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sending a little thank you gift to a dear friend overseas. Handmade gift tag by paper boat press.
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clockwise from top left: gorgeous jute crocheted Christmas decorations in newspaper taxi; signed copies of My Heart Wanders & Paris: Made by Hand wrapped and ready to be sent far away; on the coffee table; the sweetest handmade christmas decorations from paper boat press.
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Since I’ve been less and less mobile over the last few months, I’ve been relying on my iphone to capture some of my day enhancing moments. I’ve been posting them on instagram, which has become my new favourite ‘visual blogging’ medium as I love the instant, intimate aspect of it. It’s been a wonderful way to keep in touch with friends near and far, see what they’re up to during the day in a visual way. Every now and then I post some images on facebook and twitter, and recently I asked my readers if they’d like to see these images on the blog too, or if it would be too much repetition. There was lots of positive feedback, so I thought I should give it a try. I thought maybe once a month I could pick my favourite shots and post them in a collection like this – let me know if you like this idea.

Here’s the latest collection, with captions and links for your clicking pleasure…

inside Stef’s shop,newspaper taxi:1
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inside Stef’s shop, newspaper taxi:2
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afternoon tea with Stef at Black Star Pastry, featuring their beetroot chocolate cake with rose petals, and lavender and blueberry tart.
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surprise art in the park: 1… drink, anyone?
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surprise art in the park: 2… the beginning of a beautiful story.
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surprise art in the park: 3… nature’s purple neon spectacular, jacaranda love.
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on the coffee table: bowl of scented sunshine from the garden, a page from My Heart Wanders, rocks from French Boy’s  hometown lake in France, Heidi’s gorgeous book ‘super natural every day’, my collection of aromatherapy reference books, and a cup of chai.
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Also, I’ve been looking into some new-to-me music, here is my current background music while I work/lay on couch/waddle around the house, perhaps you’ll find something here you like too:

+twice by little dragon (also like ‘after the rain’)
+i follow rivers, lykke li
+how come you never go there, feist
+you are all i see, active child
+brother, matt corby
+feeding line, boy & bear

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It’s all a-buzz here in le petit bateau because today my partner Romain – aka French Boy -  has just released his first album. It’s been a year in the making -  while I’ve been working intensely on my book, he’s been working on his album, rocking the houseboat down. How did we manage to both work from home on two completely different projects without a hitch? I have no idea. But it’s been wonderful, a year we will never forget, for all the right reasons.

So “fiction”, what’s it all about? Well, Romain is a rock and blues guitarist, and this self-produced album is a collection of instrumental songs which take their inspiration from various decades of pop, blues and rock. This is definitely an album for guitar enthusiasts (it ain’t mainstream music) and for those who love to rock on! Believe it or not, I am one of those people  – even though I play mostly classical piano, I love to listen to loud, feet stompin’ rock. “Fiction” is exactly that. I have lots of favourite songs on the album, including ruffian,  jungle path and la loue (which was inspired by one of our walks along the river loue in France, where Romain is originally from), but I think my favourite favourite is the album title song fiction – a fab mix of pop, synth rock & blues. I also love lawlessness 1 & 2 – Romain composed these for a dance piece titled “restlessness” choreographed by my dear friend Heidi here in Amsterdam earlier in the year. And the colour purple & stone are pure, beautiful head bangin’ rock.

A big congratulations to my french boy for taking his passion to the next level and producing something wonderful. Please be sure to spread the word about “fiction” to all your guitar-loving friends, and to listen to the songs, you can click here or listen to some of them on his myspace here. The album & individual songs are available for purchase on both itunes and cdbaby. For those interested in purchasing music the good ol’ fashion way – that is, on a CD – Romain will look into it in the new year.

And my contribution to the album? Yes, it’s the cover. I made a few different versions but this was the one we both loved the most. I hope you like it too.

xx

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Some of you may have noticed that a few months ago I added a little sparkly widget at the bottom of my (blog)house sidebar, with the words “guitar” “tone”  “overload”.  And then some of you may have then thought, “wtf?” because you would know that my blog has nothing to do with guitars, or tones… although there is plenty of overload to be had.

Well, now I have a moment to tell you all about it! At the beginning of this year, my partner Romain – who you’ve all come to know here as french boy – launched his very own blog. It’s called, obviously,  guitar tone overload and it focuses on his “endless quest for The Guitar Tone” using effects, amps, and all sorts of other guitar equipment (that I have no idea about but he knows lots about). Last year when he first told me he wanted to start a blog, I asked him, “if you start a blog, what are your expectations?” and he said , “as a musician,  I’ve taken so much information from the internet over the last 15 years that now I’d like to give back”.  I thought that was pretty much the perfect answer…

this is a corner of our houseboat, filled with guitars and guitar stuff.

So at the end of February he launched his blog in both English and French. I love that he focuses on boutique equipment (that being, pedals and such that are made in small factories or by hand) and that he explores the guitar tones of various famous guitarists  – so far he’s featured Robert Smith from The Cure, Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani and just last week, John Butler. He not only writes about what each guitarist uses, but he also makes demo videos to show his readers how to get ‘the tone’ with certain equipment. It’s pretty clever stuff.

While researching for guitar tone overload the other day, Romain came across a video of legendary guitarist David Gilmour’s houseboat/music studio located on the Thames.  It is the most awesome floating musical space, and I just wanted to share it here, for those of you out there who love the idea of houseboat living, and those who love making music like we do. It is a clip from the BBC series three men in a boat, check it out…

Can you imagine? So very cool. For us, this would be the ultimate houseboat. Our little houseboat doesn’t have nearly as much music gear as David Gilmour’s, but it still manages to rock out when the mood strikes.

Anyway, I just wanted to say a big congratulations to french boy for getting out there in the blogosphere and creating such a great space for guitarists. Please pass on his blog to your guitarist friends. Merci!

xx

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I admit, I’ve been keeping this band secret for a while now because well, sometimes I like to just keep some of the things that inspire me all to myself for a little bit before I share it with the world. You know? Anyway, when I first heard them play live last year it was at the invitation of my dear friend Simone who is the violinist in the band, and it was at the Lloyd Hotel. It was just a casual, mid-week gig, sitting around in a small corner of the restaurant which made it so wonderfully intimate – I was instantly captivated by their music: a little dark, a little folk, a lot melancholic and utterly enchanting.

They have just launched their first album under the new band name Point Quiet (previously known as White Sands). Before I bought the album last week, I had been playing their song anchors and birds over and over again – it’s repetitive actions like this that tell me I need to take it the next level. So I bought the album at their last gig and now, I can listen to the whole album on my ipod while I walk along the Amstel – completely day enhancing, to say the least.

They have a gig coming up at Theater Bellevue, on the Leidsekade this coming Monday, April 26 at 8:30pm, with another couple of local bands, tickets are €13 (click here for more info although it’s all in Dutch) – I think it’s going to be a lovely evening and I’m aiming to pull myself away from the writing desk to be there, I’d love to see you there too.

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+listen to some of their songs here.
+buy their album here (in the netherlands and belgium) and here on itunes (US and rest of the world).
+ come to the gig on monday.

+There are lots of songs I am particularly fond of on the album (including long may you hide, venom minds, and the hidden track) but just to give you an idea of how beautiful their music is, please take a listen to anchors and birds while you read the lyrics.

xx

PS Their cover album reminds me of this photographer’s work that I just posted on facebook. Volcanoes, smoke, horses… synchronicity at it’s finest.

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Before I skip on out of the (blog)house I just had to let you know that Parisian artist Aurélie Mathigot’s beautiful fait main home is featured in this month’s issue of marie claire maison, photographed by Eric Flogny. It’s a gorgeous spread, full of Spring colour and inspiration.  Above is a little snippet of the 8 page article, I hope you can locate yourself a copy of the issue because it truly is a lovely story. I had the pleasure of photographing a number of Aurélie‘s pieces for Paris: Made by Hand while in Astier de Villate and The Collection – her little crocheted eclairs and cupcakes were among my favourites. Here is more of a glimpse of Aurélie‘s beautiful work via her website…

I also wanted to let you know that the new Angus & Julia Stone album called down the way is available on itunes in Australia now. I bought the album this morning and listened to it while on my morning walk along the amstel…



Click here to listen to and the boys, a track I keep coming back to over again.

And one last thing – Paris: Made by Hand has been featured on the Vogue Italy trend blog, how cool is that?! Click here to have a read and be sure to ‘vogue it’. Merci beaucoup Nirit Sumeruk – or I mean grazie mille -  for writing the piece – you rock.

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Okay, one last post coming up!

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…it soothes, it inspires, it speaks the feelings inside me that have no words. This is a something I have never taken for granted, and when I hear myself play I sometimes wonder where the music comes from, and how do I play? Sometimes I have no idea how my fingers seem to find the right notes at the right time. Music is pure magic, non?

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3. And you. You inspire me, but not just this week, all the time.

It is a beautiful day here in Amsterdam. The air is lovely, I went for a nice ride this morning and I feel so much more rejevunated than I did yesterday. So much so, that in between my work I have decided to blog my little heart out today, as there is much I want to share with you. So! today there will be a few posts coming your way, thanks in advance for stoppin’ by to say hi.

xx

PS Last weekend I went on a fabulous boat ride around Amsterdam with some friends! My dear (blog)house guest was one of those friends. Zoë took loads of great pics and wrote a wonderful post about it this week, it’s in the guest quarters right now, please click here to read Zoë’s post. (yes that is me in the cowboy hat. I love that hat!)

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What I have learnt though, over the years, is that beautiful sound and music is a wonderful, gentle technique of subjugation. It calms the soul, breathes life into the deepest, darkest commotions of the mind, and warms the heart. When you take the time to listen – just listen – then a sense of renewal is found.

I had no intention of writing all of the above as an introduction to this soundscape but somehow, it happened. And I see it is not without purpose, because what I am about to share with you is a continual, flowing moment of musical interlude that does just that: breathes life and love into a place where commotion is writhe. A moment that almost everyone who visits this special place will experience at some point. It’s a moment when one goes below the cool, calm and magnificent exterior and experiences life under the skin, below the surface, and deep in the veins of this celebrated city. The sound echoes through this labyrinthine nerve center, and penetrates through to its darkest corners.

I speak of the metro Chatelet in Paris. And today, I take you with me as I walk from one of the cavernous tunnels passing by a 12-piece orchestra that plays in this underground mecca, up the stairs and back out to the grandness above. This metro of Paris is very much like one’s mid-week mind. And this music is the strong and gentle breath it needs.

Please press the play button below and enjoy…

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Have you heard of an australian band called middle east? i had not, until this morning when I read on one of my friend’s facebook status that this very talented band from townsville in queensland, have made their song blood available for free download through itunes. The song is featured in the teaser of a new film which had its world premiere recently at tribeca called accidents happen. It’s directed by andrew lancaster and stars geena davis.

The song is gorgeous, to say the very least. I’ve been listening to it over and over again today, and I highly recommend you download it right now as tomorrow (june 16) is the last day you can get it for free!

Click here to listen to the song on middle east’s my space site, then go straight to your itunes account to download it.

And a very big congratulations to andrew for his first feature – the cinematography looks stunning, geena is awesome, and I can’t wait to see this film!

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Visiting Paris is a festival for the senses. For French Boy and I, its notably our taste buds that party like its 1999. The moments prior to this particular trip, we spent the train ride deciding where we would eat for every single meal. Since we only had 2 nights there, that being 6 meals – we realised we had to cull our list of favourites down substantially.

But to my surprise, it wasn’t the food and wine that stole my heart this time.

It was music.

No matter where we wandered, no matter what time of day or night, there was incredible open-air music coming from all sorts of places – from the habitual accordian player on metro line 12, to a saxophonist whose somber, slow tunes at midnight were reverberating through the thick stone walls of the Richelieu hallway of le louvre. Our weekend was marked by spontaneous musical intervals and for me, it was very special, being the week after my musical friend had passed away. I imagined he was there, in the air somewhere, waving a magical mystical conductor’s baton everywhere we went…

However, there was one particular interlude that moved me to tears. We were wandering around the palais royal and as we turned the corner there, out of nowhere, was a 12-piece string ensemble in full swing, performing la petite musique de nuit (4th mvt) , by Mozart – a song I have adored since I was a child. It whisked me right into the moment and I realised at that point that my mind had been everywhere else – thinking about loss, mortality, my family, past events, future projects… but then, for the first time in such a long time, I was right here, in the present, in the middle of Paris, captured in the moment by this music.

With wide eyes and whole heart, I listened, watched, and felt. My senses were enchanted.

I watched as a lady in the crowd waved her arm in the air and gently dropped it with each fall of each note. I watched the conductor – who was also playing a violin – as he came to the woman and played his instrument, just for her. The space between them was filled with admiration, love, passion, understanding and pure pleasure.

I was present.

The music filled my whole body and my heart heaved. As I took my next breath tears welled in my eyes. I watched this lady enjoy the performance without inhibition and I understood: this is life, and I am living it.

Please press the play button below…

This one’s for you, Mum.

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