If, unlike me, you have not just up and flown out of Sydney I suggest you make your way to this sale next week without a second thought. Even I would have stayed in the country a little longer if I knew about this (sorry French Boy, but it is the truth).

Dinosaur, why oh why do you tease me so?

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All images courtesy of Dinosaur Designs.

For more information on Dinosaur you can read about it here and here.

Back in Amsterdam, I had a few Sydney-based blogs that I would love to peruse to get my Sydney-life fix. And it’s perfect timing for me to share them with you, since you are all here with me for the next few weeks and you can get more of a feel for this fabulous city with the help of these awesome dudes…

First of all, the above pic doesn’t look like Sydney, does it? Well, it’s not, I must confess, but I love that photo and it comes from the website of one of my all-time favourite bunch of architects whose organisation is called Bricks + Cartwheels. As architects they “seek to act as facilitators to empower and engage communities not normally served by good design.” They believe in the potential for young designers to play a critical role in the improvement of peoples’ lives and they work in various impoverished areas around the world to implement the design and construction of schools and community buildings. Right now they are working with the community of Katolo in Kenya building a secondary school for girls.

But beside them being a fabulous bunch of architects, they have a wonderful blog with lots of cool design stuff that is a must to have in your blogroll! And they tell you a bit about what they get up to – like discovering new restaurants in Sydney (and in turn convincing me I must go while here!). Please go and say hello, you will love it I just know it.

And just to prove how in the know the Bricks + Cartwheels team is, it was they who led my straight to the incredible work of this young Sydney lass…

I’m talking of jewellery and textile design student, Felicity Gleeson. Not only is she very talented, she has an impeccable eye for style and cool things, and lucky for us she blogs about all of them! If you go now, you can check out the post about her talented sis too.

Next up is something that many of us already know about, but I just can’t help but add to the applause for this Sydney-based magazine…

Dumbo Feather, pass it on rocks. A copy of Issue 14 appeared in my little cubby hole at the House of Orange a few months back, with a note from Kate the editor. She had read that I was an Aussie ex-pat and thought I might like a little slice of home. Boy, was she right. I devoured that copy from front to back, back to front, and I’m sure I even read it sideways a couple of times. It’s awesome. Dumbo Feather ‘s blog is also a must for your blogroll as they tell you what’s coming in their next issues, and they even sell cool design items. Read about it here, or view a sample issue here, or better still, just subscribe.

Well, that’s only a few of my favourites. No doubt I will share more with you soon, also don’t miss out on Anne’s Regional Round Up of Sydney on Design*Sponge coming next week!

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Oh and one more thing, my pal and favourite blogger Joslyn at Simply Lovely posted a list of my 10 favourite things/things I can’t live without last week. Thanks for including me Jos! Although I can’t help but notice my list looks a little different to the rest, perhaps I got a bit carried away?! Hmm, it’s not the first time the pipelette in me strikes, oops.

xx

Since I wasn’t able to post one of my etsy favourites last monday, I thought I’d share something extra etsy special today. What could it be? Well, it’s something that has flood those little underwater cables that link us all to each other, in the last 24 hours. Something that totally rings my bells, and makes me jump up and down with sustainable, creative giddiness. Something that says, “this story totally ROCKS!!”. What, who, and why, you ask? Here is a clue:

I’m talking about this Handmade Portrait on Susan Gibbs from my etsy favourite Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm.It is an incredible sneak peek into the life and love of Susan, a brilliant little short piece on her new life raising sheep and goats for the yarn she sells in her Etsy Boutique.

So make yourself a cup of tea and take a few minutes to watch this wonderful video here, read more about it in The Storque here, read the blog here, and visit Susan and Patrick’s etsy store here.

I hope you enjoy this segment of…

Author’s note: Um, French Boy, change of plans – forget the hustle and bustle of our city life… fancy starting a farm with me out in the middle of nowhere: just you, me, and some gorgeous creatures like the ones above? No? Oh.

Any other takers?

🙂

I’ve been spoilt rotten lately, and it’s time I tell you all about it!

Last week while I was frantic with meetings and prep, I was breezing through the office of the House of Orange and noticed that sitting on my portfolio shelf were the above goodies. I was on my way to a meeting at the bar so I couldnt look until after it had finished, but the moment it was over I couldnt wait any longer and had to see what it could be. I turned over this beautiful postcard and read the note. It was from Itsasne, one of my wonderful readers. She had collected a number of things that she thought I might love and sent them to me, wrapped in these gorgeous papers. As if the fantastic vintage postcard wasn’t enough…

…she had sent me a book of artist Anne De Gelas work, filled with the most inspiring pages of polaroid photography, hand written letters and drawings. Flipping over to the back I was not surprised to read that Itsasne was the graphic designer of this creation, of which is a work of art in itself. Boy do i have the most talented readers!!

Itsasne also included delicious Belgian chocolate and a Feist CD – the perfect mid week saviour kit for my crazy week. What a champion friend! I was blown away by her generosity, and I really do think that old adage about giving and you will receive is sacred and so true. Thank you Itsasne, you are truly a wonderful person.

Then, as if all that wasn’t enough, I received another package within days of Itsasne’s gift. Unwrapping this one revealed a few goodies from Royal Buffet – one little white package revealed the butterfly tags I had ordered from their etsy boutique(I will show you what I plan to do with these soon), and along with a beautiful note was a stunning papillon mobile made from French newspaper print. I have hung it up in the kitchen where the paper butterflies happily flutter in the breeze and dance with the water reflections on the ceiling…

…I will take more photos of it soon, but just this for now – I can’t help but show it off. Thank you girls, you are both the ants pants of creating dreamy things, I can’t get enough of your creations and now I have some in my own home!

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Now, do you think there couldn’t be more? Well yes, there is. My friend Danielle from The Style Files surprised me on Monday when we caught up for a quick drink after work. (Oh I love presents!!) It was a gift from her beautiful online store Le Souk. I haven’t had a chance to photograph it yet for you, but it is a handwoven cotton throw from Istanbul. I promise to photograph it soon for you to see. What a fabulous surprise! I feel totally spoilt, thank you Danielle. We also had a little styling adventure together yesterday which I will share with you tomorrow!

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And what could possibly be on top of all that goodness? What is the cherry on the delicious cake?! Well let me tell you! I have won my first ever blog award, three times!! Lovely bloggers Carol, Sofia, and Annie have each awarded me with the Brilliante Premio award over the last couple of weeks. Thank you girls, you rock! I think the rule is to pass the award onto others but since I have been so busy I think I’ve managed to unintentionally stop the lovely flow. bad girl! But if I can be honest, i am no good at picking a limited amount of blogs to award anyway, so I am awarding every single one of the blogs in my blogroll because each of them inspire me immensely. So if you haven’t already had a peak at my blogroll list to the right of this page, take a moment to do so now and check out some of the blogs that perhaps you aren’t familiar with, they are each a source of inspiration for my work, continually filling their blogs with the good stuff of design, interiors, art, photography, and life in general.

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PS I still have heaps to tell you – like my meeting of two fabulous bloggers in Paris on my last trip, a handy hint which I’ve been dying to post for so long now, and starting from tomorrow a special series of daily posts in celebration of an upcoming event. Oh where does the time fly to? I can barely keep up with all the things I want to share with you!

but next up: hmm, are you ready for a Paris soundscape?

and way back in march, sweet pamela jane tagged me asking for 7 random style facts about myself. I didn’t fulfill the tag back then as I had just done a similar tag and thought I should leave it a while. Well, it’s been a while, and no doubt Pamela has lost complete interest in me for not playing along back then, sorry Pamela! But here are my 7 random facts and since you mentioned the word ‘style’, i thought i would use that to share 7 style traits that i work and live by:

1. stay real.

2. love raw.

3. be refined.

4. think ‘sophistication’.

5. work in layers.

6. play loose.

7. work genuinely.

The photograph above is from a card I made for a new born a year or so ago. I cut a tiny dress from left over fabric, handstitched it with pink thread, made a tiny coat hanger from soft wire, hung it on a string attached to the card and created two little printed tags, one that said, “c’est une fille” and the other with the girl’s name. Do you like? I am bummed I gave it away actually as I know it wasn’t appreciated. But I can always make more! One fine day when I have the time again, I shall endeavor to make more. Perhaps when I have my own little bubs…one fine day.