I’ve been spoilt rotten lately, and it’s time I tell you all about it!

Last week while I was frantic with meetings and prep, I was breezing through the office of the House of Orange and noticed that sitting on my portfolio shelf were the above goodies. I was on my way to a meeting at the bar so I couldnt look until after it had finished, but the moment it was over I couldnt wait any longer and had to see what it could be. I turned over this beautiful postcard and read the note. It was from Itsasne, one of my wonderful readers. She had collected a number of things that she thought I might love and sent them to me, wrapped in these gorgeous papers. As if the fantastic vintage postcard wasn’t enough…

…she had sent me a book of artist Anne De Gelas work, filled with the most inspiring pages of polaroid photography, hand written letters and drawings. Flipping over to the back I was not surprised to read that Itsasne was the graphic designer of this creation, of which is a work of art in itself. Boy do i have the most talented readers!!

Itsasne also included delicious Belgian chocolate and a Feist CD – the perfect mid week saviour kit for my crazy week. What a champion friend! I was blown away by her generosity, and I really do think that old adage about giving and you will receive is sacred and so true. Thank you Itsasne, you are truly a wonderful person.

Then, as if all that wasn’t enough, I received another package within days of Itsasne’s gift. Unwrapping this one revealed a few goodies from Royal Buffet – one little white package revealed the butterfly tags I had ordered from their etsy boutique(I will show you what I plan to do with these soon), and along with a beautiful note was a stunning papillon mobile made from French newspaper print. I have hung it up in the kitchen where the paper butterflies happily flutter in the breeze and dance with the water reflections on the ceiling…

…I will take more photos of it soon, but just this for now – I can’t help but show it off. Thank you girls, you are both the ants pants of creating dreamy things, I can’t get enough of your creations and now I have some in my own home!

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Now, do you think there couldn’t be more? Well yes, there is. My friend Danielle from The Style Files surprised me on Monday when we caught up for a quick drink after work. (Oh I love presents!!) It was a gift from her beautiful online store Le Souk. I haven’t had a chance to photograph it yet for you, but it is a handwoven cotton throw from Istanbul. I promise to photograph it soon for you to see. What a fabulous surprise! I feel totally spoilt, thank you Danielle. We also had a little styling adventure together yesterday which I will share with you tomorrow!

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And what could possibly be on top of all that goodness? What is the cherry on the delicious cake?! Well let me tell you! I have won my first ever blog award, three times!! Lovely bloggers Carol, Sofia, and Annie have each awarded me with the Brilliante Premio award over the last couple of weeks. Thank you girls, you rock! I think the rule is to pass the award onto others but since I have been so busy I think I’ve managed to unintentionally stop the lovely flow. bad girl! But if I can be honest, i am no good at picking a limited amount of blogs to award anyway, so I am awarding every single one of the blogs in my blogroll because each of them inspire me immensely. So if you haven’t already had a peak at my blogroll list to the right of this page, take a moment to do so now and check out some of the blogs that perhaps you aren’t familiar with, they are each a source of inspiration for my work, continually filling their blogs with the good stuff of design, interiors, art, photography, and life in general.

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PS I still have heaps to tell you – like my meeting of two fabulous bloggers in Paris on my last trip, a handy hint which I’ve been dying to post for so long now, and starting from tomorrow a special series of daily posts in celebration of an upcoming event. Oh where does the time fly to? I can barely keep up with all the things I want to share with you!

but next up: hmm, are you ready for a Paris soundscape?

Selection of images from the body of work by Brisbane based artist and photographer Joachim Froese. The collection is titled Rhopography – the word rhopos referring to ‘the trivial or mundane of daily life’. Although this exhibition of work is nearly a decade old, I have fallen completely in love with his art and will certainly be featuring more of it here in the days to come. Find out more about this body of work here. Joachim is represented by Jan Manton, please visit her incredible gallery here.

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PS: I’m back in the blogosphere! I have been a busy bee with shoots, and have lots to tell. Posts about where I’ve been and what I have been inspired by have been forming in my head over the past few days that I can’t wait to share. I have to stay in le petit bateau all day today, awaiting a number of courier arrivals so in between catching up on housework and trying to relax a little, I will be stopping by here regularly. Expect a few posts today my dear, patient readers! xx

yep, my favourite vegetable is back to being a part of the weekly menu chez nous because 1. the price is normal (99c per ‘stuk’ instead of 3.99€ each!) and 2. they are in their prime and packed with deliciousness! They featured in last night’s meal as the obligatory entrée followed by baked salmon fillets glazed with a mustardy dressing, pan-fried asparagus and steamed rice. And since our dining table is covered with my papers and props these days, our meals are devoured from the comfort of the sofa. So the photograph above is my exact view of our meal as it arrived on the coffee table. Can you tell I’m slumped from exhaustion? What better way to relax and spend a summer’s evening than chilling back with a glass of wine and an artichoke? I have no idea. Nothing, in my opinion. Did I cook this meal, you might ask? No, but I did ‘design’ it, if that counts for anything. French Boy does all the cooking lately as my workload has grown to ‘barely manageable’. He assures me he loves to cook after his long day at work. And since he can’t lie to save his life, I believe him, his eyes do tell all. It does seem I’ve found the ideal man, n’est-ce pas.

This is the song I am loving right now, and perfectly accompanies the image above. Thank you Itsasne.

and way back in march, sweet pamela jane tagged me asking for 7 random style facts about myself. I didn’t fulfill the tag back then as I had just done a similar tag and thought I should leave it a while. Well, it’s been a while, and no doubt Pamela has lost complete interest in me for not playing along back then, sorry Pamela! But here are my 7 random facts and since you mentioned the word ‘style’, i thought i would use that to share 7 style traits that i work and live by:

1. stay real.

2. love raw.

3. be refined.

4. think ‘sophistication’.

5. work in layers.

6. play loose.

7. work genuinely.

The photograph above is from a card I made for a new born a year or so ago. I cut a tiny dress from left over fabric, handstitched it with pink thread, made a tiny coat hanger from soft wire, hung it on a string attached to the card and created two little printed tags, one that said, “c’est une fille” and the other with the girl’s name. Do you like? I am bummed I gave it away actually as I know it wasn’t appreciated. But I can always make more! One fine day when I have the time again, I shall endeavor to make more. Perhaps when I have my own little bubs…one fine day.