{ Colour Of The Week }

Dusty shades of blue, green, pink and orange – there's something about this contrasting combination that I find quite charming!

Sally x

Image via the ever inspiring le dans la

{ DESIGN POST }

REUBEN PATERSON
I often drive past a public installation of Reuben Paterson's work beside the entrance to the Newmarket train station and wish our art group had bought one of his pieces. I can't resist glitter and diamond dust. Perhaps it is the magpie personality that resides in me or the fact I am a '70s baby and so is he. The installation Paterson did for the education area of the Auckland Art Gallery was a lot of fun too. Kids could view his work through a kaleidoscope and convert his glittering patterns into mirrored twisted and twirling ones, which allowed the kids to manipulate his art works. I think I had as much fun as the kids did.

BY HOLLY CLARKE

{ This Week in the Office }

It's end of season sale time so Emma has been busy with artwork for adverts and in store signage for our stores.  It will be sad to see Copenhagen go but we need to make room for our upcoming Summer 2014/15 collection. And who doesn't love Summer! Here's our Britomart pop-up store looking sale-ready snapped by @britomartnz.

Shop the sale in store and online for a limited time only. 

Sarah x

{ Snapshot }

Does anyone else remember this Cinderella book from back in the day?? 

I came across it the other day and was transported to my childhood-self immediately. Oh how I drooled over every single dress. My BFF and I used to negotiate which dress we could each bags, and fantasise for hours, completely absorbed in its pages. 

I adored the colours, the ribbons and bows and 18th century styling. I mostly recall being able to almost feel the wondrous silks and twinkling laces; all the fabrics and colours were utterly alive for me.

A 'well-loved tale' indeed. This one's for you, Rosie :)

Amy

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{ This Week In The Office }

This week we threw a small soirée for our media friends – launching our summer 2014/15 collection inspired by the city of Hanoi. At our traditional Vietnamese breakfast we served a delicious Pho soup and our guests got a glimpse of our upcoming collection which will be available in stores late August!

Sally x

{ DESIGN POST }

This month In My Humble Home

Over the last month we have been seriously considering renovating our kitchen. Just the thought of banishing from my life the '90s forest green cabinetry and oven with the wonky-won't-close door gets me all excited inside! The more I think about it the more flippant I feel about the cost of it all, I just want it done! 

As a starting point I've done a little research on beloved Pinterest. I'm not sure if this helps or hinders as there are so many possibilities. White and minimal, natural wood, modern industrial, which tiles, what handles, what lighting, soft-close or not soft-close?!!!! 

I can't promise a new kitchen next month, but it won't be too far away! Watch this space.

Emma x

Photos found on Pinterest (where possible the design/source is linked): 

Top left going clockwise: 1&2. Bloesem Living 3. Academy Tiles 4. Nordic Design

{ Inspired By }

Black & white painterly graphic prints, simple monochromatic spaces and some pretty plant life.

Sarah x

Images via Pinterest

{ Snapshot }

Delivery! Today an exciting package arrived from one of our Indian suppliers, with a cute custom-made bag holding the exciting bundle of new knitted cotton throw and scarf samples inside. We thought it was pretty nifty!

Amy

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{ Inspired By }

AMANDA GRUENWALD

I recently came across Amanda's work and found it really interesting. These dripping compositions look computer generated, but they are not, it is in fact oil on canvas. The colours and segmentation look like something out of an old tapestry or a 'paint by numbers', but she has had some fun with it and turned it into a futuristic landscape. They are stunning and I would absolutely love to buy one. I just need to convince my art group to fall in love with them as well!

BY HOLLY CLARKE

{ Inspired By }

So, you know how you see really cool blogs or stuff on Instagram sometimes and you just get filled with longing to be.that.girl/have.that.life? A while ago I discovered Ariele Alasko's beautiful blog, and was so captured and inspired by her and her wood working journey of amazingness, that I actually signed up for a wood work night class and made myself a coffee table. It was way more time-consuming than I expected but extremely satisfying I have to say! 

Ariele lives in Brooklyn, New York. She started out making her own furniture and DIY-ing in her apartment, but her hobby soon grew into a full time business and before long she was able to expand into a proper workshop space. I love that she uses reclaimed wood from across America, and everything is made painstakingly by hand. I highly recommend having a read of her blog and learning about all the great stuff she has made and done over the years. Talk about inspirational!

Amy

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{ DESIGN POST }

…my talented niece, Lola Houghton. This is the first in three posts I'm planning to do, on my 13 year old niece Lola and her entries for the past 3 years into the Schools' Trash 2 Fashion awards here in Auckland. 

To participate, all outfits must be made using 100% rubbish. The objective of ST2F is to "raise awareness about the environment and waste.  With an arts twist, students learn about the impacts of waste and how we can lessen these by using creative innovations." 

Lola won her category in 2012 and 2013. Watch this space for how she goes in this year's awards, next month! Her design is absolutely stunning and inspiring so whatever happens, I am super proud of her, and can't wait to share it on here soon.

That's Lola above in 2012, age 11 in her winning outfit, 'Miss Flotsam & Jetsam'. Talk about chic. Here's what she says about her design and inspiration:

My design was inspired by three things: 1930s haute couture, 

the pollution of our oceans, and a dream I had.

I was thinking about the pollution in our oceans and how we need to 

change that. I am disturbed by the fact that we pollute our oceans 

carelessly and I wanted to show that through my garment.

I created a fascinator that shows a black-billed seagull spewing up 

a net. It has plastic in its stomach because many birds and sea 

creatures eat bits of plastic thinking it is fish and food and then the 

plastic does not digest. The creatures die of starvation because there 

is no room left in their stomachs for real food.

I wanted my dress to represent the ocean and that it is still alive – but 

drowning underneath junk. I decided to make my cape show the junk 

and the effect it is having on the fish in the sea. I peg-dyed my dress 

blue to look like the ocean and put a frill on it to show the foam. I used 

old-school paper dye (rather than fabric dye from a shop) to dye it with, 

and a frill from the school rubbish bin.

I decided to make shoes out of the kind of junk plastic you find in the 

sea, and then I dreamed that I used Barbie dolls to make my shoes. 

When I woke up, I thought this would look really amazing. I ended up 

using Barbie doll bits throughout my outfit.

We have to change this pollution problem now, for our future.

More next month!

Amy
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{ Work In Progress }

With the sale season upon us and the new summer collection soon to be launched, there is never a quiet moment here at the office. A couple of us braved the wild weather last week and went scavenging for bamboo leaves to provide the finishing touches on our media launch invitations (pictured above). We think they look pretty lovely!

Have a great week everyone!
Emma x

{ This Week In The Office }

Well, unfortunately this wasn't actually going on 'in our office' but it is going on next door at our BLOC store! We've collaborated with Christchurch based patisserie J'aime Les Macarons to bring their delicious macarons to our stores. The J'aime Les Macarons popup stand will be located at our BLOC location until the end of the week. We nipped over for an afternoon tea treat – I think it's safe to say, we'll be paying a few visits next door for the remainder of their stay!

Sally x

{ This Week in the Office }

Phew – busy times in the office! Emma's proofing the new catalogue for summer 14/15 (above); we have a production line sitting at the table working on media launch invites; Sally and I are filling in the gaps on winter 2015, and Sarah is head-down working on merchandising guides for the new collection... Can't wait for August when we can finally release it to the world :)

Have a lovely weekend everyone, and stay cosy!

Amy

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{ Inspired By }

Check out these amazing images of a shopping centre in Munich, captured by photographer Nick Frank. Such lovely colours, patterns and forms. Images like this make me want to get out the paint brushes again…

Amy

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{ DESIGN POST }

I stumbled across this really great interview with owner and queen baker, of Little and Friday, Kim Evans over on Little Gatherer and felt compelled to share it! Now I know this place is no secret, and truth be told I was first introduced to Little and Friday a few years back by a good friend too so it's not exactly a new discovery for me either, but if you've ever visited one of their cafes I'm sure that you'll agree with me – everything they do, they do damn well! From the most delicious sweet and savoury treats, to their charming atmosphere and immaculate presentation.

If you're not based in Auckland you can still get in on the magic – Kim Evans has now released two books, 'Treats from Little and Friday' and 'Celebrations' and they're packed with all of the gems you see above! 

Sally x

Images via Little Gatherer.

{ Inspired By }

I recently came across an 'Alice in Wonderland' book illustrated by Yayoi Kusama. I love her drawings and sculptures, they seem to lure me in, just like her octopus tentacles. I saw the large scale building wrap two years ago in New York and it certainly had the impact she intended. 

Involved in the New York avant-guarde scene in the '50s and '60s, influencing the likes of Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, Kusama eventually returned back to Japan and voluntarily admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital where she has spent the rest of her life.

Now an 85 year old, she has finally been acknowledged as one of the most important living artists from Japan. I admire an older woman who has relentlessly been true to herself and has forged the way for others. 

BY HOLLY CLARKE

{ Inspired By }

If you're like me and find the permanent nature of tattoos a bit intimidating, it can be really fun to play with temporary ones instead. 

I got to thinking about tattoos after seeing the pretty Rifle Paper Co one in the first pic above. It's amazing how fast things go mainstream nowadays, but when they first come out it's always cool to see something a bit different to the more typical styles of tattoo art.

Love Tattly's graphic designer geek/chic 'Tattone' colour chip one, and the hipsterfied, minimalist 'mum' tattoo. And what about those cute-as camping themed ones? And for those who simply can't decide, I guess you can just go all out and wear them all at once!

Best of all – when you're sick of them you can just rub them off and go back to au natural – ah what a relief!

Amy
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{ Behind The Scenes }

I stumbled across these shots taken at the photoshoot of our current winter 2014 collection a few weeks ago and thought it would be nice to share – because who doesn't love a good behind the scenes shot!

Happy Friday everyone!
Sally x