Happy Friday

The Spring season is still amazing me at the minute.  I've noticed this gorgeous lilac-coloured blossom falling everywhere and you don't see this back home.  I have a feeling this won't be around for long so I'm taking pics of it when I can.

Happy Friday!

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Things I Love Thursday

I'm back on the hyperactive palette again this week with lots of awesome interior inspiration.  My particular favourite is the 1980's interior (image 8), it's gaudy but so fun.  What I love about it is the artwork wrapping around the walls and the wild upholstery prints.  I'm still loving mint, hot pink and gold and had to share the image (3) of my initial on the hexagonal brass tiles, love love love this!  I think the rest speak for themselves.  Head over to Inconstant Moon where Kari is also still participating in TILT as is Apparently and Sang the Bird.

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Collection 12 | Hot Pink

1. Napkins by Milk Road Farm | 2. Gift tags by Knot & Bow | 3. Clutch by Moda Operandi | 4. Peacock chair by Down That Little Lane | 5. Dipped oval dishes by Milk Farm Road

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Happy Friday + Photo Share

You may have noticed my absence on my blog over the last week. Sometimes more important things simply have to come first.  I am sharing some photos that I took from our trip back to Connecticut during this time.

I wish everyone a happy long weekend here and in the UK.  My fingers are crossed that the weather picks up back home because two of my best peeps are off camping.  Enjoy xXx
 

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Things I Love Thursday

I've gone for a very mellow palette for this week's 'TILT' (Things I Love Thursday) as I'm not feeling as hyperactive over bright colours.  And I'm also kinda obsessing over interior styling and these images really do it for me.  Ok, so maybe the vodka doesn't really class as interior styling, or does it?!  Hmmm... not sure who I'm trying to convince here! But hey it's a pretty cool shot though right? Graphically beautiful and simple? Pahhhh it's probably water in there anyway.  But all the other images are clearing interior styling and I'm so having a painted plastic pig at my next dinner party!  Who's coming? 

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Make | Damask Shawl Complete !

It started on February 6th.  It finished on March 27th.  And was blocked on April 26th.  I present to you... the completed Damask Shawl !!!

It is by far and away the most difficult and challenging project I've done to date.  I definitely didn't realise what I was getting myself into but glad I stuck with it as the result is pretty damn good!  I completed the project along with 3 lovely ladies: Kim, Beth and Evi.  Evi owns the awesome knitting store Gather DTLA where the project started as a Winter Knit-along.  We have now started our Spring Knit-along which is the Medano beach bag. Mine is going to be blue and white striped with random stripes of coral.  I am trying the continental method of knitting so it's taking me a good while to get used to it.  I don't think it'll be quite as taxing as the shawl but I think it will still take me the full 7 weeks to do it !

The progress to far . . .

You can see more photos of the shawl and my other projects on my Ravelry page and also Follow my blog with Bloglovin !

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A Beautiful Mess App

I'm sure this it the hot topic for blogs today but what the heck, its awesome and I wanna shout about it... A new amazing App is born!  A Beautiful Mess App opened yesterday and is avail for download on iTunes (iPhone's only at the min folks). The creators are two girls who are behind the awesome blog A Beautiful Mess. It's a really fun App that you can customise with borders, cute doodles, words and fun phrases.  All designed by these two talented ladies!  Make sure to hastag #ABeautifulMess when you load it up to Instagram so that people can follow.  I've already had a play and it's super fun times! Best $99 / 69p I ever spent !

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Collection 11 | Unique LA and Echo Park Craft Fair

1. Throw bed by Hedgehouse | 2. Dip dye rope knot bracelet by Tanya Aguiniga | 3. Teakwood & tobacco candle by Pommes Frites Candle Co. 4. Reclaimed brass and timber wall sconce by MFEO | 5. Ceramic teacups by OK Universe

I have been here for six months already and I'm now starting to seek out some cool places to visit on the weekends.  The past weekend was full of fun craft fairs and flea markets and I headed out to two of them Downtown: Echo Park Craft Fair and Unique LA Spring show.  Unique LA was a lot bigger than the Echo Park fair but both had some really lovely things to offer.  Really made me want to do my own stall of hand sewn things for the house {hmmm really thinking about that now...} Anyway, above are some of the things that really caught my eye. I urge everyone to go out and support your local crafty peeps by buying something as lovely as the things I saw!  See below for where we ended up eating afterwards...

{poster images from Unique LA and Echo Park Craft Fair with thanks}

We started off at the Echo Park craft fair and then stopped off at The Pie Hole for some of their amazing coffee.  I have yet to try the pies from there but they look delicious.  The interior is pretty cool too.  The walls are clad in white painted timber panels that go 3/4's of the way up and then the wall above is painted royal blue.  Sunday was possibly the hottest day I've experienced here so far and we ended up schlepping across Downtown in the 90 degree heat between the two fairs. Not the wisest idea we've had and by the end of it I was 'glowing' in the face and pink on the shoulders.  I've been told the first Summer is the worst but after that you get used to it... I hope so!

Echo Park Craft Fair

Cappuccino from The Pie Hole

White wood cladding and blue walls

By the time we got back to the car we were SO hungry so we stopped off at Wurstkuche where we went for PC's Birthday.  We LOVE that place!!! Brats and beers all round please!

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Week 20 | Art | Gerhard Richter Painting Lookalike

One of my favourite artists is Gerhard Richter.  I have followed his work for several years now and have been lucky enough to see two of his exhibitions in London.  The first was in 2009 at the National Portait Gallery and the second in 2012 at the Tate Modern.  What I love most about his work is how realistic his portraits are.  To me, they look like photographs.  I have a postcard of Ella in our bedroom. What I love about this painting is the innocence of the girl looking down.  I also like the use of colour and the blurred effect created in the artists painting. From a distance it looks like it's a photograph and it's only until you get close that you can see the brush strokes. 

Ella

Another of my favourites is Betty, who is Richter's daughter.  I have been lucky to see this painting in both the exhibitions I went to.  I used to have a very bad print out of it but the frame broke so I just threw the whole thing away. I would LOVE to have a proper print of it... one day soon hopefully!  Again, what I love about this painting is the use of colour and the fact that it is so photorealistic.  He pays such attention to detail in this painting that you can almost imagine how the fabric of her clothes feels.

I was perusing the web (as I often do) the other day and came across an image that made me to the double take thing... where you bop your head like a chicken and blink to see if you have seen correctly.  Anyway, I didn't follow up on this until a friend of mine emailed with a photo and said "isn't this like the painting you had?!" and there it was again...

It's clearly not exactly alike but very similar.  The artist is Pete Hawkins and he currently has an exhibition on at The Outsiders gallery in Soho, London.  I'm not as drawn to this painting as I am with Richter's, but it is quite interesting to see the two in comparison.  I wonder if Hawkins was influenced by Richter in any way?  I wonder who the girl in this painting is?

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Things I Love Thursday

I've kinda gone on the small object trail with this week's 'Things I Love' Thursday.  I am currently obsessed with getting stuff for the house so the images above are inspiring me this week.  And as for the cake... do I really need to explain why I put this up???  I have a feeling, though, that if you have been following my Things I Love Thursday series that you're going to assume I love cake.  I wasn't sure I did, but maybe I do with all these cake posts.  I have been wanting to bake recently, so maybe that's what's up.  The interior image is just plain cool in my book.  A 'house within a house' and lego tables to boot!  Small spaces, and what you do with them, are what's hot. 

1 Typography cake | 2 Lamp by Terrance Conran for JCP | 3 Coloured canisters | 4 Copper desk tidy | 5 Vintage looking scale clock |  6 Cloche | 7 A house in a house

Others involved in the I Love Thursday series Aliquo | Inconstant Moon | Apparantly | The Shallow Brigade and Poppytalk who set this whole series up!

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Collection 10 | Outdoor Style

It's May already, jeeeeez where does the time go! May does however mark the end of Spring and I can definitely feel it heating up around here. Having said that, {laughing to oneself whilst writing this}, it did 'throw it down' (poured) here today big styles.  I don't mind though, I was inside working, drinking a bourbon and Kentucky iced tea, home-made by Dean {hmmm...I never asked her if she'd spill the secrets to her recipe!}.  I also said to my friend Danielle the other day that "I could do with some rain" as it had gotten up to 90 degrees here, which is way too hot for me.  And yet again, I got's me some rain.  Another awesome reason why I love the rain: I don't have to water the plants outside! So it's a winner all round. With it being LA though, I doubt the rain will last much longer and as the nights stay lighter later, I am looking forward to some alfresco dining. Here are a few things on my wish list for this Summer season!

1 Outdoor yellow seat | 2 Turquoise lantern | 3 Outdoor cushion | 4 Lantern | 5 Air plant pods 

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Week 19 | The Fig House LA | Part 1

Whilst I am sat here having a 'Nigella moment' and eating leftover cornbread from yesterday's Cinco de Mayo, I can finally reveal the project I have recently been working on with Emily Henderson and Dean Fisher (both super energetic and inspiring ladies).  The Fig House LA is going to be a really cool event space in the up-and-coming Highland Park area.  It's the next hospitality venture of Steve Fortunato of roomforty: a stunning catering company based in LA.  He and his team produce some of the most beautiful looking food I've seen this side of the Atlantic.  And with food that amazing, this new venture of his is set to be pretty special indeed! With Emily as the designer and Dean as the project manager, everyone is going to want to book this place out... Hmmm, thinking up a good excuse to host an event here!

The concept is art deco meets 1980's with a splash of neon, a glug of vintage, finished off with local commissioned artwork (sourced by the The Jealous Curator) and a sprinkling of 'the weird'. 

My job, as Emily describes it, is 'renderer'.  I have never been called that before but I'm super excited to be involved and it's my first job in the US.  I have been setting up elevations and visuals so that the team can see their visions on paper rather than just in their heads.  And so far it's looking pretty darn good!!

Unfortunately, I can't show the full extent of my work yet but here is one of Emily's Instagram pics {with thanks} that she took during an initial meeting.

The site itself is pretty grim but has so much potential.  Below are a few pics I took on site.  Dark, dismal and really yellow, I hear you cry? Do.not.worry the yellow is going!  As is the plasterboard ceiling, which is being ripped out to expose the existing timber trusses underneath.  The vinyl floor finish is being removed (phew) to reveal the existing concrete slab.  The idea is to keep the concrete exposed and stain it out.  We're experimenting with colours on site today. The trusses are pretty low so it's crucial we get the floor colour right!  What do you think? Sounding cool so far?  Well that is as much as you are getting at this point, I'm afraid to say!  I can add that one of my favourite colours is topping the charts to be featured... Teal!  My 'team teal' buddies James and Francesca will be stoked to hear this.  I miss you guys! :(

The website and blog have officially been set up (check them out!) and the construction started last week.  So please keep popping by for more updates on the progress and don't forget to follow my blog with Bloglovin !

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Things I Love Thursday

I never used to be so obsessed with colour, I preferred more muted tones and the 'minimalistic' look However I have recently found a new love for all things colourful.  I am really desperate to have a go at painting.  I am no artist, never have been and probably never will be but I have an itch that just won't go away.  I am trying to organise a colour palette to create an abstract piece and these are the images so far!  I love anything thats teal and turquoise and hot pink... I LOVE hot pink, which is weird because I used to hate pink...like really hate it.  Am I going more girlie in my old age!?! Naahhhh!! I just think colour really brightens up any day.  Look at the flowers I photographed.  See... how can you not love hot pink when it comes in such a natural form as spring flowers!  Anyway, enough of hot pink love, go and check out more 'Things I Love Thursday' over at Poppytalk | Apparently | Eager Emily | The Shallow Brigade | Inconstant Moon | Sang the bird

1 Coloured Spot Doors | 2 Coloured Pom Poms | 3 'Eat Cake for Breakfast' Mug | 4 Colourful Tea Towel | 5 Abstract Painting | 6 Photograph | 7 DIY Painted Bench

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