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.

It has been raining here all night and although it is very soothing to listen to the rain splash over the rooftop of this petit bateau, it’s 5am and I am wide awake. Perhaps I can’t blame the rain entirely – my mind has been racing with the amount of work I have on my plate at the moment. Will I get it all done? Will all my clients be happy with what I create? It’s funny that no matter how long I’ve been working in this field, anxieties about whether my work is good enough are still as strong as ever. But I remember one of my favourite photographers told me it never goes away. And another one told me that is the sign of a great artist – he said that it fuels one’s creativity and that the moment you become overly confident that everything you do is better than the rest, you might as well blow your creativity a goodbye kiss.

So I keep those wisdom’s close to me while I wipe the sweat from my brow.

Meanwhile, this fabulous umbrella design you see above just came into my inbox via a newsletter from one of my favourite stores in Sydney, Top 3 By Design. It’s called the stand up umbrella and it was designed in Japan by Hironao Tsuboi…

I love simple design that makes you wonder, why didn’t I think of that?

“A TibetSydney hand-weave isn’t a rug; it’s a story. A story where one becomes part of the narrative… Here it becomes a calm controversy of textures, palette and meanings between the occidental and oriental, futurism and antiquity, noise and contemplation, skin and intellect…”

I have found I have become so fascinated in the art of weaving – it is such an art, and just the sight of a loom makes me a little giddy. The TibetSydney showroom in Queens St, Woollahra is not only an inspiration for it’s weaved creations, but is also an interior masterpiece, created by famed architect Donavon Hill…

I first learnt about TibetSydney in Vogue Living, and I remember drooling over the images and carefully digesting every single word…

And I remember thinking, how does something so ‘everyday’ like a rug, become so evocative, so rich and layered, so full of depth. And I thought – it is culture. It is influences. It is one’s personal experiences and attachments as an artist that is interweaved into each piece, creating and weaving stories into each creation.

This is something I hope to achieve in my own work, in whatever medium it takes. The idea of weaving one’s cultural experiences and intimate moments into an everyday artefact makes an interior sparkle with life.

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Click here to read the story narrative of the TibetSydney rugs, and the inspiration of the designs.

this is actually a bit fun. it’s like i am graffitti-ing on my own post. sometimes i do wish it was possible to pick up a computerized pen and scribble all over my work on the screen. and if i could, i would scribble quotes, and doodle all over some of my less-inspiring material. but look at this gorgeous white cotton paper that i heard screaming out my name today, awaiting precious words…

…It’s from Cotton Idea Studio found via one of Erika’s recent guest blog posts on Design*Sponge.

okay, maybe I am prepared to let go of this post now. i said maybe. well, let’s see how i feel by morning.

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second part of post:

update: I am heavily distracted today. I am suffering from l’angoisse de la page blanche. And worse still, I just realised that once I write a new post after this one, the My Heart Wanders: where it all began post will move to the second page, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I still find myself glancing over the images. And singing Jewel’s song outloud as I work.

So can’t I just keep updating this post instead of writing a new one? Will the blog police come after me?

Whatever. Here’s what’s on my mind: these cinnamon coated marshmallows that I just spotted over at Swiss Miss…

I suggest we build a little fire by the sea side tonight and make some smores with them. What say you?
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back to the original post:

Today’s special My Heart Wanders sneak peek is from fashion designer Riley Salyards, a subtle heart made with the help of her baby boy. A newbie fellow Amsterdammer like myself, Riley is the co-founder of this fabulous label in North America. Go ahead, click away, you know you want to! Have a look at the collections as I know you will find some serious inspiration there like I have. Um, Riley, any chance I can have a little fitting sometime?!

And check out the curtain…

It was her grandmothers, isn’t it stunning. So this is it, only six apples left now…

click here to submit. click here to get a sneak peek of other submissions. and click here to read more about the book.

this morning i indulged in sunday brunch in montmatre. It is a gloriously sunny day here, and I am hoping the weather follows me as I board the thalys tonight, bound once again for Amsterdam. It would also be great if the piano man who plays his portable upright outside abbesses metro, along with his saxophonist friend, could follow me. But then I know where to find them if they choose to stay.

I have heaps still to share with you from paris, but will do so over coming days as you know I was not able to spend much time posting these last two weeks. Thanks for staying with me on this trip and keeping me company, I think I would like to take you with me everywhere from now on, it makes my work and journeys so much more beautiful.

I will be able to get back to normal posting when in Amsterdam tomorrow but for now, i leave you with something rather special: a little part of this city i like to call ‘crazy beautiful’. That is, a glimpse of some of my finds of paris street art. You know the drill – click here for the soundtrack which will open in another window, and then click back on this window to scroll down through this post. Enjoy, mes chers amis…

if you would like to know where to find any of these beauties just ask in the comments and i will try to guide you there. thank you edith for being such an inspiration and providing the perfect soundtrack to paris. au revoir paris, à bientot!