Mais Bresil!

Dreaming of Brazil...

I just looked through all my pictures from my trip to Brazil with my boyfriend this year (he is Brazilian so fortunately we have a great excuse to go back every year!). The beaches in Bahia are so amazing, I'm desperate to book our tickets to go in January!

New York, New York....

My boyfriend is flying to New York today... for 2 months! I'm going to miss him so much!! But I guess it's not so bad, I fully intend to take advantage of him being over there - I'm going to go to NYC in a couple of weeks for a long weekend and then probably every 3 weeks! I LOVE New York so can't wait to see him and the city again...

Mi amor...

Autumn ribbon...

I have just bought a pile of new supplies - ready for the onset of Fall (Autumn for me here in London!)... Can't wait to get started with these woodlandy, autumnal materials...

Autumn Gold....

I just love this treasury which is on the Etsy homepage right now... so lovely and autumny!

New rose - ready to go!

Here are a couple of snaps of the huge rose hair comb that I made for my friend Anthea! She will be wearing it at a wedding this weekend so there it is all snug and safe in its hat box with a handful of my business cards for her to hand out to anyone who's interested!

My Style Works...

I just read a really good bit of advice in the Etsy forums about working on your personal style. I have a bit of a tendancy to be seduced by different styles and so sometimes my work can be quite varied, especially as I work across different types of media. So, I am resolved to 'Keep My Style Cohesive' as I have just drawn in my sketchbook as below. That doesn't mean I'm not going to do different, crazy painting if I feel like it, I just won't list it in my Etsy shop! In my sketchbook I'm going to really explore my AuroraRose style... watch this space!

What is your style and how do you keep it cohesive?

City of Dionne...

If you haven't checked out this amazing blog and Etsy, do so immediately! Dionne (Etsy name Ciy of Dionne) does these fabulous illustrations to (literally) illustrate each blog post like the one below. She has such an unimitable style and I always go to her blog to see if she has posted something new and I definitely plan to buy from her for birthday and Christmas presents...

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6912802

http://www.notesfromdionne.blogspot.com/

A lovely gift!

Here is my first proper sale from Etsy going off to its new home! Vicky purchased my turquoise butterfly necklace and vintage ribbon headband on Friday - thank you!

Just Nibbles - Lovely Blog!

Check out this lovely blog, it's so pretty! Justine makes really beautiful jewelry in soft, delicate colours and I love the featured peas in a pod necklace! Thanks for including my item too Justine!

http://justnibbles.blogspot.com/

Maybe those images were a bit small!

New wall collage...

And I made this wall collage over the weekend! What does everyone think? I ADORE collage at the moment...

A very crafty weekend...

I had a crafty crafty weekend, really happy that I got loads done and have a few more items to sell in my shop! Also, so happy that I sold my turquoise butterfly necklace and a beautiful vintage, embroidered headband (which I really loved myself!) on Friday - 2 sales in one day, YEY! I've been taking heed of a lot of advice in the Etsy forums saying to keep adding new items to my shop so I'm definitely going to start doing more of that! Look out for these 2 little beauties this week...

My Weekend Sale...

I forgot to mention in my blog post earlier that the reason I'm in the Weekend Deals gift guide is because I'm having a sale of 20% off all my items when you enter "weekend deals" in the notes to seller! Plus a FREE surprise gift with every purchase!

Made it onto the Weekend Deal Gift Guide...

I'm so happy I made it on to the Weekend Discount Deals Gift Guide on Etsy! Such a concidence that my friend Ayca, whose felt flower I blogged about on the next post down made it onto the same page! Here we are on this link and on the screenshot below (sorry about the rubbish writing! I had to write it with my mouse at work instead of my tablet pen at home)...

http://www.etsy.com/gift-guides/202?page=2

First felt flower!

I love this beautiful felt flower that my friend Ayca has just made... It's so delicate and I adore the colours. Check out her blog:

http://ayatasarim.blogspot.com/

Strawberry necklace now on Etsy!

Just listed on Etsy.... Hope everyone likes it!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29601343

A pretty box of ribbons...

I just had to take a photo of all my handmade headbands sitting so prettily in their pink box waiting to be sold on Etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7399576&section_id=6343541

New Necklace to be listed soon on Etsy!

Here is a sneak preview of a necklace I will soon be posting on Etsy... I handmade this with cloth, cotton wool for stuffing the strawberries and plastic beads. It's pretty unusual but a really fun necklace! Hope you like it...

Hat boxes and luggage tags!

I just adore the old-fashioned practicality of luggage tags, brown paper, string and hat boxes! Any item I sell on Etsy will be wrapped up in cushiony tissue paper, placed in a hat box like the blue one below and tied up with brown paper and string with my special 'AuroraRose' stamped luggage tag to remind you who you bought from. I have just decided to include this picture on all my Etsy listings. What does everyone think? Would it help to make you buy an item from my shop? Any feedback would be welcome!

71 and counting!

Ok, so I didn't quite make 150 followers by last night but I really do want to giveaway prizes to people for following me so I am going to extend the deadline to next Sunday! The game is still on, if I can get 150 followers by Sunday this coming weekend there will be 3 winners who can choose any item they want from my shop!

Up to 66 now... 84 to go!!!

Tell everyone you know about my blog challenge... details on the next post down!

FREE PRIZES If I can get up to 150 followers on my blog!!

Today is the first day of a competition I am hosting this weekend - If I can get up to 150 followers on my blog by midnight Sunday EST I will enter all my followers into a random prizedraw and 3 lucky winners will get to choose an item each from my shop FOR FREE! So, to all my lovely followers, email your friends or better still, post on your blog, and tell them to follow me, then you can be in with a chance of winning!!

The Honey Trap...

I came across this beautiful shop yesterday on Etsy called The Honeycomb. I just love these beautiful hair pieces which are so much more than mere accessories... they remind me of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Away with the fairies!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6048800

Secret Address Book London... The Cloth House

If you are like me, nothing will give you greater pleasure than discovering a really well-stocked gem of a fabric shop! This is exactly what I did at the weekend and hence, here it is in my Secret Address Book post. This shop on Berwick Street, London is an Aladdin's cave of batik prints, hundreds of simple muslins, faded vintage Indian ribbon which would once have been so bright, shell trims, antique Russian buttons all set in a quaint shop with stripped hardwood floors, walls covered in old pattern papers, the odd battered leather armchair and a box of antique wooden shoe trees. A perfect place to while away an idle afternoon!

New Watercolor Painting!

Over the weekend I did some painting - check out this watercolor. It's a vintage style Moroccan/Saharan scene with a view of the old medieval entrance to the medina of Fez. Now on Etsy, only$8!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29200256

More of Marie Antoinette...

Not content with my previous posting about Marie-Antoinette, here are some more of my favorite images from the film including the pair of shoes which inspired my blue and white 'rosette' headbands as below!

Here is the link to this headband:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28084139

Model Home...

A few pics of my sister and her husband's (Emily and Ben, collectively known as Bemily) home...

Robin the Cat....

I've just spent the weekend catsitting Robin, my sister's cat. We have had a lovely time, he's been helping me with the paintings I did this morning and even got on the laptop for me to renew a few of my listings on Etsy! He is a handsome chap isn't he?!

Garden and Cosmos...

I went to an exhibition today at the British Museum called 'Garden and Cosmos', a collection of Indian miniature paintings from the Mughal era in Rajasthan. I've always loved Indian art but I can honestly say that these were the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen! I am feeling incredibly inspired and after this post I am going to examine the exhibition book and maybe try my hand at the style of painting. I'll keep you posted with how I get on....

Prints Charming

I love the way the beautiful old department store Liberty's has painted one side of the building in their famous 'Liberty Print' pattern... So pretty! Click on the image above to see it in full detail.

I fell in love with London again today...

If you want to fall in love with your city again - explore it! Go to places you don't usually go, visit museums and exhibitions, walk instead of taking the underground, and always, always, look up! Look up at the wonders around you from the architecture to the trees to the sky, you will notice things you have never seen before. This is what I did today, taking photos as I went. I discovered new shops, new streets... I fell in love with London again today...

Let them eat cake!

One of my biggest inspirations in creating my current range of vintage style headbands and ribbon hair combs is the film Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola. If you love all things girly and sweet and haven't seen this movie, do anything to get your hands on it! This weekend!

Objets de la vie quotidienne

My everyday objects....

A beautiful old print from a Paris flea market, a beautiful black and white illustration, a vintage Portuguese grammar book, British Vogue from December (just found it!), a travel book about the Yangtse river, China....

My wall of inspiration....

I got my camera working today! YEY! I've been meaning to do this for ages and have, for months, been relying on my boyfriend's camera. It's so great to have mine back, I celebrated by taking a few shots round my studio (aka bedroom and living room). Here is a snap of my constantly changing wall of inspiration! I love its transient nature, constantly shifting and changing with the sands of time...

 

How to Survive the English!

I m reading a hilarious book at the moment called 'Le Dossier'. It's about a Parisian lady discussing her thoughts on living in London and 'the English' (note: I am Scottish, not English and therefore able to indulge in her extremely humorous observations without feeling insulted myself!)

"I sometimes go to the seasonal 'French Markets' just to look at the English Francophile, with his wicker basket, insisting on speaking in French to the stallholders, telling them about his house in the Dordogne, as if they care!"

Brilliant! Although I have to admit I am a bit of a Francophile, as described in this quote!!!

My Secret Address Book... London!

This is the first post of my 'Secret Address Book' features! I'm going to divulge all the tips and tricks I have picked up over the years from chic little Parisian bistros to hip vintage shops in East London to flea market finds in New York! First up, is this fantastic shop in London. Now a 'hardware' store may not sound that sexy but this one is!! They stock specialist makers from around the world who create beautiful, functional, retro home products like 1950s style enamel milk pans and Victorian wrought iron watering cans. Check out their website!
http://www.labourandwait.co.uk/

New Etsy necklace - 25% off for blog readers!

I have just listed this lovely necklace on Etsy, and you my blog readers can get a 25% discount! I found the butterfly pendant in a New York flea market (one of the parking lot ones in Chelsea!) and have regenerated it using my favorite material - ribbon. If you are interested please let me know and I will organise the discount on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28855643

More On Formentera... Paradise!

Here is my 'digital wall' of snaps from Formentera - Europe's ultimate beach heaven! I feel some inspiration coming on... I'm thinking lovely, blue, watercolor landscapes...

Sneak Preview... New necklace

Details coming tomorrow of the new necklace I will be putting on Etsy in the next few days. Special discount for my blog readers!!

A Mediterranean Secret....

This is Formentera... one of the best kept secrets of the Mediterranean, one of the most beautiful paradises in the world... and location of me and my boyfriend's summer holiday! Perfect!

In fact, so perfect that said boyfriend has gone off to spend another week at this paradise while I watch the rain trickle down the window of my London office!

So Sweet-Zer-Land....

I have just spent an amazing weekend with my family in beautiful Switzerland! At this time of year the mountains are a vibrant green, set against the bright blue sky and dotted with perfect Alpine chalets.... very Heidi! More photos of Switzerland to come!