Kamers Vol Geskenke

We visited KVG today (literal translation is Rooms Full of Gifts). I've never been before, so it was quite a treat. Lots and lots of gifts - I managed to pick up a lovely tea towel and pencil case by Heather Moore of skinnylaminx for a friend, plus one of her transfers that I want to put on a sliding glass door we have, a sweet little notebook and badge by Jesse of jezze, and quite a few other little bits and pieces. Le'Usband took one look at all the buzzing females inside, muttered " ...stuff..." and parked himself under a tree with his book. I simply couldn't take pictures inside the main venue, there was not room to turn, but I took a few shots of the vintage and gardening stalls outside ...

On the way back we stopped at Pniel to buy some of these ...

had lunch at Boschendal ...

and saw this ...

All in all a great way to to end the week and start the weekend ... Happy weekend, dears!

Being Transparent

Transparent: easily understood; free from affectation or disguise; frank.

The Bourgie Lamp designed by Laviani for Kartell. (from here).

Now Kartell has collaborated with .normaluisa to make these:

(from yatzer)

Today I Apricated.

Ha! I bet you had to look that up. And you probably didn't find it in your dictionary. That is because it is quite an old word. See here. (PS I love Michael Quinion).

Some other new pages in my journal:

I had fun with this one, cutting pages, using a bit of collage, painting, stencilling, etc. But I see I've neglected to paint the other part of the middle guy's overcoat. Rats.

Only having a bit of innocent fun. (In case you're a royalist).

Lots of silver swirly stamped sea stars. (Say that fast). Hahahahaha!

I reworked this one and added some words. I think it looks better now.

And that's the truth.

Shadows and light

From Sunday - in Simons Town:

"Every picture has its shadows
And it has some source of light
Blindness, blindness and sight"
(from Shadows and Light - Joni Mitchell)

142nd post! Give-away!! In Honour of Oddness.

I have noticed this trend of bloggers having giveaways on like their 100th post or whatever, and really, I do not want to appear mean or tight-fisted, so I am having one too. But I do not believe in round numbers like 100 or 200, no, I believe in the power of the Odd, the Curious and the Weird. So the 142nd post it will be. And yes, I know 142 is not an odd number, but if you add it all up it comes to 7, which is. So there.

I am giving away a signed set of three Paper Birds. Yes, from this project. Do I hear sniggering in the background? Do I hear someone asking why in sweet heaven's name one would want a bit of paper in the shape of a bird and signed by some odd girl who is not even a Proper Crafter or Artist? Who is a dilettante, hopping gaily from one project to the next, leaving chaos in her wake and blobs of glue and bits of string and paper all over her projects? Who cannot even cut out properly, for god's sake??
Well, let's consider. Here are some reasons I think it might be nice to have one of my paper birds:
1. They may not come from an Etsy shop, and they may be a bit uneven and odd, but they were made with charm (haha! that is a joke - because there is a real charm attached to each one) and blog-love. I've added a bit of ribbon so you can hang it up.
2. They are pretty useful. You can use it as a Christmas decoration and if you don't celebrate Christmas you can use it just as an ordinary decoration on your mood board and if you don't like decorations you can use it as a bookmark and if you don't read books you can use it as a gift card (which may be quite funny since it will be signed Anairam and the recipient of your gift may look at you a bit strangely...).
3. Now this is the main reason. What if I revealed myself to be a Famous Artist? Or if I am not one yet, what if I become famous, like Banksy, say? (Forget not that I am quietly forging ahead with my Happy Guerilla Art Project.) Ha!!! Then you will either be sorry that you never took part in my giveaway, and cry Bitter Tears (like Petra von Kant) or you will be laughing hysterically all the way to the bank with a signed copy of my Paper Birds clutched to your heart.
Yes, take the chance whilst you have it, dears. Leave a comment on this post - you have until Friday 31st of October.

Meet Ms Mirabelle Malena Matisse

I have finally christened my paper doll. I wrote the 5 suggested names on strips of paper and then drew two. So, she is Ms Mirabelle Malena Matisse. Mirabelle has a French father and an Argentinean mother, hence the French and Spanish names. Their love affair is a sad and tragic one, maybe one day she will tell you the story ...

Herewith her tango outfit. A little lace hat with a paper rose.

Her dress is just as she likes it - simple and elegant, with a nice neckline but not showing cleavage, and a good slit to allow her room for any fancy decorations she may want to do, like those high boleos, or sentadas. Or just to show a bit of fishnet-stockinged leg, maybe ...

Oh, judge her not by her shoes, please! I tried to get her a pair of Manolo Blahniks, but since we have already established that she has weird feet, this has sadly not been possible. Notice her one toe poking out the side of her shoe? Well, let me just say that this has caused many a problem on the dance floor.

She thanks you all for being so kind in offering her names, and she likes the others so much too - Amelie, Simone and Maiya - that she has decided to use them as a nom de plume. Yes, she is penning her memoirs, dear girl, she has only been living for a week, and yet has so much to tell ...

Recognising Inspiration.

I am looking through my art books in search of inspiration. I am not quite sure what I am looking for. And will I recognise it when I find it? But here are some images from Japanese Graphic Art (by Lubor Hajek), in the meantime ...

(Utamaro: Lovers under the Mosquito Net, c. 1800)

(Utamaro: Courtesan Hinazuma as an Allegory of Lu Tung-pin, 1790-1795)

(Eishi: Courtesans under Wistarias in Blossom, c. 1795)

Blue

'Blue' was the first Joni Mitchell album I ever listened to and bought for myself - ages ago. When I saw that Laurie Hastings had based her Edinburgh exhibition of screen-printed illustrations on Mitchell's album, the song Blue was back in my head, instantaneously. The exhibition is on here:

If you live in Edinburgh, go have a look! I will console myself by listening to Blue. Songs are like tattoos. Yep.

(Via Rojo Magazine)

In Small Proportions We Just Beauties See.

The proportions of my Paper Doll have been bothering me. I should have consulted my bible on Dürer: Albrecht Dürer - The Complete Woodcuts. Yes, I rather think I should have ...

I am going through all my old art books again, appreciating them anew.

In small proportions we just beauties see;

And in short measures, life may perfect be.

(Lines from the poem by Ben Jonson)

Let's Play!

I love this furniture by designer Stephen Reed - beech veneer benches in the shape of Scrabble letter racks ...

and the cushions representing the tiles.

Oh my goodness me, I feel a fabric project coming on ... (found via loco-notions)

Paper Doll Fashion!

I had such fun yesterday - I worked on the second-last of my paper projects - a paper doll! I also designed some clothes for her.
First the drawing in pencil. Okay, she is a bit out of proportion and her feet are weird - but, hey, that's life in Paper Doll World.

Then I went over her with a permanent marker and erased all those pencil lines. I gave her some red lipstick and red toenails (which you can't see in the picture).

Ready to be a designer! Only now I realised that I needed a template to make her clothes - so I traced her and made a dummy - headless - as I guess all dummies are ...

I haven't yet cut her out - I must first paste her on something a little more hardy, but here are her clothes so far ...

3/4 pants and a swish little shirt ...

The 3/4 pants with a long top to match.

The swish little top with 70's inspired bell-bottom pants ...

Oh dear, her evening dress looks a little funny. I was inspired by Julianne Moore's dress as seen on stylish Karina's el beso blog, and it actually started off looking quite elegant, but then I thought that it needed a bit more festiveness to it, so I added colour (pink) and glitz (silver glitter). Julianne would not approve ... Also, I cut the arms too wide, so her boob was exposed, and I couldn't have that, could I? So I had to stick on bits at the sides which now look rather odd. I wonder whether Lacroix ever does that?

I am already busy designing a tango outfit for her. But she needs a name first - something French - what do you think?

A Good Breakfast

I had to go in to town for work yesterday, and as I was quite early, I stopped off at Lupo's in Wynberg's Chelsea Village - one of my favourite spots for breakfast or lunch. I also really like the interior style - a sort of vintage French look. Here are some of the reasons I like them -

The beautiful prints against the walls and this little table in the entranceway ...

They always have fresh flowers and newspapers ...

The sunlight streams in through big windows which open up right onto the pavement, allowing you to feel as though you are sitting outside, without the inconveniences of sitting outside...

Each table is beautifully set with flowers, sparkly glasses and huge napkins - cloth napkins!)

These letters on the wall ... exhorting you to eat ...
And although it has a really upmarket look and feel, the prices are very reasonable, and the food is really good. The food .... oh, rats, I knew I forgot something ...