16.4.12

birth, renewal, hope and... life's simple manners ~



 Currently being on a recreational & business trip,
  this post will (attempt to ahem ahem) be relatively minimal in words than usual...

Believing that you are truly wonderful readers in so many ways, 
I wish to share here only but a few pictures, which have been coloring my mood these days.

Enjoying posting and sharing here on this on line journal
is one part of my reality.
The other part is enjoying such (rather rarely recently found in our modern societies)
 moments of total privacy & peacefulness,
 where life is experienced in a simple manner,
away from social media or simply selectively participating in them.

It's a combined way of living which seems appropriate and is personally being appreciated more & more.




Taking these somehow contradictory factors into consideration,
 I still believe that posting in a simple manner can take place,
discretely leaving some traces of the messages wished to be communicated,
or simply images to share.

I like to file these posts as inspirational and spontaneous,
often giving them the label "life of awareness"...

It's the one face, side of this blog,
while the other, practical one is connected to
my professional side.

A next post on this spectrum will soon take place, too.
Till then,  I hope the pictures shared here today to be capable of evoking
other than visual stimulation,
feelings, thoughts, emotions, visions...




... and somewhere here among tiny pink blossoms blooming on trees by the sea
and recent adored moments in my creative studio
I'll be leaving you until a next post....

Once more, so many warmhearted thanks for your constant, precious contribution
in this blog, by reading & taking some time to comment.

It brings these on line pages to life like nothing else...

Thank you dear all!
take care 
&
 see you soon ~





Image credit: Iro Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic stories with Ivy Photography 2012.
( All rights reserved ) 

13.4.12

somewhere there, under the sky, near the woods... ~





since the last post, (to which you have so wonderfully contributed in the comments section and I thank you so  dearly for) it seems that a long time has passed, yet it has been only a week...
Easter came and left here in Germany and though I posted a spontaneous little 
chicken & egg gathering quickly put together on the dining table to wish everyone
a happy Easter, it remained posted only on FB and flickr...

sometimes I get the feeling that I like my posts to stay here a while...
not being exchanged every other day...

then off course come weeks where posting occurs more frequently.
I accept both patterns and only wish to share with you that lately
I've been content remaining mostly silent, 
focusing on creative processes when working in the studio,
or simply enjoying listening to music or going through pages of favorite books

so forgive my rather low communicative profile,
also reflecting in only but a few if any visits or comment exchanges
on social on line places

these days have been somehow working wonderfully for me

the older I get the more an internal approach is appealing to me,
while creativity and work are the highest means to be expressing myself.

there was time to enjoy being a housewife, also working from her home studio,
with all the immense pleasures it involves...

April showers have been exchanging with strong sunshine,
leading to experiencing the new place 
all over through this first time lived here season.

blooming trees & tiny green leaves appearing at the woods
are emphasizing birth and hope
and I'm simply taken by their beauty.

despite feeling a little uncomfortable to have done so,
on Easter day I returned with a few blooming branches,
which I placed on the dining table...

a little sort of amazing the prettiness they so effortlessly bring inside...

the few shots shared here have been snapped around while the camera was actually 
taking a break from being busy for professional reasons.

some of the pretty things you see, like this shabby chic
double tray are part of the styling props
staying here for a while, for product shooting to be completed.

I love working in slow rhythms and I'm feeling awfully grateful
that the quality, care and engagement involved are being appreciated.

in an era where all seem to rush to produce and do more,
I simply choose to do less with more care and depth.




... somewhere here among the sun rays that were shining on Easter day this past Sunday,
I'll be leaving you till our next meeting here, with the warmest of thoughts and wishes for all things
turning out the best possible ways.

Spring is here and so is the chance for renewal, re appreciation of situations, 
spring cleaning & joyful emotions.

enjoy!




Image credit: Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos 

5.4.12

talent, communication, acceptance & shades of blue ~



crystal clear blue, turquoise, baby blue and all the possible shades one can find
captured in the sky and the sea,
are actually colors I grew up with, being born, raised and having lived for 33 years of my life

while strolling in the corridors of inspiring Internet places,
like Pinterest and favorite blogs,
I kept noticing that these past few days,
I'm drawn to these shades...

it must have all started with Desire (Dees) from Vosges Paris,
who has styled her freshly redesigned and renovated apartment with splashes of blue shades,
paired with an energizing green from plants, like aloe veras and cactus. 




The fact that she has spent time in Greece, visiting islands and in fact being totally in love with 
the whole story is manifesting in the effortless way she incorporates blue in her pretty city apartment in Amsterdam.

She currently has two places where blue flourishes in all its freshness:

her corridor, where the picture wall step by step and in time evolves around the poster from Santorini, admittedly one of the most magical places on earth...





and her entrance, where selectively cut images from magazines... 




and favorite magazines with accordingly colored covers, are resting as if nothing planned has happened...





The art of stylism has really been fascinating me since the very first decoration magazines,
which fell on my lap, already some 20 years ago 
(Gosh I shouldn't be mentioning things like that!)

and what has recently been fascinating me is that a lot, if probably not most of the
super talented stylists and interior designers are ones who haven't actually formally attended a relevant school, college or university.

Instead, the love for creating aesthetically beautiful environments is something that seems to have always been part of them, 
mostly being expressed in the way they bring together their own homes.

There are of course those who refine and evolve their talent by studying further.
Or ones who combined a natural inclination with studies.

Everything will do... but before all there seems to be a prerequisite:

talent.

I'd like to ramble a bit about its notion,
sharing some thoughts, while hearing from you,
that is if you actually have the patience and time to go through all this post!
a cup of tea + something nice to chew on are good companions ; )

So my dears,
talent seems in my eyes to be something very natural,
an inclination to something since the very early years,
something that one practices in his/ her life
with exactly the same enthusiasm whether financial profit is involved or not.

something that evolves with time, investing effort in practicing it,
something that sources from a very clear part of ourselves.

Talent is not a hobby, still one can practice his/ her talent as a hobby.
The happiest occasion occurs - both for the individual himself / herself and the community -
when people can support their lives practicing their talents.

Or when it is all right for them to perform another job they like, love or simply find beneficial enough,
while devoting their free time in their talent.

Talent is something that mostly makes others who encounter it feel at extreme ease,
rather than been just astonished,
something that provokes thinking as much as an instant celebration in one' s heart.

Talent can take countless forms!

                                             Talent is something much more common than rare,                                                                
         as there must be as many hidden talents in each and every person as there are people on earth.

Talent provokes admiration rather than envy,
and somehow enriches the lives of those who encounter it.

When talented people cross our lives it' s like a celebration,
one we feel part of without caring about our own current status quo.

Talent could be resembled with a stream of crystal clear water running down a natural source...


The matter seems to be: who is going to conform with his/ her natural inclinations...
who will invest his / her life in becoming the nicest oak tree 
he / she could ever be for example...

Modern societies could be suffering from too many problematic identity
cases, as so often beautiful lemon trees wish to have been born as let's say coconut trees,
and even worse, there is often time, effort and money invested in becoming something else.


I must make a "little" parenthesis here to refer to the by all means
super loving and caring Greek parent, who often "sacrifice" for their child
in order to send them to college, quite possibly also having picked the subject
or "kindly" reinforced a certain direction...

Seems that doctors, lawyers, professors of all kind and scientists
are all Greece needs...
one must wonder...

And I can't forget the years I was working with teenagers & children,
teaching English, while also applying my psychology insight...

Parents going crazy that their son was lazy and a "bad" student cause well,
grades in history and maths were rather horrible.

who cares if this person was already more grown up than expected in his teenage years,
 completely able of doing amazing handwork,
or show responsibility when working part time.

If only parents could keep a connection to their own childhood years,
rather than abruptly upgrade to an "adult",
how much more wonderful, trouble free and neurosis free this modern world would be?

{here comes the parenthesis closure btw}


Happiness and success are with hardly any doubt lying in:

- hard work, 
- planning, 
- decision and action.

Still it seems that for all those to come in a normal, non violent, long lasting and effective way,
there needs to be acceptance,
a deeply felt acceptance and digestion of one's past,
present and future aspirations.

A happy merge of them. A colorful salad,
where the dressing doesn't cover the ingredients' taste.

Purity. Clarity. Honesty. Vision. Love.

.
.
.

well, there you go, after some time since {the last one},  a life awareness post has just been written,
one I' m sure I'll be wondering how it ever came to life and where did all these words come from.

I can thank the communicative power turquoise and shades of blue carry...
and remind myself of these absolutely beautiful creative moments in our 
previous home residence,
which is still so often getting asked to be published,
while it is expected to be in April's issue of Casa Facile.
{ a little preview + some lovely Italian... gossiping to read here ;) }





The beautiful picture opening this post is courtesy of Mindy Gayer
whose work I recently stumbled up on, only to fall in love...
with the work itself, the way it is presented & the kind, talented person behind it.

oh... not to forget, talent somehow also seems to carry an element of kindness
and certainty, a quiet strength in the most non aggressive ways...

.
.

sprinkling some love to you, through the dance of these characters typed here
and wishing you one lovely day ahead!

lots in my plate, as you probably know, both in the positive + difficulty spectrum,
so I'd better proceed with the day.

which ever project mentioned here recently, might temporarily appear paused is only cause,
life is also about knowing when to recalculate, re access and act accordingly.




till next time,
good thoughts + much positive energy + above a little peek into the new studio and work being done there

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

Credits 1st picture: Mindy Gayer2nd, 3rd, 4rth dyptich & 5th picture:  Desire for Vosges Paris + Ikea Family Live6th, 7th & 8th picture:  Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos 




2.4.12

~ hello April!


Hello dears!
 It's April already + it seems that a long time has passed since previous Monday,
when you last left me... dancing with my vacume cleaner, somewhere {here}
a week ago.

Things are busy around here + there is lots to deal with, hence the infrequency of the posts last week.
How are you?
Thank you for your comments and visits despite my absence, it really means a lot.

My hands + fingers felt a little... overused during the past week & weekend,
as I was somewhere between helping out our technician, cleaning up the mess after,
accepting my current client on board (despite the mess) , styling + photographing cupcakes,
keeping the household, writing reviews,
sanding walls, and cleaning the mess after. Again.

Oh dear Lord. 
Can we please press FW and have this renovation ready + done?

Thank you. Then there can be more time for enjoying work + blogging + posting.
Or it's about time, I acquired amazing time management skills!

Yes, that indeed is going to help. And fatigue management ones, too ; )

Leaving lamentations aside, how about some recent shots around our home
I loved?
... mostly details and play between texture + light :





oh yes, we have curtains indeed btw.
And a new curtain holder designed by me,
using some cotton rope originating from Greece
and a few knots here & there.

Looks rather simple and classy, doesn't it?

That wall in the background is one of our current... battle fields.
Patience & hard work are virtues, aren't they my dears?

Let me be blessed with both ; )




Kindly asking you to not pay attention to the rotated picture, 
as I somehow wished to not correct it and like it so.
Just posting it so that there is a more clear curtain view.
But when once we'll be fully done,
there'll be a living room dedicated post.

Smiles :*)


... and to leave you with something fresh till next time,
a scene rather characteristic of our current breakfasts:
fresh strawberries + milk shakes, yum!

You can find a recipe {here},
which if you are following this blog's page on FB
you might have already read it, as it got posted there this past Friday.
If you read it, have you perhaps tried it?
Do share!
It's been my every day... strength drink in order to cope with everything.
Seems to work ;*)

Enjoy you weeks  + wishes for one wonderful April ahead!