Being inspired by...

Lavandula

From now on I would like to share some of the things and places that inspire me and write a weekly post about my inspiration..

Lavandula is a beautiful Lavender Farm in Hepburn Springs, we went there last weekend and really enjoyed it. They have a lovely shop where their Lavender products are sold and for a small entrance fee you can have a look at the whole property.

The place has a really nice feel about it, it is like a peaceful oasis in a hectic and busy world..

Here the lavender is hung up to dry

This little corner looks like a great place to chill out

A little statue, I love the wrought-iron wings!

Another spot to hang out

And that is Luke, strutting through the Lavender fields

(just to clear things up, he isn't the one with the pink hat!)

It's so-o-o hot!

I'm melting away! The last two days have seen Melbourne insanely hot with temperatures up to 45 degrees! Today is supposed to be relatively cool, only about 38...
I spent the last two days trying to survive the heat with a wobbly fan (Yeah, right!) Yesterday I was hiding in Chadstone shopping centre, only to find out that the aircon wasn't working properly in their biggest stores.
When I was walking through a strangely dark Myer store (I assume they turned the lights off to keep it cooler) I made an interesting discovery: There was this box with Belgian Chocolates but it looked somehow odd (couldn't really make it out in the darkness).
When I went closer I realised that the chocolates had turned into one big brown chocolate lake! I sooo wish had had my camera with me to capture that. But I still can't upload photos until tomorrow ;-(
To add a bit more of a challenge to one of the hottest days on record, public transport completely failed to work yesterday! I spent three hours on the road, just to get from Glen Iris to Chadstone and back.
I sent an email to some friends and family in Germany, telling them to enjoy their winter, and that summer is not always what it's cracked up to be. This morning I had a reply from my mother that went like this: "Why don't you enjoy the heat while you can? Surely your house is nice and warm now and your clothes will dry in no time!"

I leave it at that for today and go to bang my head on the table...
...

I can't upload photos...:-(

I was planning to do a great, inspirational post about my recent trip to Lavandula, a beautiful Lavendar farm, but unfortunately I can't upload photos at the moment. Someone who may enjoy anonymity today went over our download limit this month..and if I try to upload photos my computer is so slow, it is almost working backwords.

I'm planning to do a post about something that I find inspiring once a week from now on, with nice photos. I will start with Lavandula once our internet works at normal speed again...:-)

Other than that I have just been trying not to melt, with around 40 degrees today! It is insanely hot in Melbourne at the moment!
And our car is making a strange rattling sound, who knows what that means..apparently the fridge also rattles, maybe they just don't like the heat..
I better go, I might try to climb into the freezer and snuggle up with the frozen peas. Sounds quite attractive actually... ;-)

Ladies and gentlemen, my candles are being stocked at...

I'm very excited, since yesterday some of my most beautiful tea cup candles are being stocked in Melbourne city centre at "Lady", a pretty little Boutique that stocks some great local fashion labels, and now also some tea cup candles by TwilightSpells:-)

photo by ladyboutique

Lovely Petrova who runs "Lady" also has her own fashion label. Take a peek here . (And, pssshhht, she was also on Project Runaway last year...)

If you want to check out her shop go to 237 Flinders Lane, down Scott Alley. It is a fabulous little store!

These are some of the candles I made for her shop, 15 in total. This is the largest order I have had so far, it was a total fragrance-overload.
In the end most surfaces in the kitchen were covered with a thin layer of soy wax, including the floor and I was staggering through a huge mess, frantically hanging on to the saucepan with wax in my hand, numbed by the ovepowering scents of Vanilla, Rose, Frangipani, Chocolate, Lavender... It was an exciting experience! I loved every minute of it, I didn't want to give any of my pretty little tea cup candles away!

New cups!! New cups!!

I have been busily Op-and market shopping over the last two days and I found some little treasures that I would like to share. Firstly, I picked up these two gorgeous little japanese cups yesterday.


And today I went to the Camberwell market which proves to be better every time I go there, it's great! Check it out if you are in the area, it's a great market for all sorts of Vintage finds. If you are good at batering you can get some real bargains. If you are not good at it, like me, you still get good stuff.

First I found this pretty little cup which is made by Villeroy&Boch. I feel specially attached to it already, just because of where it's made. Villeroy& Boch is a German company that does beautiful, exclusive China and other household things that are being sold worldwide.
My grandparents lived very close to where they manufacture and also knew the owners personally. Needless to say that every single piece of china in their house was made by Villeroy&Boch. And even though the design has changed quite a bit over the years (I used to eat from plates featuring detailed farming scenery in bright red and blue) I still feel a little rush of joy and sentimentality when I spy the well-known print on the bottom of a tea cup. This is my little piece of V&B for today



Also found this classy looking English cup. Like it! So nice and stylish and Vintage :-)

Found two of these flowery English tea cups.. They will make great candles.

And look what I also picked up: Saucers that match the two japanese cups I found yesterday. How lucky! They look so nice together.

That were my most exciting finds for now, I might finish here and sit outside to enjoy the sun for a bit. I've been so busy doing bits and pieces on my little cup buiness since I have gotten back from holiday that have hardly done anything else. Well apart from the usual, working, household and so on. I might have some Vanilla icecream now, mhmmm, sounds like a good idea :-)

photos from the Great Barrier Reef

I also promied earlier to post some photos from our recent trip to the Great Barrier Reef, truly great indeed!

Lots of little fish and someone snorkeling in the background

Reef formations and yellow fish

More yellow fish

And this is me, going shark-hunting with a pink noodle!

My first attempts to make paper

I had a little go at making paper today for the first time. It was all very earthy and back-to-basics and all that stuff. That's at least how it felt like when I was digging my hands into a bucket full of grey paper mesh to shuffle it onto a frame that I made by myself from old tights and a wire hanger.

Here you can see my "work station" (aka bench in front of our house) with the two very homemade frames at the front. I used the green bucket to mix the paper and water before I transported it to the big tupperware container. From there I somehow shoved it onto the frames.
Don't you love tupperware!? I'm so amazed that they do tupperware parties in Australia too, I have always thought that was such a german thing! Not that I have ever been to one...

anyway, back to paper:





I took the next picture just now, the paper has dried and actually doesn't look too bad. It's not quite as dark grey anymore. When I took the first picture the whole thing looked just like felt!

It's still very thick but I don't think it is too bad for my first attempt.. more to come soon!

Happy New Year!

Hey, I'm back!

I wish all of you a very happy 2009!!! May at least some of your dreams come true, and may the New Years Resolutions last for a bit longer than the first two weeks of the new year...:-) I know how it's like!

I have just come back from a fantastic holiday in Tropical Northern Queensland. Aahhh, such nice weather! I like the tropics, just right for me!

We got up to some exciting things too! The highlight certainly was a snorkeling trip at the Great Barier Reef!! It was just amazing, all the different colours, beautiful fish.. I think I even saw a reef shark for a few seconds.. well, it was a very big, grey fish, I assume it was a shark.. Luckily reef sharks are harmless, or are supposed to be at least :-)

If I knew where my husband keeps the disc with photos we took at the reef I could post some but it looks like I might have to wait for him to come home. :-)

What are you plans for the new year? I have quite a few: Ready? Here we go:

1. Develop more products for my shop
2. Start selling on markets
3. Open another shop where I can charge in Australian dollars
4. Post regularly on my blog (this time I REALLY want to try :-) )
5. Get a regular income out of my shop (That would be awesome)

just to name a few...

Have a look at these two nice cups I'll be listing shortly in my Etsy store