Studio Muti’s gorgeous graphics

Studio Muti is a design studio based in Cape Town, run by illustrators Clinton Campbell and Miné Jonker. I really love their work, especially how they work with typography as a part of the illustrations. That is truly my cup of tea when it comes to design.

Katrin Coetzer’s awesome art

Another for me new artist discovered via Pinterest this week is South African Katrin Coetzer. She seems to be able to master most media, such as oil painting, pencil, ink, water colour, and colour pen illustrations, which certainly is no small feat. I am particularly fond of her pictures where tiny people and animals seems to be scattered about in a landscape of some sort, they are very dreamy in the best possible way.

All pictures belong to Katrin Coetzer.

swept away by shweshwe

A little bit too late in our Durban stay I thought it would be a good idea to buy some shweshwe material and bring back to Sweden, possibly for making cushion covers. Ideally we would have visited one of the bigger stores in the city, but didn’t have time for that, so a smaller store in Chatsworth had to do. They actually had a nice selection, so I got a few metres to at least get me started. Now I just need a sewing machine ... In this first picture is also a very pretty notebook I got at Exclusive Books, and a nice brooch from African Arts Centre. Very, very matchy, no?

I think this one would make a very nice cushion cover, but I am pretty sure it would also make a really cute blouse too, so we’ll see what it ends up as.

Tiny trees in abundance! All dressed in the orange shade of autumn I love so much.

This is very classic shweshwe in my outsider opinion, and a little bit too dark for cusions but maybe a tote bag? Knowing myself though, these fabrics risk being left in the pile of sewing projects I rarely get to. One reason is because I don’t in fact have a sewing machine, but even if I did I’d be a bit scared to use it. That just has to change!

presenting close-ups

Here are a few close-ups from my lovely package I wrote about yesterday. I really love this cute little zebra brooch!

Not to mention how much I love this bottle of olive oil from the family farm, I find that pretty amazing. I guess because I’ve never known anyone with a family farm, but just getting strawberries or fresh herbs from someone’s garden is one of my favorite things. And I hope one day I will be the lucky owner of a small piece of garden or land where I can grow a few things myself.

Oh, I should’ve saved a few of the biscuits for another cup of coffee, they were so delicious!

Package Project 2011

So I have received the package from my super partner Rochelle in the Package Project, and it was a treat to open I tell you! Right now my internet connection doesn’t want to cooperate with me and load more pictures, but I promise I will post more as soon I get it sorted (or am back in Sweden). I did however manage to post some more over at Flickr, which I’m new to by the way, so I hope I did everything right ... Check it out here. This lovely collection of personal and thoughtful gifts consisted of really yummy bisquits (yummy, because I already ate them ...), hot chocolate (which I’m saving for one of the many cold Swedish winter nights left), a cute Christmas ginger bread man (will definitely hang the little sock up for Christmas next year!), a beautiful tea towel (goes perfect in our kitchen), lovely luminaries (can’t wait to try them out for a braai next summer), a gorgeous “bling-y” necklace/bracelet from a local design market (soooo cool!), a tiny adorable zebra brooch (too cute this little fella, and a great add to my ever growing brooch collection), and finally something as fantastic as a bottle of organic olive oil from Rochelle’s parents olive farm!

Thank you Rochelle, it was way more than I could’ve hoped for, and I really hope you’ll enjoy what I picked out for you as much as I am enjoying this!

For the rest of you: sign up for the next Package Project, it’s totally worth it!

new beginnings

Happy New Year everyone! I am still too lazily wrapped up in my holiday to go back seriously to blogging yet, but thought it would be approriate to check in and let you all know I will be back some day. Turns out the ocean is actually better than internet on a sunny day in South Africa, how freakish is that?! Anyways, I know a lot of people are back to work on Monday, so I hope you all enjoy this last weekend of freedom before it’s back to the grind. I still have another two weeks of chilling, but I won’t rub it in ...

Hope you achieve everything you set out to do in 2012!

In just a few hours we are on our way south again! Even though I am not too good with the heat that awaits us, I will sure be very happy to get more daylight and see lush greens and flowers everywhere. And it will obviously be amazing with a five week holiday together, meeting up with family and friends and getting to cuddle with our three cats and one dog! Yes, it will be very nice indeed. I am not sure when we will be online again, but I guess that would be a normal part of a holiday, to stay offline? Eventually I will be back for sure, and in the meantime, if you don’t hear from me before then: have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Package Project 2011

I am so excited having been partnered up for The Package Project hosted by Cupcake Couture. My partner is Rochelle, an architect from Johannesburg, and she’s got a beautiful and inspiring blog called Worded Reflections. I have already started getting things together for what I hope will be a desirable mix of personality, seasonality, practicality, and nationality, with a dash of pretty peculiarities as well! Gift shopping and making is after all one of my favorite things, so this is a project designed for me. Only downside is that it mustn’t be too heavy or fragile, since it needs to travel a long way by mail, so I have had to ignore a few great ideas because of that.

Once the package has arrived safely to Rochelle she will post about it on her blog, and I shall of course blog about her package for me. I can’t wait! I will also be back in South Africa by then, am very excited about that since it’s a year and a half since I was last there. I have missed it a lot!

fever dreams

I got really sick during the book fair, and still haven't recovered, hence the lack of posts. Nothing serious really, just a typical autumn flu with fever, it's just that the fever refuses to budge, and I'm getting very annoyed by it cos I've got no strength to do anything! As much as I like being lazy and just sit in front of the telly for hours, or read blogs and stuff for a full weekend, it's not as much fun when it's the only thing I can do without getting exhausted after 10 minutes. But enough of feeling sorry for myself now!

What I have been doing a lot while lying on the couch is dreaming about places I wanna go, at the moment North American cities seem to be where I wanna go the most: Seattle, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Austin, Montreal, New Orleans. I still haven't been anywhere out west, so it's a giant white canvas for me. Or whatever. Either way I hope I get to visit at least a few of those cities eventually, and that they live up to my giant expectations.

I also want to go to quite a few places out east of course, Hanoi, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kyoto, Bangkok. And I always want to go to my other home, South Africa, where there are so many more places to discover. Being a complete creature of habits though (and having married another one), I would be quite happy just going back to The Estuary down the South Coast in KwaZulu Natal, where we spent a wonderful weekend last August. The picture is from that magical place.

I'm not very adventurous at all, when I find some thing or some place I like, I go back there, over and over again. But with dreams you can come a long way just the same. It got me all the way to the other side of the world for one. And in just a few short days my favorite part of that part of the world (well in all the world actually) is coming up north to join me for winter. There's nothing like hibernating together.

jewellery craves pt. 1: Genevieve Motley

As much as I love vintage jewellery, and finding a handfull of stuff at a flea market for 50 kronor, I do still crave some new designed pieces every now and then (or most of the time if we're being honest here ...). So without further ado, let me introduce you to a new favorite designer, Durban-based Genevieve Motley. I'm a bit disappointed I discovered her gorgeous jewellery maybe one or two weeks after I left Durban this time around, but since my husband is still there I'm hoping I can still get my hands on some things with his help, not having to rely in the post office to do their job. All that's left now is the anxiety of choosing! I'll show you a bunch of candidates, maybe you can help me make a pick? First up is a pretty perfect birds-on-a-string-engraved wood necklace for 85 rand.


Completely amazing hummingbird necklace for 110 rand. I'll admit this is my favorite. I just love everything about it. I wish it came as a brooch and earrings too, I'd cover myself in hummingbirds!


More hummingbirds, in the lovely material perspex, as earrings for 95 rand. A lot of the different things are available in black or white perspex as well as wood, making it even harder to choose cos they all look so good!


When can you ever go wrong with cherry blossoms? Certainly not like this anyway, beautiful wood engraved necklace for 85 rand. The heart and round necklaces come in different sizes, and a bigger version is 110 rand.


Birdcage with escaped bird silver necklace, 120 rand. How cute is this? The more I look at it, the more I can almost start feeling it around my neck ...


Another pretty birdcage necklace, this one in black perspex with silver bird, for 90 rand.


With matching earrings for 90 rand this couple could be a winner! Seeing that the birdcages look like chinese lanterns, I doubt I'll not end up with these.



Finally an incredibly cute fat robin brooch in white perspex for 60 rand. You can find out how and where to buy Genevieve Motleys lovely jewellery on her website, and right now you can also participate in a blog giveaway. Go to Being Brazens nice blog and find out how to enter, then cross your fingers and hope you'll be the lucky winner (competing with me I should add!). Best of luck to us all!

so this is goodbye, for now, dear durban

I'm about to head north again, back to ole Sweden and the island city of Stockholm. From the Indian Ocean to the Baltic Sea, from palm trees to birches, from bunnies to tunnbrödsrullar, from one home to my other, from one part of my family to the rest of them. I'll miss everything dearly, and will surely be back many times again. And again. The thing about being a couple from two countries is that you have to say goodbye a lot, but you also get to feel that bittersweet longing while you're apart, and get the butterflies every time you're waiting or arriving at the airport.



And you get to see so many things you might not have seen before, and when you get back to each place you get to see old places with new eyes. A lot of things stay the same, but a lot of things changes, and so it should be. I wouldn't want to be the same person I was 4 years ago. Not that there was anything wrong with me back then, but I like what's become of me since. I've become somewhat of a globetrotter, I guess you could say. And a wife. Who would've known? Not me, that's for sure. But there you have it.

So, for the time being, goodbye dear Durban, don't forget about me. I'll think of you often. And Stockholm, please put on your prettiest summer outfit, and I'll do the same.

if i had wings

If I had wings it'd be so much easier to live in two countries, and wanting to be in both places at the same time. I don't always want that, but often enough. Being very rich and having my private jet would also work, but I do care about the environment, and don't think global warming is a hoax, so it wouldn't be ideal after all. Having my own set of wings, that perferably would come on and off as I'd like, would come in handy for a lot of things actually. Maybe not grocery shopping, I imagine it'd be rather difficult to handle the load I usually end up buying even if I don't need to use my arms for the flying part.

This beautiful griffin, that's not really a griffin I think, was a find from one of the most magical places I've ever been to. Last August we went for a weekend trip to the South Coast, stayed outside of Port Edward, and mostly drove around to all the little places we could find on the tourist map. This place was not on the map though, it was a poorly written sign by the road saying "antiques" that lead us there. First we drove past it, then turned around as we spotted it at the last minute, and went onto this dirt road that got more narrow by the meter, and dirtier, and stonier, surrounded by banana plantations, and no house was in sight for a long time. We got more and more nervous that there was no house and nowhere to turn the car around and get back to the main road. Then it appeared out of nowhere, this cute little country cottage, looked after by an old lady, and filled with antiques mixed with new towels and soaps and bead necklaces and whatnot. In the end I bought a very pretty dress for my niece, and this griffin, for just 85 rand. I'm not sure we'd find the place again if we ever went back the same way, it felt like something you only stumble upon by chance, once.



But if I had wings, and say it took about 3-4 hours between Sweden and South Africa, it'd be fine to work in one place and spend the weekends in the other place. People do it all the time, I mean when they have that kind of distance between work and home. As it happens I work from home when I'm here in South Africa, so I don't need to commute at all, but there are plenty of other reasons I'd like to go back to Stockholm for, without having to pay a fortune for plane tickets and spend approximately 24 hours of travelling to get there. Not to mention the anxiety attacks that need constant crossword solving and some medication to get through.

My wings could look something like this. Although I'm a little bit concerned about trying to fit my packing into that little basket ...




Maybe something like this would be better considering the packing I'd need to take with me. I can travel light, if absolutely necessary, but I do prefer not to. This particular flying machine looks rather slow, but the design looks very nice. I wonder about parking though, I think it would be best to have something that could be easily stored away while I stay in one of the two places. For one thing, I guess a lot of people would like to get their hands on a set of wings, or personal flying machine. For the other thing, I don't really like big things that can't be stored away.

I really like this book cover design a lot, that's certainly something that should be out for display, not tucked away in a book shelf.



Of course if I had wings, I'd be able to go other places too, and not having to worry about delayed connections, or even hotel rooms, cos I could just fly back home after visiting a market in Hanoi, or Bejing, or Mumbai, or having dinner in Berlin, or San Fransisco, or going to a concert in Seattle, or London, or New York. It would be preferable if I could have two sets of wings though, to always be able to bring someone for company. Mostly I'd probably want to bring my husband, for obvious reasons, but for concerts I'd take Saga, and for markets I'd take Linda.

I think I'd want a pair of black wings, like these. They won't look evil on me though, they'll look very sophisticated, and shiny like velvet, and I'd design a chic flying hat to keep my hair in place. Cos there's nothing more annoying than hair getting into your eyes when you're trying to see where you're flying. I imagine.

pretty things on the walls pt. 3

Just before I was leaving for my almost one-year-stay in South Africa in the fall of 2008, I found this beautiful place mat at Åhléns in Stockholm, and I just couldn't resist it. I just fell in love with the colours and the design, and since I was starting up a new home almost from scratch, I thought it'd be nice to add some Swedish 50's touch to it, even though it's not authentic. As much as I do love the vintage and second hand stuff, I don't have a problem at all with repro-retro stuff to compliment it all sometimes. Especially things that look this great. Now it hangs on a wall in the kitchen, looking very lovely and actually succeeds in reminding me of my northern home.



This little darling seahorse is really a bookmark, and was a very much appreciated going-away-gift from a friend. Of course it had to go with me, travel back to the tropics where I'm guessing it'd be happier than the cold north. I wouldn't want to hide it inside a book, however good a book, so it's also been put on a wall, just beside the front door. For as long as I can remember I've had a thing for seahorses, and it was in fact the very first tattoo I got. I was 22 I think, and didn't tell anyone I was getting it before hand, and I choose this tiny little seahorse out of a nature book I borrowed from the library. I don't really remember if I was nervous or not, but I remember that I didn't think it hurt at all, and it was a very good experience. It's to the right on the small on my back, so I rarely see it. The only thing I regret about it is not making it bigger from the start. My family was more surprised than shocked I think, and they thought it was pretty, which it is. Also, for those of you who might not have watched as much Animal Planet as I have: the male seahorses raise the baby seahorses on his own, keeping them in his pouch. That's pretty awesome if you ask me.



My second tattoo, as it happens, was a small lizard. See, I went from tiny to small, maybe a year or so later. Very courageous. The guy who made it must have thought this was a very boring tattoo, but he still did a good job and it was done in record time: 6 minutes! I was a bit shocked by how quick he was, but happy with the outcome. Even though it's quite small it looks good where it's sitting just above my left ankle, on it's way up my leg, but never getting closer. Children usually find it fascinating, cos it looks pretty real from a distance, and it's perfectly within their eye range. This nice beadwork is probably not surprisingly from Durban, NSA Gallery to be exact. I'd sort of promised not to buy that much of beadwork and bring it home and decorate with, but this lizard just had to come with me. It now watches over me when I cook, as it hangs above the stove.



Another thing I brought from home to Durban was this original piece of artwork made by the extremely talented Staffan Larsson. He made this particular piece for a book my publishing house published in 2008, by Véronique Tadjo, who funnily enough now lives in South Africa (she's originally from the Ivory Coast). I really love ships, and I really love this picture, and I also thought of it as a tribute to my late grandfather, who as a young sailor came to Durban back in 1944. I thought of it as this being my ship, following in his foot steps, or waves maybe? I wish I'd known to ask him about Durban before he passed, but back in 1997 I didn't have the slightest clue I would end up moving to the other side of the world for love, that fortunately found me across all that distance.

The nice vintage frame is from Ikhaya next to Corner Café, right here in Durbs. Although I suspect it might not really be vintage, just made to look old. I still think it suits the ship very nicely indeed.



Next to the ship, which is hanging above one of the couches, is this little duo. The blue one is actually painted ceramic, or tile, and it's from the Netherlands, where my husband got it during his stay there some 5-6 years ago. It reminds me a lot of Carl Michael Bellman, a very famous Swedish singer-songwriter from the 1700's, and I like it very much. The other picture is a postcard I bought in Berlin a couple of years ago, I just liked the composition of it, and I would really have liked to hear this group of gentlemen play something. I bet those giant harmonicas have a quite special sound. I wonder who took the picture, and if any of them could've guessed they'd end up on a massproduced postcard maybe 70 or 80 years later, one day being found in a small book shop in Berlin, only to end up on the wall in Durban.

I'll be the first to tell them: anything can happen. Just wait and see.