this pie shoot I styled with incredible food editor Emma Knowles and photographed by Petrina Tinslay

This Moroccan chair from my old store, and my Signature Prints cushion. And this window display I shot in Paris.

oh yes! I should bake some this weekend.

this peacock feather that comes in handy for adding a dash of vibrancy to a little vignette. and my old old books.

the wheels on Napolean(‘s) chair, a skeleton leaf and my ancient Mandolin.

photograph by pia jane bijkerk.

I have to admit that I was very apprehensive to post about Tibet, becuase I know we all love the good things of life, we love design, we love good living, and I know some of us might not want to hear about the bad stuff mixed up with the good stuff. But your positive reaction toward these posts have made such an impact on me, and the world at large. My inspiration and my work without doubt comes from the colour, energy and indigenous designs around the globe. And i can’t imagine a world without them. I imagine it would be a stark, soulless life like in those futuristic movies, where we are all wearing the same colour grey tight outfit, hair slicked back so you can’t tell if we are male or female. And nobody smiles. You know those films? That is not what I think our future needs to be – I mean, its all good and entertaining in the movies, but I like the lights to come back on after the film is finished, and to walk back out into our colourful, happy and inspiring world. The goal being that it is peaceful and nurturing.

And that’s where this chocolate brownie comes into the equation. Well, not really, but I thought you might like the image anyway! This photo I took a year or so ago after making these brownies for a book idea I was working on, using a new ingredient with one of my suppliers, or new to our everyday pantry stock. Usually I shoot what I recipe test so that I can catalogue it in my project files. That book is still in the making as I need to find an appropriate publisher, but in the meantime I am still developing recipes for it, that is certainly the fun bit!

A big shout out thank you to Holly at Decor 8 for making me ‘blog of the week’ (and to Stephanie at Design Healing for inadvertently letting me know!). And now I’m thinking that I need a more colourful banner or logo so that it stands out on such occasions. Or maybe I could make a ‘special occasions’ banner, like an evening outfit, for such events, what do you think?!

Tell you what I think having just glanced over the length of this post: I need an editor.

Headline: my wallet dilemma has been solved…

(embarrassing to be wearing an un-ironed skirt as a stylist but i must confess i rarely iron at home as i do so much of it at work. baaaaaad confession.)

I received ‘the chosen one’ in the mail yesterday and threw my old milk stained one right into the bin (perhaps the milk will help it disintegrate quicker!). After heavy etsy searching and looking at everyone’s suggestions (thank you all!), I chose to go local with a little brand some of you will already be well acquainted with. So, let me introduce you to the new member of my handmade accessories collection…

This is a beautiful wallet from the very talented Megan Hoffman of Frank and Gertrude. The attention to detail is sublime, and her fabric combination I just love. This one doubles as a clutch purse so I do not have to carry a handbag everywhere. However, now that I have my first piece of Frank and Gertrude, I am very keen to buy one of their beautiful handbags, check out their store right here.

Also in the headlines: yesterday I received a ‘You Make My Day’ award from the lovely Mary-Laure at Aurea and it certainly brought a smile to my face! Thank you Mary-Laure, it means alot to know that I make your day as you do mine.

image by Jen at Simply Photos via Marie at Là

The rule is that I pass this award onto 5 blogs that make me smile so I will be passing it on back to Mary-Laure as she does indeed make my day! and will also pass it on to:

Josyln at Simply Lovely (and she is sick at the moment so she deserves a big pick me up so go and say hi), Jen at A girl and Her Polaroid, Liivian Talossa and Jo at A cup of Jo (and it is her birthday so how could I resist! but i just found out she is a year younger than me goddamnit)(and has a twin sister. lucky thang.)

As Marie at Là so succinctly wrote, the ‘you make my day award’ works like this…

1. write a post with links to 5 blogs that make me think and/or make my day
2. acknowledge the post of the award giver
3. tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

Coming up soon: my heart wanders update!

Side Note: this post is best read with KT Tunstall’s Black Horse and The Cherry Tree in the background. Go on, try it, works for me!

I hope you are not too upset that I left you.
I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know I’d be gone so long.
But I will come back for you I promise.
If you wait, I will return.
And when I do, I will dance for you.

Just for you.

Ode to my beloved 1920’s knitted dress.

Dress modeled and styled by Pia Jane Bijkerk.
Photograph by Michelle Young.

While I was cleaning up the guest quarters getting the space ready for my next guest, I found this little beauty accidentally left behind…

It is from the story of the converted church hall by Michelle Young and I. If you look closely, you can see the reflection of the original stain-glassed windows in the little black glass vase. I found the vase (well, ’70’s tumbler more like it) in an op shop in Sydney somewhere. This is actually my favourite shot from the series – I am a sucker for reflections, and anyone who works with me will no doubt have heard me say way too many times, ‘what if we try shooting it through this mirror?’. Again with the rolling eyes.