my heart wanders,..... and sometimes causes me to run late.

so,.. last night i was **supposed** to go to a book launch.  in paddington.  

i even went out and bought an amazing vintage cream lace shift dress,..and a divine vintage clutch bag.  and the editor of my favourite magazine in the world, country style, was going to be there.

perfect networking evening planned.

however,... the bump-in of my event went a bit longer than expected,...and that, coupled with rain,...sydney traffic and general exhaustion meant that i missed it.

sigh.

sorry, miss pia-jane bijkerk.

nevermind.

the gorgeous stef from newspaper taxi is having a wee celebration on saturday, may 21st.  complete with champagne and pastries!  

i'm there. 

afterall,...i *need* to get a signed copy of this amazing book!  perfect mothers day gift to myself.

enjoy your weekend, friends.

jane xx

yesterday,..a sneak peek.

what a super day yesterday was.

sure, it was long,. and i woke up this morning with very sore feet.  but,.. so much fun!

i can't post too many pictures of the first event,..and none at all of the second (would hate to ruin the surprise for the end client),...  but here is a sneak peek of the shoot from yesterday morning.  the client has already posted these photos, so i am sure it will be ok by her!

off for round two today..

jane xx

shoot day

today is set to be a great day.

see all this stuff?

it is all about to be loaded into the boot of my car (along with the mossy branches,...wooden ladder,...toy cart and other random things i may need) to go to style a range for plus maternity.  i am really excited about seeing my friend nadine again,..i haven't seen her for 7years (and 4 children between the both of us!).  first stop this morning is to pop into my gorgeous friend lisa who owns dragonfly floral design.  she is kindly donating flowers for today's shoot. (love friends like this).  and then it's on to igloo studios from there.

then, this evening, my partner in crime (and events) and i are starting stage one of the bump-in of what is set to be an amazing wedding at sun studios.  we are working with the amazing team at georgeous occasions (ex melbourne) on their first event in NSW!  can't wait!

such a busy day.

must fly.

jane xx

ground your space.

 don't get me wrong.  i love a feminine, whimsical, girly, room more than the next person.  

i mean, what's not to love?  florals,...over-cushioning,.. candles,...floatiness.

super.

unless, you're a bloke.  or you live with one.

satisfy your 'fem' urges,..have your girly room,..but make everyone *else* (tee hee) happy by grounding that room with a touch of masculinity.

personally, my favourite look is  feminine space with a masculine edge.

this is really easy to achieve.

look.

for example, pair this stunning missoni 'avalon' rug;

with a masculine coffee table of a similar shape.. like this gorgeous mark tuckey one...

or,..have a gorgeous, feminine couch like this,...

but juxtapose it with a pair of old, worn in leather armchairs.

(i adore these chairs,..and am on the hunt for a pair of my own)..

you can also add a masculine edge to your space by adding anything 'industrial', ordered in form, or with a typographical edge.

vintage steel,..cushions with numbers or letters on them,...rows or collections of objects with similar colours and shapes.

ground your space, people,..  it will make everybody happy!

jane xx 

everyone needs a shack on the beach,...

and i would choose this one.

'Outdoor living is one of the joys of summer and on Denmark's stunning north facing coastline, Nordstrand - part of the crescent shaped strip of wide sandy beach that runs from Korshage to Klint - this couple revel in it to the full. The owners have restored their dream of a summer place and have made certain to cater for the amount of time spent outside.'

images and text via kml design denmark.

jane xx

the benefits of a styling budget.

i am working on a shoot this week.  it is for a dear friend of mine who has cleverly, set up a plus sizes maternity clothing company.

check miss. nadine out here.

this week we are shooting her new seasons range, and she has asked, as a favour, if i can come along to help style the shoot.

absolutely!

there is nothing that i respect more than a fellow mum who is going great guns with her business.  even if it means working a day for free.  

so,..i have been wandering around my house, mentally putting together a list of 'props' that i can bring from home.  cushions,..jars for flowers,.vintage toys,..vintage books,..interesting chairs..etc.  the list may only be limited by the boot space in my land rover!

got me thinking though, about what you *could* achieve if you had a budget for styling.  

there are the most incredible things available for hire these days.  look in any magazine,..look at the detail.  see all those beautiful things in peoples houses.  do you think they own those things?  nope.  stylist hires them.

i was having a read of fellow stylist, pia jane bijkerk's blog this morning, and she had posted something that, as a stylist, made my heart sing.

read about it here.

basically, a very clever lady in sydney, jenni booth, has set up an online props store for stylists.  you can order online through very reliable pictorial references,. and they will deliver either onsite, or to your studio the VERY NEXT DAY!

no more careering around the countryside on fruitless prop searching missions!

brilliant.

got me thinking about other clever stylists who have gone down the same path.

there is miss. megan morton in sydney who has set up the propery, a bespoke prop hire business.

and in melbourne there is prop'd.  set up by guru stylist, glen proebstel and production offsider, rachael hart.

and the lovely lyn gardiner in melbourne hires out props, locations and vintage sports cars through her business empire vintage.

divine.

so,..next time you are having a product photographed,...or you are selling your house and want to have some amazing photographs taken, add a stylist into your budget.

will be well worth it.

jane xx

oprah gets styled.

like all good semi-rural, tree-change, city folk living under the guise of being 'country' folk, we have chickens.

(phew,...what a sentence!)

chickens.

the majority of them are called le-anne (thanks to middle son), but we also have a bossy black chook named oprah,...a ditzy white chook called marilyn... and a pair of lovey-dovey french ducks (named manu and gigi).

anyway,.

oprah demanded a nate berkus style 'coop' makeover.

well,..i can assume she did.  she constantly looks at me with her head cocked to the side,..beady eyes glaring as she delicately picks her way through the duck poo on the floor of her coop as we open the door for the day.

yup.

i felt the pressure.

yesterday we began work.  (with oprah's beady eyes watching the entire time.)

we have decided on a hamptons style coop to go with the style of our house.  i can picture it now.  lots of wood panelling (painted black with white trimming),..a pitched roof,..and a massive vintage barn door.  

unfortunately, the reality is sure to be slightly different, as the makeover team booked on this gig is less nate berkus and more 'my old mate doofus'..however, we do have the vintage barn door.

i will show you all some pictures when the makeover is complete.

in the meantime,...  here are some totally gorgeous chook coops.  (i know,..they were all in oprah's tearbook!)

sorry oprah.

jane xx

thought of the day,..

happy easter, friends

jane xx

sew (sic) lovin' this!

i have many, many friends who love to sew.

some of them are even quite clever.

take for example clever clogs miss naughty shorts..

everyone should have one of her dresses in their wardrobe!

however, i digress.

people sew,..not everyone has access to a sewing machine.  

imagine then, a sewing version of a cyber cafe!  

vintage work stations topped with old singer sewing machines.  A former print shop styled with pretty tiles and flakey paint.

in paris!

could it get any better?

i love the fact that we seem to be returning to bygone skills.  supermodels knit backstage,...funky mums crochet at the park.

nanna is cool.

sweatshop's founders are austrian born designer sissi holleis and swiss makeup artist martena duss.  both came to paris armed with sewing machines that they were constantly lending to their friends.  

there ain't much room in a parisian apartment for a sewing machine!

the machines are available for rent at 6 euros an hour,..they also offer sewing, crochet and knitting classes.  demonstrations by designers and kits with fabrics and instructions.

it is the fashion version of slow food.

slow fashion allows you to re-use vintage fabric,..upcycle,..and to form a different kind of relationship with your clothing.  

bespoke is seemingly the word of 2011.

'success is much to do with culture. this is like meditation; it's addictive.  it's chic for parisians - whose endless quest is to find the new, new thing'.  (martena duss)

lovin' it!  c'mon australia, lets slow down with the times.

jane xx

nature's stylist

i have posted a bunch of times about the perfect style of nature,..  the perfection of colour and form,.  the simplicity and yet complex structure of design.

so,..if nature is perfect, then the humble butterfly must be nature's stylist.

this last image is an allyson reynolds..

the butterfly holds personal sentiment for me,..  when my maternal grandfather passed away, his fijian housekeeper noted a large monarch butterfly floating out the bedroom window.  her comment being 'ahh,..there goes papa's spirit'.

i love that notion.  

amusingly, whenever we are discussing anything interesting at home,...or are having a lovely 'family' time,. a papa butterfly seems to float past.

last night my middle child jasper was proudly telling me about a gorgeous drawing that he had done,...and we turn around only to find that papa had landed on the back of his neck.

could there be a more perfect hat for race day?

jane xx