lookbook

i've posted about lookbook before but i thought it was time to revisit this unsurpassed in awesomeness website. these are real life fashionistas celebrating fashion and expression with their own photographs and styling.

smilla's sense of snow

watched smilla's sense of snow today and i loved it. julia ormond plays the beautiful, hard and 'rough mouthed' protagonist brilliantly.

whimsy

thanks to gina, of miss molly, i have discovered this delightful perspex jeweller and artist, at whimsy, in durban, south africa. take a look at her beautiful and unique website and check out her beautiful perspex earrings, badges and her sketches.

calling all crafters

if you make anything by hand or have friends who make things that would fit in at beatnik bazaar, please let me know! we're looking for knitters, sew n sews, ceramicists and anyone who makes cute and beautiful things to supply beatnik bazaar. if your aunt loves to make woolen scarves or your cousin makes candles, whatever, please ask them to contact me! i am also looking for people to sell their hand crafted items from stalls in the courtyard/garden at my shop, so let me know if you're interested!

new naturals at beatnik bazaar

to celebrate autumn, where cape town is covered in huge oak leaves of golden, orange, red hues, where the light is misty and filtered through greying branches, stripped of their summer beauty, i've brought in some natural wood decor items. textures rein supreme at the store, with touchy feely felt, smooth wood, cotton, natural wool and ceramics lining the shelves, aching to be taken home with you! here are some of the new items in store, including a beautiful felt brooch range, featuring deer and rabbits, of course!

new things from skinny laminx

here are some beautiful new cushions and tea towels in store, designed by heather moore, of skinny laminx.

grouping objects together

one of the most challenging parts of having a shop is the constant efforts made to display the objects in your store in a way that is pleasing to the eye, creative, unique, attractive and will ultimately result in sales. the definition of 'grouping' means ~ any number of entities (members) considered as a unit or the act or process of uniting into groups. grouping objects that are the same, similar or have a similar theme running through them, whether it be colour, texture, shape etc, is behind the incredibly difficult and life consuming art of styling! now, in a shop you have a tiny space to cram in many different items of every colour of the rainbow and still make it look awesome. it rules my life. hats off to every stylist who makes their living out of it! above is an example of a 'tonal' arrangement, made possible with alot of stock, in similar sizes and types.

thank you friends

had the most wonderful opening yesterday with friends that came all the way from the northern suburbs and all over the place. gina of 'miss molly' set up her table with her beautiful children's aprons, mittens and more and so kindly made a pot of the most dreamy chai tea ever, with a batch of heart shaped cinnamon cookies she had baked that morning. the atmosphere was light and fun and folky and it made me happy :) check out some of gina's mittens here. you can contact her on her beautiful website here thank you for the support!

running in the forest with wolves playlist

i've been up all night making the perfect playlist for the day, inspired by my jewellery supplier who dropped off a mix cd for me yesterday (thanks marietjie, its beautiful :)) so i put together something in return that marietjie will hopefully like, even though i do slap a few intense tunes into the mix more often than not! was thinking how amazing it is that kate bush was signed to her first music contract when she was sixteen. david gilmour had recognised her talent that early, discovering her through family, as he was a family friend.as described on http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/TRA/Kate_Bush.shtml, Described by Laing as "poetically enigmatic," Kate Bush transcends more voyeuristic objectification (Laing, 1985: 89). In her videos and live performances, Bush presents a series of dramatic personas that distance the viewer, even as her lyrics invite him/her into the most recessed enclaves of Kate Bush's soul. The Kate Bush the viewer sees is merely a projection. Bush herself affirms this: "When I perform, I'm definitely someone else. She's a lot stronger and I wouldn't be as daring as her" (Vermorel, 1983: 83). On stage, she becomes Catherine of "Wuthering Heights", the outlaw of "James and the Cold Gun", the child-woman of "Feel It".

winter warmers

here in cape town we really love our winters, where we make any excuse to grab a basketful of DVD's and make a fire and eat chocolate, washing it all down with very good red wine. i'm celebrating the change of the season this saturday at my shop, with some yummy nibbles and something warm to drink and some furry, felty and knitted winter warmers available such as these felted cushions by the lovely artist, cathryn.(created exclusively for beatnik bazaar!) we will also have knitted exquisite mittens for sale, by creative goddess extraordinaire, gina ross as well as scarves and other warm delights.

my new design

i had to change my business cards as i have moved the shop to a new location, so i asked my amazingly talented, gorgeous, wonderful designer to add a little fawn or two into my logo, and to change the description of my shop. what do you think? i use mega digital in paarden eiland to print my cards, they are well priced and provide excellent service, and i deal with glendor crouch on T: +27 21 510 5030 F: + 27 21 510 5031 C: 082 412 7787
designer: if you ever want to contact jess to do your corporate identity or logo's or anything, please email her on jessinova@gmail.com or mail me :)

beatnik bazaar in time magazine

my shop made it into time magazine some how, on their 'ten good reasons to visit kalk bay' list! have a look here i am amazed!

let me introduce you

i looked at my etsy.com favourites yesterday and revisited one of my favourite cushion desginers ever in the world. please pay her a visit at her etsy shop here
her shop's name is olive. i heart this. i've already written to the designer and am trying to import these :)

my charity store finds today!

i stopped in at a local charity store this morning, where i NEVER leave empty handed and found these deliciously colourful things.

my new shop ~ after pics

this is what my new shop looks like, so far. its a work in progress and i still have to do so much decoration and create atmosphere, but i'm very happy with what the interior of the little cottage looks like. i've got loads of space out front to have whatever i want happen there, and next week i plan to have a proper opening on sunday morning, with something to nibble on and to sip, with some winter woolies and interesting hand crafted warm things to buy.

new things at beatnik bazaar

there are some exquisite original 1950's items at my shop from next week, have a gawk...beautiful duck egg blue poole coffee set (highly collectable) and an aero saarinen type table with matching chairs.

my new shop ~ the before pics

here are some pics of what the shop in my new space before me looked like and by the time we finally have things organised at my new shop, you won't believe its the same space, with its turquoise and mint walls!!!

flowers in a retro coffee pot

i had a chuckle today after catching up with heather moore's blog and seeing that we had just taken photos of the same thing ~ our flowers in a retro coffee pot. i was trimming my beautiful mother's day bunch and putting them into fresh water, when i spied my noritake coffee pot, begging to be used. here's heather's beautiful arrangement in her midwinter teapot with that burst of colour from the orange flower.