DESIGN INSPIRATION | EMMADIME

3 June 2014

I’ve been a fan of Emma Robertson’s blog Emmadime for a while now and love how she puts her heart and soul into just everything she does.

Writing a book about knitting as well as making a short promo video – just awesome! Shooting ‘A Day in The Life’ and showing off her beautiful studio space – super cute and great soundtrack (making the rest of the world’s freelance designers drool with envy and bop along). Arranging a monthly movie night for creative ladies in the bay area – oh, how I wish I’d live round the corner. Giving non other than Erin Hiemstra and the team from Apartment 34 a little design lecture and workshop – genius idea. Oh, and of course today’s highlight, a printed promo brochure for photographer Eva Kolenko.

I absolutely adore how Emma treated the photography and overlaid the images subtly with text and minimal graphics. It feels very modern and approachable but very classy at the same time. I love that Emma hasn’t added too many design elements so the client, ie Eva’s photography is still the hero.

The brochure is 38 pages and has a poster as well as a perforated recipe card to take out. A neat idea and a subtle call to action as it will presumably encourage people to stick it to their wall or good ol’ fashioned pinboard reminding them to give Eva a shout when it comes to commissioning the next shoot. I like it!

Pop over to Emma’s blog for some more photos of this beautiful piece of print promotion and say hi from me. Love your work Emma!

DESIGN | Emmadime
PHOTOGRAPHY | Eva Kolenko

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MY INTERVIEW ON BODHILUXE

2 June 2014

Hello peeps! Hope you all had lovely weekends. I had a great little break from family life with my two bestest girl friends, staying in a small village in picturesque Wiltshire. As usual when we get together we had an absolute blast and managed to take full advantage of the sunny weather playing tennis, walking and even shooting a little baking post and farm visit for Stylejuicer. But more of that later.

Today I want to share an exciting new project with you to which I’m a proud contributor.

BodhiLuxe was founded by Elijah Choo of Bodhi and Birch and is a new online lifestyle magazine celebrating all the little things that bring joy and indulgence.

It’s a fabulous content mix that is centred around a mindful modern lifestyle, championing all that’s natural, ethical and sustainable; with features covering every facet of life, from beauty and wellbeing, to fashion, home, travel, food, culture and more. The stories are authentic and inspiring and should be part of your daily coffee break browsing routine.

I was honoured to be featured for the launch of their site last week and want to share a little taster of my interview where I discuss balancing work and family life, my inspirations, stylish living, what led me to launch Stylejuicer and how I inspire my children to be – and stay – creative.

ABOVE | My Instagram feed.

What led you to launch Stylejuicer and what does it now mean to you?
I found myself craving some design inspiration and general beauty as a counter balance to the chaos that two toddlers create.

I started Pinning and Instagraming just over a year ago and was immediately hooked. I felt so inspired, enthused and creatively invigorated by all this beauty that I wanted to share my finds with the world in a way that people could comment and connect with me.

I take great care to make my posts as visually stimulating as possible through layout and photography. Nowadays the bloggersphere is incredibly crowded. I deliberately keep my posts short and entertaining, so people tend to follow me because they like my taste, style and aesthetics.

Uncovering interesting and exciting stuff still gives me a buzz and I have a bit of an obsession with design and interiors in particular. Though, you’ll find recipes, travel destinations, fashion and kids related topics on there too. I just love the mix of it and the fact that I’m the boss.

Stylejuicer is my virtual ‘home’ a place to escape to when there’s chaos around me. It’s like a painting that I add a few brush strokes to almost every day, where everything is just so and I can be who I want to be. It’s very precious to me.

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So how is your life now structured?
The above all seems a long way from my life now as a mum, but through the blog and my social media accounts I’m always keeping track of design and fashion trends. I love to look at bloggers and creative people from other countries to see what they’re up to and am currently crushing on all things Australian.

From graphics to interior, architecture, photography and design, I love it all. My clients love the fact I’ve started blogging, as it means that I bring tons of new ideas and enthusiasm to each project; most of which gets done when the kids are asleep or at the weekend.

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What would you tell those who believe family life is not conducive to living stylishly?
Family life with small children is intense, there’s no way round it, and it takes commitment to maintain a stylish home. However, for me, stylish living is perfectly possible whatever situation you’re in. It just means adapting your home to you and your family’s needs at different stages of your life.

I’m a big fan of white interiors and furnishings and have been determined not to stop surrounding myself with white since I’ve had kids. Instead, I’ve been mindful of having washable covers on sofas and chairs and surfaces that are scratch and crayon-proof. Well aware that our current furniture will have to be replaced in a few years, I went for less expensive options. Walls are easy to repaint and the pleasure of living in a space that is just how I like it outweighs the inevitable maintenance for me.

I’m not too precious about anything and make sure that much loved but breakable objects are out of reach for the kids, while still on display.

My main priority is tidying. A clutter free space relaxes me and I make sure that toys are tidied away every night, so John and I can have a meal and spend some grown up time together.

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How can you inspire your children to be – and stay – creative?
I’m not a big parenting book/advice reader. Maybe I should be! I prefer to trust my instinct and one of my main priorities is to expose my children to as many different experiences as possible; whether it’s travelling, culture, culinary, activities etc., to stimulate and inspire as well as giving them a good grounding.

This certainly doesn’t mean that there’s exciting new stuff happening every day, often it’s quite the opposite. I’m a big believer that boredom is actually good for children as they’re forced to think for themselves, make up games and be creative when there are no toys around. I try to restrict the amount of toys they have to play with and often I put something away for a few months so that when it comes out again, it feels like new to them.

I also like to make sure the boys play outside every day – not only for the fresh air and physical exercise but also to stimulate all their senses. I’m no hard-liner and they do get to watch some TV every day, mainly to give me a break, but as a rule the TV is off-limits.

Doing crafts with them and role-play is another way I like to encourage creativity and I’m often surprised what they come up with. They had me in stitches the other day when the potty served as a ‘birthday cake’ with straws as candles. Now that is creative!

For the full interview please hop over to BodhiLuxe.

MORE INFORMATION | BodhiLuxe
PHOTOGRAPHY | Annie Kruse

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HOME-MADE ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL RECIPE

30 May 2014

Ahem… let me just clear my throat before proudly presenting you with… TA-DAH! My first food err… drinks photo shoot. Well, actually it’s my second time styling food here on the blog as I did a Christmas gingerbread cookie recipe and I have to say I love it. Granted, there’s room for improvement, obvs, but it was a great experience that I couldn’t have done without the help of my lovely neighbour who is one of the best cooks and bakers I know.

Thing is the cowboy is somewhat addicted to Elderflower cordial and in particular the home-made stuff so as the lovely white clusters are in bloom in the garden at the moment I jumped at the chance to document the process in a blog post. My neighbour and I used the Sophie Grigson recipe but added five more heads for luck and because there are so many flowers this year.

A little tip she gave me was to pick the elderflower whilst they are basking in sunshine and infuse straight away as it’ll give you an even intenser taste and subtle perfume.

For serving you can use sparkling or still water to dilute or even cloudy lemonade for an elderflower fizz. I like mine quite diluted which in hindsight wasn’t a good idea for the shoot as it looks like a shot of still water with some lemon and mint, ops! Well, what can I tell you it tasted divine after all that styling and prepping and was just the perfect drink on a hot day. So, here’s to a loooong hot summer.

NOTE: In case you’re wondering the carafe and glass is by Menu one of my favourite Danish designers and featured here before.

ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL BY SOPHIE GRIGSON

PREP TIME | 20 min, plus overnight infusing
COOK TIME | 5 min
YIELDS | 1.5 litres

INGREDIENTS:

20 heads of elderflower (note: we used 25 heads for luck)
1.8 kg granulated sugar, or caster sugar
1.2 litres water
2 unwaxed lemons
75 g citric

METHOD:

1. Shake the elderflowers to expel any lingering insects, and then place in a large bowl. (Note: We didn’t bother to do this as it all gets strained through a cheese cloth anyway, so don’t worry about little bugs.)

2. Put the sugar into a pan with the water and bring up to the boil, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved.

3. While the sugar syrup is heating, pare the zest of the lemons off in wide strips and toss into the bowl with the elderflowers. Slice the lemons, discard the ends, and add the slices to the bowl. Pour over the boiling syrup, and then stir in the citric acid. Cover with a cloth and then leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

4. Next day, strain the cordial through a sieve lined with muslin (note: we used a cheese cloth), and pour into thoroughly cleaned glass or plastic bottles. Screw on the lids and pop into the cupboard ready to use.

VIA | Sophie Grigson
PHOTOGRAPHY | Annie Kruse

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Food & Entertaining / 2 COMMENTS /

SMALL SPACES | WHITE HOUSE IN DELFT

28 May 2014

After so much colour on the blog last week I want to share a very pure white interior with you today that caught my eye on the fabulous Nordic Days blog.

It’s a second home in Delft, Netherlands and was renovated by the talented designers Nathalie and Tessa from Nu Interieur Ontwerp with the brief of making the small space feel as big and bright as possible.

I’m always fascinated by white spaces and how they make you feel. Just from looking at the photos I feel strangely uplifted and calm. With the white floors boards, walls, ceiling and stairs it reminds me of a photographers studio and I particularly like all the in-built storage space and the neat little window seat in the kitchen for, errr… day-dreaming – at least that’s what I would do.

I like how the few plants and natural wooden elements break the space up a little and give it a bit of a homely feel. I also spotted a fire place which I’m sure will make this just the cosiest space and I can see the owner snuggling up with her adorable dog on the sofa.

There are also some clever design elements that Nathalie and Tessa incorporated like their leather strap handles which come in different sizes and colours and the little oak foot stool that I’ve fallen in love with. A gorgeous design, sturdy, useful and only getting better with age – perfect.

I love this white house! And now I want to paint my own home all white. *day-dreams*

MORE INFORMATION & PHOTOGRAPHY | Nu Interieur Ontwerp (with kind permission)

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Home & Interior / 2 COMMENTS /

IN THE MIX | MAY MONOCHROME

26 May 2014

Hello everyone! How are you? It’s a bank holiday here in the UK and with that always comes a sense of calm for me. It’s a bonus, a whole extra day, 24hrs that somehow don’t seem to belong to the week. It’s not a Sunday and not a Monday, no duties today … just relax, play and enjoy life.

With that sense of calm I’ve put some things together for you that have inspired me over the last week or so and have called them May monochrome. Hope you enjoy and feel an equal sense of calm.

WOMAN /// Beautiful shot and quirky take on a classic outfit.
INTERIOR /// Love the styling. Come and chillax.
TYPOGRAPHY /// Not On Sunday Charity exhibition 24/6, poster designed by Paul Fox.
ARCHITECTURE /// Striking window in the beautiful Allandale House.

CREDITS | I’d like to give credit to all the photographers and designers whose work is featured on this board. Sadly, most of the originators can’t be identified anymore so if you recognise your work here please email me and I’ll happily credit you and add your link.

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