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.

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.

wedding inspiration - vases, bottles and more

Today I thought I would share with you some little bits of inspiration I've been collecting for a friends wedding. I am thrilled to be styling the event (so much fun!) and have been busy working with the bride to pull together the look we're going with. One idea we are following through on is using an eclectic mix of vases and bottles in the decor, both on the tables as well as around the venue. The overall look we want to achieve is a classic romantic look with a nice looseness to it that suits the couples personality as well as the venue. Here are some pictures that make up my moodboard for the day.

These beautiful images were captured by Marianne Taylor of London couple Emily & Owen's wedding. The bride had collected the vases and bottles from op-shops and markets. I will be using similar pieces, but sourced from within the brides and grooms family. There are some beautiful crystal glasses and vases of all different shapes for me to play with. I really like that there will be that personal touch in the decor of the venue!

This dreamy purple theme is from another wedding photographed by Marianne Taylor, this time in the English countryside. The reception was held in a farm house and featured garden flowers like lavender and hydrangeas displayed in sweet little glass vases,  silver teapots and dainty cups and saucers. This is the relaxed yet romantic feel I'll be trying to capture on the wedding day.
Here are a few more images along the same theme (sources under each image)

 {Stylish country wedding on Wedding Chicks}

{a rustic outdoor wedding from Once Wed}

 {even a watering can gets a look in for this backyard wedding on Style Me Pretty}

{coke bottles can be pretty too - Style Me Pretty}

{i love the science theme with these beakers and old filing cabinet - what a great prop! - Style Me Pretty}

{time for one more beaker shot - again on Style Me Pretty}

lavender eye candy

4....., originally uploaded by Kirsty Mitchell.

I have been completely blown away with a discovery I made last night. The fashion photography of Kristy Mitchell is so amazingly vibrant, I dare you not to be in awe. This image in particular gives me such joy. A few years ago I read a great book - Wild Lavender By Belinda Alexandra - which is initially set on a lavender farm in France. The book has such beautiful, vivid descriptions of the rows of purple flowers. Now combine that with this incredible fashion image and you have WOW factor!

tickled pink - a northern spring

While we here in the southern hemisphere slip slowly towards winter, our northern hemisphere friends are shaking off the covers of a chilly winter and embracing spring. It's certainly infectious reading all the blog posts and seeing all the lovely images of my favourite northerners as they get excited and outdoors. While nothing beats the beautiful weather we have nearly year round here in Australia, all the buzz about a changing season makes you wish for a more definite seasonal change here.

Here are a few of my favourite odes to Spring from the northern hemisphere:

{untitled}

{cherry blossoms by ~elena}
The lovely elena has a whole set of her beautiful spring images full of blossoms, tulips and scrumptious macarons! View them here

{Don't let go!}

{flowers and bees}

{untitled} I love the colour treatment given to this picture, it has a lovely vintage, romantic quality. 

Don't these all make you want to stand under some cherry blossom trees with petals raining down on you?