Mandi Pullen - Photo & Design

21/03/2026

Birthday celebrations with to old school Gods of Rock!!

02/11/2022

When friends come to visit 🤩

04/01/2022

I woke up early today, even though I am still on holiday. I opened my laptop and started watching the countdown clock of my website.

The clock in the kitchen is counting down with me. The kettle is starting to boil. The sun is starting to rise.

Today is the day it launched
04.01.2022 at 4:44am
I'm so excited, butterflies in my tummy, but I also feel this strange calmness. It's as if the moment is perfect.

It's time.
Here she is.
Perfectly me!

My soul beats with a wildflower heart finding magic in the ordinary About Hi I’m Mandi, I’m from a cute little coastal city at the tip of South Africa called Port Elizabeth, Gqeberha. But we just call her PE and everyone else calls her The Windy City. It blows, probably 358 days of the year. [.....

28/12/2021

So, this is one of the biggest projects I have ever worked on with my brand.

I used to have a website a long time ago, but this new one is so different and building one today is so much easier than it was before, but the learning curve has been huge. Choosing Fonts. Colours. Images. Flow. Writing the copy. Making sure my personality comes through it all.

I have absolutely loved the process and working with the EXTREMELY patient Kathrine from Hartley Digital (thanks Kath for putting up with all my questions) has been amazing. Nothing has been too much trouble.

So just a few more days to launch day.

Watch this space.
1 more week and it's live! 🌼

22/12/2021

Rebranding is a slow process.

It's thoughtful, intuitive and energizing.

It allows me to work through all the ideas and put them where they belong but still staying in that space that my soul loves to be.
Beautiful chaos.
Messy ideas.
Freedom of thought.
Movement.
Searching for magic.
Becoming what it was always meant to be.

09/12/2021

Here she is. In all her colorful beauty. I am so in love.

This logo. It has the most beautiful meaning to me. Not only is it about my past but also my future.

The Circle.
The path of discovery that brought me here. The hard work I have done on myself. The uncomfortable work. I made an agreement with myself at the beginning of this year. To do that which would make me uncomfortable. To discover who I really was and who I wanted to be. I did many hours of hard work with to get me here. If ever you have thought about, wanted to or need to find yourself again. Debra is amazing.

The Dots and Dashes.
My initials in Morse code to always remember my Dad. The lessons he taught me about being creative and following my dreams.

The Flower.
A Daisy. My favorite flower. The symbol of new beginnings and remembering my days with my Mom in her beautiful wildflower garden. To remnind me that I can be as free as a wildflower, face up to the sun.

Thank you Kathrine and Nick from .creative for being patient with me as I found my way to this beautiful design that you have created for me. She is me.

18/11/2021

CHANGE
Sometimes, what you’re most afraid of doing is the very thing that will set you free ~Robert Tew~

Now read that again.

I have spent the better part of this last year wanting to do things differently, to see things from another perspective and bravely go where I so desperately wanted and needed to go. I made a decision at the beginning of this year, to do things that made me feel uncomfortable, to move forward into a new place and space. To grow and shed the unwanted emotions, the people that didn’t add sunshine to my life, the activities that no longer needed to be part of my journey.

It was time to move forward in a different way. I have always believed in change. To embrace new ideas and to live life as free as a wildflower. But for some reason, I lost my way and couldn’t figure out what was really important anymore. I am sure that over the last 18+ months we have all felt something like that. A huge shift in consciousness and wanting a lighter way of living. Simplify the detail and find your perfect why!

I need to add a serious amount of gratitude to this post. I met an amazing person, did some work on myself and found a place and space to be able to bring new energy to all that I do. Debra McCreedy Coaching you have been the sunshine I needed to find. Thank you for teaching me how to bring about the change I so desperately searched for.

You will be seeing some changes on this page in the next couple of weeks. I have been working on some new processes over the last year and recently met up with the team of Hartley Digital to bring about the change I so desperately needed for me and for my brand. I can’t wait to share it with you over the next few months.

01/11/2020

I am sitting here wondering what to write. Trying to find the words. There are days in our lives where things happen that weigh in more than other days. This day many weeks ago was one of them.

I remember a day, years ago, very clearly. I had just completed a beachfront run and was getting ready for work in a gym change room. I looked up and smiled at a girl who had just put her goodies on the bench opposite me. She smiled and her eyes just lit up. She had the prettiest tattoo's and a Soul full of Sunshine. Fast forward a few years and we moved from chatting on a gym bench to sharing pizza and tequila with our friend Veronica. We discuss all things about life, the moon, being hippies, finding fairy’s, planting wildflowers and wanting to save the world. All this cements this little circle of friendship even deeper. I reflect on the start of these friendships that started on a gym bench and with a little pumpkin plant and I am most grateful for woman like this in my life.

Time goes by as it does, but we plan and scheme and create something magical. From flower crowns, sugar skull soaps and a day full of positive energy.

So we move forward to today. The Day of the Dead. The whole reason for this photoshoot. A look I have wanted to create for so very long. I love conceptual work. I don't do enough of it, but I definitely want to do more. There was a lot of planning to bring everything together. Work done behind the scenes, all of which needed to work to a specific timeline to ensure that it would be ready for today. The Day of the Dead.

Day of the Dead, so dark and sinister. But no, as you've read in previous posts, its nothing like that. I look at this as a start of something new and vibrant. We have all been through such an awfully challenging year. It’s been hard and confusing, so why not celebrate and create new energy that brings light into our lives. This is the day that you should celebrate those that have gone on to the spirit world. Remember loved ones with happiness and keep those memories in the deepest part of your hearts and souls.

Bring new energy into your day and life and celebrate that rising and setting of the sun and moon. Enjoy the opportunities that each new day brings and only remember the past with love and light.

Thank you so much for joining us on this journey.
Mandi
xx

Model: Claudette Erasmus Soul full of Sunshine
Make Up: Kayleigh Stopforth Makeup Artist
Flower Crown: Karin, Ellen, Tersia (glue gun blisters and all)
Fairy Dust: Green Fairy
Light Sabers/magic makers and the best friends everrrrrr: Karin Anker Photography Morne Condon
Equipment: Godox Global Godox SA Fujifilm South Africa
Badass corset: LADY DASH

31/10/2020

Day of the Dead...What does it all mean?

Dia de los Mu***os—the Day of the Dead—is a holiday celebrated on November 1 and 2

• It's not the same as Halloween. While Halloween is celebrated today, October 31 (you can read my previous post about Green Fairy limited edition soaps to get more insight into the true meaning of Halloween)
• It's an age old tradition, that tonight at midnight, there is an opening between the world of departed souls and that of the earth, giving those that have gone before us a chance to come back and be with loved ones.
• It originated in Mexico and Central America.
• It's a celebration of life, not death.
• The ofrenda is a central component.
• Flowers, butterflies and skulls are typically used as symbols.

Assured that the dead would be insulted by mourning or sadness, Dia de los Mu***os celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life. Dia de los Mu***os recognizes death as a natural part of the human experience, a continuum with birth, childhood, and growing up to become a contributing member of the community. On Dia de los Mu***os, the dead are also a part of the community, awakened from their eternal sleep to share celebrations with their loved ones.
The most familiar symbol of Dia de los Mu***os may be the calacas and calaveras (skeletons and skulls), which appear everywhere during the holiday: in candied sweets, as parade masks, as dolls. In addition to celebrations, the dead are honored on Dia de los Mu***os with ofrendas—small, personal altars honoring one person. Ofrendas often have flowers, candles, food, drinks, photos, and personal mementos of the person being remembered
Above text is an edited excerpt from National Geographic

So tomorrow we will reveal the final stage of this little story we have been telling. Until then, enjoy the Blue Moon tonight. It's the second full moon in a calendar month, so something truly special, and a full moon on Halloween...well I suppose then anything can happen

Claudette Erasmus
Kayleigh Stopforth Makeup Artist
LADY DASH

29/10/2020

So...
I am sure that all these different photos and the whole concept and story line is getting a little obvious as to where this is going... 😉😉

But I'm saying no more until the end of this story. You're just going to have to wait on the bus until we reach our final destination!

Our beautiful model has been transformed. And she just rocks it! By this stage, Claudette had relaxed nicely into the mood of the day and started to have some fun.
She kept saying to us, do think I can just leave this makeup on all the time.

PS: don't forget to check out my Instagram stories for more photos


Model: Claudette Erasmus
Make up transformation: Kayleigh Stopforth Makeup Artist
Assistants, behind the scene captures and joke tellers: Karin Anker Morne Condon Green Fairy