The Green Lodge Aviemore

The Green Lodge in Aviemore is a brand new holiday home in the Scottish highlands that has just this week started taking bookings. Helen, the owner phoned me up a few months back full of excitement as she had discovered my fabrics and wallpaper on the lovely Snapdragon blog and said they were just what she was looking for and could we make her blinds and curtains for practically every window and send wallpaper too! 

Of course we could. We were delighted to and it is so thrilling to  now see it all in place thanks to these lovely pictures by Vikki Bruce.

 She used Paper Meadow wallpaper  in Kraft in this bedroom. The low wall behind the bed has the effect of a lovely headboard.

 The upstairs hallway features Paper Meadow in charcoal and what a cosy little nook that is!

Helen has used In the Tall Grass to great effect in one of the double rooms

 with a complementing roman blind in Paper Meadow fabric in kraft.

 Daisy Meadow in dusk features too.

This charcoal Paper Meadow blind looks so lovely here.

It was fun working with Helen as she carefully measured up her walls and windows and made her plan. Aswell of photo's of her bare windows and walls to size up there were photo's of red squirrels as they made an appearance in the trees outside the windows. What a delight.

It's such a beautifully crafted interior that you might just want to stay inside the house all the time BUT the house is set in an absolutely stunning location in the Cairngorns National Park with incredible to scenery and an abundance on nature to explore. Sounds like somewhere I would find alot of inspiration.

Have a look at their website. There's a 20% off introductory offer on right now.

Country Homes & Interiors

I'm so excited to have my wallpaper in Country Homes & Interiors magazine. It has made the FRONT PAGE! Woopwoop!

It has been used in a beautiful article about using peaceful patterns in the home. They used my In The Tall Grass wallpaper in the alcove of this beautiful room and my Beech Leaves above the mantle piece. 

It's the October issue and it's on the shelves now.

Nature as Designer

I recently discovered a wonderful book which has brought me lots of inspiration.

 It's called 'Nature as Designer' by a Swedish man named Bertel Bager. He was a surgeon by profession but had a passion for collecting and documenting the often overlooked details in nature. 

He loved the seeds and pods and fruits and he photographed them like they were ceramic vessels. He was interested in pottery too and pondered whether the original ceramicists were inspired by the vessels of nature themselves.

  

 He gives the seeds centre stage, photographing them with dramatic lighting and making them look much larger than they really are.

He made them look like pieces of art.

His friend encouraged him to make a book of his work to inspire and educate others and with each specimen he tells stories about where he found them and what he loves about them. 

I had a lovely time taking these pictures the other day next to my seed and pod collection.

Which made me look up close again and get inspired to draw.

 There are just so many great shapes in nature.

And there is just SO much to learn.

Towards the end of my little photo shoot I took the old dusty jacket off the book and discovered an uncanny resemblance to my little Tiny Treasures book.

A similar font, a similar book cloth, gold foiled lettering and a gold seed pod motif on the front! I too tell the tales of where I found the seeds and pods and what I love about each one.

Now I feel a kind of kinship with this guy. From one seed pod nerd to another!

This book is a rare find and the only one I have found so far that expresses a passion for these seeds pods and fruits being fascinating, functional and downright beautiful artistic forms.

It was first printed in 1967 and is not in print anymore but I found a copy on Abe Books.