I am always intrigued by the beauty of everyday objects. I just love how Boex designed this award winning, quirky Pencil Bench to incorporate an everyday office object into a piece of furniture! 
The pencils can be removed and used! Now which one had the nice sharp point again?
I thought I would pick up some more folded- paper- vintage- book theme stuff from their blogs before passing the award on - Double Takes recently featured this table made from folded magazines [originally on Apartment Therapy] 
and Sweet Paul has just done an amazing article for the September Country Living titled "A Way with Words" - using the written word in crafts. 
I am going to stick with the paper theme and pass this award on to:
Paperiaare whose blog documents all her beautiful hand made books and jewellery
Paperschmaper who blogs about all sorts of interesting paper related topics
Bent Objects who does the most amazing things with paper clips and wire
Visit his sight for more of his design - Repurposed, Recycled and New!
When I notice that the Arum Lilies have died off, I think about grabbing my clippers. 
The drawings are so simple and they tell a love story! It is going to be very hard for me to put this on my etsy shop, but it will be there soon!
I am going to hand out the "I Love your Blog" award to some bloggers whose creativity has inspired me recently:
A Steno Pad for my Thoughts for showing us the delicate goodies she makes - like this Stacked Triangle Garland [with a tut]
Kate of Little Doodles for filling her blog with ... delightful little doodles.
And Miss Frugality for recycling Cashmere jersies into these Pretty Pouches. 
My daughter is studying art in her final year at school, so she has introduced me to Andy Warhol's pop art. 
I don't usually buy cans of soup, but we bought a can of Campbells the other day - in tribute to Andy. So it was decided that this would make a good platform for my pencil tower!
[I see that Campbells is about to become Batchelors Soup here in South Africa. I wonder if this is a world wide name change or just local?]
A garden picnic had to become a fireside party because of the unseasonal clouds and rainy weather. A good time was had by all! [I am trying hard to ignore the fact that there are 2 batches of leftover chocolate fondue in the fridge!]
'Anemone is a malleable white lamp composed of connected four-wall cells. A protective metal sphere inside the lamp both isolates the bulb from the exterior and serves as the lamp’s core, turning it into an interactive piece that can be used on a variety of surfaces. Anemone infuses simple geometric forms with an unexpected fluidity, turning a conventionally static object into a playful, tactile experience'
WOW!
So I have set up a botanical display in my dining room - with some thrifted white salad dressing jars and some herbs from my garden - [except the parsley which I bought]. Each name tag points to the relevant herb!
I love the connection between the herbs and the jars and the fact that Heloise's creativity and generosity sparked it off!
It was so beautifully wrapped! 
Oooh the anticipation! Heloise had given us a sneak preview a while ago... 
Here's a close up....
But, I am off to the Westville Prison again now, so you will have to wait until tomorrow to see what I have done with my delightful gift!
Our pastel art work was framed in a gold frame which looked a little too bright and dated. This is how I transformed it onto a trendier silver: 
I removed the frame from the picture and cleaned it with a damp cloth. I bought Baroque Art Gilders Paste in Silver from my local paint shop. They have a very informative websight, which was a great help to me!
I dabbed a dry brush in the paste and worked it onto the frame
You can use your finger or a soft cloth, but I found the brush worked best for me, getting into all the corners.
I finished 1 side of the frame at a time before moving onto the next.
When the frame was complete, I waited about 12 hours before buffing it up with a soft cloth to make it a little shinier. 
I enjoy Peter O's sketch of a crowd at a Party 
I would LOVE to get my hands on this lamp called "Our Crowd" which was sold at Habitat a few years ago. Pictured here on Hector Milla's photostream 
Talking of covers...
and I love the way they refresh my own cushion collection!
