{ Final Entry... }

For 2008 that is.

Time to whip out your new organisers, diaries, New Year resolution lists + calendars.

What a great way to welcome 2009 by using one of these very cute, eco-friendly desktop calendars?

They are made out of sustainably harvested birch, imported all the way from "Sweet Home Alabama", US and they are $39.

This will look so pretty on my desk.

The cute designs will make me flippy happy when end of month arrives.

Happy New Year everybody! Be merry & drive safe.

{ Standing the test of time }

The famous Transglass series by Tord Boontje was featured in Nov08's copy of Home Concepts.

I was pleased to see that it made an appearance under their "Standing The Test of Time" section. Right up there with the other designer classics such as George Nelson's clock and Philippe Starck's juicer.

Here's a peek if you haven't seen it already.

{ Gift Guide - Part 3 }

Our final (possibly the most important) of our gift guide series, something for the ladies.

[ Clockwise from the left : Sunshine necklace by Hollieginger, Gold Edition German piggy bank, Antique Kimono bench/side table, Gorgeous dress with detachable cape available at Antipodean, Screen-printed art block, Triple scented candle, One-of-a-kind saucer set fused with gold lustre ]. Price ranges from $79 for the art block to $499 for the bench.

{ Gift Guide - Part 2 }

Something for the guys...

[ Clockwise from the left: Artecnica's lidded carafe, vintage looking Oldtimer, the dramatic yet masculine Icarus light, the Australian Bushland side table/bench ].

{ Gift Guide - Part 1 }

With X'mas lurking round the corner, we were inspired to compile our very first instalment of our Gift Guide series to assist those who are scratching their heads over what to buy or for those scouting for thoughtful and unique gifts.

Last minute shopping amidst blaring X'mas corals and arm jostling with fellow shoppers can be fun but having a guide in tow is definitely a saviour!

[ Clockwise from top left: Oh-so-cute Rocking Rabbit instead of the usual rocking horse, Handmade Moroccan shoes, Decorative shelf stand, Muslin wraps in cute animal prints, Shelf Stand (available in Bird design), Jetliner, Bean Bag (new designs available) ]. Price ranges from $49 for the muslin wraps to $345 for the rocking rabbit.

{ Party Pics }

Thank you so much to those who took time from their precious weekend to attend our party. It was nice seeing all of you and we hope you had a great time.

Till the next party!

Cheers;

Ros & Dawn

Thank you Tricia, from Antipodean for the pretty cupcakes!

The lovely girls behind the scenes

{ Going Green }

Max Kater used to hold a high flying position within the fashion industry when she decided to hang up her designer outfits (and her Birkin's) to be a stay-at-home-mum.

Shortly after, she got frustrated with the lack of quality organic cleaning products available in the market. She wanted something that was effective, 100% safe for her kids and pets and took the plunge to start her own organic cleaning label.

Boy am I glad she took the gamble as I love her whole product concept and the lovely packaging! It makes me want to display them instead of hiding it behind closed doors.

Dishwashing Liquid (set inc. rack + pot brushes)

Her efforts are certainly paying off as her products are now stocked in Japan, Canada, Australia and now Singapore.

Max's products are effective as it adopts the colloidal technology - used to clean up oil spills in the ocean. It works and yet it is 100% safe, biodegradable, negative impact to the environment and they are never tested on animals.

It's good knowing that as I am washing the dishes, all that suds going back into the sea is non-toxic.

Classic Boxed Set - consisting of 6 different products

Do not throw out the bottles after use as 1 litre refills are available for all of her products. It comes in 3 fragrances: Australian White Grapefruit, Juniperberry and Fragrance Free!

Max writes these quirky labels for her products and I will leave you with an excerpt from her Boy's Bathroom Cleaner".

{ Afternoon Soiree }

Dawn & I are thrilled to be hosting our very first little tea party at the shop.

Isn't the invite cute? Thank you Hoang!

As this is a season of giving, we have lined up a pretty interesting mix of goody bags for the first 30 early birds. Whoopee!

Over at The Nest, we will be giving away some items from our favourite label!

A couple of sponsors along Holland Village have contributed to the goody bags as well. I shall not reveal the goodies as surprises are always good right?

We will be releasing some new products whilst Antipodean will be putting up their new arrivals of pretty frocks from Australia.

Deck out in your favourite outfits and see you all this Saturday.

{ Scented Notes }

This particular Sydney label stood out amongst the numerous Candles & Fragrances companies we had to choose from.

We were inspired by Nicole, the founder who is so passionate about fragrance that she decided to start up her own label. She concentrates on a small category of products so that she can spend more time on concocting new scents.

Nicole used to work at Chanel Fragrances so yeah, she definitely know what what she's doing.

We love their products as the quality is undeniable, their range of scents are sophisticated and refreshing. Most importantly, they are affordable.

I cave in to certain luxuries but I can't bring myself to light up that $200 candle without feeling any guilt. On the other hand, I don't want to pay $40 for a candle but smells artificial. A balance can be struck somewhere and that is where Nicole comes in.

People tend to forget how important a scented space is after spending so much money on decor. Like accessories, I view them as that thoughtful personal touch you can add to your home or space.

Nicole believes in layering. This simply means you don't have to purchase the exact same scent for your whole house. Over at the shop, we have 6 different flavoured diffusers and they not only blend so beautifully, the scents are surprisingly refreshing and not overwhelming.

Come by the shop to check out their latest scents, Cumquat and Lemongrass. The lotion and body bar have a new evocative scent, Amalfi Coast. It smells just like the ocean.

Psst: Did I mention that their diffusers are water-based and hence, doubles up as a body mist as well?

Brilliant!

{ Kiddy Chic }

This chic company from Australia has a delightful range of children's decor that is designed for everyday use. I heart their bean bags. The colours are fresh, the animal applique in their vintage inspired fabric are oh-so-cute. I wish I had such whimsical items as a kid. I can totally see myself bouncing off these bean bags with glee.

Here are some of the designs we have at the shop.

Ok, I know the pictures aren't very clear but I just wanted to show how it is displayed at the shop.

The new colour this season: Watermelon. Looks yummylicious!

Cushions

Shelf stands (which can double up as a jewellery holder)

Bookends

Height chart that comes with 3 wooden pegs to track your heigh progress!

If you have an upcoming kid's birthday to attend or if you're looking for an early X'mas pressie...I'm sure any child (or parent) will be mighty pleased to receive any of these lovely accents.

{Our 1st Feature}

We are thrilled to be featured in this month's issue of Home Concepts. As you all know, we are a new space so it was really nice getting spotted within a short period of time.

Check out the current issue which features the new look for Home Concepts. I like it way better as the presentation looks fresher, hipper and the articles are more design oriented.

{Objects of Lust}

These slot together panels of artwork from Australia ticks all the right boxes for smart and thoughtful design.

R Functional: Use as a seat or a table. Serves as an artwork too!
R Stylish: the founder, a reputable furniture designer collaborates with international artistes to come up with intricate cultural designs
R Sturdy – don't let their pretty designs fool you. They can hold up to a whopping 150kg worth of items.
R Eco-friendly: sustainably grown Australian wood pine. They are certified as Good Environmental Choice product
R Cool factor: Recently voted as one of 20 Australian Design triumphs by Vogue Living (right up there with the creator of plastic bank notes!).

I shall let the pictures do the talking..

Japanese Koi

Australian Bushland

Antique Kimono

Featured in Oct08 Home Concepts magazine as the Editor's chosen Flavour of the Month.

{The Enchanting Glow}

I first laid eyes on the luminous Garland lamp a few years ago at a shop in Melbourne. I stood there gazing at it for a while. The delicate fairy-tale like pattern and the shadows that it casts on the wall evokes images of walking through an enchanted forest. I was m e s m e r i z e d!

Some of you may recognise it as this product has been featured in various leading design magazines round the globe and they are a permanent collection at MoMa New York and Victoria Albert Museum, London.

Garland lamp in Brass & Silver. Also available in White and Black Chrome

The intricate pattern is laser cut onto metal sheets and it comes in a flat pack. All you have to do is to wrap the sheets around an existing bulb, bend the patterns into shape and voila! You're done.

If the hanging version isn't your thing, the Garland lamp comes in a table lamp stand version. The stand is "touch" sensitive so just tap to turn it on, tap to adjust the brightness (3 levels of brightness), tap to switch it off. Note: I have searched for challenging spots all over the stand to, you know, check if there is a spot where it is not able detect. Passes the tapping test. Pretty cool eh?

Garland lamp stand in Silver (available in Brass as displayed at the shop)

Since that first sighting of his works, Tord Boontje the Dutch designer who is now based in France has become even more famous. He was named Designer of the Year by Design Museum and Elle Decoration, UK. The Garland lamp is just one of the few of his designs that has garnered numerous design award nominations.

Here is another design where the cascading layers of floral and animal foliage creates the captivating look of Midsummer Light. It was my little project one rainy afternoon and it took me less than 20mins to assemble it. It is made out of Tyvek a super-resistant material against water, temperature and tear. They can even be hand washed.

Midsummer greeting customers at the stairway

It makes me smile when I see customers study it with much curiosity as they walk up the stairs. They are available in Fading Red, Fading Lilac and Green/Yellow.

The next light is Dawn's favourite. The Icarus is constructed from multiple layers of polyester, cut to resemble a bird's wing. It is lightweight, delicate and larger in size as compared to the other designs. Simple concept but dramatic effect right?

Icarus in white

It’s a wrap!

Let's talk about baby wraps (nah, I was not referring to that celebrated wrap dress) though these wraps are just as stylish and comfortable for the little ones.

The general gripe about baby wraps are that the materials used are too thick for our sultry climate, the sizes are too small (newborns will outgrow them too quickly) and that the designs are either plain or too "cute-sey".

Along comes a duo of Aussie moms based in US who recognised the above problems as they struggled to find suitable wraps in preparation for their pregnancies. They were specifically looking for muslin wraps as it was commonly used in Australia. Why Muslin?

The open weave allows air to flow through which makes the fabric breathable and hence reduces the likelihood of nappy rash. In addition, the fabric gets softer after every wash.

These savvy mothers decided to craft their own range of muslin wraps that are not only generous in size, their fun and contemporary designs turned them into instant hits with nurses, various mother groups and Hollywood celebrities!

Preview of some designs we have in store

Whilst they might be a little pricier as compared to other wraps available in the market, thanks to their bigger size and stylish designs, they are not limited to just swaddling. Many mothers uses them as nursing covers, stroller blankets, play mat, tummy time & etc...

These little numbers has often been listed amongst the top 10 items a pregnant mother should purchase. They have also received strong, positive reviews on various established parenting forums and blogs.

I don't know about you but I get a cheap thrill when I spot a celebrity using the same stuff as me so if get a kick as well, check out some of the celebrity users.

Naomi Watts

Jessica Alba

Matthew McConaughey

Patrick Dempsey

Images courtesy of Popsugar & Just Jared.

Grand Prix Fever

Unless you have been living under a shell, you would have felt the buzz going around town (or hit by the bad traffic situation).

I personally am not a F1 fanatic but I appreciate the sexy cornering at high speed, roaring engines and of course, some of the drivers are pretty decent eye candy right? Oh wait...back to cars.

Racer F1 - Red

You don't have to be a car enthusiast to acknowledge the artistic simplicity of Scandinavian designs. This leading design company from Sweden is renowned for creating innovative and timeless wooden toys for the young and the young at heart.

I particularly like how sleek they look and how they will compliment your existing collection. Don't they look like work of art? Well, these cars have been exhibited in numerous museums (eg. Moma NY) and galleries round the world...

Words of appreciation

Logo designs can be a painful process especially for those who can't draw (me!). Dawn and I pored through countless designs before we finally decided on this one. When we saw this design, we knew it was "the one". It was spot on and we are glad that the feedback so far has been very positive.

Without her, we would have really struggled with the design process. We had ideas in our head but we needed someone who is able to translate our scrambled thoughts onto paper. This lady not only did that but went above and beyond in designing something that exceeded our expectations.

She has been very patient with us and managed to sense what we wanted even though we couldn't spell it out clearly. So a special shoutout to her.

Oinker Theo!

Please welcome this uber chic piggy who is setting foot on our shores for the very first time.

His name is Theosaurus, more affectionately known as Theo. He hails from Germany and his porcelain is made from one of the oldest German porcelain manufacturer. When I say old, it goes as far back as the 17^th century!

Theo comes in two different positions and we can't quite decide which one we like better. Theo standing or Theo sitting? Hmm...Both have their perks.

White Sitting (sold to lovely WY, please don't forget to feed him!)

The little feet of the standing ones are made of cork, once again produced by the oldest cork specialist in Germany (only the very best for this piggy!).

The sitting Theo version features a quality metal lock.

We do think they look great as a pair (don't we all suffer from such typical indecisiveness?).

Whether you're going to use him as a money bank or as a decor piece...he is bound to be a conversation starter.

The white edition will appeal to fans of minimalist + contemporarist. For those who likes a modern twist on traditional items, check out the Blau Dresmer edition which features 19th century inspired patterns.

Blau Dresmer editions

Images by: Theosaurus

A 2nd Chance

I was in awe when I first heard the story behind the Crackery range from Ornamented Life.

The creative brainchild of Joana Meroz who's based in The Netherlands and who is a true advocate to the concept of "Reduce - Recycle - Reuse". She deliberately collects white porcelain that are chipped or cracked and transforms them into individual treasures. How does she do that?

She celebrates their imperfections by highlighting every chip and/or crack by fusing them with gold luster. She transfers her signature floral blossom art onto every piece to represent the beginnings of a new lease of life.

Spoon

Contemporary Saucer Set

Classic Saucer (which can double as a dessert plate)+ Cup.

Repairing of broken ceramics with gold lacquer is Joana's contemporary take of an ancient Japanese tradition.

Every fault is unique, every piece is truly one of a kind.

Dinner Plate

To see more of Joana's works, do visit us at the shop.