Seekers of a Life Less Ordinary

New Vintage Friends cards today available at the lovely HUSK stores all across Melbourne. These cards are inspired by a gift of ephemera, a photo of my mother and remembrance of lives past, each card is handmade with vintage elements from a Melbourne Fashion House circa 1948 -1960. 

My Grandpa, Nanna and Dad driving off to adventure in a Bugatti.

A Vintage Christmas

Gosh I'm finally back - falling 4m off a ladder certainly takes it out of you! Thank you for all your warm wishes, while I couldn't actually do anything I did lots of creating in my head, so here is Vintage Christmas. Hand made with vintage sheet music, sewing and embellished with a hint of German glass glitter, velvet ribbon and more, I hope these are cards that will be cherished.

All silver and shadow and vision of things not seen.

Down to the sea today-collecting precious memories.

“Look at that sea, girls-all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn't enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.”   L.M. Montgomery

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. by John Masefield

She wore flowers in her hair and carried magic secrets in her eyes.

"She wore flowers in her hair and carried magic secrets in her eyes.

She spoke to no one. She spent hours on the riverbank.

She smoked cigarettes and had midnight swims..."

-Arundhati Roy "The God of Small Things"

The wonders we seek

A blossom from my garden reminding me to look everyday for wonders.

Dreaming in the joys of night.

It is a full moon tonight. Enjoy!

Creative Hearts - Mayer Berlin

Essence, schöpfung, humanity, harmony, transformation, transcendence. 

I love the power of words that have informed the Mayer Berlin collections – into the Light and Peace Collections by Christine Mayer. So too her philosophy;

"The beauty of things we can touch - the souls of people, and give them the inspiration to change." Christine Mayer 

 “in my creations I would like to not only to design clothes, but give people a luminous energy. I see it as essential in my work, that's what drives me to create clothes in this world of consumerism, so the garments and products are not only on the physical level, but will also touch the mind and soul.”

 " Through love, beauty and mindfulness, we can flow into our actions, we can even change matter. We can make garments which in turn carry the power of transformation in yourself. "

  

Made from old linens and the Seacell range from seaweed, Mayer Berlin has celebrated ten years of creative inspiration.  

Christine Mayer

Love this

Sunday supper

I love to have as much time as possible Sunday afternoon to dream and create, so this is one of my go to recipes - good for us with lots of things from the garden thrown on or whatever is in the fridge and the boys love it too (with any luck they think its so much fun they do the work for you!).

I make the dough in the morning so I can be done with it! Take any flour you like, I use 5 cups self raising and wholemeal mixed, a packet of yeast, teaspoon of honey, pinch of salt and at least 1.5 cups of water or to suit, then mix and kneed yourself into a trance! When it is soft as a babies bottom pop into a lightly oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place -mostly I do this in the window or sunny place or in Winter near the heater or in the stove with the light on (not the heat). Once you get a good rise - say double, roll it out in two parts to fit your pans, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise a second time. When ready to eat, decorate and pop into a super hot oven (on a pizza stone if you have one) - this helps to get a lovely rise and bubbles in the dough. Eat!

First Harvest

Lovey greens for our dinner tonight. Planted in late July and all coming along nicely -Cos lettuce, spinach, Tuscan kale, a single spring onion and with the warmer weather the nasturtiums have begun to bloom and I should think they will carry on right through to Autumn now.

Add caption

  Lots of plans for the garden this year, living the simple life over at ArtLife In the Garden

Creative Hearts

I thought I would share with you some of the creatives that inspire me. I find the more you embrace the idea of creating as a valid concept, indeed with the possibility of creativity leading to a career or business the more it feeds that fire within.

Lilly Ashwell Lookbook

Will you take my hand and allow yourself to be free to dream?

Wonderfully poetic and committed to creating a narrative for her collections - be inspired by Lilly Ashwell.

"I just want to keep making beautiful things that speak to people and that will last for years and years. I try really hard in my clothes to make them as soulful and human as possible," she says. "I guess that's the word for my aesthetic, human." 

Lilly Ashwell Lookbook

Lilly Ashwell Lookbook

You have to make a conscious decision to embrace creativity, take a small piece of  inspiration everyday to stoke the fire!

You can follow Lilly on Instagram or explore her web site.

O could I fly, I’d fly with thee

Inspired by the ups and downs of Spring weather to make new designs in the Nature Study range. What do you think?

Second star to the right

...and straight on til morning. From Peter Pan by JM Barrie. A big thank you to all the teachers who worked so hard to make the school play so lovely!

Delivered with a box of chocolates of course!

High (Winter)

Suddenly I saw the cold and rook-delighting heaven

That seemed as though ice burned and was but the more ice,

High UK 2014

And thereupon imagination and heart were driven

So wild that every casual thought of that and this

Vanished, and left but memories. -The Cold Heaven by Yeats

I love this time when our seasons cross with the Northern hemisphere, here a cold and wild day, the last of Winter, one could easily slip into any of the High UK clothes. I like the philosophy and poetry of the images.

Bring me a dream

New Vintage Friends artwork

I hope you are all dreaming good dreams today.

There is something about the winter's sun.

There is something about the winter's sun.

Those for whom is the winter's suffering

the warmth of the sun is also for them.

Relieving them that, a part of the

sunshine belongs to them

Of the winter's sun.

azmat naushad asif

They danced silently

I had to share these, last month and for the last few years we have had only one or two snowdrops. Finally though, they have been joined by more and it is almost a crowd!

Close to the sod

   There can be seen

A thought of God

   In white and green.

The Snowdrop by Anna Bunston De Bary

Plum blossom

I have started two paintings this year after not having painted for about 20 years. I am really enjoying the idea of doing this for myself and doing it with a conscious sense of not feeling guilty (for not working or doing housework!) but as a gift of time for myself. If you read my gardening blog you know I love nature and blossoms so I have been working on a plum blossom painting, perhaps subconsciously knowing that many cultures view the plum blossom as a symbol of renewal and hope for new life.