Channel No.5

My favourite perfume. DH brought it for me for my first birthday we celebrated as a couple and I have worn it ever since (7 years and counting). My favourite Channel ad (well in recent times, I haven't exactly scrawled the ad history), is the one involving Nicole Kidman, I love the hair, the dress, the whole look. Something tells me that Chanel No.5 will last for a long time.

Little Choopie: Hair Clips

About a year ago at a handmade fair in Sydney I stumbled across Little Choopie and the gorgeous hair clips she designs.

http://www.littlechoopie.com.au/

She does much more than hair clips, but they are my favourite and so cute to boot (for young girls and those of us still young at heart!).

This is the cute Lady Bug design I own. Puts the spring back in my step every time I wear them.

Art: LeRoy Nieman Playboy Suite

My parents sent us to check out the Centaur Gallery in the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas on our trip their in January 2010. I don't think they ever intended for their daughter to become obsessed with anything in there, or actually end up purchasing something, but they really should have known better.





http://www.centaurgalleries.com/





So what did I purchase? The Playboy Bunny Suite of serigraphs by LeRoy Neiman who famously drew for Playboy magazine over a number of years.

http://www.centaurgalleries.com/Main/Art.cfm?InvNo=47491ab

I don't really know why I'm so obsessed with these prints. I hate the colour pink (predominant in the first picture) and I count myself as a feminist (which people could debate that having playboy bunnies on your wall removes you from the sisterhood), but there's just something eye catching about them, they just make me feel like some part of bygone history.





If you want to find out more about LeRoy Neiman check out the artist bio on the following link: http://www.centaurgalleries.com/Artists/Artist.cfm?ArtistID=00126, where you can also check out a number of his other works including sports stars of the past and present.

See's Candies (Chocolates and all)

http://www.sees.com/

So while technically the candy aren't pretty, they sure taste good and I love the look of the white wrap and gold stickers, which of course I don't have a picture of because they never last that long at home!

Our family favourite is the nut chews, in the 1 pound box. Each trip someone takes to the US, requires them to return with at least one box (if not one per family unit!).

Not only are the chocolates delicious, but I love the Toffee-ettes, as well as the lolly pops. You just can go wrong in my opinion.

Etsy: Vintage fabric handbags

I don't recall how I stumbled across Madebyhank and her gorgeous vintage fabric handbags, it was an occasion when her store actually had bags available and I'm still kicking myself for not picking a few up for myself, sis and my BF at the time, but talk about god given talent (if you believe in such things!).

http://www.etsy.com/shop/madebyhank

Hank (or Katie) is purely self taught, and only started using a sewing machine 5 years ago! She creates these beautiful handmade pieces, so each are individual and one of a kind from a variety of materials and a variety of styles. My favourite are anything with the ruffles, whether its these shoulder bags (above) or the clutch style (below). The hard part is being online when the right colour and/or style is available! I'm starting to think that I should just grab the next ruffle item i see and decide where it goes from there!

Hank not only has her etsy site, but also has her own blog, in which she gives previews of upcoming releases as well as the release dates (on occasions!).

http://madebyhank.blogspot.com/

So if you manage to grab one of these babies let me know your secret so I can follow suit!

Cook Island Artist

Mahiriki Tangaroa is a talented Cook Islander artist, who studied at the University of Christchurch in New Zealand. Mahiriki produces these wonderful paintings, which are not just pieces of art, but hold a story and a history to them.

You will often see the chicken, the jandle (flip flop or thong) and Island dogs embedded in her paintings. The colours are rich and often unique. If DH and I could decide on which style, which size and which colours we liked, we would have one on our wall at home now. Perhaps our next Cook Island trip?

You can find Mahiriki's paintings for sale at Gallery de Novo in Dunedin, New Zealand and also in the Beachcomber in Rarotonga.

http://www.gallerydenovo.co.nz/artists/Mahiriki_Tangaroa.htm

Yellow Diamonds at Tiffany's & Co

Tiffany's & Co in Australia have a yellow diamond collection at the moment. I am quite a big fan of diamonds, with an interest in the Champagne colour (but not so much the pink) and love the bright sunshine appearance of these babies.

I am particularly fond of the yellow and white diamond bracelets (above), perhaps not only because of the bight colour, but because they have a bit of a antique style to them.

While it only seems to be an Australian collection at the moment, it will be interesting to see if Tiffany's sells them in the US market.

http://au.tiffany.com/

Yellow diamonds are mined in both Australia and South Africa

Shoes: Jimmy Choo

I am not a big fan of shoes. I have fat front feet and narrow heals which makes shoe shopping extremely difficult and on more than one occasion I have brought shoes, only to have them over stretch and be floppy after a week, or leave horrible blisters and marks and never wear in. But, I've wanted a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes for a long time.






http://www.jimmychoo.com/





I'm not too sure I've I'll ever actually "invest" in a pair of fine, black, leather Jimmy Choo's (I live in steel caps for work and flat shoes the rest of my time so the heal could be hilarious). But a girl can always dream can't she?







And dream she will....