Playing with Clay: Biscuits and Doily Brooches

I love the delicate fall of spring’s blossoms and how it turns the ground a pretty pink. It made me think of these amazing ceramic biscuits I have become obsessed with of late. They are made by Robert Archard and resemble the real tasty treats. Check out the jam sandwich and pink wafers. Look at how delicious they sit together on a plate!

Traditionally, biscuits have always been served on doilies. People either love or hate doilies. Having been brought up understanding the virtues of lace (thanks to mum), I’ve always loved doilies.  Doilies dress up plates and work like a garnish in making food look 100% tastier.

I had a look around and found some pretty jewellery handmade by Vanilla Bug. Her Milk and Sugar collection is a nice nod to the daily comfort in having a cup of tea. In this collection: milk carton, spoon, tea bag and a doily (choose from four different designs).

Sometimes it’s the thought of something that’s powerful enough. I am sure that the thought of tea and biscuits is soothing enough if I had these pieces with me.

Quiver, quiver my heart!

The most delicious find of the week is Bompas & Parr and their beautiful creations!

I remember a time when every party you went to featured jelly or agar agar (mmm, I miss the taste of coconut and pandan flavoured agar agar).  Tinned fruit cocktail was very popular in early 80s Malaysia. And they were normally set in jelly so it looked like you had bits of cherry floating in this quivering delight. No kitchen was complete without the colourful plastic jelly moulds.  I like the look of these vintage jelly mould pendant lights and think it’s a really lovely way of recycling objects.

I am very excited about discovering Bompas & Parr. Just look at these magical creations! You can order customised jelly moulds to create just about any shape in any colour.

All this crazy jelly business made me wonder what else was out there? Who else was into crazy creations? What other fun is there for jelly-lovers?  I stumbled upon this. I wished I had been about to see this wonderful installation by Nigel Peterson and Deborah Walsh in Suter Gallery in New Zealand.

And if you ever wondered what is the sound of jelly wobbling have a listen to the result of the experiment held by UCL.

It’s in the Cards

One of my bestfriends is having her birthday party soon. The theme she has chosen is off Alice in Wonderland. She’ll be having a Madhatter’s Tea Party in Callooh Callay, a bar in Shoreditch so named as a nod to a Lewis Carroll poem. Naturally the design aspects of such a theme has been on the cards of late. I ffffound this Russian prison deck which led me to look for more in this direction. Playing cards have always fascinated. And for a long time they were the first thing to spring to mind when you heard the words “inflight entertainment”.  They provide the perfect canvas for designers to play around with and magicians love this easy-to-carry prop for demonstrating magic tricks. I wondered about playing cards in fashion…

I thought of Topshop’s AW08 Alice in Wonderland inspired collection which I thought was better on paper than in execution. I only came away with some heart print underwear which are cute but nothing out of the ordinary. I am surprised that although the suits make really easy prints for design, I’ve not actually seen much out there. Apart from hearts, the other suits have not really made it as a design for print. It is a bit of a shame really as you can see above clubs make quite a nice little alternative to flowers as a print. I met Elizabeth Lau in Paris a couple of years ago and was really pleased to see her name pop up in quite a few places recently. The amicable designer has a lovely approach with her use of love hearts in her quirky designs. This dress is a nice little example of what I was hoping to find when researching playing cards.

Accessories are the finishing touches, so I was pleased to find the handmade jewellery from Joolz found via this blog. The multi-strand pearl necklace is accented with butterlies made out of  vintage playing cards.

Victorian Love Songs for the 21st Century

Something in the sunshine and the blossoms that have exploded on the trees make me a dreamy customer. I have discovered spring’s sentiment in the music of The Long Lost. The electroacoustic melodies coupled together with Laura Darlington’s beautiful voice make perfect ingredients for earfood. A lovely discovery is that Alfred and Laura Darlington are friends with another artist-couple, Kozyndan.  As I sit on my bed with a print of Uprisings framed above me I am very happy to have found their painting of Laura on their Flickr photostream.

I await eagerly for their gig on Thursday in Bardens Boudoir. Daedelus is the other half of The Long Lost and this is his side project with his maiden muse (wife). The music is magical and I hear that they perform in Victorian garb. I read an interview in Flavorwire and especially enjoyed the fact that The Long Lost was described as a collaboration that came about as natural as a date.

Something in the sunshine and the blossoms that make me believe in love and in songs of love.

The Good Mood!

When Booooooom! featured Bosque and it caught my eye and found a place in my heart. Much of their work is playful but with very simple philosophies.  The Good Mood! is probably easily attainable if people believed in Fun For Ever.

One of the biggest pleasures for me is listening to music. My ipod has been on death’s dock for a wee while now but I have a replacement and today when I walked to work and had a full journey of music, I realised how much I missed having this. I also realised that due to my short attention span the only time I truly listened was when I was walking.

So with music back in my life, I have been busy discovering the new and also the old.

Tonight, I will go to bed enveloped by the sweet sounds of Vera’s Take Me To The Bridge. Tomorrow I will wake up to a buen dia, por su puesto.

Clouds Take my breath away

Imaginary Drizzle is a series of photos taken by Carl Kleiner.  I like these photos and his other works a lot. Funny that I came across these photos  as I had just read and seen the photos of Stuart Semple‘s art installation on South Bank. Happy Cloud was an installation of over 2000 smiley face clouds that were released at the Tate Modern on 25 February. The best art installations are always the ones that alter your perspective and change your environment.

The happy clouds reminded me of some cute little jewellery pieces. Clouds, like rainbows make such nice designs. They remind you of being a child. I am quite sure the cloud is one of the first shapes you learn to draw. In reality a cloudy sky isn’t great but the magic of clouds lies in the marshmallow fluffiness and the desire to dive into them. I like sitting by the window on airplanes on daytime flights because I love looking at the clouds and going off on a bit of a daydream. For awhile I was obsessed with taking photographs of clouds and have an album on my lomohome dedicated to clouds.

Cloud necklace by Kyoko Hashimoto

Finest Imaginary Cloud Earrings

And for those with their heads in the clouds, try lying on some cuddly clouds instead. I love Donna Wilson‘s cloud cushions- available in three colours.

I am enjoying having a night in listening to Gui Boratto’s Take My Breath Away. The melodic synths are putting me in quite a dreamy mood, securing my cotton wool head a place in the clouds.

Around the World in 3 Senses

 

 

One of my favourite stories as a child was Around The World in 80 Days. See, travel and faraway lands have always excited me.  Lately, this has been on my mind as I have just booked flights to go back to see family and am counting down days until my holiday. 

Sometimes time and budgets do not allow for traveling and you need to be creative. Travel can come in the form of books, film, music and food. Today I read The Times Online’s 50 Best Food Blogs and felt very inspired to do a spot of cooking and baking. 

I was also reminded of this restaurant/architectural wonder that I read about in New Zealand. The Yellow Treehouse is part of New Zealand’s Yellow Pages marketing campaign to prove that any project can be finished using the Yellow Pages. 

I love the architecture and design of this restaurant. I love that it resembles a lantern.

For now, I’m happy just listening to some Cumbia for a taste of the exotic.

I Love My Smarties Encrusted Handbag

My Spring/Summer 09 Orla Kiely bag has arrived and I had the weekend to carry it around happily for I love the shape and the size.  The texture of this quilted leather with the buttons are great for those who are tactile.

This Smarties-inspired quilted handbag comes in bright yellow and coral. I have gone for the more subtle mushroom with the colourful buttons that resemble the sugar-coated candy that will help brighten up my wardrobe.

I love big bags and this is a fantastic size- it actually fits a big bottle of water and your whole life, which is generally how I like to roll. Nothing like a good rummage in the bag to come up with goodies- it’s kinda like having your own lucky dip.  And does it make me crave for chocolate or candy? Not really because sometimes all you need in life is some eye candy and I have mine on my arm.

Let’s Get This Party Started

Work on Friday ended on a perfect (synth) note because we found Tommy Toemie.

The joy of working just off Clapham High Street lies in walking past the junk shop run by the sun-worshipping alcoholics.  This involves their regular as clockwork greetings of “Awright dahlin” and my feeling envy of the carefree lives the junk shop proprietor and his mates have, which normally involves sitting around on the pavement with cans of beer listening to music.

On Friday I saw that amongst the usual pile of marathon vests and second hand shoes was a white robot standing at about the size of a child. It was love at first sight. Not knowing who or what he did, I eyed up the 80s stickers on the little fella and saw that he was a Scooter 2000 (because the year 2000 is so futuristic) and it was enough for me to want him. And that is how I ended up with Tommy Toemie in my possession.

On the web I see that he is an old robot and is radio controlled. Mine came with some batteries that did not work and no radio control. But really, I don’t expect him to do much except to sit there and smile. I’d play him some Kraftwerk and let’s get this party started.