A post without a title

Roxy and I spent a few days with friends in Adelaide last month. Sam took this photo of us at Glenelg.

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Books Glorious Books

Wonderful! There are many more images like these at bookshelf porn.

How do you organise and display your books? In my office I have two bookshelves with everything grouped by kind, but in the living area I arrange them by colour. At first I found it a bit annoying to try to find a particular book, but I've come to know what colour the spine of each book is and it's not a problem anymore. I do have a lot of books!
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abcd Spring Meet-up :: For Bloggers

Spring has definitely sprung here in Sydney - the days have been so beautiful and gardens are bursting into glorious colour. In fact the predicted temperatures for this week look more like a taste of summer than early spring. It's lovely to feel the warmth in the sun again.

Spring also means that it's time for our quarterly abcd meet up for bloggers here in Sydney, which is hosted by Steph of Bondville and I. It will be held on Thursday 29th September - that's next week. Our relaxed get togethers are a great way to connect or reconnect with other creative types. 

abcd stands for artists + bloggers + crafters + designers, so if you blog about any of those creative topics (your own creations or other people's) please come along. Have a drink. Make some new friends. Exchange information. Be inspired by one another.

This time we are introducing a sort of speed dating. Sort of! We thought it would be a bit of fun and a great way to make sure everyone meets each other. So at the beginning of the night we will have a timed period where we can spend a few minutes with each person to connect and say hi, and put a name and face to the blog. In our usual style it will be all very casual and relaxed and lots of fun.

The goodie bags have continued to be a huge success, so we will have them once again for this meet up. Last time the bags were bursting at the seams with handmade goodies and little mementos - something to remember each other by after the event. You can contribute to the goodie bags if you wish, but only those who contribute will receive one. If you'd like to be a part of the fun then make sure you say "goodie bag contributor" in your RSVP before 24th September. We'll count up the number of participants and let you know numbers (it's usually between 20 and 30) before the event.

Thursday 29th September 2011
7 pm - 9pm
The back bar at the 3 Weeds Hotel, 197 Evans St Rozelle
(the link above has a map)

If you'd like to come, please RSVP right up until the day (or by 24th for goodie bags) on the abcd Facebook page, or if like me you don't do Facebook (!) you can RSVP in the comments of this post.
Join our facebook page.
Join our mailing list.
Join us!

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Loving :: Message in a Bottle

Donna Wilson's Message in a Bottle Hot Water Bottle Covers.

Genius idea!

found via Oh Joy!

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Stool Before & After

I found this ugly dark timber stool with it's black pleather top by the side of the road and knew it had potential. With a coat of mint green paint and a quick and easy new cover for the seat I transformed it into something with personality. Then, after living with it for a month or so I decided that it would really look fabulous with a spash of orange paint added to the legs. It probably cost me less than $5 and I love it.

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Loving :: Erin Lightfoot

These beautiful limited edition porcelain bangles are made in Brisbane by Erin Lightfoot. Aren't they divine? They are available in Erin's Etsy shop.

All images: Lightfoot

  


Thanks Marina for telling me about Erin's work!
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DIY Affordable Art - Part 3: Origami

If you're a long-time reader here, you may remember that Roxy (aged 7) is somewhat obsessed with origami. When she discovers a new thing to make she'll fold dozens of them.

Last year when she was six she had a thing about origami fish, so I created an installation in the hall near our front door.

When she was five she loved making origami cups, so we made garlands from them.

Recently we bought some new, very small, origami paper which is 5 cm (2 inches) square.  So Roxy set to work making every origami design she's learnt in miniature, including chatterboxes which she asked me to write on in teeny tiny writing.

Last weekend she called me over to see what she'd created (the photo below on the right). She calls it "origami patchwork", and it's made up of dozens of tiny chatterboxes! I loved it and immediately went looking for a frame so it could be on permanent display.

You can find chatterbox directions here - to make Roxy's patchwork origami complete steps 1 - 4.

So now we have three 'artworks' in our home that only cost a few dollars for a packet of origami paper. I used a box frame we already had for the origami patchwork, but you could also stick the chatterboxes to a piece of card with double sided tape and the blu tac it to the wall. They would also look pretty great in a larger size attached directly to the wall.

Email me some photos if you try any of these ideas!
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Fiber + Chairs

Unexpected.
Creative.
Awesome.

Knitting, weaving and the Eames Wire Chair.

Here on flickr.  Found via Lushlee.

knitting: plainliving   styling: Akira Ishikawa   photo: Osamu Koizumi

Donna Wilson in collaboration with SCP and Ercol for La Fabrika in Brussels.

Found via all the mountains.
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Looking forward to...

This fabulous geometric print fabric (swoon!) coming soon from Prints Charming. I like the stripes too, but the design and colours in the geometric print are just my thing.

Image: Prints Charming
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Loving :: Linus Dean Rugs

Well, loving is an understatement. These are the coolest rugs I think I've ever seen. Strong colours and simple typographic designs make these beauties stand out from the usual suspects. They are designed by Sydney graphic designer Linus Dean (great name!) and hand loomed in Tibet and Nepal from silk and wool. To die for don't you think?

Image Source: Linus Dean
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Inspiration :: Karen Nicol

It was love at first sight when I came across the glorious work of British mixed media textile artist Karen Nicol. To die for, huh? No wonder Karen has a list of clients that include (amongst many others) Anthropologie, Marc Jacobs, Chloe, Vera Wang, John Rocha, Julien Macdonald, Michiko Koshino, Givenchy, Chanel couture, Mulberry, Harvey Nicholls, Harrods, Libertys, and Mario Testino.

All images: Karen Nicol
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