next of kin

the day job (summer stock in store)

NOK — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 04:59:43 +0000

Hurrah! We are finally getting our new summer collection in store and I’m really excited & soon to be well dressed.
I am really proud of all the work Kathy Szwedzinski & I have put into the Ra Ra machine over the past year, it’s been hell tough and very stressful at times but watching this little sucker grow is so rewarding and it makes it all worth it. I am very blessed to be part of a great little team and have a pretty cool/interesting day job, where when its time to go home I am wishing it was 10am again. I dont think many people can say that, but i can, so go me.

when i grow up (taryn rae)

NOK — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 04:34:38 +0000

When I grow up I don’t really want to be Taryn Rae, as she is semi scary and has massive feet. I should re-phrase the title to “when I grow up I want to be with taryn rae (not in a lesbian way)”

She doesn’t have a wiki and you don’t know her, but I do. She is a photographer bro, she started her film obsession not long ago and I am in favor of this obsession, as it entertains me greatly looking through her photos.
Taryn is also one of my subjects for NOK, her photographs are being made into custom made fabric, don’t worry not in a soccer mum who went to the kodak store way, even though I wouldn’t mind a mug with Taryns photo on it. That’s good coffee.

the pursuit of happiness (garage sales)

NOK — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:47:35 +0000

If you like me your sick of hearing peoples stories about how they found the Mona Lisa at a garage sale for $2.
I had Saturday off & was already up taking my boyfriend to the airport, so now was the chance to get MY Mona Lisa & eat it too.
I grabbed my bestie, and we set off into the morning at a time we would normally be in a line somewhere eating a kebab.
We headed South & got to the first stop at 6.30am, which was incredibly awkward, the second which was incredibly disturbing. At this point I was hungry & wanted to have a bath in detol.
Third time was a charm, a little house in Sunnybank belonging to a quilter. It’s here I scored the above sewing box filled with treats for $5. The next few in the Logan area were very worthwhile, but as it hit around 10am that pesky bird got all the worms & it was time for these two emu’s to retire to the nest.
Going through the sewing box at the nest was surreal. I found receipts from the 90′s, a note from her daughter, every item was so unique. Thimbles from East Germany, quilting pencils dated in the 70′s from texas. This lady had passed me on a chunk of her life and it’s the nostalgia that goes with the sewing kit that Spotlight can’t put a price on.

So you thinking of channelling your inner cyclist & getting up early, well hold onto your lycra I got some tips for you.

1. Getting up early is amazing, do it!
2. Going around to sales is tiring. You will most likely only walk away with a few bits & bobs. It’s all about the experience, so chug down a coffee, grab your bff, blast some lo-fi & don’t forget the hand sanitizer.
3. Pick North or South girlfriend
4. Be prepared to feel incredibly awkward. Get your ghetto on & do a drive-by, if it doesn’t look appealing from the road, it’s not going to look appealing when your in there.
5. Go early & get that worm, but stop around 10am, by then that worm has been digested & regurgitated.
6. Look on Gumtree the night before & get the paper in the morning.
7. It’s cheap! makes thrift stores feel like the Taj Mahal
8. You gotta fight for your right, to nana nap.

when i grow up (julia roitfeld)

NOK — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:27:17 +0000

Her mother was former french vougue editor, her father a fashion designer, Vladimir is her art director brother and her grandfather was a famous film producer. On top of all this she is so undeniably french, has modeled for Tom Ford & is the face of Lancome. How does she sleep at night…probably very well.

the broke designer ($#*! my dad built)

NOK — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:04:19 +0000

Move over Shatner, Rosco’s in town and he ain’t just saying $#*!, he’s building it too.

Last time I was in Mackay I spotted our old family dining tabletop in the shed, I was in desperate need for a work space, I told dad it would make a great industrial cutting table, he just looked at me…sorry bogan dad, I meant a great table. So he made the bad boy for me & drove it down in a ute. What a dude!

I spent the next couple of days painting the hideous framework to black & polishing the table. Polishing the tabletop bought back a flood of memories,at this table I sat, ate & laughed with my brother who passed away this year, well… he was probably laughing at me more then with me… it’s so weird when you loose someone, how meaningful things like a crusty table become.

So thanks to my dad this crusty table is ready for the next 25 years, always reminding me of my childhood, the importance of family, William Shatner & how badly made Ikea furniture is…thanks Dad!

is brain science the next big trend?

NOK — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:41:50 +0000

Lous Karn a famous architect once said, ”you cant think big ideas in small spaces” so next time your stuck have a look around . Maybe its not you, its the room.

For further more educated reading its worth checking out the Scientific American Article

at the movies (coco avant chanel)

NOK — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 05:20:37 +0000

the.pursuit.of.happiness (fabric)

NOK — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:44:25 +0000

Fabric hunting in Brisbane with my old shoe , looking for fabric for the “Chloe” range. Chloe is my weird friend who wears crazy 80′s clothing so to find fabric to represent her takes me to weird places like Redcliffe. I didn’t find anything of interest but the lady at the fabric store lit some material on fire…that was about the most interesting thing that happened that day.

when i grow up (abigail ahern)

NOK — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:55:49 +0000

Adorable dog, vintage mercedes, frizzy hair, zany interiors..check check check check.
Featured in The Selby a few weeks ago, this lady caught my eye. Looking into her further I am in love/ore, truly amazing style both in the home & in her fashion.
Her name is Abigail Ahern and she is a UK Interior designer most noted for her kitsch animal lamps, with a dog like that you wouldn’t need to look far for inspiration.

the broke designer (naked aggy)

NOK — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 06:14:54 +0000

I just hung a collage of naked aggy’s in my lounge, framed them with a few pictures of old men mixed in for some though provoking convo around the dinner table.