So I thought it might be nice to take you on a little tour of the über stylish office space of the House of Orange. What + who is that you ask? well, it’s the agency that represents me here in Europe (see the little orange circle on the righthand side of my blog?). They are the master keepers of my styling portfolio and the lovely people who book me work! So come with me as I take you on a little wander through this fab place…

This is the kitchen + bar, where there is always tea upon arrival, and orange lollipops (and at easter there are chocolate easter eggs to snack on). This is also the area where meetings are held between stylists, clients, photographers, and art directors. It’s a pretty cool space.

Here in this photo is half of the styling team, Joanne and Marilie. Missing in this photo unfortunately is Erik and new arrival Martin. These four are always flat chat as they represent more than 40 stylists from The Netherlands and beyond – from fashion stylists to hair+makeup, and a sprinkling of interior stylists including stylist and art director Stef Bakker , Bas Andrea, Ulrika Lundgren, and me.

Above you can see all our portfolios. We each have our own shelf with our name and inside the shelf is a little drawer for our mail, magazines and invitations (that’s where I found this gift). If the shelf is empty it means our portfolio has been requested and is out with a client.

And then up those seemingly intimidating stairs is the photographic department. It’s a whole other world up there! And then there is the modelling part of the agency and then Orange Babies which is the agency’s charity organisation for helping with the prevention and care support for HIV babies and mums in Africa. Orange Babies organises alot of fundraising events within the fashion industry, read more about this wonderful organisation here.

And just recently the House of Orange published it’s first magazine! (as shown above) It’s full of great articles and photos from the talent at the agency so if you’d like to get hold of one just ask. You can read more about the House of Orange by heading over to their website, and have a browse through everyone’s portfolios by clicking on a department and name. Enjoy! I do hope you liked this little tour, and I have no doubt we’ll be back here again soon, for now I just wanted to show you a little bit more of my life in Amsterdam.

I am loving the work of san fran artist & illustrator mati rose mcdonough. She has a nicely stocked up shop called the suspect shoppe, filled with her wonderful works. I love the one above, and I had a feeling a number of us need to be reminded of this quote from dancer Martha Graham, to help each of us stay on our creative tracks. Here are a few more of mati’s fab paintings…

Then there are these fine wire, handwoven pomegranates from Yoola that I just can’t keep my eyes off…

As Yoola mentions, according to many ancient cultures the pomegranate symbolizes abundance, fertility and good luck. I like that. Alot.

And last but not least, is this collection of cushions from etsy seller Reiter8, made from recycled boat sails – how inventive! I could see these in a lovely beach house (hmm, something like Anna’s awesome island cottage perhaps?).

So that’s a wrap! thanks for stopping by this week for…

Why, this is my new goddaughter! Remember I talked about her here? Well, as a little gift to her to say thank you for choosing me to be one of her special godmothers, I asked the very creative Leah over at Hyena in Petticoats if she could make me one of her special custom made ‘nongs’. Do you know what a nong is? It’s this fabulous creature you see above, with lovely long limbs and a number of gorgeous, unique details. Click here and here to see a few other fab examples of Leah’s nongs.

So from Amsterdam to Adelaide, Leah and I discussed the finer points of what this special nong should look like (buttons for eyes? no buttons for eyes, fabric choices? anything with red, she loves red etc etc), and then straight from Adelaide to Sydney flew this special creature, into the arms of my darling goddaughter. Her and her parents have named her ‘nina’ – so nina nong is now in her new home, and no doubt will have her limbs nicely chewed by the time teething season is over.

Oh just look at that smile!

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If you’d like to order your own special nong, click here to read all about how to order, and click here to contact Leah. Thanks Leah, I can’t wait to meet nina nong in person one day!

Have you missed Harriet’s adventures? I sure have. But fret no more, Harriet is here! Well, ‘here’ being in the blogosphere – you see, she took a little wander over to Melissa’s place, known to us all as Melissa Loves on Ez’s fabo Creature Comforts blog!

Exclusive new illustrations of Harriet are over at Melissa Loves right now, go and check ’em out and tell me what you think. Also, Melissa asked me a few questions about how I came about drawing Harriet, you can read my responses here too. I do hope you like! Here is a sneak peek…

So click here to be whisked away to Melissa’s lovely post about me + Harriet, thank you Melissa!

It’s been raining for 5 days straight now. I did venture out today, and came home completely soaked to the bone. It appears winter has come early. Meanwhile, one friend just wrote to tell me she is in Bali, another told me he has just returned from the Maldives, and my Sydney friends keep telling me how goddamn hot it is at the moment. Northern Europe, what are you doing to me?

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PS I have been nesting, big time. And am hoping to have a finished result to shoot before all the leaves fall off the trees, and all the sun rays turn to ice. So hopefully some sneak peeks of all the new changes in le petit bateau will be ready for your viewing pleasure in the not too distant future!

PPS I’ve always loved this song.

PPS something fun for you tomorrow! xx

PPPS how are you? what’s happening? how is your morning/afternoon /evening cuppa?