inspiration | Petal & Pins

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.

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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!

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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June 5, 2018

The Inbetween

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There is always a moment on a long haul flight that I like to just gaze out the window and get lost in my thoughts.

It’s the inbetween, when I’m hours from my departure city and still a way from touching down at my destination.

If it’s on the way to somewhere as opposed to heading home it’s laden with anticipation of new experiences and inspiration.

This was that inbetween moment on our way to Japan in May.

October 20, 2017

Dream a New Dream

Friday Quote

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream”

C.S.Lewis

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September 18, 2017

Write It Down

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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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July 26, 2017

Winter’s Pink

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When winter is at its greyest the bergenias add a much needed spash of colour in my garden and the rusty coloured stems make a striking contrast to the dusty pink petals.

Massed in a bed on a gentle slope in the middle of the garden, come spring the odd jonquil will poke its way up. Most things have been flowering late this winter – I only noticed the first of my violets today and not many at that but I can always depend on the bergenias to show up as a pretty visual antidote to the cold and grey.

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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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January 4, 2014

Reflection & Inspiration

Happy New Year!

Last year my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe was featured on Urban Gardens and Plant Propaganda and recently Inam Péna – a horticultural therapist and healing garden designer from Spain bought some of my work and plans to post about it for her followers. Inam has set me my first challenge for the new year – translating some of my blog and etsy store into Spanish. Doesn’t her job sound wonderful, I’m sure it goes beyond just a job and is a passion.

Thank you for following, sharing and commenting on my musings and artwork thus far – may 2014 be a year of passion, happiness and good health for you.

I’m not one for making New Year resolutions but I was asked what I have in mind for Petal & Pins this year and this is what I would love to do or set in motion – spend some time as an artist in residence in a fabulous garden somewhere – so if you have any suggestions, an invitation or helpful advice in achieving this let me know.

If you’ve just come to my blog I hope you will meander through past posts to see what’s in my Garden Fairy’s Wardrobe.

And now enjoy a stroll through my garden – my place for reflection and inspiration.

Sandra x