Saturday, April 17, 2010

Just Che - a bit about me

I posted this today on my Just Che page. This blog is a slow work in progress - each day I'm inspired to start a new section or have another idea for a new page or section to include.  The "Just Che" page is a self created tribute to me. Just so that you have a small idea of who I am, what I love and you can see the kind of style that works for me :)

Make a tribute to yourself. List your loves, your loathes and anything else that makes you tick...

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Posting Secrets

Postsecret, is one of my all-time favourite websites. Seeing stranger's secrets posted on a public forum somehow makes me feel more connected to the world and really gives me the feeling that I'm not alone (It brings me peace to know my thoughts are not as crazy, weird or alone as I think they are...)

I had a really strange internet stumbling a few days ago - I was fumbling around the internet-randomly clicking links to interesting pictures and obscure blogs and in the middle of the vast cyberspace world I coincidentally came across MY secret that I had mailed to postsecret. I had missed it when it was posted on the postsecret website - (they only stay up for a week). So it was purely coincidental that this blogger decided to pick out my secret to post on her own blog and even more strangely creepy that my random clicking path led me to it! It was a surreal feeling to see my secret on someone's blog.

So, for those secret-posters who missed their secrets on the actual site, I hope you stumble upon them here...


























Be Brave and tell someone your secret...

Blog Break



Since there are so many awesome blogs floating around on the web, I've decided to allocate a "blog break" time into my day otherwise I'd never get anything done! Only once I've done some actual "work" on my computer- can I take a quick 20 minute blog break to see what awesome things I can stumble upon.
here are just a few...


A Beautiful Mess - http://www.abeautifulmess.typepad.com/
A Field Journal - http://afieldjournal.blogspot.com/
Eat Drink Chic - http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/
Design*Sponge - http://www.designspongeonline.com/
How about Orange - http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/
Lushlee - http://www.lushlee.com/
Oh, Hello Friend - http://ohhellofriend.blogspot.com/

You can find more gorgeous blogs on my Blog Love page. To visit it click HERE.








Find a blog that inspires you and read, read read...

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Coffee Lovers

source
So, I have been put onto some anti-biotics by the dentist and I'm not allowed to drink coffee or tea... (what is the world without coffee or tea?!) So this is in tribute to the liquid force coffee that sustains my being.
Wouldn't it be great to add a pretty pick me up to your pick-me-up? Like this from Coffee Stencil Shop on Etsy:

You can buy your own coffee stencils here on Etsy.
Make a delicious cup of steaming coffee and share it with someone special.


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Kuler Colours

Hello every designers friend!
Welcome to Kuler. An online resource that enables you to select, choose, analyse, create, define and ogle at beautiful colour schemes. You can use the colour schemes in various projects by viewing the RGB, CMYK or HEX colour values and loading them into your photoshop (or other editing program).
Using this site you can search for colour schemes based on words such as "berries, candy, water and grass". You can also play around with different schemes such as monochromatic, analogous and complementary. Have fun...


Sunday, April 11, 2010

Wallpaper, Posters and the Decemberists


This poster for The Decemberists Album is absolutely gorgeous. The background wallpaper is so sorbet-ish that I think if it wasn't on my computer screen I'd probably lick it! Never heard The Decemberists? Listen to some of their music here.


I also really love this poster for the LCD Soundsystem - it's girly AND robot-edgy. Their music is also pretty great :).

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Kristi Cupcakes

My happy earthling friend Kristi recently celebrated her birthday. Kristi makes gorgeous felted goods to sell in her ETSY STORE so for her birthday I wrapped up some buttons and beads and bits n pieces so that she can have lots of inspiration. I made some pretty "compliment cards" /gift tags to put on her gifts. They came out very beautifully :) If you'd like a set - email me about it and I will send you a copy. for free. I'm nice like that.


Send me an email and get a free set of these gift tags to use in your creative wrapping whims or be inspired and create your own set of compliment cards to be used on any occasion.

Friday, April 9, 2010

a Simple Love











Today I got a 'present' from the cutest cherub in the world - Sol. She is one of the Korean kindergarten students I teach and she has invited me to her home for lunch. I absolutely love the simple beautiful uncomplicated style of tiny Korean Kindies! I love my job!


Thursday, April 8, 2010

Rough vintage-esque photoshop collage tutorial

lets make this!
Step one: 
Open photoshop - very easy.
Step two: 
Create a blank photoshop document postcard size (6 inches by 4 inches), or you can choose whatever size you like.
Step three: 
Find a vintage style picture that you really like. I found this old car on Getty Images. Some ideas for cool pictures could be old piano's, soap adverts, gramophones, record players, vintage cars, candy stores, barber shops or "desperate housewives".
Here is my picture: (you will find it on Getty if you search for "vintage car station wagon")


Step three: 
Take your picture and open it in photoshop. Cut out the image from the background. You can do this in a number of ways: either the magic wand tool or the pen selection tool. I want a rough look for this collage so I used the pen selection tool to roughly cut out the image. Once you have roughly cut out the image - right click to make a selection and then right click the image again to 'layer via copy'.
Step four: 
Use the dropper tool to select a colour in your picture (I have chosen the green in the car window) and create a new fill layer using the colour by clicking Layer > New Fill Layer.



Step Five: 
Draw a rough rainbow or any other easy shape or pattern using the paintbrush tool. Your drawing could be clouds, stars, candies, stripes etc- use your imagination! You can also set the blend mode of your paint drawing to suit your picture. I chose a soft light blending mode which you can find in the Layers Palette.
Step Six: 
Get some handwritten ramblings or find your favourite lyrics online and add them to the background of your picture. You can set the blending mode to suit the colour scheme of your picture like this:




Step Seven: 
Find some extra pictures - I chose white flowers, but you could go with old typewriters, soda cans, stray cats, outlines of birds or trees. "Cut out" the pictures you have chosen using either the pen tool, lasso tool or magic wand. Place the pictures on your card and blend them using the options on the Layer Palette. It is also useful to play with the opacity of the layer :)
Step Eight:
To add some extra texture to your rough-look collage you can take some fabric pattern images (search for images online) and place it behind your colour background. You can adjust the blending layers to find a mode that works with the overall design. Add some extra text in bright text boxes and VOILA!




Get creative, challenge yourself and hone your photoshop skills. Try this tutorial or find one that inspires you here.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

50 quirky things you didn't know about me


  1. I am a cooking catastrophe. I have blown up a casserole dish, melted a frying pan and exploded an egg in my microwave.
  2. I eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
  3. I get clammy palms and sweat nervously when I walk into a stationery or book store.
  4. I am NOT a morning person.
  5. My birthday is on the 20th July.
  6. I was born three months early.
  7. I’m obsessed with strawberries, not only are they the perfect combination of complimentary colours, they are aesthetically pleasing, sultry, sexy, fresh and just plain delicious.
  8. I’m a school nerd. I love school. My 21st birthday party theme was ‘back to school.’
  9. I’ve been to 17 countries and counting…
  10. I have a small tattoo – I love it :)
  11. I went on an international school exchange to England when I was 16.
  12. I broke my two front teeth when I was 9. (Piggy back races are not for the faint hearted.)
  13. I believe red wine and dark chocolate cures everything.
  14. I have a digital camera, a poloroid camera, a Diana F+ and an action sampler. I love cameras and photography.
  15. I dislike bad spelling and grammar.
  16. When I went skiing for the first time, I had to be taken down the mountain in a bright orange body bag. I got over-ambitious and realized too late that I’m not that skilled.
  17. I’ve ridden an ostrich.
  18. When I was younger, I had an imaginary friend named Courtney. My gran even set a dinner place for her.
  19. The Little Mermaid is the first movie I can remember watching on the big screen.
  20. But I am not very good at remembering movies or movie names.
  21. If I could have any super human power – it would be ‘Matilda’ powers – you know, move things with my super human mind…
  22. My University was infamous for ‘dress-up’ parties. I have been to parties dressed as a nun, a princess, trailer-park-trash, a caveman, a pirate, a zebra, a school-girl, a cat, a cowboy, a fisherman, an antelope,  Bridget Jones,  Alice in Wonderland and a Greek Goddess.
  23. I’m very scared of the dentist.
  24. My toes look like they come from an alien species. :)
  25. If I could be anywhere right now, it would be a beautiful warm beach…
  26. I love drawing cartoons and doodles.
  27. I have already decided on my first daughter’s name: Kenton – it’s a beautiful beach in South Africa.
  28. My favourite kind of shopping is at flea markets and outdoor vintage stalls.
  29. I spell colour and favourite with a U. It’s the South African way.
  30. I’m very indecisive… I think…
  31. I have over one hundred pairs of earrings
  32. I don’t have any pets
  33. When I was younger, I wanted to be an actress. I started out studying acting at University as a minor.
  34. I have a Bachelor of Journalism degree specializing in graphic and communication design.
  35. I have a scar on my right cheek. I fell off a merry-go, I was dizzy and it came around and sliced me in my face.  I had seven stiches. I was 5.
  36. I have to have hot drinks like coffee and hot chocolate, BOILING hot. It’s something I’ve inherited from my mom.
  37. I’m a very animated storyteller
  38. I hate being cold.
  39. I really like my name :) Thanks mom and dad!
  40. I love snail mail and beautifully wrapped packages.  
  41. Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day: cereal, bacon, eggs, pancakes, muffins, sausages, coffee.
  42. I am useless with ANYTHING related to banks, money, finance or taxes.
  43. If a spoon is required, I always have to find a teaspoon.
  44. I hate being cold. (Did I say that already? I have a bad memory)
  45. It is a tradition at my high-school to go skinny dipping at the end of the year…
  46. I am good at reading maps.
  47. Sometimes I like a good cry.
  48. Wild monkeys break into my house in South Africa all the time. They attack the fruit basket and are particularly fond of avocado.
  49. Coffee completes me.
  50. I am a gypsey hoarder, I keep and collect everything from journals, pens, papers, stamps, scraps, ribbons, tapes, pictures, brochures and postcards. I just might need it someday




Make a list of quirky things about yourself and leave it on a bus, in a library book or blog about it.

Fresh start!

So I am new to the blogging world and I don't really know where to start, I know I will be changing things a million times before I know exactly what I want and before I am truly happy with this blog so I guess for the starting point that now is as good as ever! I feel like I have reached a little juncture in my life where I am about to have a fresh, free and beautiful new beginning. That's all I have to say for now. Here are some pictures of how I feel...



fresh, delicious, fruity.


free, light, sunshine.


peace, direction, silence.



simple, exotic, enchanted.


alive, awakened, ready.

So that is my brave start! Well done me!

Be brave. Make a fresh start with something that you need to do in your life. Write it down, commit to it and start NOW. :)

Pictures found using We heart it.