I added more work to my botany series, this time tulips ... Here are a few that I finished working on this evening ...

Fresh is Best

The other day we had a lady in the store ask us for some fake flowers.  I had to bite my lip and very kindly advise her that we only use fresh flowers.  I don't go for anything fake.  I'm a real or nothing girl in all aspects of my life.  If I can't have real flowers then I would prefer to go without.  Today I brought into the shop some of the succulent pots I have been potting up at home which I placed onto a tray on one of the coffee tables.  They look great mixed with the fresh lemons in the clam shell.  It just goes to show that fresh really is best.

Inspired by the work of Rebecca Thuss, Eloise Corr Danch, Sophie Cuvelier and Zoe Bradley ... I created these paper flowers ... First, I painted with water colour to create an uneven effect for the flowers, then I cut and pieced, looped and fastened parts of the flowers together ...

{visit here to see the entire set}

I love Brooklyn-based artist Eloise Corr Danch's paper flowers ... Especially her window display work, it's amazing!!!



Anthropologie's window displays are also inspiring, here is one created out of old plastic pop bottles, they cut and painted the bottles, repurposing them into hanging clusters of flowers ...

A Perfect Flower Stall

When I was a little girl I was as obsessed with flowers as I am these days. 

I think I might have been around 8 years old when we lived in an old Queenslander at Wellington Point with a beautiful garden which my mother absolutely loved.  I would collaborate with my neighbour Angela who was about a year younger than I was.  We would pick flowers {mostly the daisies} out of mum's very large garden and we would set up a flower stall in front of my parent's house and sell the flowers on the roadside. 

I would never let my children do that these days but back then it was different.  When I spotted these little stalls by Mouta over on Poppy Talk earlier this week memories of these fun times came flooding back.  I wish I had one of these back then.  I think if I did it might have improved sales!! 

Today

I think these lilies which we have in the shop at the moment are the prettiest lilies I have ever seen.

I am smitten with our new hot pink {well it's actually fluoro/neon pink} love heart fabric which just arrived onto my desk this morning.

This vintage rug in my office keeps me smiling all day.  I love it.

And these new baskets in the shop are calling out to me - "take me home".....

I read this great article in the New York Times ... more important is how this article gushes about floral designer Emily Thompson. I especially love how the article discusses the 'floral wars of Brooklyn' ...

"However unwittingly, she is also at the heart of what might be called the Brooklyn Flower Wars. In recent months, the borough has become known as a fertile lab for thoughtful, expressive floral design, thanks to Sprout Home, Blossom and Branch, Poppies and Posies, Kat Flower, CocoRosie and especially Saipua and Nicolette Camille, florists whose free-and-natural ethos is not dissimilar to Ms. Thompson’s."

How I admire all these ladies for their design and love of flowers and how I wish I could be in New York to witness all this floral frenzy!

Look at this photograph from the article, it looks more like an artist at work in her studio, I love that she is bringing her artistic background and studio nonchalance into the floral industry, it is an art form after all ...

Flowers, Vases, Baskets, Fabric, Plates & Pots

I've had a busy few days fossicking around the garden, the markets and local Antique shops. 

In my travels I stumbled across these vintage vases which I couldn't resist.  They now sit on our chest of drawers in our entry hallway.  The vibrant orange of the larger vase makes me happy every time I see it and I just love the quirky bird clinging to the other vase/jug....it certainly is something you either love or hate.

I fell in-love with these little yellow flowers at the markets but I can't remember the name of them so please do tell if you know.  

I also picked up one of these baskets which I have been coveting along with this piece of fabric which I am thinking of making into table napkins for an upcoming event I have planned.



On Saturday I potted up 12 little pots with Succulents for my brother as he was having a lunch at his house over the weekend and needed something wonderful to place down the centre of his dining table. I kept a few for myself to add to my growing collection of pot plants.  {Correction to my post last week the little pots sell for approx. $1.20 at Bunnings and the succulents came from there too}.

It seems I wasn't the only one playing with flowers on the weekend. Mum just sent me this picture of the fresh Banksias she collected from the trees on their property at the beach.  I am hoping she might deliver some over to me this week.



And finally I added 18 mismatched vintage dinner plates to my blue and white collection.  We never have enough plates when we have the family here for lunch or dinner so now we will. NB. Mismatched vintage is so much less expensive than heading out to buy a complete set and so much more interesting I think and the best thing is that I can keep on adding to them as I see them.

My most recent project is for a florist wanting to revamp their website, these are a few of the finished images ... Visit here to see more pictures ...

My Wonderful Weekend

My plans for a weekend in the garden had to be slightly altered due to the weather.  However, despite the rain I did achieve some gardening goals.  I went to my favourite nursery at Wellington Point yesterday.  If I could put their garden surrounding their nursery onto a truck and deliver it to our house I'd be one happy girl.  I just love wandering around the little pathways through their beautiful established garden. 

My aunty and my grandma {the one I photographed here on the blog last week} dropped in for morning tea this morning.  Aunty Jane brought me these pretty roses from her garden.  I love garden roses.  They are my favourite.

As you can see I did go a little crazy at the nursery.  I love the mix of plants I chose.  I really want to add lots of different colours into our garden.

I can't believe our little Max turned 10 months old yesterday.  He is almost walking.  Time really flies...



This morning my brother Sam and my mum, Harry, Max and I went to the Chandler Markets.  I hadn't been before and was so excited by what they had.  I found some beautiful orchids and fresh flowers and a few little vintage surprises too.



Yesterday I collected this bundle of fresh lettuce, beans and tomatoes from our kitchen garden.  I placed them into a basket and took them down to my mum's house.  Today she and Sam made an amazing salad which you will probably find the recipe for over at Sams' Table this week. 

Weekends at home are my favourite.  I always feel so inspired and rested and ready to go back to work on a Monday when I have been pottering around the house all weekend.

The S.A. Crowd & Home on Sunday

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I must apologise as I didn't get a chance to post before I left for Adelaide a few days ago.  I am working on a house in Dulwich which is such a beautiful area in lovely Adelaide.  Whilst visiting I had the absolute pleasure of catching up with The S.A. Crowd - Kimberlee from Brown Button, Emma from White & Wander, Kate from Polka Dot Pantry, Pippa from Tres Dodgeois and Alex from French Navy Stationery.  What a lovely group of positive, happy, inspiring, funny, encouraging and creative girls.  We had a fantastic dinner at Sparrow Kitchen & Bar on Friday night and then went out and hit the Antique shops on Saturday together.  I was amazed by Adelaide's history, wonderful food, pretty tree-lined streets, old stone houses and fantastic Antique shops.  It really is a place worth visiting and I can't wait to head back down there mid-year to catch up with the girls again.

After such a busy few days away, today I loved being at home.  I spent the day with my boys pottering around the house and the garden.  We recently put in a kitchen garden or Potager as the French call them.  Our lettuce is growing beautifully.  I picked one today to make a salad with tonight along with our tomatoes which just seem to be sprouting up everywhere in our garden.  Although all of this rain we've had has done some horrible things to our state, our garden is just so green and full of flowers which I have been picking and placing in vases in the house.  There really isn't anything which makes me happier than arranging flowers from my own garden to place around our house...simple pleasures!!

xx
Anna

Inspiration: the sleepy sweetness of the hellebores - I love the nodding cup shape of the hellebores which begs to be looked at more closely. The natural beauty and antique colours of these flowers lend themselves as the ideal flower for vintage or loose garden arrangements and bouquets ...

I brought home a wine colour hellebore and took a few photos of this beauty ...


I scanned the hellebore as well, another for my botany set ...

Cold days are dreary, but can be creatively productive ... I painted at home this morning ...


This is why I love my job - We had a bit of a lull at work yesterday morning, so we made these cute mini-signs for display in the shop, mostly props to handwriting genius Lauren ...

Some tulips in bold colours sitting on our front counter, which made the cold day a lot brighter and spring seem a little nearer ...

Inspiration: Spring is nearly here, and some deeper thoughts on flowers ...

A beautiful spring colour palette from studio choo ...

{studio choo -we like it wild - earthy spring}

"When you are are buying flowers, what exactly are you buying?" This is a beautifully haunting video. I reminds me of how privileged I am to work with flowers, but saddened by the industry itself ... It is always nice to see small glimpses of floral farms and the real people who grow this faceless commodity. It is imperative that we acknowledge and learn to celebrate the seasons and what comes with these seasons, the imperfections and natural characteristics of flowers, and the people, sometimes generations of families, who pour their heart and soul into growing them ...
{video via floret flower farm}

A sneak peek from my photoshoot yesterday. I am working with a flower shop to help develop their new website ... This is just one photograph of many ...


I am amazed by the work of Irene Suchocki, Montreal-based freelance photographer. I especially love her photographs of Paris ... Here are some of her photographs ... Enjoy!

{photographs courtesy of Irene Suchocki}