Petal & Pins

Month: September, 2017

September 28, 2017

Bewitched

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Last weekend we headed to Launceston to participate in the Blooming Tasmania Flower & Garden Festival and it was a chance to also wander around City Park and to see the Spring display inside the John Hart Conservatory (I shared the Autum display back in May)

Outside in the park the Rhododendron were particularly spectacular but in the conservatory it was the Witch Hazel that caught my eye!

I’m tempted to find a spot in my garden for it as the sprays of pink fringed flowers would be very pretty in a vase and a welcome sight in the garden at the end of winter.

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In doing a little online research on Witch Hazel varieties I think I actually may have a yellow one in my garden – I also discovered there is  a hybrid variety – Hamamelis vernalis called Sandra!

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September 18, 2017

Write It Down

thank you ink

On Saturday it was my 5th blog Anniversary! A big thank you for following along and a warm welcome if you’ve just joined me.

If you have your own blog you are likely to agree the enjoyment can be twofold – spending time composing a post and the interaction with your readers and other bloggers you follow.

The raison d’être may or may not change over time but written with your own authentic voice there will always be a thread that strings it together and connects you to a reader somewhere else in the world. But keeping a blog going can be easier said than done, sometimes time and topic conspire to stay a suspended idea in your head. (I have many of those but Butterfly Wings & Other Things was one I didn’t let get away!)

Last year I was invited to write a guest post for Create & Thrive and I gave a couple of my tips for blogging – and I’d like to add this one to the list.

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It sits on the mantlepiece in my studio and I’m finding it a good reminder that there are times when you need to get things perfect and times when done is better than perfect.

It is beautifully written by calligrapher Tetia Stroud from Letter Bliss, one of the great women I met at Paper Camp earlier this year (you can get your free printable copy here!)

So start that blog, write that post, act on that idea because as they also say  – “Practice makes Perfect”.

 

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September 15, 2017

Gertrude

Being in a different city is always fun and although there wasn’t time to go exploring when we were in Melbourne last month for the trade fair the walk each day back and forth to the Royal Exhibition Building from our air bnb pied-à-terre was down Gertrude St Fitzroy with it’s wonderful and eclectic shops.

Always closed at the times we were going past we could only window shop and take pictures – but the great restauarants, bars and cafes were, so we ate well and after four days we had some new favourites we hope to get back to on our next visit!

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September 11, 2017

Creating Tranquility

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September 7, 2017

Out & About This Spring

spring 2017 tableau greenery dress and perle d'or

©2017 Sandra Alcorn  petalandpins.com

We’ll be making a few market & fair appearances this Spring so why not come and say hello!

First up on Sunday 17th September is The Market. Hobart – this curated design market of local Tasmanian artists + makers is held in the charming old Masonic Temple 3 Sandy Bay Rd from 10 to 3.

On the 23rd & 24th of September we are excited to be heading to Launceston to be a part of the Blooming Tasmania Flower & Garden Show held in Princes Park & Albert Hall – there is a terrific program planned for this event and you will find us at stand 46 inside Albert Hall so do come and have a chat and see all our new designs.

Sydneysiders we’re heading your way too so pencil Sunday 8th October in your diary! We will be at the annual Made By Hand Market at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery 782 The Kingsway Gymea. Always a lovely event with stalls in the gallery and gardens -why not grab a friend and make a day of it with lunch at the gallery cafe too.

November you will find us at the Bowerbird Design Market in Adelaide – a hand picked selection of independent Australian designers. With over 160 stalls, it’s the perfect place to seek, explore, find and collect unique high quality wares. Held over three days from the 24th to 26th at the Adelaide Showground Fri 4 – 9pm Sat + Sun 10 – 5pm

Hope to see you at one of these events – we love getting to meet and chat!

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September 4, 2017

Love Birds

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These two lovely birds live amongst the japonica in our patchwork hedge and I can listen to and watch them from my studio window. They’re joined by tiny little yellow breasted birds that dart in and out and are much harder to catch a photo of.

Spring of course is a wonderful time for bird watching in the garden and I was delighted to witness a group of kookaburras swoop down and sit on the telegraph wires outside our gate – their noisy ‘laughter’ had several neighbours peering out their windows as it is not a familar sight in our neighbourhood.

Even more surprising was a visiting chicken which was as startled as Agnes (the labradoodle) and I when it appeared from under a rose bush. Agnes was quickly returned to the house and ‘Betty’ the young chicken seemed to enjoyed  her weekend stay at chez petal & pins before disappearing as quickly as she came!

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