vale - espresso machine.

our espresso machine died.

sigh.

it's been a tough weekend without her.  i am not the type of annoying person who mutters inane statements like 'sorry, mate, can't concentrate, haven't had a cup of coffee yet.'  

that irritates me to no end.

i do miss the ritual of making my morning coffee though.

frothing the milk just so,...grinding the beans,.. packing them down,... adding a small amount of brown sugar.

so now i have a new ritual.

chemex, enter stage left!

the chemex has been chosen as one of the 100 best designed products in modern times and is found in the permanent collection in the museum of modern art,..the smithsonian and the philadelphia museum of art.

apparently it is the only only vessel to create a 'perfect' cup of coffee,...free of undesirable fats, oils, sediments and bitterness.

a filter coffee,..so probably better for me as i am drinking way less milk...

there is the ritual of folding the filter paper,....grinding the beans,..(we are loving morgans - the pony blend atm).

and, the scientific shaped, glass vessel looks lovely on the table.

good morning chemex,..welcome to the ritual!

jane xx

our littlest chappie gets his first big boy bed.

many months ago, i bought an antique iron shearers 'cot'.

i had planned to paint it white for lottie,....

however, i was talking to a girlfriend yesterday, who reminded me that she had 2 identical iron shearers cots already painted white that i was welcome to use for lottie.  (nice for a girl to have twin beds when we get to sleepover stage)..

so,..i decided to use the gorgeous black one for rafferty.

looks pretty cute, huh?

the bed was a steal at $65.  the only changes were that wooden slats needed to be made to support the mattress.

the gorgeous 'granny rug' was a garage sale find yesterday for 30cents.

the potato sack and vintage teatowel cushions i made.

the flatbear can be bought from here.

the 'busroll' poster can be bought from here.

i made the other artworks by cutting up pages from vintage childrens books and framing them with good old ikea white ribba frames.

and the window shutters we made using old solid timber doors cut down and painted white.

the walls are porters 'camel cord'.

and, most importantly, rafferty will love it!

jane xx

spotlight. the scirocco chair

 i recently, well 6months or so ago, bought a pair of 1950's chairs on ebay.

they are slung cowhide and wood,...and incredibly beautiful.

i bought them for the grand sum of $150 each.

last week, as a result of the cover of the current inside out magazine, i did a little research into my $150 chairs.

turns out, they are arne norell, scirocco chairs.

arne norell - Sweden 1917 - 1971

(Arne Norell was a multifaceted designer, who gladly tried many different material combinations. He gained an interest in classic furniture and started his own company; Arne Norell Möbel AB in 1954, where he designed and manufactured furniture. His most well-known and appreciated pieced is the easy chair "Ari", designed in 1966. In 1973 he was awarded "Showpiece of the year" by British Furniture Manufacturer´s. Many of his designs are still manufactured by his company now under the name Norell Möbler Ab.)

and here is the best bit,...  my $150 chairs are worth a cool $3250 each.

yippee for ebay! (and for people who don't realise what they are selling).

jane xx 

sweet things for a sunny, saturday morning...

so,..i was strolling through leura yesterday with my morning latte (gosh,..doesn't THAT sound terrible!), and i found these little pretties in a shop window.

(these images are the same product, but advertised and styled by LarkMade.)

this morning, i am drinking my coffee out of this gorgeous, happy little fellow!

melamine.  unbreakable.  super child friendly!  (gorgeous for a little girls tea party, eh?)

super cheap at $6 or so a cup,... and available online at the aformentioned larkMade.

enjoy your saturday, friends.

jane xx

sermo per equus,...or, daddy, can I have a pony?

i used to take countless photographs of my horse, bear.

the most amazing red, proud colour,.. thick, wild mane,..and an arrogance only a massive, red, part wild horse could have.

beauty.

look at these.

 

i can almost smell them,... one of my favourite smells in the world.

go and check out the rest of them.

bonnie edelman

and, look, a coffee table book!  Drool.

arresting,..majestic,...beautiful.

and here are a couple of my littlest horse wrangler, with one of his friends.

these images are courtesy of my very clever photographer friend, toni hutchison.

now,... is there room for a pony?

jane xx

the calm after the storm

so,....yesterday went well.  i think.

it's really quite hard to tell though.  you have to go by the account of all the other people who meet the firing squad before you.

reports of 'oh,..it was fun,..they were really nice',.came wafting out of the pitch room.

really?  nice?  

they grilled me.  totally grilled me.

questioned me on every aspect of my concept.  dissected my storyboards,..  photographed everything.  then called me back in for round 2.

it was exhausting.

in total it was 4 hours of scrutiny. (only broken up by chuckling with some of the very lovely people i met in the 'holding area').

and now a 4 week wait.  4 weeks?!?

righto.

never mind.  my copy of 'my cool caravan' arrived yesterday. yippee!  i guess that is the world's way of telling me to get on with my other projects,.

so my project for today is to take some time out to have a good flick through,..... and to stay away from anything budget/floorplan or storyboard related.

back to regular transmission.

enjoy your day, my friends

jane xx

sadako and the thousand paper cranes

everyone remembers this book,..right?

the incredibly sad story of a little japanese girl who contracts leukemia as a result of the bomb on hiroshima.

she spends her days in a nursing home creating origami paper cranes in the hope of making 1,000.  the japanese saying went along the lines of implying that one who made 1,000 origami cranes would then be granted a wish.

her wish was to live.

unfortunately she died after only constructing 644 cranes.  however, her friends finished the remaining cranes and they were buried with her.

a picture book version has been released, and i have been reading it to lottie, and for what it's worth, the tale is MUCH sadder after becoming a parent.

last night, she wanted to make me a paper crane to take to my big appointment (small writing indicates whispering, and hence not wanting to talk about it!).

dear little girl.

anyway, we have sort of run out of time,....so i will be content with this beautiful image,

and the knowledge that my darling girl knows how important this meeting is to me.

fingers crossed!

jane xx

thank you to the gorgeous my noosa beachhouse

who passed this lil award on to me!

so sweet.

apparently there are 3 things you must do on accepting this award.  (drinking champagne is surely the 4th?) 

1) thank and link back to the person who awarded you

2) share 7 things about yourself (hmmmm)

3) award great bloggers that you've recently discovered

soooo,... here goes,...7 things about me.

1)we recently bought a labrador puppy (hazel), because I had the grand notion of planting hazelnut trees in our garden and propagating truffles! 

2) I have a background in audio visual production and could happily sit and discuss the perspex lecterns for hours!

3) I always carry a roll of black gaff tape.  (see daggyness of statement #2)

4) I usually go to bed before 21:00.  every night.  

5) I love to pick things,..and water things,..  an evening of bliss for me is picking berries in the garden with a glass of wine.

6) I buy far too many interior design magazines,..  at least one every couple of days.

7) I **secretly** would love to sit for an artist, and have them create a (gorgeous, of course) painting of me,..which they would then gift to me,....  

so,. there you go!

and,..the blogs I am 'loving sick' at the moment are

Baby Mac

newspaper taxi

perpetual - one 

tales of a junkaHolic

jane xx

market day

today was my first ever market day.

it was great fun,..and really interesting to see what products people were drawn to.  i got to the stage where i could pick what they would head towards as they made their way to the table.

so many lovely comments about the styling of the stall, which is so important for me....and quite a lot of my 'props' were sold too!

seems that the chinese slippers, the candle teacups and the herb garden teacups were favourites,... yay!

i had one gent buy a teacup and saucer simply because he loved looking at my handwriting,.. and a gorgeously spunky girl from sydney made my day when she drove back to buy a stunning teapot set.

all in all a great day!

next markets will be at marrickville organic markets,..so stay tuned!

jane xx

p.s - to the thoroughly revolting woman in the stall next to me.  thank you for being so horribly rude and repulsive all day.  i am truely sorry that your world is such a miserable place to be.

honeysuckle - sweet or not?

so,..my news this week is that i have been shortlisted to appear on a new interior design program.

the final interview is this coming wednesday!  and to say that i am freaking. out. is. a. slight. understatement.

as part of the interview process, i have to design an apartment.  an entire apartment.  including lighting, paint, soft furnishings, moving walls, choosing fixtures. etc.etc.etc

and then present it.

to a panel of exec producers.

yah.

so,.i have been madly creating storyboards,.altering floorplans and making colour choices.

which gets me to the point of this post.

pantone colour of 2011.  honeysuckle.  like or not?

personally, i love.

i painted an entire hallway in our old house with this colour.  mr. plain called it whorehouse pink.  it was beautiful.

this is what pantone has to say about miss. honeysuckle.

'Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it.'

While the 2010 color of the year, PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise, served as an escape for many, Honeysuckle emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.

“In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Honeysuckle derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum.”

Eiseman continues, “The intensity of this festive reddish pink allures and engages. In fact, this color, not the sweet fragrance of the flower blossoms for which it was named, is what attracts hummingbirds to nectar. Honeysuckle may also bring a wave of nostalgia for its associated delicious scent reminiscent of the carefree days of spring and summer.”

Honeysuckle is guaranteed to produce a healthy glow when worn by both men and women. It’s a striking, eye-catching hue that works well for day and night in women’s apparel, accessories and cosmetics, and in men’s ties, shirts and sportswear. Add a lively flair to interior spaces with Honeysuckle patterned pillows, bedspreads, small appliances and tabletop accessories. Looking for an inexpensive way to perk up your home? Paint a wall in Honeysuckle for a dynamic burst of energy in the family room, kitchen or hallway.

couldn't agree more.

so, i am off to find me some honeysuckle,..to keep from freaking out too much!

jane xx

seems caravans are the new black.

  i have just had a lovely phone conversation with uber stylist megan morton.

what a divine woman she is!

and so incredibly talented.

there is something so very kelly wearstler about these spaces.

she is a stylist who works in editorial and advertising capacities for international and local clients. 

she has also written a gorgeous book called HOMElove,

 she has a home design consultancy business, runs a props business, the propery, and is also about to launch a range of paint colours.

amazing.

 oh, and she also happens to have three children to boot!

anyway, she tells me that caravans are wanted property!

read all about it here.

 to all the caravan sceptics out there,.see?  caravans are cool!

jane xx