Domestic Stories with Ivy ♥

24.9.11

Woody Allen & other famous people illustrations

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hello everyone on this Saturday afternoon!

thank you so much for showing up and sharing nice comments

about the days spent in our current home

around Frankfurt with {this} lovely lady.

... developing friendships is so precious nowadays...

in case you are you perhaps wondering how come you are seeing me here

three days in a row during a busy period,

well... I was rather not supposed to be having time to

be on line today, at least not until later,

but a slight change of plans is

resulting in me "stealing" some time

as I'm collecting inspiration lately

together with planning our future home to be,

I randomly stumble upon

quite a few things and people,

whose work drows my attention & feel it's quite suitable to bring

to our rather selective pages

there are already a couple of people whose

work has touched me beyond words can describe

and am looking forward to sharing here,

but such posts require no time limits,

as I may be writing... forever!

this post will be kept relatively short,

and in all its spontaneity,

I'll proceed with sharing

a choice of prints

from the ingenious and quite recognized work

of illustrator {Judy Kaufman},

since yesterday I'm also becoming familiar with it...

I really like the famous people illustrations,

my favorite ones being these of

Woody Alen & Charles Chaplin

{the 1st & last pictures here}

there is actually a collection of 9 of them

where you can choose a set of three from.

hop {here} and there you are!

I guess my 3rd choice would be {Frida Carlo}...

what about you?

does this kind of art attract you?

yes? which would you choices be?

personally, I'm also attracted to such prints like the ones below:

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..................................... this neighborhood ...................................

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........................... this tree in black & white .................................

................................ with its cleverly "hidden" birds ...............................

{can you actually count how many?}

[via]

........................... this urban city and cars.....................................

which attracts my eye with all these graphic lines,

simplicity & soft grey tones...

[via]

....................................... Charles Chaplin .................................

................... last, but certainly not least as it is my favorite ...........

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

so my dears, clock is ticking,

break from "real life" is over,

and running right back to it,

as the weather

today is a wonderful gift,

especially for us living in the middle & northern parts of Europe

I'll have to wish you already a wonderful weekend ahead,

and renew our date here quite soon,

this time sharing more pictures from

the {recent photo shooting around our home},

the special handmade gift I received,

while also sharing inspiration,

lovely artists I have been having the pleasure of personally

getting in contact with thanks to this blog

if all angels of the earth and universe bless me with the gift of

time,

a little taste of the ever on going creativity sessions taking place here

perhaps some shop updates to share

take care ~

enjoy your weekends!

23.9.11

Ida & Ivy in Frankfurt

hello & happy Friday everyone!

does it feel good to post here a second day in the row,

after a seemingly long time...

big smiles for that : D

how are you?

well, as one picture says 1000 words,

could it be that you have already figured out by now,

where have {the fingers on the keyboard

the person behind the screen}

of this blog "dissappeared" since the past

few days?

a little {hint was given yesterday}...

this lovely lady with the bright smile,

who is checking the life view while I was trying to make

decent pictures of us focusing automatically,

{the camera was somehow convinced

that the focus should always be on the handwriting of the mirrors!}

has been hanging around our {little, beloved home} for the past couple of days.

Actually, we got to stay together and enjoy each other's company for four days,

her being my honoured guest,

while working on a common project for {Casa Facile},

the Italian interior design/decoration magazine she works for on a freelance basis.

{Ida} is the second name of Ilaria, an extremely creative person

who adores what she does, whether it is {crocheting},

{decorating} or {photographing interiors}.

This time, she came to photograph our living space,

while I was taking care of the styling.

Being herself very sensitive and talented in this domain

it was great exchanging ideas and tips!

Unless you have been following this blog for a few months at least,

you might not know how the two of us have met.

So here is a summary of our story:

we have been knowing each other virtually through our blogs

{Ida Interior Lifestyle}, the flickr group Ilaria takes care off

as if it was her favorite garden,

{and to which I also gladly contribute}

This June we also met each other in person,

when we both joined {Meet the blogger} event.

we had the chance to hang out together,

visiting some awesome vintage shops,

{I still haven't found the time to post about!}

next day,

as my partner and I were driving back from Amsterdam to Frankfurt,

we made a stop to Eindhoven and visited her

{colourful, cozy and handmade home},

spending a great time with her and her husband.

Now back to current times...

a few pictures from our visit in Frankfurt this Tuesday,

before she departed boarding an afternoon train back to the Netherlands...

delicious antipasti lunch or else: a tomato + mozzarella + pesto panini

delicious!

... at the stylsih benches of {this} fabulous cafe, in one of Frankfurt's favorite

streets.

Here, in the {Altstadt}, around the Weißadlergasse,

the one cafe is more stylish than the other

what is more fabulous is the fact that there is a mixture and variety of styles,

so every taste can be satisfied.

{Cafe Bar Roselli} is situated next to {Korres},

a brilliant Greek cosmetics company,

well known from Athens, to Paris, to New York

to a few dozins of cities all around Europe and actually the whole world.

we "landed" here, Ida in her striped skirt

and me in my bell bottom jeans,

carrying my {black trechcoat} inside out,

so that its gigantic dots match nicely with the stripes,

I know, I know, it is a tiny detail,

probably even crazy to mention it,

but we both couldn't help noticing how nicely they work together!

and then I couldn't help noticing how the weathered green of her leather boots,

matched nicely with the elegant {despite its huge size!} shopping bag,

I had just purchased from {Kontrast},

wisely spending €3 so that I carried the day's small {but then oh! so delightful shopping}

in a practical and stylish manner.

Of course, my {jean + camel leather Fabric & Handle bag} is accompanying me alsmost everywhere

what I seemed to surprisigly love about a lunch break in this area of Frankfurt

is the mix of people:

lots of stylish women with a rather personal approach to the whole story of styling and dressing,

among men in grey suits and carefully polished brown or black leather shoes...

quite an interersting mix...

and then, most people so eager to speak in English as they heard us talk to each other in this language,

rather sabotaging my honest efforts in advancing myself in German...

even the people at the shoe repair store I visited spoke in admitedly super high level of English.

wow ~ respect!

but then that was so helpful

{ thank's so much in case you are reading these lines ; )}

now my dears, I'll leave you today with this post,

while I prepare the next one, sharing some shots we made during our photoshooting,

much like {these ones} posted yesterday,

letting you into some details of what made this weekend one fabulous one,

{someone got an amazing personalised, handmade present to give you a clue ; )}

while also introducing you to Ilaria's work.

till then ~ be well ~ be you ~

discover & chersich the unique person each and every one of you are!

Love,

Ivy

__________________

Like the "Love mirrors"? ~> check {this} & {that} out!

22.9.11

~ moving on...

hello everyone!

this is just a little glimpse into some of the happenings of the past few days

fresh flowers, randomly arranged in various recycled bottles - upcycled vases,

bought together with a lovely person I had as a guest for

four days, with whom we worked together on

a little project.

I'll share more in the next post {already put together}

but before, I just wanted to share

that having enterred a transitional phase

involving creating and eventually settling in

a new home in the upcoming weeks,

I notice that I'm quite happy when involved in and concentrated on my projects,

and prefer to keep all this process private for now.

I'm off course eager to share "before and afters" in time,

but as together with being a person who openly posts

I'm also a very private person,

enjoying quality time with myself and loved ones,

not having to comment on our daily life

is also very important to me

so I hope that you'll be enjoying posts here whenever they take place!

I'm always happy to connect with you

delighted to be reading your caring and encouraging mails

about the movement, taking into consideration

my {past sad feelings} about having to leave the Penthouse...

well, in fact we didn't have to, it has been our choice,

despite not moving to a dream house at the moment.

"Time is a doctor" is what my wise and wonderful in countless ways granny

used to say...

truly, as days flow, I'm coming into good terms with the change

am willing and determined to start writing {and reading} the next chapter of my life

till then, I' ll just share some fragments of these past few days in the next post ; )

take care lovely all ~

16.9.11

~ 3 x 3 ...

Happy Friday everyone!

I hope that the title has not... scared you by thinking that today

there is going to be a maths lessons contacted through

these pages & lines!

just a simple way to share with you

9 favorite things,

one of which is also featuring a favorite number of mine:

3, as my birth month is March,

the third of the year.

a little note in between ~>

in case you are a regular reader and are following these posts

one by one, my apologies for still not having proceeded

with the revelations mentioned in {this post}

everything in their time, as it is often said,

it will be done :)

till then, some recent finds from etsy that I have recently stumpled upon and {loved},

as they put me smoothly into an autumn mood...

unless you live in places like Australia for example,

you are quite possibly in the same mood, right?

these choices today are not part of a {larger collection of 16} as it is usually the case,

but just a little company of 9 items,

which would stand nicely

next to one anther,

adding charming details to a relatively minimal room,

with few, selected objets, clean cut lines,

bringing an introduction

to the change of the season.

to visit each item individually,

starting from top to bottom & left to right,

line by line,

click on the numbers respectively:

1. rustic number three card ~

2. vintage garden shears ~

3. fine art flower photography ~

4. rustic farm tool ~

5. mountain love print ~

6. forest glen wall cape ~

7. vintage camera Bella ~

8. concrete drop ~

9. pair of Forest baskets ~

hope you are inspired to start redecorating for autumn!

see you soon everyone!

~ take care

~ ~ ~

15.9.11

~ finding the light within us

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so my dears, I wished to post last evening,

sharing with you a favorite project,

still I did not.

you do know these lines and you as readers and friends are very important,

{I don't even think I need to mention that}

still family members & matters

come always first

and last evening turned out to be such a one

there are quite positive aspects taking place,

involving the renting of our current home through KP International,

finding the right technicians to work with

in our new place and

time was taken just to let everything settle in ...

so many changes...

then, as strange as it might sound, respect to you & my work put on this blog

is shown by offerring nothing less than the best I can each time,

and my best is to come here and post

being totally conneted to myself,

much like now

I imagine that if such a quality would be a product,

it would be a very expensive one ; )

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

so, let me proceed to connetcting this post with the picture above,

which you may also see "live" {here}

from time to time there arrive mails,

asking what do I do and manage to take pictures like that

with the main question being,

what is the issue with the light?

is it natural?

what settings are used?

so this post is made as a reference,

in order to share some facts and toughts with you

So here we go:

~ the light in my pictures is always natural, slightly enhanced in post processing,

~ the current equipment used are:

a Sony A300 DSLR camera

a 50mm F1.7 Minolta lens

~ about the light...

in question of technical details on how to acheive making a picture

looking like that, I suggest you turn to

some of the numerous technical magazines out there,

as much as countless photography workshops

offering such knowledge

still if you wish, a little hint from a slightly altered pespective can be shared

if it is light you are attracted to,

if it is beautiful light you wish to capture,

then just begin by searching for, discovering and appreciating your own,

personal, special & one of a kind light

within your heart & soul

we can only see in the world what exists in ourselves,

as the world is a reflection of who we are

it is impossible to miss the light and beauty of the world when

we connect to it

and then through our adventurous quest in finding our light,

it would be wise to arm ourselves with courage,

healthy self love & self knowledge,

hope, dignitiy & decency

as these will be our weapons though the times

that darkness will appear

but then remember it is through befriending ourselves

wtih difficulty, that easiness and light will come our ways

otherwise, no matter how hard we try,

no matter how successful we might become,

if we haven't really discovered the light within us,

there'll always be something missing...

this one factor that makes life worthwhile & sweet

even when it is sometimes bittersweet

it takes courage, it certainly does,

but then there are so many courageous people out there like you!

see you in a while ~

{unless life changes occur again ; )}

14.9.11

friends ~ changes ~ magical places ~

hello everyone!

back in Frankfurt since yesterday, after a long weekend in Mallorca,

which begun with a delicious dinner at Sa Farinera* on Friday evening,

marking the beginning of our effort to...

catch up with ourselves

amongst many changes in our lives.

{* a place we are willing to fly to, just for a dinner!}

secretly wishing for more days,

arriving back in autumn, grayish skies,

has not been exactly ideal after 3 full days & nights

in a summer climate

still totally grateful for this short escape in paradise...

not to mention that today, in contrast to yesterday,

the skies are heavenly blue here

the sun is shining in full strength!

and then, little things, like the huge straw summer bag seen above,

made in Menorca & purchased

for a rather very fair price

at Porto Colom

your more than wonderful response to the {previous post}

about the story behind our home's

current feature in Ikea Family Live magazine

have been bringing so much happiness around here!

Thank you kindly with all my heart.

a small but important parenthesis here:

I'm a very strong believer

that it is through life's happy occasions that real friendship evolves

and know through personal experience

that real friends, good friends, potential friends

are there to say a positive word & to tap gently on our shoulder

when good things happen.

not that good friends do not stand by our difficult times,

but that strength of both a person & a relationship is determined

by the ability of one

to congratulate someone in his/her smaller or bigger happy moments

and share them disregarding their current state

can you think of anything more magnificent

that somebody's smile to be able to bring a smile on your face, too?

I see you smiling with me and this makes our relationship

through these lines strong

we are consciously part of the same circle,

bringing together our similarities & differences

I thank you so much for that

& deeply appreciate your support and friendship

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

now, back to the weekend...

would you perhaps like to see which our favorite place to swim was?

if you are expecting sandy beaches, then you guessed wrong {!}

not that we have anything against beautiful white or golden sand,

{ we actually visited various such places, too}

but just that the clarity of the water is our number one criteria

for deciding where to swim

during a high season, being among hundreds of other people

is not our idea of relaxation

so, we chose alternatively

rocky places,

with crystal clear waters...

few people,

concentrating on swimming,

rather than lying on the beach...

pure magic

swimming is for me as natural as walking,

with my mother having "thrown" me in the sea water

while I was still 3 months old...

how thankful I am for that!

cannot imagine of any other exercise

benefiting all parts of the body

while

enhancing our psychological & mental state

perhaps yoga...

anyways...

Mallorca offers numerous places for swimming

and its nature is almost identical to the one of Greece.

and I'm not only talking about the Greek islands,

but also dreamy places and beaches in a range of maximun 100 km

around Athens...

still, one as a tourist needs "insider tips" to know where to go

to discover paradise just next to a city like Athens.

{I'll have to see what I can do in the future about that!}

In the meantime,

here is a list of the places we visited on the East side of the Mallorcian coast,

while driving the brand new, Citroen C3 we had rented...

{a smiley detail: we were upgraded to such a car, despite having chosen

a lower class so as to save money, due to my partner's birthday being the same date

with the girl who was arranging our papers. Just love when people think and act outside the box!}

so, with our base being in Calles de Mallorca,

these are the places visited:

~ Porto Christo

~ S'Illot {where the pictures are taken}

~ Costa de Pins

~ Capdepera

~ Portocolom

~ Cala Figuera

~ Montrago

~ Colonia de Sant Jordi

~ Llucmallor

~ Palma de Mallorca

you can imagine that I'd love to spend hours and hours going through our pictures,

choosing favorites and working on them,

sharing them with you...

I'm actually looking forward to choosing a few more favorites!

still, with:

1. the procedures of having our current home rented,

which you can check {here}

and the demand being already quite big,

not to mention the interest expressed in

purchasing the whole interior {!},

which is perhaps not exactly possible,

but then so very extremely flattering for me & my work!

I'll gladly offer my services as an interiors consultant : )

2. organizing a movement

3. deciding on technicians

who are going to help us make the new place a home,

you can also imagine that all these, together with

4. working for {our shop},

5. moving on with {this} styling & photography project,

as {yes!} I have been chosen to proceed with the work,

6. and a few other side projects

are keeping me busy as a bee in Spring!

~ ~ ~

So, my dears, there is already a next post prepared,

dedicated to something I 'm so content to

be finally sharing with and presenting to you

and below is a clue...

see you later tonight ~ enjoy your days!

much

♥

9.9.11

~ the Penthouse @ Ikea Family Live magazine

hello everyone!

isn't it quite a nice date today, that is if a detail like that matters to you at all in any way?

09.09.2011

numbers have a symbolic meaning to me

and am quite a fan of them,

asides from having been quite good at dealing with them back at school and university

it seems to be connected with an easiness in evaluating spaces,

visualising complete rooms put together

{without even having made one sketch by hand or on the pc}

make the best possible use of their space,

maximising their performance with simple & easy solutions

I guess this characteristic allows me to be successful as

an interiors consultant & designer

speaking of that, I'm quite happy to be sharing today with you,

after a week that the edition has arrived in our mailbox,

{I just wanted that a few very dear friends had the honour of finding out in person by me,

before making a post here & I just loved their reaction and input!}

that our current home,

this so beloved & charming, little {loft Penthouse} of ours,

is hosted in the German Fall issue of Ikea Family Live

it is a wonderful feeling being hosted in the pages of a publication I adore,

which has also marked the beginning of my life in Germany,

the magazine being something totally new to me back then{3 years ago},

as it wasn't published in Greek.

and the best of all, it is connected to a company I love!

having not the time to momentarily translate the interview into English for you,

I'll just state a few facts:

1. the interview took place on the phone

and the Penthouse is mentioned as my current residence,

which I share with my life partner.

2. I'm also mentioned as their co worker, as since a year now,

I'm blogging for their online website,

which by the way since yesterday has launched totally new!

you may check it out {here}

& visit me {there}

3. Ikea Family Live's editors have contacted me twice more than a year ago, asking if I would be interested in having their stylists and photography crew come over for a

detailed feature in their magazine

4. I was "dying" to meet the crew and see how they work on the spot

5. what went wrong?

my life partner didn't wish to be part of this

we were trying to arrange how he would be away for the three days that the crew would be here

6. I clearly decided that him and our relationship is more important than my wish

to have our home published in a magazine and a favorite team work

7. in the meantime he is {through living together with somebody who blogs}

much more relaxed about such issues,

so perhaps a new home in the future could be a potential feature

8. I was thrilled when the editors suggested that we make a small feature instead,

me sending my own pictures as an interiors photographer

and voila:

so it happened!

isn't life the most fabulous adventure my dear all?

and aren't true love & patience always rewarded?

it seems so....

anyway, I'll have to leave you with some of my portfolio's favorite pictures

which were used for thefeature:

our living / lounge / sofa area

our reading corner, as seen from the kitchen with a view to the stairs up

my favorite box carrying always my latest paper creations {like these ones}

our reading corner's art wall,

the creation of which you may follow in two parts

as blogged for Ikea Family's live website

{here} + {here}

and a quick, tasty solution for a Sunday breakfast as blogged {here} about a year ago

below are the scanned pages of the magazine

and promise as soon as I take some time off during the weekend

to catch up with... myself amongst all craziness,

I'll post the translation cause it has some humourous parts, too!

wishing everyone the happiest of Friday & weekends ahead!

see you soon my dears ~

Love,

Iro - Ivy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~