As I get settled in for my second winter here in Amsterdam, I find I’ve been spending time ‘cozifying’ my home. Or, as the Dutch say, making it gezellig. I’ve added and changed a few things, just playing around really. I’m not sure I will keep things as they are but it’s fun to play. So come on in out of the rain, take off your coat, and enjoy a little wander around le petit bateau with me. When you’ve finished having a little look around, be sure to come and join me at the table for a nice warm cup of chocolat chaud…

Have you spotted the changes I’ve made? Click here to see what le petit bateau looked like back in Spring. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

well folks, this little sound project has been alot of fun. There is certainly something special about looking at still images and listening to sound, isn’t there? It’s quite different to watching a moving picture. While I’ve been making these posts, I’ve been thinking - how would this differ if I used a video camera? It just wouldn’t be the same. It has taken me back to my Uni days when I was studying time based art, although then my focus was making short films with the now vintage technology of 16mm, however I did experiment a little with still images in film-style sequences and I really enjoyed it - so here I am again it seems, rekindling an old flame.

If you have enjoyed this series do not fret, I will be back with more, albeit spontaneously, over the months to come - this week’s series was just a taste to see how you liked it & to see how it might work on the blog medium. And I think it is unanimous that we all love the idea, is that right? so I’ll be sure to keep it as a regular feature. I can think of so many wonderful soundscapes to capture - living in a foreign land, listening to foreign voices, befriending foreign water creatures… the creative possibilities are endless.

But today, on our series finale, I thought you might like to hear what life sounds like for me on the houseboat. While part one was a glimpse of life on the canal when it rains, this little piece captures the essence of my days here - I feel a bit like I am living on noah’s ark, except that instead of the animals living on the boat, they live around the boat and come to visit me regularly. Can you believe this is in the middle of a city? I cannot.

So come on in and follow me…

let’s open a window…

and have a listen. Enjoy…

………………………………………………………….

Thank you everyone for visiting. It is such a pleasure to share my creative endeavors with you on a daily basis. You have become my muse. Thanks to you, who knows what I shall create next…

As you all know, I spent the weekend pottering around the boat, fixing and organising, getting things done on my ‘houseboat to do’ list. One of the things that has been bugging me for a while was my desk area. I had been blu-tacing things up on the wall since I’ve been here, trying to create a moodboard of sorts, and eventually everything just kept falling off - it was not unusual to be woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of papers and notes falling, creating a domino effect of falling items on the desk which, akin to my way of doing things, were all carefully balancing on top of each other (oh I hear my mother’s voice right about now, with the rolling of the eyes - she always had a strong dislike to my style of blu-tacking things to my bedroom walls and balanced things precariously on top of one another… don’t look Mum!).

And as you also know, with rentals you can’t hammer nails into walls. But this has never deterred me from claiming a space as mine and this weekend I came up with a system for getting as much of my inspiration on the wall above my desk as possible…

I used the wood trimming as my frame, and unscrewed a few of the screws just partially, wrapped some twine around them, screwed them back and tightened them to create a criss cross of strings around the window. Then I pegged all my inspiration and notes, ribbons, drawings and cards to the string…

What do you think? I am loving having everyone’s cards, gifts, and work on display. Do you recognise a few? The bird illustration card is from the wonderful Joetta when she sent me her My Heart Wanders submissions. The yellow square is a Tibetan prayer flag given to me by my aunty sue…

The artwork on the left is an abstract cityscape of New York, and is the incredible prize I won on Lynne’s blog. The competition was to name the artwork and as soon as I saw it the name “city talk” came to my mind. And I won! So here is “city talk” in the flesh, from the very fabulous New Mexican artist Sage McKee. Thank you again Lynne and Sage, I am totally in love with it. The photograph in the middle is one of David’s of which he wrote all over the back of as a card for my birthday (super sweet). The black and white print on the right is actually a poster of my Dad. He was a Judo Olympian way back when (I know, this fact has never made it easy bringing my dates home to ‘meet the parents’!) and i just love this poster of him doing Judo moves with his pal Peter Paige. The photo above that is from the Aymara catalogue and reminds me of my Mum, so beautiful. And the pic above that, well you all know, that’s of my favourite island retreat!

Above is “the desk” in situ - so you can see where it is on the boat. It is the perfect spot because from the front door in the kitchen you can’t see it which keeps the space looking clean lined, and it is not until you walk down the stairs and into the main living area that you see it to the left. It is such an inspiring space to work at now - i often glance up at it all and dream away, finding inspiration in the colours and textures, stories and memories.

I will show more things that I created this weekend, but for now, I hope you liked this snapshot.

xx

well, i’ve certainly been slowed down, but not stopped. i’ve been pottering around the boat for the weekend - sorting, fixing, and playing - it’s been fun. I can’t play the piano, and I can’t walk so well, but I shall soon be back to my normal vibrant self, I promise!

Thank you everyone for your well wishes through all your emails and incredible comments - but saying thank you really doesn’t seem enough at all. Creating this blog has been one of the most inspiring, soul nurturing things I have ever done. You have all opened your arms to me and are like a wonderful, billowing silk safety net, catching me and throwing me back up into the air, allowing my wings to grow and find their strength.

I won’t get too soppy on you, but I just wanted to let you know.

So how about a song? What about one from the fresh, luscious voice of Sarah Aubrey. Click here to link to her myspace page, and listen to ‘empty room’. It’s a little melancholy, it’s a little deep, and it’s a little raw. Just the way I like it. Of course I also love her references to water and paper boats. While you are visiting her, have a listen to ‘Ha ha hey’, it’s a goodie too. Thank you to my dear friend Jo Jo for introducing me to her.

And what will we get up to this week in the (blog)house? You’ll just have to wait and see! But I can tell you this: I will be starting the sorting of all your My Heart Wanders images this week, getting them ready for the judges. No doubt I will be very tempted to show you one or two from the collection…

à demain! xx

Thanks for all the awesome comments about my new home, I feel like I’ve had you all over for a big housewarming party!

Here are the rest of the photos that I took for Design*Sponge along with captions. And now that I have let you in on my secret, I will be posting more photos of the boat from now on - as you can imagine, the stylist in me can’t help but change, rearrange and add things. And since I only moved in a few months ago, this is really just the bare basics of the space. I will be experimenting with new style ideas and I have a few great things to share with you in the months to come. The (blog)house and the houseboat have now fused.

Enjoy the rest of your visit my dear friends - I have the kettle on for you, and my choc & cranberry cookies are baking in the oven right now, awaiting your arrival…mind your step on the bridge…

Kitchen:

The kitchen is my favourite space in the boat - it has a great oven and stove top (hard to find in apartments here in Amsterdam), and the water reflections dance on the ceiling all day. It is very inspiring for when I am recipe testing and food styling. There are 7 windows in the kitchen and it is on a little mezzanine level as you enter the front door, then you step down into the main living space…

Can you see that it is all the same furniture that I had in the Paris apartment? See the wallpaper in the kitchen is the same, and you see the pallet bed?

My addiction is books. Mostly old books. and mostly about interiors, photographers, children’s books, and French literature. and French Boy is a comic fan - I also read his French comics as it is a really good way to learn and practice French I have discovered! You will notice some of my favourite books are listed in the library.

The bedroom is behind the screen that you can see in the loungeroom. It has a large storage space that is in the very front of the boat for clothes, and there are also lots of shelves. i will show you more of this space soon, it is quite interesting. It is very quiet, in the mornings we wake up to singing birds and ducks playing. This is me making the bed so that you see I do ocassionally make it. But that is the thing about being a stylist, you do get a bit lazy when it comes to doing your own ironing and tidying…

And the grand finale, the teeny weeny bathroom:

Yep, that’s the bathroom! Very tiny, possibly the smallest bathroom I have ever had, and I thought the Paris apartment bathroom was small! It was the only concern I had about living on the boat. But I have since fallen in love with it as the most beautiful light comes through the pothole and streams across the shower.

Here is the garden, and one of our neighbours below seeing “dag!” (”bye” in Dutch)…

PS did any of my regular readers guess already that I lived on a houseboat?

PPS the My Heart Wanders countdown will begin in the next post! So this is it, no more procrastinating, get your submissions in!!