Gosh 2011...

... You were awesome.

Looking back over previous New Years posts I've done, it's kinda clear that although my 20's weren't the worst years of my life, they weren't exactly a piece of cake either.

This year, I am grateful for so many things, I feel a bit as if I'm bursting when I think about it. This of course makes me very nervous because although I'm often told I can be an incorrigible optimist (read "annoying"), I'm actually pretty good at "Final Destination" imaginings and all too often get the "Crud. I'm happy. What's going to go wrong here?" feeling.

Well, give a big welcome to this years resolution – to banish thoughts like that and relax.
Now on to the list for 2011:

• Travelled! Finally! TWICE! (what more is there to say? That in itself makes me so happy I get a big smile just thinking about it.)

Hopefully in 2012 I'll find a moment to make one of these for our wall at home. Clever ain't it? Express your love for all the places you've seen for all to see.

• Studied. Proud of me. I have no idea if I passed or not yet, but just the fact that I finished something feels just fine thanks!
• Painted. Not the 6 paintings I meant to paint, but 1 for my long-waiting Aunt. Also drew and doodled more than any other year.
• Spent 2 weeks alone with my partner in mischief and we didn't kill each other. We came close twice, but recovered well. (Trust me this is a great thing to be grateful for! Worries are now cast aside)
• B-b-b-b-bb-bought a HOUSE!

2011 is leaving me feeling more rested than I have in quite a while and I'm so grateful to all my friends who have helped make it so. It's weird thinking about everything that has actually happened in the world as it's turned upside down in so many ways. I'd already forgotten half of what happened this year... I hope future children in school will find the number an easy one to remember when they sit in their history exams!

Lets look back with Jib Jab. It's pretty America focussed but still worth a watch, if only for the fact that it's all done by a popsicle stick puppet choir!

P.S. In 2012 I plan on watching a WHOLE lot more Korean cinema and series. Care to join me? If so you're a bit behind but I'll wait for you. On the list so far is the highly recommended "Castaway on the Moon" and then also the chick flick "Sunny". Go! Go! 

Ah yes... and for series watch "The First Shop of Coffee Prince". I was addicted. 

Gong Yoo: More recently stars in "Finding Mr Destiny" and "The Crucible" which are on my to watch list.

(Anyone care to introduce me to him? huh?)

Dots and fulllstops

I started another journal a while back (me and my journal issues huh?) and it reminded me again that I've become ridiculous with writing.
Everything ends on a question? or an outburst! When did I stop expressing myself like a nice normal-toned human being?
Why am I ending everything on an up sound... have I become Australian?
Point is (see what I did there?) that the good old full stop is underrated and I'm going to focus on remembering him in my writing and my speech.

I always used to have the urge to do dot-to-dot with them on book pages. How amazing were dot to dot drawings when you were a kid? Those and those other books where all you needed was some water and a paint brush and an awesome colourful painting would pop out of the page.
I miss them!
Then I found this and now I miss them even more.

Mona Lisa - 6,239 dot to dot drawing from Thomas Pavitte on Vimeo.

Via The Worlds Best Ever 

Now to find out where I can find one for my flat! 

Sorry, I meant flat.

I'm not Knit picky

I love google reader, but mostly I'm glad I'm such an obsessive blog follower!

How else would I have found two beautiful projects, so very different and yet both using knitting?

#1. Ginormous knit used to upholster stools

Claire-Anne O'Brien has used a combination of hand and machine knitting to create dramatically oversized patters as upholstery

#2. Teeny Tiny two-year project

Anna Hrachovec embarked on a two-year project after knitting a tiny brain. She's now made over 100 tiny designs and written patterns for some of them! Amazing madness! If you'd like to read an interview with her there's a great one on Craftzine where I found her.

What I would love to be doing right now is reading a book, with my feet happily resting on THIS stool, and THIS cutie-pie of a donut lovingly attached to a silver chain. (or any of the characters from this big little collection - I'm not picky ;))

Better than Barbie or Barney fo' sho

Contradiction...
One of the things I try very hard not to be is a hypocrite and yet some days I find little inconsistencies which tug at my brain going "hey... but yesterday you were moaning about that VERY thing!".

Here's an example. I haven't always been treated kindly by my chosen profession. Design is a harsh and fickle deity to worship and loves reminding you that you'll never quite be able to completely absorb or understand everything. So I hate telling people I'm a designer. Absolutely, utterly, hate it. I always feel like they immediately put you in a box. A very pretty creative box, sure, but I've never really felt comfortable there. Don't get me wrong... I still LOVE design (my posts should show a little of that at the very least), but I find the pressure and other people's expectancy to be cool a bit much. (flashbacks to high school *shudder*)
SO I do what I always do... try to ignore it. Deny it. Only buying things I really like and not things just because they're currently fashionable. Sometimes just plain hiding out in the suburbs helps quite a bit. You know that old trick of signing up to be a library monitor on your first day during lunch because you KNOW it's the wrong thing to do but you love books? - That's what I'm still doing.
Ridiculous? Yes! Childish? Yes. I have no excuse.

So here I am coveting these...
Dammit.



If you like them as much as I do you can get the whole LOT of them as part of their launch special over at Tattly

Unbeleafable!

In my defence, I'm surrounded by people who make it impossible not to leap at the opportunity of cheesey wordplay.

These peices are so intricate and beautiful that part of me really itches to try create one... Then my reality returns and the overwhelming thought is WHO HAS TIME? Crepes!

Amazing Cut Leaves Art via Craft:

"Natural leaf carving is actual manual cutting and removal of a leaf's surface to produce an art work on a leaf. The process of carving is performed by artists using tools to carefully remove the surface without cutting or removing the veins. The veins add detail into the subject matter of the carving. The material or most common leaf used in leaf carving is the leaf of a Chinar tree. The Chinar tree is native to India, Pakistan and China. Chinar leaves have a close resemblance to maple leaves."

These next three don't use the Japanese style of keeping the veins of the leaves in tact but are still beautiful! (by Lorenzo Duran via Design Boom)

(Of course I coooould considerrrr spending less time scouring the internet for cool things... Erm... Nah.)

"Pahsties" and "Paysties"...

"Pahsties" and "Paysties"... That latter pronunciation has lead to several people being nearly chased out of our house. Mostly of course when my gran is visiting.

Having a Cornish gran and heritage is something I'm quite proud of. Don't get me wrong I love being South African, but I also love the culture, history and beauty of Cornwall. One day (holding thumbs it's soon! November maybe?) I WILL go there and see it for myself. It's a big one on my bucket list.

Pasties have always been a favourite in my family and it's a tradition passed down from mother to daughter even if my surname is very afrikaans. I can braai... and I can make pasties... watchout people. Elite skills these.

I wish I had time to make them more often just as I wish I could see my gran more often. She's such an amazing woman. Brutally honest, quick-witted, hysterically funny and puts up with all of her crazy grand kids only to a point and then you meet her sharp tongue. My mom does keep reassuring us that she definitely still loves us though.
I like to think of Granny June as having plenty of gumption. I've decided on that word in the end to encompass all of the above.

Here now is some pasty love as a sort of dedication to gran's visit last month. Can't wait to have you visit us again!

OH and don't forget. It's PAAAAAHSTIES! ;)

I also managed to find this little guy via Pasties and Cream
A great blog which manages to always trigger my dreams of a visit to Cornwall even more acutely.
Meet Teddy Pasty!

Teddy Pasty™ from Emily Fishpool on Vimeo.

Lazer Blast it all...

Lazer Blast it all! THIS is how i should have tiled my bathroom! Ah well. There will be a next time I'm sure. I just hope I haven't matured by then.

Chances?

Star Wars Shower Tile

SEVERELY addicted to design, craft, tech, film, music and the wwworld

If the small blurb beneath the blog title wasn't enough and you've found yourself curiously clicking it... then here you are! You have reached a page containing a little bit more about me.

Currently I'm a self confessed web addict, who's found herself in the world of magazine publishing while she sits daydreaming about how, perhaps, she really should have studied programming and all things interwebs.
This is, of course, till I realise that I'm relatively good at my job, and that I should truly be grateful for what I have, before I turn another love into a career and possibly, "the daily grind".

When this blog first started, it was more a way for me to write about things that happened in my days. More of an online journal since my actual physical journals were starting to leave little space in my cupboards for clothes. Somewhere along the lines it morphed into a way for me to hoard images, stories, projects and people I found interesting and make little comments about what I've found so that I can always have a quick way to find them again and remind myself of how much I enjoyed them.
Leaning one way always feels a bit self indulgent and a little uncomfortable, and the other leaves me feeling a little silly just dishing out opinions if I never really share who I am and what I do...
For the future, the goal will be trying to strike a balance between these two.

Wish me luck! We'll both need it since I wouldn't want to chase any of you away or myself grow bored of what I'm doing :)

Nice to meet you!