November 20th

Here there and everywhere

1. My Playroom, 2. peonies_carnations, 3. ., 4. coconut rice pudding with lady apples, 5. Toasted Rose, 6. A Very Yvestown Christmas, 7. Lavender sachets, 8. Untitled, 9. Living Dolls, 10. Untitled, 11. courvoisier, 12. calligraphy, 13. noticing what i notice, 14. Untitled, 15. spring forward., 16. treasure, 17. threadfrompcc, 18. a little 'cluster of happy'..., 19. Untitled, 20. Untitled, 21. Cozy Winter Decor, 22. ~, 23. The Listener., 24. Working hard Playing hard
I would say good afternoon, but it has been another terribly damp day. I spent a good while catching up with all the beautiful happenings over at Flickr, my account is somewhat neglected while my head spins here and there with possibilities at all the things I would like to achieve with my time. For now these are my favourites.

Paper me pretty

As you may have gathered, I am on a quest for two or three wallpapers, which will be used on the back wall of my kitchen. A very important decision as it will be heavily featured in my blog and shop listings and it is the most photographed corner of my home with the best natural lighting.

Thanks so much to those of you who commented with their suggestions so far. There are some amazing patterns available. The first round of outstanding contenders comes from Anthropologie. At this rate I may have to paper myself a feature house? I'll take a roll of each please!

November wardrobe inspiration

November wardrobe inspiration, cosy wraps, woodland colours and a sprinkling of sequins.

Good luck to all who entered the yesterdays giveaway. Todays is up next, and I will announce all the winners next Monday.

October wardrobe inspiration

Wardrobe inspiration from February's Record the Day. I have the dress, now to source other similar items from my wardrobe. My Pictures are back.

Happy Saturday to you.

Oh Comely

Had a fabulous time in London with friends today. We enjoyed yummy balsamic strawberry and black pepper ice cream next to the shimmering water in the garden at the V&A whilst waiting to see the Grace Kelly exhibition. It was all there, the Kelly bag, diamond tiara, floral silk pumps, capsule honeymoon wardrobe. Lots of cooing later and with a few (can't leave behind) items from the museum shop. I found myself making a mad dash for the train with a paper wrapped caramel doughnut in one hand and a copy of this beautiful magazine in the other. So impressed with their ethos (below) and what I discovered within the pages. I subscribed as soon as I got home. Can't wait for the next issue to arrive.

"oh comely is a magazine about people and their quirks and their creativity, rather than money and what it can buy. It's nice to see you here.
It's a magazine that inspires people to be creative, talk to their neighbours and explore new things, rather than buy stuff or lose weight. Imagine sitting down with a cup of tea and a creative friend to hear all the strange things she says, all the curious stuff she does, and about the things she loves."


Images Oh Comely.

Sweetly

How sweetly pink and turquoise go together, like best friends from the colour wheel. Threaded with subtle candle light, this inspiration shoot from Tara of Dixie Pixel for Southern Weddings really made my morning.


All images Dixie Pixel.

Looking

Watching Marie antoinette over and over and . . . I am looking for a pretty tiered cake stand and found these great images for inspiration over at Wedding Magazine.

Pictures and pastimes

Things to look at, things to send and things to get you started on a new project.

Shop update.

3 day weekend

So, another three day weekend and it's pouring outside, which in my book is a good thing, cosy indoors with a warm spiced lamb salad and cup of lavender tea. Filing the collection of magazine scraps I have gathered over the last few months.

I am hoping these lovely artists studio pictures by Paul Barbera will inspire me to get in that workroom and make something, his site where they create is a treasure trove of creative environments. Hope they will inspire you too.

All images Paul Barbera.

Marrakech create the look

Hopefully you will all visit Marrakech one day but if not or until you get there, these finds should tide you over and add a little Moroccan colour to a corner of your home. Jewel brights and metallic shimmer. Chalky paints and patterned tiles. Soft leathers and pretty accessories.

I also found a great recipe book to download and and an App for the iphone at Maroque.co.uk. So now you can make a round of mint tea or cardamom coffee wherever you are.

Paints and tiles Fired Earth.
Leather Pouffes Graham and Green.
Coloured candle glasses Decorative Country Living.
Brass and glass candlesticks, drawer handles, necklace, sandals and patchwork quilt Anthropologie.
Silver teapot Moroccan Bazaar.
Lanterns Moroccan Decor.

Marrakech the colours

Ultramarine Blue, Fuschia pink, lime green, cinnamon, burnt orange, shimmering silver and gold all on a background of faded red.

A little bit bohemian a little bit vintage.

A few favourite pages from the Everyday 2010 collection from House Doctor. I adore each years designs more than the last. A little bit bohemian a little bit vintage I could move right in to the pages of their pretty homely catalogue right now.

I managed to find a sort of masculine item in the form of a vintage style filing cabinet. A glimmer of hope for my husband that one day he will be free from living in a fanciful girls paradise strewn with doilies and florals.

All images House Doctor.dk

sweet treats, plans and inspiration.

Last weekend was spent preparing sweet treats for a Saturday night gathering. Teeny meringue and fruit tarts, brownies, yummy white russian cupcakes from this book, and fresh strawberry ice cream. Seems I ate way too little cake and drank too much Rum. Although Sunday morning I did manage to fight through the hangover and craft a green iced dinosaur out of chocolate cake for a two year old's birthday party. Miracle. It all went down hill after I became a human climbing frame. So will be having quiet Saturdays in for a few weeks.

Has everyone else been really enjoying the sunshine? Even from indoors, my windows pushed open, curtains fluttering in the fresh spring breeze. Tidying magazine scraps into folders and paper piles all over the living room table (much to my husbands dismay).

I have been gathering images for a holiday inspired mood board hoping I can weed out the black leggings and grey cardigans for more colourful and bejewelled style capsule wardrobe to take away with me to Marrakech. All my greys fall together so easily and the revival of leggings has made me utterly lazy about dressing. Feel another wardrobe cull fast approaching.

Still procrastinating about what to sew these beautiful stones onto. A trip to Liberty is needed to get some fabric and design some cushions. All this colour is making my imagination boil over.

A thing for beauty

Aren't some things so beautiful that they almost cause you physical pain? I feel like that about the inspiration boards of the blog A thing for. I want to get inside the pictures and live the moments all for myself. I discovered them earlier today over at Once Wed

Check out her other lovely blog too. The post featuring turquoise walls makes me happy.


All images A thing for

Lost Things

After a wild night out I woke up on Sunday morning to find this beautiful film in my mailbox. A real day saver. I instantly fell in love. With the styling the music and Alison's red hair. I will watch it over and over. This stop motion short was made by Angela Kohler and her boyfriend Ithyle, with Alison Sudol from A Fine Frenzy.
I know you will enjoy the film as much as me, So I sent Angela over some questions and I am so glad she had time to answer them. Pop over and take a look at Angela's wonderful portfolio too.


What was the inspiration behind this piece?
We wanted to make a visual journey, and we collaborated with Alison from the beginning, talking about the motifs that she likes in her personal life and in her music. We went to flea markets and picked up objects that inspired us, then we built the piece around all of those elements.

How long did it take to make?
3 days. We built the fake floor in our studio in one day, then shot the film in 2 days. When we were done Ali was pretty sore and from laying on her back on a wood floor for so long, and we all had a few splinters. It took a week to clean up.

Were there any parts of the film that were particularly hard to capture?
The Ocean scene was an experiment with string. We thought it would look amazing and flow, but it was really hard to get the enormous pile of yarn to be hidden behind her skinny little waist before it began to stretch to the edges of the frame. She was teetering on this giant yarn ball trying to be comfortable.
And our dog kept running off with pieces of it.

Who is the music by ?
Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy (who is the main character in the piece) crafted the music to fit the film and Butch Walker engineered and produced it.

Where or who are all the dresses from / made by?
Most of the clothing was vintage.

Who or what are some of your creative influences?
We are inspired by things around us. Old things. Things with texture and history. We do a lot of "hey look at this" to each other. I think if it is beautiful, it inspires us.

Do you have anymore that you are working on?
We are currently working on a series of advertisements for the Amazon Kindle as well as a bunch of personal projects, we are a little OCD, there is always some idea that we can't keep our minds off of.

Thanks again Angela.

Furniture and props

All the beauty today is from one of my ultimate styling heroes, Twig Hutchinson. Leafing through her portfolio again, I fall in love with every image. Especially the ones which have hints of yellow mixed with bright blue. Also taking special interest in the last picture as we have just booked a trip to Marrakesh. Hooray. Have you already made holiday plans for this year or are you hoping for a trip somewhere exciting?


All images Twig Hutchinson