Monday 8 October 2012

How to green your home

green home
Minor household changes can make a big difference to the environment. Ensure you make informed, responsible decisions when building or renovating your home, buying appliances and accessories, and consuming energy.


Your home
  • Use electricity sparingly: choose energy-efficient appliances, install sound structural insulation, and switch off appliances that are not in use.
  • Retro-fit environmentally friendly methods and materials in your home, such as insulating your geyser or installing a solar-powered geyser and solar panels.
  • Consciously buy furniture and accessories made from environmentally friendly sources such as bamboo and wood from sustainable plantations.
  • Opt for locally made handcrafted products rather than mass-produced goods that generally have a large carbon footprint and are mostly non-biodegradable.
  • Choose bamboo, silk and other natural fibres for your bedlinen, blinds, towels, bathmats and curtains.
  • Recycle, upcycle and reuse: heirlooms, secondhand furniture, antique porcelain, and recycled glass all reduce your carbon footprint.


This article first appeared in the Décor section of home on 6 August 2012. 

Saturday 6 October 2012

It’s Carn-Evil Time at uShaka Marine World this Halloween!


house_of_fear

Celebrate things that go “boo” by the sea at uShaka Marine World this Halloween with a new thrilling family experience. Visit uShaka’s brand new spooky “House of Fear”, designed by award winning set designer Greg King from Kickstart, on the Village Walk where creaky doors and coffins, ghoulish characters and plenty of blood and gore will get you into the uShaka “spirit” this Halloween. This terror-ific experience costs just R30 and will be open to visitors from 29th September to 28th October! (Please note that experience is NOT FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13!)

Friday 5 October 2012

Suit up and join the waddle at the Simon’s Town Penguin Festival


Celebrate Annual African Penguin Awareness Day by watching these dashing fellows waddle to freedom atSeaforthBeach. This Penguin Beach Release in just one of the festivities you can take part in at the Simon’s Town Penguin Festival. There’s also the SASSI Celebrity Chef sustainable seafood cook off (yummy), a treasure hunt and the opportunity to meet SANCCOB’s famous ambassador penguins.
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When? Saturday, 13 October 2012 | 10am – 3pm
Where?BouldersBeach Lodge & Restaurant, Simon’s Town
How much? Free


Want to get involved? Phone 021 786 1758 and help save those penguins!

Thursday 4 October 2012

The Phaidon Archive of Graphic Design - 500 iconic designs in one box!


graphic_design_archiveThe Phaidon Archive of Graphic Design features 500 graphic designs including newspapers, magazines, posters, advertisements, typefaces, logos, corporate design, record covers and moving graphics from around the world, which have set a benchmark for excellence and innovation.

Compiled and researched by experts, and illustrated with up to six images per entry, including rarely seen historical and contextual material, The Phaidon Archive of Graphic Design is the ultimate reference guide for the design professional and enthusiast alike. Designed with exceptional production details and rich with information, this book also becomes an object that appeals to the creativity and imagination of the reader.

archive_graphic_design2Born of the traditions of fine art and printing, graphic design is a form of visual communication that seeks to inform, identify or promote through the combination of word and image. But unlike the written word or a work of art, a graphic design operates exclusively in the context in which it will be seen, and mediates between the wishes of the client and the expectations of the public. Moreover, a graphic work is created for mass reproduction. 

The field of graphic design, as we know it today, has its roots in two developments: the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century and the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, both of which contributed to the process of graphic reproduction. Today, trade, commerce, communications and culture continue to feed the need for graphic design, and technological developments – most notably the computer – are constantly broadening its possibilities. Of all the arts, graphic design comes closest to our contemporary daily life, as we interact with graphic design on an almost continuous basis.

Five hundred graphic designs created since the advent of mechanical reproduction, are showcased in this archive – from the Gutenberg Bible and Nuremberg Chronicles of the fifteenth century, to the cutting edge magazines, posters and ephemera of today. It is the authoritative selection of newspapers, magazines, advertisements, typefaces, logos, corporate design, record and CD covers and moving graphics from around the world, which have created a benchmark for excellence and innovation.

This phenomenal collection is available directly from the Phaidon online store (click here to go shopping). 

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Spooky Décor for Halloween


With Halloween less than a month away we’d thought we’d share some of these wonderfully spooky decorations for your home. 
Make a statement with this silhouetted stairway from Martha Stewart .
Reused and recycled: A classy pumpkin made from Consol Jar lids via Simply Klassic Home.
Click here and learn how easy it is to create these eerie chicken wire ghosts that are perfect for the garden.
Visit Disney's Spoonful.com for spooktacular pumpkin templates.
Another haunting idea from Martha Stewart.

Monday 1 October 2012

Share a little, save a life & support National Bandana Day!


The Sunflower Fund is urging all South African’s to support National Bandana Day on 12 October by buying an official bandana for only R 20 at their local Pick n Pay. All funds raised will go towards assisting The Sunflower Fund in increasing the South African Bone Marrow Registry. The Registry assists in finding and matching bone marrow stem cell donors to patients in need of a transplant, providing hope to those suffering from leukaemia and other life threatening blood disorders.

Share a Little, Save a Life….buy your bandana today and give hope to someone else.
sunflower_fund_bandana-range-2012
This year’s bandana design comprises the South African flag colours with the word “Hope” written in our official languages.
For more information on National Bandana Day and The Sunflower Fund call the toll free line on 0800 12 10 82 or visit www.sunflowerfund.org.za