Hello Pretty is Winding Down

After more than ten fulfilling, magical years beginning in the good old days of 2012, Hello Pretty is retiring and heading off to the beach with a drink with a tiny umbrella.

Read our goodbye letter

Design

Win with i Spy and Hello Pretty!

I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with AWESOME!

Never mind winter, your home could soon be channeling glorious summer, with two gorgeous cushion covers from i Spy, worth R580.

Here’s how you can win:

Lovely Lauren from i Spy started designing her own textiles and prints just for fun, and boy are we glad she decided to share them with the rest of the world. Her stunning pieces are bold and quirky, with a retro twist.

Head over to i Spy to find your favourites, and tell us which ones they are!

Winner announced Friday 5th July.

A Hello Pretty road trip, first stop Swellendam and Rain Africa

We’ve just taken an epic road trip from Cape Town, up the Garden Route and over to Durban (where we’re based for two weeks). Then we’ll be driving back down again, which allows us to spend some time with the special people who make the magic happen on our site.

Our first stop was in Swellendam, about 3 hours from Cape Town. It was late at night when we arrived and we did so in rather an unprepared state. I used the Kayak app on my phone and booked the place that had the best reviews - a small hotel called Arumvale. The decor was gorgeous and tasteful, and the hospitality shown to us by the owners was honestly some of the best we’ve experienced anywhere we’ve been, in spite of our last-minute booking.

The following morning, the owner was seeing us off and asked what we had planned for the day. I mentioned that on our drive in I’d seen that Rain was in town, and that I planned to go see if I could meet the owner because they were going to be selling on Hello Pretty. Bizarrely and coincidentally it turned out that our host at Arumvale was in fact married to the owner of Rain.

We took a short drive over to the shop, and I will be telling every person I know that they have to visit Swellendam and go to this shop and spa. I had expected the shop to be cool, based on their branch in the V&A Waterfront, but I had had no idea of what a gorgeous space we were about to walk into.

The shop is bright and airy. And, of course, it smells a treat. I’d planned to buy a little soap or two, but we walked out of there a few hours later (sorry Scott!) feeling blissed out and with three bags of beautiful things and many photographs.

Besides all their own products, the shop also carries ranges by other local design talent (one of my favourites being Mud Studio’s ceramics).

Something you should know about Rain Africa is their kindness. All ingredients are natural, animal-and-earth-friendly and hand-harvested (as opposed to being farmed), and the company seeks to provide a living to the small communities around where they’re produced.
In both the shop and the spa, all of the staff had no shortage of smiles for us and were passionate about the business and what it stood for.

The Rain Forest Spa
I’d already planned to visit a spa before we even got into Swellendam and discovered Rain Forest, so it was a very lucky find (thank you to my awesome in-laws for giving me this as a birthday present!). I had a 1-hour foot massage and left feeling like a new person.

To get to the spa, enter the Rain shop and the assistant will show you to a small passage way.
It has dim mood lighting (where the mood is relaxed!) and a foresty decor vibe, with lots of running water. The treatment rooms follow the same theme, with soft lighting, wood, and forest features.
The recurrent decor element is a succulent plant, and they have done such a tasteful job to create this unique and serene space. Trust me when I say that you want to visit this place.

Every one of the staff in Rain Forest were friendly and warm, and gave the impression that they were there by choice and not only because they had to be. After my treatment, the lady manning the front desk gave me a solid run down of how Rain creates it products, and about the communities it supports and ways that the company is innovating, as well as a few samples to try. They’re still in my bag as I’d like to share them with Adeline when she gets to Durban later this week but I have some high hopes based on my in-store tests.

I’m sure it sounds like I’m being paid to say all these things but I promise I’m not. This turned out to be a real highlight on our trip and I suggest that those who are considering a refreshing weekend away consider Swellendam as an option. We will most definitely be stopping back in here on our way back to Cape Town.
Of the wealth of talented people selling their creations on Hello Pretty, we’ve only had the privilege of meeting a drop in the bucket in person. Being an online business, there isn’t an urgent need for this but we really enjoy getting to hang out with our designers and make an effort to whenever we’re able.

You don’t have to look far to appreciate the quality of South Africa’s design talent, and we’re working with the cream of the crop. We’ve met some wonderful people so far, and we’re looking forward to meeting more of you.

August 2017 update: we've just learned of a really fantastic site with lots of good things to know about Swellendam. You should go have a look for sure :) https://xplorio.com/swellendam/
 
 
 
 

Chris Perron

Industrial designer Chris Perron has been earmarked at the Hello Pretty headquarters as a designer to watch.  Spotted at the Interior Design Show West in Vancouver (IDS West), this talented individual’s beautiful craftsmanship and attention to detail quickly grabbed our attention.  I love his use of materials and the strong linear elements.

Not only is he a great designer, but he is also a talented artist - and to make me like (and maybe envy) him even more, is that it seems that he is still studying (well he was still studying in 2012, at least) - I am really excited to see what Chris will produce when he is unleashed upon the design world as a qualified professional, especially if the standard of his student work is this high.

On that note, I am now going to go stare at all of my school design assignments and promise myself to be better.  There may or may not be brownies involved! ;)

Check out more of his work here: http://ctperron.wordpress.com/

Pantone suitcases for you to lust after

My wanderlust has been going into overdrive recently, and I’ve been pinning to our travel board like mad - the only thing that makes me sadder than ticket prices and my bank balance though, is the state of my luggage.  Sad looking, wobbly wheels, broken handles and worn edges don’t exactly communicate design lover, you know?

Enter Pantone!  I want aaaall of their goodies, but for the mission at hand, my lust for pretty suitcases has been well and truly activated.  Hello Pantone Carry Case!  This 29 litre awesome-filled capacity has shot to the top of my wish list.  You have fifteen colours to choose from, and can get one of your own at the Nano Universe Online Shop for ¥16 800

I’ll take it in pink, thanks.  Or turquoise.  Or yellow.

*first spotted over here.

Tree Ring Lights by Judson Beaumont of Straight Line Designs.

I have fallen head over heels for these Tree Ring Lights by Judson Beaumont of Straight Line Designs.  They look like they came straight out of a fairy tale, and I’m a sucker for a fairy tale.

According to www.thisiscolossal.com, the lights are made out of a beetle pine shell topped with mirrored Plexiglas that allows the embedded cool fluorescent light to shine through in the dark. Sturdy enough to be used as a stool or a table, the Tree Ring Lights look perfect for midnight picnics.

They were debuted in the Summer Lights show at the duthie gallery in Canada.

Now to find go find the perfect spot for them in my garden.

Ox + Monkey collaborations

Spotted at the IDS West (along with Chris Perron who we've blogged about before), was the work of design and fabrication duo, Ox + Monkey.  Founded by Jeremy Clement (Monkey) and Kez Sherwood (Ox), they collaborate on projects such as “high quality aluminum bicycle trailers, furniture, custom metal fabrication and art projects.”  They work with builders, designers, artists and homeowners.

As for their name, according to Chinese astrology, if both the Ox and the Monkey can co-operate, the result will be a fun and formidable team - a goal I feel they have definitely reached!  With Kez being an artist and designer, and Jeremy having a strong engineering and fabrication background, a dynamic, creative and highly capable team is really the only result.

Check out their website, www.oxandmonkey.ca to keep an eye on their projects… That’s where my eyes will be firmly planted.

Crocheted miniatures by Suami

The Pug!  The tiny little Pug!  The mini dragon!  *squeals*

These tiny crocheted creatures are adorable!  Japanese crochet wizards, Suami, have just about made my eyeballs explode from the teensy cuteness that is their work.

I’m a clumsy oaf, so once I got beyond the awesomeness, I struggled to get beyond the skill.  I make even tying shoelaces look rubbish, so I find myself staring at my hands, wondering how ON EARTH someone could produce something like this, and then on such a small scale.

Hi five Suami.

Buy some of their itty-bitty animals over at their Etsy store, and send us pics.  Only you have to buy more than one.  They have to have friends - they’re too sweet to be lonely.

Grass Frame bicycles

With the cycling trend taking the world by storm, more and more beautiful, custom bicycles are popping up.  It’s really interesting to see how this phenomenon is changing how people view bicycles, and to see the different custom designs and ideas are reshaping something that was quite a lot more mundane not so long ago.

An example of that are these beautiful, environmentally friendly bamboo bicycles by Vancouver based Grass Frames.  Love.  Love love love.  Friends… fans… followers… my birthday is in October.  Just saying.

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