In to the Blue

In to the Blue, originally uploaded by grigorisgirl.

For Allison

Frozen heart

, originally uploaded by Sameli.

Just came across this beautiful image on flickr! A snow crusted tree shaped like a heart. It also happens to be taken in Finland, my 'country-in-law'. The soft winter light is lovely too!

Polli Christmas

Inspired by my red and white candy canes, I took a peek over at the Polli website. I am a massive fan of their jewellery and I love when they branch out into home decor.
I'm glad they don't have a wish list on their site - mine would be full to overflowing with so many options, like this, these, oh and this too... stop me please!
Today I discovered the lovely seasonal Christmas items available.

{top} Decoration Kit - this set of 30 decorations are printed naturally on recycled card, plus you receive 6 metres of ribbon to use as individual decoration hangers or to create a garland. I love these intricate cut work pieces, in particular the little dove in the ring on the left of the image. A real bargain at $19.95 with free shipping in Australia.

{bottom left} Stainless Steel Decoration Kit - a set of 3 etched stainless steel decorations which come flat packed and then can by transformed into 3-dimensional hanging ornaments. Another great buy $29.95 and free shipping.

{bottom right} Love Dove Card - Another beautiful flat card that can be transformed to a hanging ornament. The red wings are weet heart shaped - too lovely! $19.95 for a pack of 4.

Now for the tough part - deciding which to buy. I think the set of 30 cardboard decorations are for me.

Colour crush - Candy Stripes

I thought I would really get in the spirit of the season and go for a Christmas themed colour crush. I have chosen traditional red and white, but with a sweet twist. I have collected some beautiful candy cane images from a very large Flickr group - Joyful Simplicities - Peppermint/Candy Canes. With over 25, 000 images it is more a visual celebration of Christmas in general. Have a browse to see some beautiful snowy berry shots!

Here is a little collection of my favourite candy cane images. I particularly like the red and white against the powder blue in the top 2 images, it's a really fresh colour combination.

{top left: Candy Shop by Jackie Rueda | top right: Peppermint Sticks by Little Starling Photography by Lauri}

{bottom left: Candycane-okeh by andieedwards | bottom right: untitled by buttonheart}

Land Rich Baubles

Here is a nice bauble for those who are averse to glitter and bling.

{Tallow Berry Bulb}

They are by Land-Rich, a New York based shop which embraces nature and good quality design pieces.

{Yarrow bulb}

I think these are a lovely gift idea too.

a sweet (paul) crush

Today I feel like I lots of little kids will on Christmas Eve! I have a new 'find' this morning that has made me very happy.

Let me introduce Paul Lowe - a Norwegian stylist living and working in New York and writer of an incredible blog, Sweet Paul . It tugs at all my heart strings - beautifully styled rooms, totally yummy recipes (especially for those with a sweet tooth) and clever and easy crafts to do yourself.
I have found a couple of really great Christmas ideas on his blog today that I want to share;

 Sweet Paul - Christmas idea no.1

 In need of a quick gift idea - these white choc dipped candy canes look great don't they!

  Sweet Paul - Christmas idea no.19 - Card Tree

How about this clever way of displaying Christmas cards?

 

 Sweet Paul - Christmas idea no.5 - Snow globe Cookies

A cute d.i.y gift that can be eaten later and the jar re-used.

So I was giddy after reading some of these pages... and then I went onto his agents website - Vivian Artists and WOW! That's when I knew I had found a new crush. With 17 years experience under his belt, Paul has a large portfolio of wonderful images. He has a real flair for food styling.

 He is also very creative in still life set-up shots. Paul's resume says that "favorite projects are those that he can produce the whole story: the planning, props, food, styling, and everything else in between." I think you can really see the attention to details that he brings to his work.

 

{images used from Paul Lowe's portfolio on Vivian Artists}

Please take some time out to check out Paul's work and enjoy his blog where he chases "the sweet things in life"

The colour and taste of Summer

dinosaur designs - calder plates, originally uploaded by ooh_food.

I love this shot of some classic Dinosaur Design plates with delicious summer fruits. It's a bold combination of colour but somehow it all works.
I had my first mango on the weekend and it was amazing! It was an instant mouthful of summer. I have a craving for some resin homewares but with a budget which unfortunately doesn't stretch to Dinosaur Designs. I'll keep my eye out and share when I find something.

White Wonderland

Are you ready to be impressed and say 'wow' out loud?

Well that is my reaction to these simply stunning Christmas inspired images by Deb McLean.

Beautiful right? Now for the WOW moment - these are all taken with an iPhone! How incredible is that? The lighting, the composition and the depth is all achieved with an iPhone.

Check out all the images here at her wonderfully named blog  - Busy Being Fabulous - and fabulous she certainly is. Here are some more wonderful iPhone "shoots" Deb has done.

The above 3 images are from the 'Pastel China Study'

I love these images especially for their beautiful muted tones and soft focus.

Check out all of Deb McLean's iphone love over here. Ahh makes me want to pick up a camera to record some of my little treasures at home!

It should probably not come as a surprise that Deb puts all her talent to use as a stylist. She has a really quirky style and you can expect to see more of her images popping up in this blog in the future! See her portfolio for yourself over at her website.

Cocktails and dreams

Cosmopolitans, originally uploaded by snapify.

It's Christmas party night and I have good intentions of trying to find at least one pretty little cocktail to embrace this evening.
P.S How yummy is this beautiful shot? Makes me thirsty and very summery!

Don't spill the soup

You certainly wouldn't want to ruin these placemats from the Publique Shop on etsy!
It has been a while since I have taken an "etsy wander" and today I picked the theme 'reindeer'. While there were plenty of results, this shop was my favourite find.

{PopMat Paper Placemat - Birdcage}

Yes that is a placemat! The designer has taken inspiration from pop-up books, which we all no doubt have fond memories of from childhood. The are made from recycled paper and certainly would add some flair to a dinner setting.

Here's a little fella perfect for a festive feast -  {PopMat Paper Placemat - Reindeer}

 

I'm positive young ones would like to have safari themed meal -  {PopMat Paper Placemat - Safari} 

There is also a range of lasercut greeting cards like this one above - {PopCard  Lasercut - Birdcage}

Pop over to the etsy shop for yourself, or check out some more of the talented designer Lian Ng's other homewares which are available through Publique Living's online shop.

I especially like these papercut votives.

As you can see also they are on sale right now too - unfortunately they only ship to the US or Canada, but a really cool idea to maybe try out - but perhaps with very thick gloves on to protect from lots of paper cuts!

Anyway, a successful etsy-wander today!

Ode to tea

What fun it I've just had exploring images of tea on Flickr.
There are so many beautiful images capturing different ways of appreciating a cuppa.
A green tea in glass mug to an all out pretty explosion with tea and a muffin in a matching floral cup and saucer.
It's such a simple but pleasurable exercise boiling up a cup of tea and can by so pretty using a tea pot and pretty crockery - if only I did that more often! It's usually a mug for me - but no less enjoyable.
For more Flckr tea-appreciation check out this Tea Set. While there check out the Cupcake set, or Drinks Other Than Tea.
I really get inspired by all these great Flickr galleries celebrating everyday moments with beautiful photos. Hopefully my new camera is not too far away!

Tickled pink about tea

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me”, originally uploaded by bianks.

A tea with all the frills

{tea and muffins}, originally uploaded by bitterlemons.

Tea Time Out

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me., originally uploaded by the cheshire smile.

Christmas from the other side

It is certainly feeling like Christmas now. The weather is warming up, house are draped in lights and the shops are a bit crazy. It's a fun time of year and while we are planning for a warm weather, my in-laws over in Finland are embracing snow and a cosy Christmas. That is how I came to take a peek at the website one of my favourite Finnish homeware stores, Pentik. They sell beautiful products and their stores are lots of fun to visit.
Here are some pages from their current Christmas Catalogue.

 

 

and my favourite.....

 

How stunning are these tealights in snow? Worlds away from a southern hemisphere Christmas!

You can browse the catalogue yourself here (in Finnish)

It has been quite a few years since I was in Finland in Winter and I've only ever celebrated one Christmas there. My fondest memories are the candles everywhere lighting up the dark days and nights. There are candles in windows, nestled in snow out the front of houses and by far the most spectacular are the candles in the cemetery. I know it sounds strange, but it was such a beautiful scene as families light candles on their relatives graves to create a carpet of candlelight in the snow.

Of course it is also much easy to eat all the yummy hot food too when it is cold and snowing outside. A very different Christmas to the our Summer ones.

{all images from Pentik}

Can you feel it?

The weekend is coming! I am really looking forward to this one. A few good nights out and some relaxation and decorating the Christmas Tree! It is going to be fabulous and possibly a bit hectic but I will promise to try and replicate this beautiful image from the Flickr stream of *Peanut(Lauren) 

{Bare Necessities - *Peanut(Lauren)} 

A cup of tea and toast in a light filled room - truly the bare necessities of a perfect day!
What a talented lady Lauren is. Her images are full of light and softness - a favourite look of mine especially as we head into summer here.
Here is a glimpse of her one of her Flickr set - Ode To White

Normally I would suggest that you check it out for yourself - but for this I insist you do! And it definitely is best viewed as a slide show for full screen prettiness!

All this is igniting the need I have for a new camera. While not technically broken, our camera takes video when you try and take a still. This results in a lot of 1 second videos and 'the picture perfect moment' passing by. Maybe Santa can bring one this year!?

the light

anticipation, originally uploaded by the cheshire smile.

Sometimes light can really turn an everyday object into an amazing image. This camisole hanging in a window is transformed by the light beaming through the delicate fabric. Ahhh sunshine.... enjoy

The head of the bed

Today I thought I would share one of my favourite furniture stores - Brocade Home. Unfortunately I have never been there in person (as it is a US based store) but I do certainly enjoy wandering through the website.
Their room images are so pretty and they do pattern on pattern so well. There is also a lightness and freshness to their style which I love.

I've got my eye on their cut-work wall art which they often place above beds to appear like headboards.

{leaf pattern wall art - oak wood in white}

{large fleur pattern wall art - oak wood in high gloss black}

 

{lace pattern wall art - oak wood in coffee}

I also would love to find a similar cabinets to these...

{lace cut bath cabinet - hardwood in white}

There are also matching entertainment units which I would find beautifully distracting while watching telly!

The Brocade Home team also have a blog has great collections of fashion, architecture and photography which fit with the company aesthetic.

Now I just need to find an Australian company who produces similar cut-work pieces.

Colour Crush - Electric Blue

I have been a dedicated blue girl for a very long time. I actually have so much blue glass from my teen decorating days that most of it is in storage. Electric blue is a colour which I think went a bit out of fashion for while, but I am re-embracing it with a passion. I have put a little collection together of a few finds that I think show why this hue is so exciting.

{ooh food on Flickr }

What a cool way to decorate with plates. I see so many pretty plates out there and this is a clever way to show them off

 

{Erin Swift prop stylist}

A pop of blue in some feature pieces makes a neutral room come alive.

 

{notebook magazine}

I like the use of a subtle blue shade on the wall that is picked up by the brighter blue homewares.

{Matteo Dudek on Flickr}

A Moroccan alley - if only all alleyways were this picturesque!

{Lili Blazer on Madaboochoo}

{Grace and Hart Beaded Dress on Madaboochoo}

A colour for your home and yourself! Love it.

Of course a piece of Deloris Petunia jewellery would also fit in nicely with this colour collection!