Petal & Pins

Category: Whimsical

January 12, 2018

Pussy Cat Pussy Cat Where Have You Been

vintage postcardI discovered this postcard amongst some things at my mother’s house last year.

Sent to my grandfather when he was five, it’s postmarked December 23rd 1917 and the handwritten greeting from an aunt is delightful.

With good intentions of letting those playful kittens deliver a Christmas greeting again I photographed the card so it could arrive in a very different type of mailbox via this blog – 100 years after it was first sent!

I pondered where one of our petal & pins greeting cards may turn up a century on from now and thought it was the perfect example of why a handwritten card will always be so much more meaningful than tapping out a text.

So my apologies for it being belated –  I hope you had a jolly Christmas and Best Wishes for 2018!

Sandra X

 

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December 23, 2017

The Fairy & The Farmer

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Two of the highlights of my year have been about collaboration.

In April Lisa Britzman, a ceramic artist and sustainable boutique farmer in the Huon Valley of Tasmania got in touch to see if I would be interested in having some of her autumn blooming saffron flowers to design my minature botanical couture with.

Mr Petal & Pins and I drove down to Campo de Flori Farm which is picturesquely located high in the hills. It was facinating to see saffron growing  and Lisa showed us how it is harvested. I brought a basketful of the striking purple flowers home and designed a mini collection of dresses that has kicked off the Farmgate Project by petal & pins.

Recently we went back to the farm for olive blossoms and culinary lavender – and of course we were only too happy to come home with some freshly baked lavender shortbread biscuits too!

The other wonderful collaboration began in the Spring of 2016 when Carolyn  Turgeon editor-in-chief of Faerie Magazine interviewed me by skype for the The Faeirie Handbook – ‘an enchanting compendium of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes and Projects’.

In winter this year I got a sneek peek at the proofs for the pages featuring my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe® and the beautiful cover featuring Euphaeidae from the Wonderland series by Kirsty Mitchell Photography but of course had to keep it a secret until its release.

The book launched in November and I was very excited when my copy from publisher Harper Collins New York office arrived!

It’s an exquisite hardback book with silver edged pages and I couldn’t be more proud to be featured within it.

There’s something for everyone who loves a bit of whimsy and magic of any age with chapters on Flora & Fauna, Fashion & Beauty, Arts & Culture and Home, Food & Entertaining.

So let me know if you see The Faerie Handbook in your local bookstore…or if you have a suggestion for a collaboration why not get in touch!

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My limited edition prints can be purchased from the petal & pins online shop and selected stockists. Wholesale inquiries welcome.

The Faerie Handbook is available from bookshops worldwide and online through Amazon, Booktopia, Dymocks and the Faerie Magazine online store. 

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November 2, 2017

A Beautiful Mess

The big voluptuous blooms from the tree peony  started to slump in the cut glass vase and as the petals started to dry the colours intensified.

I left the vase sitting on the cocktail cabinet and every day  more petals gathered around the base of the vase looking like a decadently dishevelled ball gown discarded by my garden fairy.

When it became more mess than beautiful I scooped up the petals to design with – their texture like silk paper taffetta and each one uniquely shaped and coloured I almost got lost in admiring their detail.

There is beauty in decay.

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July 12, 2017

Flower Head

flowerhead

 

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June 20, 2017

Pink Skies & Shrimp Tails

winter sky

Winter skies are always beautiful in Hobart around dusk with pink hued clouds alluminated by the setting sun.

The aptly named flowering Shrimp Tail Salvia echos the colours of the evening sky and the leaves turn to patches of burgundy and green like an exotic camouflage print, perfect for the Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe.™

I once mistakenly picked this flower for a floral arrangement,  the strong scent becomes more intense inside and is not at all pleasant – definitely a flower to simply admire in the garden.

botanical couture by petal & pins

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May 16, 2017

Choose Your Path

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There is still plenty of autumn colour around Hobart and in my garden and I gathered some up to design new dresses for the Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe®.  The maple tree by one of the front gates is particularly spectacular and has grown to have a lovely arching shape over the steps, hiding a glimpse of the house when you first enter the gate until you reach the curve of the path.

I’ve written before about my half circle path with a gate at each end – this gate (we call it the top gate!) is my favourite to go in and out of in Autumn because of the maple and the other (the bottom gate!) is my favourite in Spring when the rose that twists through the patchwork hedge sends sprays of pink blooms over head.

 

 

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February 1, 2017

Greenery

greenery

Pantone announcing Greenery as the Colour of the Year 2017 has inspired me to look at all the foliage in my garden.

I had fun combining leaves from about five different plants, focusing on texture and shape to design two new dresses for the Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe™ now available as limited edition art prints.

petal and pins

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December 18, 2016

Free Xmas Gift Tags

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I’ve designed a few decorative things for Christmas 2016 including gift tags which feature my vintage wooden reindeer bought years ago on a Canadian adventure with a garland of flowers from my garden.

I’m giving a free set of printable tags to subscribers of the petal & pins online shop newsletter so if you would like to receive them (perfect for making sure you don’t get caught short when doing any last minute xmas eve wrapping!) you can subscribe by going to this link –

petal & pins newsletter + free xmas gift tags

 

 

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November 19, 2016

Sweet Cécile Brünner

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We’re having such a great season for roses in Hobart and one of my favourites is the sweet Cécile Brünner.

I love to pick petite posies of them whilst still in bud and their size is perfect for creating my miniature flower couture!

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October 23, 2016

Pop! #2

petal & pins pop up shop at Town House Gallery

We’re heading to the north of  the state this coming week for a 2 day pop up shop at the Town House Gallery in Launceston.

Town House is more than just a gallery – it’s an indie store, studio and curated pop up space and it fosters a sense of community with artist run workshops.

Started by textile designer Meredith Ireland, it champions Australian art & design with a focus on the makers who call Tasmania home.

I first met Meredith online when she got in touch with me about writing a guest blog post for Create & Thrive in January. It was not something I’d done before, and we were busy in preparations for our first trade fair appearance so it presented a lovely opportunity to look at what had got me to that point and so I called my post ‘How a Head Full Of Dreams Became petal & pins‘.

That first guest blog post turned out to be a fitting representation of the year to unfold – a year full of ‘firsts’ – our first trade fair, our first big interstate design market, our first pop up shop.

On Saturday we took a drive up to Launceston and finally met Meredith in person and got to see the wonderful space we will transform into all things petal & pins next Friday & Saturday!

In August we showed at our second trade fair, in November we head back to the Bowerbird Design market and next week at Town House will be our 2nd pop up shop!

It’s a lovely coincidence that something towards the end of this year connects me up again with Meredith, it’s been a wonderful, busy, exhausting, exciting year and with only two more months to go I’m now dreaming about what’s next.

You can now find petal & pins whimsical designs in over 45 stockists – mostly in Australia (but we’re working on that!) as well as our online shop.

If you subscribe to the petal & pins newsletter you will be the first to hear where we’ll pop up next, get subscriber only offers and a special welcome gift. Subscribe here.

And, if you happen to be in Launceston next Friday or Saturday, come and say hello!

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