Show & Tell

Here's some things that caught my eye over the hols

* This year (as with all 1st Jan's I suppose) I plan to be more active. This is an interesting post about getting our children more active too.

* Every picture on Instagram is the same...

* Sweet illustration & collage works by Mathilde Aubier

* A collection of adrenaline filled people

* As the "best of's" and compilations of 2013 roll out, it's really fun to do your own review of the year with Flipagram

So it's the end of the year.
It's been a busy one with new school, holidays, dinner dates, loving Cape Town, tonsils, sewing (lots), saying goodbye to loved pets & welcoming new ones, fun with friends & starting house decor.
And the best thing about the end of a good year, is that it's the chance to start a new one and with that comes new lists!

Tra la
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Franks stuff

I became a fan of artist Frank Van Reenens work a few years after I arrived in South Africa.

Back in 2005 (ish I think) those clever boys Justin & Cameron of The Neighborhood Market (& general leaders in bringing a long-awaited market culture to Cape Town) opened a little Cape Town gallery in Hope St.
The What If The World Gallery was a small space between a laundret & hair salon and they transformed the tiny room into an inspiring & engaging platform for young artists & Capetownians to meet & display their talents. It's purpose if I remember correctly was to exhibit unique, original pieces & sell them at affordable prices to benefit give new local talent exposure as well as make art accessible to all by pricing everything under R1000.

It was one of my favourite spots & I went to nearly all their opening nights and subsequently own a little Senyol , an ALFALFA screen print , Dom Sable illustration & stunning LED lamp-shaped light.

They then moved to larger premises in Woodstock, hosting bigger exhibitions, & it was there that I bought my 1st "Frank".

It was Blue Dog.
In 2007.
I saw him sitting there amongst the other sculptures and canvases & fell in love with him instantly. I used my Xmas bonus & bought him without hesitation.
It was the 1st time I'd really purchased anything of value for myself, and it felt so exciting & a privilege to own the pastel blue, curvey hound.

Now that years later we've become friends, it was funny to hear that this particular blue dog was supposed to be his wifes. They were surprised & happy to find him chilling in our bedroom window alcove - literally across the road from the studio he was 'born' in.
(Luckily Tracy now also has her own Blue Dog who was returned from an exhibition in New York.)

A year later, I treated myself to one of the classic Shy Girls. So adorable.

               

Then when Frank showed me his work-in-progress of Skater Boy earlier this year, I knew that I'd have to have one. With Warren's recent love of skate boarding, it was too appropriate not to. It was the perfect Xmas present for him.

Now we have Skater Boy & Shy Girl. A reflection of Warren & I? (ok not quite!)

I also have to confess to 'borrowing' Lula's 4th B'day pressie. It's just so perfect for our bedroom picture wall. But she's smart (and has good taste!) I thought she might forget it was hers, but every so often she reminds me & asks if it can go in her room, to which I always reply "of course - just as soon as I get some more nails my darling" (terrible mummy I know)

I love the solid ice-cream colours and smoothness of the enamel, & the humour that is in each of the pieces.
It's art that makes me happy.

My other favourites are:

"Puppy Love"

"Soft Toy Love"

and "Pretend Pretend"

See more of his gorgeous works here

♥

Show & Tell

Here's this weeks & my last collection of snippets for the year.
I'm  now totally immersing myself in tinsel & baubles!

* My new favourite camera lens iPhone app

* These reactions captured are  just incredible & beautiful

* I wish Santa would bring me an Anthropologie star necklace

* My couch is still lusting for a B&W Pia Wallen cross blanket

And a seasonal Christmas Cracker Joke : "What do you call a 3 legged donkey.....A wonkey!

Merry Xmas
xxx

Show & Tell

This weeks goodies

* These Peppermint Chocolate Crackles look delicious!

* Such a cute stickman game

* Being silly in pink for love

* I hate it when we come to the end of a good series. Masters of Sex has been fantastic!

* Beer & boys

x

Advent Calendar DIY

Well I do love a project or two your know.
And any occasion can be milked to the max in project world.
Xmas in particular is perfect for maximising that crafty DIY potential. Yay!

Last year I had a board on Pinterest full of decorations, recipes, wrapping solutions and diy gifts waiting to be executed in my home. Sadly I left it all a bit too late & inbetween work craziness, weekend markets, sewing orders, shopping & my family being over, I ran out of time.
We did have great fun making some of the table accessories and my dad got totally stuck in to transforming the acorns we'd collected into shiny little gold nuggets - sweet.

The 1 thing I was disappointed that I didn't get around to though was making an advent calendar for Lula.

So this year I was determined to.

I really should have started it earlier in Nov to make 1 Dec deadline, but I had a shop bought choccie one as back-up. And I ended up being only 1 week late!

There are so many pretty ideas for homemade advent calendars, but this one from Morning Creativity caught my eye.

I had an overwhelming response from the office to the empty loo roll request & accumilated quite a collection in just a couple of days. So there was no excuse.

I darted in to a chinese shop to get some little trinkets & set to work:

Materials:
* glue
* 25 loo rolls
* tissue paper
* Cardboard
* Stuffing (or tissue paper) for chimney smoke
* 24 little gifts : here are some I chose from

- balloon
- shiny tedy keyring
- bubbles
- xmas bow
- mini slinky
- bouncy ball
- locket
- whoopee cushion
- stickers
- lip gloss
- butterfly rubber
- hair clips
- goggly eyes
- Hello Kitty patches
- Washi tape
- parachute man
- magic growing cactus
- xmas tree decoration
- beads
- plastic reindeer
- growing dinosaurs
- heart pendant
- ink stamp
- fun necklace

Squeeze a layer of glue around the top of a lo0 roll & place down on to tissue paper until dry.

Trim excess tissue paper, so each tube is sealed at one end

Staple the loo rolls together (in a tree or house shape)

Turn the joined loo rolls over & paint/write/stick your numbers on

Find 24 little pressies to hide inside each day

Then put glue on to the open ends of the loo rolls, place card on top & weigh it down until it's dried & all the pressies are sealed safely inside each tube

Add a roof, chimney & smoke & some ribbon to hang!

Ta da!

A little surprise every day

 

Merry Christmas!

xxx

Turning 5 : Alice in Wonderland

Riiiiiiiight from the very beginning, and as we approached Lula's 1st birthday, Warren & I naturally discovered our strengths in the party planning process. We fell in to our respective roles when it came to the preparations with no discussion required as to who was in charge of what.
Warren is the master baker & cake sculpture extraordinaire. And my specialty is theme coordination, decor & bunting!

And it has been that way for all of her birthdays ever since.

★

We have had a Lollipop, Rainbow & Cup-Cake party,  and then this year, we thought an Alice in Wonderland theme would be cute.

I look so forward to these dates; to have a special day with our squish & friends obviously, but also it's a great excuse to make some stuff & do a mood board ha ha ha. (I had no idea a few years back that having a child would be so much fun!!!)

There is so much inspiration out there for Alice in Wonderland & Mad Hatters Tea Parties on Pinterest & Google searches. These along with this fab book, Everything Alice, which I received last year for Xmas that's filled with wonderful craft projects, meant I was ready to go.
With a couple of props, it was really easy & fun to pull together. I actually wish I'd had time to make more stuff, as it's such a lovely theme, but it was a little last minute & rushed so it was what it was!

A sweet little email invite:

The key fun decor elements for me were:

* Keys (Bought for a few rand @ a junk shop & threaded on ribbon to hang round the teapot etc)
* Playing Cards (R6 from the Chinese shop & used scattered on the table)
* Eat Me / Drink Me labels
* Tea Cups & Teapots
* Red roses
* Sugar cubes
* Pink plastic flamingoes for the garden
* Giant clock (I was luckily enough to borrow one, but a giant cardboard one would work just as well)

You can make bunting by printing out large cards or just threading ribbon through standard playing cards punched with a hole punch. Stack some old books & find some interesting bottles to decant the drinks in to.

We kept the food list simple with a Queen of Hearts Tea Party feel:

* Jam sarnies
* Tea Cakes with marmalade
* Strawberries & meringues
* Jam tarts (or jam biccies in my case)
* Ice Tea, Lemonade, Juice & Tea
* and a beautiful heart birthday cake

And for entertainment, we kept it super easy by printing & cutting out Cheshire Cats to stick on to chocolate coins for a garden Treasure Hunt. And then for a twist on the egg & spoon race, we had a tea-cup race (Lula's toy cup/saucers with sugar cubes balanced inside)

Here's a few pics:

An Alice In Wonderland Mad Hatters Party, to celebrate turning 5.
♥

* i must sort out all these images, I seem to have messed up the treatment & res in the process....

I couldn't resist doing a special little shoot with our Squish either. 

I made a cute little blue tulle skirt with red pom poms, and found some gorgeous B&W stripey leg warmers to complete her Alice look ♥

Happy Birthday to our beautiful squish
♥

Show & Tell

* Enormous remote control plane

* Now that's some impressive twerking 

* Well that will teach him. Let 'im 'av it!

* It's time to start feeling Christmassy & watch this film 

* Chatroulette Wrecking Ball

* So sweet. Happy.

* The Maker by Zealous Creative. A strange creature races against time to make the most important & beautiful creation of his life

x