bird is the word - bird textile

I had the pleasure of spending a significant amount of time sitting in traffic a few nights ago in Sydney's Surry Hills. It was only a pleasure due to the time I was able to spend peeking in the windows of Bird Textile's store.

 

The store is a homewares, fashion & gift store all based around wonderful prints. Unfortunately the shop was closed at the time but it is now on my wish list for a visit one day.

These lampshades are just a tiny sample of the amazing prints available. I can't describe the joy this find has given me. The print style is so much in line with my own aesthetic, not to mention the colour palette containing all my favourites!

 

 Brooches to add a little style to any outfit

Bird Textile create and sell a wonderful range of products all with their signature style. From buttons and brooches, to bolts of fabrics, cushions and clothes. All the prints are designed in the Byron Bay studio and every aspect of the company is eco-friendly. It is an climate neutral business and it seems that sustainability is the number one priority of the company founder, Rachel Bending. read more about the company here.

Otherwise enjoy this sampling of Bird Textile and understand why I enjoyed the traffic jam so much!

 

I could easily find a couch to house these cushions on

 

 ... and these eye pillows filled with lavender and linseed would also be a welcome addition!

 

Pick a petticoat skirt in the fabric of your choice. I like this vine leaves pattern in Peat.

 

These handmade soaps are available naked or dressed. I think the dressed ones would make a lovely gift. If you agree with me, you can buy them, and everything else too, online.

Happy weekend!

happiness is... letterpress

I'm pretty sure I have expressed my passion for type before, so today I'm celebrating the happiness I have found through some lovely letterpress posters and cards.
Letterpress is an old printing technique which leaves an impression in the paper so you get that lovely tactile sensation when you run your fingers over the printed image.

Just the other day I posted the lovely Smile print by Hijirik and today I have some more of her work to share. The above image is from the greeting card collection in her etsy store. It's a clever set using the alphabet theme - A is for Anniversary, X is for xoxo, H is for Happiness...etc

 

As the close up shows, the paper is lovely, thick100% cotton, which shows off that great imprinted letterpress effect. Hijiri also uses eco-friendly soy ink and each piece is hand printed - quite a lot of work I imagine!

 

 

The above print is from a set called 'Live what you love'. Again all handprinted using letterpress. To see this process in action, pop over the the blog.

 

Hijiri has documented the process of printing one of these posters. It's quite fascinating to see the letterpress machine in action. It really makes you appreciate the work and attention that is given to every single piece.

You can check out these and more on etsy, the blog, flickr and her own website for her freelance design work. Enjoy

finance joy - fossil

It's always nice to open your wallet or purse and smile right? Well I like to not rely on my finances for this little moment of joy. I like to open my wallet and get a little dose of prettiness through a lovely print or detail.
One company particularly good at this is Fossil. Here are a few of there current ladies wallets which hold a pleaseant suprise on the inside.

 

I really like the colours in these ranges - no boring black,brown or beige here, and they are made from leather. Sometimes you can find a great wallet and get disappoint when it's made from PVC. They can look and feel just liek leather, but I find they don't last as well. I like to really wear a wallet in to be nice and soft.

From top: Weekender Chequebook Clutch, Olivia Frame Clutch & Talita Flap Clutch

I also found the totally sweet Weekender Zip Leather Coin Purse {below}

 

In peacock blue & pink

All these wallets are leather and price ranges from around $90 (australian). I have fond memories of browsing Fossil's shops and finding all sorts of prettiness. Check out their ladies handbags too.

it's so simple

Short, sweet but so easy to forget to do somedays.....

{SMILE mini print - hijirik}

aussie pride

Don't be scared, this has nothing to do with sporting achievements! The phrase Aussie pride is getting thrown around quite a lot with the winter Olympics (and sporting events in general). Today I am full of local pride, but the source is some amazing (and surprisingly long-standing) Australian fashion and accessory companies.
My discoveries came over the weekend reading an issue of Madison magazine.
The cover is pretty hard to miss with the gorgeous Miranda Kerr dressed in an Aussie flag inspired dress.

 

All the fashion featured in this issue is by Australian designers and there is a great article - Aussie Heroes which tells the history of iconic Australian fashion brands. These aren't the brands that traditionally get pushed overseas as iconic Australian fashion, but the ones you and I no doubt shop in (or want to!).

 

 Country Road

I was truly surprised to read about the long histories of some of these companies. Cue has been selling runway trend-inspired fashion since it opened a Strand Arcade Sydney store in 1968, the first Sportsgirl store opened in Melbourne way back in 1948 and Sussan started out in 1939 selling hosiery and lingerie.

I may be showing my age, but this is exactly how I remember Sportsgirl from my teen years reading Dolly magazine!
The biggest surprise for me was Wittner shoes which was founded way back in 1912 and is still run be the same family which founded it!

 

Wittner Shoes - 1926

Wittner Shoes - 2010 - they have come a long way!

You can read the Aussie Heroes article from Madison here and also if you can, get a copy of the magazine. It's a great showcase of Australian fashion. My favourite is a story celebrating the Bonds Hipster. There are some incredible photos with amazing jewellery which I'm going to try and hunt down to show you here.

a weekend escape

Finally the weekend is here, so let's celebrate with a little getaway together.... well a virtual one. Does Paris sound nice? Fortunately we can take a moment to escape through the wonderful images of Irene Suchocki - is photography. How about this for a description from Irene herself - she describes herself as a purveyor of little poems for the eyes!

{top left} I left my heart in Paris {top right} From Paris to the Moon {bottom} Belle epoque

I love the feel of these photos. They have a lovely vintage look with the creamy colours and grainy textures. 

Irene also has some beautiful bokeh shots, where the usual round light shapes are replaced with glowing hearts. So appropriate for the Paris, City of Love collection.

{Looking for Love}

 {Paris is for Lovers}

 Do you feel revived already? OK well it might be just a visual treat, but it is fun anyway. This does seem like the perfect romantic match - the city of love and Irene's dreamy style. 

 {Paris is a feeling}
This is one of my favourite hot air balloon imges I have seen - and I am on the look out!

If you are not swayed by the french pics, there are some wonderful Flora and Fauna images in this same vintage style. All these prints are for sale in both an etsy shop as well as Irene's own shop. You can also enjoy all the latest pics here in Flickr or over here at the eye poetry blog. 

For a true shot of romance, check out the wedding portrait gallery on the main is photography site - just lovely! 

I hope you enjoyed this little escape and have a great weekend. 

time for a change

Today I decided it's time I made a change. Nothing too dramatic though, i'm only talking about my work mug. I gave my current one a good clean today, but it's looking tired and I could do with adding something a little pretty to my work-life. I will look into this further but for now I have found some mugs from a UK based homewares store Cloudberry Living. They specialise in scandinavian homewares and I love popping by every now and then just to see what they stock. I think it's nice to see different options from what you get in local stores.
I have found a perfect work mug.

This is the ISAK Leaf Cup with an oak lid. I am constantly getting distracted and leaving a half cup of tea behind, only to return to a luke-warm cuppa. The oak lid is added to keep warmth in and I also think it's a nice stylish touch. I certainly prefer it to normal thermal mug options.
Another fun find on Cloudberry Living was these Sami Rinne Angel, Bat and Deer mugs.

 I like the idea of something fun - but am I batty or an angel? Somedays it's hard to know!

pom pom please

Ever since I spotted the picture of Sheena from the Uniform Project wearing this funky winter outfit with the fabulous pom pom necklace, I have wanted one! That particular piece is by Icelandic designer, Elín Bríta, but I can't seem to find much about her online.

Instead I turned to etsy and have 2 amazing shops to share with you.

First up is Gray Design. This shop is full of great hand-knitted winter woollies including the Winter Storm Pom Pom Necklace and the Creamy Cowl with Pom-pom Brooch. I love the idea of the neck cowl. It goes on over your head and can be arranged to suit your outfit. Check out the full range here and see some examples of how good they look for winter.

 

Next up is A Alicia Handmade Accessories. This shop is full of awesome accessories that add personality to outfits.

{top} Acid Flamingo Necklace - made from fairtrade, naturally dyed organic material, this piece certiainly ticks all my boxes - including my latest colour crush

{bottom left} Pale Grey Blossom small felt corsage brooch - I've never considered a corsage before, probably because all I think of is and American prom! These felt lovelies certainly personalise outfits. Here it adds details to a plain knit, but Anna Alicia also shows they work well on jacket lapels. See her full wonderful felt range here and an range of organic cottons pieces here. 

{bottom right} Silver Mix Hair Accessory add some fun to your hair!

There is also a dedicated wedding accessory shop with lots of great pieces in the same style as above including buttonholes for guys and even ring bearer pillows

A monday treat

I thought I would kick the week off with a sugar hit from one of the most beautiful food blogs -cannelle et vanille. A treat, full of mouth watering images where the photos look as delicious as the subjects.
I have mused about macarons previously and the super talented Aran Goyoaga has quite a fabulous collection of my favourite sweets! Scroll through them all here.
Here is just a small sample:

Get your own sugar fix at the wonderful blog, or on flickr, or you can check out Aran's portfolio.

Valentines Day

Valentines Day in my husband's homeland, Finland, is celebrated a little differently than most parts of the world.Ystävänpäivä - translates to Friends Day and it is a celebration of friendship rather than purely a celebration between couples. So my valentines gift to you is this beautiful bunch of flowers.

While red roses are the traditional Feb 14th flower, I prefer these beautiful, plump pink roses captured beautifully by Leslie of A Creative Mint. I can just imagine how lovely this bunch smells.

If you haven't visited Leslie's blog it's a must for beautiful images and colour themes. You can also see her lovely photos on Flickr.

 

sharing the love - part 2

On the eve of Valentines Day I thought I would look for some more red hearted creativity out there. Last time it was through etsy,  this time flickr was my destination.

 

{top left} My heart is yours - by JenniPenni {top right} Lonely Tea Time - by yoshiko314

{bottom left} Love Lives in Leaves - by Bart Plucinski {bottom right}Sweeter Love - by Andrew Jalali

Screen dreams

A few times I have yearned to find a local supplier of cut-work screens, like Brocade Home use in their furniture or as seen in Tine K Home Moroccan inspired screens I loved last September. Today I have come pretty close with Kif and Katast. I was actually browsing a gallery of Urban Garden Glamour on the Homelife site, when the Gingko laser cut panel caught my eye.

 As a pleasant surprise, there was a link to the Kif & Katast website. The Melbourne based company actually began as a design/branding studio but have now expanded their empire to product design and a fabulous online store with all sorts of goodies!
As well as the Gingko screen design, there is also a Brazillian Orchid Tree screen (below).

As this picture shows, these screens make just a big statement indoors as they do outdoors.
Check out the blog which showcases some of the installation work the company did for Design Ex 2009, like a bench version of the Gingko screen design.
There is also a range of glass splashbacks also featured on their blog.

These are samples of shower screens. Certainly a great feature piece for a bathroom reno.
This discovery is so full of fabulousness, I could go on for a lot longer. The company have a stationery range for sale on their website as well as loads of other goods from a range of designers.
For anyone in Melbourne, there is also a Prahan store on Malvern Road.
Check it all out here - Kif and Katast

Reading nook wishes

Reading nook, originally uploaded by decorology.

Oh to be in this seat right now!
Sitting quietly by a window with a gentle breeze coming through, a little sun on my face and surrounded by beautiful things!

pretty pottery - Whitney Smith

As promised, I am sharing with you my pretty 'find' for today - Whitney Smith Pottery. I can't remember the path that lead me there, but I stumbled on the etsy store this morning and there was no looking back - I was hooked!
I am partial to small vessels, be they glass vases or little clay pots. My mum is certainly the influence there. She has all sorts of collections of bottles and pots. Couple that with an art-deco influence and you have my heart, as Whitney now has.

 

There is a vintage feel to the piece, both in the colours and texture of the glazes.

I love these stylised bird pieces (even though it breaks my self-induced bird ban)

{top left} Bird Cupcake stand {top right} Small Bird Vase {bottom} Small Bird Cake Stand

 

These pieces really get my decorative heart beating - and look no birds!

{top left} Dogwood Flower Lidded Vessel {top right} Large Red Poppy Plate (check out the detailed centre) {bottom} Small White Pomegranate - a beautiful way to display a single bloom (i'm swooning!)

And the amazing picture in my (100th!!!) preview post is from the artists studio which Whitney shares with us all on flickr.

As well as an etsy store, there is a website where you can find a bit more about Whitney and her journey of embracing her creativity and becoming a full time potter. I also discovered her Lichen Collection here.

 

These beauties are also available on etsy as set of  7 nested bowls. They look great all nestled together but also as stand alone pieces.

 

If you want even more, check out the artist's blog. It's a great insight into the trial and joys of a professional artist.

a sneek peak + a milestone

Studio shelf., originally uploaded by Poppygirl.

Don't you love finding something wonderful and new and pretty? These finds for me are the spots of prettiness that can really make my day! I've made such a find this morning and can't wait to embrace the prettiness of it! For now this is a sneak peak of Whitney Smith's pottery studio shelf.
Full gushing post to come!

The milestone? This is my 100th post. I'm in triple figures now. Onwards and upwards.

Cute as a button

I am self confessed fabric fan - I could spend hours perusing fabric design websites and browsing through prints in haberdashery stores. I love Ikea's range of funky patterns and they are so affordable.
Here is another creative way to celebrate beautiful fabrics.

This is the handiwork of Fiona Bailey. She creates jewellery, like this one above, from fabric scraps and recycled clothing. This cuff above is handmade using 51 buttons. I imagine it takes a lot of patience to cover all those buttons, but a lot of fun to get the fabrics together and colour combinations just right!

 

As well as the cuffs , there are some link style bracelets. This one features a combination of black & white buttons set with silver plated links.

But wait there is more - in the form of rings.

 

This button is 2.5cm and I love the texture in the fabric you can see in this image!

There is an etsy shop (of course) where you can find more of Fiona's creations. As well as the jewellery there are knitting kits for sale where you get the wool, knitting needles, any add-ons (like buttons) and of course a pattern.

finally - my blog ID

It has at times felt like the hardest thing to sit down and create, but finally this weekend I have got it together and designed my blog header! There are a few colour variations, but I have gone with the red for now (perhaps inspired by my valentines post). I'm certain that I will change my mind and mix it up now and then - but overall I am quite happy and relieved. I ended up using some floral illustrations I did a good 18 months ago.One day I hope to design prints for cards, fabric etc. but for now I can release my creative expression here.

sharing the love

With Valentines Day on its way and the greeting card industry going into a frenzy of love hearts, I thought I would share with you some more creative uses of red hearts.

 

 

These beautiful box frame pieces are from Sarah and Bendrix. There are so many options and they make such a great gift. You can request a custom piece with initials or a special date. There are also lots of other colours and styles available. I'm quite fond of the bottom one with the bright pink and red colour combo.
{ web, etsy, blog, flickr }

 

 

A lovely watercolour by  Golly Bard. One of many heart themed paintings - see more here.

{ etsy, blog, flickr and a stationery etsy shop }

 

And last but not least, a sweet felted bowl by Gretchens Creations 

Also check out the range of Cozies - including a felted coffee cup holder.

{ etsy, blog }