colours in the backyard

We went to The Colour Lab for the second time earlier this evening.  The first time my husband and I visited the store/cafe, we sat inside.  But since the weather today was just way too gorgeous to be sitting in, we were excited to have coffee with three of our good friends at the backyard garden of the cafe.  The backyard garden is like a small courtyard with lattice walls all around.  They had wooden picnic tables, plants and some splashes of colours here and there, which really made the garden vibrant.  Here are some snapshots of the garden ornaments that caught my attention.

 

I had ice coffee and a good time :)

Photos from iPhone3GS

of walls and colours

 

Among the things that I enjoy observing in Melbourne are the walls

and the small features that create contrast to the walls.  They create character.

Taken at Lt La Trobe St, Melbourne 

Photos from iPhone3GS edited via Camera+ and Instagram

A Cafe by the Beach

 

A while back, we visited this cafe that was located along the beach in Middle Park, called Sandbar Beach Cafe.   We have driven and walked passed by it a couple of times before.  The white architecture with large clear windows that allow you to see through the cafe right to the beach looked really nice and appealing, that we just had to give this cafe a visit.

 

And once we were in, we were not disappointed at all.  The cafe was lit with lots of natural sunlight (a reason of why a photo at this angle turned dark), and the timber interior in white and natural earth were indeed a great match for the by-the-beach concept.  I would have no problem sitting at this cafe all day long, looking out to the waters, while sipping some drinks and just relax...

We didn't spend the whole day there obviously, but I did have my glass of iced coffee and a taste of their flourless orange cake.  The best of all, visiting this cafe with my husband felt like we were on brief holiday, which was truly nice :)  Must remember to visit a cafe like this again for that vacation-feel when it's not really vacation.

Have you got a place that gives you that being-on-a-holiday feel too?

MelbFlowerShow2011: Dreamy Gardens

Macarons by Colour Confections

As words spread among friends that my husband makes Macarons, we started to receive two orders end of last week.  Alhamdulillah! We never seriously thought about selling them... until now.  My husband enjoys making them and he's getting better by the batch of macarons he makes!  I, on the other hand, joined in by designing the label, helped to brainstorm some ideas on packaging, and putting up a page for Colour Confections.

So here goes.  Say "Hello!" to Macarons by Colour Confections :) Now open for orders in Melbourne.

If you're in Melbourne, hop on to Colour Confections for further information.

If you're in Malaysia, you'll have to wait until we come back for good... :)

B&W (very early) Thursday: Sunflower Seeds

I received a forwarded email from my friend with images of sunflower seeds in a place that looks like a warehouse.  As it turns out, that warehouse is actually a hall at Tate Modern in London, a gallery for International Modern and Contemporary Art.  The millions of sunflower seeds that you will see in these links are not real sunflower seeds.  They are hand-made porcelain sunflower seeds that make up the art installation of artist Ai Weiwei.  Take a look at the images here at designboom, then watch this video at Tate Modern to see the process that goes behind the making of this installation.  I find it pretty amazing how an art installation in a gallery actually has a process that involved a whole town and created job opportunities for the community.

These, however, are NOT porcelain sunflower seeds.

(my husband likes them!)

Photo | Olympus PEN, shot in colour then edited to B&W

Mapping the Anatomy of a Cupcake

Now isn't this just lovely? I just love it, love it, love it!

via ohcupcakes

Storm Water Pipes as Creative Urban Installation by Urfun Lab

I stumbled upon this design article via designboom.com.

It's a simple and creative improvisation of a mundane (or sometimes left-over) infrastructure like the storm water pipe into a catchy design for the street.  This public art installation is not a formal project commissioned by the city or anything like that.  It was done spontaneously by urfun lab, a group of young professionals ranging from architects, urban designers, graphic designers, landscape architects, to event managers.  They are just a group of people who love to have fun with their city, and decided to spice up the street with some colours on a lazy Sunday morning.

On first glance, I thought they painted the inside of the pipes, but it turns out that it's just the diffused lights from the colourful cellophane.  And that's all that they did - taped the transparent coloured cellophane to the back of the pipes and then the sun did the rest. 


All images are reblogged from the website.

 

From Coat Hanger, to a POST Card and the Amazon

From a jar of miniature coat hangers,

one coat hanger hung a POST card...

which then led to a box from Amazon.

Photos | Olympus PEN

Mode | Monochrome, Colours

Aspect Ratios | 4:3, 16:9, 6:6