our rooster says it's Friday ...

 our rooster says it's Friday and he's in the mood to abandon once more* his role as a door stopper

  and do instead something more creative end enjoyable:

 show you around a favorite corner in our bedroom, where rather unexpected splashes of color

 in neon pink or else bright strawberry red shake up the tranquility of neutral tones,

 just enough to not be feeling like taking naps and relaxing all the time...

 {* during Easter time, this cute little rooster was seen a... chicken and jumped on our dining table to lay  eggs for us... isn't the world of writing & pictures so convenient sometimes... 

 everything can be curated as we wish ; ) }

 isn't it a nice example of how a little color in just a few objects can

 brighten up an otherwise neutral palette,

 wh ile at the same time leaving the space feeling light & airy,

without being overwhelmed with colors?

 what is happening here?

neutrals meet neon 

+ 

white sleek surfaces meet the texture of natural materials,

like the dried banana leaves from which this big basket is woven

 (so so long in my wish list and just a couple of days ago added to our home force)

- here holding an all cotton summer blanket from Habitat, purchased during sales of course, when I was renting my first individual home in Greece back in 2003, a 40 sm bungalow with its own garden .

the little basket on the surface of the wall mounded "sideboard",

 made out of two kitchen cupboard units as described here,

brings another color to the picture, that of orange, which is also found in the stripes of the pillows featured on the cover of a book which is all about exactly what the title says: a beloved Home or else a geliebtes Zuhause.

"wonderful" thinks the rooster ...

and proceeds with showing you around a little more...

look! the wallpaper meant to go on the wall of the bed's headboard like described here,

is unpacked and almost ready to be applied.

&

and an olive tree is enjoying the loads of light by the big windows,

after arriving here this winter in February,

when mother visited over and actually carried it in her suitcase

Yes, indeed, such things we do.

it is planted in a white ceramic pot with its own plate

and holds a little house shaped label,

where an important reminder is written:

"here lives Love"

period. hard times or not. this is the essence of life here.

  the rooster kindly asks you to not pay attention to the metal skeleton of our helping table,

the top of which is still not adjusted, as new screws are needed to be found.

instead he says, "focus your attention on this amazing London illustration print created by equally amazing

Laura Amiss!"

how more adorable can a city's illustration get?

not a single little bit.

to celebrate the occasion of welcoming long wished new items at home,

a new garland has been created,

to be added to the shelves of our on line store,

where you'll find "her" during the weekend.

"hurry up!" Mr Rooster is advising you,

"this is a one of a kind piece made from incredibly long lasting wallpaper samples,

which are though not available any more"

and to give you a rest to sink in all that has so far been said ans shared,

here is a little chance to relax by staring at the wonderful light of this

blurry image:

lost in light are here a pair of two more darling wallpaper garlands,

which though will be presented and revealed during the next post here,

when another secret corner of this bedroom is shared...

till then, enjoy a delightful Friday !

from our rooster and me the best of regards,

Iro, xx

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

All images of this post are styled & shot by me. Thank you for sharing/ linking / pinning with love & care.

Picture styling & creation: Iro Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy 2012.

Basics

...well, after all this super celebrating mood over at the FB page today {thank you to all 118 - so far -incredibly kind, encouraging and lovely people having joined}, I thought I bring myself to writing an actual post today. That would be nice, right ;)

To start with, as I came across this graciously elegant, modern, curvy and oh so stylish "Loungechair", 

made from coconut twigs and designed from Clayton Tugunon,

all I could think off was how much I adore its shape and then also how familiar it looks to me.

...searching through my brain's chambers I found another lounging chair that I not only love as much, but also am the owner off. It is the P.S collection VAGÖ from Ikea and mine is longing for my next visit in Greece, since it resides on the balkony of apart44, or else my parents house & my summer sanctuary {renovated/ designed / decorated & organised by me}

Wonderful....how do these facts bring me to the picture above?

Well, after putting this two chairs virtually next to one another,

I remembered how much I like to combine:

~ dark natural wood with white plastic

&

~ white with brown in general.

So, around I walked our little home and picked five objects to demostate to you this love of mine:

{starting from the bottom}

1 ~> a brown pillow from {Ikea}

2 ~> a white pillow with a rich texture  from {Bemz}

3 ~>a  patterned pillow {sewn from Habitat cotton teatowels}

4 ~> a plastic box {Fletcher design - purchased at Habitat}

5 ~> and a a wooden bangle or else my almost daily accessory all year long from {Pull & Bear}

In the background you can see this ceramic vase, standing on such a mini shelf.

Don't they look nice together?

The play of textures and patterns is my way of spicing up colour choices that otherwise are in danger of being considered dull. I do think the result is simmultaneously pleasing, stimulating but also calming to the eye.

What do you think?

Do you love naturals as much and if yes, what do you do to give them "life" and bring them forward?

Looking forward to your replies!

Have a great day and thank you once more for all your support.

~ growing snowflake Christmas trees... go figure!

Phewww....I really thought I was going to be one more day late to come here writing a post!

My apologies to those of you, however few you might be, in case you waited for a post since yesterday. 

May I ask how are you?...how are these days proceeding?.....gift shopping....present wrapping, home decorations, crafting, baking, holiday preparations.....and so on and so on!

As you may have well understood, my computer screen and I are not spending much time together these days....in a way I miss preparing more posts, coming here sharing inspiration with you and exchanging thoughts and opinions...but then, to be able to inspire, one must be able to create and I really needed some peaceful days with just some crafting involved.

I've been creating various things, some of which are the products of instant inspiration and others the  product of some custom orders and my effort in making what I'm asked for.

Something that seemed a mistake at the beginning, turned out to be a concept I grew to really like:

The Snowflake {Christmas} Trees, seen below:

 which are officially named as

~ Growth

Why growth? Because to my eyes, the trees' branches represent the infinite possibilites we have in our lives, countless occassions to acheive growth in all possible ways.

Growth is available in a 5"x 5" size, but custom orders also are accepted.

For the time being, a few like the one pictured above are available in the shop.

The frame belongs to the Ribba line from Ikea and fits just prefectly with the three dimensional nature of these fluffy, music, snowflake trees. It's something that you'll have to supply yourself from your local Ikea though, as it's not inluded in the listing.

The same concept is also offered in a set of two, one of a kind card & envelope sets, 

which  are wrapped this way:

What do you think ?

 I already got my first order for a douzin of them this morning...this time not exactly from a customer, but still someone I could not say not to...my mother!

So, I've been pucnching out many, many snowflakes from Bach's symphonies and brown, wrapping paper, glueing them one by one patiently...

On another notice, today a couple of suggestions I have written about how to

"Greet your day in a better way" are published over at my favorite Ikea Family Live's blog.

Hop here to read it and be sure to take some  more time in reading Apartment Therapy's Maxwell

super fantastic and practical posts on the 

"Psychology of Decluterring"!

 Practical psychology and every day living meeting one another. Could it get any better...?

See you soon with more news from the shop and much, much more inspiration!

....Smile today and as often as you can :)

Ivy ~ xx

~ about Ikea & Etsy treasuries

Hi there!...wishing you all a happy Wednesday!....I know that we are all quite busy these days, so if you don't have time to spend online and particularly to read these pages, I 'll understand and  not keep any hard feelings on you... ;-)

...just kidding around a little!

I'm really busy like a bee these days and eventhough there are so many things I'd like to share here, there's not the time. Soon my days will be having more time for blogging and then we'll be keeping each other good company. I love it when it happens :)

So, for today I'll forward you to the fabulous world of Ikea Family Live, where  among other fantastic and inspiring posts, you can also read mine, about how to create  Lovely labels for jars in six steps, which went on air just a little while ago.

It's always such a pleasure and honour to be preaparing something for the company that I personally love so much! Great to be there on your pages again today lovely people of the Ikea Family Live team!

Thank you  & a big smile for you : )

Now since this post must be coming to an end soon but I would indeed love to stay longer, how about sharing another link with you to visit?

You do know that besides Ikea, I also love Etsy and supporting handmade, therefore I'm an Etsy seller myself . And as I adore anything stylish and combining things together, making  treasuries (you can see the ones curated by me here) is a way of suggesting to you things I love, while combining them together.

So, would you like to have a look at the last one I curated this Monday?

Here it is! By clicking on "here" you'll be taken there to see it live, so as to enjoy the products one by one and be linked to each one of the sellers. 

It was also featured on Etsy's Front page yesterday evening and it was really an exciting feeling! 

It was the first time I was featured there as a curator and the seventh time alltogether of having been there since the shop reopened this middle summer. I hope for many more to come!

via

I love all the items so much!

And I do have a soft spot for one...can you guess?

~ Her shop has been feartured here as part of the Chosen three series 

~ It's also one of your ever favorite reads

~ Thanks to the gorgeous treasuries she is creating, my shop has seen the Front page three times as a participant,

~  and I just can't help returning to her shop all the time both for window and actual shopping

Have you guessed right?...whatever the answer is, just remember to:

via

Have a wonderful afternoon! Till next time,

Love always,

Ivy ~ xx

~ have a nice new week :)

...morning wishes... for a lovely start in the new week.

Where I come from, Greece, making this wish on a Monday morning is something typical and quite important.

It is not used here in Germany, so people are rather surprised when they hear this wish from me.

Still, I find it to be really lovely to spread positivism whenever possible and share a few wishes that come really from the heart and are not just pronounced typically.

So, to wish you all a happy Monday morning and a nice, energising start in this new week, I have a couple of pictures from our Sunday morning to share with you.

Nothing really special, or prearranged...

just some captures of sunshiny moments in this home of ours,

 that I still have no clue how I'll be able to say good bye for a new home that is wished to be bought in the future (could we not just buy this one?)

On another notice, A Sony A300 and a 50mm lens are my new equipment, not that I have abandoned my beloved Minolta Dimage A1.

I really, really like the effect of such a lens and am quite happy with the quality as these are almost SOOC pictures.

I love to photoshoot in natural light and eventhough I appreciate great post processing, there's nothing that attracts me more in pictures than capturing the beauty of light wether in interiors or exteriors.

This is our coffeetable, as it was yesterday morning after Saturday's visit to our closest Ikea (at Wallaw).

Lot's and lots of candle supplies (which have by now found their places in drawers), mostly teacandlelights and these favorite aromatic ones with a heavenly vanilla flavour which burn almost day & night in our place.

And cinnamon rolls from the food department, quite neccessary for a quick breakfast, on the lazy side of the spectrum....no preparations, just tea, relaxation and enjoying precious sunshine.

Those of you who "know" me and are familiar with what I do, are aware that I'll be soon flying to Greece in order to help with the renovations (actually a complete makeover) of a teenager's room, while I'll be also meeting with some dear friends and people.

I'd love to present this project here, as soon as we are ready, but will have to check with my clients, as there is understanding of course that not all people are willing to have pictures of their homes posted on the Internet. Quite respected.

Other than that, I 'm asking for your understanding concering some mails that might be arriving in the mailbox, that it might take some time for them to be replied. I'll try to fairly prioritise.

I'll be definetely finding time for being on line and will gladly be sharing some moments from life in Apartment 44, a place fully designed & decorated by me last summer, which has become the new, smaller residence of my parents and the place where my partner and I are hosted when in Greece.

The shop will be running, there even has to be the addition of the new cards made, still the delivery of orders will begin again after the 11th of November, whether they are made via the Etsy shop or individually & independently via contacting me.

So, am wishing you all a happy Monday and sincerely hope that you had nice times this weekend.

The sun is shining here, which will be a good chance for taking some pictures, should there be time.

As there's quite a lot to be taken care of, this post must come to an end...it has been great connecting with you here.

Sprinkling lots and lots of "magic", positive energy above our ways, able to disolve any negativism and provide us with solutions and opportunities, there where we would otherwise see obstacles.

May all goodness be with us & may we have ourselves open to receive it.

Love always,

Ivy ~ xx

Good morning : )

Good morning :)

 from our reading corner which is dressed up in autumn colours and mood.

Weather wise, "she" might as well be wearing winter colours (actually the white can be accounted as so), as snow in the surrounding mountains has already started!

Germany, Germany...the effort that is required for a Greek girl to get adjusted to your clima!

Na jaaa...better not comment on that.

I'm still gratefull for these golden October days we had.

...now that the ground is warmed with a little small talk and good morning wishes have been exchanged with a smile, let's take matters there where they were left about a week ago, when the centering process begun.

On  a first note, it is quite good & positive that it is taking place.

I have this wish & need as a person to always remain grounded, eventhough I like to fly.

In simple words, I like to keep in touch with who I am, avoiding getting confused with

online presence, which can rather easily be the case for those of us who have chosen to do so.

Especially when this is a means of expression, as  much as a means of communicating our work.

This centering process has brought the following results so far:

1~ taking care of my online places, in order for as much information about me, what I do and what I can be of use and availability to you are known

Therefore, on the left side of these pages, you can be finding links to the shop, Busy Bee - the first blog I authored for a year, twitter, bussiness mail and logo, which takes  you to more info about me displayed on the flickr profile.

Moreover you can now be quiclky linked to the favourite reads of yours, as decided by the blog's statistics.

And last but definetly not least, you can be linked to my blog posts @ Ikea Family Live site.

Stay tuned as there will be new series coming soon!

2~ taking care of my closet of emotions, which as expected uncovered a lot of fragile issues.

One of them being, realising that my upcoming trip to Greece, is on the one hand very much happily expected, as both work and seeing friends & family will be combined.

On the other hand, I detected a bunch of sad feelings arising from the fact that I'll actually now be faced with and really have to deal with our dog's loss.

She (Bianca) passed away this July, a few days after I had returned to Germany from my vacation there.

So it'll be the first time that after 18 years I enter a home without her, without a dog in Greece.

Despite the fact that I'll be quite busy, I know that I'll have to take some time to deal with her loss and the sadness that this brings.

Undealt emotions can turn into huge monsters and this I do not want for me.

It is part of the choice to live a life of awareness.

...quite hard in a world which always rushes to show (and show off) big smiles, "successes"

....and everything "positive"

You'll find thousands of advice on how to get over your "negative" emotions, such as sorrow, sadness, feelings of inferiority and so on and so on, but so very few about how to actually recognise them, accept them, realise that they have a reason for existence and finally move on, leaving them behind you step by step.

We live in the era of  "fast & effective","two in one", "three in one", tin laughs, "Omgs", "lol" and the rest....what a poor quality of life indeed.

Always being caught in the middle of a race of some kind...

Most will say that this is the system....well, we create the system and we make a concious choice to be part of it.

There are of course marvelous things about being part of a system, but we should not forget that if we become sheep (not that I have anything against these cute, lovable animals) then we cannot really have too high of expectations, neither can much be achieved.

Finally, this centering process has led to reorganising our space,

and welcoming new cabinets ( Thank you Ikea!) in our reading corner, where now most of the things related to the shop are held there.  In a next post I'll show you how everything is miraculously organised inside.

Please, take  a look:

 I love adjusting furniture on a low level to the wall.

The low hight creates a sense of calm, while it is also quite functional.

On the eye level the space is left free, therefore a sensation/illusion of  more space is created.

Finally, by leaving the floor free. this same sensation is emphasized.

On the practical point of view, extra room for storage is provided.

Such as here where the two baskets are resting.

The one on the right is left empty so as to be holding the current orders of the week.

The left one holds the German Architectural Digest issues, which I try to read in my attempt to also practise the language. Not very easy as my eye is caught by the breathtaking images!

New issue arrived in the mailbox yesterday and I plan to make time for reading it this week.

I'm sure you'd also like to know what do we thank Ikea for in this corner of our home:

~ the Besta cabinet with its shiny, white doors, much like those used in the guest room of Apartment 44 in Greece, where I'll be staying in a while

~ Lunna chair

~ Ram frames, painted white

~base lamp, dating back to 2003

~ combined with a more recent chestnut brown velvet lampshade

~ and a low basket (on the left)

On a last notice before I go, I'd like once more to thank wonderful Christina, from awesome Divas & Dreams blog, for hosting me over and having a great time while talking with her about Interior Design and Photography.

You can read our little inerview here.

Wishing you all wonderful days!

I'll be back soon with pictures revealing the cabinets inside and new cards made for the shop.

Till then, take care, enjoy and stay true ;-)

Love

Ivy ~ xx

Capturing moments ~ picturing emotions

A week of lessons...

This is what it has been

and like all school subjects

it had its easy, difficult,

enjoying, rewarding 

and more hard to deal with

 parts.

So, Monday to Friday, 

capturing moments,

picturing feelings,

through the natural flow of life

Here we are:

Monday ~  feeling fresh & energised from a relaxing weekend

 ~ ~ ~

grateful for warm sunny weather, 

so unusual for the country I'm currently living in,

I'm grouping together some of my favorite cloud shots

and get them prerared to be listed in the shop

Still not publicly listed at the moment...

will inform you when they are

                               

~ ~ ~

Teusday ~ a need to look inside arises

               

~ ~ ~

   

  must have been the rainy weather

  

 ~ ~ ~

    which was welcome as a pleasant change

                                     ~ ~ ~

                          soon love was in the air, 

                          much like a floating balloon

It's Wednesday ~ my lovely flickr partner and I 

are in a romantic mood and 

we are putting together a diptych,

 making an ode to being a woman

                                           

    ~ ~ ~

In the same mood, I'm remembering the warmth felt 

when walking in the cobbled streets of Limburg 

with my mother just a few days ago

                           ~ ~ ~

Thursday ~ a bright, happy morning, 

as the first part of the blog post

 I had prepared for Ikea Family Live went on air

....such a wonderful feeling 

to be cooperating on a creative level

 - even just on line - 

with the company I adore 

                  ~ ~ ~

and later lightening strikes, 

as in life happy occasions and sad ones

sometimes go hand in hand,

with sudden negative feelings and emotions having to be dealt...

....looking for keys,

 I reminded myself that all answers lie inside us 

and put together a collage 

with work of incredible talented flickr contacts & friends.

 (For direct links to their websites please click here)

                                               

                             ~ ~ ~

Friday ~ having felt extremely vulnerable,

the notion of building fences around us

 to protect ourselves comes prevailing in my thoughts

and then I realise that so long as I love,

 I'm protected,

 but this doesn't mean that I'll never hurt, 

as I'm only as imperfectly human as us all

and decide to let go of all pain 

that might have been caused

                                    ~ ~ ~

Eventually, I wrap my arms around myself 

and give me a tight, caring, loving hug, 

as a lovely friend suggested...

I'm happy

Why?

That's why....

                        ~ ~ ~

                                                                            

 May  you be having yourselves a mostly happy weekend, keeping in mind that happiness is a deep notion, that goes beyond simply celebrating and much deeper down inside to the depths of our existencies. Being alive and so blessed as most of us are, who have the luxury of reading or writing similar lines, IS happiness.

P.S: by clicking on the ~~~ under every picture, you are taken to each corresponding one in flickr, where  words, opinions, feeback, support and often much love is exchanged.