With Thanks and Love

I'm absolutely in love with this photo of my great grandmother's beautiful garden in country Queensland. This was a childhood scene that my mother still often fondly recalls, so in some way I feel like it belongs to me also, even though I've never been fortunate enough to have visited this long-gone Eden.

It seems fitting to share it today as I thank my mother and all the other strong women in my life for all their support, strength and love;including my dearly departed grandmother, nanna, and all those amazing ladies who came before them!

xx Kit

Onwards and Upwards in 2015

2014 involved a lot of wandering, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel lost for much of it. It was a year of poor health, hard lessons and lost friendships, but also a year of amazing exploration and unerring support from loved ones and from a few unexpected corners too.

Despite the challenges and difficulties, or perhaps because of them, I'm determined to bring a more positive outlook with me into 2015.

Here's to many safe and happy travels for the year ahead.

xx Kit

A Small Request

[Image by SarahVlad]

A few years ago, in the midst of severe chronic illness (still ongoing), my domain name was poached away from me under extremely dubious circumstances - circumstances that my original provider is yet to fully explain or apologise for - I'm clearly not holding my breath!

In the meantime however, I have sporadically asked for the 'going rate' on my very specific, quite undesirable AU$10 .com domain, and as of today I have been told it is still at more than AU$900.

So please, if you happen to have linked to my site or added me to your bookmarks, or even to have supported me at any stage in the past 8 years, please do NOT do so via thatunreliablegirl.com any further - my website now is thatunreliablegirl.blogspot.com and I greatly, GREATLY appreciate every single visit and link. Please let the "owners" of my rightful domain see their stats drop daily, as they attempt to hold my domain to ransom.

If you do not want to let the shady 'domain brokers' win, please also consider helping me by sharing this post and spreading the word to update any links, and sending the love to the rightful owner of the name.

I am proud of what I have built up over the years and although I have recently been too unwell to keep the site going in earnest, I still hope to one day (soon!) relaunch it with all the energy, enthusiasm and inspiration I was once able to muster. I just need your help first!

 Thank you!

xx Kit

Party Planning Panic

It's been a little quiet on the blog lately as I feverishly try to pull together a million ideas into one "relaxed" party. This weekend is a fairly significant birthday milestone for me, and for the purposes of my vanity, let's just round down and pretend it's my 25th.

Next weekend I'll be having a party to celebrate/mourn the occasion, and quite frankly I'm a little scared. What if everything looks terrible? What if it looks great but nobody shows up? What if my attempts at cooking give someone food poisoning?

I truly wish I had the spare cash to outsource everything, from the styling and setup through to catering and drinks, but it's just not possible on a freelancers budgets.

So it's a DIY party-planned event by the most disorganised, anxious person in this corner of Queensland.

Wish me luck!

xx Kit

PS. If you want to see what kind of ideas I'm trying to pull together, have a look-see at my Pinterest!

[Image via Green Wedding Shoes]

Obscure Quotes, Landscapes and Helvetica

Sometimes when I'm particularly devoted to procrastinating, I do things like this to hopefully amuse (but probably annoy) people from random corners of the internet. This time, it was a Twitter quote from Brendan Maclean that spoke to me. As soon as I read the words I thought, yes, that needs to be in white Helvetica on a blurred landscape background.

Sorry Mr. Maclean. I had to. 

Also, you're welcome.

xx Kit

PS. The background image is a snap of a salvaged Alois Arnegger print that adorns my desk now that I've finally come to terms with the slow and painful death of my desktop PC, and the resulting uselessness of my beautiful (and relatively new) monitor.

PPS. Probably don't use someone else's photos and claim them as your own when you add a quote to them. Definitely don't add your own watermark to your appropriated image, and please, always do your best to find the original source and credit them accordingly!

Semi-Permanent Stolen Snaps

[Nicholas Felton]

[Seb Lester]

These two photos captured by Megan Cullen Photo at last week's Semi-Permanent Brisbane event are a pretty perfect summary of two of the most powerful overarching themes of the day.

They may seem blatantly obvious, but the design industry is a challenging world and we often need these kind of 'commonsense' reminders. I do, at least - even after a decade in the design world.

Another reoccurring theme was the importance of personal projects. Almost all the speakers touched on this in some way or another - pouring yourself into a personal project, expressing yourself in an unfiltered, unapologetic way (Moffitt.Moffitt) and letting your work be your journal (Miso).

Challenge accepted.

xx Kit

Caffeinated Art - BioCup Art Series

I love a when bit of unexpected inspiration sneaks into your world, especially when it arrives holding precious caffeinated elixir! BioPak have collaborated with OKYO to create some of the prettiest coffee cups you've ever seen, and they're environmentally friendly to boot!

The BioCup Art Series features the work of 6 Australian artists - Lily Rose Dambelli, Jessica Bee, Jennie Holtsbaum, Annie Everingham, Thomas Wilcox and Mark Gerada. Fittingly, I found out about this fantastic initiative when I noticed the architecturally inspired work of Mark Gerada adorning my beloved skinny cap - my two loves in one delicious package!

 [Australian Dreaming by Lily Rose Dambelli]

[Sustainability by Mark Gerada]

[Swimming in the Sky by Jessica Bee]

Three of the artworks are also available as prints from the OKYO store, so if your coffee fix isn't just cutting it you can add these pretty prints to your walls too!


xx Kit

Semi Permanent Inspiration

I was lucky enough to attend Semi-Permanent Brisbane yesterday, and I'm looking forward to having the weekend to pore over the beautiful Book Two and really process all the knowledge and wisdom shared during the day.

 [Tyler Durden-inspired snap of Ben Briand's short film, Some Static Started]

It's easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of knowledge and talent at events like Semi-Permanent, especially for a hermit like me who was too shy to rock along to the after party on my own, but I'll do my best to sort through my thoughts and impressions of the day and share them here with you next week.

In the meantime, check out the great snaps, quotes and insights from other Brisbane attendees over on Tagboard and/or Seen (where I'm a 'Top Source' - woo!) I was planning to take a lot of my own photos during the event, until I took a shot during Ben Briand's presentation and suddenly realised how awkwardly loud my phone's camera is, regardless of which app I used. I could swear the sound echoed!

Anyhoo, watch this space for more SP goodness, and have a great weekend!

xx Kit

Still Life by Sara Morris

Here, have a little bit of levity for your Tuesday afternoon! This incredible floating photography is the work of London-based photographer, Sara Morris. Her portfolio is slick, surreal and utterly droolworthy, so if you need a little eye-candy for your afternoon, head over to her site or check out her great behind-the-scenes posts!

[via map magazine]

Modern Ruins

I have a long-held fascination with forgotten, abandoned buildings, so these photographs by Australian architectural photographer Peter Bennetts appeal to me on many levels - precisely because what at first appears to be sprawling Babylonian ruins, or perhaps even abandoned coastal bunkers, are in fact an exciting new hotel currently under construction in Vanuatu.

[Images via Dezeen]

The project in question is La Plage D'hôtel du Pacifique, designed by Melbourne-based Kristen Green Architecture (KGA). The strong influences of both Louis Kahn and Le Corbusier are combined with references to ancient Roman architecture, and to my mind, the resulting design manages to be oddly at home in the tropical setting.

 [Images via Dezeen]

The strong geometries are both complemented and softened by the timber herringbone fenestration on the windows and doors, and the boarded in-situ concrete walls, whilst appearing quite brutal and stark at first, will weather and age beautifully and gradually blend back into the surroundings (if they're not rendered or whitewashed, that is!)

Head to Dezeen for more information and stunning images.

Monsters and Aliens Invade Upcycled Artworks

[Mountain Monster by Chris McMahon]

If you've ever bypassed drab landscape paintings at a garage sale or your local op shop, these cheeky altered artworks might make you think again. In a quirky departure from the urban additions made famous by Banksy, these monstrous alterations are a little bit whimsical, and sometimes just a little bit creepy too!

 [Land Narwhal and Young by Chris McMahon]

US-based artist Chris McMahon has been adding a range of fantastical monsters to acquired landscapes since 2009, and describes them as "involuntary collaborations." If your walls need a furry land narwhal or two (and really, whose doesn't?!) then can you grab prints via deviantArt.

[Godzilla by Thryza Segal]

Thryza Segal has been adding her theatrical spin to the style since a Godzilla-based request back in 2007, and her style soon evolved into alien alterations and adorable back stories! 

[Fun at the Lake by Thryza Segal]

Based in Vancouver, Thryza cites her background in set and costume design as the inspiration for her interventions, and tries to bring new life to paintings that were otherwise destined for the scrapheap - for example, the alterations in Fun at the Lake cover a large damaged area in the most adorable of ways!

Prints are currently available from her Etsy store, and the originals are destined for a silent auction next month.


xx Kit

[Via TwistedSifter]

Spilt Milk

Fulfil your annual dairy requirements with the amazing work by London-based photographer Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz. According to the SLR Lounge article, the pin-up inspired 2014 calendar will be available next month - pencil it in!

The SLR Lounge article also details the incredible processes involved in creating these retro works of art - and while it involves high speed photography and a decent serving of Photoshop, it also involves real milk being thrown onto the models. A lot.

More of Jaroslav's work can be found at Arum Light [NSFW]



xx Kit

Mustache Cats

Totally smitten kitten with these Mustache Cat paper collages by Athens-based artist Joaquima Casas of kup kup land.

You can snap up the original collages over at the kup kup land Etsy store - too cute!

Happy Monday!

xx Kit

Art and About Sydney

The weekend is finally nigh - hooray! It also happens to be the very last weekend of Art and About Sydney (boooo!) so if you happen to be in the area and you haven't already had a wander around the city, be sure to mosey in and check out some seriously impressive work, including Field, pictured above.

Read more about the designers Out of the Dark (and, unrelated, out of Auckland) and their installation over at designboom.

Happy Friday and have a a fantastic weekend! I'm off to Byron, squeeee!

xx Kit

[Images via designboom]

Disco Dots by Jen Hewett

Love love love this Disco Dot Mini Tote by self-taught San Fran design extraordinaire, Jen Hewett. The combination of leather straps and hand-printed linen is pure perfection.

Check out more of Jen's Winter 2013 collection here.

xx Kit

P.S. I stumbled across Jen's work on Lisa Congdon's blog, which is currently getting some much-deserved recognition for taking up the fight against a company that appears to have quite the track record of profiting off the creativity and hard work of others. Read more about it here and here.

Inspire Me Top 3

It's always lovely to have something to look forward to, especially when the week feels like it's puttering along. 

Here's what's keeping me going this week (aside from the usual copious amounts of coffee, of course!)

#1 New Wes Anderson Anything

A new Wes Anderson movie AND book on the way? Heck yes!

#2 Road Tripping

A quick jaunt to Byron on the weekend. Can't wait! (Recommend me some great road trip tunes in the comments!)

#3 Semi-Permanent Inspiration

One Semi-Permanent Brisbane ticket for me! Come at me, inspiration!


What's motivating you this week?


xx Kit

Road Trip Escapes

As someone who is still without a drivers licence (don't judge me!) the very concept of road trips doesn't enter my thoughts often. Once someone even vaguely hints at the possibility of a road trip in the near future, however, there's little else I can think about.

A little trip to Byron is on the cards with my long-suffering best friend, and I'm a tiny bit on the excited side. I'm a very well-practiced passenger and practically a pro at sitting!

I haven't been to Bryon in years though, so any hints, tips and recommendations would be very gratefully received! (As always, coffee is my #1 priority, closely followed by delicious treats!)

Yay!

xx Kit

[Image via Ascot Friday]

Snowed Under

[via Chacha]

You know it's probably going to be a challenging week when you're already feeling snowed under on Monday.

Hopefully nothing that deep breaths, giant coffees and cute animals can't fix!

Happy Monday!

xx Kit

Tea and Photography

One of these days I hope to sort through the tens of thousands of photos I've taken, uploaded, then promptly abandoned across a range of computers and external hard drives.

In the meantime, here's a little snap I took back in 2011 at the Gunners' Barracks Tea Room in Sydney. 

Even on a toasty Spring day like today (36°C in Brisbane, even hotter in Sydney!) there's just something about the sight of a cup of tea that relaxes me (although an iced tea would be the more logical option, of course!)

Hope you're having a beautiful week!

xx Kit

Springtime in the Sunshine State

Unreliable HQ relocated to Brisbane a little while ago (sans former-Mr. U >: ) and although I'll readily admit that sub-tropical summers are still incredibly scary to me (think of an entire city that feels like a sauna), I absolutely love springtime here.

The weather is blissfully warm, the skies are azure blue, and the humidity hasn't quite set in yet - not in earnest, anyway!

I especially love the jacaranda trees, with their explosion of purple blooms that slowly give way to glossy green leaves. They usually start blooming in September, which coincides with the exam periods for the major universities and has consequently given rise to the term 'Purple Panic' - also making me immensely glad my university days are well and truly over!

 On a quick stroll through the inner-city suburb of Paddington yesterday, I wandered past this beautiful church that reminds me of the grand turreted houses peppered along the main street of Annandale, and I walked past an arbour of star jasmine - the scent transported me right into the back lanes of my old 'hood, Surry Hills, where entire terrace houses are enshrined in star jasmine and the perfume is nothing short of intoxicating.

Needless to say, I'm a little homesick for Sydney, but I'm definitely learning to love Brisbane. If only the beaches were closer!

What do you love about where you live?

xx Kit