The holidays are around the corner, and I’ve been gathering different party outfit examples. A friend of mine and I have decided to go in retro style dress for a bit of fun, but I’m not sure if we are brave enough to do for it just yet. I began browsing my favourite vintage style clothing site, and I found some lovely examples of holiday dresses I am seriously considering for our party. My favourite one at the moment is the golden sequin dress, but the style is quite a bit out of my comfort zone. I don’t know if I should just go for it. I’m not one to shy away from trying something knew, but I am having difficulty justifying the price to myself. All of these dresses are available through ModCloth. I recommend visiting their website if you fancy viewing some lovely, vintage inspired garments. I am never disappointed with ModCloth.
I always wondered about this idea. Saul Griffith gives a very inspirational and informative TED Talk about the ability of kites to generate renewable energy. He discusses the energy crisis, and different methods we are currently using to solve the problem. Saul briefly talks about his giant kite turbines that produce a substantial amount of clean energy, and what is needed to bring this idea into fruition. This is a very interesting Talk, and I recommend giving it a view. The idea is quite inspiring.
I haven’t been tending to my outside garden for a couple of weeks as I have been quite ill with the flu. Then I was unlucky enough to have gotten a bit of food poisoning. I’m all better now, and yesterday I did a bit of cleaning up for the winter months. I pulled out the tomato plant, and cut the last bits of tomatoes from the vines. I gave up on the cucumber as well. It has been quite cold here, and the poor plant seemed to be struggling to stay alive. I put out my garlic, and started tending to my indoor plants after that.
I started growing some pinto beans a few weeks ago, and they have done amazingly indoors. I only hope they last the winter inside. I don’t keep it too warm in the house, but they don’t seem to mind it one bit. One of the plants has even started blossoming a lovely white flower. I am quite excited about this little surprise. I certainly need to get them something to climb on as the vines are getting quite long. On another note, the spinach is absolutely huge. I think I’ll need to repot the plants and thin them out as well. A few of the weaker plants are dying on me. I am just afraid the weather is too cold for them to survive. I wonder whether I should just let the weaker plants die in the pot, or if I should risk thinning them out. The other lettuce I did that too died on me. I am not quite sure about what to do just yet.
I was quite fascinated when I discovered the architectural practice that designed this structure. I was in a bit of a bind with my research regarding tiny homes and building regulations. I have a basic idea of what I want to build, but I don’t think I can make this happen in the UK without making life very difficult for my family. I was planning on building Tumbleweed’s Fencl tiny home design, and permanently placing it on a woodland I would purchase in East Sussex. I didn’t think we would need planning permission since the home would still be on wheels and would technically be classified as a caravan, but I was wrong. After reading legal paper after legal paper, I discovered that we would only be allowed to dwell on a woodland for 28 days unless we had planning permission, which is seldom granted for that type of land. It was back to the drawing board with my idea. Then, as I was doing a bit more research, I came upon a sustainable architectural practice called FKDA based in Manchester.
The architects at FKDA designed a fabulous tiny home they named dwelle. I quickly learned as much as I could about the home and it’s design, and I have to say I quite love it. The house looks like a shed from the outside, but the inside is quite grand. The ceilings are very high giving the illusion of a bigger space. The design is meant to be completely sustainable and zero carbon. The materials used in the frame construction are FSC Certified, and the entire home is designed to run efficiently on low energy. FKDA offers several dwelle.ing options ranging from a large dwelle.ing to a beach dwelle.ing. The one I am interested in is the big dwelle.ing which ranges from £35,000 to £50,000 in price. The internal size of the structure is 6.7 by 3.5 metres or 24 square metres. This design is a bit bigger than the home we were previously thinking about building. Did I mention the home is a prefab? I big plus if you ask me.
If you fancy learning more about the dwelle.ings designed by FKDA, then I certainly recommend visiting dwelle.co.uk. The designs are quite brilliant.
I’ve been recieving the Aubin & Wills Almanac for some time now, and their designers never cease to amaze me. I am especially fond of the absolutely brilliant typography showcased in each volume. I do love the company’s clothing as well, but I must admit that I look forward to the Almanac for the graphic design and typography. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but there you go. I keep all of their issues, but my absolute favorite one is the Autumn 2009 Volume I received some time ago. I adore the front and back covers. They are stunning! The photography and editorials are beautiful as well. Everything about the design in this issue is brilliant.
Unfortunately, my laptop died this past week. It was a black Macbook that has lasted me over 5 years, and I must admit I was a bit disappointed it bricked on me this soon. I figured something would go wrong with it about this time, but I did not anticipate it being the hard drive. Needless to say, I either had to spend quite a bit of money on a new hard drive, or spend money on getting a new laptop. Thankfully, my lovely husband keeps most of his old machines and offered to give me his broken Macbook Pro instead. Oddly enough, the hard drive had gone on it as well, but it was still under warranty. Now, I have a shiny Macbook Pro. I couldn’t be more pleased, but now I have to find something to carry it in. It doesn’t fit in my travel cases so I had a look around and found these lovely bags by Kazzki.
I am not sure if they are meant to be laptop bags, but I can certainly fit my computer in one. They are made from 100% Industrial Wool Felt and each bag is created by hand. The designer weaves together her creations, then secures the parts with rivets. They look like very strong and sturdy bags to me. If you would like more information on Kazzki bags, I do recommend you visit the Kazzki website. The designer is based in Australia, but she ships all over the world.
These are my kind of designs. Lilac Pop has a lovely collection of art, fashion and crocheted items all handmade by the very talented artist behind the shop. She is based in Michigan, USA, but I do believe she will ship anywhere in the world if requested. There isn’t one thing I don’t love in Lilac Pop, and I certainly recommend giving it a view. I am especially fond of her jewelry designs. If you fancy any of the items in this post, I do recommend visiting the Lilac Pop website.
I don’t quite know how to describe the artwork of Lena Yampolsky. I can say that I absolutely love it. Her work is a bit dark, a bit playful and very revealing of her traveling life. The brush and pen strokes she uses are very interesting to me. It seems as if the worlds created in her paintings are composed of liquid colour in a way. Everything seems to melt into itself and back out again into the landscape. Her work is is very different, and I quite love her style.
Lena grew up in the southeast of Georgia, and has traveled throughout Central Asia and the Middle East. Her work is certainly influenced by her travels and the melting pot of cultures she has come across. She creates digital and mixed media work for sale and as an independent illustrator. If you fancy giving her work a browse, I recommend visiting the Baba Yagada Shop via her website. I don’t know if she would be willing to sell originals, but she does sell high quality prints online.
I had a little expedition the other day with my husband through Great Windsor Park. We were absolutely amazed at how beautiful the park is during Autumn. The landscape was painted with warm, fiery tones, and the ground was littered with nuts, berries and the occasional giant fungus. It was quite a site to behold. I am adding a few of my favorite images from that trip. I quite fancy the fungi the best. They are quite the experts at camouflage.
Today is Day Of The Innocents which is when children that have passed come back home to see their family. Tomorrow is Day of the Dead, and this is when adults that have passed come home. Dennis and I don’t have the luxury of spending these two days at the cemetery where our friends and relations were buried, but we still celebrate in their honor at home. It’s a very important part of my culture, and a very important tradition to me. I’m just glad Dennis helps me celebrate. I don’t feel so alone on these two days because of him. Now, it’s time to get the food cooking, the wine flowing and the party started. I’ve added a few videos about Day of the Dead and Day of the Innocents in case some of you aren’t familiar with the tradition. Happy Dia De Los Muertos everyone!
Hello there! I'm Sam Groves, a graphic designer, artist, organic gardener and traveler living in the United Kingdom. Aside from that, I run this little ol' daily design, style and green living blog from my home near Windsor. If you want to know more about me or the blog, Read On.
