Souzou Day

Yumi and I met for a Souzou meeting last Sunday - less a meeting and more just hanging out and thinking of all the lovely things Souzou will bring to our lives really.

This is how the day unfolded...

+ A swim at Balmoral Beach to get our bodies relaxed and ready for forthcoming meeting.

+ The purchase of strawberries and peonies from the local fruit market

+ The meeting begins with "show & tell". Highlights included Yumi's library books (Lanvin), Frida Kahlo colouring in book, an Australian Vogue photo shoot with vintage hats and Japanese setting, Milk Magazine (French mag for kids) and a Charlie and Lola Activity book.

+ Ideas... once a month having a cultural festival eg. Tanabata Festival

+ Inspiration: Sparrow Kids, Lola et Moi

+ Public Liability - which to go with?

+ Planning our first Souzou Children's Birthday Party!

+ Selecting Sugar Plum circles for our Birthday Party headpieces.

If I were a robot...

I like Alex Noriega's illustrations. His bunnies are also highly recommended.

Room with a View

I always like seeing what people have in their bag or creative workspaces. This is where I work during the week and thought give you a guided tour... got to this link to see notations on everything in the pic... a riveting look into my day-job...

Book Report

After being overwhelmingly inspired by the textile students work at the Renew Lace Exhibition, I spent a glorious 2 hours at Ariel Bookshop (yes Sylv, that's why I ducked away all of the sudden! A book-craving came on.)

Arial is my most favourite bookshop because of the following:

1. Great kids books

2. They sell Haigh's chocolate frogs

3. Lovely design and art books for the perusing

4. A good step to sit on when pondering over purchases

All very important criteria for a good bookshop.

One of the books I left the shop with is Oliver Jeffer's new "The Great Paper Caper". He is one of my favourite children's book authors/illustrators and I loved this book for it's quirky details, beautiful colours and a not too preachy eco-message. It is even printed on FSC paper (paper that comes from replenished forests), which makes me like the book even more.

Yumi gives flowers to her friends...

I Made You a Beard

Thank you Erin for your blog... it made me smile! And thank you Amy for sending it to me!

Re New Lace

For the past two years I lectured and taught Second Year design students at the College of Fine Arts. It was a great time - I love seeing the freshness and un-commericialised minds come up with such diverse solutions to design projects. And researching for the lectures each week kept my own learning about the design world rolling along.

One of my favourite projects of the year was Re-new Lace, where students were inspired by traditional pieces and then applied recycled materials to create contemporary lace. Part of the project was to visit the Lace Study Centre at the Power House Museum. There are some lovely ladies who volunteer their time with a wealth of experience, passing down their skills to the next generation. It's almost like adopting a grandma and learning from her.

I'm not teaching this year, but I received an invitation to the Re-New Lace exhibition from my friend Sylvia, happening on the 4th November. Let me know if you're interested and we can go together!

Late-comer

I think I'm a bit of a late comer to the enviro thing, but better late than never, huh?!
I've been sent this great video called "The Story of Stuff". It illustrates the impact of production, distribution, consumption, and not to mention extraction of stuff.