I Love...

I love... great big climbing plants with masses of bright pink flowers. Perect for Spring time.

x amanda

Good enough to eat

Tucked away in Stellenbosch is the utterly delightful 'Cupcake'.

Yip, they sell all sorts of beautiful (and delicious) cupcakes, but that's not the only thing. The meringues in different assortments (try strawberry, pistachio nuts, coffee or chocolate) are crispy on the outside, and wonderfully gooey on the inside.

I love the combination of all the pastel colours and retro furniture. And what's not to love about the trio of fridges?

x amanda

Going dotty

I am madly in love with this black and white re-do. Simply gorgeous!

x amanda

images via sprucehome

The prettiest thing I have seen in a long time...

This bookshelf by Studiobility is simply beautiful, isn't it?

Have a look at some more of their work at Studiobility

Especially at the Playground page!!

I am busy 'renovating' my apartment at the moment (I put 'renovating' in inverted commas, because there is only so much you can do when you are renting!) and I really would love love love this shelf in my entrance.

x amanda

I think blue is my favourite colour...

All these blue images (coupled with lots of white) are so peaceful. I'm on love with the freshness and clean feeling it all evokes. Maybe it's because we will be moving into Spring time soon, time for a fresh start!

x amanda

I ♥

I have always loved these chairs. The simple elegance of the cross back is just gorgeous. And the weathered timber makes it look so real.

One day, for my farmhouse kitchen...

x amanda

For my sunshine

What we are missing out on

I had my first (and only) Ikea experience in my 3rd year of studies. We partenered with 4 Swedish design students and worked on a low cost housing development just outside of Port Elizabeth. Because of the Swedish involvement (the Swedish goverment have partnered with the City of Port Elizabeth in some way...) Ikea had decided to sponsor the interior furnishings required for the new homes.

We were given a catalogue to choose which items we wanted, it was shipped to the Port Elizabeth harbour, and we had a ball of a time assembling everything, even the kitchens!

Now I read that the new catalogue is out. And I am bombarded with images of what is on the shelfs, and again I long for my very own Ikea store. It's not that their stuff is soooo wonderful, it's more a case of making good design affordable. When will they come to our shores? ;(

What to do with old books?

Build a counter!

I ♥

I am in love with these patchwork curtains. Looks like they have a story to tell...(or a couple).

Patchwork items can so easily look cheap, with little scraps sewn together. But these curtains look sophisticated, thanks to the solid deep purple section at the bottom of both to tie them together. Beautiful!

Image via www.absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com

Look what I bought...

On an incredible impulse, I bought myself a sewing machine. I was on Gumtree and stumbled across the ad for a sewing machine and thought "Hey, I could use a sewing machine". So there, 4 hours later, I was driving home with a sewing machine that I had no idea what I was going to do with!

But now I'm inspired to learn and make things. What things I don't know quite yet, but at least it's fun!

I'll be sure to show what I've made!

x amanda

An amazing find

I've stumbled accross Etsy.com. Now for most bloggers this is probably old news, but some things take me a little while... :) I kept on seeing 'found on etsy' and 'visit my etsy shop' on other blogs, and normally admired the photos of objects I saw, but never actualle logged on to etsy.com....until last week.

It's the kind of site I've been dreaming of! Go check it out www.etsy.com. Hopefully I will soon have my own shopfront!

x amanda

Gestop in tyd

Ek het so bietjie lanklaas 'n verskyning gemaak, dinge was maar dol. Ek sal opmaak vir my afwesigheid!

Ek was baie bevoorreg om Marieke Prinsloo te ontmoet. Sy is 'n pragtige mens, met 'n siel wat jou dadelik inneem en laat tuis voel. Sy is borrelend, vriendelik, en gretig om alles met jou te deel. Sy is ook, by the way, een van ons land se mees talentvolle kunstenaars.

Marieka is 'n beeldhouer, en haar werk is asemrowend. Haar beelde van vroue is so eg, so vol emosie, dit voel soos 'n egte persoon wat vasgevang is in daardie oomblik.

Hierdie foto's is van haar 'Prima Vera Dancing Girls', gebaseer op Bottichelli se 'Prima Vera'.
Kyk net die detail op die rok (die kant), die beweging in die rokke, die absolute emosie.

Ek beloof om nog van Marieke se fanstastiese werk in die toekoms te wys.

Kyk die detail op die linkerste rok, lyk kompleet soos 'n sagte kant rokkie

En ek is natuurlik mal oor haar studio muur, kyk net al die sement hartjies en figure. Pragtig.

Tot volgende keer,

x amanda

Today...

...want to get into my car and hit the road. Nowhere specific.

(I'm obviously just jealous of 2 great friends who are doing a road trip around Australia in a little van)

One day.

Layering

Li Edelkoort (whom I've mentioned before) has predicted that layering will be one of the trends to watch out for. A blurring of boundaries, sheer fabrics layered over one another. It reminded me of this gorgeous invite I received last year. The silhouette of the couple, watermarks, lace pattern, it's all beautifully intertwined and layered to create one of the most amazingly romantic images!

It's Winter

I love this elegant alternative to a crackling fire, especially considering I have no fireplace!The mirror behind the candles doubles the affect, making it OK to use less candles :)

x amanda

It's like that

Vandag voel ek so. Asof ek iets ontdek het wat ek lankal al van vergeet het. Dis fantasties.

Today I feel like that. Like I've found something that I even forgot I had. It's fantastic.

x amanda :)

Blomme

Ek is gek oor blomme. Dit verander enige vertrek, enige geleentheid in iets spesiaal. Hierdie foto is net briljant, ek dink ek is verlief met alles in hierdie foto. Die ou eetkamer tafel, wat al vele kuiers en familie etes beleef het en sekerlik baie stories gehoor het. Die sonlig wat so liefs in die kamer inspoel. En dit wys jou net, jy hoef nie bosse blomme te hê om 'n indruk te skep nie. Net hier en daar 'n blom in 'n mooi (of net skoon interesant!) houer, en jou hele dag kry sommer 'n glimlag.

toe, gaan pluk 'n blom of steel een van die restaurant se tafel af.
x amanda

Freedom

Of soos die Vodacom ad sê: "Are you 'free' or are you 'dom'?"
Vandag is ek Free.

x amanda

Hello!

What a grand idea for a small entrance hall! It's a little sassy, a little tongue-in-cheek and very cool! I'm dying to do this in my flat.

Easy tea light holder

This beautiful tea light (or bigger candle) holder is so simple to make! And just imagine how divine a cluster of these would look!

Step 1: You need any big glass bottle. You can use your old jam or mayo bottles, any size will do. I reckon you'll end up doing a whole lot of different ones!

Step 2: Paint the outside of the bottle with any Polvin type paint, pick a colour. Craft paint will also work, just be sure that the paint is not applied too thick.

Step 3: Now decide on a pattern or design, and scratch it out using the sharp end of a wooden skewer or even a toothpick. Voila!

I think I'll be trying to do this this weekend!

x amanda

Sommer net

Introduction to Strijdom van der Merwe

I can't remember how and when I first came to know of Strijdom van der Merwe, but I have been a devotee ever since.

Strijdom is a lanscape artist, using what ever he finds on site to create his art. He manipulates the local surroundings, bringing order into something so completely natural.

Becuase of the nature of his work, it is temporary. Fleeting. He captures it on photographs and that is all that remains.

All images www.strijdom.co.za

I will be sharing much more of this great artist's work!

x amanda