Winter warmers

With winter upon us, it's not a bad idea to invest in a good pair of handmade wool-lined boots to keep your toes warm during the cold months.  I saw these at a local market the other day and I fell in love....(sigh!) Gurmuki boots are handmade in Cape Town, South Africa with locally sourced materials. There are more products in their line, like laptop/tablet carriers and beautiful summer sandals (for the lucky ones up north who are going into warmer weather now). Sonja Nell, founder, designer and owner of Gurmuki is very passionate about her products and when you slip on a pair of Gurmuki's you'll know why. They are comfortable, warm and funky enough to fit any style or taste.

Here's a peek at a few of their items....

 images courtesy of Gurmuki 

For more info visit the web page here or their Facebook page here. I can't think of a better investment for winter-warm boots than these!

Happy week!

Quirky art by Ann Gadd

Ann Gadd is a South African artist, known for her quirky "Ewe" paintings. Her work is excellent, and not only the "Ewe" collection, but all of it. The "Ewe" collection deserves a special mention here though; because every time I see a new "Ewe", I am delighted, amused and absolutely in awe of this woman's insight and sense of "ewe-mour" . I have two (not enough) of her prints and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

I borrowed these images from her website to give "ewe" and idea of what we're talking about here, but it doesn't do justice to the images - so head on over there and check it out for yourself.

Above images from here

Images from here

Absolutely fabulous stuff!

Happy day!

Love & Lace Ceramics

When we were at Longridge Wine Estate for lunch the other day, we all admired the beautiful table ware and I was lucky enough to find out who the creator of these beautiful ceramics is. Michele Murray is the artistic mind behind the gorgeous creations of Love & Lace Ceramics. Have a look at these......

from here

from here

Gorgeous, don't you think? You can see more of her work, the retail outlets that stock her ceramics and photos of her studio and exhibitions on the Facebook page here.

Happy day!

Essie Letterpress

Being the image junkie that I am, it is no surprise that I am totally in LOVE with the work created by Essie Letterpress. I saw them at Kamersvol not so long ago and am delighted to know that they will be in my neighbourhood again soon. I am not a woman of many words and often say that a picture can speak a thousand words; so I'll let these pictures do just that.

You can find them  at the The Treasury Christmas Market on the 1st of December at the Oude Libertas in Stellenbosch or visit their website, online shop or blog. 

Here are a few more images borrowed from the Essie Letterpress blog:

I will definitely be at the Treasury Market on the 1st of December to get myself one of those notebooks with the beautifully designed cover!

Happy day!

Love Milo

Beautiful ceramics, wooden tableware, fabric and lighting from South African designer Nicki Ellis who calls her brand Love Milo. With stockists of her work in Europe, UK, Australia, Dubai and of course South Africa, you won't miss out on this opportunity to shop for the beautiful, functional items she creates, drawing her inspiration from nature and black/white photography.  She's featured in Elle Decoration, Sarie, Garden and Home, Top Billing to name just a few local magazines. 

As seen @ Kamersvol Geskenke

The following four images were borrowed from her Facebook photo album:

Now this is what I call functional art, no? I adore it! Please visit her website here and her Facebook page here, to see more of her beautiful work. My personal favourites are the wooden items, featured here and here and linked here.

Happy day!

Wood Art

Wood Art/Word Art as seen at Kamersvol Geskenke . I have absolutely NO idea who this exhibitor is; if anyone can let me know so I can credit them, it would be great. Tx!

Happy day!

Liesel Trautman ceramics

There is absolutely nothing I love more than beautiful design. When I saw Liesel Trautman's work at Kamersvol Geskenke this last Friday, it was love at first sight. It immediately grabbed my attention with it's freshness and simple designs. Like me, she's an image junkie and draws inspiration from Victorian and Chinese design. My personal favourite is her take on the kewpie doll (something I remember from when I was a little girl).  They are a definite "must have" and I will put that on my list for Santa! (haha!)

Visit her shop on 154 Lower Main Road, Observatory, Cape Town or her website, here.

Happy day!

west elm

I love on-line catalogues, and the latest one from west elm  features several South African designers who worked in collaboration with west elm. You can see the catalogue here.

Designers like Gemma Orkin whom I wrote about here . 

South African ceramicist John Newdigate creations like these

Potter's Workshop

John Vogel furniture

There's much, much more of course, but I'll run out of space here before I posted even half the pictures I'd like for you to see.

For more info on South Africa and other designers, click here. There are links to places to eat, stuff to see, a couple of videos and a profile of all the designers.

Happy day!

Green Grass Design

I paged through a magazine at the doctor's the other day and saw some beautiful design items that gave me that typical kind of...... "I Want That!" feeling. With my little lime-coloured moleskin notebook always handy, I jotted down some names and URL's.. 

Green Grass Design is a proudly South African venture involved in graphic design, laser cutting and engraving, like the Nando's Toolkit Boxes ,  snowflakes, intricate cutting for wedding stationery and much more. 

gift pendants

stencils

laser cut doily made from recycled wood

Xmas tree decorations

bad apple

All these items are very reasonably priced, especially if you consider the amount of time and effort that goes into creating it.

Happy day!!

Sootcookie Ceramics

Why has it taken me this long to discover this wonderful ceramicist who calls herself "sootcookie"? It is an Afrikaans word for a typical old-fashioned sweet biscuit, like our grannies and moms used to bake for us. Her work is just too divine;  all of it, with  my personal favourites being the "paper" jets below and the "sootcookie animals", especially those cheeky little bunny rabbits. 

Sculptures:

The Owls:

The Animal Collection:

Happy days!