It's the Little Things...

January is well and truly whizzing past and Valentines Day is fast approaching. It's been a big year already, but the global economic drama seems to be sticking around. Fortunately for us lovebugs, we know that it's the little things that count, and Valentines Day is no different.

And what better time to get into real estate? We all want the world for our loved ones, so why not start one tiny city at a time?

Ok so it's not strictly a Valentines Day present, but I just had to share it with you (and it fits my Little Things theme.) HOW CUTE IS IT?! Take a closer look...

CLOSER!

Awwwww yeahhhhh, check it out, your latest foray into the world of property development! Get your hands on your own Shelf City with a little help from awesome little Etsy store, Weeds and Wild Things. Seriously cute.

Next up is this decidedly more V-Day print care of the lovely Jennifer Ramos of Made By Girl fame. She's also behind the gorgeous range of incredibly popular Love Candy screen prints, but as someone who loves tea, blogs, and of course you *flutters eyelashes*, this one is my new favourite.

Speaking of tea, Ez over at Creature Comforts has given us all an early V-Day present! She's bringing sexy back to teabags, with adorable (and free) tea bag bling, complete with a fantastic step-by-step tutorial. Thank you Ez!

I also adore these limited edition Lovebird cards by Naomi Murrell, yet another great little Etsy find. They come in a set of four so you can keep the love all year round (or share the love around, we won't judge!) But this year, I'm sending Mr. Unreliable a little letter...

A REALLY little letter from the World's Smallest Postal Service. Tiny. Tinier than tiny. Miniscule in fact. Check these out.

These letters are SO tiny, they need a magnifying glass to read them.

They even have a tiny little stamp and a tiny little wax seal.

Lea Redmond is the lady behind the letters who only recently discovered that she had an uncanny talent to write with really, really small lettering. She travels around California with her adorably tiny desk, and now shares this wonderful service with the world thanks to our beloved internets! Get your order in soon though, she's already swamped with Valentines Day orders!

And last but not least, for the partnered and non-partnered alike, this is a time of year when animal shelters receive a disturbingly high number of pets, so if you've got a little extra love to give, head to your local shelter and share it with a cute kitten or an adorable dogsie! Aussie readers can head straight to RSPCA's Adopt A Pet site and find their new love online...ooh la la! Just make sure you narrow down your search to your area, otherwise you'll fall in love with a gorgeous little guy on the other side of the country...like I did. Meet Lior, my new online love.

I'm not even a cat person, but any kitten that can look so thoroughly unimpressed yet so adorable definitely wins my heart.

Anyhoo, happy Australia Day to all my countrymen, and happy Monday to all!

I'm Melting!

I know some of my esteemed Northern Hemisphere blog-loves aren't particularly sold on Pantone's pick for 2009 Colour of the Year, but for us Southern Hemisphere kids that are currently sweltering through record-breaking heat (Sydney just experienced its hottest night in 12 years!), I think it's pretty fitting. According to Pantone, this particular shade of yellow embodies "hopefulness and reassurance in a climate of change". I first read that last bit as 'climate change', and I think that works too.

[Mimosa - Pantone Colour of the Year 2009]

I've always loved yellow, even though I can't get away with wearing most shades thanks to my pasty skin and blonde hair, but I still just can't seem to get enough of it, even when it's everywhere! But I particularly love yellow today. Why? Because I've just spent the largest part of my day running all around town in the 40°C (104°F) heat, trying to find a fan. I found nothing. Not one. Not ONE single fan. So I'm going to the beach. But before I do, I'm going to imagine I'll look like this.

[Image via Carter Smith via coco+kelly]

And suddenly, everything is that little bit better.

I love you, Mimosa.

The Train of Thought Chugs Along

So I know I kind of bad-mouthed tensile structures, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised how many beautiful examples there are! It's not all daggy shade sails and tatty vinyl. So I thought I'd share a few of my very favourite examples by none other than Anish Kapoor (and a few of his non-tensile examples too.) I actually bought an amazing book about Mr. Kapoor last year on a little trip to Brisbane, and I popped it on the shelf for a bit of holiday perusal...and then of course I completely forgot all about it until I was pondering some sexy lighting a few days ago.

I don't have anything particularly intelligent to say about any of these pieces, mainly because I've yet to actually read the book and find out the theories behind the beautiful sculptures. So for now, it's all about the eye candy.

[Melancholia, 2004 - image courtesy of ICA Boston]

And of course the fact that such a simple looking sculpture actually took a team of engineers to figure out all the finer details. Who knew turning a square into a circle could be so complicated?

[Marsyas, 2002 - image courtesy of ICA Boston]

Marsyas, however, looks as complicated as it is. This beast of a sculpture took over the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern back in 2002, and I'm still distraught that I didn't manage to see it in person (I was 2 weeks to late! Arrrrrg)

[Marsyas, 2002 - image courtesy of Tate Modern]

The scale of the work within the confines of the Turbine Hall actually makes it impossible to view the entire sculpture from any one point. This was quite deliberate - as with much of Kapoor's work, it was designed to be experienced rather than just "viewed" from one perspective.

[Marsyas, 2002 - image courtesy of Tate Modern]

Marsyas also manages to address the multiple levels of the Turbine Hall beautifully, addressing the people on the lower main level...

[Marsyas, 2002 - image courtesy of Tate Modern]

...And those on the mezzanine. I'm still hoping Kapoor has a lighting range in the works, but I don't really like my chances. Not content with bring sexy back to the world of tensile structures, Kapoor's love of materiality, plasticity and colour (red features prominently) are expressed in a number of different media. Two of my personal favourites are installation pieces featuring massive blocks of wax, paint and vaseline. Both pieces go by the title Svayambh, even though one is located in the Haus der Kunst in Munich, and the other in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes.

[Svayambh (Munich), 2007 - image courtesy of ICA Boston]

Both pieces crawl along slowly on tracks from space to space. The movement is barely noticeable at first, but becomes mesmerising as the wax blocks inch their way through doorways and slowly disintegrate.

[Svayambh (Munich), 2007 - image courtesy of Art Moco]

I pity the foo' who had to clean the walls after this!

[Svayambh (Nantes), 2007 - image courtesy of Knowing Nantes]

I may be a little biased given my love of all things French, but I prefer the Nantes installation purely because of the arched doorways. Maybe the double height space and the higher platform has something to do with it too, there's just that extra level of drama that makes this version of Svayambh that little bit more breathtaking.

[Svayambh (Nantes), 2007 - image courtesy of Art Moco]

This incarnation of Svayambh can be seen from all vantage points within the gallery, and the blood red demands attention.

[Svayambh (Nantes), 2007 - image courtesy of Art Moco]

I think I need to visit Nantes some time soon - even without a bit o' Kapoor, the gallery looks gorgeous! And not to be a two-trick tensile and wax pony, Kapoor is also pretty good at making shiny things too. Shiny cool things at that.

[Iris, 1998 - image courtesy of ICA Boston]

I'm really intrigued by his "shiny things" series and I'm looking forward to reading more about them, but at the moment all I can offer you is my opinion. Which is that the shiny things are cool.

[Turning the World Inside Out II, 1995 - image courtesy of ICA Boston]

I suspect there's a common theme that pushes us towards questioning, or at least becoming aware, of our own spatial perception. To look at an installation like Turning the World Inside Out II, or any of the Iris series, it really needs to be experienced from a number of angles before you can discern the geometry. Then again, I could just need more coffee.

[Cloud Gate, 2004 - image courtesy of ICA Boston]

Nevertheless, shiny things ARE cool, especially when they draw people to them and allow them to interact. Cloud Gate in ol' Chicago town is a great and particularly well-known example of this - it allows people to interact not only with the sculpture, but with those around them and their surrounds. And when you're hanging out in Millenium Park on the edge of Lake Michigan, wouldn't you want to stop and take in the view too, even if through a large blobby shiny thing? I know I would. Someone take me to Chicago!

So as I was saying, I bought this book at the Gallery of Modern Art bookstore when I made a quick weekend trip in Brisbane (I just HAD to see the Andy Warhol exhibition!) and rumour has it that the GoMA loading docks had to be enlarged during the late planning stages due to one of Kapoor's larger works (I suspect it may be this one) being featured in the first exhibition held in the new gallery. And can I just say...it was totally worth it.

Anyway, enough of my babble Have a wonderful weekend all! I might head to the gallery to see a bit of Monet methinks, what do you have planned?

Midnight Snackie Snack

And yet another detour on my very, very extended train of thought, brought to you by yet another ridiculously late night. Staying up until 4am for the Inauguration has thrown my body clock out completely!

I often joke that my kitchen is for display only, I'm hardly a domestic goddess by any means. But every now and then, I muster up the courage to turn on the oven and do a little baking. When I sense a late night coming on, I have been known to whip up some fairly tasty treats, and my absolute favourite is the humble choc-hazelnut puff pastry rolls. They're sort of like little chocolate croissants, they're so simple, they need only four ingredients that even I have in my embarrassingly empty pantry, and they don't take long to make! Perfecto!
So at the request of one of the lovely ladies on the Vogue Forums, here's how you can have some tasty midnight snackie goodness too!

80 g choc-hazelnut spread (e.g. Nutella)
80 g (2/3 cup) icing sugar
2 sheets thawed puff pastry
1 lightly beaten egg
And save some icing sugar to dust (I always forget this bit!)

Firstly, combine the choc-hazelnut spread and the icing sugar and roll into a 20cm long roll. Wrap this up in plastic wrap and twist the ends to enclose. The mixture should be quite soft but not oozy! Refrigerate the roll for 30 minutes. When it has firmed up, cut the roll into eight even pieces, and roll each piece in icing sugar.

Then cut each sheet of puff pastry into four squares. Place a piece of the choc-hazelnut roll onto each square of pastry and roll up to enclose. Pinch then ends and brush lightly with egg, then bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Dust with icing sugar, and enjoy!

Pretty simple, right? With any luck, your little chocolately pastry rolls of goodness should look like this...

[Image courtesy of Murdoch Books]

But seriously, remember to save some icing sugar for the end, because I forgot last time and they ended up looking like burnt sausage rolls. Not very appetizing. They still tasted delicious though, if I don't say so myself!

Bon Appétit!

Holy Polaroid!

Yet another detour on my very extended train of thought...Polaroid has been saved! Seriously! Word on the street is that an Austrian businessman has come to the rescue, and that film will be back in production in 2010. The man of the moment, Florian Kaps, is behind the Polanoid online gallery and The Impossible Project, and he now plans to revive analogue integral film with a little help from British photography company, Ilford. According to The Independent, Mr. Kaps has hired 11 original Polaroid employees and is working on prototypes to reinvent films with two exposure types for both the SX-70 and 600 series. Although the film will be rebranded under the Impossible label, vintage Polaroid junkies like myself are obviously the target market.

[My little Land Camera 1000 will no longer be a display piece!]

And let's be honest, my Land Camera has been a decorative piece since his purchase last year, because the price of film skyrocketed after the February 08 announcement of the discontinuation, not to mention the Australian dollar plummeting to scary new lows. So call me selfish, but I'm absolutely thrilled that I may actually be able to afford film for my camera! Yayyyyyy!

A big thank you to Mrs. French (of Bliss fame of course!) for sharing this wonderful news with us, and props to Save Polaroid and the vast online community that banded together to show their support and love of all things Polaroid.

And a HUUUUUUUUGE thank you to Mr. Kaps, my new favourite patron of the arts, who said:

The project is more than a business plan;
it's a fight against the idea
that everything has to die
when it doesn't create turnover.

Amen Florian!

He's already got Polaroid's old equipment and their old factory, so now all he needs is our support! Head over to The Impossible Project and sign up to keep the Polaroid dream alive!

Next Station...Pretty City!

So back on track, remember those mesh shells? Well, here's where my train of thought took me next. That's right, Pretty Town City!

This beautiful chapel is a few years old now, but it still takes my breath away every time it crosses my desk. Located in Kobuchizawa, Japan, the Leaf Chapel is the work of Klein Dytham Architects. I would attempt to describe this beautiful structure, but I can't outdo the architects own words:

The chapel is formed by 2 leaves - one glass, one steel - which have seemingly fluttered to the ground. The glass leaf with its delicate lace pattern motif emulates a pergola and the structure holding it up reminds one of the veins of a leaf which slowly become thinner the further they get from the central stem.

The white steel leaf, perforated with 4700 holes, each of which hold an acrylic lens, is similar to bride's veil made of delicate lace. Light filters through the lenses and projects a lace pattern onto the white fabric inside.

So beautiful, and with views of the southern Japanese Alps and of course Mt. Fuji, this would definitely be a destination wedding with a difference.

And what would a chapel be without a wedding?! The perforated steel veil opens at the end of the ceremony, just as the groom lifts the bride's veil for that very first smooch as husband and wife.

Swoon! And that leads me to my next slice of pretty! I came across the AMAZING photography of Max Wanger via Bliss. My favourites are of course the engagement photos of the beautiful Joanna (of A Cup of Jo fame) and her dashing fiance Alex, because as you may know by now, my secret wedding obsession (and all things wedding-related) is only outmatched by my not-so-secret obsession with balloons. So combine the two, and I'm in heaven!

A big thank you to Jo for sharing these amazing photos, and of course a huge congratulations to her and Alex on their engagement! I don't know about you, but I cannot wait to see what these kids have planned for their wedding!

...And There Was

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Image Credit]

Let There Be Light...

Excellent, it's three weeks into 2009 and I've already lost track of the days. I had vastly underestimated how busy my weekend was going to be, and I now find myself counting down the hours until THE speech (4am Sydney time!) whilst I catch up on everything I didn't even glance at over the weekend.

Upon returning back to reality however, two little words jumped out at me from my inbox. Two words that usually remind me of dirty, torn old shade sails added onto tired old buildings as a mere afterthought...but thanks to a tiny but promising thumbnail image, had me intrigued.

The words? Tensile structures.

Now to be fair, there's an entire body of work dedicated to those two little words, and much of the work is quite beautiful, but when the only example you see in your everyday life is a series of torn, tattered vinyl sails, generously covered in bird poop...it's easy to forget how amazing these structures can be.

But New York-based Fabric Images has provided a welcome reminder. With a portfolio of corporate imaging, exhibition fitouts, installations and lighting, it's exciting to see how versatile fabric can be.

From soft and fluffy lights that just beg to be poked, to sleek modern lines that are both lightweight and solid...and that's just their lighting!

But what had me intrigued was the notion of lightweight, luminous walls, with endless choice for transparency, opacity, pattern and texture. The images below are geared towards a more sustainable exhibition industry, and frankly it's a welcome change given the amount of trade exhibitions full of companies that preach "sustainability" with one-off displays full of new and non-recyclable components (or "recyclable" components that will never actually be recycled!)

But forget the exhibition industry, what about the rest of us? Imagine open-plan work spaces being humanised with some cosy little corners with lush yellow chairs! No wait, forget work, what about in our homes?! Perhaps as a way to make a study nook more cosy and private, or a dining room more lavish. Or even outdoors, with luminous walls to create your own little back yard labyrinth...

And perhaps I'm being influenced by the incredibly hot weather of the Sydney summer...but wouldn't these mesh shells be amazing on the beach, be it for an informal party or a casual beach wedding?!

Keep this last image in mind, the train of thought continues tomorrow (with a slight detour first!)