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!

DIY cake stand

When I saw this post on DIY Cake Stands on my favourite everyday blog Chez Larsson, I knew I had to make one (or several) of these for myself.  I realised too, that this would be an ideal Christmas gifts for my lady friends. Then there's also the idea that I'm stealing from Chez Larsson, to have one of these near our entry door for keys, change and such.  I am still a bit concerned about what the porcelain/ceramic plates will do when I drill them, so I went to a thrift shop and bought saucers and plates for dirt cheap; just in case they decide to crack up on me. I still have to drill these, but I'll keep you updated on that.

My first try was with enamel plates. Now, enamel is a big huge weakness amongst my family and friends, including myself. It worked out amazingly well, and now I only have to decide who the lucky recipient of this stand well be...

I bought the hardware for the stands on eBay (dirt cheap) and the enamel plates at a junk yard and thrift shop.

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!

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!

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!