Toys of the Avant-Garde

I have had my eye on this fantastic book for a while...

My birthday is coming up in a couple of months

and it's at the top of my wish-list along with this.

I only wish that I could have visited the exhibition.

Images above found via this wonderful post on mondo 

somewhere in dreamland

Ari looked so beautiful sleeping tonight that 

I just had to take a picture of him...

...and just as I snapped it, he smiled in his sleep!

This camera doesn't take the best photos in really low light

but I didn't want to turn on the overhead and risk waking him up.

I think images are often beautiful simply for what they evoke.

Speaking of imaging, I've been spending WAY too much time 

pinning beautiful things here the past few days... take a peek. x

love & clutter

Perhaps you have noticed some changes around here?

The link lists that were expanding down either side of my blog are now 

situated (in a tidy fashion) as individual pages beneath the blog header.

Ever the work in progress, A Modern Fable turns 1 this month (one!)... 

A tiny, prettily cluttered corner of Dark Horse Studios

...so I thought perhaps it was time for a, well, a... de-cluttering.  Of sorts. 

Of course everything that had a place on this blog still has a place here. 

I find it near impossible to throw anything lovely away... ever!  

Also, I've set up a Pininterest account. And I made a Facebook page for
Raised by the Wolves.  Visit me there sometime, if you're so inclined. x

BOIS & CHARBONS

The other day, Ari and I took a lovely walk around the Collingwood 

Children's Farm & the Abbotsford Convent. We stopped to shoot some 

pictures of each other in front of the old Bois & Charbons Coke Shop.

Would you believe, it was Ari's first time using the camera?

Aren't they great! I love that beautiful old facade so much. 

The weather has been just perfect these past couple of weeks.

Aside from a cold and a bout of stomach flu, we've thoroughly 

enjoyed the school holidays. But school started back again today.

I'm always sad when my Ari has to go back to the classroom.
He's such a sweetheart and I so love spending time together.

It is great to be back in the studio and able to focus on work though.
I am very inspired right now. The work table's piled high with projects

and patterns and fabric and books and trims and I can't wait to finally
get my Etsy shops up and running.  It's all coming together so nicely!

A new button!

Wondering where the link to my other blog's gone?

Scroll down and on the right of the screen you'll find my 

lovely new button. Just click on it to connect to the site.

If you haven't visited there before, I hope you like my other 

little world of fashion, art and more theatrical attractions... xo

shop love

How wonderful are these designs 

from teenytiny's new collection?

Swwoooon.  I'm in love!

happy bunny day!

Funny Little Bunnies: A Walt Disney Silly Symphony 1934

These are a few of my...

favourite things.

Things that make me happy.

Things that I love.

Things that I'd love to own.

Things that I do own.

Things that I enjoy.

Things that I enjoy doing.

Things that I enjoy making.

Things that resonate with my sense of aesthetics.

At the moment I am loving... these textile designs by Hilde Reindl,

these beautiful vintage-inspired handmade clothes from Fleur + Dot

and the many beautiful children's rooms pinned here, here and here.

This week has just up and flown away. And what a busy one it was!

You can read a little bit about my week here...  if you so fancy. xoxo

Dolly Love #2

So beautiful!

Indian Doll Artworks: Assemblage & Art Dolls via

Miller & Goodman

Sort through your toy box and take things apart

Making or breaking, you find the rules

Add thumbprints and scribbles, splodges and swirls

Mistakes and suprises are all part of ART

I found this wonderful book at the NGV shop last week.


It's inspired Ari and I to make some fun faces of our own.
We've been rummaging through the studio and found all sorts
of bits and bobs to use!  I'll post here when we're done :)

Faces is available from millergoodman's shop
and take a peek at their lovely blog here too!


It reminds me very much of Sabine Timm's wonderful work

Gunta Stölzl

Have you been to see The Mad Square yet?

It finishes this Sunday. 

Hurry down to the NGV before you miss out!

Do you know the work of Gunta Stölzl?

Her use of colour is exquisite. And her working drawings are equally 

as beautiful as her finished textiles. I love preliminary work often as 

much, if not more, than the final piece. It has a certain energy about it.

It was a pleasure to see her paintings in the flesh.

You can view more of her work at this site

and the above book is available here from Amazon.

You might like this book too.

The Mad Square focusses on Modernity in German art from 1910-37.

Expressionism. Bauhaus. Dada. Constructivism. New Objectivity. 

Metropolis and what the National Socialist Party termed Degenerate Art 

and confiscated, stole, burnt or sold abroad. It's a fascinating show

 ...and not one to be missed, so better get your skates on!

Oh and Happy Autumn to my 

fellow Southern Hemispherians.

Goodbye Summer! It's been swell :)

Arrietty

Yesterday morning we went to see Arrietty at Cinema Nova.
(How comfy are those cinema armchairs?!  Wonderful.)

It's based on Mary Norton's fantastical book 'The Borrowers'.

It was so... enchanting.... sad but... beautiful.  How I'd love to slip
into that secret world with it's towering flowers and tiny teacups...

Oh, I do so adore the beautiful animation work of  Studio Ghibli.

Afterwards we enjoyed italian hot chocolates and macarons at Brunetti's

(a Melbourne institution when it comes to cakes) and Ari found another

Robert Crowther Pop-Up Book at the plaza bookstore for $10. Bargain.

I spent the better part of today helping at Ari's school and am just about

to pick him up and head to Swimming lessons. Happy Monday everyone! 

xoxox

These are a few of my...

favourite things.

Chocolate Creative

Vintage Potholder

Vintage Quilt

emma lamb

Things that make me happy.

Things that I love.

Things that I'd love to own.

Things that I do own.

Things that I enjoy.

Things that I enjoy doing.

emma lamb

Things that resonate with my sense of aesthetics.

At the moment I am loving these muted colours, the repetition of pattern

(as in crochet and patchwork), anthropomorphic images &  natural linens.

Oh dear! Another Friday came and went without a 'favourite things' list. 

 Perhaps this needs to be a more random post feature on my blog.... xox

chocolate chaos

in the chaos of life 

it's easy and understandable 

our yearning for neatness & perfection 

Artwork by Jonathan Gray Stock (or Daddy)

...give me the beauty of imperfection...

  

i want to live 

& hear the laughter in my soul 

at the sight of 

a cross-eyed cookie-crumbled 

chocolate-smeared snot-covered 

child

words by

♥ flobberdewotsky ♥

maker's of playful children's wear

-------------------------------------------

sweet chocolate fudge sauce

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp water

3 tbsp dutch cocoa powder

3 tbsp brown sugar

1. Place ingredients in a small saucepan.

2. Heat over low heat until combined.

3. Serve over rich vanilla bean ice-cream.

4. Hear the laughter in your soul.

and ENJOY xox

Funny Bones

Speaking of spooky...  the Funny Bones book series is in 

constant demand come bedtime reading at the moment.

I enjoyed reading the original book Funnybones when I was Ari's age. It 

had just been published then! I love Janet and Allan Ahlberg books. 

Peepo & The Baby Catalogue were among the first books I read to Ari.

Allan's stories are funny and cute and Janet's illustrations are delightful,

and what's more their books are fun and entertaining for parents to read.

It's worth noting that the first Funny Bones book was created by the 

Ahlbergs & illustrated by Janet but the rest of the series (created later)

 were illustrated by André Amstutz. I think possibly this was due to 

Janet's illness, as André's illustrations very much keep with her style.
Janet Ahlberg died from cancer in 1994, aged just 50.  So sad and 

such a tragic loss for the world... for children and their parents alike.

Recently Ari and I discovered the animated Funny Bones series ↓

The series was created in Wales in 1992 and there's 12 episodes in all.

You can view the rest of the episodes here

"Down the dark dark stairs, there is a dark dark 

cellar, in the dark dark cellar, three skeletons live..."   

Images found via Open Library

Books available through Amazon