Cape Town

Studio & neighbourhood tour with A Ring To It

Hello Pretty was lucky enough to be invited to a studio experience tour by Stacy Beukes, the insanely talented jewelry designer behind A Ring To It.

A Ring to It jewelry design is renowned for interactive pieces that tell a story. This studio tour was no different and we began our morning with a chat by Stacy explaining the rich socio-cultural history that informs her studio space as well as each design and final product.

Much like Stacy's unique laugh, the studio experience tour proved to be inspiringly special. The talk provided a rich contextual background with stories from Stacy's childhood and her parents childhoods - these form the foundation upon which Stacy creates her pieces.

We got a lovely peek inside the studio where Stacy and her apprentice Cynthia demonstrated the process of making a hand crafted silver necklace. It was awe inspiring to see how much how much work is involved in each step of the process.

Stacy provided explanations for every aspect of the design and manufacture process. Each tool has a rich history behind it. Every decor item in her studio has a story.

Over bagels and bubbles we discussed the inspiration that informs Stacy's new range called 'Kinners'. We all nostalgically reminisced about 90's iconic symbols.

We each received a beautifully individualized name necklace which is Stacy's take on the cheap plastic white block name necklaces we all got as children.

It was such a great end to the studio experience. Sitting in the sun at a gorgeously decorated table layered with pinks and tropical leaves we got to bond over things that make us uniquely South African.
Stacy's jewelry pieces managed to spark those sweet memories we all have from childhood and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since.

Fruit wheels from Cecilia's Farm

As a small and local business who loves other small local businesses, we've build some fulfilling relationships with inspiring people throughout the lifetime of Hello Pretty. One such business is Cecilia's Farm.

Cecilia's is on a farm near Ceres called Koelfontein. They do fruits, nuts and wine and believe that nothing but the best fruit and nuts should go into their products and we can attest to them being true to their word.

A couple of weeks back we tried out a new product they've released, called their fruit wheels. We bought all of the cheese in Cape Town, and a few other treats to have with them, and had our friends over and all stuffed our faces. And obviously wine. Obviously.

They have an online store over here so you can get yourself some of their delicious things. When you place your order, we highly recommend trying a bottle or two of their 2011 Shiraz. It's a beauty. And the nougat is from another talented South African artisan called Ma Mère and we bought ours from Fabricate in the Gardens Centre.

Summer with Poetry.

Hello pretties! I recently attended the Poetry stores SS16 collection preview at the beautiful CAAM gallery. The collection of homeware and clothes were displayed over the three levels of the building, with each level showcasing a different look from the collection.

This collection caters to the lifestyle of the Poetry customer with the capsule consisting of work, lifestyle and evening wear. What makes this collection so great is that each garment can be crosspolinated, making it so much more versatile for all those busy summer events.

All the fabrics looked and felt so luxurious. Some of my favourite colours were seen in this collection and I am so excited about that! Tangerine and olive green stood out for me, with whites and greys dominating the evening wear range.

The shoe collection is stuning, ranging from simple summer sandals with delicate leather straps to beautiful beige espadrilles.

You are definitely in for a treat this summer with this beautiful collection. I most certainly am excited and cannot wait to see more of the range in store.

Images - Nena Butler

Hello Pretty is looking for an intern!

Applications for July are now closed.

Pretties, as a former intern at Hello Pretty myself, I am super excited to announce that we are embarking on an internship programme here at HP HQ.

We're looking for someone to train up on the social media front in particular, so if you're the type of person whose friends give them a hard time for never putting their phone down over dinner, perk up your ears.

Requirements:

Must love design in all its forms;
Must have an insatiable Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram addiction, and so already have a working knowledge of how to use the various platforms;
Must be Cape Town based, or able to get to the City Bowl once a week to check in and for training;
Must have access to a smartphone and laptop, with permanent access to a reliable internet connection;
Must be a spelling and grammar nazi - someone who never, ever writes words like ‘bcoz’ or ‘wud’, and someone who respects proper capitalisation;
Must have completed matric - if you're an undergrad student looking for something part time, we're looking at you!
If you enjoy dabbling in photography, that's a bonus - you don't have to be a pro, we'll be giving tips and pointers as we go. :)

We would need interns to be able to commit to 15 - 20 hours a week, for three months, starting from the 6th of July. We're super flexible, so can arrange to work around any class schedules. Other than a weekly check in, you can work from home. (Once you start working in your pajamas it's very difficult to turn back!)

To Apply:

Stop! Do not send us a CV. This will be the fastest way to get us to reject your application. Don’t even be tempted. We can see your finger poised over that ‘Attach’ button. Back away!
Write to us and in one or two paragraphs, tell us who you are. If this includes relevant work experience then that’s cool, but we don’t need to know about the waitressing job you did while you were in school.
Send links to your public social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc). Candidates' social media personas will be considered during the shortlisting process, but don’t worry, we are nice people and will not judge you if you have posted the occasional ‘party-juice’ tweet (unless your grammar turns to rubbish when you do) ;)

The address to contact is info@hellopretty.co.za. Use the subject “Intern Application: {YOUR NAME}”. The people you’re contacting are Scott, Lee and Sam. You can see who we are on our About page.

We’ll be accepting applications for one work week - you have until the end of Friday. We'll be in touch about the success of your application and next steps - we'll be interviewing shortlisted candidates from the 29th of June until the 3rd of July.

Go go go!

Frazer Parfum

Last week I was lucky enough to be Frazer Parfum's guest instagrammer, which meant I got to spend a whole morning in their store and factory, smelling beautiful things and lathering it all over me.

This super gorgeous and luxe brand is run by Tam and Jenny Frazer - sisters every bit as lovely as their products.

Founded in 2008, Frazer Parfum creates organic and natural perfume products, handcrafted while collaborating with local artists - the end result is to die for.

Tam spent some time explaining to me how she makes each scent, in all their various forms - a LOT of love and attention to detail goes into every tiny thing.

She also explained their Chapters Collection, which includes nine scents inspired by places that she's travelled to, including Corsica, Madagascar and India. They also have the African Collection - six scents inspired by raw materials on the continent.

My very favorite scent is African orange blossom - perfect for winter.

It uses a resin from Ethiopia called opoponax, which has a treacle note - it's used in many creative perfumes and gives a sweetness even though it's a resin. Resins are one of the rare ingredients that are both fresh and long lasting.

Even better news is Frazer Parfum does not use any synthetic molecules or chemicals and in no way are any of the raw materials tested on animals. The palette consists of rare absolutes, concretes and resins coupled with chemotyped essential oils, petals, woods, roots, grass and zest.

I love how you can get your favourite sent in so many forms - there's really no excuse not to smell delicious! I love to layer my coffee & orange blossom shea butter and solid perfume to get a truly luxe feel and scent. If you spot me on the streets of Cape Town sniffing at myself, you'll know why!

My favourite "vessel" is the parfum solide. The scent is captured in beeswax, and you can choose between an equally beautiful Protea porcelain egg and an African Blackwood compact. Because I'm the most clumsy human, I opted for an African Blackwood Compact. Perfect for keeping in your purse!

This Shea butter is the most luxurious feeling moisturizer I have ever put on my skin. It's an intense natural salve, that comes in a handmade porcelain or Tamboti wood container. I'm completely smitten with the beautiful fine porcelain.

Tammy is the granddaughter of Graham Wulff, inventor of Oil of Olay. Following in his footsteps single-handedly launched her personally handmade perfumes in eclectic retail environments in Europe, North America, UK, Ukraine, Oceania, Nigeria and South Africa.

She inherited her grandfather's beautiful albums of ladies in the factories in their pink lab coats - I immediately felt that my life would be incomplete without one just like it!

Read more about Tammy’s journeys in her column “Making Scents”, published every Friday in the Mail & Guardian newspaper, and online HERE.

To check out what I got up to last week, follow them on Instagram at http://instagram.com/frazer_parfum/ - it's a feast for your eyeballs in there!

Thanks ladies! I left an even bigger fan than when I walked in. *sniffs self*

Hello Pretty takes Indaba

Team HP loves Design Indaba weekend - it gives us a serious boost of inspiration to kick off the year, allows us to touch base and support our sellers, and maybe meet a couple of new ones. And there are always, always cocktails!

This year was much the same, with some truly beautiful products:

As always, we almost lost Sam to the ceramics aisle (the little bowls guys. The woman can't resist), while I was suffering from a severe bout of fomo from Durban. But all in all, a super fun time. And because a small part of us will never truly grown up, the whole team feels super fancy donning "Buyers" badges.

Check out the rest of our photos over here, as well as some fun candid snaps here. We're already looking forward to next year!

Pretties in the inAWE Residency Programme

One of the World Design Capital projects we've been keeping a close eye on is the Between 10and5 and InAWE Stays' collaboration, creating the InAWE Residency.

The intention was that from May to September, eight Cape Town-based creatives were invited to spend a week to ten days at the very beautiful InAWE Stays, and to reflect on their surroundings, creating an artwork inspired by the Mother City.

It's enough to make you feel downright warm and fuzzy inside - all proud and mama bear-like, to think we have such incredible talent representing us on an international stage. And what brought this project even closer to our proud little hearts was that two of our very own sellers were involved - Laura Windvogel (aka Lady $kollie) and Ed Suter got stuck in and made some very awesome art.

First up, Lady $kollie: according to her write up on Between 10 and 5, Laura was inspired by van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night,’ and as a result deviated from her colourful and fruity paintings - the end result was an abstract landscape of Cape Town’s city lights.

Next up, Ed Suter: Ed created a photo story titled Arrivals and Departures, using Cape Town as a backdrop. He's apparently always been inspired by the energy of cities, and shot the story of a young trumpeter making the move from a small village to the Mother City using both film and digital.

"Ed, two models dressed in Bantu Wear and one assistant travelled around Mamre, Philidelphia, Elsies River and the CBD to shoot in wheat and canola fields, on an old school bus and at a block of flats, and the results are just as enchanting as the 60s jazz records that inspired this series."

This is just a teeny tiny taste of the ahMAZING work that this programme produced. Artists included Michael Chandler, Jody Paulsen, Danielle Clough, Sebastian Borckenhagen, Lucie de Moyencourt and Fort Rixon - read more about the programme on 10and5.com and join us in ruffling our feathers and puffing our chests out thanks to the crazy talent that fills this country.

AND AND AND, better yet, support them by visit their Hello Pretty stores! For Lady $kollie hop on over here, and for Ed you can head here.

#WDC2014 Desktop Wallpapers! - part 4

Guys. No but guys. Look at these yellow cats. Are they not the best?

Fathima, fellow cat lady from Happiness Is... has done this most amazing illustration for this months #WDC2014 inspired downloadable wallpaper, and we LOVE it. Can you tell?

Download this bit of tech sunshine for free over HERE.

Talented right? She's so brilliant. You should all go visit her Hello Pretty store right this second!

Check out our past wallpapers over here.

Kirstenbosch Treetop Canopy Walk

Feeling sunshine on my bare shoulders has become a bit of a drug (wearing sunscreen, obvs. I don't go full addict), so in pursuit of my next after-winter hit of spring, I headed out to the much talked about treetop canopy walk at the Kirstenbosch gardens.

Cape Town played along, gifting me with the sunshiney-est day ever. It was the most beautiful weather (spaghetti strap shirts ENGAGE).

So FYI, it sways. A lot. Rumour has it it's supposed to, but just be warned. Once I'd gotten my sea legs I felt so privileged to be surrounded by so much beauty. We live in an incredible country you guys. We don't lack for amazing and varied scenery.

My only complaint is that the walkway itself is a bit short. Luckily we were spoilt for choice in the gardens, lazing around and dodging canoodling couples. It was a pretty fantastic way to celebrate the end of winter.

Ugh. Disgusting. You shouldn't go.

Nando's Accidental Art Instawalk

I was super excited to receive an invitation from 10and5.com to join the Nando's Accidental Art instawalk last week Friday. Like, suuuper excited. I had seen hints and hastags all over the interwebz leading up to it, and was keen to throw on some walking shoes, meet some cool people, and get to know my new city a bit better (for those of you that aren't aware, I'm a Durban girl who threw caution to the wind and moved to Cape Town with one suitcase and a box of books).

Alas, it was not meant to be. I had my best walking shoes on, I had thrown on sunscreen and all my devices were fully charged - and then I collided rather impressively with a door frame. After a very audible crack, I was gifted with two broken toes and a fractured baby foot bone, an hour before the walk was due to start. Devastated much?

However, lovely Melissa from Between 10 and 5 kept me well in the loop, and sent me all the photos afterwards, so I was totally there in spirit. And then Ads and I had Nando's for dinner, because, well, Friday, and I had just broken my foot.