Orla Kiely

Something arrived in the post today that has me loving Orla Kiely more than ever! I can't wait to show you and all will be revealed as soon as I get some time to take a picture but until then this should fill the gap.

The Book Lounge

Every once in a while we drop by The Book Lounge for children's story hour on a Saturday morning. We don't do it too often – it is, to be quite honest, mostly disastrous (our boys are always more interested in the little ramp to the side of the staircase – it makes a great slide!) and very frustrating (because I can never really take a leisurely look through all their gorgeous books). But the tea and cupcakes are so lovely, you get to see other frazzled-looking parents (always nice to know you are not alone) and it's a cosy place to be, especially when the weather is bad. Best of all though is this brilliant mural illustrated by Julia Anastasopoulos (aka knolc). It's the kind of thing you could never get tired of looking at – every time I go up close, I see something new. It should keep a child busy for hours… anyway, back to that ramp…

Deep Dark Africa

This is so exciting it can't wait until next week to make an appearance. Deep Dark Africa is a new online shop by Cape Town fashion and decor stylist Alexia Kondylis. It's full of the most gorgeous, contemporary hand made South African objects. I love, love them all… especially the Skinny laMinx cushions and the crochet light (I could go on for quite some time about that). Here are a few of my favourites…

What to do with all that kiddies' artwork…

I just can't throw any of it away, even if it's just a page with one blue scribble, or a strange (there's absolutely nothing to do around here) Elastoplast-and-empty-biltong-packet collage. They're all sitting in a large envelope in the drawer under our TV. So I had a look around and found these ideas for displaying all my mini-Monet and Pollock masterpieces. It looks easy enough to do (especially the first one) and I like the way you can chop and change the artworks around. The third/last idea is also clever and super stylish (I live in hope). Maybe I’ll get to one of each eventually.

Winter leaves

Ok… so I've managed to hold out from posting about my kids for a whole five blog posts but I just can't help myself any longer (I don't need much encouragement – you have been warned)! Oliver had this all scrunched up in his little school bag today and I have to say that it is (officially) the most beautiful flat art I have ever seen.

Walking the road

Last Friday morning I went for a walk along the Sea Point promenade. It's one of those things I wish I did more often and the idea was to post these pictures on the same day – but here I am five days later finally getting round to it. These Walking the Road sculptures by Marieke Prinsloo-Rowe have been around for quite some time now. Part of a pilot public art project – they are actually meant to be removed this month. I think it's safe to say they've been a huge success… a much loved addition to Cape Town's cityscape. I'm just hoping that whoever has to take them down is too busy or simply forgets so we can all enjoy them for a bit longer.

Karen McPhail ceramics

This image has been hanging about on my desktop for a couple of weeks (nabbed off Bloesem). Every now and then I open it up, have a look, and it just makes me so happy. If I was to only see these newspaper collage style illustrations on a flat paper surface I would be excited… but to see them as they are, on beautiful hand made ceramic objects is beyond amazing. The talented person behind all this is Karen McPhail. If you want to read a bit more on how she makes them you can have a look here.