now I may have neglected to mention in my last post that Leslie has her very own etsy boutique. But I am letting you know right now, with this sublime photograph you see above, from her collection, and this one you see below, both available for purchase…

The reason I neglected to mention this before is because Leslie has something special on offer that deserves a whole post of it’s own – for the rest of February, Leslie is donating $5 of each print purchased in her etsy boutique to wildlife victoria, a not for profit volunteer based organisation who are working ceaselessly in all fire damaged grounds in victoria, australia, performing search and rescue. Due to the recent devastation, hundreds of animals have been taken in for treatment and rehabilitation, with more coming in all the time…

left: i’m not sure where this image is from but it has done the rounds on emails in australia which is how it came into my inbox; right image from hyena in petticoats.

Leslie will also be waiving the shipping costs on her sales for the rest of the month, so now is a perfect time to purchase some of her beautiful work and help victoria’s injured wildlife.

Thank you dear Leslie. Our koalas, kangaroos, cockatoos, kookaburras, wallabies, wombats and plethora of other australian animals in danger will be so very very thankful. And I am more than touched to learn about your endeavour to help our precious wildlife.

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update 20.2.09: for more information about the recent victorian bushfires, please read this brief article, watch this documentary from ABC 4corners, and to help further, please make a donation to the red cross, wildlife victoria, or donate something you’ve made by hand to handmade help. to donate goods, here is a list of drop off contacts around the country.

unfortunately at the same time last weekend, north queensland was under threat from floods. This is also an area of devastation, so to learn more about this and make a donation, please click here.

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isn’t it beautiful? I am captivated by this photograph, taken by San Fransisco-based photographer Leslie Sophia Lindell. The house is situated on the sand at Stinson Beach, facing the Pacific Ocean on the Northern California coast. Perusing Leslie’s portfolio and flickr sets have kept me busy for well over an hour now, I have found so many gorgeous images. I’ve been tempted to show you all of them right here but then i would become the ‘leslie lindell blog’! Instead, go and visit her own blog here, her flickr set here, and her professional portfolio here. For now, I give you just one more…

…and I’ll be telling you more about the lovely Leslie and posting about something else fabulous that she has going on, in just a moment.

…by the work of photographer/artist Kate Breakey. Jenifer mentioned her in a recent post and since then I have not been able to get her photographs out of my mind. I now pass my inspiration-addiction to you. Have a look at her work here, and read about how she creates her pieces here. You can buy her book Small Deaths, here.

PS Right now I am loving listening to the whisperings: solo piano radio through itunes while I work. It is perfectly described as “piano music to quiet your world”. Perhaps you might like it too.

How was your weekend? I hope it was lovely. Here a few photographic delights that I’m loving for this holiday season…

Clockwise from top left:

1. I first mentioned Jude McConkey’s photographs here. This one, called echo of the trees is of snow falling in a forest in Kincheloe, Michigan. Isn’t is just magic. 8 x 12 $30.

2. Little Tree greeting card by nature mandalas. midcoast maine. $4.

3. travel lightly greeting card set of 4, from g(ART)en fine art photography. $12.

4. Another of Jude’s images, this one is part of her life in a snowglobe series. $30. check out the rest of jude’s work here.

And these guys above have been a hit ever since they landed on the etsy boutique shelves of photographer Sharon Montrose just over a month ago. There are cocatoos, kangaroos, reindeer, owls, lemars, otters… the list goes on. These gorgeous creatures are part of a small Californian zoo. 7 x 8, $25.

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Next up: the last enhance the everyday holiday guide is on it’s way! Just in time for you to start wrapping your gifts…

Hmm, is it too much to ask for a piece of your pumpkin pie?

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image of pumpkin pie deliciousness by Aran. I ate the missing piece of course.

xx

PS boys gift ideas coming up in mere moments! well first I have to head out to do an errand. And I can’t decide if I should ride my bike or take the tram. This decision could take me a while.

PPS it just started raining – decision made! see you soon.