~ crafting Saturday's shots + a winner!

so the time has come, for the winner to be announced,

but before, I'd like to thank with all my heart

all people, readers & friends,

who took part in this celebration,

honouring me and my efforts by

leaving a comment on {this} post

&

 some of you being so incredibly lovely,

so as to share with your friends

it is important to mention, that no notifying mails were sent

via FB, etsy or flickr,

&

had this been the case,

perhaps many more would have turned up!

still,  as this 1st year blogiversary was a kind of a birthday, 

I just wanted that you show up voluntarily 

: )

and I thank you all kindly for doing so!

1. Natalie ~ 2. Sara ~ 3. Joanna ~ 4. the lady behind "Some kind of Style" ~

5. Vanya ~ 6. Desire ~ 7. Tiene ~ 8. Holly ~ 9. Meiki ~ 10. Jenny

11. Katia ~ 12. Madhu ~ 13. Nina ~ 14. Claudia  ~ 15. Lau ~ 16. Signe ~

17. Cindy ~ 18. the lady from Turkey behind "cafenohut" ~ 19.  Vale ~ 

20. the lady behind "Cappello a bombetta" ~ 21. Nadine ~

22. Rita ~ 23. Juliette ~ 24. Barbara ~ 25. Marian ~ 26. Nelou ~ 27. Gabrijela ~

28. Iris ~ 29. Ilaria ~ 30. Kristi  ~ 31. Marilena ~ 32. Nika ~ 

33. E from Portugal ~ 

34. Nikole

it has been wonderful reading your comments!

Thank you once more for taking part ~

among you,

the lucky winner is: 

 

#16 ~> Signe, the person before this lovely & new to me blog ~>

 Signe Pling

Congratulations Signe!

your special Goodie bag will be getting prepared according to your wishes 

& 

be shipped to you on the 22nd of this month.

apart from the official give away's winner,

there's another sweet person who is a winner,

 as she had been the 200 reader to be following this blog....

  and back then I promised her that she can choose a print from the shop as a little reward...

dear Nelou, a great photographer yourself, you may let me know via email

which print you prefer!

Nelou's page can be found {here} & her newly opened, lovely Etsy shop

{here}

leaving you with a few shots from my recent crafting Saturdays, 

which involved packing some orders....

more here very soon

&

of course back to my efforts in posting all I wished for 

&

have been planning for this month!

love to you

♥

P.S: I'd love to have linked every name to your online places,

but it would take ages to write this post. However it is my intention to do it at some point & will notify you

~ all about elegance... {discussion board}

[via]

good evening everyone & thank you for nice comments as always,

on the previous posts, such as this one

about {cherishing life} 

I don't know about you,

but for me personally, apart from mental & physical health,

love and enough food on our table,

elagance and all it brings together with,

may it be style, taste, quality of living, manner of speaking,

maner of thinking,

moving, eating, dressing, keeping our homes,

or choosing how & where to invest some money

is a very important factor in life.

having being raised in a rather wealthy suburb of Athens,

despite my parents simply having chosen for us to have a house there,

mainly for the quality of living next to the sea and away from a busy, loud city center,

still always close enough to cultural facilities, 

and this without neccessarily meaning that we could follow 

the "rich" standard of life of most of our neighbours,

there are a few things about true style & elegance that

seem to have accumulated over the years,

forming my opinion

about what is trully stylish & what not

here are some words and notions that go together with elegance {remember, for me personally}

     being ~

 ~ discrete ~

~ down to earth ~

~ open hearted but not naive~

~ approachable but not over available always & for everyone ~

~ kind ~

~ non provoking ~

~ sufficient ~

~ balanced ~

~ self concious ~

~ original ~

~ non snobbish ~

~ informed but not over exposed to the media ~

 ~ classic but not boring or worn out ~

~ wisely spending, investing & donating ~

...ok... perhaps I could be writing forever,

when infact I'd also like to hear what you think of elegance to be,

while you also take a look at some choices gathered together,

making up {my newest curated treasury},

all that, just so that there is some food for thought

and hopefully useful to you links,

until I return,

sharing the winner of the give away,

which I do by now know

and will share with you in a while!

♥

P.S: just posting this {extra} now... 

[via]

elegance might be saving to invest in such a dress

&

 not indulge in not well thought off buys just in order to buy something...

and then, that only if we could really afford it,

instead of putting ourselves into... debts!

otherwise, there are countless elegant & affordable to most of us choices

; )

Yes?.. 

~ cherishing life...

good morning & may a lovely new week lie ahead of us ~

 a creative one

 a peaceful one

 a happy one

  one celebrating life every day

 for no other reason special than 

 that we are alive, healthy & living in countries where there is no war, disease or hunger

I know that some of you are anticipating posts here,

which makes me realise the serious choice I made

in writing a blog,

connected to my life & work

It is trully an amazing feeling knowing that my thoughts, words & feelings are read by you,

accompanied by seeing my pictures.

I start feeling that a writer inside of me is being developed 

& 

you can trust me, this is something I had never been counting on,

neither expecting, wishing , nor dreaming off or whatever else.

a writer emerging out of the interior decorator in me,

my past identity as an English teacher

&

and the never forgetting experience of completing my studies in psychology

and then setting off to discovering myself,

through a long lasting psychoanalysis.

the sessions might have been completed after almost 8 years

but of course,

the journey to life itself is a never ending, self discovering, experience...

It's a special day in Greece today*

&

very sad news reached me about distant family members

concerning their heath,

so I' ve decided to keep the scheduled posts starting from tomorrow here,

including announcing the blog celebration + give away's winner.

{... you won't keep any hard feelings about that, will you?}

* big religious celebration for mother Mary's birthday

despite the fact that I'm not typically religious in any way,

neither living in Greece momentarily,

I realise that the more I set my roots in Germany,

the more I wish to keep some of the traditions I grew up with

for me such cases are wonderful chances to

get in touch with myself & feelings,

while devoting some extra time to internal peace

&

calmness...

I also know that my beloved granny would have loved to see

that this day is still somehow special for me.

So, eventhough I have already since early morning started working on my projets,

I'll temporarily stay away from the on line world

some beloved links to leave you with:

~> we love chocolate souffle  & it is one dessert that might be getting baked

as often as at least once a week around here!

if you wish to make it yourself and then let my know how your like it,

you may read the instructions {here},

as blogged this Spring for Ikea Family Live magazine

~> we have decided to live in grey happiness

and I find so much more in life by sometimes

reading between the lines

~> we are preparing & launching Project33,

a part of which will be the new photography label

"JCN Photography",

a cooperation between him & me

~ ~ ~

have the most delightful of Mondays everyone!

 see you here very soon ~

♥

{shots from this morning + yesterday afternoon}

grey happiness ~

bell bottom jeans + grey linen mini dress + beige knitted wide belt 

+ mini "feminine" jacket with puffy sleeves + {platforms}

composed the outfit mentioned in 

{this morning}'s post

and I promised to share more details 

following the grey mood set by the weather, didn't I ?...

in fact, I was glad to read in your comments that you also love grey

and appreciate its warm, tranquil & cozy qualities...

it's not that I don't like colour,

cause I really do...

just that I like touches & pops of coulour here & there

while caring most of all for an elegant, balanced

appearance & styling whether it's interiors

or a  person I'm styling.

I tend to strongly disagree with the idea that we definetely need colour

to bring interest, energy & vibrance in our homes

and our appearances.

Certainly vibrant colour attracts attention & makes a strong,

captivating first appearance.

Still, I personally find that it tires quickly,

sometimes it even creates tension, too

of course, in terms of home styling and decoration

I cannot imagine of anything nicer than using a few pops of a just a few colours on a white canvas...

can you imagine an old, wooden table in aqua blue tones 

set in a mostly all white dining room of an Agean island?

pure bliss!

or the freshness that is immediately brought by the vibrant green of plants?

speaking of posps of colour on white canvases, you may read more of my tips ,

as posted on the line magazine of Ikea Family live,

{here} & {there}

as for my grey linen dress you so much liked,

it was successfully combined with my wide,

machine knitted, cotton, beige belt,

which ties in a bow in  the back

it was worn for a very special occassion we attended

yesterday with my {also in grey & jeans}

life partner who btw is so much more taller than I am!

{being on such {platforms}, and you see the difference!

and I'm rather not a short lady measuring almost 1.70cm... }

we spent a fabulous, surprisigly warm evening by the river Rhein,

sitting on blankets on the grass,

watching the stars {yes indeed!}

 socialising with lovely people,

drinking beer, wine or champagne,

barbequeing

&

eating the most delicious

chocolate & Marzipan home made cake!

all that in Mainz's Winterhafen,

celebrating the marriage to be of my best girlfriend in Germany.

 one whose support, love, care & true friendship

has brought me through many hard times since my relocation in Germany

we met at the Volkhochshule in Mainz,

where we were studying German

&

were also occasionally visiting cozy cafes, drinking teas, eating pies & cakes

over endless, heartfelt girltalk...

oh good times....

thinking back to all that,

may I share that I'm so incredibly happy to have dared to follow my heart,

and relocated in Germany to start all over a new life 3 years ago?

one I'm beginning to be used to more and more...

one I'm learning to love...

ok... the person pictured above might have just a little tiny bit to do with that...

well, just a very little tiny bit...

; )

may you enter smoothly in your weekends my dears!

will see you around  ~

more love to you

Iro {Ivy}

xxx

P.S: on Monday the winner of the {blog celebration & give away} is being announced!

captured moments + smily rain

[via]

hello again : )

am coming here with a big smile cause I read the comments on the {previous} post

just a little while ago... thank you so much.

it's everything but a typical thank you...

I feel that you connected with me

&

to say the truth, I have momentarily not a very reasonable explanation

for the happiness that it brings me...

 still since it does so,

I only wish you to know that it does : )

so this post was originally prepared in order to share with you

{the collage} put together by me yesterday,

combining some of {my favorites pictures} from friends & contacts on flickr.

there seem to be some people to whose work I'm constantly drown,

not only for the visually delightful images,

 but also & mostly

cause of the moments that are captured

&

 the personalities of the people themselves

as they are expressed through their on line presence...

 there is nothing that attracts me more

than  looking at an image I can loose myself into...

 such images, I tend to believe, are always images

which capture reality as it is,

feelings, moments, passions,

and are not made per se,

or else in purpose,

rather

they are the outcome

of being tuned to our inner selves

and our realities around us.

 from top to bottom & left to right,

enjoy the fabulous work of:

~ Cindy

~ Cindy Taylor

~ Krista

~ Doreen 

~ Theresa and

~ Cindy 

when you have some time to spare or maybe nicely invest,

you can take a virtual visit in their photography streams,

portofolios, websites and/or even some of their shops.

All you need to do to access the links is to visit

the {profile} information of each respective person

much like to my own linked here as an exaple

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

on another notice,

as I took a refreshing evening walk in {Verna Park} a while ago

and just before we had dinner,

 all that came to mind is that

 this rainy season to be approaching

 is going to give me the chance

 to wear my favorite

pair of grey rubber boots, with silver details 

{promise to make a close up picture, they are really brilliant!}

bought during our Christmas trip / vacation in Rome

this past Christmas,

for the only reason that it was raining so heavily

and I had only brought leather boots!

was happy to find them reduced to half the price, too...

so here is me during one of our walks in magical Rome,

posing in front of my favorite object to photograph:

doors!

please do not take me wrong

when reading the label of the pictures

"Travelling & fashion stories with Ivy"

I do not consider myself any fashion icon,

it's just that I take a lot of pleasure in dressing myself

and combining my wardrobe's clothes

and usually like to be photographed when in outfits

which were put together easily

& made me feel very comfortable 

in them

am temporarily leaving you with this 

picture which is named:

"Smily rain"

and am actually 

promising & planning to post pictures from {this trip}

as there are tones of beautiful ones,

which were never shared!

hope your Fridays have been really lovely!

will come in a short while, 

posting about a part of our day yesterday

worth of mentioning ~

xx

between the lines ~

[via]

 sometimes...  life is all about 

 reading  b e t w e e n  the lines...

hearing our souls... 

following our hearts...

setting ourselves free...

...and of course doing anything in our powers

to have the happiest of Fridays!

Happy Friday to you my dears & do forgive my infrequent posts

these past few days...

it will soon get back at least to the pace it was

&

 today this is the first of three alltogether posts 

to share with you here.

so...

it's a grey day here... and instead of dreaming of sunny days & colourful places, 

I decided to dive into this reality 

& 

find all it's charm as it is.

... and you know what?

    there is plenty of it...!

 surprisingly there is endless amount of beauty & charm around us, 

so long as we are willing to pay attention 

& 

open our soul and mind shutters, 

together with our eyes...

so...

 so long as we live in Germany

and until we can afford a summer house for us

 somewhere in Greece or Mallorca perhaps,

we'll live in happiness... even if it is in grey 

here is a glimpse of the third post for today...

till then

colour your days brighter, your own

special, personal way

Love to you all

  Iro {Ivy}

  

~ unplugged & chills down the spine...

~ hello everyone :)

 I'm happy to be managing to post here today, even if it is late evening already!

how have you been?

 there's a lot of time spent working at home

from this side of the world, which one the hand is wonderful,

on the other hand makes me desire a new actual

interior decoration project & interration with people

of course...

have gathered a few moments of today to go along with some thoughts & pictures...

ready to come along with me?

~ as seem from the recent pictures all over, {this vintage} camera is dominating our table

~ lots of {these recycled jars} have been gathered by now

  providing the chance to enjoy candle light all over our place

&

 since we supplied ourselves with a few {packages of hundreds of candlelights},

they can burn day & night, making every grey day brighter, warmer & more inviting...

~ have been working on our shop, where the {30% summer sale} is continuing until the end of August.

we think that it is a marvelous chance to get more for less, while focusing on quality

and possibly stock up for Christmas... yes?

~ we 'd just love to "virtually" see you there, get in contact with you

and be of service :)

~ speaking of the shop, there is a {new set of cards} avaliable in the stationary department 

it's all about architecture & opening the {doors of your life}

[via]

~ there is a lot of energy and time needed and invested in finding a place for us to live

 it is a very emotional process for me, which is the reason why I'm generally more quiet

than I have usually lately been

~ a lot of past losses passed by before my eyes these days... leading clearly to a need in establishing

new basis... making new beginnings, this time more consciously & more aware

~ it's not a fairy tale love any more...

I have really relocated in Germany since more than 3 years now

  ~ ~ ~

from around the blogosphere, 

~ have been adoring all Annalena's latest posts and especially this simple, oh so charming 

&

amazing {home necklace},

posted in her D.I.Y column at Emma's design blog.

~ I'm loving Nina Holst's {hallway}, actually her whole living space is just amazing!

 the thought that some of our shop's items are to be hosted

there, makes me happy and very honoured

~ the styling of them both inspired this moodboard, the making of which, I've promised to post about.

for now, here is just a taste of the final outcome:

a "live" moodboard in naturals & grey...

I have been loving using my 50mm lens set to 1.7mm,

capturing light on everyday objects around our home,

as they are... unplugged... unstyled...  

[this image is slightly altered to the first, just for the record ;)]

~ have been going through our travelling pictures, finding favorites,

which mostly mark unforgettable moments,

& deep feelings ...

this is a church in the {Monastery of Randa in Mallorca},

where we spent a {short winter vacation} last year

I still remember the incredible quiet and stillness, with the nuns' angelic voices being the only interruption...

divine feelings... or rather feelings beyond description... goose bumps on the skin...

chills running down the spine

&

deep, silent joy...

... I guess I'll leave you this way ...

wishing you a wonderful evening & a good night

~ ~ ~

also wishing luck to everyone who has entered the {give away},

which just closed a little while ago.

the winner will be announced in the upcoming days!