+ Katydid Paper Goods

Happy Monday to you!

How was your weekend? Ours was good, lots of food and friends, and even a couple of neighbourhood discos! - there's nothing like a rainy cold day, a lounge full of neighbourhood kids, the stereo turned up loud, and lots of dancing, giggling and acrobatics!

My computer however has not wanted to join the party and towards the end of last week, was crashing every couple of minutes (arrgghh!). A bit of fiddling here and there and it seems to have calmed down a bit, but it does mean we are going to jump right over I and J and start the week where we should be, on K...

Are you ready? I am!

Katydid Paper Goods

Katie Sims is one of those people that not only has exceptional taste, she is super clever to boot - you can imagine my excitement when I got a note from her telling me that her long awaited online Emporium is now up and running. (YAY!)

Katie produces a range of hand made cards using her trusty Gocco machine, and her Emporium not only boasts her own work but it is also chock full with a whole heap of other fab goodies - like vintage copies of collectible books by M Sasek, Japanese Washi Tape and all the good stuff from Darling Clementine... you really should check it out!

"My inspiration comes mostly from my fascination with, and hoarding of, lots of old stuff - like vintage stationery, children's books, nature books, figurines, kitchenalia, annuals, romance comics... etc!"

(images and quote from Katydid Paper Goods)

NOTES:
visit Katie's emporium
read Katie's blog

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My husband and I have been working on a project ourselves... are you keen to check it out? take a peek: www.skbinsamoa.blogspot.com

See you soon!

xxoo

+ Endemic World

Happy Friday!

Well, this week sure flew by! It's been pretty good here - how 'bout with you? My oldest son is home sick from school today, all though feeling much better than he was last night which is good. We're going to hang out a bit today, watch some movies and eat lots of good nutritious food! I'm looking forward to it!

Today I thought I'd delve into some NZ goodness... ready?

Endemic World

I've mentioned Endemic World on the Alphabet before - remember? "endemicworld.com is New Zealand's online design store. It's a selective mix of fresh & creative design products from New Zealanders around the world." It has an impressive collection of NZ goodies on display and I thought I'd pick a few of my faves for you today... take a peek:

Print. Fantail by Flox. I LOVE all of Flox's work, and who can by pass Fantails? - they've got to be the cutest Native bird ever!

Above: Patch Me Up Tights. From SpiltMILK. These cute little legs are perfect for adventures : )

Above: You're Lovely Pillowcase Set. From Nice Work. Nice work, Nice Work!

Above: Tui Tuckshop Bird Feeder. From Nuzilla. Definite fave!

Above: Butchers Block. From F3 Design. Perfectly Industrial (and practical too!).

Above: Kid's Wooden Stilts. From The Black Stilt Company. One of my favourite childhood memories - so may hours spent on the stilts my Grandfather made us - round, and round, and round the house we went!!

(images and quote from Endemic World)

NOTES:

visit the Endemic World store

read the Endemic World blog

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Have a fabulous weekend!

See you Monday! xxoo

+ I Heart Birds

Hello!

I hope your day is going well : )

All is good here in Alphabet-land... are you ready for the next installment?

I Heart Birds

A little while ago, when both my husband and I were home working, an extraordinary thing happened; a flock of seven Kereru (Native Wood Pigeons) had their lunch in our front yard. They feasted for a good twenty minutes on the berries that grow on the trees outside.

What makes this so extraordinary is when I was growing up, I would of been lucky to have seen 1 Kereru, 2 was unheard of, and well, SEVEN!! I spoke to my mother about it and she said she wouldn't of seen seven in her whole life!!

My children, who are privileged to have this sort of carry-on happening in their front yard were rather blasé and said "huh? they're only wood pigeons mum". Little do they know that the regeneration of this bird has taken probably longer than my lifetime, and, that they are so, so lucky to have had it happen.

This picture above (courtesy of my lovely husband) only shows three birds (they are about as big as a chicken). When I did a wee bit of research, they can apparantly grow up to 51cm from beak to tail tip. They are truly beautiful : )

"So, where is all this bird talk leading to" I hear you say... Well, it leads us here, to the work of Ryan O'Rourke and his absolutely gorgeous Bird Houses - not that a Kereru would fit in them mind you!

Ryan O'Rourke is a super talented illustrator who's portfolio and 'I Heart Birds' store are definitely worth a browse - and his bird houses? - oh me, oh my!!

(images from Ryan O'Rourke)

NOTES:
visit Ryan's website
visit Ryan's I Heart Birds store

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Have a wonderful day!
See you tomorrow!

xxoo

+ Franz Tormers

F - number two!

Ok, I'm feeling bad! ... I said I was going to do something (well I said I was going to do TWO things) and I haven't!! And now I feel terrible.

Before I started Alphabet*ten I got an email from Jo-Nanda Teuber about a fab bricks 'n' mortar and online store based in Christchurch (NZ) - Franz Tormers.

After clicking through the link I immediately knew that Franz Tormers was something that I wanted to share with you here. I proceeded to let Jo know how much I loved it, and that I would share it in our 'F' post - and, how I would tell you all about a great poster design competition they have running at the moment.

"What's that?" I hear you say. "You haven't told us about that." Yep, I haven't, and that's why I'm feeling really bad. You see, F was yesterday, and I missed writing about it, so, here we are at F number two!

But enough of being a misery guts! - Franz Tormers is a super cool store and here's the lowdown...

Franz Tormers

After working together in their design studio Out Of The Blue, three from this creative collective decided it was time to branch out and do what they really love - produce a collection of handmade limited edition designer goodness.

The name Franz Tormers is a play on the word Transformers, but also gives the collective a German sounding label, and since two of them are German, it seemed to all fit rather nicely.

"Most t-shirts, bags, prints and monsters are products of certain moments, moods and smells. To make things with your hands can be so rewarding, the day to day life as a graphic designer happens to be too computer based so your creativity gets blocked sometimes - it helps to just walk away and start sewing, drawing, printing….to express the moment you’re in."

And the collection? Well, I'll let the gallery of images below speak for themselves... This artspace and store is just one more reason why I must head south to Christchurch again, so much good stuff!

You really should take a peek:

(images and quote from Franz Tormers with thanks to Big Cartel)

NOTES:
visit the Franz Tormers website
visit the Franz Tormers online store
visit the Franz Tormers artspace and store - 16 Bedford Row, Christchurch. Open Mon - Friday 12pm - 3.30pm

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Keen on a Poster Competition?

The Franz Tormers crew have one going...

"We encouraging everyone to take part. The 'prize' is being in the exhibition where the artists can make the price for their poster and hopefully sell it. Winners will be featured on the toobig website and posters will be for sale online if they haven't sold in the exhibition."

Sounds great!

Entries close on March 16th so don't dilly-dally! All the info can be found HERE.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Please do check it out. Not because I'm feeling bad, but because I know you'll love it!

and G? well that will be here tomorrow. We might do a letter double-up closer to the end of the week, we'll see how we go...

In the meantime, have a great day! enjoy!

See you tomorrow! xxoo

Black Swan Designs

Hi there,


My wee guy is still under the weather and is in need of lots of cuddles and company... so I'm going to jump right in... will you join me?


Black Swan Designs


Mel Blowes graduated from Christchurch (NZ) Polytech with a Bachelor of Design, she also carries a couple of certificates that acknowledge her talent as a photographer. Mel obviously has an eye for composition and this, along with her impeccable attention to detail is showcased beautifully in her own label - Black Swan Designs.


I have chosen to share some of Mel's pendants here today, but make sure you jump over to her website to check out her whole collection...

(images from Black Swan Designs)

NOTES:
visit Mel's website
visit Mel's store here and here
read Mel's blog

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Have a great day!

See you tomorrow! xxoo

Penny Stotter

Hello!

There was a bit of excitement in the house this morning. My eldest boy is celebrating his 7th birthday today- SEVEN! I can hardly believe it. The celebrating started early, with my youngest arriving in bed before dawn asking if it was too early to wake his brother... luckily his brother ended up coming in not too far behind, eager for us to get out of bed.

So, we've started the day with gifts, and singing, and photos - no breakfast yet though - I think there is too much excitement in the air!

I am eager to get this 'P' underway, so I can spend the day with my brand new seven year old : ) Let's go!

Penny Stotter

On my latest visit to Endemic World (where I was reminded about Nice Work), I was also reminded about the work of Penny Stotter.

Penny lives in New Zealand, on Waiheke - an idyllic island in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour. Graduating in 1995 from the Ilam School of Fine Arts, Penny worked as a designer up until her move to Waiheke in 2006 where she became a full time artist and print maker.

Penny's bold yet delicate black and white prints are full of New Zealand's flora, fauna and motifs. I am loving her 'Kiwi Dolls' print (third below) and her Heritage prints (pictured 1st, 5th and 7th below) are just divine - take a peek:

(images from Penny Stotter)

NOTES:
visit Penny's website

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Thanks so much for dropping by, it really is lovely having you here : )

See you tomorrow! xxoo