The Little English House Project....

....the last day of December and of this year has alreay arrived and is soon to end...hard to believe how fast time passes by! December for me was quite busy and had a couple of pleasant surprises, so it already brings me to the new year with a positive feeling and energy. I hope and wish the same to all of you!

...leaving this last post on my blog here, presenting a small project that brought me a lot of happiness while preparing it at the beginning of the month. I made the gift wrapping for 20 sweet woolen Santa Clauses in white or in beige, which were given as a symbolic present to the business associates of my friend Susan, the English teacher  of the Little English House in Wiesbaden.

For the wrapping I used:

-> rectangular paper bags made from A4 paper prints of my own " Christmas " design in 2 versions and sizes

-> white & golden string

-> little trees & stars made from cork...

-> decorated each with a snowflake punched fron the same papers

-> cards made from silver carton on which I handwrote the wishes

-> handmade bag from recycled paper to carry the presents in.

 Finally, as I wanted to leave my links in case people want to contact me and had not business cards at that time, I made some bookmarks instead. I used the same silver carton I used for the cards and handwrote my details on the back side. I decorated them with thin waxed string in three colours - dark pink, purple and beige/brown - and tiny silver reindeers, resembling to having been made from pieces of mirror.

I hope you enjoy the pictures...and wishing you all to have a wonderful beginning tonight in this New Year to come! May it bring to each one of you exactly what you need and wish for!

See you all in 2010!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy December!

....celebrating the first of the Christmasy month with a new creation and addition to the shop! Enjoy and have a lovely month you all!
 

Vintage Wallpaper Creations & Happy Thanksgiving!

Tired of pictures of my wallpaper creations already?

Not?
That's nice to hear!

coz.....

a girl's got to do, what she's got to do, to promote her shop!

                                           
                                              There'a new addition to the shop: " Love"

May we all be lucky and brave enough to experience it in our lives!

Happy Thanksgiving for tomorrow to all!

Remember to thank the ones you love and ....yourselves for being who you are and trying to be even better, happier and more complete.

Crafting.....

Saturday afternoon found me crafting at Ikea's new fantastic restaurant - lounge in Wiesbaden Wallau. It is not only the closest to me Ikea shop at the moment, but also the one that I prefer the most, among the other ones in the area ( Frankfurt, Hannau). So, there I was, having  packed all my supplies, materials and equipment in my 100% cotton - 0% plastic shopping bag from H&M Home and planned to get crafty somewhere else than the Penthouse, as a motivator to socialize at the same time and of course get inspired. And...what is more inspiring than being in a wonderfully decorated space, which design you know you can afford? It is only one of the reasons I adore Ikea! BUT, this post is going to be not a tribute to Ikea ( a next one will be)  but an introduction to the new stuff I happily handcrafted this weekend....soothing my soul, satisfying my creativity and enforcing my new Etsy shop. Here is a taste:

These handmade delights can be found both at Etsy and Papernstich.  Come on with me for a visit....and hop here and here!
Enjoy....and / und viel Späß!

Nature's treasures...

                      ....to wish you all a Happy Monday and a nice start in the new week.
Aren't sometimes the simplest things in life also the prettiest, loveliest and the most precious?

How much tranquility, clearness and happiness lies in taking a walk in the woods or in a park, paying attention to all the colours, the smells, the sounds and the feelings that are evoked?

How nice is it to return home having found treasures in nature, using them in our home decor, without necessarily having to visit a shop and spend money, to satisfy our need for something new?

Well, to me it is very rewarding and it can coexist very peacefully with my spending needs.     Actually, I find relaxation in it. And balance. The one I need when I'm going through busy periods, such as now, when making things, preparing things for the Etsy shop, giving Art&Crafts in

English lessons, looking for and applying for jobs all coexist in my everyday life.

Wallpaper crazy!

By now I can declare myself as....wallpaper addicted! Ever since these vintage, wallpaper rolls came my way....the notion of the word has a whole new meaning to me. Not that I wasn't fond of wallpaper before used in decoration, as much as in creative crafty ways, but I simply started appreciating the whole concept a bit more.  

Any way, to make a long story short....these vintage rolls I 'm talking about are original, stamped and handsigned pieces of 1965 Albert Van Luit wallpaper, an American company that seemed to have a glorious name back in the good old times. I also checked their current stock, but to my disappointment  found nothing similar to these glorious pieces. ( Thank God for brands like Ferm Living!)


They hold names such as India, Renaissance, Borgese Damask and all of them have golden accents in their designs. Originallly I would consider something like that to be too glamorous for my kind of minimal, low and neutral toned style,  but I was surprised to see how well they work together with natural materials such as here or creating a more modern contemporary look like here. Both pictures are from The Penthouse.


Another reason that they fancinate me is the story that lies behind their discovery....in the dusty attic of an old wallpaper shop, in the very center of Athens....forgotten.... I really have no rememberance of how I ended up up there. I have the impression that I 'm driven by a special force when it comes to discovering and revealing similar things.

I have been returning to the same store now and then during my visits in Athens, but must admit that the prices were higher up, due to the fact, as the owner said, that there is currently a lot of demand as stylists, decorators and  theater people have been finding their supplies there. Oh well, the man is still kind enough to give me a reduction, since I never leave with less than three rolls in my shopping bag!

Some of these were meant to be sold under the vintage category in my Etsy shop, but it was too hard for me to let them go. So, I decided to get crafty and play with them a little, while producing things handmade for my shop. This is how I came up with the " Christmas - and not only! - ornaments", currently listed and availiable in newivystyle's shop. Don't be confused by the name, it is my shop, ivy style33's shop! 

Hope the following pictures will serve as much as an eye candy to you, as they do to me! 

Wishes for a great weekend : )

  

Ferm Living

Check out Firm Living's amazing Home Collection

  For big.....

 via

and small children ; )

 

via

Flip the pages of their delightful catalogue on line and pay a visit to their blog.

Remember to :

1. Sit back comfortably

2. Enjoy

3. Control your wish - need to have now almost everything that is featured. There are other enjoyable things in life than shopping and interior design, right? ;-)

    

Angels & " if you believe in God "

                                             ivy style33

I thought I share my thoughts on this issue also here...

Please understand God not only in the traditional, perhaps narrow minded context, but in a freer one, where every human been may believe in every God he / she chooses to. I understand God as goodness, generosity, but also truth, self - reflection, admitance of mistakes and a c t i o n s towards changing things. I consider God to be inside of us, and this can be expressed by being the best people that we can be, for ourselves first and then for others. God is also a teacher, expressed in the everyday lessons life brings. We can all be little gods by realising, doing and acting out our dreams. Time is precious to be spent just in dreaming. Let's all DO

Apartment Therapy: a great blog & friend.

It has been a while since I posted here and I plan to do so again, soon. As I 'm in the procees of an exciting job hunt, I spent much more time writing applications and cover letters in German, which requires a lot of effort ( I do have precious help though for which I 'm very grateful ), that posting about decoration projects, isn't a priority at the momment. I took a few minutes though to prepare this thank you post for Apartment Therapy, as my work and pictures have been featured and / or participated in 7 posts alltogether, within 4 months. I consider therefore lots of the people who write for this, beloved to most of us, inspiring blog to be friends!

So,

Susie Nadler  from AT San Fransisco,

Abby Stone, Beth Zeigler, Laure Joliet  from AT Los Angeles,

Sarah Ray Trover  from AT Chicago,  

Gregory Han  from AT Unplggd,

Rachel Ray  from AT Re-nest 

thank you all for warmly embracing ivy sytle33 and her interior design projects!

It has been great to be hosted in your virtual pages!

Links:

www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/bedroom/powder-blue--100436

www.re-nest.com/re-nest/the-green-cure/the-green-cure-lig...

www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/fall-2009/the-fall-cure-retai...

www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/fall-2009/the-fall-cure-...

www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/house-call/house-call-ivystyl...

www.unplggd.com/unplggd/flickr-finds/ivys-little-home-office-corner-095761

www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/inspiration-decorating-with-neutrals-090564

 

Wallpaper projects

  Today I grouped together pictures of a few wallpaper projects that I did a month ago. I find myself in love with this material and the endless ways in which it can be used! I will not write many details here, rather I 'll pass you to my flickr account, where you' ll find more descriptive details of the projects.  

   As I 'm in a flight mode tonight, there are rather a few things I need to take care of....still as you can see, it is hard for me to keep myself from posting! I hope you' ll enjoy the pictures and get inspired for new weekend projects, as it is only one day away!
Have fun...oh!...and happy Thursday : )

A featuring of the Penthouse at Houzz.com.

  A presentation of the Penthouse and an interview with sweet Kit Pollard from Houzz.com . Such a warm hostess!It has been a big pleasure : ) Thank you Kit and " gerne wieder " as we'd say in Germany, meaning I 'd gladly do it again!


  Be sure to flip the pages of the blog, as there's so much inspiration for all possible styles and tastes. What is also very nice and practical is that, by logging in, you have the ability to create your own personal ideabook, consisting of the pictures that you come across on the blog and would like to keep.So not only you get inspired, but you can easily store, in  a way, your sources of inspiration, so that you can go back to them whenever you need.

On creativity, love, psychology and real life....somehow mixed in the same post

   This is one of a pair of two favorite dessert plates of mine, that were found in Habitat a few years ago. I like to use them for dessert and breakfast, especially when I could use to be cheered up a little bit.
   I haven't been making or posting many pictures lately, as there's not so much time or desire for it, due to issues that need to be taken care of. But I cannot leave this place, with out offering or sharing something with you. Because no matter what is going on, there's nothing more true, that comes from deeper inside me than expressing myself though creativity, decoration, design and photography! This is one of my ways of living with love and expressing love for life and promise that I 'll be always coming back, everytime having learnt something new and having made a new step ahead in life.

  It's funny, how through posts like this, the issue of Psychology is also touched....because who we are, what we do, how we live and express ourselves is actually part of our psychology.....it is part of who we are, it is a reflection of ourselves. It is of course a person's eyes that are the mirror of his/ her soul, but so is the way somebody lives and his/her place itself.


 It's not about money and possessions, eventhough money does help a lot to bring home with us things that we like and love to have, it 's mostly about the feeling that we give to the spaces where we live, and this can be achieved only by putting part of ourselves there. It' s about making a house a home, and this is done only through love.


   I know I' m getting kind of emotional, but I 'm not here to create impressions of living a perfect life, having everything sorted out and walking steadily on the path of life. No, I 'm actually here, writing these lines, because this is exactly what I need to do, to be able to make my very own, stable path in life and choosing to do it, being engaged in the things that are meaningful, important and by doing them, being able to offer the best part of me.


  It's funny how I had to complete my studies in Psychology, to find out that it's through creativity that I actually want to live. And I love to be creative with other people, especially with children. I 'm so thankful for the lovely hours spent together with them, through the Art&Crafts sessions. There is so much beauty coming out from their pure souls. And in the case that they are troubled, for any reason, oh! how it helps to understand more about them through their creations and drawings! And how soul soothing and therapeutic it is to let them and encourage them to express themselves.


  So, because this post has ended up touching far too many issues than it was intented, I will close by saying, do find yourselves through any expression of creativity and most af all, encourage your little ones ( or even bigger ones!) to experience this lovely - eventhough cruel very often at the same time - world, through every one of their senses! And to make the always necessary connection to this post's picture, a little eye candy to please the eye and soothe the soul, through these colourful, playful kimonos printed on this plate.


  A lovely Wednesday to all....keep on smiling ; -)