HOT!

I am hoping to get my hands on this toasty-hot book, Hot Afro, as soon as I can. It promises pages and pages of sumptious interiors, getting together that wonderful mix of modern, hi-tech and the earthly traditions of living in Africa.







This week I go back to night classes to do the final class in my graphic design certificate. I am really excited to get stuck in again, to stretch myself to create some awesome work and also really excited to finally be done (I think its taken over 4 years, but I'm afraid to look back at my records to see when I started). What this means is that my little blog will not be getting the attention it deserves (remember, I also work during the day!). Please be patient, I hope to blog at least once a week (a little break from the homework) and I will be back in full force in ... May. Just around the corner. Well, that's what I keep telling myself.

Now, who's coming to my graduation!?

Pics and info from the Elle Decor blog.

Hottentots Holland to Hermanus*

If you were interested in seeing more of the varied and beautiful Cape flora I spoke of a few posts ago, head on over to 66 square feet. Marie is on holiday in the Cape and has the most glorious photos of said flora and the gob-smackingly beautiful surrounds.



* the title of Marie's flora identification handbook.

Rest

Here's another hotel/restaurant interior image orgy, I mean, spread. Just so we can enjoy chic places we may never visit.

SW1 Luxury Guest Retreat, in Somerset West is made up of the Nosipo and Ubuntu Lodges. The accommodations are a variety of rooms, each with its own name and style, and each name invokes tranquility (Thula means peace, Lala Panzi means to take rest.) Enjoy.

Nosipo Lodge entrance



Nosipo Lodge living area



Lala Panzi room



Moyo suite



Thula thula room

Beautiful Bags at the Wren

I've long been an admirer of the Wren's work. I've posted an interview with her before, and introduced you to her Ashley bags. Well, if you haven't been to her blog or shop lately, I have two more fantastic bags to share with you that are going to blow your mind.

First, the antique linen bag. Wren developed both these bags after much discussion, investigation and then trial and error. The thought and testing shows. The beautiful antique linen bag has a leather strap, and a cotton interior.





Second, the coffee travel bag. Wren made these from bags made to carry coffee, and each bag is unique. Also has a handy strap, and is made to fit onto planes as a carry-on.





Lucky for us, Wren has a new fabric supplier, so the antique linen bags are getting a price cut. Also, the Ashley bag is no longer going to be made and so the remaining bags are going on sale. Very exciting! And lastly, on a personal note, Wren just got engaged. Congratulations!

Right Side Up

Funny, even though I'm from the South I don't really think of a map this way. Maybe its time to change.



From nest decorating, via decor8

Hottentots Holland

When the Dutch arrived in Cape Town in 1652, there was already an indigenous people who called the Cape home: the "Hottentots", who called themselves Khoekhoe. A hundred years later, much of their culture had been eradicated by the arrival of Europeans.

In much the same way, the rich and diverse plant life that once existed in the Cape has waned thanks to preferences for exotic species from Europe. There are more kinds of plant in the Cape Floral Kingdom than the whole northern hemisphere, but many are rare or extinct now.

The Flora Capensis project pays homage to the Khoekhoe using the style of the 17th century Dutch floral paintings in photographs. Using only flowers associated with the Khoekhoe (gathered by many hands and with careful planning) six photographs were created, using lighting and photoshop to create the correct shadowing and effects as seen in the original Dutch paintings.









At narrative level, these photographs raise various imaginative possibilities. If the camera had been invented 1 000 years earlier, it might have recorded these scenes in a Khoekhoe home, 500 years before any Europeans set foot in the Cape. Might the Dutch have learnt to make these kinds of compositions from the Khoekhoe? On this level, these photographs are a kind of utopian make-believe, an if-only-things-had-been-different fantasia. This speculative mode is a reminder that buried within history are forgotten counter-tales, utopian narratives running at tangents to the 'official' views that hide the surprising web of mixtures, connections and mutations that colour reality. (from the website)

To see the rest of the photos and to read more about how the various collaborators went about the project, go here. The details of the project, the details of the photos themselves, just astound me. How clever to use photoshop this way... Beautiful work. I love what art can do.

I haven't posted on graphic design in a while, so we'll continue to peruse the work of the team at Flowermill. This time we'll take a look at the design they do for their advertising wing, called Eleven.


Wilde Interior Design



Alba Lounge




Cat & Mouse Clothing




Cloof Wines




Lime Grove Gifts and Decor



My bog soft spot is identity, but there is much more to see on their website. (Don't forget, if you click on the image, you will see it much bigger.)

Not Run of the Mill

If you're like me, you love to receive hand-written notes and love even more to send them! Flowermill has a new range of gift cards, and along with their existing ones, you are spoiled for choice as to what you could say and how you could say it.











They also have canvas art, and I love these for children's rooms (I've been working on a cowgirl design at work, so I'm kind of drawn to anything yee-ha right now)





... and remember, Valentine's Day is nearly upon us!



Check out more at Flowermill.

Nook Eatery

I've been inspired by one of my favourite blogs, Remodelista, and how they showcase beautiful restaurants. I love the way being at a restaurant can be an experience that takes you somewhere mentally and emotionally so I'd like to show some interiors of restaurants in southern Africa (know any good ones? Let me know!). This is Nook Eatery, in Stellenbosh.













Its all in the details, isn't it?



As first seen on Elle Decor SA, and images from that blog, plus the Nook website and Miss Moss.

Not Your Mama's Tie Dye

Yep, this is not what I learnt in Girl Guides.









Images from a new blog, dye and prints, by the team at Slipstream Fabric Finishes. They did the gorgeous tie dye jobs on these garments for Marion and Lindie, JJ Schoeman, Stoned Cherrie and Sun Goddess (the skirt I am wearing in my profile pic is Sun Goddess).

That first dress... *sigh*

Don't Say I Didn't Tell You

Not sure if anyone else has noticed, but Africa has been all over the place lately... in particular we've been in a couple of articles in the New York Times. The first Suddenly, Africa is Everywhere talks about how African style is taking over. The romance, the colours and the energy are everywhere from Broadway (seen Fela! yet?) to the catwalk. (That's Jean Paul Gaultier and Dries Van Noten below the shot from Fela!)







The other article was written by Bono, his Ten for Ten op-ed column to mark the start of the new decade. He thinks (amongst other things) that this decade is the African decade.

...This time round, for the 2010 World Cup, naysayers thought South Africa could not build the stadiums in time. Those critics should be red-faced now. South Africa’s impressive preparations underline the changes on the continent, where over the last few years, 5 percent economic growth was the average. Signs point to a further decade of growth to come. Canny investors will put more capital there. This in turn has the potential to shore up fragile young democracies across the continent.

Just take a look at some of the stadiums that have been built for this year's world cup. One of them (in Durban) has a cable car in which you can transverse the stadium's open sky, and another is inspired by the colours of the calabash (there's a theme this week!) and is just gorgeous.

Cape Town's Green Point Stadium.






Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium.









Soccer City in Johannesburg.









You can read more about the World Cup 2010 at the Fifa website (and this is a link directly to the stadiums).

There are still tickets available (the World Cup starts in June) to the biggest party this year!