mixing it up

Every now and then it is good to mix things up and offer a little spice to life! Our dear friend has done just that with the utterly genious make me a mix tape. It is truly a joy and not just because you can whittle away hours of "meant to be at work time" listening to her fav tracks but you will always, without a doubt come away with a smile on your dial!

However, we must ask her forgiveness for not mentioning this earlier! In fact I have been meaning to tell everyone of this ladies talents for a while now but have been too busy trying to get through hours of her mixing madness that I haven't had a chance!

I am listening to the latest mix now and I can highly recommend it! Love your work Miss Katie Dazzle x

herbs round two

Last year I posted here about my new herb garden. Well, sadly when I was in Kenya and my flatmate was in Ireland... they died. Now we're both in new homes - and this weekend we both have new herb gardens! Sadly mine were purchased at Bunnings, and hers at the more glamorous Petersham Nurseries...

I love Izzy's re-use of a once well loved oak wine barrel... I planted ours about half an hour ago in this cool trough we had under a tree in our back garden...

... not quite as established as Izzy's yet, but it will be blooming in no time at all with some Sydney sunshine! I planted some pretty flowers to cheer up my window sill too - alas I can't see them ever making it to my window sill - too much thinking required on how to secure them!

Come and visit us soon Izzy! And bring Harriet with you! xx A

glorious gardens

We were blown away by the Thuthuka School garden in Tembisa Township near Johannesburg as seen last week on Around the World in 80 Gardens. After viewing some stunning botanical gardens in Cape Town and a beautiful and opulent garden and home in Parktown, Johannesburg - the Thuthuka School garden brought tears to my eyes! The students work in the garden of their school to grow edible herbs and flowers, vegetables and trees. The children are so happy and delighted to have the space and resources to be able to beautify their school and you can feel their enthusiasm and passion when they show you around...

(it's about 3.20 minutes into the clip here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgUJHL7-qGY)



There's not much information around about how they started the garden or how they have made it so beautiful- as far as I can google they have had support from Food and Trees for Africa - a South African based organisation that embrace best practices in sustainable environmental activities that empower poor communities while also playing an important role in reducing carbon emissions- truly inspiring!

ANZAC biscuits

This lovely photo is from Pia's blog. Her friend brought her these ANZAC biscuits right to her door on ANZAC day. There were also ANZAC biscuits being baked in my house on Saturday, and although I didn't take a photo of them they were delicious. Good baking Amber!

nigel

I have to share with you all the blog of artist/photographer Nigel Peake. It is so refreshing to see fun, architectural images so equisitely hand drawn and the photos are great too!  

His website Second Street is a joy too... so many quirky drawings and the water colour site is just so cool. Make sure you check it out. 

Thanks Nigel. 

sunday afternoon

So the time finally arrived this past weekend to make the long awaited Christmas wreath. My mums house in Avalon turned into the wreath making factory for the afternoon. We scoured the streets and our own garden for all our materials and came back with baskets and arm loads full! We used wire frames as our base and a thinner wire to attach what we wanted to the wreaths.


There were three wreath making teams and we all went for the natural look. All with a slightly different slant. I went for the pretty flowers, eucalyptus leaves, little white flowers and hydrangeas..... this is it in progress.

Mum had a wilder approach, her finished product......

Anna and Kristina were somewhere in between..... they used chilli's too.

This is my finished product ready to hang on my door.

A fun weekend project and we all made pretty beautiful wreaths.... success all round.

friday again!

Thank goodness! It's been a long week! I do believe we only have five Fridays left in Sydney before we will all be in Katolo to continue community consultations and begin construction for the Secondary School for Girls. Woo hoo!

Tonight we're heading to our alma mater, The University of Sydney to check out the final year architecture students' exhibition.



[in]form Graduate Exhibition 2008 is on at the Wilkinson Building at The University of Sydney, 148 City Road, Darlington from 6pm. Hope to see you there and if not have a lovely, sunny weekend!

green school

The world's first green school has just opened in the riverside jungles between Denpasar and Ubud. Constructed entirely of bamboo the Green School's goal is 'to prepare students to become responsible global citizens in a world offering challenges and opportunities that can not be imagined at this moment'. Most students are children from all over the world with some local Balinese students offered scholarships to attend.



And with classrooms that are as spectacular and beautiful as these, the journey from pre school onwards will surely be one to remembered.




It's enough to make me want to go back to school! If you're in Bali - the school is open for tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10am sharp. Bookings are required.

work work work

just a little reminder of how to work better..... We have been trying to keeping our heads above our ever increasing pile of work the past couple of weeks. The bricks + cartwheels Gala Dinner is on this weekend, and we are all so excited and even a little bit nervous about it. 

It's been a hard slog, getting everything organised BUT it's definitely going to be worth it! I think this list of tips is the perfect way to stay calm and in control. Thanks to Erin from Design for Mankind for the post.

woo hoo washington!

HUGE congratulations to our friend and colleague in Kenya, Washington Wycliffe. He's just been elected Student Chairman for Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture in Kisumu, Kenya. We've always known Washington to be a smooth talker and thought he'd be a great politician, so this great achievement comes as no surprise to us!

'I believe that everyone has a chance to contribute to change. We all have a special purpose, don't sit back, move forward and contribute to the change we need in this world. It starts with you. Be a vision maker.'

Washington grew up in Katolo, Kenya - where we're currently working to design and build the new Secondary School for Girls. What a great example for all the youth of Kenya to aspire to. We're inspired.

a little herb garden

When we were last in Kenya, I planted a herb garden with Basil (my favourite), Parsley, Chives, Coriander and Mint. It made our not so great food that little bit better! Nothing like some Basil to add some fresh zing to a pasta sauce. I've just planted a herb garden on my balcony in Sydney, but wishing that I had these so I could have them all organised on the kitchen window sill.Available from one of our favourite shops, top3 by design, the Eva Solo pots are self watering. The vase in the base of the pot holds the water for the wick to bring up to the soil as the plant requires it. How cool is that?

soundscapes

Has anyone else been following Pia's soundscapes? They are amazing and can transport you all around the world..... from Paris to Amsterdam and even Sydney's Northern beaches. This soundscape is especially special and really is worth the click, it transports you to a beautiful place and a very intimate little concert. 

We've mentioned Pia before here and here , she is amazing. 

on my wish list...

PlayPumps International’s mission is to help improve the lives of children and their families by providing easy access to clean drinking water, enhancing public health, and offering play equipment to millions of people across Africa. The PlayPump water system are innovative, sustainable, patented water pumps powered by children at play. Installed near schools, the PlayPump system doubles as a water pump and a merry-go-round for children. Already in communities across South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zambia- they are currently expanding to Kenya and fingers crossed we'll be able to work together to bring clean drinking water and a whole lot of fun for the kids of Katolo!

Have a look at their cool bags on flashbags - I am eyeing off the Spinning Smiles extra large box bag, with 10% of the profits going directly to PlayPumps International. It is on my Christmas list already- what a cool way to start a conversation...

how could you resist....

Now this is what I call awesome toys! Beautiful minimalist wooden toys from where else but Sweden. Momoll which means "yeah, yeah" in Swedish/German slang is the name of this great kids design company. 

 I would have killed for these dolls houses and even this toy stove..... what a way to instil good design in small children. Get them young I say.....

Found via Famille Summerbelle.

congratulations Bholu!

Big news from Bholuland over the weekend. Bholu won the Telstra Business award for social responsibility. Congratulation to Jodie and all our Bholu friends, what exciting news! Of course you deserve it, we always knew you were amazing and it's not surprising everyone else does too. 

If you haven't heard about Bholu you should make sure you check them out. Jodie is pictured above and is the founder of Bholu. We've mentioned them here before. They are a wonderful design company that has a beautiful range of products and they also are a fair trade company with a social conscience. 

a new blog to watch

Sophie Daley the photographer and bikini designer, previously mentioned here has a new blog. It's called my lens of love and is a collection of photography, design, moments, art, music and people that inspire Sophie. It's sure to become a daily read, as with everything the talented Sophie does it looks beautiful. 

bikini's

Today feels surprisingly like spring is coming, the sun is shining and the sky is blue. Its just too exciting, here's hoping it lasts. It's the perfect time to start searching for the perfect bikini, and I've found a few....... below is a sneak peak at the new sol bellow summer 08 range by the oh so talented Sophie Daley. 

Aren't they great?! I'm in love with the red cherry bikini..... must put in my order. Not only is Sophie an up and coming bikini designer she is also a very talented photographer, some of her new work was blogged about at follow studio, check it out here. The new sol bellow range will be up on the website soon, be sure to have a look!

sometimes i wish.......

...... i was a florist and got to play with lovely flowers like this lucky lass. Aren't these just beautiful. Sara from the cool blog saipua is one very talented florist, I wish a bunch would land on my desk or door step. 

the clean, official, efficient font

I couldn't help myself- tonight I was alerted to a documentary on SBS - 'Helvetica' - my favourite font. I have an almost obsessive love for the font, and it's one I try to use on all bricks + cartwheels correspondence- much to the ridicule of the others! Loved and hated alike by graphic designers, it's been used for American Airlines, American Apparel, the EPA, The Beatles album covers amongst millions of others. As I say, if I could marry a font- it would be Helvetica! Don't you love its 'cool slickness' too?!

Melbourne trip - art deco exhibition

One of the bricks + cartwheels gang along with a few friends spent a great 5 days in Melbourne last week. There was so much to see and do, we shopped, ate, drank, visited art galleries and walked a lot. There is something about Melbourne that is so interesting and fun. The laneways throughout the city could be explored for weeks on end I'm sure. The highlight of the trip was definitely our visit to the NGV to see the Art Deco exhibition that is on at the moment. 

The exhibition was huge and full of absolutely beautiful and inspiring things. It really explained how Art Deco covered a huge range disciplines from painting to architecture, fashion, home wares, cars and much more. It was also very interesting to see how Art Deco was influenced by different countries, cultures and people.  I would say it is worth a trip to Melbourne purely to see this exhibition. It was excellent! More Melbourne tales to come......