Do you remember when I wrote about my little front door wreath? I made it for Christmas with fairy lights and all, and then I loved it so much that I wanted to keep it displayed all through the year. So I decided to make it an evolving floral sculpture for the front door (certainly inspired by my love of Tracey Deep’s work) - I let the flowers and foliage die and just add to it over the months and seasons to see how it evolves. I call it my ever-evolving wreath. Back in January I evolved it to this. Meantime the buds have long-died and cobwebs were starting to grow through it all. So I cleaned it up yesterday while I was doing the gardening and I added the dying peonies and astilbes, here it is…

What do you think? I quite like it. The colours are so muted but the different textures are so strong. And the most beautiful part of this piece is that when I open the door a few petals fall, leaving a little path of petals on the bridge for me to walk over, while some of them fall into the canal and float away…

I think I’m still very structured with the wreath though - I’d like to be much looser with it, make it into a crazy beautiful artwork. When we have our summer boat party I will add fresh foliage and blossoms to it, make it colourful and lively.

On a side note, while I was out and about yesterday I passed an interior decorating studio that was selling fabric off-cuts for next to nothing, so I bought all of these…

I couldn’t help myself. I blame ms. hyena in petticoats - she posted that she was about to start selling her incredible fabric collection online, i got so excited about it, and then went out and spotted these fabrics for sale, and bought up! oops. I will no doubt use them for upcoming shoots, so you will probably see them again somewhere down the line. I was also thinking I might re-cover my napoleon chair in one of them, maybe this one…

While I think about this, I am going to pour myself a glass of milo, my last glass in fact, as the tin is now empty. Boo hoo! I’ll savour every last spoonful (yes, it’s imperative you drink milo with a spoon).

Next Up: hmm, I have no idea, what does everyone feel like to end the week? A home tour? A cool new kids clothes range? A tag? Or is there a category you like most? You choose.

and it’s all thanks to yesterday’s outing…

Noting that it was time for me to get out, kick back a little, play with friends, and breathe a little air, I spent the day with my friend Hayley and my newest friend, her bub Elliott who is just 6 weeks old. I haven’t seen him for four weeks and I have missed him. He is the cutest little guy, such a joy to be around, and so content. The three of us went for a walk around the Jordaan (oh how I’ve missed Amsterdam!), bought a delicious salad and baguette at Small World, and took it to the park to sit in the sun. Elliott of course napped most of the time in the shade, and we had lots to catch up on. Then we walked on over to the Westergasfabriek which is an awesome centre full of art galleries and shops. We had a tea and latte at the espressofabriek which serves excellent coffee, and the tea was probably the best I have had in Amsterdam yet - served in beautiful Japanese bowls and when I asked for milk and honey the waiter was more than happy to serve it! It was such a lovely day out, and is exactly what I needed. But with all that sunshine, when French Boy came home he took one look at me and smiled and said “you’ve got colours”. That is a direct translation from French for “you are sunburnt”. And I just love it, it sounds so much better than being sunburnt doesn’t it? So today, happily, I have colours.

I was standing in the kitchen, making my second cup of tea for the day, rocking away to Jose’s Down The Line and there was a knock at the door.

I opened it and there was a lady standing there, I have never seen her before. In broken English she said she had a rhododendron potted plant that she had on her balcony, she indicated so I followed her finger and looked past the bridge on what I call ‘the mainland’, and there was a young man holding a huge pot plant. She said it was growing too big for her balcony and was wondering if I would like it for my garden. I was flabbergasted. I am never good at receiving gifts, I get very overwhelmed when people give me things (no doubt some of you have already noticed with my replies to your incredible MHW submissions). And here was this complete stranger, offering me a gorgeous plant. I managed to say “yes! wow! thank you!” and we put the pot down on the shoreline. I must have said thank you about 50 times in less that 30 seconds, it was all a bit of a shock. And then I headed back in, almost in tears. How thoughtful, how lovely. I didn’t ask her name, or where she lived, or anything. But maybe we will see more of each other in the street now, or I do hope she comes to visit her plant again soon.

I have never lived in an international city that behaves like a small village, this is what is so unique about Amsterdam.

So here I sit, on day 3 of my deadline countdown. There are props everywhere that need to be returned. The cookie jar has been empty for weeks. There are crumbs on tabletops. Papers and notes all over the pallet bed. The piano is covered in dust. Yet while I have not been outside to see the light for days, tucked up inside this floating abode writing away the hours, your wonderful submissions keep flowing in, a photographer emails me the beautiful jpegs of a recent shoot, a lady comes to the door with a plant for my garden, and Jose sings the perfect soundtrack for our conversations about the importance of saying sorry.

Synchronicity abounds.

One of my favourite blogs that got me inspired to enter this blogging world was that of Irene Hoofs who created the very chic and sophisticated Bloesem and Bloesem Kids. And if you’ve been a fan of her blogs too, you will have noticed she has been taking us all on a world tour with her blogging friends. Today, on her last day of the world tour , she invited me along to join this gorgeous gang to share with her readers about where I live now, and who my favourite artist is that has inspired me the most. So click here to read about my favourite wander through Amsterdam, and click here to read about this very special artist who I am thrilled to introduce to you.

I will be revealing more about him in the coming posts too, taking you on a full tour of his magical property in Bathurst, NSW, and talk to you about his work and why it inspires me so. I will also let you in on a little secret now…

…it was a wander through his mudbrick home a few years ago that I spotted the above wandering heart, which begun the whole My Heart Wanders journey we are all on now. So make yourself a cup of tea or pour yourself a glass of vin rouge and go and read all about it at Bloesem. Pour yourself another glass and catch up on the other posts from the world tour which include bloggers like Jo in New York, Madhiti in Germany, and Julie and Kathyrn from Perfect Bound reporting from Winnipeg. Have fun! And drop by here again soon to see more of this inspirational artist and his magical home.

It’s been killing me, but I was waiting for the tulips to bloom and the sun to shine before I showed you my home, and finally that moment has arrived.

I will post heaps more photos in the next post but for now, this is the little sneak peek on Grace’s site, and this is what I get up to , all exposed in Erin’s Dailies. …hmm, I am feeling rather naked at this moment.

(PS are you wondering why I didn’t make the bed for Design*Sponge? I’m wondering that too, what was I thinking?!)

but wait there’s more!

and then i saw the sign to wagga…

… and I realised I’d been tricked - for all aussies know that wagga wagga is nooooooowhere near the ocean. What wonderful witchery was this? It’s a place called zaandvoort and is one of The Netherlands beaches, complete with beachside cafes bearing Australian flags. French Boy and I took the half hour train ride and hung out here all afternoon, lapping up the sunshine + sea breeze, and sipping wine. It was just what the doctor in me ordered (yes I’m known to self-diagnose and self-medicate on a regular basis). The pipelette in me ran riot, telling sydney seaside stories, and creating crocodile dundee-style legends.

Needless to say a few friends back home got a few late night text messages from me. I’m (sort of) sorry if I woke you guys.

I also spotted this little photo shoot, which I thought was rather magical…

Yep, I am happy now everyone - I know exactly where I can go to get a dose of home. I just won’t look at that strange fomey stuff that wobbles on the shore, and I’ll imagine the water is blue and not brown, and that the waves roll high and that the sand is golden and nice to the touch. Yep, nearly there. Thanks Holland, for creating a little home away from home just for me…

I love meeting new people.

It’s one of the things I love about my job - I am always working with different people, and although sometimes it can be a bit trying on such intense shoots, most of the time it is heaps of fun. And this is one of the things I love about being a blogger too. I’ve made so many new friends, all of whom I hope to meet in person one day. And some of which I am very lucky to have already met in person.

You already know I’ve met Danielle, from the ever popular Style Files, who I’m very looking forward to catching up again with in coming days. And just recently I had the pleasure of having drinks with gorgeous Mary-Laure and the oracle Benjy, from Aurea, and her sister Celine who has just moved to Amsterdam. Thank you Mary-Laure for posting about your visit with me, it made me chuckle and blush. And while in Paris I met the very talented Rachel who I will be writing more about very soon.

Josephine from Red Thread recently came to Europe as a 3 week birthday treat for herself and we were able to hang out in both Amsterdam and Paris while she was here. If you catch her now, she is writing some awesome posts about her time in Antwerp, she has already written about Stockholm, and she has just finished posting about Amsterdam, all complete with photographs. Click here for her floral fixation post (oh Josephine, I wish you were able to see my tulips in bloom!), here for Amsterdam’s gorgeous chinatown which I frequent often, here for her design and art walk, and here for her post about her time with me. Apparently she thinks I’m funny, and I couldnt be happier about that, someone who actually laughs at my humour! We had a fun time, both of us pipelette-ing away, the boys couldnt get a word in unfortunately. Tough luck boys.

And soon I’ll be introducing you to one of my friends who will be arriving in the guest quarters any moment now (he’s a bit late, he’s a very busy boy). But I can tell you this much - he makes me laugh, he loves my little piano concerts, and he is a hit on the dancefloor.

But here are some links I’d love you to check out in the meantime from my new blog friends. Also, please check my blogroll for new links as I always put new ones in but sometimes don’t have the time to write about them in a post.

Danielle just posted about Taschen’s new seaside interiors book here.

Felicity posted an AWESOME interior spread here.

Yoli continues to inspire me daily with her beautiful blog here.

Tiny K posts some really inspiring interiors here.
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All photographs are from the “Subaquatic Beauty” spread shot by Alix Malka via Nyla and Yoli