Feature on a Feature - House Themed Art

While living in Turkey, one of the most wonderful things Yashar and I did together was go to the art workshops at LOLA (lots of lovely art) with Alara.  You might remember that I wrote about LOLA here. Remember her amazing Children's Art Studio?  I don't know who misses it most - Yashar or me!

Recently The Crafty Crow (which is a wonderful resource for art and craft activities to do with kids) featured one of Alara's art activities - a fantastic post on house themed art.  For some reason I have a special place in my heart for creating artworks of architecture and homes -so this one got me inspired for lots of activities to do with Yashar.  Check out the LOLA blog for ridiculous amounts of inspiration.

The Sophie Tea Party Dress

Oh my goodness I am so excited about this!!  It definitely feels good when you work so hard to create something and then see it all come together so well  :)    Liane from Master & Miss contacted me a while ago about creating an illustration for a pattern after being inspired by watching her daughter play with tea cups.

I went pretty crazy with it and ended up doing quite a detailed design with lots of differently patterned teacups and pots.  Liane used it for this gorgeous Sophie dress made in pure organic cotton jersey - I love the dress she designed for it - so pretty and practical.    Sigh!  Big smiles around here at the moment  :)

To get your Istanbul fix...

It's no secret...we are missing Istanbul - we loved living there - it's an amazing city, full of contrasts and with an exciting energy all it's own.   And if you are missing getting your fix of of Istanbul here now that we are in Australia, or if you just love truly beautiful writing and photos, then you need to head over here.   My Philosofia is a blog written by the very talented Innes Welbourne, whom you can read about more here and in the Elle Magazine Turkey profile of him here.   Innes captures the essence of Istanbul beautifully, exploring the hidden nooks and crannies of the city and visiting and photographing all the places and people you wish you had the guts to!

These are just some of my favourite photos taken by Innes that are on my philosofia.

A hidden glimpse through a half open gate.  Yenikoy.  From the post Churches: Glimpses into a different times.

SLANTED SHADOWS AND PLENTY OF LOCAL COLOR ENLIVEN AN ALLEYWAY OUTSIDE A MOSQUE from the post Karakoy: Long shadows, deep colour.

KARAKÖY QUAY, MID-MORNING from the post Volumes of Silence:  Part I

RUGS FROM ALL OVER ANATOLIA AWAITING A NEW LIFE from the post Dhoku:  Rugs Reborn

NEW CAFES AND SHOPS ARE APPEARING IN FORMERLY RUN DOWN BUILDINGS from the post  Karakoy: Long shadows, deep colour.

Commuters on the way to Eminonu from the post Vapur 1: Timeless travel

ESCAPING THE MIDDAY CRUSH. FROM THE BOSPHORUS TO THE SEA OF MARMARA from the post Volumes of Silence: Part II

PIANO PLAYER AND SINGER STEAL PHOTOGRAPHER’S HAT, LOSE THEMSELVES IN
THE MOMENT from the post Sefahathane: Thickening the Beyoglu Atmosphere

Inside one of Mimar Sinan's mosques from the post 24 Hours on the Golden Horn

I was lucky enough to become good friends with Innes and his wonderful wife Sevim and his gorgeous daughter, that the blog was named for - Sofia.  I did this illustration for Innes a while back - inspired by Alchemy - which Innes writes about here - and especially Thoth and Hermes Trismegistus.  It was definitely a departure from my usual illustrations - something  I really enjoyed getting in to.

     

LOLA Children's Art Studio

Iyi Bayramlar everybody!   I hope you all are having a wonderful break with family and friends.

Here are a few photos I took recently for Alara - whose beautiful children's art studio (LOLA) Yashar and I love so much!!  Also check out her blog for lots of great ideas for creating with kids.

Making Inspiration: Ohdeedoh, A New Creative blog and a Crafty Gathering

Well I have been very busy, including working on some new designs that will be printed on tea towels - so fun!  Yikes I'm ridiculously excited about it!  So I haven't been able to get up to my usual Making Monday goodness this week.  But  don't worry I still have plenty of making inspiration for you!

First up, Ohdeedoh shared my sunprints project I made with Yashar in a post 'Get Inspired by Sunprints' yesterday.  Thank you Ohdeedoh!  And if you haven't made sunprints before I definitely suggest checking out the post I did about them and giving it a go - we had so much fun with it - easy and creative for any age!

For more creative inspiration I suggest getting in early on the blog recently started by Alara Hindle (my lovely friend and owner of LOLA children's art studio)  Alara has such a wealth of fantastic ideas for creative things to do with children. She is posting activities once a week - there is already a great art deco one and some fun beach theme ideas.  Don't miss it!

And finally...here's another (all very summer party inspired) instalment of 'Crafty Gatherings'....where the best things to make, gather, stand around looking cool and sip on mojitos  ;)   links below and all photos via the respective websites.

Zoku Pops - this is the pineapple and coconut recipe - yum!
- (found via Design Mom)


Lemon and Fetta Dip -  from Sweet Paul (and the Sweet Paul online mag has just come out...can't wait until I have time to have a look!)

Glow Cones - glowing snow cones.  Fun for a summer's night kids party or rave  ;)  - from Giverslog

Pinata Inspired Party Lanterns - Brenna for Design*Sponge

Artist Tim Craker

Now that the weather has finally warmed up, we have been enjoying eating outside - I love it!  Yesterday evening we were very happy to have Tim Craker over for a relaxed dinner on the balcony.  Tim is an Australian artist doing a residency here in Istanbul with a focus on researching patterns.

His work involves painting, installation work and sculpture. He does some very interesting work creating beautiful forms using everyday objects like this installation (directly above) that particularly stood out to me, made using take away food containers.    His work challenges notions of what art is and what is beautiful.
 

You can view more of his work at timcraker.com - I was particularly drawn to the subtle richness of his paintings - like those pictured top and directly above - in some ways the one directly above, latice x, reminds me of an antique Turkish carpet...so I think he might be in the right place for some inspiration!
All images are from timcraker.com.

Still here! Some creative finds from London

Yep, I'm still here - just busy busy after my sister's visit and the little trip to London.  Does that always happen to you??  When ever I have a little holiday planned, all of sudden things get busy and there ends up being a huge rush in the lead up and after getting back!  But anyway, being busy makes me very very happy!

Just stopping in with a couple of great little finds from the Spitalfields market.  The very lovely Mandy from Belle and Boo recommended I visit this market on Sunday morning and I wasn't disappointed!  First stop was yummy breakfast and coffee and then a little browse around the lovely market.  I came home with a gorgeous screen printed illustrated bag from Brick Lane   -no website... yet  :(   Photo above - That's the illustrator on the left - what amazing work!  And a super cute long sleeve top from Rock a Bye Baby for Yashar - it's the white one with the red guitar on the right..and it comes in a record sleeve - so cool!

The market is also surrounded by some fantastic little vintage stores like elemental. Elemental has some great light fittings, a huge collection of letterpress letters, and lots of little interesting finds and mini collections.  I just had a quick look at their website and blog too - I know I'm going to be spending any spare moments there for the next few days!!

Above is another shop with many gorgeous baskets hanging outside that we passed on the way back to the hotel...  check out the guy on the right's sneakers - awesome!  More on the London trip and lots of other things soon!  But now back to work  :)

An inspiring meet up with creator Secda Kaska

On the weekend I met up with the wonderful creator Secda (and her very sweet daughter!) ...she has an online shop Secdus, which I was lucky enough to design the banner for quite some time ago.  At the time she was making sweet little clothes hangers for children, but her work has since evolved to exquisite cushion, napkin and placemat designs.   And I was so excited to find out that she recently designed a collection of cushions for Mudo.

 
I was so happy to receive this present !!  Some of her beautiful linen postcard placemats - in the photo directly above.  And they are even better in person!   And I see that the vintage postcard cushion cover above that is on sale in Secdus's shop at the moment - so be quick if you want to snap that one up!

These are some more of her creations.  It was so wonderful to meet someone so likeminded.  Isn't the internet, and the whole world of blogging and etsy and all this creativity amazing?!   ... And I am very very happy because we are going to be collaborating in the near future so stay tuned!


-all images are from Secdus's shop-

Crafty Gatherings: Let's Party

A crafty gathering of some of the things to make that I liked the most this week...

And now I realise there's a bit of a party theme going on with them all...I must be wishing for Summer!

Watercolour paper cups:  Stephanie Polli via Design*Sponge

Ombre Tablecloth:  Brittany (the house that Lars Built) via Jordan Ferney (Oh Happy Day!)

Fringey Monogram:   Michaela (Blissful Fetes) via Jordan Ferney (Oh Happy Day!)

Geometric Paper Garlands:  Weekday Carnival

Making Mondays: My Own Elephant Applique

Well, we didn't quite get around to making anything this week...but luckily someone else did! 

A little while ago Mirna from Croatia ordered a 'My Own Elephant' name print from my shop for her son Gregor - which I remember well as she was such a lovely customer!  

She got inspired by the print to make this gorgeous pouch with an elephant appliqued on it and embroidered her son's name on it.  I was so happy to see it!!  What a super sweet idea - I love it!!  You can see more images of the pouch - and some other gorgeous things she has made over at her flickr here.  You should see the pouch she made for her other son Bartul - it is amazing!!!

Thank you so much Mirna for letting me share your beautiful work!

Photographs from Basar Bascumali

Recently we were in at our favourite local cafe, Molka in Yenikoy, at the same time as the wonderful architectural photographer Basar (pronounced Bash-ar) Bascumali...and of course Yashar managed to get himself in many of the photographs  :))   You should be able to click on the one above to make it a little larger - it's such a sweet shot!

These are some of the photos she kindly shared with me - I love them!!  You can also check out more of her wonderful photography at her blog http://archiwink.blogspot.com/

Her photographs of many buildings around Istanbul show a view that is much broader than the usual tourist shots (and there are also photographs from other cities too). 

Here's Yashar at his usual spot at Molka - hanging out at the bar drinking chocolate milk.

Molka is such a great space.  And I want to take the chairs and light fixture home with me!

Small/Cool Contest and some other awesome things to check out this week

You can now vote for your favourites in Small/Cool 2011 - The 7th Annual Smallest Coolest Home contest on Apartment Therapy.  Selected entries are beginnning to be posted from now until May 1st.  This is my fave so far:

Evan's NY loft in LA (850 square feet)

Check out the Ready Made 100 - the 100 best projects of the year.

Super sweet sale at Aunty Ollie - when Yashar was smaller I was looking everywhere for a nice wide brimmed hat like this.

And check these out  :))  ...

Yashar's room was featured on Ohdeedoh.com - thank you Ohdeedoh!  Love you guys!!  The post was about the 'clouds' we made for Yashar's room a while back.  Funny to read the readers comments on it...  just about everyone seemed to be worried about dust!   hehehe! I had never even thought about it - although it hasn't been a problem so far so I guess we're ok!

And Design Mom gave my Matryoshka Gift Tags a little link love- yikes!!  It was so fun to have so many people check the tags out - check out her gorgeous and very popular blog - I'm loving all her posts on her family's move to France for the year!

Euro Week!

This week is Euro Week on Etsy!  I don't know about you, but I am definitely a europhile, if that's even a word...and, living on the European side of Istanbul, I just make the continent cut off!  These are some favourite things from some of the many many awesome European shops on Etsy.

The Stockholm Bag - Ika Bags in Paris, France

Owl Pin - Moloco in Kiev, Ukraine

Arturo the Bunny - Contemori in Tuscany, Italy

Postcards from Europe mail organiser - Tuuni in Helsinki, Finland

ps - a quick note because I have been wanting to reply to comments and leave comments on other peoples blogspot blogs - I can't!  The ban of blogspot blogs here in Turkey continues.  Although I have some means of getting around the block to view blogs and publish my blog, I still can't leave comments  :(    So please, everyone, pretend that I have written very nice and thoughtful comments and replies  ;)  Hope the ban ends soon!

Spring Styling: Heather Moore aka Skinny laMinx

Something about today made me think about Heather Moore aka Skinny laMinx.  I think it might have been the lovely Spring weather that reminded me of her beautiful prints.   So I thought that it only fair to share something about this eternally cool artist/illustrator and designer with you! The image above is a laundry bag made for one of her 'Making Friday' posts on her blog using her cloud birds fabrics.  It looks so fresh for Spring don't you think?

Skinnylaminx is one of my 'go to' shops when I want a lovely present for someone.  At Christmas I bought this tea towel and the tea towel pictured above and this gorgeous 'pincushion' runner in charcoal as presents - and the recipients were very very happy - and asked me how I manage to find such beautiful things!  That's the kind of response I like  :)

Heather makes her images using papercuts and drawings and has a simple, natural and bold style that I love.   She has also just recently opened her own bricks and mortar shop in Cape Town - I wish I could visit!

Have a great weekend!

All images are from the Skinny laMinx blog and shop.