Overwhelmed

I have been slightly overwhelmed with work for the last 2 weeks or so - thus taking an unexpected (and not voluntary) vacation from blogging. It always gets extremely busy this time of the year, with clients wanting to get everything ready before the end of the year.

I have also been keeping myself very busy with some wedding planning and making of invites (not my wedding though) and hope to share these with you soon.

Some other things I have been up to that are worth mentioning:

• Sitting and sleeping (bliss!) on my sexy new couch
• Wondering about a paint colour for my bedroom - I am tempted to make it a DIY long weekend and start by painting the bedroom. It's long overdue
• Sleeping under my handmade quilt. Yes, moi can stitch! It's not finished (I still need to tidy the edge) but I love it already
• Been on the lookout for a nice shaggy silver rug. Why are they so expensive? :(
• Enjoyed a wonderful Sunday at Spier and lunched at the new Eight restaurant - so worth a visit!
• Mastered the art of hand embossing envelopes - It's not that difficult and the end result is worth it.

It's going to be rollercoaster ride until the end of the year, but then it's holiday! Yippee! I'm already counting the days...

Have to share

I love this collection of pretty fabrics displayed in embroidery hoops. Notice the way the fabrics are grouped together by colour and fade from blue to green to yellow to red and pinks? Beautiful!

I remember my mom doing cross stitch and using one of these hoops - I thought it was the best invention ever!

Image via The Purl Bee

Best of the Catalogues

New Season = new catalogues! With Spring officially here (although I'm not sure if Mother Nature got the memo - Cape Town is a little chilly this morning), I for one love to add a bit of colour in my apartment and accesorise with fun things. Perfect to chase away the winter blues.

I'm sad to say that the various catalogues are not all the exciting, except for @home. Woolies and Mr Price have loads of lovely glasses, plates, linen and that sort of thing. For vases I always head to Woolies first though.

Here are just a few of my favourites from the @home catalogue...

Maybe because my big brother is a pilot, but I love these bookends for R250.

This screen is perfect for hiding my desk inthe lounge, which is always overflowing with bits of paper and ribbon and odds and ends. At R1100, not badly priced either.

The yellow coat rack would look perfect in my entrance against the grey blue walls!

The sun is coming up earlier, setting later. The days are warmer and the birds are singing. Summer is on it's way darlings!

Surprise Surprise

I was surprised by Boardmans this weekend - and in a good way! M and I hit the shops on Saturday in search of the prefect couch. Well, perfect within budget that is.

For weeks now I have frequented the same shops, hoping they have new stock or a sale. You see, the comfy couches I liked were way out of my budget, and the ones that were in my budget were just down right ugly. Or too small.

Then, on another mission to find dining chairs, I said "Let's just go and look at Boardmans". Not thinking for a minute I have any better luck. Ha! They had a bit of a revamp, wouldn't you know?

M and I fell in love with a certain grey couch the minute I lay on it, and even more so after I heard the price. Tada! I was sold! Or, the couch was. ;) It's being delivered today (so excited!) and finally it feels like my little flat is coming together. I've lived there for over 3 years, but never really put in any effort.

I've decided not to post any pics until the transformation is complete, I'm hoping to have it all done and dusted in the next month or so.

As the couch was quite a bit less than what I had expected to pay, I indulged and grabbed the Arco lamp. Designed by Achille Castiglioni (that's him in the pic with the Arco lamp) in 1962, I love how this piece has survived just about 50 years and is still used in stylish homes all over the world.

Now mine is obviously a knock off, and I know that's a huge debate amongst designers and architects; one which I'm not going to enter right now.

Castiglioni drew inspiration from street lamps when designing the Arco: a ceiling lamp that needed no connection to the ceiling. The lamp casts it's light about 2 meters from where the base is, making it ideal to illuminate dining tables without having to have a pendant hanging right over it.

I say: "Sia la luce!"