Show & Tell

Warrens "Crossing" in Beunos Aries

* How wonderfully Parisian are these 2

* The most emotional shadows you'll probably ever see.

* Cool Granny Fashion!

* Cute digital monsters

* If you like cats, and art and cat art & arty cats, this is the place

* Beautiful animated giffs

* Oh my goodness, 10 sounds you need to hear before you die made my day.

* Fun personality test on what your birthday can reveal about you

* This weeks joke fave's :

"I met a Dutch girl with inflatable shoes last week. I phoned her up to arrange a date but unfortunately she'd popped her clogs"

A Jump-lead walks in to a bar. The barman says "I'll serve you, but don't start anything"

I slept like a log last night.........woke up in the fireplace.

♥

Show & Tell

* Last week we had printed food - this week it's printing skin cells

* A rude clam sticking his tongue out

* A great way to clean your screen!

* I'd like to try & make this paper cat lampshade

* Aaah I love you too - eyeball licking?!

* George is apparently the hot favorite with bookies for the name of the Royal Prince. I think Max would be nice. Prince Max..... King Max.....

* And this weeks joke: I went to the Dr the other day & asked if he had anything for wind. He gave me a kite.

x

Show & Tell

Another fabulous Tues evening spent with the Poops x

* Makes waiting for the bus a whole lot more interesting!

* There's not mushroom in here....

* I'm not a dog fan, but I love these portraits

* This documentary Chasing Ice has outstanding photography & an important message

* 30 mins of banging tunes guaranteed to get you through a 5km run. Wait for the last 5 mins to kick in - it'll have you sprinting to the end of the tread mill!

* Next time you need to fold a paper aeroplane. This is the way to do it. 

* Seriously, have they run out of ideas for films?  Sharknado must be the most ridiculous story-line this year. 

* Andy's table topic on Food Printing certainly got us thinking -about bananas mostly.

* The car that's driven by Tweets & Posts is pretty cool

* Upcycling vintage Nikons. I'm wondering if Warren would mind me borrowing some of his lenses - I'd definitely wear one

* Is this what sleep looks like? I'm definitely downloading this App to try out tonight

* Here's this week's favorite joke : I said to the Gym Instructor "Can you teach me to do the splits?" He said   "How flexible are you?" I said "Well I can't make Tuesdays". 

OK and one more : A lorry-load of tortoises crashed into a trainload of terrapins. What a turtle disaster. 

And Andy's : Why did Piglet smell? Because he was playing with poo.

Ah it's good to laugh ♥

Dressing Up Capes for fun little people

Last year I started a range of Superhero Capes  for boys & girls aged 2-5 yrs ish which come with matching, reversible masks & crowns. They are so sweet and kids have absolutely loved them. I've received stories of kids wearing them to bed, wearing them to school & taking their superhero transformations extremely seriously - and rightly so, when better time to have super powers than when you're 4!

But I've had a few requests from mums for other dress-up costumes. I had a think about it and what I loved about the superheros was their simplicity, boldness of colour & design, and how with 2 basic items, you can instantly become a new character.  We brainstormed some ideas that would translate well with this formula; instant dress-ups that don't require fiddly attachments or props. Just a cape & a hat and the transformation is complete.

So far I've expanded the range to include these alternatives: Nurse, Wizard, Pirate, Princess, Ringmaster & Camo Superhero. I'm hoping there is appeal for both boys & girls to explore their imaginations.

Each is finished with bold symbols and pom pom trim & are handmade with love ♥, as always.

Let me know what you think of these, I'd love to know which is your favourite (so far Lula's favourite is the Princess & I'm torn between the Pirate & Wizard!)

Hop over to my Facebook page to vote & stand a chance of having one of my new dress ups delivered to you in return (and to place your orders!!)

x

Truth

Wowzers, I'm not a big coffee fan but I make a serious exception when it comes to the artisan coffee makers at Truth . It's Warrens favourite coffee hangout & I can see why now. It's so smooth & delicious it doesn't even need a sweetener to make it palatable.

And what a fab location.

I love the take-away window that serves people on the street - when we were there early on Saturday, the sun was shining down the road, there was an eclectic mix of people hanging around & it reminded me of being in New York ♥.

The Steam Punk inspired interior is tres cool & there was some serious creativity put in to transforming this downtown warehouse in to a super-styled coffee lounge inclusive of a fully operating coffee roasting factory. The vintage roaster is central to the bar & is visible from all aspects as a dramatic part of the decor as well as being fully functional at transforming the beans into the perfect cappuccino. The furniture is all unique & custom-made including a loooong long communal table at the front, to eat at, hang out & get the best caffeine fix in Cape Town.

The loos are cool, the bar staff are cool, the furniture is cool, the collection of old typewriters are cool, the coffee is cool (well, hot, but 'cool'). It's all just super cool. We love it.

A couple of weeks ago we popped in the Vintage Market that's hosted there on the last Wed of the month & then on Saturday for a delicious brekkie. (Warren used the location for a shoot the previous week too - IT's THAT COOL!)

 

 The Vintage Experience

My warm oats with aromatic honey & nutty dukkah was ridiculously good

I was just reading about a new initiative they are running too : Seeds of Truth . In response to increased environmental awareness & the impact of disposable coffee cups in land fills, they are creating limited edition herb container cups. The seeds are ingeniously embedded in the cup, so you can repurpose it, grow some yummy greens & make the planet smile a little after you've enjoyed your latte. And they're beautifully illustrated & designed of course!



Picture Truth

Our Family Portrait

As soon as Lula was born, we became obsessed with photographing her.

Like all new parents, I don't think you can ever get bored of recording every angle, every smile and every moment you experience together, and with Warren being a photographer, there really are millions.
It helps that she was a super cute baby (but everyone thinks that about their own, right?!)

Anyway, despite having duplicates & triplicates of images, I also wanted to have an 'art piece' made of her. I had a look around & liked the simplicity that you can achieve using a pop art approach..

So I did my own version, which I still love & is hanging on the wall in her room.

                              

              

I took a pic of Lula, overexposed it to get the definition in the shadows, photocopied that a couple of times to get the minimum detail required and then painted it in flat colours with a solid black outline.

Then  last year my mum turned 60 & I wanted to give her something really unique & special & with a touch of South Africa to represent her African Babies.

So I asked a super talented friend Alwine, to do an illustration of us. And I love the results. Mum & dad have the original us up back in UK, but I also decided to make a copy for our home - it's just so cute.

x

Here's some other pretty ideas that I've spotted which are a lovely alternative to traditional photographed portraits.

I love the idea of making Martha Stewarts cross-stitched portraits as gifts for friends (eek need more time to get through the ever increasing project list!)

1. Embroidered necklace 2. Stencil portraits 3. Paper Dolls 4. Graphic illustration 5. Family stamp 6. Paper Cut-outs 7. Cross Stitch 8. Wooden dolls