BlossomLuxe Jewels

Shower Scene

I love our new home, but there are one or two curly design dilemmas that are bugging me.

Specifically, I'm wracking my brain trying to come up with a solution for our ultra revealing shower window. It looks out into an atrium walkway;  while it's not public, I don't plan on getting to know my neighbours THAT well, if you know what I mean. The previous owners installed an aluminium venetian blind which looks horrible and is rusting to boot.

Patterned adhesive films like Otto below, designed by Emma Jeffs are the solution; they let light through while maintaining privacy.

It's not so straightforward though- the glass in our window has a chiselled type finish (semi-opaque) which isn't smooth on the inside. I'm not sure if the films will work on an uneven surface, or if I can apply them to the outside without it being obvious. I've ordered a sample pack of similar films from ebay to experiment with... the ugly rusty blind is TOAST.

New at Modamuse

I teased you earlier.. here are the new Blossomluxe pieces stocked exclusively at Modamuse:

Flotsam necklace

Trapeze Earrings

more after the jump...

Aussie Blogroll

I've been hunting out quality Aussie blogs in the last few weeks; sometimes it's good to have a home grown perspective.

Go and have a look! (on the left sidebar)

Melbourne's GPO courtesy of Stock Exchange. Best Pink Grapefruit granita in town.

Cherrypicking Stella McCartney for Target

There is a HUGE amount of hype building around the upcoming Stella McCartney for (Australian) Target launch due to arrive instore at 10am on March 12.

Snaring Stella is quite a coup for Target, whose previous designer collections promoted emerging Australian designers. They are doing a pretty decent job of re-positioning their clothing lines to appeal to a more sophisticated 'city dressing' consumer.

So why did Stella agree? From comments in recent media coverage, she regretted that the Australian market missed out on her H&M collection so she felt like the Target offer was a good opportunity to reach more Aussie customers.

There's been a lot of argument over whether such a comprehensive and accessible ($29-$199, 42 pieces) range cheapens luxury brands.. personally I think it's great. The democratisation of fashion is a force that can't be stopped; it's much more sensible for a designer to target the 'average' consumer directly rather than trying to compete with knockoffs.

Australia feels very isolated from international fashion a lot of the time, so it's lovely to have something 'buzzy' happening just for our market (beyond our very talented local designers of course).

My favourites after the jump...

Sew good

I remember as a little girl sitting on the spinning stools at our local fabric shop with my mother, poring through pages and pages of ratty pattern books; most of them far from fashionable. (Given that it was the eighties, perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing.)

But now-- patterns have gone Web 2.0 with Burda Style's online pattern database:

(could this buttercup yellow Talea coat be more on trend?)

It's a very clever move by pattern maker Burda; release free fashion forward (say that three times quickly) patterns to the web, styled sharply in relevant fabrics and prints... the perfect way to snare the younger crafty generation. They've even provided a forum for questions and tips.  Loving it (but could I ever get my seams that straight?)

Swag

I did veeeery well for my birthday; the lamps are mine (insert evil cackle here) and look wonderful in situ.

I also received some beautifully worded cards from a bunch of special friends- thanks guys, you made this birthday a special one. I'm lucky to have you in my life!

Because I'm on a spending spree the boy and I bought a very extravagant outdoor setting over the weekend;

Beautiful! It's perfect for our balcony and will be protected from the extremes of the weather. The bench seats are the right length to be pushed under the table. The wood colour is beautiful and very natural- the grain has a greyish cast to it so weathering won't be very noticeable.

It looks a bit naked at the moment so we'll get some kind of shallow dish for the centre and some citronella candles to deal with the current mozzie plague. That (and replacement blinds for the bedroom) will be the end of the splurging for a while!

Birthday wishlist

I'll be celebrating another 365 days on Sunday; so I thought I'd indulge myself by posting a wishlist..

Cute as a button felt and embriodery slippers, $35 from Peter Alexander (wouldn't turn my nose up at some of their new pyjamas come to think of it!)

Newton swing arm lamps x 2 for the bedside; brushed chrome with white shades from Beacon Lighting.

Country Road hobo with strap in Black

and a 'tell her she's dreaming' pick; a lovely backing cloth print from Spacecraft... a girl can dream right?

Some pressies from myself to myself after the jump..

Happy Valentine's

Image via Stock Exhange

My tram driver wished a peak hour crowd a happy valentine's today, awwww!

New pieces for 2007

Snippets of what I've been creating lately:

All will be revealed soon.

Jawdropper

By Lin Cheung via 18k blog.

Just earring backs and wire- and absolute proof that simple can equal stunning; all it takes is an idea. (I say that like it is easy- pah!)