Cool Products • 01

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Welcome to Cool Products, a new feature I'm starting today. I come across so much awesome stuff and I want to share them with you all, because it'd just be a shame not to. Hope you see some things you like! :)

Beautiful Korean Stationery

I get the weirdest mad excited kid-in-a-candyshop feeling when I look at all this stationery! It's just so freakin cool, I want it all! The best part is it's available from our very own local Roxy of City Girl Searching, who's now living in Korea and has started an online stationery shop. That means we can get awesome stationery, direct from Korea! And what's even more fantastic is that she's offering free shipping til the end of Jan... that means there's just two days left to order! 

Go have a look at her lovely range at her online shop. The worst part is having to decide which ones to get! ;)

February Free Calendar Planner

As promised, here's the February free calendar planner! I've tried out a completely new look - here's what's changed:
• landscape layout as opposed to portrait layout
• digital vector illustrations instead of the usual more hand-drawn style, although these are also hand drawn
• there's a little list on the side for any extra stuff you need to make note of
I'd love to know what you think of the changes, so please do let me know in the comments :)
Grab your copy now and share it with everyone you know!

Monday Meow • 11

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Happy Monday!

It's that time again! What better way to start the week than with some feline loveliness.

I was so stoked to receive an email last week from a lovely lady named Chanel. She's recently lost her furry best friend and said Monday Meow helped her feel better - I'm so glad to be able to bring someone some happiness in such a tough time. I hope this brings you some joy, too. 

Here's wishing you the best for your week ahead! 

February's free printable calendar will be out tomorrow, so pop by again to get yours!

Monday Meow • 10

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Happy Monday! It's the first Monday Meow of 2014! If you aren't familiar with this series, it's a little collection of weird and wonderful cat-themed items. Some are awesome, some slightly odd, and some just plain WTF (like this one that I found so disturbing that I just couldn't bear to include it). 

It's a fun way to ease into the week. Hope you enjoy it, and here's wishing you a wonderful week ahead! :)

Cool Products: This Outdoor Hanging Couch Swing

Most of your are probably back into the work grind already and have had to hit the ground running. Wouldn't it be nice to find yourself in one of these incredible suspended couch swings? I'm so crazy about these, I'm ready to buy one and just move in there permanently. It even has a little 180˚ rotating tabletop... so you can easily just lie there and eat yummy stuffs all day. Or even work, I suppose. 

I will have one for myself... one day. Read more about it here.
Lettering by me, images via original source.

Hand Lettering • Calligraphy • Typography // 01

Feast your eyes on this little roundup of beautiful calligraphy, hand lettering and general typographic loveliness for your inspiration...

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Some of the above links for these images show process work for creating the lettering, which is really interesting to see if you don't know how this kind of type usually starts off. Take a look! I love lettering that's created from scratch (i.e. not a font) - it adds a whole new level of uniqueness to the content.
I'd like to make this a regular feature - what do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below :)

Punch in the Mouth Coffee at Duke and Duchess Motorcycles

I popped by to visit Duke and Duchess late last year after hearing great things about them. They're primarily a motorcycle store offering “custom bike builds, coffee and premium riding gear”. I'm no biker, but their coffee shop is a great spot to hang out and the beautiful new and vintage biking gear creates a pretty cool vibe. Have a look around...

They've got a small but decent menu for stuff to nibble on, as well as some sweet treats, and free wifi. You can find them at 46 Meridian Drive, Umhlanga, Durban. Definitely worth checking out, and the super friendly staff will make you feel right at home. Find them on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. 

"Quit Slackin' & Make Shit Happen" - A Collection of Planners & Diaries

Continuing on yesterday's theme of getting stuff done and planning, I've put together a little roundup of cool diaries and planners to get you even more inspired!

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I'm a huge fan of Kikki.K and their awesome products that are so focussed on happiness and positivity. I pretty much want all the things they have! Here's some of their awesome new range, above. I've blogged about them previously here and here.

The almost-too-beautiful-to-use planner above is by the very talented letterer and designer, Jessica Hische, and features some great inspirational messages that obviously look fantastic, too.

"Quit Slackin' & Make Shit Happen" diary in the first pic of this post is from here.

Inspiration for Getting Things Done in the New Year!

Here's an official welcome back to the blog for 2014! Hope you've all had a great start to the year and have some plans to make things happen. After a good break, I'm feeling super amped to get back into work and my normal routine, and make some positive changes.

I'd like to share some articles and art prints to help inspire and motivate us to achieve our goals. I really love this Declaration of Intention by Emily McDowell, and although it's not new I think it's always relevant. 

These two are also great bits of inspiration and reinforcement from Emily...

If you're trying to make some changes in your life, like I am, you may find these articles useful in helping to make habits last:
The 99U Guide to Habits - How to make new behaviours last for good

This post on Mondays is really great, and although she talks about a specific decision that she's made for her Mondays, it's a great reminder to change our "Monday" mindset and make it work for us:
Monday = MY Day

This is something I keep trying to implement but always end up forgetting to keep up with, but I'm determined to actually make it work this year coz I really believe it can be super effective:
Something small every day

Some general tips on productivity that I think are great:
11 Expert Productivity Tips

And two links for you fellow small business owners who are looking for ways to improve this year:
The Foolproof Formula to Manifest your Creative Business Vision in 2014

Social Marketing New Year Checklist

I really hope you find these useful!

Here's more graphic inspiration from The Everygirl's Instagram feed and Uppercase Magazine...

Another great way to start the year is with the #100HappyDays project. Basically you post a picture for 100 days of something that makes you happy each day. It's a really great way to get you to slow down and pay attention to those special moments :)

Don't forget to get your free January calendar planner if you haven't already, and share it with your friends if you like it! :)

If you need any design or illustration work done and would like to chat about it , do drop me a line. 

Happy New Year! + Free January Calendar Planner

Happy new year, everyone! 

Hope you've had/are having a most wonderful holiday :)

I'm not officially back to regular posting, but did want to get this month's free printable calendar out so you can all start putting your plans for the new year into action whenever you're ready. Here's a quick roundup of last year's calendars, and you'll find the download below. I'd really appreciate it if you'd take a moment to share any thoughts you may have on what you'd like to see in free printables and the regular calendars going forward this year. If you have any suggestions on changes or improvements, I'm all ears!