Article in Inspirations 79

As usual the latest edition of Inspirations - the world's most beautiful embroidery magazine - are filled with an array of delicious embroidery projects covering a variety of styles and methods. 

I love the pink and green cover - it is my favourite* colour* combination! 

The other reason I really, really like it, is because there is an article on pg 10, I wrote about my African Flower Chain. It's already a year ago we took that trip around South Africa. I can't believe how time flies! That icy cold day in early August when we left Pretoria (and had a very rare snowfall) feels like yesterday... 

And here we are, all settled in Australia, with many new friends and new stories to tell.

*One of the many great things about living in Australia now is that I can ignore the spell checker when it tries to tell me to omit the 'u' in favourite and colour. This is the way we spell it in South Africa and in Australia. Is it a southern hemisphere thing, I wonder?

First Afrikaans article published in a South African magazine

My friend Christelle started a Facebook group about two years ago called Ons Hekel (We Crochet). It has grown from strength to strength and has brought together many fabulous women who loves to crochet.

I wrote an article about her and the group for Idees, an Afrikaans magazine celebrating creative inspiration in true South African style. The article can be seen in the June edition which will go on sale this week.

Recently published articles

I wrote a few articles over the past months and two of them have recently been published.

On the WEG website there is a story of our travels through South Africa. It tells about the African Flower Chain trip and is written in Afrikaans.

Merise is a magazine published in Australia, aimed at the South African diaspora living in Australia and New Zealand. I wrote an article about my new hometown, Adelaide, for Issue 5. Merise is published in both Afrikaans and English. The article was originally written in English but a translated version also appears in the Afrikaans edition.

More than the dress

Before I came to live in the Middle-East I thought an Arab is an Arab is an Arab.  They all look the same, they all dress the same and they all believe the same. 

I couldn't have been more wrong. 

The longer I live here the more I come to realize this is possibly one of the most culturally rich and diverse regions of the world. 

Male

One of the things I came to admire is the rise of a younger generation of culturally aware individuals from this region.  They are educated, intelligent, creative and very productive. The Brownbook Magazine is one of the endeavors of this generation. It is an urban lifestyle guide focusing on design, culture and travel across the Middle East and North Africa.

Female

These two images where published in the latest issues and gives a quick visual guide to the diffidence in dress styles across the region. 

If you are interested in learning more about some of the real people of this region, get your hands on a copy of the magazine, or read some of the features online.

Magazine Inspiration

I love decor magazines.  I will buy a decor magazine before I buy a fashion/woman's magazine any day. Being an expat I've been exposed to decor magazines from all over the world, and I still think South African magazines are some of the best out there.

My favourites are House & Leisure and Elle Decoration South Africa.

But I have now made a new discovery:  Vogue Living Australia.  I recently bought the May/June 2011 edition, guest edited by Ilse Crawford, and I am smitten.  It is a beautiful magazine, full of inspiration, cool ideas, great interiors and fantastic photography.

If it is on a shelf somewhere near you, get yourself a copy. Now.