…building sand castles. sweet dreams everyone.

photograph by sarah heinrich.

I love meeting new people.

It’s one of the things I love about my job – I am always working with different people, and although sometimes it can be a bit trying on such intense shoots, most of the time it is heaps of fun. And this is one of the things I love about being a blogger too. I’ve made so many new friends, all of whom I hope to meet in person one day. And some of which I am very lucky to have already met in person.

You already know I’ve met Danielle, from the ever popular Style Files, who I’m very looking forward to catching up again with in coming days. And just recently I had the pleasure of having drinks with gorgeous Mary-Laure and the oracle Benjy, from Aurea, and her sister Celine who has just moved to Amsterdam. Thank you Mary-Laure for posting about your visit with me, it made me chuckle and blush. And while in Paris I met the very talented Rachel who I will be writing more about very soon.

Josephine from Red Thread recently came to Europe as a 3 week birthday treat for herself and we were able to hang out in both Amsterdam and Paris while she was here. If you catch her now, she is writing some awesome posts about her time in Antwerp, she has already written about Stockholm, and she has just finished posting about Amsterdam, all complete with photographs. Click here for her floral fixation post (oh Josephine, I wish you were able to see my tulips in bloom!), here for Amsterdam’s gorgeous chinatown which I frequent often, here for her design and art walk, and here for her post about her time with me. Apparently she thinks I’m funny, and I couldnt be happier about that, someone who actually laughs at my humour! We had a fun time, both of us pipelette-ing away, the boys couldnt get a word in unfortunately. Tough luck boys.

And soon I’ll be introducing you to one of my friends who will be arriving in the guest quarters any moment now (he’s a bit late, he’s a very busy boy). But I can tell you this much – he makes me laugh, he loves my little piano concerts, and he is a hit on the dancefloor.

But here are some links I’d love you to check out in the meantime from my new blog friends. Also, please check my blogroll for new links as I always put new ones in but sometimes don’t have the time to write about them in a post.

Danielle just posted about Taschen’s new seaside interiors book here.

Felicity posted an AWESOME interior spread here.

Yoli continues to inspire me daily with her beautiful blog here.

Tiny K posts some really inspiring interiors here.
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All photographs are from the “Subaquatic Beauty” spread shot by Alix Malka via Nyla and Yoli

…and I think it may still be there, judging by her knock out polaroid collection from paris – i have no doubt her heart is not in a hurry to come home, even though she has. Welcome back Jen! And thank you for putting this beauty in my inbox last night.

Do you think being in Paris during the My Heart Wanders project is a little bit cheating? I do, I felt like a bit of a cheat snapping shots of wandering hearts while I was working there last week. I did not see this one that Jen spotted though, I think it’s adorable! Jen and I missed each other by hours while there – I left and she arrived on the same day, I’m bummed as I was so looking forward to meeting her. Let’s convince her to come to Amsterdam next time!

I’ve been wandering again. But without a boss over my shoulder telling me to stop, I can’t help it! And anyway, is it that bad that I do? I mean, it’s all research right? Right?

These incredible images are from photographer Anne Kluytenaar who stopped my minds chattering when I laid eyes on her work over at Montmarte’s Sketchbook. Renee, you totally caught my heart when you posted Anne’s work, thank you! Click here to link to Anne’s flickr set.

Then I wandered over to Ali’s to see what she was up to and to my delight, she has been dedicating this entire week to Amelie! A must see as Ali has rounded up some awesome treasures inspired by this beautiful film, including gnomes, red converse, an instamatic camera, beautiful Amelie-like garments and she even spotted some amelie in the everyday within her own flickr set as seen above! And on top of that, she found some beautiful stranger playing the theme song to the film on piano, on you tube – the perfect soundtrack for this week’s Ali + Curtis treat. LOVE this idea Ali, so inspiring.

Another must read:

For those of you who know you would love to work in the design industry but are unable to find your feet, Holly at Decor 8 is starting a series of posts on how to find your calling in the design world. She mentions the importance of carrying an ” umbrella (ella ella) with you as you travel down your newfound path”. I have no doubt there will be great tips. I have a rather thick umbrella myself, with loads of layers, nothing can puncture that sucker now!

and I just love this image from nataJane.

Okay back to work. Um. But first I should pour myself a cup of tea. And perhaps I should just check these emails in case they need urgent replies. And hang on, I haven’t checked…

Could this be my first official reader request? Very exciting.

Jennifer is an interior designer and writer from Detroit, and she also writes a blog called Design Hole which is rich with design-loving booty and heaps of interior design tips. She recently emailed me asking if I had some pointers for taking interior photographs, and suggested that this might be a topic fellow bloggers would enjoy since you write blogs too which require nice interior photos! So let’s give it a go…

I just happened to be working with my (blog)house guest, photographer David Finato the other day, so I thought I’d pose the question to him. While we were indulging in gooey stroopwafels and hot chocolates during our morning tea break, he shared these tips with me for Jennifer…

“Use natural light and a tripod.”

Brilliant and simple, and I couldn’t agree more. The two biggest photo faux pas are those taken with overhead lighting and flash, and those that are not still and clear from camera shake. If you don’t have a tripod handy, then find a level surface to set your camera on. Added with just using available light and you should see a tremendous difference with your images.

From a stylists view, I would add ‘look at the detail’ when you look through the lense. It is practice practice practice as your eye will get more attune to tiny details. As an exercise, simply try to colour co-ordinate at first – if you see a colour stand out in the space as you look through the lense add more of it with similar tinted homewares. Try this and see what happens!

Earthy tones of brown and green stood out the most in this house so I brought it out as much as possible by pulling out homewares that complimented these tones, adding little dots of other colours and unique pieces to bring a little subtle zing into each image.

Let me know how you go and I’d love to see your results. Try a little ‘before and after’ and see the difference! These are great tips for My Heart Wanders too. And if you have a reader request of your own, be sure to leave it in a comment below, or email me. Thanks Jennifer!

Photography by Michael Wee, styling by Pia.