Free Encouragement

Design For Mankind is into stage 2 of its Free Encouragement collaboration project with Booooooom...so by the time I finally decided on this pic (decisions have never been my strong point), I discovered it was the wrong size and by then the day was too long with shadows...

so all these lovely versions went into the trash and my submission will likely be a version of these snowy shoes below.

Materials used: shoes painted with gesso, masking tape, pencil.

Made in Hungary

Nan & pop were special guests at a dinner I recently hosted and to my wonderment, pop arrived carrying a very carefully packed box of these stunning Waterford crystal goblets - a very special gift from my nana's cabinet of treasures. Thank you nan - I love them.

Land of Plenty

I love so many things about this shoot - the way the light comes through the windows, the way the model blends in with the beautiful local artists, the way their art and homes are woven into the pages, the naturalness - it's easy to forget it's a fashion spread; the realness - the stylists choice of clothing; and the Australianness the corrugated iron shed and the jar of Vegemite in the kitchen. Happy Australia Day!

Images from the Marie Claire featuring artists from Hill End.

Photography by Hugh Stewart / Styling by Jane Roarty.

Fragile

Fading flowers hold so much beauty when their petals turn papery and fall sprinkled beneath them. I'm feeling like these roses look - a little worse for wear - self inflicted of course. Today was spent doing a lot of hermit-like laying about the house and eating toasted turkish bread.

Image from Vogue Living.

It's so Hot

It's a scorching 38 degrees on this Australia Day long weekend. I wish I could hop into the fridge like this little piggy.

Welcome to the White House

This ethereal Melbourne house was inspired by (the legendary) Philippe Starck - I love that the dark floors and flowers are the only colour. Welcome home Barack.

Images from Vogue Living, photography by Mikkel Vang.

Silver Princess

What a sweet surprise was wandering past this little pink fluffy tree at lunchtime today - turns out the Silver Princess is an Australian native. I was mesmerised by the tiny flowers unfurling from their tiny gumnuts.

Merci Beaucoup Lobster and Swan

It was with a beautiful sense of relief that I discovered this blogging 'underworld of aestheticists'.

In checking 'aestheticists' was a real word I discovered there was an Aesthetic Movement in late 19th Century France, England & Italy where literary decadence, fine art, the decorative arts and interior design was a theory of art and an approach to living. What a delicious existence.

Merci to Jeska at Lobster and Swan, fellow aestheticist and lover of beautiful things for sharing beautiful collages at Record the Day - these divine daily snippets urged me to create my own blog (and made me feel that I wasn't alone in my compulsive collaging). Check out her shop and other gorgeous images.

Image from Record the Day

Eat, Drink & Be Merry

This week I had my first dinner party in my little (tiny) apartment. I bought some pink roses, set the table with these placemats and made peach, yoghurt and honey parfait for dessert.

I printed labels for the wine bottles that read 'welcome to my little house' and we finished with fig and ginger cake with a cup of tea.

Work Hard & Be Nice To People

This is my first post and I'm a little bit nervous and a lot excited about joining the extraordinarily talented blogger community who share their search for inspiration.

This is a sparkling new year and I hope to work hard at finding the time to do the things I love - like writing, cooking and crafting. Welcome to you and welcome to me.

Image from Living etc / Limited edition print from Pedlars.