Marimekko splurge

A couple of days ago Brands Exclusive had a sale on a range of Marimekko homewares, and I couldn't resist indulging a little (considering everything was half price). Thankfully they didn't have any tea pots, because I may have gone a little crazier with the spending if they did.

I bought myself a tea cup and large plate from the Siirtolapuutarha range. I won't be using the cup for tea, though; I think I'll put something lovely in it instead. The plate will be used for cakes, of course!

There are still a few items left in the sale, which finishes tomorrow night. I happen to know that a certain other blogger has already indulged...

Magazine storage

I have the day off work today to run some errands and write some of an essay for my second-last university subject (yuck). I popped into the discount store when I was out and about, and found this pretty red spotty box that looked like it needed to come home with me. It's perfect for hiding some of the many magazines I have laying around.

Storage is very important in the Flying Ducks house, as we both accumulate a lot of 'stuff'. Click here for a peek at some of the other storage we use.

 

Our home... in Pop art

Yesterday I picked up my fancy new camera - an Olympus PEN EPL-1. It's a nice, happy medium between a compact point-and-shoot (which is what I had previously) and a full-blown DSLR (which I really have no need for). Amongst other advantages, it will no doubt make my blog photos 100 times better.

The camera has six built-in art filters, and due to the large amount of red in our home I've become a little obsessed with the Pop art feature. The following images were taken on a very gloomy, overcast day (which would have meant 'don't bother trying to take photos' in the past). I can't wait to see how photos look when the sun is out!

Ukiyo-e demonstration and workshop

On the weekend, I attended a ukiyo-e demonstration and workshop with my friend Irene. It was hosted by the Japanese Consulate in Australia, and included a lecture by the Director of the Ukiyo-e Museum, Kunio Sakai. We were also very lucky to witness the skills of one of only thirty ukiyo-e printmakers practising in Japan today, Tatsuya Ito. For a comprehensive account of our afternoon, check out Irene's post here.

After the demonstration, we were privileged enough to use Ito-san's woodblocks and print two colours of a print ourselves.

Thanks Irene for inviting me to come along!

Bicycle typogram print

Remember I made John a tasty pear and cinnamon upside-down cake for his birthday? Well he got a present too, in the form of this first-edition bicycle typogram print by Aaron Kuehn. Just today I've hung it in the hall near the back door.

Sew La Tea Do!

Last night we met my sister in the city for dinner (thanks to Irene for the Satay Club recommendation!), and then we stopped off at the book store before heading home. I stumbled across Pip's latest book, Sew La Tea Do, which is lovely! It even has a big fat pocket full of patterns.

Within its pages, I instantly found a treasure trove of goodies I'd like to make. The photographs are amazing, and I even spotted a big fat guinea pig! I would particularly love to make the sunny day and Miss Marlo dresses, as well as the super cute origami wallet.

This morning I had a little bit of time I my hands, so I decided to make some little zipper pouches from some spare fabric. They are a little smaller than Pip's (as I only had 15cm zips), but they are the perfect size for coins. Pretty soon, they'll be in the post to some unsuspecting friends. Hurrah!

Our home in wide angle!

Our friends Enis and Natsumi came to visit for dinner a few weeks ago, having recently moved back to Brisbane from Japan. While they were here, Enis took some wide-angle shots of the living room. This really makes me want a new camera...

Images: Drone Bot