Happy Friday!

Found at 2C. Stylist: Emily McGregor

Countdown to the main course that is the Bali Wedding...Yay!

-charli

Swimwear i covet...

As I write this, I am actually already in Bali...counting literal days til my big day!

Being the very procrastinator that I am, I did not make a lot of effort to find some new bathers for this balmy tropical island wedding and honeymoon of mine. If only I had known about this great online shopping website directory Covetish. The Covetish team screen through the latest and greatest online stores for you and categorise the merchandise so you can compare and then purchase from the luxury of your own home. All the hard work done for you. Too easy - and yet too late for me!

Here are my swimwear wishlist selections - kinda loving the one-piece bathers concept at the moment but also think some frilly ruffly stuff is so adorable!

{from top to bottom: Sambag India Pink Floral Frill Bikini; Quicksilver McCall one-piece; Seafolly Shimmer Trixie Maillot}

kay

Magnolia Square

I have been meaning to attend a Magnolia Square market for so long now. And I keep reading Deenie's lovely posts about her special finds at the markets she attends...I was feeling like I was missing out on some special world out there. And I was!

I took my mum and godmother to browse through the delightful wares that filled the Malvern Town Hall.

Everyone went away with some gorgeous keepsakes. I also felt particularly inspired and I know that my godmother is extra motivated to keep up her craftwork and maybe just maybe, we will have a shop here one day too!


kay

Marchesa Drool: The Sequel

Hello Marchesa Ready to Wear Spring 2011. Can someone please wear that first dress?! It's brilliant!

Flying Off...Destination...A Destination Wedding

We're off to Bali for Kay's Wedding! Deenie, Kay (obviously) and I are scooting off to what will no doubt be an awesome wedding.

Sorry if posts will are scarce...

-charli

Happy Friday

We signed our marriage certificate and registered here in Australia on Wednesday 20/10/2010.
The boy was doubly excited because this date coincided with the next big update announced by his personal hero Steve Jobs. Yes, I am marrying a geek...or is that I have married a geek?

It has become a little confusing (to us AND to our loved ones!) about the dates of significance and which will be celebrated for our wedding. The boy describes it well: it is like a meal

the registration process = the amuse bouche
the dinner we are hosting in Malaysia for extended family = the entree
the ceremony and reception in Bali = the main course (wohoo!)
the honeymoon = the dessert

Delish!

So I'm off to pack because we fly this sunday.

Kay

p.s. special thanks to our ring jewellers Fabuluster for their amazing craftsmanship on our wedding bands. can you see the fingerprints?

Charli's Mixed Media Artwork

Working on some images for my new design business! At first, I designed a vector based illustration but decided against using it on the home page.

So I asked my photographer friend, Carlos to give me some images to work with. (Check out his website.) I used his photo to create a mixed media artwork instead. I'm quite pleased with it. Here's the behind the scenes looksie.

Created some vectors, did some drawings and scanned them in, then added them to the model

Ta-da!

Check it on my home page at www.nicedesign.com.au.

-charli

Macaroon Colour Splash!

I had a dream about a shop like this...except it was more Homer's Candy Land dream (you know the one where everything was made of chocolate and he bite into the dog...) then stunning eye candy that is this store called Theurel&Thomas Maison du Macaron.

Sigh, the Spanish, even their stores are like, pfttt, we do it better than the French. They have Chai Tea and Raspberry flavour macaroons...Double Sigh. The name, well, let's face it, anything in spanish sounds sexy...Pétalos de Rose or Caramelo Suave...triple Sigh...

Gotta head down to Mexico for this!

-charli

pressies part 3

What, you think that was all? No there were more awesome finds from the land of cool stuff. And imagine if the boy had been there now and our dollar being as strong as it is, this post could have continued til forever!

This is my new favourite bag. I sent him a link to the item from the legendary Anthropologie online shop because I just love the bow and it was on sale too.

And I didn't think he would actually hunt down 3 shops to find the bag because it was sale stock and had run out in many places until he found it thrown at the bottom of the cardboard sale box in the corner of one store! Thank you so much for the effort. It really is gorgeous. Yay!


Kay

Cyclestyle

So I saw this in NEET magazine (Issue 020 September 2010)...

....and I thought, 'I Really like new ideas for cycle-friendly clothes and accessories. I wonder which European city I can be inspired by'. So I turned the page (so to speak)... and it turns out...

... it's Melbourne, Australia. That's the bridge across the Yarra and if you turn around - you'll see the Nylex sign... you know the one. So cool. Check out www.cyclestyle.com.au.

Deenie

Happy Friday

Ah Friday...phew!

Check this super-duper easy way to make Ice Cube Tray Sushi via Daily Candy. Very clever and very quick. Enjoy and have a great weekend.


kay

Red book, blue book

My government-colleagues may appreciate this. But everyone else can freely scratch their heads... it's State election time... 'Red book, Blue book' - geddit?!

ok. too much nerd, no cool.

Oh, these illustrations are also highly romantic too - they're so 'NY, I love you'.

from missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com

Deenie

Finders Keepers Market 2010

If I were a [insert exotic nationality here] spy, my Saturday diary entry would read like this:

0800 - Mission: Must eat healthy today. Fail - ate muffin for breakfast.

1000 - Mission: Must find vintage fabric at second-hand stores. Fail - found none.

1300 - Mission: Must get mula from R. Success: got mula.

1330 - Mission: Bike ride to Shed 4 Docklands to 'Finders Keepers' market to hunt down designer jewellery and inspiration (and work off unhealthy breakie). Success!! Found all three. See evidence of first one:

Deenie

DIY Washi Tape Flags

We made these washi tape cocktail flags to decorate the muffins at Kay's Kitchen Tea. We used striped pink tape but after sticking them to the toothpicks, they created a gorgeous gingham check that was perfect for our vintage french theme of the day.

-charli

Tissue Paper PomPom Tutorial

Today's Tutorial is on the tissue paper pompom's made for Kay's Kitchen Tea

1. Take 8 sheets of tissue paper, and fold back and forth, about 1.5 inchs wide.

2. Tie a twist tie/floral wire in the middle securely. Not too tight- just snug. Cut the ends of the tissue paper into rounds (for flowers) or into triangles (for sunbursts.) Before you continue, remember to tie some fishing line to the wire to make it easier than doing it after the pompom is created.
3. Slowly fluff out the layers gently. Each pompom should take 30minutes to make so you don't tear the delicate paper. Make sure to pull each layer right from the centre/middle, where the wire is.
4.Hang and decorate.
-charli

Happy Friday!

Today's Happy Friday Post is brought to you by Cake Wreck. The website never fails to make me giggle!

Don't let this happen to someone you love:

Get educated on Sci-Fi today.

-charli

PomPom Tutorial

Here's the tutorial for the wool pompom flowers I made for Kay's Kitchen Tea.

Materials Needed:

Pen

Thick Cardboard

Scissors/Blade

Wool

Twigs

Vase

1. Trace a circle onto thick cardboard. Trace another smaller circle (about a inch smaller) inside this bigger circle.

2. Cut out the circles to create a "donut" template

3. Wrap wool around the template. The key is to be orderly and neat. Not too tight but firm enough so that it will keep it's shape when we cut it later.

4. Wrap the wool around until you can't possible go any further. I used a crochet needle to pull the wool through the middle to get it as tight as possible.

5. Cut through the top of the loops of the wool all the way around the circumference.

6. Before removing cardboard, tie some wool to secure the pompom in the middle.

7. Cut off cardboard template and trim pompom to create a circle

8. Stick the pompom into a twig and place in vase. Done!

I created a mini centre piece with some wine bottles, the pompoms in a vase, and a print at the signing table, where guests signed the and wrote their recipes onto recipe cards.

-charli

Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes

Found this book at Orlandoandivy.com. Keri Smith’s wonderful new book, Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes.

On a side note, this concept of the front cover could be a cool idea for a guest book. Recycling second-hand books!

It sounds very Dada-ism/Fluxus movement...think Yoko Ono or Duchamp.

“Do a drawing using only tape” – Keri Smith (Mess)

“THOUGHT MESS: 1. Hang many sheets of paper to your wall/ 2. For one week write down your random thoughts on the wall.” – Keri Smith (Mess)

“FOG PIECE I: Think of what the next person is thinking./ FOG PIECE II: Polish an orange./ FOG PIECE III: Send a fog to your friend.” – Yoko Ono (Grapefruit) Spring, 1964

“MESS PIECE: Use things until they melt. Wipe your sticky fingers after you use them./ Use things until they evaporate. Drink water after you use them./ Use things until they become dry and hard./ Make a flute out of them.” – Yoko Ono (Grapefruit) Summer, 1964.

-charli

Hip Hop Monday

We've been really busy with the kitchen tea stuff on the weekend. Now we have to download all the photos and blog all about it! I'm very excited about how it turned out!

In the meanwhile, here's one of my latest designs for a client's dance class. Made with photoshop and illustrator.

-charli