KRISP Handmade – Tee Pees for Kids

I had the pleasure of meeting with Kristien de Jong, the creative juice behind newly hatched KRISP handmade.

With mulled wine in hand, we talked tee pees, nostalgia and designing for kids.

I can’t help but notice Kristien’s delicate accent, and given my foreign obsessions, I probe a little…

Ah yes, I’m a Dutch girl who moved to Australia for LOVE 4 years ago. [It’s always for a boy or about a boy, isn’t it!]

I see the love seems to be going well [active little toddler scoots across the floorboards]…

I’m a proud mum to a little boy and recently started KRISP handmade – my little adventure as a ‘mumpreneur’. I make fabric tee pee tents for children, all 100% handmade with the beauty being in the detail.

After asking whether they come in adult sizes (they are so cool), I ask how it all started…

KRISP handmade for me has been the start of putting many ideas and sketches into real products. I have always loved anything creative, even though that is such a broad term. [I nod in agreement – reflecting on my love for anything weird and wonderful]. I have great appreciation for all things handmade, I love creativity in people, fresh and KRISP ideas, letting your hands create what you have in mind.

What is it like to be a ‘mumpreneur’?

I’m a home body at heart, so I’m lucky to be able to work in my “nirvana” surrounded by things that inspire me and an impressive iPod playlist playing in the background. That said – it can be a challenge to separate house work and work-work in the same environment. Often, my little boy has his own view of my “calendar” so, like many other mumpreneurs out there, I need to be flexible [and sometimes even nocturnal] with working hours.

What inspires you?

Every day I get inspired by different things.
I keep my eyes and mind open for anything really, from shop windows to magazines to internet, movies, museums etc… ideas come from everywhere. 

What is your happiest childhood memory?

Happy childhood memories….I have so many but the fondest memories are those of the summer holidays with my parents and my 3 brothers. On the road to Switzerland, 4 kids on the backseat of the car pulling faces to the people in the cars next to us was only the start to weeks of fun….

What are your thoughts on children’s toys of today?

Children’s toys today are so much about lots of noise, lights, movement and colour while the child doesn’t seem to be able to actually ‘do something creative’ with the toy. It’s cliché but many children (my own boy as well) get most fun out of playing with empty boxes, toilet rolls or wooden spoons, just to name a few. Imagination is the key. Dressing up, role play, building huts and tents, I’m all for it, it’s great for a child’s imagination and creativity.

Enter the tee pee…

My tee pee tents are made with exactly that thought in mind. ‘A little place of my own’ for children to play games, eat a snack or even take a nap….endless possibilities. I use 100% cotton fabric and bamboo poles for the tents, no plastics or chemicals or paints…..all natural. [I think it has been the secret desire of every child in history to own their very own, private and personal tee pee. We applaud you.]

Are KRISP tee pees more of an ‘indoor’ treasure?

KRISP handmade tee pees can be used both outdoor and indoor and since they are lightweight with their bamboo poles, they can be lifted up and folded away in a flash. At this stage, every KRISP tee pee is different in choice of fabric. Appliqués are stitched to the front or sides to create an even more unique, trendy tee pee.

Product Info

Tee Pee Cost: $150

KRISP Handmade is coming soon to Made It and Etsy but in the meantime, you can find the terrific tee pees by visiting the KRISP handmade Facebook page or touch and play with them at the following Melbourne markets:

Werribee Craft Festival – Nov 5 +6 @ Hoppers Crossing Leisure & Event Centre

Point Cook Handmade Market – Oct 2 @ Jamieson Way community Centre

Heavy Metal Treasure Hunt

Not only can you reduce your carbon footprint by using reclaimed materials to make beautiful statement pieces, old world objects have character. They tell a story.

From industrial-style furniture pieces to interesting jewellery, pre-loved metal bits make for great talking points and unique collections. Here are the spoils of my treasure hunt this morning…

Vintage Metal Flower Frogs, available on Etsy.

‘Tankette’ Table by Paolo Pallucco and Mirielle Rivier.

1970’s Cube Table by John Dickinson 1970s

A very cool Pipe sconce bookshelf with oil candles, available on Etsy

Toughen up with this Handmade scrap metal media cabinet, available on Etsy.

I love this 19th-century British marine light used to transmit Morse code, by Restoration Hardware.

Oversized Funnels make great rustic ornaments, available on Etsy.

And finally, I need to get me one of these super-dooper Recycled Silver Spoon rings, available on Etsy.

Got any metal bits you’re proud of? Send through a photo and tell us their story…

How to Design the Life you Love

Stop moping. Turn that frown upside down. Grab a coffee or a more cleansing equivalent and sit. This is worth reading.

Project: Design the Life you Love, New York (Birsel + Seck)

Birsel + Seck are product designers who solve problems and bring innovative solutions and award-winning designs to the office, home, bath, retail and automotive sectors. Like many design firms, the GFC hit them hard forcing them to innovate with strategies to create opportunities (a blessing in disguise?). What initially began as a project to ride the economic downturn, has turned out to shake the way the non-design world embrace design strategies to D-I-Y a more rewarding life.

Birsel + Seck developed a design process, Deconstruction and Reconstruction, as a tool to help you create the life you want to live.  Their dynamic workshops enable participants (designers and non-designers) to think creatively and systemically about their lives and unlock their potential.

The workshops are facilitated in New York through the Academi of Life, so unless you can squeeze in a “Personal Development” trip, put aside some “me time” and actually work through the activity below. It may be just what you need.

Click here for the “How to Design the Life you Love” Recipe

You’ll need the following ingredients:

* Your life
* Some paper and favorite pen or pencil
* Some of your heroes, mentors and other things that inspire you
* Some metaphors
* Optimism and playfulness
* A cup of coffee or tea (or perhaps something a tad stronger)
* Some music, if desired

Be sure to share your experiences and thoughts once you’ve completed your ‘homework’.

Not only is ‘sharing cool’, you’ll probably find like-minded people in the same boat!

Don’t forget to follow us on FaceBook and Twitter so we can continue our little chat..

Style File: Hell for Leather

… Well, not quite. Leather is something which should was always come with a “less is more” warning tag. That said, today’s Sunday evening round up puts the spotlight on my wish list for this season.

Leather Lace iPhone Cover available on Etsy.

Hate cliche’s? Me too.

For a bit of edgy romance, check out His + Hers Longitude/Latitude leather bands to record your first meeting place, available on Etsy.

1950s Restored ‘Copenhagen’ Ottoman and ‘Hair-on-Hide’ Chair, available at the Restoration Hardware.

Aguapé  black leather chair by Edra.

Aguapé is the name of a Brazilian water flower, hence the seat is composed of hundreds of laser-cut profiles that look like petals.

‘Viceversa’ chaise lounge by Erba. The perfect addition, we think, to a bachelorette pad.

Unleash your inner biker with these zip-detailed leather skinny pants by Balmain, available at net-a-porter.

Indulge in oh-so-romantic barefoot luxury with leather & macramé footwear by Jen Kao.

 

And finally, we end with perfection. Don’t leave for your summer holiday without this angelic Dolce & Gabbana white leather and macrame tote.

 

The Writing’s on the Wall

“A proper collection of quotations is the whole world digested” – Terri Guillemets

I love quotes. They package years of experience, lessons learnt, words to live by in a single sentence.

We tweet them, we text them, we post them on Facebook so why not (temporarily and removably) plaster them all over our walls?

I found these great slices of genius on Etsy today on sale through decorexpressions.

You can design your own and order your own favourites at Vinyl Letter Decor!

What is your favourite quote of all time?

Cork Fetish

Hi, my name is Tania and I collect corks. I also happen to love wine but despite what my husband thinks, I don’t use my cork fetish to justify my vino habit. They go hand in hand. My ‘bucket’ is overflowing with corks and while I’m not quite sure what will become of them, I’m “saving them” for the day when I construct a fabulous work of art a-la-cork.

As I added another cheeky fella to my collection, I got carried away thinking of the endless opportunities. Some inspiration for the mental ‘to-do’ list…

Furniture

Korkart by Gabriel Wiese

D-I-Y projects

It gets worse… I have a “special” cork box (for my Barolo, Châteauneuf–du–Pape and Champagne millésimé extravagances) each with it’s own story and memories of sensory bliss. What better use for them than one of these delightful D-I-Y projects?

Cork that Thought

This inspiration came from Mintage Home. Grab a ‘special’ pen and start wine journaling recording details such as the date, the wine, what you ate and who you ate it with.

Image: Mintage Home

Brand -You

Recycle your corks (or raise the status of an extra special one) and make your own proper stamp. Full details of this project here.

Image: Zakka Life

Random objects

Shock-absorbing and nice to touch i-Phone cover…

Interlocking pieces for.. well.. just about anything! The perfect studio inspiration board or ‘mat’ for random objects in the studio.

"Hot Surface Houndstooth Set" by Jaime Salm @ Mio

The World’s Largest Cork Mosaic.. my favourite.

229,764 corks, 27 days and an impressive amount of wine later, the world’s largest cork mosaic was unveiled in Albania.

Artist Saimir Strati created a magnificent Mediterranean scene called… (trust me to find this) Romeo with a crown of grapes playing the guitar while dancing with the sea and the sun, reaching two stories high and almost 13 m in length (over 40 feet).

Sustainable, durable and beautiful (particularly when marked with your favourite drop)… Corks are Cool.

Semi-Permanent arrives in Hong Kong

There are only 2 more sleeps before Semi-Permanent hits Hong Kong. To my fellow Australians… consider this post your ‘heads-up’ and official warning to purchase tickets for the upcoming Australian ‘tour’.

From the source’s mouth:

Semi-Permanent is a world leading design conference that covers all disciplines of design, including graphic design, film, fine art, illustration, web design, interaction design, photography, visual effects, animation, graffiti, motion graphics, stop motion, and architecture, and much more.

Semi-Permanent is held annually in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Auckland as well as satellite conferences in New York and London. To date, SP has hosted 26 events in 9 cities, covering 5 countries, with 164 speakers and over 42,000 attendees.

It’s raw and edgy forum-structure welcomes open-minded creative folk and the design world’s best speakers. Attendees include creative and design directors, designers, artists, photographers, digital creative’s company leaders, agency personnel, architects and interior designers, product and fashion designers and anyone else with creative DNA.

With creative workshops, industry speakers as well as opening and closing parties – this year’s HK program is going to rock.

Watch this space for event highlights later on in the week!

Le femme et la maison – Nika Zupranc for Mooi

Communicative product designer, Nika Zupanc “works and dreams” in Ljubljana, Slovenia – a place as beautiful as her creations. Nika designs for Mooi, a Dutch design house for all things retro. No longer ‘up and coming’, but very much ‘arrived’, Nika’s diverse range of products have been described as everything from “techno chic” (BUSINESS WEEK) to “punk elegance” (Elle USA).

Nika’s emotive designs blur the boundaries between the ‘mundane’ and the ‘extravagant’, transforming everyday objects to iconic representations of the female psyche. For me, her collection is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of the constructed roles of women (and their extremity) – from ‘domestic goddess’ degli anni ’50 (of the Fifties) to le femme fatal. Sofia Loren with a briefcase, if you will.

Aesthetically beautiful and equally advanced in functionality, Nika’s products revolutionizes (objects we’ve seen before. The experimentation of ‘just in’ technologies, advanced engineering and new materials is redefining our expectations of design excellence. Zupanc’s works of art make for intriguing talking points – from the essence of femininity to working out their purpose. In many cases, Nika’s pieces are hybrids of a few iconic items we’ve all seen and owned before. For instance, the Scarlet table is a coffee table come aperitif tray, aperitif, a retro enamel-coated thing of beauty. I’ve had many a, … “It’s almost a … but not quite… it also looks like a ….. but it could also be used as a …. or could it?”, conversation with yourself. Design genius.

Here are some of my favourites…

1. Modesty sofa; 2. Lolita lamp; 3. Modesty bench; 4. Mrs. Dallaway, mini hotplate; 5. Scarlet table; 6. Upper case, container.

 

1. Black cherry lamp; 2. Phonique, sofa in c-minor; 3. Tapisserie, sofa in c-minor; 4. Unfaithful feather duster; 5. Tailored chair; 6. Konstantin B, toy car.

Stockholm Design Fair: Mops and Head-Lights steal the show

Image source: Design Sponge

My MBA (MacBook Air) and I have coffee with our favourite design blogs every morning and today’s winner was Design Sponge‘s coverage of the chandelier installation at the Stockholm Design Fair.  Marie Antoinette would have wet herself should this had been around in her time.. and luckily, there would have been enough mops to oblige. The stunning ‘Mopelier’, designed and assembled by students from the Beckmans College of Design struck a balanced look between the pomp of crystal bling look and the soft, feathered effect of  the mops…’aristocratic-burlesque‘ if you like.

Read and see more here: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/02/stockholm-design-fair-chandelier-installation.html

Equally as obscure and wonderful was Swedish designer Alexander Lervik’s light bar installation called Dimensions which comprised of  1728 heads (male and femalre), arranged in 12 rows x 12 rows of posts in a cube-like structure. The heads constantly change colour, enabling transient moods for the desired atmosphere. Very cool.

Image Source: designbloom