Appreciate or Emulate - Titivate

A bold, pretty and fun look for spring through to summer - more and more stripes and florals

Image Source: Melissa Esplin - I Still Love You

Image Source: Tales of Endearment

Image Source: Kansas Couture

I especially love the subtlety of the striped sandal in this one - plus I covet them badly

Image Source: Its not her its me

Image Source: Sincerely Jules via Hotbeautyhealth.com

Image Source: Aplomb Aplenty

 

The look also works in pastels and muted tones for something softer

Image Source: Denimology.com - Current Eliott SS 2012

Found Friday

As you may have seen this week I have put a little spotlight on gingham - a favourite of mine and as I mentioned I am seeing it everywhere.

Here is a photo I took a little while ago when sorting through my linens - a small sample (I am not kidding) of my own gingham finding goodness - napkins, potholders and aprons.

Happy weekend all!

Gingham a GoGo - Finding Fashion

Need more gingham is going places proof?

As I have oft declared I am no great fashionista but the more I looked around the more I saw the presence of gingham everywhere and I just had to share. The collections of many designers this year have included gingham or gingham-esq celebrations - here are just a small selection

Kate Spade Spring 2013

Marc Jacobs Spring 2013

Osca de la Renta Resort 2013

Prada Fall 2013

There is so much more of gingham from 2013 fashion via Frills and Thrills

Will you be getting your gingham on?

Finding Everywhere

Gingham is an all time favourite pattern of mine. It has been around and come back into vogue again and again from the 17th century to now but once more, just of late, I am finding it everywhere.

A lot of people might see gingham too twee or too country cutesie to really inspire but not so these finds which I think have just the right amount of fresh and modern with enough of the recognisable graphic homespun charm still intact. Check these out - gingham goodness galore.

1. Orange and black makeup bag Lucy Blaire Handmade via Etsy

2. These blue gingham earrings by Anliz on Etsy sold in the time it took me to grab the pic and show you and I am not surprised as they were my most coveted find - I share them simply to inspire 

3. The best part about these booties is that they are reversible - the other side grey and white spots! I think they are meant to live at my place. Booties by Molipop on Etsy

4. Get your draw on in style with these gingham rainbow pencils The Paper Crown via Etsy

5. How Joyful supplies Washi tape in teal gingham

6. Blue Gingham Bistro Bowl from Peters of Kensington

7. Kiss Me Quick Hand Embroidered Hoop Art by Candykins Crafts from Down that Little Lane online store

8. Gingham Rope Knot Necklace by Homako

9. Red Gingham Boy's Bow Tie by Aruricards

10. I love this little appliquéd Navy Gingham Alligator Pillow Cover by Wren and Rumor. It is a travel cushion size but I think it would look great in a little boys room!

11. I am an accessory addict and this Blue Gingham Infinity Scarf by Forgotten Cotton would be a welcome addition to my growing collection

12. It's a picnic everyday anywhere with this Oilcloth Lunch Bag by Blue Tulip. Their store also has great shopping bags and makeup bags in many gingham shades

13. ASOS Lucy Gingham Bow Detail Ballet Flats

14. Yellow gingham dinner plate by Rose Fleur Designs via Zazzle

15. Orange Gingham Matrioshka Lingerie Fabric Bag, Coquelicot Bergamote via Etsy

16. Large Gingham Milk Jug, Ruby Rose Interiors from Down that Little Lane online store

17. My summer wish list has these at the top Kate Spade New York for Keds InActive

18. This Polar Bear is part of a whole bedroom collection by Bibelotte. I love their kids linen, especially the greys and blacks as they work for younger and older kids alike

19. A great demonstrator of the modern classic look that can be achieved with gingham is Fog Linen - these trays and other items are available in Australia through Dunlin

20. Red Gingham Medium Zipper Pouch Holly and Alder via Etsy

In the end this was a little bit of an Etsy window shopping spree - there are just so many great makers on there using gingham powers for good but expect to see a lot more in the mainstream shops soon as I am quite literally finding it everywhere!

Finding Everywhere

In this digital age most of use store our pictures in the virtual zone only, plus the odd favourite one or two on the fridge door, but not these great makers and creators, they have taken their pics anywhere and everywhere for your viewing pleasure.

Finding Everywhere - photo print, image items, pictorial pretties.

1. Art-inspired wooden knobs by Chocolate Creative Homewares with landscape and beach designs
2. Norway Fjord Fogged In Ombre throw pillow cover by Loud Waterfall Photo on etsy
3. Navy Wave Small Canvas Pouch - Dezso by Sara Beltran Tulum available at www.shopstyle.com.au
4. For the lumber jack in your life or in you the Malaka 4 t-shirt from DADADA studio
5. This, believe it or not, is a dress for a doll. When I first saw it I saw just the dress and imagined what a fabulous wedding dress it would make for someone so it really could/should be upscaled. The dolls are more characters than dolls and all are by Le train fantôme
6. Carousel Photography Embroidery Hoop Art by Juillian Audrey Designs on Etsy - I love this application of a photo for framing and may have to give it a try myself.
7. This sweet leaves print bag was featured in the online gallery of Edit, the Woolahra based store of the former editor of Vogue Vogue Living Sharyn Storrier Lyneham
8. Meadow Print Dress girls dress by Next in the UK
9. Red Lake English Romantic Cushion also by Chocolate Creative Homewares
10. Last but oh my word not least Marianne carved french country bed upholstered in dandelion field fabric by Chair Couture

Are any of these your picture perfect?

Appreciate or Emulate

If you have seen yesterday's Finding Everywhere you will know there are many ways with the Japanese art of Shibori.
Here are just some of my favourite examples of how it can be all tied up in your life too:

There are shibori workshops happening all around
here are just some I have come across
Megan Morton's The School - Sydney, Joanna Fowles Make Your Own Shibori Scarf
Harvest Workroom - Melbourne, Shibori Silk Scarf Hand Dying 
Koskela - Sydney, Shibori Dying with Indigo

I also found these great DIY kits put together by some of the masters
Joanna Fowles make your own shibori scarf kit
Shibori's Dye da Vida - Indigo dye kit with 2 wooden shapes
Noon Design Studio's Indigo kit with shibori wrapper

P.S In case you missed the INXS emulating Bob Dylan reference and thought I may just have gone a little rhyming mad I share it with you here. INXS Mediate

Finding Everywhere

I must have pre-empted this one somewhat with my Indigo post, over a year ago now, and my personal experiment with tie-dye last winter. I thought it would have run it's course by now but it seems we, you, they can't get enough of Shibori!

For the uninitiated Shibori is a Japanese term for several methods of dyeing cloth with a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, compressing it, or capping.

Some of these methods are also known as tie-dye but don't be thinking psychedelic swirls of 70's esq colour explosions. Tie dye has come of age, or rather returned to an age of sophistication.

Here is this amazing technique I have been finding everywhere and in everything.

1. New York based label Uzi sell this beautiful top through Totokaelo
2. Rebecca Atwood has done some amazing things with shibori check out her full cushion line
3. The ladies that make up Shibori give workshops and have also written a book - all fuelling this passion - here is their lampshade
4. A stunning Bomaki Tote Bag by Job and Boss
5. Just when I thought the guys had missed out I came across this T-shirt from US based All Saints
6. From the newly opened West Elm Australia, in Bondi Junction and online this little rug. They also sell cushions, quilts and curtains in shibori!
7. Akira Isogawa teamed up with Designer Rugs making this Shibori Rug from his Hirameki Range - more a reference to shibori than shibori as such.
8. This beautiful scarf combines shibori and felting from Beljays Felt n Art via Etsy
9. Also from Etsy Sea and Stone studio - lovely cushions, pillow covers and scarves
10. Sally Campbell quilts symbolise luxury for me. Her shibori quilts are beautifully understated


There is so much more shibori and shibori inspired goodness out there I think it will be a while before it is out of flavour - maybe another couple of thousand years.

I pinned it AND I made it

I have been on pinterest for nearly 2 years now and while I am a self confessed pinaholic I rarely find the time to make the things I pin to make or to take inspiration from. That's the pinning irony isn't it - I'm too busy pinning stuff to make the stuff I pin.

Finally I have done it!

I saw this cute and clever idea for toddlers having their own tree on pinterest earlier this year, here is my felt tree pin originally from the blog johnnyinadress.com

I decided to take inspiration from it and make my own for my little guy. The best thing being when we go on holidays to my parents for Christmas he can take his little tree with him - we will just roll it up.

I didn't follow any instructions but made it up as I went along - happy to share this with anyone who wants to know - it involved making a tree template and printing off outlines of decorations from the internet to also use as templates.

I made it so it is cardboard backed and can be taped or blu-tacked to his door or laid flat on his play table. He has had fun decorating and redecorating it today exclaiming "I made it" each time.

So there you go - I pinned it AND I made it. Now to get to the other thousands of pins - I told you I was addicted.

Found Friday

The finding this week has been slim - some wardrobe additions to add to the list of ones I need to don and snap for you (including a pair of oversized blue and white stripe harem style pants ready and raring for a bright spring day) and these little bitsy's

A floral tin with a beautiful rust most would say means it's had it's days - for me they are only just beginning.

This cute little floral pin cushion - 2 pins max it's so small (not really but it is wee) that seemed to go beautifully with the little pods I collected on a walk in the local botanic gardens to make into sailing boats with some play-dough, paper and tooth picks - I will let you know the race results when they are in.

And while we are on the sailing boat theme this divine scrap of fabric (about 1.5 x 1 metre) - hopefully making it's way onto a mixed fabric cushion soon.

And here is my favourite Instagram pic from the week - my finds on the shelf in my old kitchen - I found this photo
and it made me miss this much space to display my happy things - note to self include plenty of shelving in the new kitchen design

I hope you sail through your weekend with a smile and a happy surprising find or two.

Found Friday

I have had a fantastically full week for finding - if I didn't have rocks on the brain I would have spread these out. Deep breaths (that's for me) here we go.

Mini tourist souvenir plates  - I picked these up and even though they were individually priced there was no way I was leaving any of them behind - they are a family. I plan on hanging them like this together on a slither of wall next to my front door or possibly to move to my kitchen when it is renovated (fingers crossed later this year or early next)

While we are talking souvenirs my partner started to collect souvenir coasters a few years ago - when I say he started he did with one or two but I fuel it by bringing him home the odd treasure from my finding expeditions. This week I found two delightful packs of a 1970's or 80's New Zealand intact - happy anniversary honey.

Mr C's other collection is retro wooden serving bowls. He has collected a whole raft and this week I found a whole bag for him for only $2 (not all shown) - no expenses spared in our house in the gift giving stakes. He has a plan for them all which I will keep secret for now as I hope to show you when we get a bigger place.

I'm also loving my new retro phone table with drawer and magazine shelf. I saw this and ummed and ahhed before taking C there for a second opinion  - in that time it had been reduced to only $8 so I stopped umming and ahhing and just bought it - It needs a little TLC, especially reupholstering, but is fundamentally intact and the drawer is designed to swivel around to be positioned just right. I bought it home and sat it beside the front door for keys etc (although with a curious 18 month old I may need to rethink that) - I placed some of Mr C's new wooden bowls and this cushion on it and have been happily admiring it since.

I hope to reupholster it asap - maybe with this second hand fabric I have been saving for the right project?

But I do love the floral so maybe this vintage floral fabric I have also been looking for the perfect home for ? Which do you think?

I also found these chairs - they did have a table too but I was less impressed with that so re-donated it. These chairs are so simple and beautifully aged, although needing a little repair.

They make me think of chairs lined around and old fashioned dance hall - I almost feel I should just line them up around the room and ask people to wear their best outfits and sit around awkwardly together.

Lastly beauty, and in this case quality, is in the eye of the beholder.

No-one would say these scarves are the finest knitting, that the colours were carefully selected and that the execution isn't rough in places but that is why I love them. They would not appeal to me half as much if they looked like they had been made by a champion CWA crafter choosing obviously complimentary colour combinations and never dropping a stitch - toasty treasures.

Wow that was a great week - I find that is the way when it rains it poors and this week it rained vintage, homemade and quirky treasures.

Rock My World - Not Animal or Vegetable

OK scientists I know I know a mineral is technically not a rock. Science hats on as we consult the scientific
oracle i.e. wikipedia

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. 
By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not have a specific chemical composition.

Yeah yeah - let's look at the pretty rocks, I mean minerals.

For me these make me think that in all human artistic endeavour we have to work pretty hard to compete with nature then it makes me think - how inspiring.

Titanium Coated Quartz Crystals



Hematite with Quartz

Fluorite cubes on a Sphalerite coated matrix

Fluorite with Calcite

Flourite from Arizona

The lovely scarves below are silk featuring scans of rocks and minerals. It was hard to find an image that does them justice, when folded out they are quite unique and breathtaking. I came across the company Weston Earth Images via a show on ABC called Britain's Next Big Thing. The creator takes minerals and the inside of rocks and digitally scans them at a high resolution and creates these scarves, among other things. The second image is of their scanned Elestial Quartz.

The beautiful art print below is called Gemz and it is by New York artist Amber Ibarreche. I would love to see this expanded into a full wallpaper - it would be magic.

As an aside I cannot be held accountable for the accurate naming of the pretty rocks, I mean minerals, and if you haven't had enough of them I came across this tumblr blog dedicated entirely to minerals - a visual feast mineralia.tumblr.com

Rock My World - Faking it with felt

Bringing the 'rock' into your life is not always easy or soft and cosy, especially indoors - but there is a way - fake it with felt.

Here are some of my favourite felted rocks - big small and floor.

First are stone 'cushions' and seat/lounges from Livingstones. They look like great fun but I can also imagine curling up and lazying like a lizard in the sun on the larger ones.

Below, outdoor felted boulder cushions by designer Ronél Jordaan. They are resin covered for protection. At first I found these strange, why would you not just have the real thing? I then thought through all the logistic and environmental issues and realised they are quite the practical, and aesthetically pleasing, solution. She also makes indoor cushions
and rugs.

Below is a woolen felt Pebble carpet that can be made in custom sizes and colours by designer Ksenia Stanishevski of 2Form. Imagine the massaging quality of this underfoot.

There are more beautiful cushions small and large in a range of colours via fivetimesone.com

It seems rocks or pebbles are a favourite subject for felters as there is a huge range of mini felted stones available via Etsy - here are just some I would love to hold and display. I think they would look beautiful in carved wooden bowls on a coffee table, adding a cosy winter touch - they are also kid friendly, tactile and reasonable.

If you can't take it fake it and if you can't make it buy it. Felt rocks!