I’ve been dying to share this with you for weeks now. Box & Flea is a new design project created by architect Jeremy Barbour of Tacklebox (who is currently working on the new shop for Saipua in Red Hook, NYC which I will showcase here in the (blog)house very very soon!), and Andrew Woodrum of Fleaheart. I recently met Jeremy and his wife An – whose stunning memory of spaces paintings you may recall I wrote about here – in Amsterdam during their week long stay for An’s first solo exhibition opening in Den Hague.

Jeremy brought along a few of the bandanas from his new project to show me and I instantly fell in love with them. Each design is stunning and I love that they are masculine (perfect gift for guys) and utterly sophisticated.

I have heaps more to share with you about these fabulous new friends of mine (thank you for all the inspiration An and Jeremy!!) but for now I give you, box & flea. Check out the website, and also the box & flea blog.

xx

I’ve been hoping to gather some spare moments lately to share some of my new adventures, discoveries, creations and inspirations with all of you. This week I’m going to attempt to spill all, working my way backwards from this weekend just past, to the one prior.

Starting with this weekend just past: It was an ‘open studio’ weekend in the north of amsterdam which means that many private art studios are open to the public for two days only. Just like Paris, Amsterdam is filled with artists. The open studio weekends are a great way to see a part of Amsterdam in more intricate detail, meet well-known and upcoming dutch artists, and get a glimpse of what goes on behind closed doors… and you all know how much I love peeking into artist’s studios!

So, on Sunday I went with Yvette to visit her sister Sophie who is a wonderful artist and illustrator and who was part of this particular open studio weekend. Little Marie (remember our photoshoot helper?) tucked herself up against my leg in the car and then once outside, showed us the way to her aunty’s beautiful studio …

Marie led us over bridges, past quaint dutch houses, and down a beautiful cobblestoned pathway…

…straight to Sophie’s studio, filled with incredible illustrations and portraits. I was mesmerized, not only by her stunning work but also her beautiful home…

On saturday, dear friend Zoë, French Boy and I went to more of the ateliers, catching a ferry from centraal station and working our way around with the aid of a map made just for the occassion, as well as following little signs and flags. We met lots of wonderful artists, and discovered a whole part of Amsterdam that we didn’t know existed…

…including a beautiful forest lined with little private gardens. We were able to walk along the pathway and take a peak inside the gorgeous plots with their tiny tucked away sheds and glass houses…

I was in heaven – can you imagine how giddy I was after a weekend filled with inspirational artists, a peek inside their private studios, a wander through private gardens, and a stroll through nature?

Amsterdam, oh how I love you so!

ha! I know there is not such thing as ‘regular’ programming here in the (blog)house, but I love the sound of this line! anyway, I shall continue:

…to let you know about a special someone who has been working on a special something.

Introducing ms. ebony bizys, the author of one of the newest and funnest blogs around called hello sandwich.

hello sandwich is a fabulous blog filled with interesting posts about art, photography, illustrations, fashion and more. And as ebony’s day job is senior designer at Vogue Living, she comes across some pretty amazing things.

Ebony is also one of the 10 finalists in the News Limited 1degree challenge along with katie crackernuts! Now, call me an eco geek but I get ridiculously excited when corporations as big as new limited ‘goes eco’, and I think ebony and kate are fabulous examples of what individuals can do within the workplace, and how influential and integral each of us can be.

Ebony has come up with a very special giveaway on her blog, especially for the contest. And along with many other initiatives, she has also organised a presentation for her colleagues at vogue living tomorrow (or today if you are in oz) for world environment day!

I will direct you straight to ebony’s giveaway post to read more about what she has in store for you, but I warn you – her style, enthusiasm, energy and creativity will have you jumping up and down and running to fulfill one of her eco friendly actions pronto. Here is a sneak peek of the gorgeous little treats that you could win – wherever you are in the world – all wrapped up in vintage japanese fabric…

So please, click here to read ebony’s full post, read her one degree of difference blog here where she takes you behind the scenes of her vogue living editorial office and spreads her love of green, and to read more about the eco initiative at news limited, please click here.

Ebony, thanks for being such an inspiration! Best of luck with the 1degree competition, and most of all, have a great day!

Happy World Environment Day everyone!

xx

photograph by riley salyards.

I’m very excited to have my beautiful friend back in the country, she’s been gone a month and I’ve missed her lots. And I’m also excited to let you know she has a beautiful new guest post just for you, filled with gorgeous photos, right here in the guest quarters. It might even be my favourite so far… thank you riley!

please click here for the full post.

It’s Tuesday!

Perhaps you didn’t need me to shout that out to you, but I find I need to remind myself of this after I’ve had a long weekend, otherwise I think it’s monday when it’s tuesday, wednesday when it’s thursday, and so it goes for the whole week. You know the consequences.

This week as I mentioned already, I will post about my weekend in Paris. But first, I want to let you know that my 4th appearance on design for mankind’s dialogue series is up and away!

This time I share the screen with artist Lisa Solomon, on the topic of niches. It will be my last one for a while as I have much on my plate at the moment, so please be sure to check it out and add your thoughts and comments to this week’s topic.

To view the video, please click here. And for more fab dialogue videos, click here.