On the way to Austria, while driving through Germany, I was leafing through the German edition of In Style and I came across a piece about…pillows with an owl-motif. Well, it’s nice to know that the magazine agrees with me as to the current trends ;-) Here are the two pillows featured in he article: They’re both from TAJ ( www.taj-woodscherer.com), and not surprisingly I’ve found there an entire collection of pretty and original cushions – below are my favourite few. They remind me a bit of the Dutch Pip Studio, although TAJ uses milder colours in its designs. What do you think?
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And I'm happy to announce that the second part of the Gallery with my photos from Austria is already on-line! This one is a bit more varied - yes, there are mountain views, but aslo some birds of pray, village views and even one with Alpine cows ;-) Enjoy! Visit Alpine Views Gallery II And finally, here comes the first part of the photos from our short holidays in Austria, in the Mayerhofen Valley of Tyrol. The Alps are simply breathtaking – there is no other way to put it. And it’s amazing that during one week at the end of Summer you can get to see and capture both Summer and Winter views. I invite you to visit my Alpine Views Gallery I. Enjoy! If there are modern trends in human architecture, why shouldn’t this creativity spill over into, e.g., bird feeders’ architecture? ;-) Continuing my series of posts about birds, today a few creative, modern and slick bird feeder designs by the Danish brand Eva Solo – just take a look, original, aren’t they? I’m not sure if the birds will also truly appreciate their style, but I certainly do! And here is another out-of-the-ordinary feeder, this one is a bit UFO-shaped ;-)
Today we’re continuing our owl-design fashion madness – this time I’ve found for you a selection of fun T-shirts with our favourite bird. Whether you want a romantic owl sketched in black or a garish one which looks as if she was taken from a cartoon, you’re guaranteed to find an owl to suit your tastes ;-)
Visist www.polyvore.com for even more owlish T-shirts! By now it should come as no surprise to you that I’m crazy about flowers. This is one of the reasons why leaving Holland – the county of widely available fresh, beautiful and cheap flowers – is so depressing for me. Still, I am far from giving up, so this past weekend I dragged my husband to a flower exhibition held on the grounds of the Wilanow Palace in Warsaw. It’s an annual event during which the students who have graduated in the field of floristry showcase their final exam works. It was with a slight trepidation that I was going there – I was afraid of being disappointed with what Polish floristry has to offer as compared to the Dutch one. But I was in for quite a nice surprise – the works showcased were, in my opinion, of quite high quality, varied and rather creative, even if sometimes they lacked a certain flair. Sure, the quality and diversity of floral material itself was not perfect, but after all we do not have world’s biggest flower auction around the corner. And I think it will still take some years before we learn to use non-floral material in floral arrangements as well as the Dutch do. Pleasantly surprised as I was with the floral pieces themselves, the way in which they were showcased brought tears to my eyes – literally. Not only was the exhibition room dark and poorly lit, but the separate stalls were from cheap white plate and lacked the back wall, thus every arrangement had to me admired with things like radiators, fire extinguishers, floor crates, sockets, extension cords and other cables sticking out from the walls in the background. Not a good idea, believe me. It was virtually impossible to take a good photo under these circumstances….but I did try, and here are the results – what do you think? I think there is quite a fierce competition out there among the photographers – there’s so many of them trying to make a name for themselves, and only few have the talent, creativity, originality and luck required to succeed. Keith Kimberlin is one of those who managed to do just that, by becoming one of the most famous photographers of…puppies and kittens. Can it get any cuter? I’ve become his fan the moment I saw a certain collage made-up from his photos – will you believe that the photos were of kittens in…shoes and bags! Can any woman say no to that combo?! See for yourself: Almost equally endearing are the two collages with kittens and puppies in coffee cups ;-) And here are a few other examples from Keith Kimberlin’s portfolio – you can find more information at www.keithkimberlin.com
Tempted as I am to keep writing abort Austria, I realize I probably shouldn’t keep rambling about my holidays in every new post I publish… ;-) So today we’re in for something entirely new: bird feeders’ architecture. After all, now that September has started the Autumn is officially coming, and so is the season for feeding birds. Some people treat it as a hobby, some as an obligation and some – as a creative way to decorate a garden and attract interesting bird visitors. I think especially the English have a soft spot for birds in Winter, and for putting up all sorts of feeders in their gardens – I do applaud their creativity in this regard. Want a proof? Take a look at this selection of cute bird feeders from shopping.rspb.org.uk , and visit the RSPB’s website for even more creative bird inventions ;) Achensee (The Achen Lake) is the biggest post-glacial lake of the Austrian Tirol. And like every post-glacial lake it has incredibly blue water, lies in a picturesque setting surrounded by mountains and… is very, very cold ;-) Let me show you a short photo-story of an Achensee day trip. One of the more original ways of reaching the Lake is to take o 50-minute ride up the mountain from Jenbach with the Achensee Steam Cog Railway, driven by the oldest steam cog locomotive in the world – one built in 1889. Admittedly, it may not be the most comfortable or fastest way of transportation available, but it certainly is an original and unique one, with lots of whistling, hissing and puffing ;-) And this is how it looks: Once the antique railway reaches the Seespitz Station, having consumed hundreds of kilograms of coal (some of which has by now ended up on your clothes in the form of soot), you can take a boat trip around the lake and admire the views. And the views are really amazing: You can also get off the boat at one of its many stops and visit one of the lake-side villages, to see an incredible number of traditional Austrian houses with wooden balconies overflowing with flowers, and an occasional alpine cow ;-)
I'm happy to report that I'm back from my holidays, which were a definite success :-) The Austrian Valley of Mayerhofen we went to was so beautiful that it looked more like a picture out of a fairytale book than reality. Cable car rides up the mountains were thrilling, mountain trains offered adventures, Alpine meadows were picturesque, mountain views breathtaking. The air was so incredibly fresh and the colours so brilliant that I got an injection of energy every time I looked around and breathed – it made me feel so alive. And now that I’m back in Warsaw – the grey city covered by dreary clouds sprouting tons of grey rain – I have my one-and-a-half thousand photos from Austria to cheer me up! So, obviously, you’ll be reading a lot about it and watching lots of my holiday pictures here in the upcoming weeks, but for starters – a short photo-story about all things Austrian! Let's start with a few amazing mountain views - and yes, apparently if you visit the Alps in August, you can get photos of both mountain summer views and winter views!!! (for the latter you just need to get to the top of a glacier ;-) Then, there are of course mountains streams, rivers, lakes and waterfalls: And have you ever seen some postcards with "traditional Austrian houses," the ones with wooden balconies flooded with blooming flowers? Guess what - they really do exist!!! Next, we have a number of different railways which help you move through and up the Austrian mountains - some come from 19th century, some look as if they were from 22nd century: We definitely can't forget about the few animals which are symbols of the Alps - an Alpine cow and an Alpine marmot ;-) And last but not least in my teaser-preview of Austria, the country's world-famous speciality and delicacy - the Sacher Torte!
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August 2012
AuthorA fiery red head, a writer and a photographer in love with beautiful design and all things creative |