While sitting in the reading corner in Master 6 3/4′s classroom, I picked up Puff The Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton.  As I read through with him, I fell head over heels for the artwork….it is AMAAZING!  I wanted to take it home, cut out the pages and pin it on the bedroom walls….and not just the kids!

Illustrated by Eric Puybaret, this guy feeds your imagination with fairy-tale loveliness, and I don’t think there has ever been a dragon made to look so enchanting.  Go hunting tomorrow at your local bookstore, or get it here.

Origami is everywhere in our local bookstore right now, and I have a client with a glass bowl full of colourful cranes at her entrance that looks fantastic – so that is why this book is apt for today’s post.

Girligami by Cindy Ng gives you instructions on fun origami designs like making paper pumps (high heels) and paper hearts, just perfect to do at a young girls birthday party, or even just a craft afternoon to keep them occupied.   If you want a sneak peak of what’s in the book and how easy it is, then click here to view her folding high-heels.  Get the book here for NZ$14 plus shipping.

Loving this poster from Holstee.  Full of feel good motivators and affirmations.  Get it here for NZ$30 plus shipping.

Felt is New Zealand’s Etsy – an ‘online marketplace for handmade goodies’, but really well edited.   My favourite thing is the magnetic alphabet in all it’s bright happy colours.  Go take a look and you may find something for yourself or a friend.

Alphabet NZ$69 – Tinch Design Studio

Cupcake Pin Cushion NZ$15.00 – Adornmentz

Fantail Art Block NZ$19 – Dudo Design

Crane Necklace NZ12.50 – One Trick Pony

José Parlá has teamed up with Curated by Arkitip for Incase to have his original artworks printed onto protective cases for your gadgets.  I do so wish the iPad book cover was a more reasonable price (US179.00 – NZ$235). It’s a gorgeous piece of art that is far more appealing than the basic black case we use and I would far prefer it.  His range also includes a Macbook sleeve and iPhone 4 case. Buy right here.

Christmas will be here soon and if you have some folks in your family that are hard to buy for, then how about a set of these?  You can purchase some lovely paper, the PDF file from one of the great Etsy stores below, and you’re good to go.  They are in NZ$ left to right as follows:

2011 Calendar of Polish Art – Bialakura – $7.50

2011 Childrens Calendar Safari Fun – Pearenthetical Press – $9.50

2011 Italy Photos – Bubbo – $6.20

2011 Blank Make Your Own Calendar – A Little Huts Shop – $5.20

2011 Microbacteria Calendar – The Rasilisk – $6.20

2011 Calendar Write On With Stickers – The Art Of Joy – $8.80

The Marseille artist Stephan Muntaner was commissioned to design this collection of stunning art for La Compagnie de Provence – the Savon de Marseille Liquid Soap.  The three designs are named after different fish – La Girelle, La Maquerean and La Sardine; though the soap fragrance is sea inspired and divine .  As it’s a limited edition, it won’t be around for ever which means you really should get yours now. The standard range is sold in many stores, but the best idea to find the anniversary bottles would be a google search for….’salon de marseille anniversary soap’.  US$28.

Tattoos fascinate me as I could never make up my mind what I want on my body forever.  Though I have seen some amazing coloured tattoos covering a couple of clients that looked beautiful….flowers and and vines and names all intertwined.

These abstract tattoos by Amanda Wachob are beautiful.  It looks like they have let the kindy kids have fun on peoples bodies, then moved on….leaving the art to dry like they didn’t know it was there.   The last image I love for it’s ‘Big Kid Art Homework’ look….do these make you want a tattoo?  You’ll have to get to NY to have her paint you, or just take a look here at her gallery of work.

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I want the word ‘Bliss’ right above my yoga mat….the yellow is such a joyful colour scheme.  Mooza Designs in Sydney Australia use gorgeous japanese and retro paper to paste onto WC (Toilet) signs or make words, names and numbers.  Take a look at their shop, you’ll have trouble choosing your colour scheme from the custom range it’s all so joyous!

Today’s adventure wasn’t mine….I went for a bikeride with the family instead.  But Design Is Mine discovered this great poster, called Origami Love Poster.  It costs US$15 + $5 postage (NZ$27) – take a look over at Amy’s Etsy store Field Trip for more great posters.  I want to actually give this a try at folding as origami is something I really enjoy…until I can’t do it!

Holy toledo!  Mr Bohaute and I are Apple lovers and covet the iPad.  We know it’s cool, we know it would be used alot…but we had no idea you could do this on it.  Artist David Kassan paints a model over about three hours on the iPad.  The movie is 7 minutes long – you don’t have to watch the entire clip, but it’s worth it. Finger Painting for anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Water colour is beautiful.  I have tried my hand at watercolor before with a disastrous outcome, so I stick with acrylic.  While bouncing around on Etsy I popped up on this shop. Irene is an Italian artist and she has a large and gorgeous assortment of watercolour creatures to choose from.  They would make a great collection for a sewing room, or a child’s bedroom.  Each piece is about NZ$35, plus NZ$8 shipping.  Go take a look right here.

Last weekend, I took Mum and Dad up to Matakana Markets outside Auckland so we could eat some great food and enjoy the crisp cool morning outdoors.  While we wandered around, Miss 15mths steered me into the shop Red Letter Day.  No, she is not a stationery nut – she saw a large poster of a camel and wanted to go and say ‘baa’ (like a sheep)…hehe.

Well, I fell head over heels for the Cavallini & Co products, (of which there were many) – among a lot of other lovely writing accessories.  Flora, fauna and geographic notebooks…box sets of divine stamps…flashcards and even decorative wrap – that you just couldn’t use because it’s too beautiful.  You can buy from Red Letter’s website, though really it is worth a drive to Matakana for the food, and the bunch of specialty shops tucked around the market area.

This necklace really appeals to me being a Yoga Teacher, but would I wear it?….probably not much.  It would make a great gift for a Chiropractor though!  Made by using 3D data of an actual spine, it measures about 10cm long and you can choose it in either brass or silver.  You can purchase it from the Japanese site right here for NZ$440 (brass) or NZ$740 (silver) and the company ships internationally.

AT posted a while back about designing and printing on different mediums, and it’s not all that expensive. Often I have wanted to take a great image and put in on a plate, or a handtowel, but never got around to investigating further.  Below is a list of places where you can make it happen…..so what are you waiting for!

1. Spoonflower – design your own fabric
2. Teeny Tile – custom print tiles
3. The Wallpaper Maker – print your own designs on wallpaper
4. Ponoko – laser cut materials like felt, plastic and wood
5. Absorbent, Ink – screen printing onto glasses, coasters and handtowels plus more

These cases are stunning; they remind me of hot-wire work in our woodwork class when I was a teenager.

Grove is the Portland company behind them and each case is made from bamboo, laser-cut and hand-finished, so no two are the same. Costing NZ$125, they ship worldwide.  The cases are made for iPhones only and you can get the old and new shape. My favourite would have to be Birdland.

How an earth did I find this!  After searching for insect collections with Master 6, we surfed around this cool site called The Evolution Store for quite some time.  It is a treasure trove of goodies for collecting anything from butterflies to beetles, minerals to taxidermy animals . The store is in Manhattan, and they have this great online store, so anyone can order the amazing creatures above in things like paperweights, frames, boxes and trays just like a museum! And they ship internationally.  Go take a look at the range right here.

Hah, I have found something perfect for a friend who will soon be moving from New York to live in Sydney.  This will be a cool reminder under the fruit – or under the cables, cameras and mobile phones, or perhaps just on it’s own.

The bowls are designed by dutch designer Frederik Roije.  They are scaled city maps of Manhatten and Amsterdam, and cast in Aluminium. The Amsterdam bowl measures 48 x 35 x8cm costs about NZ$394 + shipping.  The Manhatten bowl measures 90 x 23 x 5cm and costs NZ$475 + shipping.  It looked so much cheaper in Euros blast it!

I love the story behind these wooden birds.  From Sanna’s site it reads ‘In Karelia there was an ancient belief in the Sielulintu or Soul bird. The Sielulintu was thought to deliver the soul to newborn babies and also to transport the soul to the afterlife at the moment of death. It was believed the Sielulintu protected a persons soul at it’s most vulnerable; when dreaming, and it was tradition to keep a carved wooden bird by the bedside to keep the soul safe during sleep.’

You can purchase the large (14 x 22cm) or small (14.5 x 12cm) and Sanna ships internationally. Only bummer is that they are quite costly – at NZ$162 for the small version or $206 for the large.  But there are only 100 of each, made from sustainable solid brown oak,  you could be one in 200 to own one special Soul bird.

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I bet you thought I had given up on my blog…..no….just busy with the kids.

When browsing home listings, something I notice are cool lights or lamps, and this is one I’ve fallen for.  The Nautilus Light by Rebecca Asquith, is such a reminder of the beach and holidays and the bach….well – perhaps the posh bach. Anyway, they come in two sizes and three colours and you can get them right here.  They start at NZ$460, which isn’t too bad considering some ‘light features’ cost thousands; plus they ship worldwide.