with the States. I've never been there but I have this idealistic mental image and sense of it that I'm not to keen to let go of but will come to and end some day. I blame "The Wonder Years" and other American shows where things were always peachy and worked out in the end. I've spoken to copious South African men, who confess, "You know what I'd like to do. I'd like to travel Route 66. The whole thing!" I don't think half of them even know what that area is like, but I can't help but share the sentiment. Images like these further the desire to don a pair of bust-up jeans, a scaffy shirt, a cowboy hat and hit the road in an old chev. As seen on Flickr here.

OH YES PLEASE THANK YOU

There's not much that beats a great bath or shower after a day from hell, and in today's ever evolving culture it's perfectly okay for men to be....I just can't use the word pampered....but t0 be allowed to chill. There. So you can imagine my sheer joy at finding this shrine of recuperation on trendir. The Tris Shower Cabin from Ideal Standard is a shower, sauna and steam bath in one complete with multiple settings and stylish wooden finish, which I way prefer over the sterile white tiles at my local gym.

OVER AT ELLE DECO

Renowned local designer Frauke Stegmann will be guest blogging over at the Elle Deco blog the whole of this week. Be sure to pop by her shop Birds Boutique Café at 127 Bree Street, Cape Town, when you're next in that part of the world . You'll love it.

EXHIBIT GALLERY & SHOP

A local publication recently ran an article on the Berea and I thought this little shop should have been on the list and it hadn't. So I decided to race there during my lunch break, take a few pics and chat to the very friendly and welcoming owner who I'd met previously.

Exhibit, co-owned by Eunice van der Vloed and Ettienne Basson, stocks all sorts of retro, deco and 50's to 70's decor among other bit and pieces. Check back here every now and again as plans are afoot for something new and exciting within the next few months which I can't say too much about right now, but will report on when the big day draws near.

So next time you're in the area pop in and have a look see.

Exhibit Gallery and Shop.
398 Frere Road, Glenwood.
031 205 0831

FANCY FONT FIND

I found this old 1950's lettering book on my bookshelf recently and can't remember where I got it from ( a present from Dad? a thriftshop find? ). It's highly intriguing and jam packed with typefaces and an artform we modern typesmiths are so far from yet in many ways, so close to. Those in the game sing a collective song of joy because today we have our trusty Macs that help us along the way.

My favourite from the book, a font called Pickard Tuscan Decorated below. Anyone else found any cool old school typography recently?

BIANCA AND FAMILY

Bianca and Family stock an amazing selection of furniture and decorative objects for children. They have an awesome range of chairs which have been sorted into three categories, restored, vintage and nowadays.

I found this site via new and fantastic blog discovery about some things.

DAVID FOLDVARI

I've been following the work of Hungarian born, London based illustrator David Foldvari since 2002. I love his illustration style and it's been great to see how his work has evolved from his older work to the newer stuff. He deserves a mention here, if not for his sheer talent, then for the help he gave me when I was researching my 3rd year Graphic Design project on Graffiti/Street Art and it influence on contemporary design and illustration. David can be contacted through his website or through his agency Big Active which also represents the likes of Genevieve Gauckler and Jasper Goodall. See his blog here.

PANORAMA

Ever wished you had a camera to capture those insane panorama's you see on all your trips. Yes? Well, look no further ( this is sounding like an infomercial ). I'll stop. This camera is a masterpiece that pops out a 160 million pixel, 6 x 17 digital scan of awesomeness. Those are the upsides. The downside you ask? It'll cost you between 26,940 and 31,150 Euros and weighs, in terms of todays point and shoots, a hefty 4,5 kg. Worth the workout? I think so.

LOBLOLLY HOUSE

You know how you have preconceptions about your future. I'll live in this type of house, the decor will be such and such, and it''l be located in this type of area. Well if you took my ideas, hopes and dreams, fused them together under intense heat at a high speed. This would be the result. A beautiful house set amongst a grove of trees, close to the water. Loblolly House built by Kieran Timberlake sits on Taylors Island, Chesapeake Bay in the U.S of A. Two thousand square feet of sheer bliss. This would obviously be only one of the houses I own.....obviously. Along with a villa in Sardinia and a loft apartment in Manhattan.

MIKHAEL'S MINDFULNESS

Undoubtedly talented and surprisingly young ( in years ) Mikhael Subotsky has to some degree had a meteoric rise to becoming one of South Africa's most well respected and renowned photographers. For his final and fourth year at university Mikhael did a study of prison life in South Africa which has since received international acclaim. At 25 years old Subotsky's work has now been exhibited internationally in Basel, Miami, Turin, Bamako, The Canary Islands, Rome, Verona, Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin, Mexico City, San Francisco, London, and New York. Locally he has had work on show at a variety of galleries including the Goodman Gallery in 2006.

Not content to keep his knowledge and expertise to himself, Subotsky started a worskhop for inmates which has proved very successful, if success is to be measured by effort and results, with two of the former inmates now working in the photographic industry.

Above are portraits taken by the inmates. Great to see someone giving back as opposed to turning one. See more of his work here and that's him in the top pic. Give him a pat on the back if you ever bump into him.

LULA TWO

Some new spreads from the latest issue of Lula, with Kirsten Dunst as a contributor, interviewing Mia Farrow. I think the direction of the photographic shoots is great. Well considered lighting and cropping.

LOVING LYELL

Beautifully shot images and my kind of interiors had me browsing Lyell for a good while today. If you visit the site it's well worth while having a look at the past looks, where I found the above images in the Fall 2006 section. The shots had me e-window shopping and thinking where I'd squeeze it all, in my increasingly crowded flat.

FEEDBACK: On my attempt to compile a list of thrift and second hand stores in Durbs, news is that I spent a bit of time thinking about how to put it together, and gathering addresses, hours places are open etcetera, and have roped "Queen of the Thrift", my colleague and pal Jen to help me out. Which is great news as she's highly experienced in the field and will undoubtedly have all lady readers raring to go with all her inside info.

THE FIRST BLOG I LOVED

A little extract from one of Jamie's posts.

An idea first born

If it were up to me, I’d rather the winter sun set without clouds. Just the golden rim of the earth, the inked velvet of the stars. I appreciate the honesty of it. Bare, open, like winter itself. A kiss to the fingertips; a sigh, then another; the first heady draught of sleep.
I think one of the hardest things to do as a blogger must be to write about another blogger, especially one more adept at putting down in a few words what others struggle with for hours. Reading Jamies blog is to climb inside her head and sit and listen.....beyond distraction. Like a child in a library, the reader unfolding a world of words, the child hanging on every syllable, then lingering .....hoping for another. In my opinion Jamie is far more a story-teller than a writer, and if one day, when her debut novel gets published, it'll be a great day.

Oh yes Jamie's also skilled as a photographer like not many people I know.