sam's notebook

one month

 

Can you believe it's only one month until Christmas?! Where has this year disappeared to? 

 

 

1. Vintage Christmas decoration from Butik Sophie.
2. Felt shingle tree by Janice Rusnak of Papier Valise  

 

vintage fabrics from rag rescue

 

Some recent vintage fabric purchases from Rag Rescue. To be used for cushions, inspired by the vintage cushion loveliness in this post.

 

 

 

Images from Rag Rescue.

 

bhalla papdi chaat :: lentil dumplings with fried pastry, yoghurt & pomegranate seeds

 

Grant and I tried bhalla papdi chaat for the first time when we visited London earlier this year. The combination of textures and flavours (pomegranate, tamarind, mint, coriander, yogurt) was just amazing. We talk about it often!

Today a recipe for bhalla papdi chaat popped up on the Guardian website and I think it's a sign that I need to try it at home. It will be quite interesting to see how that goes since the lentil dumplings and the papdi both require deep frying - I have a completely unfounded and irrational fear of deep frying and have never ever deep fried anything. For this recipe though, I am willing to give it a go!

Wish me luck!

 

Image © Karen Thomas/New Holland Publishing

yoshie's 2012 calendar

 

Gorgeous 2012 calendar from one of my favourite illustrators, Yoshie. You can purchase the calendar here - does anybody have any hints on navigating through a Japanese shopping site???

 

 

Images from yoshie's blog.

 

liberty print suitcases

 

These suitcases from Liberty of London are seriously lovely. If only they were a bit bigger, they would be so perfect for a weekend away.

 

 

Image from Liberty of London.

 

babylonstoren

 

This absolutely beautiful farm hotel in South Africa has such stunning grounds - the garden, accommodation and restaurant all look quite wonderful. I wouldn't mind a holiday here! Right about now would be perfect, it's freezing, grey and miserable outside but I just looked up the weather in Cape Town and it's 31°C and sunny.

Can you imagine having gardens like this?! The grounds include a manor house dating from 1777, an ornate chicken coop, pigeon loft, bell tower, vegetable and herb gardens, fruit orchards (in the soft stone fruit orchard the paths are paved with peach pips!!!!) and forty-eight pergolas of climbing roses. Wow.

You can see the equally georgeous architecture and interiors of Babylonstoren here and here. Go on, it's worth a look!

Found via one of my favourite blogs, 16 house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All images © Babylonstoren

 

minus sun :: yuka maeda

 

Beautiful collars by Yuka Maeda of fashion/art label Minus Sun. Aren't they lovely?

 

 

 

 

Images by Yuka Maeda of Minus Sun.

 

bar centro :: great coffee in gothenburg

 

Unless you happen to be travelling in Italy, we've found that great coffee can be hard to find when you are away from home. Not impossible to find, just hard to find. So on a recent weekend away in Gothenburg we were so happy to find Bar Centro, a small espresso bar located right in the very centre of town. Recommended by our good friend Mark, the coffee, service and atmosphere were all fantastic. And according to our resident croissant expert (Charlie), Bar Centro's chocolate croissants are quite good too!

On a small side street next to department store NK, Bar Centro is so popular that each time we visited it was completely jam-packed, with customers hanging out on both sides of the street outside - a good sign indeed, especially when the weather was as cold and rainy as it was that weekend!

Bar Centro
Kyrkogatan 31
411 08 Gothenburg

Image from Bar Centro.

 

he and she :: gražvyda andrijauskaitė

 

I've been meaning to post about this wonderful print ever since I purchased it way back in April. It's by Lithuanian printmaker Gražvyda Andrijauskaitė and I can tell you it is even more beautiful in person. The print is only 10 x 10 cm but the detail is really incredible.

When I bought the print from Gražvyda online, she mentioned she was having an exhibition in Sweden in late April/early May. Now Sweden is not a small country, so it was a nice surprise to find out that the gallery (Galleri Tapper-Popermajer) was not too far from Malmö. Grant and I made vague plans to go see the exhibition. 

Over the Easter weekend we were out in the countryside when Grant got a call from one of his best friends, Rikard. Rikard was at his cousin's art gallery, and was chatting away with the exhibiting artist who, when she found out he was from Malmö, asked if he knew an Australian called Samantha who also lived in Malmö.

Talk about a small world! We headed over to the beautiful old station house in Teckomatorp where Galleri Tapper-Popermajer is located, and not only did we get to see the exhibition, we also got to meet the lovely Gražvyda and her partner who were in Sweden for the weekend.  I love it when unexpected things like that happen!

You can read more about Gražvyda and see more of her beautiful artwork on her website here.

 

He and She
2010
10 x 10 cm 
Mixed technique  

Image from Grazvyda on etsy.

brigitte giblin quilts

 

I just LOVE this clamshell quilt by Australian quilt designer Brigitte Giblin. Inspired by antique quilts and fabrics, Brigitte has an amazing sense of colour and the way she combines modern and reproduction prints is just fantastic. You can see more of Brigitte's beautiful quilts on her website and the pattern for this clamshell quilt (plus quite a few others) is available in her online shop.

Brigitte also has a book that is due for release in April - it will feature nineteen of her quilts and I can't wait to see it!

 

Image from Brigitte Giblin Quilts.

 

gorgeous copenhagen blog :: heart with companion

 

I was searching for the opening hours for our favourite Copenhagen brunch cafe the other day (Kalaset in Nørreport, see last pic below) when I found this wonderful blog in the search results. Tora (Danish) and Scott (Canadian) are living in Copenhagen with their sweet daughter Venus and Heart with Companion is Tora's blog, filled to the brim with beautiful photos of their Copenhagen life and travels to places like Paris, London, Stockholm, Montreal, Seville, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Kiev... These guys really get around!

I loved all the photos, but here are just some of my Copenhagen favourites below. If you are thinking of a trip to Copenhagen, definitely take a look at Tora's blog. She is spot on with her Copenhagen coffee/restaurant/shopping recommendations, you can't go wrong really!

Scott blogs at The Reluctant Banker, lots of gorgeous Copenhagen photos there too!

 

 

 

 

Photography by Tora at Heart with Companion.

 

the british museum :: relics

 

Textile relic bundles (saints and martyrs) from The British Museum. Macabre yet beautiful. Found via lovely blog Le Divan Fumoir Bohémien.

 

 

 

 

Images from The British Museum.

sleep tight II :: doll quilts and their beds

 

There's a Rabbit in the Flowerbed

I submitted an entry in the handmade doll with quilt category of this year’s doll quilt competition sponsored by Selvedge Magazine, the International Quilt Festival and eQuilter.

I was so excited to make it to the shortlist of 12 entries to be exhibited at the Fall 2011 International Quilt Festival in Houston, and over the moon to later hear that I had been awarded first place in the handmade doll with quilt category!

Here’s my entry below, with gorgeous pics taken by the very talented Rebecka Ryberg Skött of Vintage Fairy Tales. Don't forget you can click on each pic for a much more detailed view!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title:

There's a Rabbit in the Flowerbed
 

Artist statement:

There's a rabbit in the flowerbed! She is most welcome, you'll find no irate gardener or rabbit-proof fence here! My favourite fabrics and a love of vintage quilts (especially Dresden plate and Suffolk puff quilts) were the starting point for my first doll and my first ever finished quilt. The hand-stitched quilt came first and as the idea of a flowerbed emerged and evolved, a rabbit in a petal skirt seemed like the most perfect occupant. The finished piece includes a mix of hand and machine-stitching, some treasured vintage finds and loads of encouragement from dear friends and family.
 

Techniques:

Quilt, hand-stitched. Doll/pillow/mattress/sheet, hand and machine-stitched. Bed, purpose-built using papier-mâché box lid, vintage wooden spools and vintage mirror.
 

Design Inspiration:

Vintage quilts and Julie Arkell - who some years ago taught me to make larger fabric flowers which have continued to inspire me ever since.

 

Quilt, doll and bed by me.
Images by Rebecka Ryberg Skött.
Please do not download or use these photos without permission. 

 

lovely cushions

 

I’d really love to pile our sofa high with lots of fabulous mismatched vintage-y cushions. Pinterest has been a really great source of inspiration – I think it’s time to haul out the sewing machine and get busy!

You can find more cushion inspiration here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image credits:

1. Tif Fussell, aka Dottie Angel
2. All About You
3. Perfect English Cottage by Ros Byam Shaw, photographer: Jan Baldwin
4. Stylist: Atlanta Bartlett, photographer: Chris Everard
5. Jeska Hearne at Lobster & Swan
6. jj Locations via sfgirlbybay
7. All About You
8. Cabbages & Roses

 

a small preview

 

Part of a project I finished recently - will post more about it in the coming days I hope!

 

Image by me.

 

a beautiful english house

 

I love this house! The colourful quirky details on the mainly white background are absolutely wonderful, and I think the black/dark floors are fantastic! Found at 1st Option - look up the Kennelly house to see even more pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images from 1st Option.

 

for a friend

 

A belated birthday present for a dear friend, hope she doesn't read this before it gets to her! The bag is made from linen and 1930s fabrics, and I made the flowers using a new technique learnt at a Julie Arkell workshop in September (see previous post).

 

Image by me.