Cute Kitty

The adorable cat that stopped us in our tracks this morning on the way home from breakfast out.

Traveling in style

I had a couple of friends stay over last night after we went out. Instead of carting her clothes around in a backpack or gym bag, my girlfriend packed all her stuff into this neat hat box. How stylish!

Weekly seed photos - 6 weeks on

Sadly I am sans SLR this weekend, so excuse the quality of the photo.

I am stuck knee-deep in shoes!

I'm working on the next catalogue at the moment, so have been quite busy. I thought I should share my crazy work space at the moment.

 

 

Furoshiki

Found this video at Red Button Project, how nifty!

The Mutant Pie

I just baked a pie fit for Halloween, the ugliest Apple Pie in the history of pies..
I haven't baked in quite a few years; I make the odd Apple Strudel that people seem to like, but I cheat and use pre-made pastry for those. (Pampas Butter Puff Pastry - delicious and keeps in the freezer for ages!)
Haven't made a 'proper' cake or biscuits in forever, but I was inspired by this post and thought the pastry recipe seems quite simple, surely I can have a crack at that.. well...
I encountered my first hurdle last night when I discovered that whilst I have rice flour and corn flour in the pantry, but not plain old regular flour. Not to be deterred, I made the filling anyhow and instructed Ton to get some flour today. I also wasn't deterred by my lack of a proper food processor, I figured my mini-one would do fine.
All appeared to go well, the dough was the right consistency throughout the process, so I wrapped it up and stuck it in the fridge.
When I took it out it very obviously hadn't risen - so disappointed. Nevertheless, I got it out and attempted to roll it, however, it was very sticky and glutinous, so it stuck to the board, the rolling pin and my hands despite my attempts to tame the dough with a thin layer of flour.
Somehow I got a layer into the bottom of the dish; a little bit like wrangling cats. I could only fit about two thirds of the apple mixture, a silver lining - I'll be able to make a strudel with that. I tried to smear the rest of the dough mixture around the apples to make some kind of enclosed structure, but the whole thing looked rather pitiful in the end.
Anyhow, I figured out WHY the damn thing didn't rise - the baking powder expired in 2007! Should've checked that BEFORE I made the dough, but I guess I will never make THAT mistake again..

We've just finished two pieces, and it actually didn't taste awful, just looked it. Without further ado, this, embarrassingly, is my "masterpiece". Now I feel even more inferior to those kids on Junior Masterchef.

Sparring Comp - Edit

On Saturday we had a little sparring competition at our Dojo, in which I participated and Ton took some photos:
(Also, since a few of you seem to have difficulty recognising me, I'm wearing the white headband)

Weekly seed photo - 5 weeks on

 

Flowering Jacaranda Trees

It really is a gorgeous time of the year at the moment; the lilac of the flowering jacaranda trees dot the landscape.

 

I also encountered this lizard on my reccie. What a cutie, he sat completely still for me while I shot away.

 

 

Brisbane Spring

It's bucketing down right now, but Friday was a sunny, warm day. I was on a reccie for work around the Storybridge, and got quite a few personal shots. More posts to come. First cab off the rank, a Citycat shot through the main beam of the bridge, some interesting textures, and some graffiti.

Light as a feather

Can't believe I forgot to blog this during the week...
Gillian Hirst has opened a cute little cafe in Coorparoo that we had brunch at last Saturday. The food was fabulous, but I also really loved these crazy feather lights.

The bookshelf dreams are made of

A bookshelf in the home of model Coco Rocha. Photographed by Claiborne Swanson Frank. Found at vogue.com

I just LOVE the way she's put this together with the books and the little bits and pieces. We're in the market for a new floor-to-ceiling bookshelf for the office, and I will be revisiting this image for styling inspiration!

Before & After: change of colours...

I am not really a crafty, DIY-kinda person, but I was inspired by this post about improving some moccasins with block colour.
I bought this pair of shoes on a whim in Sydney after walking in high heels for a couple of hours, so I needed something flat, comfy and soft. The colour doesn't really fit into my wardrobe, and I find them difficult to keep clean, so I decided to give them a make-over.

 

The end result:

 

The process: Lots of cling wrap, and two coats of each colour...

 

 

 

The colours:

Enjoy. KKxx

Weekly seed photo - 4 weeks on

As previously mentioned, Brisbane has been plagued by wild winds, and since our plants are outside, they are looking a little bedraggled as a result.

 

Windy Day in Brisbane

It looks lovely and warm, but the wind is ferocious; branches littered all over the backyard.

Typography & Illustration in Retail Design

I've been doing some research on retail design lately for work, and come across some really cool ways to integrate type and graphic illustrations into store design.

 

All images from The Cool Hunter.

The Shoe Experience

William Habraken has accumulated the largest collection of tribal and ethnological shoes in the world - fascinating. Check them out here.
Via The Cool Hunter.