Do it in Paris
Flowery dresses and pretty accessories for a successful garden party
Are you all addicted to this site after my last mention? How I love the look today!
Accessorize clutch
To bring a little Sacré Cœur sunset to your evening, how about adorning a favourite item with silk flowers, as per this Accessorize clutch suggested by Do it in Paris?
Life is sweet, non?
This week’s inspiration…
Crushed roses and velvet
Comes in the form of these lolly-like fripperies: a silk rose, sequinned starfish and a tattered black feather or two… what to do, what to do? I’ve already wasted a good half hour this morning calculating; turning them over in my hands, and wondering.
Michaela picked up the unusual sequins up for me from Spotlight when last there – see here for her solution. The silk rose is from Diva and the starfish, or firework burst, or whatever manner of shape the black sequinned business is, was picked up on my travels somewhere (along with the feather and Whitman’s sampler tin full of leftover bits and bobs).
See here for another flight of fancy with feathers and studs.
A tin full of possibilities
Imagine these beauties washed up on the shore
Bright and shiny
Shake your tail feather
A few top picks from Decor8
Egads, I’ve fallen in love with these cushions by The London Cushion Company… first spied on Decor8, along with the link to this fabulous site in Amsterdam: All the luck in the world.
I’m loving some of the ideas here for recycling less-than-precious antiques. Très inspiring.
All the luck in the world store in Amsterdam - beautifully recycled collectables
Daily Imprint / Sharyn Cairns
Roses - picture by Sharyn Cairns
I’ve just spent an enjoyable half hour reading through the latest entries on Natalie Walton’s lovely site, Daily Imprint, and came upon these pics by Sharyn Cairns.
How funny – I clipped out these exact same images from Inside Out a while back and stored them in my inspirations folder. I even took the one above along to an art class I was taking, to put me in mind of something I could draw. It may also be the reason I felt so drawn to chemistry bottles for a while there: I bought some for next-to-nix from Brady’s Used Furniture, but if you’re looking for something similar, Mitchell Rd Auction House usually has a good selection of antique medical and science equipment to bid on as well. They do indeed make excellent vases.
Click here for Natalie’s interview with Sharyn, and more divine pics.
Dreamy bedroom - image by Sharyn Cairns
Petit Batik / Collector Store / Moku Boutique
We love a harem pant - Petit Batik
Not one, but three favourite new things to share with you today:
While we’re on the subject of dyeing, these batik childrens’ clothes are cuteness personified. Check out Petit Batik, available now at Collector Store, which, by the way, is one of my favourite (new-ish) shops in Sydney. Stocking great local designers and gorgeous imports in clothing, homewares and accessories, it’s not your ordinary average.
Bought (by me) - boots on the left, at Collector Store
Petit Batik on the rack at Collector Store
Adorable top by Petit Batik
And on the subject of out-of-the-ordinary designs, I stumbled upon this boutique the other day, having walked past it about a thousand times, and fell in love with the small but excellent collection of up-and-coming designers they stock. Moku Boutique is located at 208 Oxford St, Paddington. Well worth a visit.
Bought (by me) - Handsom frock & vest at Moku
Stretsis dress, available at Moku
Cade Martin photography
The Page Governess... image by Cade Martin
I just stumbled across these stunning images by Cade Martin, a photographer based in Washington, DC.
Yowsers – aren’t they stunning? If you click on his site, check out the pics under ‘Newest’, and flick through all those ballet shots… I love how each of them tells a rich story. Forget about a thousand words, these are more like novellas in picture form.
Up, up, and away... image by Cade Martin
Leaving home... image by Cade Martin
Love bug rides into Milano
Covered bug by Bokja Design
Check out this hilarious idea by Bokja Design, first spotted on Design Boom and sent on by my lovely friend, Sara.
Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibrcreated the ‘Bojka Bug’, covering an old Volkswagen Beetle with handmade vintage fabrics from the Middle East as well as tapestries and car stickers. The Bug was on show at Spazio Rossana Orlandi during Milan Design Week 2010 and was sold on eBay to raise money for charity.
High art embroidery
Embroidered heart by Andrea Dezso
Oh my, I’m gobsmacked – look at the work in this, will you?
Andrea Dezsö is a NY ‘visual artist and writer creating deeply personal narratives across a broad range of media including drawing, artist’s books, cut paper, embroidery, sculpture, installation, animation and large-scale murals.’
First spotted on Dossier37.
Embroidered walk by Andrea Dezso
The Keeper’s House
POSSIBILITIES textile art basket bowl from The Keeper's House, Etsy
Next skill to learn: basket weaving. I’m loving this bowl by Etsy store, The Keeper’s House. It also strikes me as an excellent way to use up any small, excess scraps of fabric, wrapping them around an inner coil of pliant bamboo or plastic.
Three new favourites
Bookstores are my downfall – I can be so good at sticking to the budget, except when it comes to books (oh, alright then – and frocks, if I’m honest).
Here’s three new beauties I’ve bought in the past month, read cover to cover, and can thoroughly recommend for their inspirational genius:
Home Love by Megan Morton
I used to snip out favourite columns by stylist Megan Morton when they featured in Good Weekend, but now they’ve been turned into book form (hallelujah, that’s one folder I can chuck from the filing cabinet). I read the interview in Sydney Morning Herald’s Essential liftout, and to paraphrase her here: Home Love has all the style advice I normally charge $300 for, for the price of $55 (and don’t forget, you get to keep the book, people). Enough said – it’s a treasure.
Shabby Chic Interiors by Rachel Ashwell
Rachel Ashwell, the Queen of Shabby Chic hasn’t had a book out for over five years, but her earlier tomes have become bibles for those who love her charming brand of style. If I lived on my own, my house might be entirely taken over by the look but as I share it with a very messy, hands-on little girl and no-fuss man whose favourite colours are stone and prison grey, my inclination to go down this path is somewhat reigned in.
The best thing about Shabby Chic Interiors is that Ashwell’s style seems to have evolved into something more modern, adaptable and, yes, masculine over the past few years. I love the traditional pairing of flea market finds with gorgeous, plush linens and soft furnishings, but here you really see how it can be applied to family spaces, modern homes and blokey interiors to successfully soften and cosy up a room. I absolutely love this book, and the pictures are to die for.
New London Style by Chloe Grimshaw & Ingrid Rasmussen
Thames & Hudson do these sorts of books so well – New London Style by Chloe Grimshaw & Ingrid Rasmussen is brilliant for the glorious, quirky details of these inner-city London addresses of fashion designers, architects and mere mortals. So many fabulous ideas for the placement of objects in one small book, in a riot of colours that have me wishing I were more brave. No matter, I can live vicariously through some of the outlandish choices made by these hip London homeowners.
Love, love, love.
