Pimp my ride

One of the best restaurants we visited during our time away was Cusco's 'Fallen Angel'.  It was not just the food that was pretty decent - the whole event felt like an experience, somewhere between visiting an art gallery and taking a peek into somebody's own private fantasy land. Each room was adorned with painting, sculptures, boldly brash wallpapers and other such fancies such as heart shaped leather look cushions.  There were also some really cool tables fashioned from old free-standing bath tubs, filled with fish and covered with glass tops with a few flying pigs thrown in for good measure.

Here is my Californian friend Paige and I with those great cushions:

 and the flying pigs:

The 'Fallen Angel' was intriguing in the sense that it was a real showcase of bits and pieces that the owner loves, all thrown together to great effect.  I definitely picked up some ideas for when (if ever) I have my own place - the toilets, for instance, whose walls were covered with thousands of pieces of broken glass is something that would be cool to try (albeit probably rather dangerous!).

Here are a couple more pictures to give you a bit more of an idea of some of the pieces, although, as often is the case, the photos don't really do the place justice:

Anyway, the point of this post is that our visit to 'The Fallen Angel' got me thinking about interior design in a way that I'd not done before.  Whilst interior design, or more plainly 'decorating', has always conjured up pictures of large dripping paint pots and a trip to Ikea, I started to realise that there could be so much more to doing up a house.  This was further emphasised when we visited the luxurious Hearst Castle in California about a month later - an estate decked out entirely with the art most loved by its millionaire owner. 

Now, I wouldn't say I have a particularly keen eye for art per se and I certainly don't have the riches of Hearst to indulge myself to the extent he did, but the lesson and inspiration was still there.  The other problem, of course, is also the lack of property and space currently in my possession - after having moved back to the parents', Ash and I have just two small rooms to call our own and these are even already products of my parents' own design projects.  The one space I do have as a blank canvas, however, is my newly inherited black Seat Ibiza.  What a perfect place to start running some ideas on!  I haven't seen many people with 'pimped out' cars so I thought it would be quite a fun, unique project to get me started.

Here are some of the things I want to include:

1) Wayne's World style licorice dispenser
2) Fake grass on the dashboard with plastic jungle animals
3) Some (fake) greenery/ vine type things winding around the car's interior
4) A new glittery green gear stick
5) Black floral cushions for back seat (a la Laptop case)
6) Max Power style seatbelt covers

Getting excited just thinking about it!! I have started researching 1) and it looks like it's not going be as easy as anticipated.  I assumed everyone in the world would want a licorice dispenser in their car and so they would be readily available, but, unfortunately, I was wrong.  There are some forums that I have found with suggestions, so watch this space!!

Party on Wayne, Party on Garth!

Dancing to the beat of her drum

Just been doing some youtube perving on Nicola Roberts' (of Girls Aloud fame) new single 'Beat of My Drum' and am loving it!  She does some crazy-ass dancing and I particularly love the jumper dress she is wearing at the end (can't find a picture unfortunately!).  This is her strutting her stuff int the first outfit of the vid:

As well as the video and the tune itself, I also like the song's sentiment - you've gotta feel it for Nicola having all those years of abuse from the public whilst in the band.  I've always thought she was the best member of Girls Aloud and now she is proving herself as a force in her own right, sticking two fingers up to the critics, in a fun, tongue-and-cheek kind of way.

The song definitely has a strong message  - Graduation take a bow/ See how strong you've made me now/ Oohh don't it make your heart go wow/ Oohh how I've turned this whole thing round.  Guess it shows that however bleak the outlook may seem, it's never too late to bring things back around!!

Tailoring

One thing that I have particularly enjoyed on my travels has been my first tailoring experience.  After being 'picked up' at her parent's cafe, our new tailor Flower swept us away to discover the delights of having your very own clothes made.  We returned three times for more - 'nuff said!

Flower's shop is called Than Thuy, near the centre of the old town of Hoi An in Vietnam.  I would recommend anyone to visit her, not least because she's a bit crazy and lots of fun.  I think she liked me because too I was probably the most easily excitable customer she'd ever had ... and was powerless to her charms (read 'sales ability'!).

Oilcloth

After visiting the most amazing craft shop in San Francisco 'Mendel's', I have adopted a new love for oilcloth (the kind of thing you might use as a easy-wipe table cloth).  I bought a couple of 'end-of-rolls' to make an awesome case for my new lap-top (I caught the apple-bug in California so now am the proud owner of my very own MacBook air :)) - the ones being sold in the shop were $40 and not overly inspiring, so I thought I'd make my own!!

Just been checking out the Mendel's website to read up on oilcloth - they have a great section on it and it seems as though it's a popular craft item, in the States at least.  Also found this little piece of sentiment that I thought was nice:

"We want to encourage people to be creative. Maybe something we say, or an idea will get you started on that project you have been meaning to do for years. Creativity is healthy"

Thanks Mendel's! You certainly inspired me!

Anyway, back to the laptop case.  I got a cool black, floral print for one side of the case:

I spotted this earlier on the same day in SF when my boyfriend Ash and I had the most amazing lunch at a Caribbean/ Latin American-esque eatery called Cha Cha Cha's just up the road.   The decor was really cool with all the tables decked out in this black floral number. 

Ash among the foliage at Cha Cha Cha's:

I used another piece of oil cloth in orange (my new fav colour) checks for the back.  It's being held together by some very dodgy sewing at the moment, so when it's all done I'll post in its full glory!!

I can't wait to get my hands on some more oilcloth when I get home and discover what other designs are out there.  I've found a website that seems to have a good range:

http://www.fabric.com/home-decor-fabric-vinyl-fabric-oil-cloth-fabric.aspx

www.oilcloth.co.uk in the UK also looks good and has lots of handy tips on how to work with the cloth.  They sell packages of remnants too, which may be my first buy:

http://www.oilcloth.co.uk/oilclothremnants.html

 

Hopefully I can make some more fun items with this material - just need to get myself sorted with a decent sewing machine as my handy work definitely leaves much to be desired!