My sister Olive has just returned to Paris. Sad to say goodbye to her after such a fun summer but I’m sure despite the cold it’s lovely to be back in the city she now calls home.
While she was here we did a fun little shoot with photography by Kurt Davies with flowers by me.
All photographs by Kurt Davies.
We have just returned from a magical few days down at Sambo’s farm.
The New Years Eve dinner tables were painstakingly built (between glasses of spritz) by the boys and decorated with quince branches by Angele, Olive, Jane and me. Dinner at sunset was followed by performances in the theatre and lots of dancing.
The rest of our days were filled with trips to the waterfall and the gorge to cool ourselves in the summer heat with 30 of us comically spread across two utes to travel, watching movies under the stars with everyone piled on mattresses in front of the projector, and eating an unimaginable amount of food prepared with so little fuss by Que and her team of mates.
To old friends and new, and most importantly Sam, Kali and Rupert, thank you for such a great escape.
Photographs by Sophia Kaplan.
Last Friday, with Olive and Anne, we made a little tour around our neighbourhood collecting foliage and flowers before putting together some rustic wreaths. Here are a couple I made – one filled with bay leaf, lavender, pomegranate, and fennel flower, the other long lasting natives. Baby Leo helped too.
Check out the article I wrote last year for The Planthunter on how to make your own wreath. It’s super easy and fun.
All photographs by Sophia Kaplan.
My best friend Janey is over in Europe and has been sending me jealousy inducing photographs of her travels. I asked her to write a little something for the blog, so here is a guest post about her week in a beautiful Swedish summer house.
A Midsommer Night’s Dream by Jane Crowley
Set in the Swedish provence of Småland, home to dense forest, over 5000 glinting lakes, the highest number of moose in the country and of course Pippi Longstocking, a fairytale scene is set for midsummer. A red house nesting in the middle of the forest surrounded by blanketed fields of wildflowers, and a river not far. It’s June and the days are long, light and bright.
The preparations for summer solstice, the longest day of the year, begin early. With 50 of us on the farm (Germans, Swedes, Australians and Brits), we bake bread every day, retrieve water from the well, bathe in the river, decorate the house with local wildflowers, cut the grass, hang up the hammocks, set the trampoline, swat the flies, perfect the bon fireplace, paint signs, build the outdoor kitchen and prepare the wild boar for the spit roast.
There is a secret garden, a homemade sauna, a confession booth, a hunting tower, a magically decorated dual compost toilet-house, and a whisky library room. After creating flower crowns, and dancing around the maypole like frogs, all 50 of us sit at one long table in the garden decorated with candles, wildflowers and jugs of cocktails, to feast on Swedish herring, salmon and the wild boar that has been roasting for ten hours.
Later, by the fire, a glittery rave begins; in the library, more are belowing to Johnny Cash records; in the dining room, a serious game of poker continues in one corner while facepainting is happening in the other; and the rest are frollicking in the fields like fireflies. Sunlight all night long, a midsummer nights dream in a Swedish fairytale.
Thank you again and again to the wondrous hosts Sixten and Sara, and Sixten’s family who have owned the property for over thirty years.
I am going crazy over these incredible gold wreaths. They are from various historical periods including ancient Macedonia, Greece, Egypt, and Bulgaria.
Here are some behind the scenes shots from last weekends editorial shoot featuring gowns by Daughters of Simone. Photography by Damien Milan with art direction and styling by Anastasia Gladushchenko. Can’t wait to share the final images with you.
Jewellery by Ruusk
Make-up by Guro
Hair by Veronika Moreira
Flowers by Sophia Kaplan
Models Laura, Sarah & Jessica
All images © http://www.damienmilan.com.au
Bloom Series is a collaboration between between floral stylist Jardine Hansen and photographers Lisa and Pete. Together they host events where Jardine shares her flower knowledge with enthusiastic students, and all the beautiful floral creations are documented by Lisa and Pete. Check out some pics from previous events below. They’re hosting a posy making class on 19 January in Redfern, Sydney. For more details and to reserve a spot check out the website here.
All photographs by And a Day Photography.
IT. is the clothing label lovechild of Paris based German designer Isabell Thrun. The spring/ summer 2014 collection entitled Blütezeit has a strong floral focus. I put together a flower crown for her lookbook which you can checkout below. Head to her online shop to buy a handmade piece (my personal favourite is the Muscari).
For more info be sure to check out Isabell’s website. Photographs by Agata Wolanska with creative direction by La Vitrine 341.
And a big thank you to the beautiful Mariëtta for introducing me to Isabell and so many other wonderful people in Paris.
My friend Ama asked me to demonstrate how to make a flower crown for her blog L’Effrontée. We had a fun evening putting this together for you.
You will need:
1. Floral tape
2. Thin wire
3. Flowers (consider colour combinations and flowers that will happily last without water for a day)
4. Foliage (ivy is great, or whatever you can forage)
STEP 1.
Measure the wire around your head. Keep some length to create a hook to secure as below
STEP 2.
Wrap the floral tape around the wire
STEP 3.
Prepare flowers and foliage – cut to size and work out what you want to go where
STEP 4.
Begin to place flowers and foliage two at a time, securing with more floral tape
Then it’s as easy as continuing to place two pieces at a time and keep securing with floral tape. Try to place flowers thickly so the wire isn’t seen. Once finished you can store the flower crown in the fridge to keep it fresh.
And here they are!
Check out Ama’s blogpost here.
All photographs by Amandine Maugy and Sophia Kaplan.
As always, their latest show was ultra feminine and evocative of that great Italian era à la La Dolce Vita. Spring was on full show with the gorgeous floral prints, embellishments and flower crowns. A girl can dream.
All images via Dolce & Gabbana.
The Secret Garden 