Good Old Blue & White

I have posted this bedroom before but I thought I would post it again today as I still love it and it reminded me that blue and white can look so beautiful in a bedroom.  I also love the black iron bed and the mix of furniture styles in this room.   {image - country living magazine}

Here are a couple of new blue and white fabrics which hit our fabric library this week.  I'm sure the die hard blue and white fans will be excited to know that we have had a very big influx of beautiful blue and white fabrics over the last few months into our library. 

PS.  It seems that the fresh flower post I wrote yesterday has created a bit of stir amongst readers from areas where it is hard to grow and buy fresh flowers/produce.  I am very lucky to live in a sub-tropical climate where flowers/foliage/fruit & vegetables are accessible and easy to grow.  I apologise if I have offended anybody with my post.  That certainly wasn't my intention.  I was purely stating my own personal preference and in my haste I didn't consider the circumstances of readers in remote/barren areas.

Natural Cane

We spent lots of time with my family on the weekend as it was my brother's birthday and birthdays in our family tend to be celebrated over a few days. 

Whilst at my parent's house this afternoon, I couldn't help noticing how beautiful the Stuart Membery cane chairs look with the older pieces of cane on their deck.  This is one of the chairs from Stuart's Home Collection above which we sell at Black & Spiro and when you look at it mixed with mum's old cane chairs as below, it looks like it has been part of her furniture collection for years.

I have been collecting a few of these old cane chairs {like mum's above} for our house which I have also mixed with Stuart's chairs on our verandahs.  I really love the look of this natural cane and I think it looks particularly nice mixed with Antique furniture and blue and white fabrics and china.


photos by me at mum & dad's house

Happy Monday

Blue rules, I never tire of looking at interiors that have some blue in it. Not only the color blue has a calming effect on people but is also romantic.

Image credits: 1 please let me know the source, 2 Madison Magazine, 3 my files and 4 Domino.

Love Hue: Feeling Blue

I'm drawn to blue. Robin's egg blue, turquoise, teal, sky blue. . . Here is a collection of blue things that I would love to decorate my home with.

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true”

doily clock: and furthermore o blue whale: mochi studios button bracelet: dditta

blue bike: lofty mornings o blue birds cake topper: country squirrels r us o bird magnets: cynical redhead 

bird pillow: joom o buildings throw pillow: olive o bird house: seven sisters cs

birdnest: little retreats o rugs: love handmade

hanger: sunday treasures o vintage phone: the groove

jars: tulip girls o ice cream throw pillow: olive

ironing board: modern homewares o wall organizer: old new again

tray: burlap and blue o e-a-t: old new again

kitchen towel: busy bee embroidery o throw pillows: nenavon

bluebird coasters: laughing taffy o cupcake card: paper lovely press

paper plane pillow: diffraction fiber o burlap throw cover: my adobe cottage

Home Interior Inspiration: Two Beautiful Blue Bathrooms

I found these two beautiful blue bathroom designs from kitchen bath ideas and I love 'em!

What I love: the transparent blue basin sink, white & grey stripes on the cabinet doors.

What I love: the startfish accents, the window seats, the grey & white diagonal striped floors, and the smart use of space with lots of drawers and cabinets for towels, rugs and toiletries.

 

via: kitchen bath ideas

Inspiration: Nature. For Father's Day we went on a two hour nature walk as a family ... It was such a nice walk around the river with a cool break under a shaded tree ... I took some of the shots from our walk and made these...

I made a couple variations of this photograph of crows sitting on a wire ...



And combined this photograph with another I shot the other day ...


And here are some flowers I picked up at the Farmers' Market this morning ...

A couple pictures I took outside of Bragg Creek today - a sunny pasture with llamas and horses ...



Check out chealseArt ... Chelsea Groves makes bird art (collages + linocuts) Here's a sample of her collage work:

(wedding wrens 11 x 14)

Jessie Chorley's Mon Marriage is a beautiful vintage + antique inspired wedding collection. Here is a selection from her wedding range:

I especially like this piece, silk corsage ...

Inspiration: cloudy skies, cityscapes and chaotic illustrations.

This afternoon Leo and I walked down to 17th Avenue so I could photograph my project site. It was a cloudy day, but I like photographing when it's overcast best, its like a natural filter so you don't have to worry about harsh light. Here are some shots I took along the way ...




This amazes and inspires me - I read this article 'Favela Painting by Haas and Hahn' by Frame Magazine:

Haas and Hahn create a community driven artwork spanning over 34 houses, by painting the favela Santa Marta.

In the heart of a favela in Rio de Janero – called Santa Marta – a huge art project has given colour to the streets. The artwork aims to brighten up the neighbourhood, giving the community a boost by educating and employing workers. The project is an initiative by Dutch art duo Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn.

Haas en Hahn (hare and hen) as the artist call themselves, made a flexible design of colourful rays that can easily be expanded, to paint the houses around the central square. A group of locals were trained as painters to work with scaffolding and different materials; during the month it took to paint the buildings, they received training as well as a pay check.

The final artwork is a monument to the community living in the slum. The artists’ goal is to transform the whole hillside favela into one big colourful area, turning it into a community-driven artwork and helping inhabitants on the employment ladder.

(Photos courtesy of Favela Painting)

Natsko Seki is a Japanese mixed-media artist who creates these cheery, fanciful and chaotic cityscapes. She finds inspiration in antique and vintage culture, as well as nostalgia. I love the aesthetic of her work - it is inspiration for my own cityscape project. I especially like these works by Natsko:

(Map of Clerkenwell, 2009)

Mike Perry's illustrations and designs are chaotic -a mix of graffiti, graphic design, poster and street art ... I love it ... there's a sample of his work below and see more here.


Tomorrow we are off to Bragg Creek, so I'll share some pictures from that day trip soon ...

Inspiration: love quotes and an antique wedding theme.

Here are a couple new images I have been working on. I added this love quote:

When you are in Love you can't fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss



I love wedding work, especially making wedding bouquets. This is the first wedding season in over ten years that I am not doing wedding work and I am really missing it! Here is a little sample I put together, the flower bouquets and the lollipop image are my work ... the other images are not, but I'm using them to show a colour palette of pinks and blues.

The best thing about me is you. -Shannon Crown

Inspiration: old floral wallpaper and a sketch from 2001 ...

Here are some new illustrations I worked on yesterday evening ... they are still a little rough ... I'll work on these some more and post some new variations as well ...

Living room in pastel shades

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting for a while, but my computer has broken down. Uhhhh…. I really hate that - being without computer is like being without hands and it stresses me out sooo much! But hopefully everything will be ok now. And so today just a quick, little post. Wile spring has finally come (today is even as warm as in summer), I'm more in a mood for lighter, fresher spaces, just like this amazing living room. I looove this delicate, blue shade on the walls and lovely pastel accessories, like paintings and pillow. So smooth, and heavenly.

Happy Easter !!!