Happiness is...

Check out the awesome new Parc. Cafe

2013-05-20T00:41:00.000+02:00

So last week I stumbled across another new Durban cafe - and what a gem it turned out to be! It's right next door to the Glenwood Bakery, which is a relatively quiet little spot so it's a great escape from the hustle of everywhere else. Great decor: simple, clean, great colours and furniture. Free WiFi. Great people: Brett Gentles, the friendly owner and "one of the best creative chefs to come out of Durban" (to quote an article in the Mercury!), has worked at the 9th Avenue Bistro and has now started Parc. Cafe with his sister Lara. And the foooooood...

“Our name is a bit of a pun, ‘parc’ in French means park as in with trees and grass - we wanted to create a sanctuary in the city (like a park). It also came from ‘park off’ as in come chill.”

...the food is fantastic. Such unique flavour combinations that are really like a surprise party in your mouth. I tried the wintermelon, coconut, ginger and chocolate gazpacho (yes, just look at that ingredient combo!) and it was awesome! Each flavour distinctly present and amazing.
Then I had the roast beetroot, radish, green apple, lettuce, avo, lentils and goat cheese vinaigrette - my word. Deeeelicious. And I could have gone on coz I wanted to try so many more things, but I managed to not pig out and save some for next time, which will be very soon.

How awesome are these little cup jerseys? Too flipping cool, and handmade by Brett's mom! They're for sale at R65.

Check it out, you won't regret it :) For more info you can check out their website.

Moments of Happiness 04

2013-05-17T00:56:00.001+02:00

Haven't done one of these in quite a while! And looking back there have been many happy moments. Here are a few...

I finally got the old embroidery stuffs out and got back into it! SO glad I finally got round to taking that first step (I've been meaning to for literally over a year!)... now to continue. Really enjoying it.

I got some impromptu beach time one beautiful Durban winter morning, which was just so calm, peaceful and soul-warming.

This made me really happy: I went to the Botanic Gardens tea garden for their famous ah-mazing crumpets one day and there were these hadedas lurking around for food. So I threw them some crumpet bits and noticed they were getting pretty close, so I held some bits out and they actually started eating out of my hand! That seriously made my day :) I feel like we're friends now. Pity I won't recognise them next time.

Really loving this jersey top I bought, even though it's kinda kitch. Feels like wearing a thin comfy blanket and the print makes me happy.

I got a really great stash of classic second hand books from the last SPCA market I went to. I've got such a big pile waiting to be read now! Less internet reading, more book reading!

What made you happy recently?

A Song I've Been Loving Lately... Oh Sailor

2013-05-15T14:12:00.000+02:00

I've been loving this song lately, particularly the lyrics above. If you haven't heard it before, give it a listen below! Just feels kinda comforting. Hope you like it, too :)

Recent Work - a Writing Map for Sandy Places

2013-05-13T23:30:00.000+02:00

Writing Maps are illustrated maps with writing prompts and exercises on them to get the creative juices flowing and inspire stories, created and written by Shaun Levin. It's a really cool portable tool for aspiring or practising writers.

I got to work on the map for sandy places, Write by the Sea. It's an A3 map that folds down to A6, and was such a cool project to work on and a great concept to be part of!

“Writing Maps are a portable, practical and inspiring guide through the wonders and perils of writing fiction and memoir.

Each illustrated map contains at least 12 extended and thought-provoking writing exercises that will help you explore the city, the home, characters in fiction and memoir, the writing process, and life in general.”

“Writing Maps are devised to inspire stories, spice up your writing routine, expand your work, develop work-in progress, or just make sure you have writerly fun in ways that will surprise you.”

I was very lucky to have been chosen to work on a project that features so many talented illustrators that I admire. You can check out the other maps on the Writing Maps site, and if you're a writer or even just like writing for fun, these are such great tools to use.

May Photo A Day - Week 01

2013-05-13T00:12:00.001+02:00

Sooo.... confession time... I haven't been keeping up with this so well! I should have 12 photos here for 1 - 12 May, but I have 9. I do plan to catch up on whatever I miss before the end of the month! Better late than never, right?

Aaaaanyhoo, if you missed the first post about this and don't know what I'm on about, you can find out here, and if you'd like to follow on Instagram, you can do so here.

If you're also doing the challenge, have you kept it up better than me so far?

And the Giveaway Winners are...

2013-05-08T10:48:00.000+02:00

I thought it'd be unfair to choose a winner based on my favourite quote so I used random.org...

Congratulations, Jowhara! Her quote was...
“Don't create for the masses. Create for people who are your kind of weird.” - Seth Godin

And then, because I'm all kinds of soppy and really did just want to give you guys stuff and started wanting to give everyone something and blah blah blah, I decided to choose two more people (also chosen completely randomly) to give a set of stationery, and those two were...

Please drop me a mail with your postal deets, you three!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered and shared an awesome bit of happiness & inspiration!

All of them were so great, here are just a few of my faves...

“The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.” - Audrey Hepburn from Nicola Williamson Meyer

“f you want something you've never had, you've got to do something you've never done.” from Michelle Baron

“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.” - Albus Dumbledore from Sohini

“I want to be as awesome as my dog thinks I am.” from Nadia Ox

“Even after all this time, the Sun never says to the Earth 'You owe me.' Look what happens with a Love like that. It lights the whole Sky.” - The Poet Hafiz from Taryn Stedman (I've always liked this one, gives me a warm fuzzy feeling :)

Be sure to read all the others in the comments, they'll really brighten your day :)
I hope to have more giveaways soon, so if you didn't win this time I hope you'll try again next time!

Recent Work - Chausan Luxury Silk Scarves

2013-05-05T23:30:00.000+02:00

I'm so excited to have been chosen to work on this project for London based company, Chausan luxury silk scarves. They were creating a few new ranges for their 2013 Spring-Summer Collection and I got to work on the Art Deco collection. It was great since I hadn't really created anything in the Art Deco style before, but Durban has such rich Art Deco architecture from which I could draw some of my inspiration. They recently completed production of the scarves and they're up for sale on their site. It looks like they turned out really well, I love how vibrant the colours are on the fabric.

“With a focus on super deluxe silk fabrics and cutting-edge design, Chausan was founded in 2012 as a London silk scarf label that sought to capture the modern fusion between the East and the West.

Synonymous with imperial luxe, Chausan create timeless silk scarves with a touch of modern interpretation of orientalism. Channel the label’s luxurious fabric and finest craftsmanship, which, with their iconic and inspirational Western designs, perfectly capture the essence of Chausan’s luxe 'fusion between premium silk fabric and freedom of expression of metroplitanism '.”

You can see their other ranges on their site and their Facebook page.

** P.S. Today's the last day to enter the giveaway! Get your entry in if you haven't already! **

May Photo-a-Day

2013-05-02T10:28:00.000+02:00

I love this cool photo-a-day idea I found on Instagram yesterday thanks to Nicola Ashe (@askashe). It was created by Chantelle Ellem, a.k.a @fatmumslim. I've never done any of these thing-a-day things coz I'm just not organised enough to be that consistent, and I just forget, but looking at the topics she's listed for each day it just looks so totally do-able that I think I'm going to do it. I had even already done the first one before I had seen that post!

I took a pic of the fantastic old book treasures I found yesterday. I feel excited just looking at them!

Anyway, case in point with my previous comment: by the time I remembered about today's topic ("morning ritual") my morning ritual was already pretty much over :/ Hah! But I'll catch up tomorrow and try to keep it going, I think it's going to be fun!

Read more about it on her site. It's not limited to instagram and there are even prizes involved.

Are you going to try it? Follow me on instagram to see how it goes :)

Hungry for some ArtSnacks!

2013-05-01T23:30:00.000+02:00

I was so freakin excited by this fantastic find the other day! Like the many other similar services I've seen popping up recently, ArtSnacks is a subscription service to get given a surprise package on a monthly basis... but this one is for art supplies! Plus a sweet, haha. You get 4 or 5 items in each package and it's $20 per month. For us here in SA that's around R180, plus $10 international postage which makes it about R270. Not bad considering that art supplies like the ones they send are usually quite pricey! As soon as I have some spare cash lying around (hah!) this is where it's going.

"ArtSnacks is a monthly subscription service to the best art products around, serving artists all over with top-of-the-line art supplies. ArtSnacks is the creative brainchild of Sarah and Lee Rubenstein, a brother-and-sister team who are also behind EatSleepDraw, one of the largest user-submitted art sites on the internet."

Giveaway Time! {closed!}

2013-04-30T00:18:00.000+02:00

Remember that giveaway I mentioned a little while ago? Here it is! I've teamed up with the lovely Tatjana Buisson from Postcard Happiness to share the stationery and postage happiness with you lovely people!

It's such a great project and really resonates with me, so if you haven't heard of Postick or Postcard Happiness before, here's the dealio from Tatjana herself:

"I created www.PostcardHappiness.com in an effort to inspire people to get back into sending each other postcards. The digital age is wonderful and incredibly efficient but there's something so special about receiving a physical postcard that was written by hand and posted by someone special. It makes us so happy and it lasts as long as the postcard does. There are two main branches to the website: The Postcard Happiness Project and Postick.

The Postcard Happiness Project is an ongoing initiative which makes it easy for anyone around the globe to send friendly postcards to strangers who could do with a little extra happiness. I add profiles of people who are experiencing challenging times and a link to their personal postal address. You can check in on the site every week or so and pick a person you'd like to send some friendly words to. You write them a postcard and send it and voila! You've made a complete stranger very happy with minimal effort.

Postick (which is part of this awesome giveaway) is a product I've recently developed out of pure necessity. Postick is my brand of sticky labels that look like the back of a postcard. You can stick one on the back of a printed photo, write your message and post it. Stick one on fabric off-cuts, illustrations, magazine cut-outs, bits of beautiful packaging... anything! So when you see something that reminds you of someone, keep it and send it with a Postick on the back and your written message. "

Here's what you get:

1 x Postick pack containing 10 Postick labels

3 x A6 Happiness is... inspirational notecards

4 x Happiness is... patterned gift tags

How to get it:

1. Share your favourite happiness quote or inspirational words in the comments on this post

2. "like" the Postcard Happiness page on Facebook

For extra entires you can "like" the Happiness is... page on Facebook and follow me on twitter, and mention each extra entry in the comments section (all in one comment is fine) so I can count it in.

Last day for entries is Monday next week (6th May). Only open to South Africa.

Go forth and join the postcard revolution!

Last week's posts at a glance...

2013-04-29T11:30:00.000+02:00

Catch up on any posts you missed last week!
• Flower Beards
• 5 x i love: Rings
• New Stationery
• Rooted in Succulents

Retro Let's Go! - A huge success!

2013-04-28T21:09:00.001+02:00

So this past weekend was the awesome Retro Let's Go vintage and retro market that I mentioned a while ago and it was such a raging success! It was super super busy with a very cool and well-dressed crowd. I tried to snap away in the midst of it all, but many of my pics were taken very fast and many turned out blurry, but I managed to get a few good ones that I think will give you the vibe of it if you weren't there...

The dance was later in the evening and I unfortunately didn't attend that, but from what I hear it was sold out and was a really great event as well. I'm sure it'll be happening again sometime, so be sure to catch the next one! I have a feeling it's going to just get bigger and better. Well done to the organiser, Micaela, for doing such a fantastic job!

Flower Beard

2013-04-24T23:03:00.000+02:00

I just love this creative botanical shoot! Beards and plants - what a great combo, right? I just came across the site of Sarah Winward who creates beautiful fresh flower arrangements for weddings and events. The guy in the photos is her husband and this shoot was his idea!

New Stationery!

2013-04-24T00:35:00.000+02:00

I've got some new notecards available on my Hello Pretty store! Would love to know what you think of them and what you'd like to see in future, let me know in the comments :)

5 x I Love... Beautiful Rings

2013-04-22T23:30:00.000+02:00

one • two • three • four • five

Rooted in Succulents

2013-04-21T23:30:00.000+02:00

Jessica St. Hilaire is the owner, maker and designer behind the Etsy shop, Rooted in Succulents. Her designs include woodworking with reclaimed materials, vintage treasures and centerpieces from topiaries to reused books and any other means of using succulents in colourful ad unusual ways. I especially the reused book pieces and the initials, would love a big one like that on my wall!

"Rooted in Succulents is a business born of my absolute love and obsession with succulent plants!"

View more here.

Free stuff!

2013-04-19T15:06:00.000+02:00

So excited about my first ever giveaway on the blog happening very soon in collaboration with a very cool product! Here's a sneak peek at what's in store, keep an eye out for it! :)

Sneak Peek - Watercolour Patterns

2013-04-17T23:30:00.000+02:00

I've recently developed a thing for patterns and have been really enjoying experimenting with creating some! Here are a few that'll be used for some products soon. What do you think? Would love to know how you'd like to see them used and which ones you like best, let me know in the comments!

Lettercats - An Illustrated Cat Alphabet

2013-04-17T01:20:00.002+02:00

I don't think this needs much explanation - a cat alphabet. Yes. Nevermind that it's a Russian alphabet - that's not the point. Cats.
Created by Russian painter and graphic designer, Irina Batkova.

Beautiful wearables from So Little Time Co.

2013-04-16T00:55:00.000+02:00

How awesome are these accessories from So Little Time Co.? From the cute little creatures above, to the awesome detailed Penny Farthing brooch below and the wooden photo locket pendents, each item displays its own individuality and uniqueness. I'd love to own one of these pieces!

"So Little Time Co. was started by Kirsty and her husband Josh, through a desire for more creativity and a means in which to channel it."

Check out more on their Etsy shop.

Happiness is... on Instagram!

2013-04-15T00:01:00.000+02:00

Hey peeps! Hope you've had a fantastic weekend. Just wanted to let you know I've finally joined Instagram. I hadn't joined before this coz I just wasn't feeling it for some reason, partly because of feeling a bit overwhelmed with other social media that I felt I was wasting too much time on already so I didn't want to add to that. Also because I know that if I'm not properly into something I probably won't do it justice, and I think it's sometimes better to not do something at all rather than do it for the sake of it and do it badly, you know?
So anyway, I'm into it now. And trying to keep the cat pics to a minority, so I promise it's not just cats! Would love to see you guys there! > happinessis_blog

Beautiful Art Prints & Photography by Kari Herer

2013-04-10T23:30:00.000+02:00

I am so totally crazy about this fantastic work by photographer, Kari Herer. She has a background in fine art and graphic design and a strong love for nature, all of which are clear in these pieces. I adore the fresh beautiful florals combined with the simple line work.

These are all prints available from her Etsy site, but she specialises in professional portrait photography which you can see on her website.

Have your cookbook and eat it too!

2013-04-09T23:30:00.000+02:00

I came across this quite a while ago and loved it, but recently came across it again and thought it's worth sharing with you guys in case you hadn't seen it. An edible real cookbook! The best kind :) It was created by Korefe, a German design studio. I love it when people do such awesome creative stuff with design!

"The first and only Cookbook you can actually read, cook and eat. Made out of 100% fresh pasta it can be opened, filled with ingredients and finally be cooked. Packaged as classic lasagna. The Cookbook was designed as a special project for a large publishing house."

Retro Let's Go!

2013-04-09T11:07:00.000+02:00

If you're in Durban and you haven't heard about this yet, you'd better listen up! Retro Let's Go is a super cool new event happening for the first time on the 27th April at the DLI Hall. It's going to be an awesome market selling vintage and retro goods and more, followed by a fifties dance in the evening! How flipping awesome!

Retro, Let’s Go is Durban’s first full day Vintage Festival being held on the 27th April 2013 at the historic DLI Hall.

Word from the bird is that the DLI will be transformed into a hip, happening joint, with sounds from the jukebox, girls in full skirts, beehives, boys in their Don Draper best, shoppin’ and boppin’ like its 1956!

There will be a market from 9am-1pm featuring carefully selected and curated vintage and modern retro-inspired clothing, antiques, jewellery, books, treats and anything else delightfully old-school! With a tailor and hairdresser on stand by, a Bean Green pop-up coffee shop and much much more - market-goers won’t be able to resist spending the morning and be rip, roaring and ready for the Retro, Let’s Go 1950s Dance that night where Dr Fly & The Nurses and Veranda Panda will be a-swinging!

One of the first things that came to mind when I was thinking about this was Archie comics. I was a total Archie comic geek and loved the whole vibe they had going... Ah the good ol' days. Here's some outfit inspiration from Betty and Veronica!

The second thing that came to mind was Grease. More just retro than fifties, but still great for some inspiration... And just to stare into young John Travolta's eyes for a bit...

If you've got a product, service or idea that'd suit the event, get in touch via the details below or on the event facebook page and be a part of it! Get amped, get involved, and get there!

The Glenwood Bakery

2013-04-07T23:59:00.001+02:00

I finally paid a visit to the Glenwood Bakery that opened recently at 398 Esther Roberts (Frere) Road in Glenwood. (Actually, I did visit a while ago, but they were closed :/, so second time lucky.)

It's a really comfortable little space, and the word that comes to mind to describe it is "honest". The decor is simple and practical and the subtle colour scheme of white, dark wood and green is my favourite. The numerous little plants also really add to the atmosphere. Another bonus is that they have free wifi, or as their site states (which I love) "There is free WiFi so that our customers don’t have to talk to each other or to me."

The staff are friendly, and so are the patrons which was quite a varied mix of lovely people.

Their menu is small, but changes daily and looks like it'll always have something good going on. I had a goat cheese, roasted tomato and rocket sandwhich on rye, which was deeelish. They also make ice cream, following traditional French recipes, "using loads of free range eggs and cream or top quality fruit". I tried some of their ginger ice cream, which was super rich and creamy, but could have had a stronger flavour. To drink, they have fresh orange juice and good coffee from Colombo round the corner. Of course being a bakery, their artisanal breads are their specialty. They produce five varieties and a daily special on rotation. The grissini is addictive!

All round a great place with a relaxed vibe to chill out and have a chat over coffee and some of their yummy snacks. I'll definitely be going back. When you visit be sure to check their baking times and opening hours on their site to avoid disappointment. You can also find them on Facebook.