Out of the Picture - Fashion + Furniture Eye Candy

Many many moons ago, I promised that I'd share some delightfully lavish furniture with you, and being my harebrained self, I forgot all about it...until of course I came across the absolutely stunning fashion photography of Camilla Åkrans and her Spring Summer campaign for Sisley. Apty titled Summer Breeze, Camilla has created a sophisticated new look for Sisley that almost makes me wish I was stranded in a desert. Almost.

The combination of the soft creams of the sand, the ornate gold frames, the off white and gunmetal of the garments and the extraordinary lighting is nothing short of sublime. It was this restrained pallette that sparked my memory and had me hunting through folders like a crazy woman, and it wasn't long before I found the amazing stylings of Giusti Portos staring back at me.

So if you need a little eye candy to brighten up your Friday and get your weekend started on a good note, behold!

Oh so pretty! All that sand has me yearning for the beach (although I'll leave the oversized gilted frame at home...or WILL I?)

Have a fabulous weekend!

[Images via Sisley and Design Scene]

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[ THE GOOD ]

A little while ago I reported that despite the year starting off in a less than desirable fashion, everything seemed to getting be back on track. Part of my newfound optimism had to do with the fantastic opportunity to undertake a little written assignment for one of my favourite bloggers. Well guess what kids?!

The latest Mankind Mag is out, and in there you might just happen to come across your favourite croissant-obsessed Aussie (hopefully me!) hanging out with amazing French designer extraordinairre, Romain Lenancker. And I promise you, I TRIED to resist all temptation to ask him about croissants, but as you'll see, I failed.

Fortunately Romain humoured me, and it was great to learn more about his fabulous work! Super thanks to the lovely Erin, the marvellous lady behind Design for Mankind, and of course Mankind Mag.

[ THE BAD ]

Blogger not only seems to have developed an appetite for your wonderful comments, but also seems to have decided that it won't let you comment at all on some occasions! How rude, Blogger!

Now I'm told that this could be because I use embedded comments and I have a "highly customised" blog template, and it would appear that my latest little renovation has made the problem even worse. Eek!

But bear with me, I shall dust off my hacker ninja outfit a little later today and see if I can get Blogger to behave! Thank you to all who have let me know about the iss-ee-yooz (that's Australian* for issues of course) and thank you to those who have managed to sneak a comment past the evil Blogger door wench.

[ THE UGLY* ]

Ok I didn't actually have anything to put here until I felt the compelling urge to use the term iss-ee-yooz. And when I say the term is Australian, I actually mean Oss-traaah-yan. If you've ever watched the original Oss-traah-yan version of Kath and Kim, you'd know what I mean.

If you've only seen the US version however, my apologies...mainly for having to watch it, but also for having no idea what I'm talking about. On the bright side however, this time next week the season finale of the US version of Kath and Kim will have aired, and we'll all be safe once more.

Take a Chance on Some Wednesday Wisdom

Our lives improve
only when we take chances
- and the first and most difficult
risk we can take
is to be honest with ourselves.

- Walter Anderson

[Image Credit via WeHeartIt]

Get Stuffed! (aka Etsy Plush Toys Save the Day!)

I mean that in the nicest way possible, of course! Allow me to explain...In a few weeks time I shall be attending my first ever baby shower, and just between you and I, I'm quietly freaking out. I'm the youngest child, I have a relatively small extended family and my exposure to babies and baby related things is more or less non-existent. I see babies in cafes sometimes, but that's about it. So the very idea of "Aunty Kit" is a scary one, for me at least (and very possibly for my future niece or nephew!)

On the bright side however, I have an excuse to shop. And naturally, in my search for gender-neutral, baby-friendly* goodies, my first (and last) port of call is Etsy.

Like this little adorable little bear from Poppy Lane. The patchwork of prints is a tiny bit flowery, but this bear is way too cool to be ruled out for boys!

Or these little dudes from stitchface. I think I'd make a little bow that could be "worn" as either a bow in her, or a bow tie for him. Ingenious!

And all kids love animals right? So why not start with Oscar the Puppy by Bit of Whimsy Dolls? After all, what child could possibly not love polka dots and an Amy Butler print? (Start them early!)

Or for the future marine biologist (or seafood lover), you can't go past this Big Purple Octopus Plush by Jayne Danger. Unfortunately his little red friend has sold, but Jayne does take custom orders!

This Red Flannel Elephant, however, is still on the market! And better still, Maiden Love will donate a percentage of profits to The Elephant Sanctuary.

Next up are these cuddly animals that I found via For Me, For You. They are all made from 100% wool sweaters (or jumpers, as us Australians call them!) that have been upcycled by ViolaStudio, and the results are just beautiful. I'm still deciding if I want one for myself too!

My family has always been a dog family, but the occasional kitten couldn't hurt, could it? This little guy is Kitten No. 94, just one of many cute kitties created by Penguin & Fish.

There's no resisting these little critters either! Please allow me to introduce you to Clark Q Bear, Tweedy Bunny and Seymour, all created by Chet and Dot, who also use recycled wool sweaters for some of their plushies.

Possibly one of my favourites is Hans, who is an Organic Teething Giraffe from Starbright Baby. Baby chew toys, woo! Far more environmentally friendly than all those crazy plastic teething rings too (See what I did there? I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about!)

And I can't leave out dinosaurs either. I refuse to believe that dinosaurs are for boys, mainly because I was absolutely obsessed with dinosaurs when I was a tot. (I could spell Archaeopteryx when I was in first grade, I was hardcore!) So this Polka-Saurus from Sewing Central definitely gets my vote.

In fact, my favourite dinosaur back in the day was no other than the Stegosaurus! This lovely green specimen is the work of A Tiny Little Bit, and not only do his child-proof eyes make him entirely baby-friendly, but he also has a bell inside him for the budding musician.

And if said budding musician wants to expand their percussive repotoire, this Baby Grand Piano would be perfect! This was a custom order by TooToo, but more can be made on request.

Babies are kinda fun to shop for! And let's be honest, I would happily buy any (or all) of these toys for myself too. So who knows, maybe I might be a good Aunt after all?!

*Please Note: Some of these plushies are not recommended for babies and/or young children due to buttons etc, but they were too cute not to share! Please make sure you check the details of these items before purchasing!

Contemporary Crochet - Oxymoron or Ingenious Innovation?

I vote the latter. And with that, it's official. My two formerly separate worlds of all things modern and all things handmade are now one and the same. Just when I was beginning to get over my phobia of display plates, it appears that all things knitted, weaved and crocheted are making a resurgence too. Not that it hasn't been a long time coming, celebrities have been flashing around their knitting needles for quite a while, and even your grandma was in on the craze before you were.

So it's no surprise that earlier this month at the Stockholm Furniture Fair, it was the unlikely union of tubular steel and weaved textiles (clothed polyurethane foam to be precise) that grabbed the attention of many. The design of new architecture/design trio Imaginary Office, the Pleats-Pleats Sofa is an unexpected combination of precision steel and squishy handicrafts.

Outdoor furniture is in on the craze too. These crocheted poufs from Ineke Visser are made from UV resistant polyester yarn that is reportedly as soft as cotton. Perhaps even less expected than weaves and tubular steel however, these pouf covers are designed to be pulled over rubber tyres. In the event that this isn't an ingenious means of reusing car tyres, Ineke has also designed crocheted pot plant covers to even out the green scorecard.

This latest trend for handicraft/homeware hybrids wouldn't come as any surprise to Rotterdam-based Christien Meindertsma, who has been creating hand knitted poufs under the banner of FLOCKS for the last few years. Christien collaborates with knitters, spinners, farmers and felters from around the world to create her bespoke range of knitwear, and although she focuses primarily on fashion, her hand felted, hand knitted poufs are practically a classic. Yes, a classic pouf. You heard it here first.

I know what you're thinking. Hand knitted? Those must be some BIG knitting needles she's got there...

And you're absolutely right. Grandmas and A-Grade knitting celebrities alike would be hard pressed to fight back feelings of severe knitting needle envy. Can you imagine trying to get these puppies past customs?

"I swear Mister Airport Customs Man, they're knitting needles. I make poufs. NO didn't call you a...oh dear, cavity search you say?"

So maybe leave your massive knitting needles at home, but get your hands on a weaved sofa, a knitted pouf and a crocheted pot plant, and while you're at it, hang your favourite plates on your walls too! Everything old is new again, and Grandma would be proud.

Dishing Up - Confessions of a Closet Minimalist

I have a confession to make. No matter how many pretty, lacy, doily, girly type things I feature on this blog and happen to love...my brain keeps telling me that I'm a minimalist at heart.

Perhaps architecture school scarred me more than I ever imagined, possibly because almost every project I've ever worked on (both real and university projects alike) have been all about glass, steel, polished concrete and sleek, rectilinear lines. And if I was feeling generous, maybe some intricately detailed timber. Maybe. Most of my favourite architects and designers are ruthlessly minimalist, modern, and even brutalist on occasion.

My apartment, however, is living proof that although I may be a minimalist in theory, I am not and will never be a minimalist in practice. In fact, my very first post centred entirely around this fact.

Nevertheless, I continue to indulge my theoretical minimalism over at 2Modern every week, and it was only a matter of time before my inadvertent maximalism won out.

I can't get enough of plates. I've been trying to deny it, I've been pretending that I'd never, ever put plates on my wall, and I've been trying to keep my secret love of plates separate from my decidedly modern posts over on 2Modern.

But then artists like Cat Merrick come along and create delightfully deconstructivist porcelain plates that are just impossible to resist!

She sandblasts plates for heavens sakes, I can't NOT love that!

Back in November I even blogged about how much I didn't get the whole plate resurgence, but then I found these fantastic Shippo plates by Hella Jongerius , and it all started to click into place.

So here I am, almost on the dark side, pondering if it's worth annoying my landlord by hanging plates all over my walls.

And when I find more amazing pictures like these ones of Lisa Congdon's kitchen stashed away in my favourites folder, it's like Darth Vader is not only inviting me over to the dark side, but putting the hammer and nails in my hand and marking up my wall in an artfully random composition.

So this weekend, I'm going plate shopping. Yeah, take that theoretical minimalism!

And on that note, hope you all have a fabulous weekend, free of Darth Vader invasion delusions. Unless of course you're going to join me on my plate crusade, in which case, see you on the dark side!