Christmas Inspiration - H&M Home 2010

H&M Home once again have put together beautiful inspirational Christmas looks for 2010. Though we can't buy the lovely products (unless you are in a select few European countries), we can get inspiration and ideas to follow. So here is Christmas 2010 according to H&M.

This Christmas trend is wonderful and feminine and let's you use homewares and textiles you already have and can use again at other times of the year. I really like the lace accents, especially the hanging piece over the table. I also think the silver and white combination works in both a wintry Northern hemisphere as well as the hot, summer Christmas we enjoy down here in the Southern hemisphere.

In this more traditional Christmas look, it is the use of natural linen and canvas which gives a modern, relaxed look. I love the use of traditional typefaces and icons to give a vintage feel.

 

Finally, for a modern Christmas look go for this purple, black and bling look. The purple can be substituted for any colour you like, just make it bright so it  jumps out from the glamorous black and blingy setting.

To check out the H&M Home Christmas Trends visit the website here

What's your favourite look? I think mine is the red and linen combination because of it's relaxed yet traditional feel.

Christmas spirit

After finally putting up my Christmas Tree last night I have had to face the fact that not only is Christmas coming, but it is very close by! Today I have found some beautiful Christmas Wreaths which I would love to adorn my front door with. Unfortunately not many of them look 'transportable', however they may inspire some DIY projects.

These first few are from the Lunatique Boutique etsy store. I love the subtle Christmas colour palette of reds and golds as well as the use of fabric, feathers and paper. I find these are not too 'tizzy' and have a nice natural look. My favourite is the top one where the twigs spray out from the circle. See these and more in the etsy store here. Pictured above the Elegant Woodland Holiday Wreaths.
Click for links >  Top,  bottom left, bottom right.

This wreath is from Goodie True Shoes (another very cool store name!) The Evening Gatherer wreath has lovely earthy tones that match the yarn, felt and wooden material used. This wreath also has moss and seeds, but these are not able to be shipped internationally. I could see an Australian version of this wreath with native seeds, gumnut pods and leaves.

This pretty wreath is certainly something that could been used as inspiration for crafty people. This lovely jute wreath is by Catnap Cottage. The 'beach chic' look of jute makes this a great wreath for us Southern Hemisphere dwellers who have a summer Christmas. I love this fabric, the red and white reminds me of a candy cane, but it is such a modern interpretation of the Christmas look. The trick here is to find beautiful, quality fabric or ribbon.

 

This last wreath is a masterpiece from The Linnets Wing. Again I like the wild, unstructured style. I also like the natural colours given a bit of holiday silver bling. The real appeal of this is that the natural elements are sourced from Erika's Pennsilvania home. This wreath is "hand-collected, hand-dried, and hand-made from start-to-finish." Learn more about Erika's wreath and other creative projects on display in her etsy store.

create in serenity

I've enjoyed a little whirlwind of inspiration this morning, starting with a post about hand carved stamps by Ez on Creature Comforts. I **really** want to try this and followed a link through to a tutorial here. While I am still excited about stamp making, it quickly went to the back of my mind when I spotted this photo...

I was taken at the thought of being able to look down at such a beautifully set up table for painting, plus the little work-in-progress birdies are lovely! Then I clicked on the next photo and saw what it must be like to sit at this table and gaze out for inspiration.

This table setting is from very talented Mexican based artist Geninne and she has shared them on her flickr account here. Sitting at this table in an open landscape is such an appealing thought to me. To be able to do it from the comfort of home is an added joy I'm sure. A place to create is something I have wanted to create, but never seem to find the time to make an artistic space, let alone use it! The fruits of Geninne's wonderful surrounds are evident in her beautiful work.

 One of her favourite subjects is birds and this print above Bird No. 30 and many more like it are available in Geninne's etsy store. She also sells pillow covers featuring her prints here.

My favourite is this Birdcall print. It showcases both Geninne's fine art and graphic design background.
If birds aren't your thing, you can check out some other subject matter in the etsy store.

I'm quite partial to this Pile o Wood print. If you visit the etsy page, you will see the inspiration image and really get a feel for how Geninne translates images into her own artistic style.
For more from this lovely artist check the blog, flickr, etsy store or big cartel store.

looking forward

It has now been way too long between posts but I am overjoyed that I find myself with a few minutes to finally put together a post. I have a backlog of pretty discoveries I want to embrace, starting right now with beautiful illustrator Emma Kisstina. I have previously written about her sweet and indulgently girly prints here. Thanks to the great new(ish) "you might like" feature on etsy, I found Kristina's Illustrated 2011 calender.

Each month has been hand drawn and digitally coloured. The calender comes as loose A4 pages you can choose to display anyway you like. A clever idea is this one above where each month is framed and the glass is used to circle important dates or write reminders

Here is a taste of a few of the months. To preview the full calender pop over to Kristina's flickr page here.

You can purchase the calender on etsy here.

Enjoy!

a fresh wardrobe - ruche

I have found myself wanting to freshen up my wardrobe as we move into spring. I think it has to do with that tricky transition time going from a winter wardrobe to a spring wardrobe, when you need to dress for a range of temperatures. I don't know about you but I always feel a little strange baring my arms and legs for the first time after winter. Anyway I have found a 'look' that I love courtesy of a beautiful US based online clothing shop - Ruche.

Described as "a modern boutique with a vintage touch", this shop is a beautiful place to find fashion inspiration through a combination of beautiful clothing and stunning Look Books. The quality of the photography and design alone is worth a look. I love the mix of texture and colour in these outfits and they are all so 'wearable'!

It's not just the beautiful clothing, but the entire outfits head to toe - the shoes and the accessories. I would love to get all the looks in their entirety!

I also appreciate that the Look Books are all left on the site, despite it now being Autumn in the northern hemisphere, us southerners can find inspiration from past seasons. All the above images are from the Spring 10 or Summer 10 look books.

Here's a look that I can wear this week. A delicate ruffle print top wrapped in a cardi in a pretty spring colour. I feel a shopping trip coming on and I will certainly be using the beautiful Ruche as my own personal style 'look book' this spring! Visit the Ruche online shop & blog for some inspiration no matter what hemisphere you are in!

pretty eggs - mizu designs

Have you checked out Holly from Decor8's 2011 calender round-up yet? It is absolute eye-candy - almost to the point of being overwhelming! I took a quick minute out today and just so happened to pick-out an Australian artist to look into further. Kylie Budge's Mizu Designs has a beautiful range of prints with a few different techniques such as woodblock, lino and Giclee. There is a strong Japanese influence in her technique and subject matter, with tea being a recurring theme. You can also see the influence of native Australia in Kylie's designs and colour palettes. It is a stunning series of egg Giclee prints which has had me gasping today.

 

  

I just love the texture, tone and colour in these prints and they are straight into my etsy favourite list! You can purchase these lovely prints from the Mizu etsy store here. They make me want to reach for my watercolours!

 Also have a look at the calendar which was featured on Decor8 here. 

Other places to find more about Mizu Designs - website, blog and flickr

lace lovely - etsy faves

A fine way to finish a busy week is to share some of my latest etsy faves. It's funny how I don't notice a theme to my 'hearts' on etsy, until I step back and see them all together. Lately I've been loving lace and all things textural.

First up is this beautiful lace wrapped locket from Blue Bird Lucy's. So pretty and feminine! I really appreciate the product photography too! It makes such a difference don't you think?

Another lacy jewellery piece that has caught my eye is this White Lace Textured Pendant  from efiwarsh. This time rather than wrapped in lace, the texture is imprinted into the clay. I love the gold that has been added into the imprint!

My 3rd lacy find is from a shop that frankly I could go nuts in! This is a lace rubber stamp from karuku.

Top of my wishlist would be this beautiful set of stamps presented in a wooden box. I would go stamp crazy!

Finally, a small deviation from lace, but on the fabric, textured theme are these fabulous knitted porcelain vases from Alyssa Ettinger's beautiful range of knitwear pottery. She normally has a few more pieces, so bookmark and check back in later if this style takes your fancy too.

I hope you enjoyed my end of week blogging cram! 

Hopefully I can have a fuller week next week and embrace more pretty things.

i wish .... for this beautiful ring

This beautiful sterling silver and pearl ring from the etsy shop of Galit Barak has me swooning today. I love it's asymmetrical shape and off centre pearl.

It looks so wonderful on a finger too! See more of Galit's jewellery here. There are some lovely cuffs and neck-pieces also.

ink inspiration - Iain Macarthur

I love doodling with black ink and anyone who has seen any of my notebooks knows that they are covered in swirls and curls. My favourite 'tool' is a sharp, crisp black fineliner. I get a real thrill when my pen hits the paper and I create a perfect curve or pattern. Today I have been entranced by the portfolio of English artist Iain Macarthur.

This beauty is from his Enchanting Series which I found on Behance. I love the change in tone used for such dramatic effect - from the soft pencil strokes of the ladies face, to the rich, solid black ink used in the clothing.

Another in the same series, this image has such incredible intricate detail in the mask and jewellery that you need to pop over to the Behance page here and see it nice and big!

This lovely lady is from another series called portraits part 2. I ADORE the detail in this bonnet. I can get lost in all the swirls and feathery patterns. All I can think of is how much fun this would have been to illustrate!
A wonderful talent indeed, you can find more of Iain's work in online portfolios here or here, as well as keep track of him through his blog.

inspiration to heal

I have had a sad week with the passing of my beloved grandmother, Mama Cherie. She was a beautiful, caring and creative lady who is sadly missed. In the last week our family has been reflecting on her life, her influence and I guess legacy we have all inherited. She was a very talented illustrator and we always received hand drawn birthday and Christmas cards, which we all tried to copy. I truly believe it is from her and also my mum (her daughter) that I have such a passion for creativity and especially illustration. It was with this knowledge I set about being creative. I had registered for this years Photo 5 competition run by Canon in Australia. Here is my post from last year. The idea is that you receive a box with 5 briefs to create an image from. There are props and a tutorial from the judge of each brief. I love macro photography and so the eye dropper brief was my choice.

This brief is asking you to use your lens to look closer. Use the eye dropper to place drops of liquid in any arrangement you want. You can use a single drop, or as many drops as you like.
And you’re not limited to just water - feel free to use liquids of different colours and consistencies, such as milk or tomato soup. Just make sure you get close.

My grandma was a fan of lavender and always had at least one lavender bush growing. We have a lovely bush in our front garden which has just begun it's springtime bloom. I snipped a few flowers a got creating! I thought of the idea of the beautiful colours in nature and how we try and recreate them in art. I decided to depict a "Leaking Lavender" which is giving up it's beautiful colour ready to paint with. Here are some of my shots and then the one I entered into the competition...

I had a lot of fun mixing the right shade of 'lavender' purple and then delicately placing the drops onto the flowers. I also loved playing with my lovely SLR camera! I have also found that the natural light in our dining room makes for a great photography 'set'. I could control the light levels with the blinds and curtains too!

It was tricky picking the final photo, but I settled on this one as I loved the the 2 drops - the one still on the flower is being gently hugged by the petal! I also liked the stem curling off in the background. The entries for this brief closed last night and you can view entries gallery over here at World of EOS.

a little peace and quiet

I'm in search of peace and wellbeing at the moment so I was thrilled when I found myself staring and exhaling at the beautiful images of Samantha Lane.

 {all images from Samantha Lane on Flickr}

Do you see what I mean? Don't you just want to dive into these moments of sunny afternoon loveliness! The lovely Samantha hails from Hobart, Oklahoma and manages to capture little snippets of her life in her beautiful images. These were exactly what I wanted to see and dream of yesterday evening when I came across her Flickr photostream. Her farm is called Early Bird Acres and you can read all about her adventures and also her latest creative projects on her blog of the same name.
Samantha has also published some books of her photos and sells postcards and other lovely prints in her shop.
Here is some more loveliness from Samantha Joelle Honey Lamb - even her name is super sweet!

  

Don't you want to pack your bags and head for Early Bird Acres to have a picnic with Sam? If we can't make the long journey, we can always live through the pages of her book 'The Perpetual Picnic".
Life looks pretty good!

colour crush - orange and blue

It all started here last week when I spotted this lovely image from Creature Comforts flickr stream....

{sweet clementine by Creature Comforts}

I love this colour combination of blue and orange. It has such a summery feel to it. For that's through an association to Spain and Morocco and the colour in beautiful traditional wall and floor tiles. It doesn't seem to matter which shade of blues you combine with a shot of citrus, it always come off fresh and exciting.

{'Orange walls, blue windows, graffiti' by Jeremy Hughes}

{La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina by Crumblin Down}

From South Africa (top) to Argentina this colour combination of orange and blue is captured wonderfully in these buildings. It also works well on the inside of houses as these next few images show.

 

 

{both images via flickr here and here}

These are certainly what you would call brave uses of colour - but I think they look amazing! Would I be brave enough to do this - probably not - but I'm thankful there are people out there not afraid to throw colour around for me to swoon over! I like the fact that the furniture and decor style is quite traditional in shape but totally stamped as modern by the fresh colour palette!