Just some super nice recent work from NZ designers (moving to Brooklyn, NYC and also setting up a small London studio), Hardhat. I appreciate you.
New Nice Work from Hardhat Design
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Fancy X Dilana rug - next step, choosing wool colours...
The next step in the process of creating our hand-tufted Fancy X Dilana rug (which we'll be giving away) is selecting the wool colours. The wool is 100% pure New Zealand wool of the finest grade.
So, a few days ago, I got to choose from the colours in the 'pom box'.
Dilana have a really collaborative process in working with a designer (or an interior designer, home-owner or artist) to pick the right colours. They helped me reference colours used in other Dilana artist rugs, to see how they looked in larger blocks on a rug, and to see a few shades that weren't in the pom box.
Here's our final pick for the So Fancy hand-tufted rug. The makers at the Dilana workshop in Christchurch are already working on it, so next, I'll bring you some photos of that.
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Print Mistress
Jen Bowmast has been living and working in London for years, but recently moved back home to NZ and has started her own indie textiles business - Print Mistress. Everything is individually screen-printed by Jen herself - from her cushions and tea towels, to duvet covers. The designs above are my own faves, but there's a lot more to see at her brand new website.
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Pick n Mix Time!
Happy Friday, lovers.
I'm waaaaaay late to the party with Humans of New York. The blog is one massive photo project started by a regular NY-living joe (Brandon Stanton), who takes portraits of other regular NY-living joes. He chats with each one, and shares something from that conversation. It's fascinating and funny and humanising and humbling. And it doesn't surprise me that the Facebook Page now has 1.7million Fans.
Through the Humans of New York blog and it's followers, Brandon was able to raise 80,000 for one family (featured in a photograph) to adopt an orphan.
A Humans of New York coffee table book was released about a month ago.
You would definitely need a cushion on this! But it would take you to awesomecity. The Sekitei chair by Japanese design studio Nendo.
In a world of LOOKATMEEEE neon and geometric shapes piercing my eyeballs (I do like neon and geometrics, but I'm just sayin'), it's refreshing to come across the soft colours and tactility of My Friend Yarn. And it's a mum-and-daughter venture... cooler!
(Discovered via SFGirlbybay)
Liking the sentiment in this poster, inspired by designer Dieter Rams (and his recognisable speaker design). Limited run print available from Holstee - who, by the way, have a few v. cool prints actually.
Australian fashion brand Gorman have a new homeware line, most of it collaborations with independent designers and illustrators. These are my fave pieces - see the entire line here.
How great does this little general store in look! It's located in London's Shoreditch, but they also have an online store. Love the ode-to-the-working-class name, amazing interior, even better exterior with all that green brickwork and a curvy corner position... Via the Kinfolk City Guides, which are brilliant.
Indie designer Charlotte (based out of Baltimore) has lots of lovely things on her Etsy store The Vintage Vogue Story, including these dipped trays. Oh and they're only NZ$40, too.
Have a lovely weekend! Go out and make something beautiful. Even if it's just really amazing avocado on toast.
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Homestyle Magazine gets 10 homemade Tostadas out of 10
In the Dec/Jan issue of Homestyle Magazine.... The equal parts vintage and modern and totally-my-kind-of-thing Papamoa beach bach home of Claire & Alex. You can just tell they make their own delicious cider and bread aye?
(Nice photos, Heather Liddell.)
Plus, Homestyle takes a nosey around the home of Superette founder Rickie Dee.
Duncan Innes took the photos.
Plus there's HEAPS more awesome homes, ideas for having a backyard movie night at your place, and all the recipes to host a Caribbean summer feast. I'd give this issue 10 homemade tostadas out of 10.
You might like to get all friendly with Homestyle on Facebook - they're pretty awesome kinds of friends to have.
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5 Minutes with: The Family Co. Design Store, Gisborne
Photos by Brennan Thomas
Husband and wife Gene and Chelsea Walker have what seems like a dream-dreamy beautiful lifestyle in beachside Gisborne. Chelsea runs their young design store, The Family Co., which she stocks with her highly considered edit of products and brands. (I suggest having a lookee at their online store, here)
The couple, with their extended fam, also make and market their own boutique wine label, The Family wine - small batch varietals where every element is carefully crafted, from vineyard to bottle.
Tell us how you arrived at today - running your own design store in Gisborne?
I grew up in Gisborne and my husband is from Hawkes Bay. I spent time studying fashion in Auckland and Wellington, then I moved home and opened my first store ( I was only 21 and very new to running a business!). Through the store, my own clothing label grew and within a year I was showing at Fashion Week... although it was a great experience I closed the store a few years later to help my sister open her cafe in Gisborne 'The Winemakers Daughters'. We sold the cafe last year to concentrate on our children. We both have two girls each and she is expecting her third! (We are serial business owners in our family).
My husband moved to Gisborne after studying to open an art gallery which he ran for 7 years. The leap came when I realised that I actually wanted to have a store that is filled with things I love! Little Coco (who just turned One this weekend!) was only a few months old when we decided to open, so my husband and I decided to do it together... he stays home with the girls and I am the shop keeper!
What's your favourite thing in the shop at the moment?
This is such a hard question as obviously I love everything! Coco is getting one of the gorgeous little red wooden prams by 'moover' for her birthday which I couldn't resist and I love our selection of wooden brushes, spoons and the fog linen kitchen cloths all perfect for a well used kitchen.
L A T E L Y I ' M L I S T E N I N G T O ...
My crying children and Angus and Julia Stone - which has been on my iPod for years but it is perfect music for the store.
L O O K I N G A T ...
Seeing/looking at .... Our new white floors. I have always wanted white floors so was secretly very happy when the floors in the new store turned out to be in really bad condition so they had to be painted!
T A S T I N G ...
Our new (THE FAMILY CO). Gewürztraminer. It is a delicious wine but is even more special as the whole family picked it, so Dad could make it into a wine for my Nana who passed away the evening after. Amazing woman deserves an amazing wine...
S P E N D I N G W E E K E N D S ...
Spending time with my girls x
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Sunday means Fancy SPACES
This is a shop! Love the charcoal-coloured wooden floors.
Hey, guys! It's hydrangea-stealing season! Raid your nanna!
(This image from The Design Files is one of my all-time faves. I'd especially love one of those TossB Disk pendant lights)
Keep getting drawn to black tables and/or black chairs.
Also lalalalalove that cone light shade - which I'm pretty sure is also a TossB)
Tan leather sofa of my sofa dreams (don't you have them?)
There goes the black chairs again.
Always digging Mid-Century in a sea of modern
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Green's really growing on me.
(Spot the hydrangea!)
Yes. YES!! Spindle-back chairs, table, white floors, wallpaper panel, grid tiles, Pepperminty SMEG.
Never not keen on exposed brick walls. PS: Foraged flowers are my fave.
Happy Sunday, lovers.
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Found Jewellery
Wellington-based designer Juliet Ramson is the ladypants behind Found - an indie jewellery brand crafting necklaces, rings and earrings from found brass (often the brass hinges from old houses).
These pics images are from Douglas and Bec, who sell a range of Found jewellery, plus there's more to see on the Found website - including some cool geometric modernist necklaces, and joory for men too. (My fave is the Fine Pin ring - at top).
Great photo effects to make your designs beautiful
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New from COAST
Loving tan leather everything. And really loving my new tan leather glasses case, handmade in New Zealand and part of the new leather accessories range by New Zealand's Coast. They're also doing other colours besides my fave tan/caramel, including a cool mustard yellow leather.
PS: THIS Coast bag, though!
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Beautiful new NZ organics brand
Love those glass bottles
Would you just look at this new NZ skincare brand. So super lovely.
Martina Organics is a range of certified organic skin care, hand-blended in small batches by 29 year old Marta Camara (Cuba Street, Wellington). You can find out a bit more about Marta's background here.
Marta has sourced the finest botanical oils - lovelies like apricot, manuka, jasmine and camellia - both from New Zealand, and some exotic milieus like Morocco, Africa and Israel. She's selected only the most pure, active ingredients, from plants that have been used by civilizations for hundreds of years. Camellia, for example, is said to be the soft-skin secret of Japan's traditional Geishas.
Each formula is then put into those thick glass bottles with a wooden stopper. All the packaging is constructed from 100% recycled paper, and the label peels off super easily so you can re-use your glass bottles any way you want (or get $10 off for every bottle you return to Martina Organics).
The three-step range has a healing and hydrating oil cleanser, antioxidant rich toner and regenerative moisturiser and you can get it from the Martina website - and also through Fancy homie, LETLIV.
The beautifully pared-back branding and packaging (perfect for a Unisex range like this) was created by NZ designer Becca O'Shea.
Side Note: This post is not sponsored, although I admit it sort of sounds like it because I'm totally selling it to you. It's just because I'm excited. I'm loving the Maker Culture we're now living in - and especially loving seeing it evolve in New Zealand. I want to buy honestly-made, quality things, things that are good for me, good for my world, and good for the independent artisans who craft them. But I also want to buy beautifully-designed things. And that's no longer restricted to big brands. The many cool cats with cosmopolitan taste who call NZ home are part of a whole new generation of makers who are finally getting the total package right, and it's freakin' awesome.
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Fancy X Dilana Rug Collabo - See the hand-tufted rug being made...
We're soooo close now to having both of these rugs delivered, so we can photograph them and then
YOU COULD TOTALLY WIN ONE. A couple of days ago, Dilana sent me a few pics from their workshop, showing some of the stages of the hand-tufted rug being created. eeeeeee I wish I didn't have to give this one away!
Projecting the design onto the base screen and drawing up the shapes;
then tufting the New Zealand wool (this is the underside - hence the flatness of the wool)
Tufting complete, Sam applies an adhesive to secure all the wool.
A backing canvas will be added later, after the rug is cut out of the screen.
The finishing touches - shearing and clipping the wool. Woah, it's looking GOOD.
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The opening of Tim Webber's new showroom
Tomorrow night (Wednesday 4th December) you're invited to the opening of Tim Webber's brand new showroom. Have a beer or a wine, meet Tim, check out his new digs - he's been decorating it especially for you - possibly win a Y Side Table, and check out all the new products for 2014! Excite face! See you there?
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Naveya & Sloane - Refreshing Brand, Amazing New Showroom
Naveya & Sloane is a boutique, bespoke jewellery brand. As in, the kind of jewellery that's custom made by hand, using traditional techniques. The kind you mark beautiful milestones with, the kind you wear and keep and treasure for the rest of your life.
The co-founder of Naveya & Sloane (and also its head designer) is Rachel Sloane, a fashion designer by education (she was voted 'best up-and-comer'at AUT) who was actually the womenswear designer for Huffer for some time, and then a specialty wardrobe designer on Shortland Street. She worked on the Naveya & Sloane brand and concept in her spare time, gradually reducing her hours to work on her dream.And then in 2010, she made the leap and launched Naveya & Sloane...
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Showroom photos by Anna Kidman
Detail from the back office
That brings us to today - or, last week, as Naveya & Sloane have just opened their brand new showroom. The space is on the third floor of the historic (as in 100 years old) Imperial Building. Designed by Fearon Hay, the space is bathed in natural light thanks to those three massive windows and a very tall stud. Walls of exposed brick? Parquet flooring in a honey blonde oak? Ooh stop it. Mid-Century chairs and grey leather upholstery? Woooo! Brass and Marble-topped tables? I think I just came. You can also watch Naveya and Sloane’s expert goldsmiths crafting your future heirloom in the workshop through a glass wall in the lobby.
Rachel wanted to keep the beautiful imperfections of the 100-year old building and keep a touch of the old world. But the overall look, while hella elegant, is also fresh and relaxed. Because, yes, they handle diamonds on a daily basis here and you'll need to book a time to visit, but there's no pretension here. This is a brand that's set on changing up the fine jewellery category a little, with a modern and much more approachable take on an age-old craft.
Website \ Facebook \ Instagram
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New Yeah! New A2 Wall Calendars...
Have something F for Fun on your wall for 2014? Okay then! We made a few calendar posters - they're a BIG A2 size (420mm x 594mm) and there's 6 designs to choose from. Available exclusively at endemicworld.com
$35 for an A2 Calendar Poster, over here.
(PS: More photos soon - might be helpful to show you guys the scale)
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New to the Tim Webber Design Fam...
Navy-ish blue Y Side Table, please be mine, I'd treat you real good.
North Coffee Table
Notch wall hooks
Press mirrors are babes
Here's Tim Webber's Christmas present to your eyeballs - his new products for 2014.
Hey eyeballs, don't rip the wrapping off like that, I want to recycle it! (my mum every Christmas.)
First up, the super successful Y stool has been made into a side table. Reeeally digging that Navy Blue one. Next is Tim's new North coffee table. Low and lovely. Then we've got Notch wall hooks, sold in a set of three for $150. They would make an awesome gift for the most sartorial guy you know. And.... pause for dramatic effect... my FAVE of Tim's new line-up, the Press mirrors. (Great name, by the way). In 4 colours and 2 sizes, starting at $350 for the small.
PS: Tim now has his own online store, so now you can support the maker more by buying direct. (And he's taking 10% off at the moment with the code 'opening10' at checkout) www.timwebberdesign.com
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Your Weekend Pick n' Mix
Weeeeee! kend Pick n Mix! Enjoy...
Summer time, camping time. Time to upgrade my milo mug.
New York's Best Made Co. makes super cool enamelware, and is a brand you should get to know.
Such Great Heights is my new favouritest find! This indie Australian brand makes beautiful and rad things for children. They started with little 'wonder tents' and now have a few products, including these can-you-please-make-in-adult-size bedding rolls.
Book Darts, in brass or bronze. Yesyesyes.
Halb/Halb is a collective of Berlin-based designers, and i'ma let you finish, but their 180 mirror is the best mirror of all time.
The USA throws away 15 billion dollars worth of fresh, edible fruit and veges each year just because they are bruised or discolored. Ugly Fruit is a food stand that makes fresh juice out of unattractive produce, donated from neighborhood grocery stores. You can return the glass bottles and get $$ back, recycle them, or refill them with more juice - at a discount - at Ugly Fruit.
Ummmmmmmm.... OK, I've just written all this and discovered it's not even a real thing, it's a student design concept. Someone make this a real thing please?
Hide yo' jewels! Itty-bitty wooden diamond box, by the awesome Fort Standard. (And they're only $17)
Aztec is growing on me, and the range by indie designers Scout & Whistle are pretty rad. And yip, they ship to NZ. And just because their pup is so cute, here's a pic of Vanessa and Darren from Scout & Whistle.
Love this quote (via). Hope you're watering a big crazy-ass garden full of Joy at your place.
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Sunday Spaces
Isn't Abode a great word? abode.
Let's stick our heads a bit further in, shall we?
I bet loads of super awesome ideas have been thinked up in this little room.
The floors! The window shutter! The blonde bed!
I think when I grow up I'm going to need two homes. One for the minimalist clean-lines-loving Alana, the other for the craft-geek Alana.
I just love a room that doesn't try too hard. It's like, "So what if my duvet is from a DEKA sale in 2004? Who do you think you are, the interiors police? Oh no, I forgot, you're a b l o g g e r."
If I were a room, I'd pretty much be this one. (Just take away the ukelele and add a lovely platter of assorted cheeses.) (PS, Penpal: The awesome cushions are from BangBangCopenhagen).
This house looks so freakin' cozy.
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URBIS Best Of 2013
Every year, URBIS magazine acknowledges the design standouts of the past 12 months - in categories ranging from furniture and homewares to places and makers. Each of the winners are then profiled (with plenty of great photos) in the URBISThe Best Issue. Plus, the issue takes you on a tour of five stunning homes, Tokyo through a design-lover's eyes, and more.
It's on shelves now... and would totally be on my packing list to take to the bach, if I had one.
The winner of URBIS' Best Destination is Waiheke Island's Oyster Inn.
URBIS' Best Eatery went to The French Kitchen (Auckland). The French Kitchen is a very unique concept in NZ restaurants, as the space serves only 10-30 guests in an intimate and interactive experience – famed NZ Chef Simon Wright himself prepares a four to eight course tasting menu, in front of guests. The warm, minimalist interior was designed by Katie Lockhart.
Photos by Simon Wall for URBIS
URBIS' Best Public Space went to the new modern-industrial precinct that is City Works Depot, part of the super exciting reinvention of inner-city Auckland that's going on at the moment, and home to six very cool eateries - including Food Truck (TV show) Garage, Best Ugly Bagels, Brothers craft brewery and tasting rooms, Scratch Bakery and more.
The history of this area is pretty awesome so let me share it with you...
The depot was opened in the late 60's, designed by a celebrated NZ architect who was perhaps inspired by America's massive tank factories. It was owned and used by Auckland City Council (the council was a construction company and a governing body back in those days) to build and service the machinery that created 1970's Auckland. These sheds built the city, basically.
But then the land was sold to various developers, most of whom planned to demolish the huge (and architecturally-award winning) sheds. For over a decade, the area sat forgotten. Now, it's a growing precinct for really creative, interesting and adventurous businesses, with its raw modernist-industrial features retained and enhanced - think polished concrete floors, huge steel doors on industrial castors, walls made from salvaged timber...
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Small, Medium, Large
Duffel and Backpack lining
One of their range of camera straps. Available at Good As Gold.
Dopp/accessories bag. Nice.
Small Medium Large is a new Dry Goods label (think leather and hand-sewn products in very small runs) coming out of Wellington, NZ.
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A2 Calendar Posters
Here's some pics of the Fancy 2014 Calendar posters - there's 6 designs to choose from.
(A2 size for $32 - over here)
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More Pages to Explore .....
