Each new week here in the (blog)house I am overwhelmed with the amount of inspiration and talent I find amongst you. Little girl giddiness takes over and my heart starts racing, I get ants in my pants and I just want to shout out to the world with hands full of my new-found treasures. Yes, it is just like being given the key to open a new treasure chest every Monday, the light from all the goodness shining on my face like glittering gold. I intended to post an update of My Heart Wanders but first I just have to share with you this morning’s finds…

photography by Caroline Moore

I’m proud as punch to announce that I won Caroline’s birthday competition! I can’t wait to receive her fabo cupcake prints. When you go and read her ‘and the winner is’ announcement post you will see who I have been selected alongside, I feel rather special and am very honoured. Thanks Caroline, it was heaps of fun to compete and am looking forward to your next one, I implore everyone to get on board! It’s a great excuse (not that you need one) to peruse Caroline’s extensive photo collection in her etsy shop. I will showcase another one of Caroline’s photographs in the upcoming post of inspiration for ‘My Heart Wanders’ .

Eat me!

I’ve been holding back on revealing my chocolate and cranberry cookie recipe for some time but when Laura from A World In A Pan asked if I’d like to submit a recipe for her beautiful website I gave up the notion of keeping this secret any longer. Friends and family have always said I give away too much but bugger it I say, if I wanna I will! So here it is, my treasured cookie recipe. Click here for the recipe and to read about the background of this cookie, inspired by my love of Canadians and the fruits of their fine land. Also check out Laura’s blog for an update on her cooking classes in Paris and the fabulous stores in her arrondissment, I am especially loving the look of that fromagerie!

And last but not least, I must start this week by introducing you to the very talented young Queensland potter and poet, Kylie Johnson. She has just published a collection of her poetry in book form called ‘Count Me The Stars’. The above image is of one of her bowls just to give you an idea of her work, but for a more thorough look go and wander around her Paper Boat Press website and blog. I have already popped her into my blogroll so that I don’t miss out on her updates.

Submissions are trickling in already for My Heart Wanders . Next post will give you a little more inspiration… à tout à l’heure!

styling by Pia, photography by Brian Gilkes.

While I seem to be on a rather botanical theme lately, for us poppy lovers here is another fun image with the lovelies in there, surrounded by the new Le Forge range. I had alot of fun shooting this as the request was for something fun to show off the new colours and designs. The photograph is part of a series, this one also being amongst the collection.

And since I am on the subject of poppies, I must send you over to poppytalk who has an incredible series of interviews on ‘collecting’, and showcases some great designers and artists’ personal collections. To go straight to the series, click on one of the pictures on poppytalk’s left side bar under the title ‘collecting’. While you are over there, check out today’s post titled ‘share your love’ where jewelry artist Colleen Baran is asking for submissions of love stories for her upcoming ‘like wearing a love letter series’ jewelry collection…

What a beautiful idea, and Colleen’s work looks gorgeous! I am thinking I have a few love stories of my own to share. I adore all this collaborating and sharing via the blogosphere.

I was flicking through Geoff Lung’s fabo new f8 photo library the other day and came across an image that brought an instant smile to my face. It was this one you see above, and it was one of my first ever prop styling jobs. It was a few years ago now, but I still remember how anxious I was, hoping I had found satisfactory props – had I collected too much, too little, had I understood the brief correctly, were my colour choices right… going into the most exquisite stores in Sydney and introducing myself as a ‘stylist’ for the first time, hoping the staff would oblige and lend me their beautiful pieces. I barely slept the night before this shoot, for not only was I anxious about getting the right props, I was so excited to be meeting and working with one of my all-time favourite photographers: Petrina Tinslay. This photograph brings it all back to me. It was such an exciting shoot, I was absolutely wrapped with the results and everyone seemed thrilled with my finds. It was alot of fun working with the Vogue Entertaining + Travel team, and having worked a number of times since with Petrina she still remains to be one of my all-time favourites.

I’m sure I still have this spread somewhere back in Sydney so next time I am there I will try to find it for you, it was quite a beautiful story.

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!

view from my kitchen window, Paris.

for you dad.