flavour of the month: July

I can’t believe it’s already time for another Flavour of the Month & another round up of what I’ve been up to on Instagram… July whizzed by and as we slip, slide away into the final half of the year, those of us having fun in the southern hemisphere are delighted to slip into summer. Yellow has really been catching my eye lately: aren’t these pendant lamps from Entrepo just gorgeous? And it’s difficult to ignore these madeforeachother stripes in my local parking garage…

Gemma Orkin’s cheerful handmade ceramics adorn a sunny yellow wall in Melissa’s food shop at the V&A while a healthy dose of vitamin C will hopefully keep the flu away.

There’s nothing like a bit of blue sky after the rain to entice those bright spring colours out of the wardrobe…

But I am a self-confessed lover of the monochrome… I even think I dream in black & white. I love my windmill ceramic brooch by talented local artist Tamarillo and I bought squid-ink spaghetti the other day which was darkly delicious! 

A stylish sketch by Cape Town illustrator Lauren Fowler and a set of these monochrome Bono mugs are definitely on my wish list. They say sticks & stones may break your bones, but words (& stripes) will never harm you… my consistent love of horizontal lines & the written word will always make me cheerful…

I adore finding unexpected beauty amongst the random & ordinary: oxidised metal and a determined little fern finding its niche in a wall of brick…

I spent an entire afternoon creating this cool light installation in my son’s room. He loves it but complains it keeps him awake… go figure! If you’re local & find yourself free on a Friday night with an empty tummy, then head down to the Blue Blue Garage market in Muizenberg for great atmosphere & delicious food.

I love Cape Town and am pleased to call this beautiful city home. My amazing husband & I celebrated 12 years of marriage on Sunday and spent our anniversary in the picturesque seaside town of Hermanus. A great way to end the month!

weekend!

photo my own

Elle Decoration SA

hello friends! I’ve been a bit busy lately with this lovely course and it’s also school holidays, so not too much time to read my favourite magazines. When I did have a few spare minutes to catch up on my dearest mags, the June/July issue from Elle Decoration SA really grabbed my attention. The art of slow living and the back to basics concept truly resonated with me. Life can at times go at such a frenetic pace that we lose the ability to slow down and take in the beauty around us. I photographed several features from the issue and gave them some instagram love…

This Shinda Chair, made of recycled car tyres by Jeanette Gibson, is a beauty… so delicate but with purpose. And Isabella of Natural Applications uses macramé, crochet and knitting to revive the art of fibre craft and tell a story…

The inimitable Jackie Burger, one of South Africa’s style icons and the fabulous editor of Elle SA, has a healing hideaway in the Karoo to where she can retreat for some quiet time. The catharsis of this pleasantly slow & rustically rustig part of our beautiful country is as incomparable as Jackie herself..

Elle Decoration finds inspiration from the colours of the earth and the quiet beauty of the Karoo…

The hot pink accents from this home in Amsterdam made me smile…

and this authentic Flemish farmhouse in Belgium is marvellously refreshing…

A favourite home in the issue is one in Sweden with its soothing palette of bare white, natural accents of wood and a variety of greens…

a really lovely home!

So if you haven’t yet read this copy of Elle Decoration SA, don’t delay that restful inspiration which lies within its covers…

all images my own.

flavour of the month: June

Flavour of the month for June was inspired by these little neon post-it tags. They’re brilliant when you find inspiration in magazines and need to mark the page and I use them all the time. I added a neon pink tag to my shelf arrangement, keeping company with that lovely vintage spool of hot pink cotton, and most of you liked this on instagram!

The protea, one of my favourite indigenous South African flowers, sent more hot pink my way with their vivid petals. And how sweet is this little decorative birdhouse from The Space?

The cover of the July issue of Vogue UK is also popping with colour… a perfect match for this cheerful bunch of poppies which brightened up my workspace. They’re such happy flowers… another favourite of mine!

Up on my inspiration board this month are a variety of images and objects. I’m loving these cool aqua shades at the moment, tinged with lavender and green.

Craig from The Lobby Hair Shop at the Woodstock Foundry [the beautifully refurbished 100-year old heritage building you have to visit] gave me an amazing new do… a great chop to start off the new season.

And as the Cape winter begins with plenty of rain, it’s important to take heart; it wont last forever.

We love walking and cycling in the Tokai Forest and this handy rustic tree swing always provides entertainment for my boys, the apple[s] of my eye…

A fun app for the iPhone is Pocketbooth… you can see my youngest and I playing the fool. Good times.

My much-loved black & white chevron, adorning an entire wall in my studio, makes a striking statement alongside this laser-cut felt runner hung over the white door.

And a wonderfully relaxing weekend to Arniston rounds off our month of June… roll on July!

all images my own

click over to see my flavour of the month for April & May

my weekend

hello! did you have a good weekend? I did! We went away with friends to the beautiful seaside village of Arniston, about a 2 hour drive from Cape Town. We relaxed, ate, played in the rock pools with the the kids, laughed and ate some more… somehow the weekend flew past and here we find ourselves back to Monday! But would you like to join Instagram and I for a few special moments which caught my eye over the weekend?

En route to Arniston, you drive through the picturesque town of Napier, a rural farming community set in the rolling hills of the Overberg. This hot pink wheelbarrow masquerading as a succulent planter totally caught my eye at the Napier Farm Stall. As did this vintage tin sign for Joko tea…

We stayed in a beach house directly on the beach which was absolute bliss… the children could safely run on the beach and play in the rock pools while we watched from the deck. We were even surprised by a few whales who came to say hello, their majestic tails waving to us on the beach. Such a treat!

The water has artfully carved out crazy abstract shapes in the rocks and a host of colourful sea creatures call this home…

 

So after a chilled weekend spent in the company of good friends, it was time to say our goodbyes to Arniston… until next time!

all images my own

greatest hits

As bloggers, we often write a post and immediately move onto the next idea for our following post. Out of sight, out of mind. I’m working on a homework assignment for Blogging Your Way 2.0 where Holly of Decor8 encourages us to explore our archives and find relevance in our blog history. A kind of blogged but not forgotten assignment.

Last year we travelled to Italy which was a wonderfully enriching trip full of colour, history, design and flavour! I thought I’d share the links for those posts in my Greatest Italian Hits… I’d love you to click over and travel back in time with me…

The Roman Holiday prologue sets the scene for our upcoming trip with photographs from our honeymoon 12 years ago…

Italian Holiday Part 1 explores the exquisite nature which we found in the Tuscan countryside…

Italian Holiday Part 2 is my Italian food festival… Italy is well known for it delicious cuisine and this post highlights those tastes and flavours…

Italian Holiday Part 3 reminisces the many streets & sights which caught my eye…

and lastly, the Return from my Roman Holiday…a fun Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday inspired post to get all nostalgic about…

Did you enjoy that? I hope so!

Let me know where your favourite travel destination is and if you’ve blogged about it, please leave a link in your comment… then we can all armchair travel together!

[all photography my own, except last image]

flavour of the month: May

hello! Can you possibly believe that another month has flown by and we’re jumping into June tomorrow?

So last month I started a new series called Flavour of the Month…a visual round-up of my month through the eye of my iPhone and Instagram. The snippets and inspiring details of the things I saw and did. The month of May marks the end of the warm season for us Capetonians as we launch head long into our rainy and chilly winter. I realised that I needed a pair of fingerless gloves for working at my computer, since my hands have been freezing their knuckles off. I found a cute pair of gloves from Mr. Price which quickly became the keyboard-friendly fingerless variety after a 10 simple snips of my scissors and a few stitches to stop the unravelling…

A very proud mom and dad saw their youngest take off his training wheels and learn to ride this month. My 5-year old responded to peddling like a duck to water. After all, it’s just like riding a bicycle…

This same little boy recently moved into his own room after sharing with his bigger brother. We’ve had fun getting it ready and adding personal touches, like the artwork by friends and family collaged together on one wall and a freshly painted desk which was mine as a young girl.

We had a delicious dinner with friends at The Pot Luck Club, Luke Dale-Roberts’ latest culinary endeavour which lives up to its reputation of remarkable and delectable food. The concept is to order a variety of dishes to share and taste. I can’t wait go back!

When the day is sunny, a favourite place for a stroll is along the beachfront promenade between Mouille Point and Greenpoint. The waves come crashing up and mist you with their icy spray…

I spotted some cosy knitted scarves at Country Road which would be perfect for a winter walk. I loved the multi-coloured harlequin pattern so much!

The simplicity of a heart-shaped biscuit from Melissa’s Food Shop on a vintage plate seemed like the perfect thing to photograph… and then gobble down with a hot cup of tea. And pomegranates are my favourite fruit of the month. Their jewel-like ruby arils are slightly sour, almost astringent, but lovely sprinkled over a salad.

A fantastic design driven publication called Designtimes has been on my radar recently. They have their finger on the pulse of both the international and local design scene, introducing their growing readership to exciting world trends. Grab a copy from Exclusive Books or have a look at their online site.

This striking chevron pattern has been in the pipeline for a few months now and this month the zigzag got its show on the road… do you remember this awesome blogging competition which I won? Well, part of the prize was a room makeover courtesy of Freeworld Design Centre. I was beyond delighted and promptly chose my studio to be given a facelift. It was a collaboration between Freeworld and myself… and the result? A chic black & white space inspired by Coco Chanel, with personal details and timeless appeal. These are my Instagram shots of some the details.

Keep an eye open for the official photographs from the shoot which will be posted soon.

So that’s the merry month of May, my friends. I’m already looking forward to June!