Merry Merry

Festive with a capital E

I have been so mad busy over the past 2 weeks I have neglected my blog! Work has been mad and we have been working like a sausage-machine!!! over drive! season is a mad rush and in our industry no holiday, well maybe just a little. it seemed like we weren't going to have a holiday little less than a week ago but we have busted our 'balls' over the past 2 weeks to enjoy the spoils of n proper South African summer!!!

This Friday. O'wow its tomorrow our last day of work for the year and 2009 looks like its going to be a really good year!!! so this will also be my last post for 2008 as i really need a holiday away from everything that is 2008 I am in a twilight zone officially from today it is no longer 2008 for me nor is it 2009 i am somewhere inbetween, and I promise to be a better blogger in 2009 but for now, MERRY MERRY AND HAPPY HAPPY!!!

It's Legit

I really won BLOG OF THE DAY!! I was skeptical at first but when i went on to the site here, my blog was at the top left corner under blog of the day. here is a picture I had to snip!!

BLOG OF THE DAY??!!

I received a email today, I won this award of 'blog of the day'. wowee!! Is this legit? really? I've never won something like this? I am flabbergasted ...
My mom would be so proud!! haha

Sunday delight

It's such a beautiful Sunday morning in Cape Town... over 30 deg Celsius and a light cold breeze just to break that intense African heat. I'm sitting on my couch and missing places I have never been to, a strange feeling.
Romy is up stairs and just got out of the bath with our little Luca, think we might take our bassets to the beach today, maybe a little too hot for that!
Most of our friends are on holiday, Steve and Shelly went of to Steve's parents yesterday and will from there go on a awesome road trip, north, up the coast for the next 3 weeks, where they will meet up with old friend and family the envy... Romy and I wanted to do a road trip ourselves but due to our company, we will not be able to...
The rest of our friends are all ready on holiday, also off to their parents and just consumed by this awesome weather doing their thing, a few, like us, will still be working up until Christmas.

I will be soaking up this amazing day, off to the beach, even though it might be too hot...

Luca and the bassets (Van-left and Tooi-right)

Our house, notice the lemon tree

New York vs Cape Town

I just read about home swapping on this lovely blog, Marvelous Kiddo. Please read this sorry here about her amazing surprise birthday trip to Paris.

I long to go to NYC... I have wanted to go for a very long time, I did a European trip in 2004 that lasted almost 3 years. I think I will defiantly look into this home swapping business, when I stayed in London I am sure there was a TV show called Home-Swapping about, you guessed it, home swapping.
If you know of someone that stays in NYC that would like to do a home swap with me please send me a email :)!! we live in Cape Town, South Africa...

It must be awfully weird meeting somebody online and swapping houses with them? only one way to find out!!

here are a couple of pictures, beautiful and colorful Cape Town... just to entice you, think about it
View this great blog about cape town here

The V & A Waterfront at night

Air Shot of Clifton 4, there is also a 1, 2 and 3

Air shot of the whole south Peninsula

Vila Sofa, Amsterdam

VilaSofa, a furniture store that opened in Amsterdam in October is a clever design feat by Tjep. Judging by the VilaSofa website, it is a brand that can use some visual updating. VilaSofa is positioned somewhere between an IKEA store and a conventional furniture store and its claim to fame is reasonable prices and a guaranteed 48-hour delivery of all displayed models.

The Amsterdam-based Tjep faced the challenge of making all this look cool. It zeroed in on the warehouse concept but with a homey twist. It focused on the aspects of speed and the transitional nature of the place where factory-born furniture lives while waiting to be taken to your home.

Combining warehouse and home isn’t easy, but Tjep accomplished it by only suggesting both. They used warehousing and transportation symbols as the basis for gigantic cutouts and wall graphics, and created a white wall with cutouts of chandeliers, windows and ornate balconies that imply a villa and refer to your home as your castle. Staff rides around in cute cash-register trolleys so that customers don’t need to go to them.

The Tjep design team included company founders Frank Tjepkema and Janneke Hooymans, plus Leonie Janssen, Tina Stieger, Bertrand Gravier and Camille Cortet.

Tjep is a multiple-award winning firm that works in an astonishingly wide variety of three-dimensional design — Product and furniture design, interior design and interior architecture, identity design and events. Tjep clients include Droog, British Airways, ING, Restaurant Praq, Camper, Heineken and Ikea. Hooymans left Tjep in May 2008, and now works independently

Grateful

I have not blogged in almost a week, feels like there is not enough space on this blog to write what’s on my mind!!
I have found new meaning to the word Grateful... This week has [again] been challenging, emotionally, on the professional and personal field, my professional life is also my personal life...
My life partner and mother of my Awesome son is also my business partner... it gets difficult at stages, when stress and pressure is involved it’s not just business even though we try our absolute hardest not to make it personal, but I am grateful

I am grateful for:

Life
Luca, my son
Romy
New friends
South African weather
Nature
Cape Town
Table Mountain
My basset hounds
My home
Love
*Hate [because without hate there can be no love]
Independence
Skinny jeans
**Accountants
Rock ‘n Roll
Sea Food
***Braai

This list can go on and on but these were the first to come to mind...

*my opinion
**Steve
***barbeque

productively unproductive

O’my today was unproductive, but on the other hand if feels like I achieved more than I did the whole of last week. Is that possible? Maybe a little contradicting, don’t you think?

Here is the story: Our Nanny (Dearest sweet Alicia) had the day off to attend her granddaughter’s kindergarten Graduation, a big day for her! So basically we also took the day off, I felt guilty the whole day for not working... except for one meeting we had with a t-shirt supplier of ours, they are amazing. Him and his wife own the company, they specialize in basics, almost like American Apparel, they started off with just the wholesale division and recently opened a really cool store.

We will be retailing out of there store from start of December, I am so excited about this, both of our companies are relatively small and will do each other a world of justice. A new chapter is unfolding, two new retailers for our labels. Reason for not linking their website or mentioning their names (yet) is because it is still very hush-hush and as soon as it happens it will be happening with a BANG! Here are a couple of pictures of our label called Dead Adorable, we are the models too. View the website and read the bio of the label here, under brands.

Romy’s younger brother (Kristian) and his girlfriend (Nicole) are visiting us, they both are still studying, so they have summer holidays, 3 months of lounging around... (envy)

Kristian is a graphic designer in the making and Nicole a fashion designer... they are lovely and I enjoy having them around, as cheesy as it may sound, but there is nothing like young love and being in the presence of it. They make an amazing couple and I am sure they will get married one day and live happily ever after, or it’s just me being a hopeless romantic...

We spend a little part of the day with them, we went to get some Vida ‘e Coffee, I had a Chocolate Frio, it consists of only blended Lindt Chocolate and Ice, absolutely define!! Luca (my son) was there with us, he ate chocolate had some of my Frio and was just awesome and adorable, only one year old and has such developed characteristics, it’s amazing how much you can learn from a child.

(This is Luca the Amazing)

A wise old man told me once “you become what you surround yourself with”.

This is not the recipe for eternal youth, don’t get me wrong. You won’t become a child if you surround yourself with them... though, you will retrieve a fair bit of your lost childhood innocence, ignorance and grace, learn how to play again, attention to detail, the list goes on and on

You have not loved until you have loved a child, there is no love greater than that of a parents.

This is a drop in the ocean to what it feels like to love a child.

illustrator of note

For a whole two years i have had this illustration in my 'image dump'.


It even featured as my 'wallpaper' for a good couple of months.
Last night Romy was sitting next to me surfing cyberspace and she asked me if these illustrations are not done by the same illustrator as the one I have been cherishing for so long?

It turns out that her name is Sylvia Ji.



She has a very distinctive style, the way she uses wood textures are amazing, i adore her work.

I have a strange love for Mexican Sugarskulls, i think that is one of the main reasons why i like her illustrations so much. see picture below!

late follow up on monday [a cheap monday]

I am so sorry!

This follow up is so late, its already the middle of the week, everything turned out a little crazy.
here is the follow up on Cheap Monday I promised on monday! but i will keep it short.

Cheap Monday originates from Sweden, I love Swedish fashion!! There is a strong presence of youth in all their aspects of deign, smooth lines and easy wearing, contemporary.

visit their website and read their story of humble beginnings!

cheap monday, monday morning

Here is a picture to start the day with, the new Cheap Monday 09 collection, I am in a bit of a rush this morning and will post a little more on CM later today!!

back to minimal

This is a really cool idea I found on my absolute favorite website, for a simple yet very visually stimulating wall display.
Bookshelf's play a big part in my life, even though I don't own one, I have hundreds of images stowed away in a folder that I look through and add new one's on a weekly basis.

A bookshelf speaks, or should speak a thousand words, no pun intended.

Hope you (even though I don't think there are any of you yet) have a amazing weekend.. I have my sons first birthday party up tomorrow and will post some images and news of the event in the week to come as it is promised to be a jolly good 'ol pirate party!

Here are a couple more bookshelf's... enjoy.

neat and clean

I have heard so much about Steven Alan, and had a look at his website the other day, I absolutely love his work. Innocent and minimal yet so savvy and sexy. If i was a girl, this is exactly what I'll wear, but I'm happy being a guy.
Another designer that popped up this morning is Natalia Brilli, I'm not a fan of leather and fur...
but she deserves credit for her originality and ability, this is amazing.

one year later.

It's almost exactly a year ago that I deleted my blog. life interfered.
I have in the past 12 months started a fashion company, rediscovered myself, found my real love, made amazing acquaintances and friends, and the biggest achievement I have made to date, I became a father to the most beautiful son that has ever graced the face of Mother Earth. Luca, the amazing.

I am back and more alive than ever before, I have emerged in a completely different scene and look forward to sharing this new chapter. a humble life.

I had a exhilarating day today, me and my partner (also my lover, girlfriend and everything inbetween) had the privilege of spending a day together in our office for the first time since we have moved it to the new house.
The office is a amazing minimal style loft above our double garage, we still need to do allot of work to it as the staircase is this really dodgy ladder that is officially a safety hazard, wonky and missing a couple of steps... The inside is mostly raw wood, not sanded down nor painted, I like the feeling to it but would prefer it all to be painted white except for the floor which only needs a good couple of coats of varnish to bring out the natural beauty.

We have been busy for the past 2 months with production on a order we are exporting to a neighboring country, the garments turned out so beautiful it was sad to see the shipment leave. Hands on for almost 8 weeks, not really seeing a final product makes you feel that there is no progress being made which just applies more pressure and stress. till the final day, when you look at a room full of finished garments, all the boxes are packed, sealed and labeled, 8 weeks of stress still sitting in the back of you mouth just slides down your throat...


Anyway, its over now and on to the next adventures project. Romy (my partner) is starting a new line for a little store on Long Street called Mungo and Jemima.
This is a really neat little store with a amazing vibe to it. I am looking forward to Romy doing what she does best, creating beautiful things.
I on the other had will be driving a new mens label, just need to find a retailer, as men in South Africa dont shop, sad I know. I would like to open a store in the very near future, but we will be holding on to that idea for a while as we just want to grow the company a little more!