We're all mad!

March couldn't have started with a more perfect way. This weekend I was in bliss.. or more like a Mad Hatter's tea party bliss...

"Don't be late for a very important date on the 12th of March. By order of the Royal Queen of Hearts, you are hereby summoned to attend our Jumeira Wonderland, and celebrate our day of madness with tea and goodies. Wear your fanciest hats and dress to impress the Queens. Respond to the queen by 10th of March or it's Off with your heads!"

With this super cute invite, I couldn't wait for Saturday to come. And it was worth my over-excited anticipation, the whole place was swarming with Alice and tea goodness and it was madly magical! It was incredible.. and having friends that are up for anything crazy that gets thrown at them makes it all the better.

A wonderful floral wonderland

Something magical is going on here

quirky Alice in Wonderland themed cupcakes

would you like a teacup with that?

pastries, cheesecakes and scones (yummy)

my very own feather to mark my spot

what's a mad hatter tea party without a few hats  {1st place winner}

my cousin's crazy top hat {won 2nd place}

Doesn't it look lovely, all the colors and details and the whole fun of it all. Makes me want to throw a tea party now... Well one of these days (I hope).

Pop Art gone Arabic

While I was shopping and lusting away in the vintage Bambah Boutique, I came upon two enormous pop art canvas paintings. Corinne Martins, the artist behind those paintings, goes back to her Middle Eastern roots and explores the themes of Arabic popular culture. Can I just say, my wishlist got a teeny tiny bit longer.

Coca-Cola :: Tide

Pringles  ::  Crash

Notice the old 'Pepsi-Cola' crate holding the Miranda bottles <3

 Pepsi; there's something about arabic type that makes my heart tingle

www.corinnemartin.com

Vintage haven {Bambah Boutique}

You probably figured out I love vintage.. I really do.. I am one of those people who's heart gets all jittery and fluttery at the sight of a typewriter or an old neon sign. Dubai is full of boutiques but none of those vintage, that is until the charming Maha Rasheed opened up 'Bambah Boutique' a one of a kind vintage store. Bursting with character and old style decor, it was love at first sight. Sequins, bows, dresses, florals, metallic, there's everything you've ever dreamed of, including a clock with arabic numbers that works anti-clockwise!

{Bambah Boutique} bambah:: an Arabic word for pink 

Charming decor with homemade scones and tea

My new found love, the Arabic clock {5:47}

My favorite corner, really loving the mint colored walls

The gorgeous 50's wall

 

 I'm a proud owner of a tunic black dress from the LBD rail

 "Old Fashion is the new fashion" and I totally agree.
A snapshot from their lovely website www.bambah.com

{The metal wire on the left spells out Bambah in Arabic, بمبة , such a sweet detail}

Photo credits: FiveFive Fabulous

                       Fashion Gossip          

365 Days

Can you believe we are already halfway into the first month of 2011! And I still haven't gotten me a calendar for the new year, that's already 13 days of unwritten mini stories. One of the things I love about starting a new year is the search for the ultimate journal. I love writing. Or more so, I have a memory of a goldfish so I need to constantly write down my everyday adventures (not that going to the gym, or strolling down the beach may count as being adventurous). But I digress. My favourite part is rubbing my fingers over the back of papers and feeling the marks made from my pen, it reminds me of school days where I would scribble and scrawl all sorts of little drawings on the edges of my arabic books. Some serious doodle masterpieces were created back then, unlike today where everything is digital. For me, keeping a journal each year is more than just counting down the days, it's to document my life, my thoughts and my doodles :)

So when I came across Design Sponge's vintage postcard calendar journal, I knew it was the one. I mean, can you imagine how many stories could be written over the years. And the best part is if you run out of writing space (which I'm sure I would) you can just keep on adding more papers as you go on. Plus, it's so pretty with all those postcards popping in between each month. Brilliant!

a novel a day

On an unrelated topic, I found these mysterious letters a while ago and couldn't get it out of my mind. What a cool idea. I wish I was one of their neighbors. Lenka and Michael have sought out to sending out handwritten letters to everyone in the world, and they started with sending a letter to each of the 467 households in the small Irish village of Cushendall. I wish I lived in their neighborhood. I mean, who wouldn't want a personalised handwritten letter of their own. And their stuff is hilarious, I hope my writing would be as funny and spontaneous as them one day.

mysterious letters

So & Sew

Chocolate chip icecream punctuated with drops of rainbows, tea parties and dreamy photos; these are exactly what appeal to me this time of year. Quick, hearty and satisfying. So when I came across these images of local designer, Hind Abdulrazzaq's Spring 2010 collection of 'So & Sew', I was in winter heaven. Here is where both fashion and interior merge to create one powerful design collection... oh be still my beating heart <3 (Is it just me, or there seems to be an Alice in Wonderland vibe in the images below.. yes? no?)

one; there's a potion that can make you shrink

two; and a cake that can make you grow

three; animals that can talk

four; Alice, cats can disappear

five; there's a place called wonderland

{noella designs} Tea Before Noon identity

Wow, I can't believe it's been a year since I started this blog (as usual I missed my blog-birthday), of course I've pretty much slacked off in some months and mysteriously disappeared in others, however I love being part of this blogging world and being able to both share designs from my side of the world and equally get inspired by others, not to mention the wonderful and creative people I've met :)

Well, I just realised that I never showed you any of my design works, so what better way than to celebrate my 1 year with a little bit of me and my designs.

A month before travelling this summer, I was approached by a client to work on an identity for her. She came to me with a name, and it's product 'Tea Before Noon' 'Chai al Doha' - a bilingual (Arabic and English) magazine and directory for businesses by women to women in the United Arab Emirates. I got blessed with such a sweet client who was open to try out different methods and ideas and it was heaven working with her. Just from the name I loved it from the start, and my head was already overflowing with ideas, but what I loved more was the role this magazine would play; in acknowledging the importance of women in the UAE, be it business women, young entrepreneurs, sit-at-home mothers or students and aiming to promote their achievements through articles, interviews, notices and features in this quarterly magazine.

As I was saying it was a hectic month before summer, and there was so much to do in so little time. So with the name in hand, I pulled out my notebook and began sketching and drawing, noting down all the visual language I could get from the notion of tea; from the form of the arabic teacup (estikanah) that is present in every Emirati household to the color palette of tea.

Tea Before Noon {Chai al Doha} Logo

Created a system of icons from the teacup form for the different sections in the magazine

{ Kids | Health | Lifestyle | Fashion | Food | Culture | Art | Beauty }

 Pattern Designs for the divisions within the magazine - Beauty, Fashion, Art, Food sections

Going with the tea theme, related each section with a kind of tea, such as Beauty :: White Tea.

The identity translated into the website splash page and main pages

www.teabeforenoon.ae  

Ramadan Card

The Package Exchange

I'm home. My suitcase is unpacked. Sunshine rays are finding their way back into my small corridor-cum-studio, and the avalanche of series is stuffed in the harddrive waiting for nighttime for me to settle comfortably under my duvet and watch them. Travel time from Bangkok, Thailand to Dubai: 7 hours. Okay... so this isn't exactly today, this was my situation back in August, almost 3 months ago, coming back from my summer holiday with the family from Bangkok, Hua Hin and HongKong; the perfect getaway retreat... but oh how I miss it. It was three weeks of shopping, eating, relaxing, adventure and fun, fun, fun! But that's for another post.

Now I want to rewind back to those last hectic weeks before travelling, way back in June. (sorry for the time travelling here, you will have to get used to it in my blog :P) It was a constant battle between freelance work, family gatherings, last minute shopping, and The Package Exchange. I had read about it on Cupcake Couture's blog and immediately sent her an email to be a part of this exciting swap. I got paired up with the sweetest, funniest, and oh so lovely Australian, Sharni Valle of The Pieces . Now being a designer I like to brainstorm and be conceptual, so after plenty of emails back and forth I learnt that Sharni was in fact an adventurous girl, with a love of floral patterns, music (especially mixed-tapes), and the great outdoors. So I began doodling and scribbling in my little notebook trying to think of the perfect thing to package, and at the end, I came up with
{Sharni's Camp Kit ::  8 vital things a girl needs to have to survive in the outdoors }

CONTENT OF THE CAMP KIT:

{Mix-tape Book} for when a song, lyric, or thought pops into your head

{Sewing tools} for when a needle and thread might come in handy

{Pocket Mirror} for when no-one tells you that you have a piece of spinach stuck in your teeth

{Safety Matches} for when rubbing wood together doesn't do the trick

{Plaster} for when everything seems to be going wrong, & a plaster heels it all

{Mini Jelly Hamburger} for when all you need is a burger

{Wooden Cutlery set} for when using your hands just doesn't do it anymore

{Earrings} for when the tough gets tougher and a little bit of jewellery keeps you going

{Mix-tape Book} I handmade this tiny notebook using the cover of an actual tape

In the making of: Cover - painted and adorned with floral designs, the Inside Cover, and the Back Cover

All stitched up and ready to be sent

{Sewing kit} Buttons, needles, threads and various knick knacks

{Earrings} Fashioned this cute origami shirt packaging and tucked the earrings inside (going with the clothing theme here)

{Pocket Mirror} Leaf patterned mirror pocket with my scribbly hand-written note

Stardust September

September, you have come and gone in a blink of an eye. No wonder I keep on lagging behind blog posts, I close my eyes and a whole 2 months has gone by. But alas September, you did good - or better you were great for me, my own special month; we celebrated Ramadan, Eid, and my Birthday! It was a beautiful and blessed month, filled with lots of family gatherings, peace, religion, traditions, and laughs. The night literally was young, curfews were extended, tents were camped, lanterns aglow, cards were decked, and let me not start with the food. This was the time when all the girls worked out their chef hats to master each others delicacies... and of course the traditional sweets and food that has not been good to my waistline. Oh I'm already missing it. September do come back!

recycled candle-lit lanterns {fanoos}

Midnight tent

Second image: via ohhellofriend

Love me if you {dare}

A scene from the magical movie 'Love me if you dare'

Have you ever watched a movie that is truly brilliant and you feel genius for discovering it. Well last weekend, I went over to my cousins house to watch a movie, and little did I know that that night my dreams were going to be filled with the magical romance I witnessed between Sophie (Marion Cottilard) and Julian (Guillame Canet) in the wonderful romantic French movie 'Love me if you dare'. What a fantastic story and movie by Yann Samuel, that enchants, frustrates and ultimately dares you to love it. It has that little bit of French quirkiness that I adore in a contemporary fairy-tale style using such captivating visuals (if you've seen Amelie you'll know what I'm talking about)

I for one don't watch movie trailers, and hate it even more when people spoil parts of it on me. I love to go to a movie blindfolded and watch with no expectations at all, so as to not build up a film too much and then get disappointed afterwards. So all I will say is get your hands on this movie and watch it, meanwhile I will lose myself in the rich colors, romance and mood of these photos inspired by the movie, and fantasize I am the lead star in a French fairy-tale story. Oh Sophie and Julien.. you made my heart beat!

Vibrant hued shots from a recent photoshoot collaboration with Luis Vuitton and Emirati photographer Lamya Gargash

Aqua-toned shots from Forever 21 lookbook

Into the wild

A couple of days ago it was my younger sister's birthday, and as tradition, I conjured up a mini treasure hunt with clues hidden in various places around the house for her to find her presents. Each paper had a riddle for her to locate where the next clue was hidden, until it lead her to her treasure prize. I have no idea when and how it started, but every year I love to think up of crazy places to hide, more complex riddles, or even creating a crazy twist to the game. And the look and huge thrill in her face as she runs from one end of the garden/house to the other, reading out loud the clues to the family, with everyone joining in to help her find it. Or perhaps it's my lust for all things wild... I sometimes dream the possibility of being lost in the great outdoors, making my own treehouse from wooden scraps and findings, and spending my days swinging carelessly on my rope swing.

images via: Tea for Joy , Mimi Charmante , Flufflefritz , Liebemarlene vintage