Cretan Magic

 

Sitting in a lovely little restaurant, in the old town of Rethymnon, under the hanging strands of flowering bougainvillea, its blooms in variegated and intense pinks.

Our waiter arrives. With our meal I order a glass of white wine—the local krasí—the waiter bobs a pony-tailed head and disappears into the restaurant. When the Cressi arrives, instead of a glass of white, it's an enormous glass of red.

'I didn't order red,' I say politely, 'I want white.'

From behind a bohemian moustache, he regards me with mild suspicion, as though I must be mistaken and then says bruesquely:

'I will change it.'

He returns a couple of minutes later with the desired glass of white Cressi - an equally enormous glass - generously filled. Depositing it demonstratively and without slowing his stride - to take the order from the next table—he places it on the table in front of me and says quite seriously:

'There—I painted it!'

 

© Alison Day Designs

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Cocoagraph

What a super idea for a gift... 

A Philadelphia-based confectionery company, Cocoagraph, will take your precious photo moments and create a handmade chocolate bar printed on edible ‘Polaroid-style' photo paper. Available in four flavours milk, white, dark or organic dark chocolate. All you have to do is upload your photo, choose the frame size and design, and they will do the rest.

Via: DesignTaxi 

Millefiori

The art of Millefiori —Thousand Flowers,  dates back to sixteenth century Venice, in which coloured glass rods are fused and cut to create flower patterns and incorporated in glass to make beads.


Alison Day Designs

Gingerbread from Hell

Looking for presents that will fit into Santa's Christmas stocking, for Christmas Eve, can sometimes be a trial. They must be not only be inexpensive, but of course the aim is to fill up as much space as possible in the stocking, thereby reducing the remaining xmas shopping trips necessary. The other ulterior motive here is that originality of ideas aren't too taxing for the brain, as that stress level has already been achieved, by the all important main present, waiting beautifully wrapped under the Christmas tree. 

Although my son is actually no longer a 'believer' in Santa, he is still young enough, where, if he pulls the baby-eyed 'pleazzzz, can I have a stocking?' I will still oblige (In a couple more years, I'll be able to extricate myself from that obligation totally).

With this in mind, I was delighted by one stocking present I came across, which happened to be a DIY Gingerbread House Kit, complete with, yes you guessed it, gingerbread, icing and little kitsch and brightly-coloured icing-sugar decorations, in the forms of a gingerbread man, a gift, a Christmas tree, a festive wreath and coloured dots. Assembly seemed fairly straight forward, 'Fun to Make' was emblazoned on the front, and the end result looked picturesque.

Christmas morning duly arrived as is its wont, and the stocking was enthusiastically unpacked, wrapping paper tossed aside on the floor, treasures revealed. Of course once opened the DIY gingerbread house was top of the agenda, and, had to be made. What could I say...'sure, go for it, don't expect me to join in, and let me finish my tea in peace, please... ' 

In the first instance everything went fine, the pieces of gingerbread and coloured sugar icing deco's were taken out of their packaging and laid out carefully, in anticipation. The minuscule text of the instructions on the back of the box was read, and the images viewed, whilst the packet of icing (for the glue and snow decor) was softened in a bowl of hot water.

Simple procedure - no chance - the aforementioned icing softened but instantly solidified again before ever reaching the gingerbread pieces! This meant my tea and I parted company, as I was roped into holding various walls and roof bits, whilst the sugary 'glue' supposedly set. No joy. So, we decided to make our own (from icing sugar and water, what else?). This was certainly a more appetizing mixture to look at, but would it stick... Hell No! Was I covered in icing by the end? Yup. 

As if the above trials and tribulations weren't enough, downside no. 2 was taste. If asked to rate this culinary ruin as to its edibility, I can say without a doubt that is the  most disgusting 'gingerbread' I have ever tasted! Not only was it rock hard but scented with what can only be described as lavender toilet freshener. The icing sugar deco's were the same too, equally inedible and tooth-breakers.

As a result, the demolition team was called for, and, amid peals of laughter, the walls were well and truly brought down, and the ruins relegated to the bin!

So, be warned, not every gingerbread house is going to end up looking like the picture on the box it came in, and, as for tasty, unless, you are a witch, or named Hansel or Gretel, there's no guarantee there either!

©Alison Day Designs
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Strawberry Snowballs

For a seasonal looking snack, dip strawberries in yoghurt and freeze
- et voila! A simple but yummy snack. 
From Cool Hunter

Own the Present

The Present from - m ss ng p eces more on @FastCodeDesign

Want to learn more about The Present? Join their mailing list: waitingforthepresent@mssngpeces.com.

Lily Glass

    © Alison Day Designs

Women of Clay - Hilda van Pop

Flying through the streets on my Vespa, destination Paddepoel, for my next artist interview in Northwest Groningen. I arrive outside an ex-office building from the 1970’s, which whilst waiting for new tenants and in the care of anti-squat company named AdHoc, it is filled with a number of small businesses. Number eight on the eighth floor are my directions, as I gingerly step into a rather antiquated and scary looking lift, which reluctantly shudders and shakes me up to the eighth floor.

Each level of the building is built around a central lift house, the rooms of which are large and spacious. Hilde van Popta, favourite colour pink, greets me; she loves bright colours, and has a smile to match. She shows me around the different rooms: one where she conducts regular workshops, (filled with partially finished female figures on tables and ledges), another that exhibits examples of her finished works, followed by a large room, which is the photographic studio of her sister, (a photographer and visagist). The rooms are filled with images and trinkets, masks, beads, clothes and scarves; a feast for the eyes, but what makes me smile is a bright pink, feather-covered Barbie-esque 1960’s telephone, pontifically placed on what must have been the reception desk in days gone by, and, it actually works!

Over a cup of coffee, I find out that Hilde is a trained nurse and presently still works in the health sector (in an administrative capacity). With no formal art training she dabbled in acrylic painting as a hobby, but it was a six month clay-modeling course that became the turning point, and her women in clay figures emerged. Her figures then developed further as although she found them interesting in shape they lacked something. Out came the acrylic paints, and she proceeded to paint them in bright colours to “pimp up the images” as well as decorating them with fabrics and other miscellaneous objects.

 

I ask her about her colour use, to which she says that she loves bright colours; the colours pink, red, black and white feature regularly in her work. Also, she uses acrylics because one knows what the outcome will be, unlike glazes, which are generally a surprise until they leave the kiln. However, she would be interested in experimenting with the latter in the future, as she believes that it is important to continue to develop oneself as an artist.

Subject-wise she chooses women, due to the fact that women in their diversity are a great source of inspiration, and also her clientele often recognize themselves in her work. There is no deep and meaningful message behind her figures, with a lot of them coming into existence quite intuitively, often making her laugh.

When asked if finance was no object, whether there is an artistic project she would like to realize in the future. Quick as a flash she tells me of an old empty factory she drives past every day, by the side of the motorway. She would like to buy something similar, do it up, and convert it into an enormous artists’ market. With her as the owner, it would be a hive of artistic creation: with artists at work, little individual shops, workshops and music would pervade the air. 

If you would like to become the proud owner of one of Hilde’s ‘Women of Clay,’ why not take this opportunity and use the 10% discount voucher on this page? The offer runs from 01 January 2011–30 June 2011.

Alternatively, if you would like to take part in one of Hilde’s workshops you can contact her via: hilde@vrouwenvanklei.nl / 06-21955117

To view her work: Vrouwen van Klei

First published in the Connections magazine #30 Winter 2011

Read & download issue here

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

The Language of Flowers

The language and the giving of flowers (known as florigraphy) can be said to have started as far back as the 1700's by the Persians, as discovered by Charles II of Sweden, who then introduced the practice to Europe. But it was the Victorians (during the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901), who developed this into a whole new language and their practices are best known today, because much of it has been well documented in books and journals of the time.

In their very protocol dominated society, the Victorians often replaced words with symbols and gestures, and flowers became an integral part of being able to express one’s thoughts and feelings to loved ones. The species, colours, number and grouping of the flowers were of great importance and as there weren’t as many flower species as there are today, each flower had a specific meaning. A particular favourite was the red rose, symbolizing passion and love, and meaning “Be mine’, whereas primroses stated, “I can’t live without you,” purple hyacinths, “Please forgive me,” and pink carnations, “I’ll never forget you.”

For roses there is a particular coding, but this can also be applied to other flowers as well. Red roses mean romantic love, purple signify that the giver had fallen in love with the recipient at first sight, coral and orange means desire, yellow is joy and friendship, pink roses express gratitude and appreciation, light pink roses show feelings of admiration and sympathy, peach can either signify either sympathy or gratitude and white roses show reverence and humility.

The messaging didn't shop there, how the flowers were worn or presented was also highly charged with meaning. If the flowers were presented upright it was positive, upside down and you were less fortunate. Also, how a ribbon was tied around the flowers was of importance; it referred to the giver if tied to the left and the recipient if tied to the right. A question could be answered depending on which hand the bearer had presented the flowers with. If it was the right hand the answer was "yes" and the left hand "no". Should you have the misfortune to receive a bunch of dead flowers, then not only did you now have nothing for your vase, your love had been totally rejected.

In order to attract positive chi in Feng Shui, flowers and their placement within the home play an important part. Dried flowers should be avoided at all costs as they do not ensure a good energy flow. Sunflowers bring stability and endurance, cyclamen bring passion and romance, the spider plant encouraged calmness, whereas African violets attract fame, or recognition. For calm regions of the house such as bedrooms, pinks are best for harmony, for busy areas, balance-inducing lilies and orchids are suggested.

These days, giving a bunch of flowers is more about the sentiment behind the gift than its actual meaning. We seem to have all but lost (with a couple of exceptions) the Victorians’ language of flowers. So go on, next time you give a bouquet, really say it with flowers.

Sources:
Blooms for Flowers     

Easy Flowers     

Flower Stories

First published in the Connections magazine #19 Spring 2008 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs