Designalogue

Whoops.  Its again been a while! ….. I’m sick of apologising for delayed absences and it makes  a very boring blog – so, lets just move on shall we?

I do promise that my next post wont be all about me! (also makes for a boring blog!)  But for now, please indulge me as I just had to sneak this picture (yes, blurry picture!) in of a project I have in the works:

I am really pleased with how its coming together and even more pleased that its now out of the confines of  my head and in the real world!

The turquoise velvet chair really had my heart a flutter as do the blinds that look so beautiful (um…if I do say so myself!) Still to come is a cabinet that I have designed, made from reclaimed timber in an ebonised finish using all natural finishes including bees wax.

My client and I are also investigating different heating options, and looking at using this groovy number which burns ethanol, a clean heating alternative which doesnt require a bulky flue and doesnt dry the air out. Very cool, but requires some further investigating…

As I am self imposing a ban on my self promotion here for a while…. I will just sneak this link in…… the lovely and clever Tess McCabe of Creative Women’s circle has included me in a profile series she is doing for the CWC blog.   here if you want to read a wee bit more about me!

And for the creative women of Melbourne out there (little red… I’m talking to you!) you might be interested in checking out the next CWC meeting, its always inspiring to here the triumphs and the woes of other creative women face in their own businesses.

Just saying!

Aw, poor Designalogue Blog. You are so neglected by your maker. 3 months since my last post. Oops.

I wouldn’t say you have been forgotten about you dear blog…just kinda pushed you to the back of my mind while I got on with other things.  But blog guilt has  finally got to me, and so here I am giving you a bit of the attention that you desire. (Take what you can get!)

So to news of late…

I recently flew up to  Darwin for a few days to work on a project. For those not familiar with Australia’s geography, Darwin is the city up the top & in the middle of Australia where its hot, really hot all the time and they have  a lot of  big bitey things in the water. (of which I saw none – kinda sadly!) My only brush with the interesting nature of the area was accidentally peeing on a sweet little green tree frog. I didn’t realise the little guy was there until it was too late…… but saved in time before the flush! Lesson learned – when in the tropics, check where you are sitting! Even where you are sitting is in a bathroom on the second floor – wee critters like climbing pipes it seems!

Sadly and well, very inconveniently my camera died. As it turns out little snappy cameras cant handle being dropped on the floor after about 110 times. Up till that last drop, I swear it was totally fine. Life without a camera on hand to snap away is a bit sad. The camera in my Iphone  just doesnt cut it. So until a new camera comes  my way…will my vague descriptions of things work on a design based blog?

Im thinking not.

So no pictures to share of interesting things in Darwin. But hopefully  I will have got around to getting myself a new camera by my next trip up in a few months time. Maybe  then we can have a slide night?

As this is a design based blog, I cant leave this post without a picture or two – so thought I would share some chairs that I recently had re upholstered for a client:

Before – needing a bit of zhoosh!

Before....

& after….

They are part of a project that is coming along so beautifully & I cant wait to share it… but all in good time!

In an effort to be more communicative dear blog, I thought I would share some random pictures of some project goodies that have been keeping me busy and away from the attentions that you dear blog, so deserve.

Now this picture may just look like some bits of fabric to you. But really its 2 sofas, 2 louis chairs & some fabulous scatter cushions.

See it now?

How about this picture?

Well obviously its a nail trimmed bed head and feature wallpaper. But you knew that right?!

What about this lot?

Easy – two  sofas, two chairs and scatter cushions.

And then this picture….do you see a kitchen?

And so with all those happenings in the works,  I’m jumping on a plane and heading out of town for the next week to chill out in Byron Bay.  Where after attending a friends wedding, I totally intend to stare for hours out at the ocean, walk aimlessly along the beach and go in search of  mountain goats around the lighthouse.

I also intend on recreating this photo of myself from the last time I was up yonder.

Ahh, serenity now!

I do love a good apple and in our house we eat quite a lot of them. Personally I favor the Pink Lady but wont turn away a good Fuji. Each to their own, right?

So I assume its a world wide thing, but in case its not… here in the land down under our apples all have annoying stickers on them signifying what I thought was their batch or grower or something, but have just found out they are simply Price look up codes  for the markets to indicate fruit sizes etc. My version was more interesting, but what ever!

A while back, Fella read an article that he couldn’t seem to forget about how someone is employed at the sewage plant to scuba dive into the sewers and remove all the apple stickers that get eaten, and them um, come out again and collect in the pipes and wot not clogging up the sewerage system (oh I do hope that gig pays out sweet moolah)

Being the caring and sharing people that we are, we thought about this situation and thought about what we two could do to help ease the burden of these ‘shit divers’ and this is our solution: The apple sticker board!

I love it!

And credit where credit is due – this is all the handy work of the clever fella! He did it all from the design to getting all handy man and cutting, sanding and painting (my colour choice – naturally!)

I will pubicly admit that I have been quite bossy about the placement of the stickers, and have even ever so eloquently spouted the words “I am a designerrrrrrrr – do it MY way”  demanding that the stickers be placed neatly upon rather than randomly and messily all over and I think its fair to say again publicly – I was totally right – it rocks!

Ah, the 4130′s, what a tasty code that be!

So thats about as crazy as we get in this joint! Party on & seasons greetings people!!

This week a kitchen project I have been working on for a while was almost nearly finished.  Finished enough to exhale and do a round of back patting and hi-fives, but not quite enough to do the celebratory dance that goes with the end of a project or share the happy snaps.  Still to come is a bit of ‘frosting’!

But I am completely in love with these beautiful bamboo shelves and the Egyptian ball pendants, and in the mood for sharing!  so share I am:

Stay tuned for more on this soon!

I have been a busy girl of late with quite a few installations happening almost all at once! So in the spirit of sharing, and to appease my guilt at not attending to Designalogue Blog much of late, here are some ‘crappy snaps’ I have taken of an apartment I have been working on.  

The scatter cushions sent some serious love chills my way and I have to admit when I picked them up from my brilliant cushion maker, I had to pull myself together, be strong to and stop them from finding a home on my sofa! Such is the trouble with this line of work…

The photos don’t do the fabric justice, The fabric and colours are just stunning and I love love! 

Once I have proper photos that do the art the justice they deserve, I will tell you more about the paintings. But in short they are Google Earth images of the coast line of our home town and surround and are a mix of resin and silver leaf and even have a diamond or two!! 

That is all!

WOO HOO! FINALLY after a long intermission my new website is UP and on the world wide web once more! 

To have a looksee, click on here!

The gallery section is currently a little sparse -I have a few jobs ready to get photographed, but haven’t had the time to organise all the logistics! -Its hard work people!

I thought I would show you a few pictures of the new digs where the fella and I live and work -as of one week ago!

Starting with my office.

I LOVE my office.  Are you checking out my Juju!!!

Oh, I would formally introduce you to my plastic fish – He is my mascot (just decided!) but he doesn’t have a name, so I will need to think of one toot sweet! Any suggestions?

So now onto some other bits of the new digs.

Our dining table has been given a new bit of love with a new table top.

Made from recycled timber and ‘ebonized’ using a very earth friendly method involving vinegar and steel wool!  I think that is just so cool!

In our lounge room there is a kooky lil nook! On the wall above this nook is a family crest or something like that!! Its has written ‘Peace and Prosperity’.

Rather lovely words to set the tone of the joint I think!

I particularly like the kooky comic like kangaroo holding the crown on top!

I have stuff. Some of this stuff are blue bottles.

Just cause I like them! that’s all.

My green chair hangs out and you can see a glimpse behind of the old radio that I have turned into a light box. One day i will get around to restoring the veneer so its all spanky gorgeous. But until that day comes…

This picture is just because I think the flowers are pretty.  Also they are sitting on another old radio that I am yet to turn into a light box – but will do one day.

Maybe.

So now a bit of imagination is called for. Are you in the mood?

We had ONE little drama on move day. Our bed base didn’t make it up the stairs! The clearance height was the trouble and no matter how hard we try – by hook AND by crook, the lil bugga wont budge.

So rather than buy an expensive new bed base -as we just did last year! A little creative imagination is in order SO, I’ve hatched me a plan to get a new bed.

Phase one has gone through smoothly. I won the bid on eBay for this uga number:

Don’t fret now.

I ain’t no country girl and wont be spending my sweet slumber in this colonial state!!

No, I plan on spending the holiday break painting furniture and will be taking inspiration from this fabulous number:

via Desire to Inspire

Though I probably wont have pictures of people ‘doin it’, purely as I dont have the patience!

I will be sure to post some pictures when I plan is fully hatched!!

So before kicking you out the back door of the new pad, I had best introduce you to some new family members living with us. Now we three, are ONE THOUSAND and THREE!

Our worm farm!

In the past we have always composted. But living in a space with no dirt – we had to look for other means to dispose of our vegie scraps. So worms tis!

Well, thats all from me for now! Happy Holidays people!

Not a very clever title is it! Eh, I’m tired! I’ts bed time!

So I’m back! Did you miss me? Um, did you even know I had gone?!!…

But yes, here I am, fresh from a mammoth house move and man, I have a lot of stuff – A LOT!

Did you know that lamp shades breed?

I kid you not! I seem to have a huge amount of lamp shades in ALL shapes and sizes!!

I will post some pics of the pad soon – complete with my fabulous Juju hat by the way! -Its SO fabulous! Even the fella cant disagree!

But rather than bore you with the dramas and saga’s that seem to go on and on, I thought I would share a quick-see sneak peak of a project that I have been working on. The wallpaper in the bedroom was installed today & I love it!

Still some finer and finishing ‘details’ to come, so as I said – its a sneak peak!

The hallway leading into the boudoir was also wallpapered using an Osbourne & Little number. Its a muddy chocolate with a hot pink pin stripe. Yum!

Sadly my photos don’t show up this so well, so you will just have to take my word for it!

Psst: This is a before shot of the bedroom!

SNAP! I spy with my little eye….

Drake Design Associates - Via Desire to Inspire

Did you catch it?  - Same chair!

Though the chair looks much better in the Drake Design room than in my lounge room! … must be something to do with the photography!!! yeah, that’ll be it!!!!?!!

(Update – have since swapped my chair for a slightly better than the old one -so some comments made MAY be out of context now!!)