Petal & Pins

Category: blogging

March 25, 2019

The Devil Is In The Detail

March 2019 In a Vase on Monday

I think autumn is one of my favourite months to join Cathy from Rambling In The Garden’s Monday blog post project In A Vase On Monday. 

There’s always an eclectic mix of colour and shapes to choose from in my garden at this time and the end result is often bolder and more considered in the way I put things together.

This morning I’ve chosen to use my glass vase that has a swirl of crimson around the top thinking it would pick up the colour of the crabapples growing in our hedge.

The ones I could reach to pick are a much more golden hue, and with a trio of pink roses I also picked  some mottled hydrangeas to tie it all together.

A stack of magazines was a practical solution as a makeshift plinth to raise the flowers for photographing but I thought the gorgeous rich image on the cover of Flowbulous magazine also created a beautiful backdrop!

I bought the magazine in Japan last year and it’s full of incredible photographs and flowers by Atsushi Taniguchi.

Flowbulous Magazine_

As I arranged my vase I began to realise I’d not picked nearly enough for such a wide necked vase and at that moment it started to pour with rain. My solution? the gum nuts sitting undercover on the verandah and some hydrangeas dried from last autumn in the palest of pink.

For Me By Dee print and vase of flowers

The gum nuts of course add a distinctive Australian touch to my vase so I decided to photograph it with Desmond the Tasmanian devil – a beautiful print from an original watercolour drawing by Melbourne artist Daniella Leo.

And that is what’s inspired this Monday’s blog post title!

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June 15, 2018

Just A Card

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I was excited for our lapel pins to arrive, just in time to wear at our upcoming trade fair in Melbourne!

Have you heard of the Just A Card Campaign? It came about when British artist & designer Sarah Hamilton saw the quote “If everyone who’d complimented our beautiful gallery had bought ‘just a card‘ we’d still be open” by store keepers who’d recently closed their gallery.

This prompted a call to action! Designer/Makers and independent shops and galleries needed a voice and so in 2015 Sarah started the wonderful Just A Card campaign.

Sarah says “when you buy JUST A CARD, just a book, just a gift etc from an independent shop or creative business you’re not just buying a card…you’re supporting passion, skill, creativity, originality and community” – I couldn’t put it better myself!

Many of the shops that sell my work are small independent stores with passionate owners, so my sucess is also linked to their sucess.

While the Just A Card Campaign started in Britian it’s message has resonated globally with designers, makers, and independent shops and galleries and next week is a 3rd Birthday celebration of just how far it’s come.

Coming from a small island off an island  (my old atlas doesn’t even name it!) by necessity gives me a “there’s a whole world out there” focus on where I’d like petal & pins to be so I’ll be participating in their Five Day Instagram Challenge and I invite you to follow along – @petalandpins

How can you get involved?

  • Follow Just A Card on twitter and Instagram
  • Download a poster and put it up in your event or shop.
  • Like, comment or share the social media posts of designers, makers and independent shops and galleries whose work you love.
  • Re-post this blog post!

And finally as Sarah says – by all means compliment people, it makes the world a far sunnier place, but if you can, please, buy ‘just a card‘!

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March 26, 2018

Flower Lamp

autumn style mantle by petal & pins

I’m joining Cathy from Rambling in the Garden for In A Vase On Monday albiet with one I arranged on Saturday night as it’s raining this morning.

It’s been raining on and off for the last four days – not that I’m complaining because the garden needs it and it’s the perfect excuse as the mornings get darker to pull the quilt up tighter and ignore the alarm clock for a few minutes more.

I love this time of year when summer gives way to autumn, it feels like life slows a little and reminds you to take a moment to just breathe and be still – which is funny really because as the days get shorter you would think it woud bring a sense of urgency that you have less time to do all that needs to be done!

The hydrangeas have just about finished for the season but their late season faded colours are a favourite of mine and I’ve been leaving them to dry in vases around the house.

On Saturday evening after a day of grey skies and rain I decided to add a bit of autumn style to the mantle piece by filling a large cylindrical glass vase with dried hydrangea heads intertwinded with fairy lights.

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Want to try making your own ‘Flower Lamp’ vase? This is what you’ll need.

  • glass vase or jar
  • dried hydrangeas
  • secateurs or scissors to remove the stems close to the flower heads
  •  fairy lights

I have used Down To The Woods battery operated LED string lights that are on malleable wire that can be twisted and scrunched. The small battery box can be neatly tucked out of sight behind the vase so you can easily turn it off and on when you want!

I love the soft cozy effect the twinkling vase creates and I’m now keen to try out the idea with autumn leaves.

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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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