organic creative processes ->

[via]

 well hello everyone...

 as I posted late in the evening last night,

 I was wondering if you had a chance 

 to read about making a {live moodboard} step by step

 and the organic process of creating?

 and then, have you visited 

 the latest curated collection of 16

 pretty items, all carefully handmade & produced from

 etsy sellers, artists & crafters?

 it carries a name quite symbolic to me ~>

Wake up - this is your Life call °

you may visit the items and on line stores individually {here}

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

... and then have I shared with you that I might be having the pleasure

of creating the styling concept & photo portfolio 

for such sugar treasures like these ones?

this is a sample of the work submitted & eventhough 

there is no formal agreement yet,

I' m thrilled with the possibility of being involved in such a project

I hope to have the pleasure of being chosen to do this job

&

then sharing it with you here!

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

on another notice, I don't know about you {still I 'd love to find out!}

but I woke up to feeling

that

I cannot expect for things to change,

unless I change myself.

this whole house issue has really been shaking my waters,

{I know it sounds silly in English, as in fact it is a Greek expression}

which means that it has been bringing lots of upsetness,

much like when there is a storm and the sea is rough.

days of peacefulness are hard to acheive,

due to the many factors that need to be considered

&

the obvious change of life,

as there'll not only be a new apartment,

but a totally new neighbourhood, too.

and new life conditions

when I mentioned in this post

that it is rather wise to:

"see opportunity there where difficulty lies"

perhaps I had not also realised,

 that this is the only way of actually moving forward in life.

so I'm making the decision to take my life seriously,

a "package" which brings together taking

my wishes,

 my dreams,

my wants,

my needs,

seriously.

... ironically, this involves sometimes not taking myself so seriously

in this mood I redesigned the blog's banner this morning

&

eventhough I'm not certain that this is a final design,

I find it to stand nicely for this transitional period I have enterred...

it stands for seeing the light side of life,

for embracing challenges

& eventually

living a succesfull, creative, fullfilling life

I hope you are not missing the previous banner too much,

in any case do let me know your toughts & preference!

just thought that it is a nice symbolic action to alter the logo of my online home,

since I'll be soon also living in a new home

♥

                                 
a little one, but oh so important NOTE before I go! ~> my {dear friend} and amazingly capable person in putting together absolutely delightful + stylish interiors, has changed {the decoration of her living room} & as she has incorporated two* of our shop's fine art prints in her decor, I couldn't but be super happy for the fact that she has done such a fabulous job! She successfully shows how more affordable art can be combined with more expensive one. It also shows how easily our shop' s designs are embraced in a home's decor, making a very clear but at the same time discrete, elegant impact. Nadine, thank you for the honour!

* {this} & {that}

Wake up - it's your Life call °

[via]

 Happy Monday everyone!

 a "little" post just to share a new collection of favourite items from etsy...

 felt brooches beautifully handcrafted,

 little pieces of art in the form of jewelry,

  soft cotton crocheted pot holders,

 simple white dresses appropriate for a marriage, too

 numbers, typography, photography,

 paper goods, vintage pieces, 

pillows & supplies,

all to dress your home & you in warm grey tones,

paired with whites, off whites & naturals,

   for a natural feel & a slow return back inside,

  with September being right at our doors!

I hope you weekends were lovely 

& this new week to carry

all things good, positive 

& 

the power of love & creativity with it!

on another notice, 

thank you so very much for your concern about my feelings 

for our upcoming movement, 

 it has been really heart warming reading your comments

& 

especially these thoughtful, private mails

I'm already doing better : )

so, I'll stay a little longer and share a few more pictures 

of my grey moodboard and the process of making it,

since it falls nicely into the colour mood set by the collection above.

It all started by photographing my vintage Beirette camera,

after I removed it from its brown leather case,

in order to observe its details...

 as we had just returned from a short vacation on a Greek island,

some of the natural souvenirs brought were laying around...

I noticed the nice combination of the dark grey pebble,

with the piece of driftwood

&

the metal body of the camera...

as I love perspective,

I instictively arranged them as you see below...

 and starting clicking...

liking the outcome, I decided to make a print and

add some words connected to the image...

"wood  stone  metal   nature's elements"

after the print was made,

a picture of the printed .... print needed to be made... 

so I had it framed in a simple white wooden frame

& 

started playing with the styling a bit...

photographing it close to wood, 

adding a metal heart,

trying to repeat the elements found in the picture...

another styling effort ended up like this,

looking as if the driftwood & pebble have jumped out of the picture...

 now that I see it I think this is my favorite print,

yet not available for sale, 

at the moment at least...

What do you think?

which one do you prefer?

the 1st one with the 3 elements,

the 2nd one shown above

or 

the 3rd one below with the addition of the metal heart

popping into the picture?

Here you can see the 1st and 3rd ones,

close to one another so that a comparison can be easily made...

my opinion?

 the 1st one would look really nice blown up on a big sized canvas,

while the square one is cuter is smaller sizes....

this is how it looks, as part of our "wishes corner"

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

and below is the process of making a "live"

grey moodboard,

starting with a few basic objects,

representing materials & colours

white plastic ~> netbook

metal ~> vintage camera + handmade heart of wire

natural wood ~> a. box with crayons from Habitat

b. driftwood from the sea

&

c. grey wooden heart,

handpainted with silver marker

paper ~> photographs of some of the items pictured

from a different angle...

and then having added some more everyday objects,

like the metal pencil case,

Faber Castell sharpener

&

grey/ silver book with thoughts + quotes about happiness

{relative post here}

and this is the final result which I showed you {here}

working with colours,

materials & making harmonious combinations among them

is a crucial part of any design work.

I find making live moodboards to be a creative exercise

while having fun & off course enjoying photographing the whole thing!

these are my current favorite prints,

which are grouped together,

in case you wish to create a style similar to ours,

much like the group of prints now decorating our living room corner.

It is also offered in our shop for a very attractive price all year long

; )

they represent some of my great passsions like

~ architecture

~ nature 

&

 ~ photography

I hope you to like them as much

&

 to visualise them somewhere in your living spaces,

or offer them as a present to your

dear friends!

there's still lots of posting work to catch up with,

and there are new features to be coming here as well!

One of which is a new absolutely lovely person,

that will be taking over the... keyboard here

&

a few times in a month,

she'll be coming here to share with you lovely finds from etsy, 

as seen through her very creative & artistic eyes.

Revelation soon 

&

her first post  launching this Thursday September the 1st !

Till then though, I 'll be continuing my efforts in posting as much as possible 

corresponfing to the month of August.

c u soon dear all  ~

~ there where the light shines...

time: shortly after sunrise this past Sunday

place: the veranda of our current home

what more can someone ask for when every day one wakes up into the sky

 and is bathed in light throughout the whole day?

there are no words to describe my unhappy emotions about soon having to 

move out of this place

{picture from the veranda to the apartment inside, with reflections on the window}

it's the first time in my life that I'm so unwilling to make a change,

and in the meantime,

I trust myself that it is neither fear nor stubborness speaking...

in any case, when life brings a situation ahead of us,

resisting can only cause harm and prevent evolution

 I wish for health, abundance & progress in my life,

therefore I eventually have to let it go...

after having resisted with all my power,

I'm already tired & has caused me

to fall behind on work,

that would otherwise be so happily completed

I cannot forsee the future & do not at the moment know how,

but I do know that happiness will shine through in my heart again

till then and after having embraced my feelings of sadness,

I will try to put more effort on my personal projects

&

 proceed 

after all, a very important part of my happiness is also derived from creating,

designing, making, giving birth to ideas,

which is also part of my job...

I plan to keep me very busy therefore in the shortly upcoming future...

and reckon that after some days of dealing with feelings & emotions,

a healthy reaction is to turn the focus on something else, don't you?

honestly, what do you do when changes are ahead,

especially when they are some you really wish you had to do without?

I keep having this quote in mind:

see opportunity there were difficulty lies

wonderufully said...

wonderfully read....

ha! now let's put it into action

what do you usually do?

~ ~ ~

wishing you all a lovely day,

but just a second before I go,

I've been wanting since a few days to thank you one by one,

while linking to your online homes & places,

for having taken the time 

&

 caring enough

to make a little pause, read & share a thoughtfull, 

warm hearted answer under the latest posts

Thank you my dears:

Madhu ~ Rita

 Beverly ~ Vanessa

 Nailo ~ Holly

 Hanlie ~ Igor

 Majlee ~ Angela 

Tina & Krista

you have brought serious input & most of all warm feelings in my heart 

Thank you for being all such amazing people 

♥

P.S: by the way this post and opening picture bring memories of that wonderful late afternoon last year, I made this picture & then wrote a little poem about...

~ about balance & changes

so my dears, good morning to you!

 it has been a heavily stormy night here, which followed a really warm evening,

with stars shining on the sky & us laying on our backs, on a blanket in our little balcony,

watching them...

a nice way to relax after a grilling dinner...

this is a rather emotionally charged period for us,

as we are reaching to a decision about 

a new place for us to live.

I mention "us", because my partner has actually to go through

lots of mornings where I wake up with tears in my eyes,

looking around me,

seeing how much I have come to love this place we currently live in

&

not exactly be thrilled for sooner or later eventually moving out.

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

I'm almost certain that in the process,

happiness & excitment about making a new home

will be the prevailing feeling & attitude...

still, till then, I cannot turn my back to my feelings,

neither my emotions,

by simply rationalising...

and exactly because this new transitional period in which we have enterred

is an emotionally & practically demanding one,

I have noticed that I'm temporarily falling behind

on matters that I have to and would otherwise 

be thrilled to proceed with.

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

having both graduated from Psychology,

practised it daily with children and their parents

for more that 12 years,

and gone through my personal psychoanalysis,

I know that rationalising 

{aka ignoring, locking feelings in the closet, pretending power e.t.c}

is only a slightly good solution for a short term period.

having always been interested in long term outcomes,

and a general promotion of one's mental & physical health, love, abundance,

creativity & peacefulness,

am deciding to make a little pause today, just for now,

in order to pay attention to all these feelings,

that have been preventing

a more effective every day life from my side.

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

so, why is it that the upcoming movement of ours is of such a heavy significance to me?

To start with, I obviously love the apartment we are now & since 3 1/2 years living in & renting.

 I adore so many of its characteristics, which will sadly not all be present in one of the new places we are considering.

 This little loft / Penthouse has been my first home, ever since I relocated in Germany,

in order to live together with my partner.

It therefore marks a whole new life to me...

 a life in a new country, away from my family & my friends,

a life which demands adjustment to new weather & clima conditions,

as Germany & Greece do have a lot of differences in this domain,

{a maximum of 80 sunshiny days per year, in contrast to the 300 ones in Greece}

a life away from the sea, next to which I grew up,

&

 all the daily routines it carries with,

from the fresh breeze to swimming as an exercise,

a new culture & and off course a new language,

as German was not included I the foreign languages I spoke.

a life where I suddendly had to start all over form the beginning being 33,

a life away from many things I so much loved {and perhaps had not appreciated so much}

and all that for a life next to the one person I love

and loves me back.

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

addionally, these 3 1/2 years that I' ve been living in Germany

have also been marked with a lot of loses:

my most beloved person on earth, the woman who brought me up

and led a loving and fullfilling life for 94 years,

my grand mother Iro, 

passed away in less than a month after I left.

my family's financial state changed to the worse and the beautiful 

big home by the sea I grew up in had to be sold.

I was personally involved in selling our house,

finding a new one & finally completely designing it 

from the beginning, making it appropriate for my parents,

so that the downgrade in size would not cause them too much sadness,

while instead a more effective & positive every day life could be achieved.

I was there for 8 eight weeks alltogether in order to coordinate the workers

and the renovation. 

I was there to help my mother organise every little single bit of their home & household

I was there last summer to goodbuy our family dog Bianca,

which was put to sleep at the age of 20,

so that she didn't suffer any more.

I was not there a few days ago when my little car got sold,

so as the economical situation to be slightly relieved.

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

I feel that a lot of changes have been taking place in my life that past few years.

 I just sometimes wonder whether I'm ready for a next one.

Still in this case, there is no choice.

As my partner has been delaying this movement for as long as possible,

in order for me to feel comfortable...

&

3 1/2 years is a fairly long period...

On top of that, investing into buying a place in our age range is nothing but a wise decision.

... as much as I'm emotional now,

I know that a few weeks ahead, I'll come back to this post,

read my current feelings,

&

be happy that I was strong enough to proceed,

capable enough to see opportunity amongst difficulty,

and motivated enough to build a new beautiful home for us to love, live in,

promoting our well being

all this is being shared  here in my effort to overcome being petrified by my feelings

cause this is really not right

&

if one decision is made, it's to never place myself into any corner,

for any reason,

and 

learn to be out there in life, in full force,

totally appreciative of all that there is

while

making possible all that there is not.

... there is no need to wear a "red blouse" in order to make my presence felt...

there is no need to be loud in order to be heard.

I'm here and I know that many of you will agree that the inner power love,

hope, wisdom, experience & peace carry is incomparable...

and one cannot talk of peacefullness & act in a tensed manner, right?

from deep down of my existence,

I know that since some time I'm walking on the right path,

and however difficult it might in times become,

there's always bright light at the end

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

now if you have managed to read this, you are probably brave people

and I'm one relieved woman,

who can finally have breakfast {so untypical of me to skip this meal of the day!}

&

then allow all my pure enthusiasm about writing in this blog return

and come to proceed with sharing trully wonderful things happening as well...

little ones perhaps, but wonderful, too ; )

have the most delightful of Wednesdays!

I promise that I'll do just the same, too  ~

♥

P.S: details about the picture on the top, coming in the next post, so do pass by later ; ) xx

~ like a tourist...

like a tourist...

other than thanking you very dearly for all the thoughtful responses on this recent

post & wishing you a lovely new week ahead,

there will be at the moment rather fewer things said & shared

here than I'd like to,

as there is still time needed for things to merge inside

and reach peacefullness...

on top of that, there are numerous obligations to be taken care off,

like submitting work, completing interviews, replying to mails,

preparing promised posts

that have fallen behind, 

to name but a few...

still, the weekend was relaxing, enjoying the unexpectedly wonderful weather,

working on preparing orders, photographing, visiting new places, meeting lovely new people,

all of which

I' ll have the pleasure of sharing here later...

till then my dears, please, do meet my Tourist,

working on electrical batteries,

of else the cutest portable 

mini record player ever,

made in France by Teppaz

&

given to me by my father...

the more I see it , the more I adore it

and just love its grey... outfit

&

friendly curves...

just thinking that on my next trip to Greece,

I'd love to choose a few records to bring with!

shots above made this Saturday, capturing light that I so much love...

and... oh well... 

 a few more shots of what I have been working on, before I go...

as I thought you might like that ; )

customly made paper boat garlands,

two of which are since yesterday hunging in the stylish corners

of one of Frankfurt's most delightful cafes

{revelation + full post on its way as you may have well guessed!}

a newly designed garland soon to be available on the shop's shelves

{please contact me via mail for a pre order, booking this specific one - as it's one of a kind,

or placing a similar custom order}

notebooks handmade by me all the way,

shortly avaliable in various designs at the shop's paper goods section

& 

 a new collection of 16  highly recommended choices  from the

super inspiring corridors of etsy,

slowly getting you in an autumn mood ~>

[via]

I hope these are enough to keep you busy & inspired until the next post ; )

be well & take care ~ 

........................... 

P.S: as I have clearly forgotten to watermark the pictures of this post & am short of time into doing so at the moment, they are "all rights reserved" & produced by Iro- Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic stories with Ivy, 2011. Merci. 

~ decisions and the role of heart + mind + soul

hello everyone,

  hope you are doing really well...

 it seems that everytime I try to plan more frequent posts here,

life gets in the way,

and then there is either limited time to come here, share and write

or the choice of staying off line is made.

oh my! off line... I know {big wide open eyes}... could even sound like a disease nowdays, right?!

all is fine, do trust me, as my personal well being

& the one of those I care and surround me

is my main priority

and this includes respecting very much these pages

&

as a conlcusion each one of you,

who take a moment or a few around here

I'm really so happy for the quality of the posts, as I did spend some time reading

the recent ones, showing on the left bar as your favorites this week,

{the opening pictures of which are also making up the collage above}

...and it is a promise that these qualities will remain intact,

even when the sponsoring program will soon begin,

under a concept rather new & slightly different,

which allows me to keep on spending

time here,

while earning a living

now how about me taking a breath for a while,

letting you see a picture for a change?

; )

just a simple shot of yesterday's breakfast,

  just because...

 I love breakfasts,

 especially served in front of our apartment's huge window,

looking at the rooftops of neighbouring houses,

while being somewhere in the sky

&

 just because I'm simply so happy to prepare it almost daily 

for him & me...

{yesterday's breakfast ~> a mixture of branflakes, blended walnuts to spingle with, 

milk & banana milkshake}

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

I love the fact that I can go up to the bedroom area,

look down

&

snap a shot of our dining table,

catching some first sunrays,

shining through...

i know most of you love breakfasts as much, right?

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

anyways my dears,

it's time to ask your help with something

that has often been occupying my thoughts lately...

I would like to know, how do you make big decisions in your life?

do you listen to your gut feeling?

do you only rely on logic?

do you combine mind, heart & soul?

are you connected to that little voice inside?

have you learned to tell apart butterflies that are connected to excitement

to those ones being a warning,

that perhaps, or quite possibly,

something is fishy,

something might not be a wise decision in the end,

promoting happiness, adundance & health?

I'd so much appreciate if you took a moment to share here...

your contribution will be very much cherished

have the loveliest of days

&

see you soon

{no promises about frequency of posts, as I trully dislike breaking them!}