Pure and General - Sydney Store

Where have I been? Well...no excuses really, a bit of this, a bit of that and nothing much in particular. I was amazed when I had a look at the blog stats this afternoon, after a fairly dormant few months its amazing the people still find you - the internet, what a wonderful thing...

Almost as wonderful, but not quite, as this new Sydney store tucked in the side streets behind Kings X. What I love is that the owners have sourced their products world wide during a year long sourcing trip (aka 'the dream') They have found the most wonderful and quirky homeware from all over the world, added is the feel good factor of providing a platform for guiding and showcasing local artisans who are tucked away in the forgotten folds of the world.

Anthropologie on a smaller scale. (Speaking of which, have you watched Keith Johnson (Anthropologie buyer) 'Man Shops Globe'. Find episodes on you tube.)

Visit Pure and General you next can, it will keep you occupied for hours, in awe of what is created 'out there'

Illustrator Luci Everett

This work is so inspiring, from Luci Everett based in Melbourne Australia. The colours are eyecatching and the designs fresh....see her blog http://www.happinessetc.blogspot.com/.
Watercolours in illustrations are so on trend at the moment, classic and calm....I guess in line with all that is handmade and vintage. LOVE these....and somehow relate to that feeling the girl might be having with her head up the stigma of an enormous bloom!!

These event posters she creates are eye catching, why dont more events spend just a little more time creating something attractive and different, surely they would help pull in the crowds.

Lucky Luci to have such talent and flair....and good on her for using it x

Murano Lamps

I have an obsession lately, trawling markets and ebay looking for glass Murano lamp bases.
Murano is an tiny island off the coast of Venice, famous for its glass. I went to Rozelle Market in Sydney yesterday hoping to find my pair, there were one or two there but werent quite right....

They are so elegant and add a dash of colour with their organic and individual shapes.

Here are some of the lamps that have caught my eye...they sell on ebay from about GBP 30, not bad really and better than a new lamp in my opinion!

Beautiful and the kind of thing I think you'd always find a spot for and keep forever....

Pinterest...

Oh my! What a great idea.
Let me introduce you to http://pinterest.com/
You should settle in, get yourself warm and comfy for I think you might not be moving for a while.
This is a place to share creative ideas, travel dreams, DIY projects, receipes and to generally saturate your minds....
Im not yet a member, although I have requested an invite and I'll be keenly watching my inbox.
Seems I was a lil late...they already have close on 300 000 followers!!

SOHI (Creative Southern Living)

I need to tell you about this great Australian magazine.
It contains all the best kept Australian secrets in the New South Wales world of creativity.

We picked up a copy of SOHI (Creative Southern Living) on our roadtrip south of Sydney a few weeks back, it was so inspiring and useful as we used the shop directory in the back at our pit stop guide.

Our copy was the handwritten 197/3000 limited edition. Makes it a little extra special dont you think?

It was wonderful browsing through creative mine fields, eating lunch at secret home grown spots and coffee breaks to die for. We so easily could have missed them!

Mr Pickles and Me was one such shop in Nowra and stocked among many other interesting bits these gorgeous flat pack bird houses...seeing flat pack has been on my mind...

Another gem was One.Wise.Owl in Berry. Its eco friendly ideology makes a fab little creation...

I encourage you to do the road trip with a copy of SOHI - a good weekend away if anywhere nearby!

Unto this last

Flat Pack conjures up images of cheap Ikea put-together-yourselves-and-sorry-we-forgot-the-screws headaches....
But look at this clever mob aiming to get back to local craftmanship at mass-produced prices.

Unto this last make gorgeous pieces in London out of birch ply with digital routers in their back room ...with on-site workshops in Brick Lane and in Battersea. Oh I love the East End.

'Unto This Last purpose is to offer you the convenience of the local craftsman workshop at mass-production prices
We design along a single principle; less dependence on heavy industrial processes, more use of innovative digital tools adapted to the small workshop.'

UNTO THIS LAST: Choose your colour, pay not much and have yourself a very merry little piece of gorgeous furniture. The fun part is watching the guys behind the glass, carefully creating the next coffee table while you browse their creations.




Is this not beautiful?



Honeycomb shelves

See website http://www.untothislast.co.uk/

Fancy an intership? Just send in your CV. Love IT!

Brick Lane Workshop
230 Brick Lane London
E2 7EB 020 7613 0882

Talking Markets...Moscow

Just thinking about markets....markets are just my favourite things, I guess its never quite knowing what you will find that makes them so exciting...

Ive been to a fair few in my time, one of the most 'far out' was the huge sprawling market on the outskirts on Moscow, Izmaylovo Market. It sold everything, fur gloves, fake dvds, russian dolls a plently and a healthy stash of vintage relics to rummage through...

I would love to go back and buy and buy....crate loads full because some of the stuff I havent seen for sale before - like the friendly wolf! All of amazing quality, the value a little lost on the masses.

Round dolls, skinny dolls, fat dolls, peasant dolls, many many dolls..

War memorabilia, standing Stalin proud

Amazing and random oil paintings and iconography

Genuinely old Virgin Mary's

Light fittings, books, vintage maps..

..And the friendly wolf

Broadway Market

With London fever so high at the moment, I have cast my mind back to the fresh crisp London spring mornings where daffodils carpet the fields yellow.

Roaming East London was my best day out, armed with a good coffee, a hat and my camera.

Here are a few pictures I took at Broadway Market, the heart of the East End.
Its a foodies delight, vintage galore and quirky bits everywhere!

One vendor still sells jellied eels.....

Hungry?

Huddled in the sunny spot for coffee

Market stall cash collector

F Cooke, Hot Jellied Eels

Mr Hot Jellied Eeels!

Fresh apple juice...ymm

This is for my friend Alex who wanted East London market suggestions, enjoy x

Dumbo Feather, pass it on

Hello again, little me is sitting with a very sketchy web connection these days, it drives me to distraction but am hopefully going to be changing network providers....who would have thought in a first world country, huh??

Just been nose embezzled in a lovely independent magazine, Dumbo Feather, pass it on. I happened upon in a small shop I found in Surrey Hills, its so full of good stories of creatives finding there talent and 'somewhere finding the courage to fly'.

Its so inspiring and informative, it takes 5 people, looks at what they create, where they work, their inspirations and their journeys.

Take Nga Waiata, living in Napier co incidently (see two entries before). Nga is a gemologist who makes the most beautiful rings from sanded crystals and wood. I had actually forgotten about his article until the lady in the coffee queue this morning displayed a beautiful bold yellow one as she grabbed her Campio Coffee...

See her amythyst rings, enhances stability strength vigour and peace, heightens spirituality, a traditional healing crystal

Or the flourite rings, said to bring clarity on every level, identifying truth behind illusion...very good for centering, calming and balancing.

Her rings are available In Barneys, NYC! The big time, but can also be ordered from her directly. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

See Dumbo Feather at www.dumbofeather.com/thenest

About three ads in the whole mag, now thats quality ;-)

Cigarette Cards

Amongst some of the antique bric a brac in Napier, I came across a basket full of old cigarette cards.
The first cigarette cards appeared in cigarette packs from 1875, to stiffen the packs and be used as advertising. The cards were typically of a set of 25 or 50 and the idea would be to collect a set, very popular by the working class children in London.

I love the ones I found, of a series 'Children of all Nations' from a British Tobacco Company of 1925. Amusing to see how the UK viewed the world and also some seriously non pc slants....

The South African child is pictured as 'Natal' - on the back - the Zulu children of Natal are brown, being darker than others but none are quite black. They are not unkindly treated, but are made to assist their mothers in hoeing weeds from the maize patch and in gathering ripe cobs. These are ground into meal, which together with curdled milk forms the cheif food of the boys and girls, the fresh milk being reserved for very young children.

The american children are noted as being obnoxious, while the Brazilian children need to be beaten by their grandfathers, cut on their arms to ensure good hunting skills and bitten by ants without complaining...

The not badly treated (obviously suprising) Zulu child

The Australian 'Black Fellow', the Hong Kong Coolie and the South African Settler

The caterpillar eating Congelese, who play a game with a big nut that resembles lawn tennis

The obnoxious and boysterious american child

Im not sure what I'll do with these...Im sure i'll find a use at some point.

Napier New Zealand

I have just been to visit a friend in the beautiful Hawkes Bay region of North island New Zealand. The area is known for its outstanding wine and beauty...it certainly didn't disappoint. One of the towns in the area, Napier, is known as the Art Deco capital of the world.

An earthquake in the early 1930's destroyed the town, it was rebuilt at the height of the Art Deco era, a movement which praised industrialisation and the machine. The movement developed after the Art Nouveau period, which drew inspiration from nature - think Paris underground station signs....

Some of the typical Art Deco symbolism are stylised sunbursts over doors and fountain motifs, both representing renewal. Speed/ go fast lines are also often seen, representing fast cars and machines of the era. The zigarat symbol which shows the stepping back of a shape, derived from the newly developed 'skyscaper' being built in places like New York, which was stepped back every few floors to allow sunlight to the streets below is another typical motif.

See the sunburst of renewal over the door

The canopy 'zigarat', a typical feature of art deco buildings, go fast spripes to the right

All buildings were in pristine condition

 

These buildings were in such a fabulous state of repair and the whole town is jammed with art deco dress up shops, antiques and decor it really feels like a wonderful step back in time.




Black Barn vineyard - keep em peeled for delicious grapes grown on the 'grimblet gravel' from Hawkes Bay - shiraz the best.



Leaving Napier

Its a beautiful spot, highly recommended if youre ever in the area.

I've been very slack of late, have started working so time is once again a precious commodity, I'm going to keep at it though. x

Nguni Chair: Vogel Design

Cape Town based furniture designer has it spot on when re cycling old furniture styles.
Taking the old Cape furniture tradition and incorporating it cleverly into his designs the results are stunning.

Inspired by the Ngunis and their forward curving horns, the traditional cattle of the Zulu People, Vogel Living Design has created this sleek and stylish Ngunis Chair. The chair has a woven seat that resembles of the traditional riempie seats of the early European settelers in South African.

I would eat my left arm for these.....I noticed it when visiting Bistro 1862 on Steenburg Estate as all the dining furniture is done by Vogel. Bistro 1862 is a treat to the eye and palate; they do Steenburg wine tastings in the evenings served with fabulous tapas, overlooking vineyards and looking up to the mountian, really a place not to miss when in the Fairest Cape.

This has reminded me of another outstanding Cape furniture designer.....I will do an entry on him soon....bet you cant wait!!!