Hey Everyone,

I absolutely love the illustrations of Nicoletta Ceccoli. Her childlike characters and surreal dreamlike landscapes create a colourful but Gothic mood. It is her own sweet twist on the innocence meets grotesque style popularized by artists such as Mark Ryden. Lately, she has been making award winning illustrated children's books. Her strength lies in her ability to capture the imagination with her beautiful other-worldly imagery.

Gelskins for your laptop!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! Things have been super busy for me lately as I have been making plans on moving back to Canada. Just thought I would post some more inspirational images before I get too carried away with my work and forget all about my poor blog, which has been very neglected lately. I have some big changes planned for my website/blog/shoppe that I will hopefully be able to implement in the next couple of months - when things calm down. So stay tuned!

I found this awesome photographer today - Billy & Hell's. Their images are very dreamy, a bit dark and gothic. I love the technique they use with the darkened lines and high contrast which make the images look more like paintings then photographs.

Favorite of A listers and critics alike, Marchesa has struck a chord amongst the fashion elite with their unquestionable glamour and sophistication. The opulent gowns of this season collection, were inspired by the opera Madame Butterfly and featured couture tailoring in their exquisite kimono wraps, show stopping ruffles and amazing, paper-esque cutouts. Their collection can be viewed in full here. Check out their website here for past shows and info.

Known for his intricate embroidery, Mumbai born, Naeem Khan has scaled back his evening wear this season and has come up with a more youthful and accessible collection filled with desirable separates. I especially loved the little embroidered dresses, which looked to me something out of a Nordic fairytale but could just as as well have been inspired by the bright luscious fabrics and beautiful motifs of India. See the entire collection here.

There seems to be no end to the talent of McQueen, This season he delved into a futuristic world of aliens and reptile-like creatures. The silhouettes were signature McQueen, cinched at the waist with couture tailoring. His acid-coloured, digital prints were impressive as they teetered uneasily down the runway on dizzyingly high shoes.  The shoes themselves were a show in their own right and came in several platform styles;  reptile-skinned, ballerina points, heels of aged mechanical parts and showy Giger inspired sculptures. Meanwhile robotic cameras moved down either side of the runway capturing every glitzy detail. The end result was something uniquely McQueen; a testament to a man who knows how to put on a show. See his collection here.

More detailed shots

Part 1

Soo... It's been a while since my last post, apologies for that! Life has been busy but I will try to make up for it. I have been scrambling to catch up on all my work as well as researching the fashion shows I missed this season. I am in the mood for colour these days and some collections caught my eye for their brilliant prints and colour combinations. 

Marc Jacobs, the ever favourite of New York Fashion Week showed his younger label 'Marc' to an eager crowd this season. I loved the youthful, playful silhouettes and combination of prints. The overall look as usual from Jacobs was a beautiful homage to vintage and was nicely styled with extra large bows.

In Paris, Dries Van Noten produced a collection that as a whole was a bit inconsistant and could have done with a bit of editing. When he did strike the right chord though, his pieces were amazingly beautiful and elegant. His ethnic fabrics ranged in colours from purples, mustard yellows, oranges, the deepest burgandies and blues and brought to mind exotic lands of Morroco and the Far East.

Dai Fujiwara designer for Issey Miyake, showed an interesting mix in Paris this season. The show started off with simple cuts in pale shades and abruptly changed to a psychedelic pallette paired with strange knits. Although there was not a lot of sense to be made with greatly varied looks in his collection there were some stand out pieces that caught my eye. Hand dyed clothes in brilliant colours, amazing prints, a celtic textile (inexplicably thrown into the mix), and a creative way of draping his fabrics make the collection worth note.

One of the first design labels I started to follow, Kenzo never fails to create something that dazzles the eye and inspires the imagination. This season has not fallen short of expectations as Kenzo paints a scene of a dessert nomad, styled in beautifully sumptuous colours and textures. As well as following this seasons top trends such as large waisted Kimono style belts and ultra sheer fabrics, Kenzo has created a collection that is sure to please the fans.

I have been mesmerized by the works of Marina Bychkova for some time now and wanted to share with you a little of my obsession with these remarkable dolls. Marina is truly one of the most talented doll makers out there. Unique and beautiful her intricate dolls display a painstaking attention to detail. Each doll is hand painted with layers of glaze, the garments are hand-stiched, dyed and embellished with pearls, sapphires and rubies and she also creates the most amazing metallic accessories which are gilded with silver and gold. Just check out these beautiful gold stilettos, corset and bra set! The dolls themselves are entirely poseable, internally fitted with wires and springs.

Marina is producing a much anticipated book on her dolls and will be traveling to Europe at the beginning of October where she will be showing a few of her dolls at Art Fair 21. If you are interested in purchasing one of her dolls or want to see more visit her website click here. Her blog is located here.

Hi Everyone, back again this time from my trip to Switzerland. I had a great time and would like to share some of my pictures and experiences. My husband's mother lives in a small town near Geneva, on the French side. I had heard of Switzerland's natural beauty but I was stunned by the looming mountains and the brilliant greenish-blue, jeweled lakes.  living largely in London the past few years I forget how diverse and amazing Europe is and wish I had a chance to travel more. The air there was so delicious - flowers, mountain air and fresh smell of the lakes. My London abused lungs found the air nicely rejuvinating and the weather was perfect for exploring the little villages around the lakes.

Here is a picture of Maya, my mother-in-law's cat (pictured here with our travel pet Gordon). She is a tiny and sweet siamese cat who loves to talk and snuggle under warm blankets.




Our trip began exploring the town of Geneva, home of the United Nations and CERN laboratory. It is situated on Lac Léman also called Lake Geneva. The water as mentioned above is just so beautiful, a light blue green which is crystal clear. It reminded me of the glacial lakes in Canada however much warmer and even on a mild day in September people were still swimming.  Geneva itself is a smallish but interesting town. We only had time to visit the Natural History museum (super amazing) and the local botanic gardens.



The famous Geneva Landmark, Jet d'Eau (left) and a young swan (right).



Botanic gardens, amazing lilypads (left) and one of the many wild lizards we saw running around the park (right).


The Next day we visited Chateau de Chillon near Montreaux. This is on the other side of Lac Léman. The castle itself was well worth the visit but I was especially impressed by the nearby village and how it sprawled up the steep cliffs.. I am really in love with French architecture and really adored how the german style also influenced the buildings here into something uniquely Swiss. It also really reminded me of the fantasy village featured in Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service (one of my favourite of all time movies) and I kept thinking of that while the little villages passed me by.



Chateau de Chillon

Probably my favourite part of the trip was visiting the picturesque town of Annecy on the French side. The little village with its own castle and little canals on another brilliant green lake. The mountains are beautiful here and it was the first day where they were not partially covered by mist... I love the houses here and was sure to pick up a couple of local french interior design magazines that featured residencies in Annecy.. The people that live here are truly to be envied.



Me and the Canals (Top left), Birds flying over (Top Right), a curious little hole in the wall (bottom), I couldnt help but wonder if the water ever rises above the top step that looks like someones front door there.

All in all it was a beautiful trip and I can't wait to go back to Switzerland again to explore more. As usual we took hundreds of photos so sorting through them is going to take some time.  More posts shortly and I will be adding new items to my shop!

take care, ^_^

1. Irene Maria Jacobs - Amazing illustrator from the Netherlands.
2. Richard Gray - One of the greats, stylistic and detailed. Some of his illustrations are reminiscent of another favourite illustrator of mine, Aubrey Beardsley. 
3. Sophie Leblanc - French artist with a very cute and colourful style.
4.Adam Lowe - beautiful and delicate illustrations, adam lowe is a master at line and knowing when to leave an illustration unfinished for more impact.
5. Danny Roberts - amazing and young artist who has been gaining a lot of popularity in recent months working for big names such as Gwen Stephani. I am in love with his style and wonky lines.

Laura Laine - Gothic and beautiful, Laura Laine draws inspiring creations in black and white. Edward Gorey anyone?

Cecilia Carlstedt -  Her work speaks for itself. Clever and beautiful.

Hey everyone, I just got back from an amazing trip along the coast of England. I have been living in London for the past few years now but never had the opportunity to explore the countryside. This week I embarked on a whirlwind trip by train. Our stops included Southampton and the Isle of Wight where we visited Queen Victoria's Osbourne Castle, we stayed at a haunted hotel in Exeter and detoured to Exmouth for an amazing trek along the Jurrasic Coast, We stopped by the Eden Project at St. Austell and finally ended our journey in Penzance where we stayed with a family friend and visited a enchanting castle! Phew... I have been recovering the last couple days from this journey and my feet have just started to forgive me for all the abuse I put them through but it was all extremely worth it. We took hundreds of pictures which I will be posting on our travel blog but here is a few to look over... Already missing the fresh air..

Above Pictures - Top two pictures are taken at St Michael's Mount. A beautiful  fortress on an island only accessible at low tide or by boat.  It was incredibly misty that day so it gave everything a very haunting quiet feel. The castle itself was first built in the 12th century but the history and legends of the island go well before that and  even into prehistoric times.  There is a small village along the base which houses about 300 people, really beautiful beyond words.

Bottom picture above - Stone fountain base at Osbourne Castle on the Isle of white.

The Eden Project was also amazing and I highly recommend it for anyone travelling out to the west coast of England.. I have some beautiful pictures from here but I had to post these creepy rabbit heads..

 The plants were huge.. I feel like Alice.

One last picture... Our hotel in Exeter I am standing where many people have said to have seen a ghostly lady dressed in grey. Supposidly the hotel used to be a  jail where lots of horific events occured. They still have some of the old dungeon cells in the basement where more strange occurances are still happening. My husband had a fun late evening in the hotel bar talking to the owner. I was luckily sleeping and didn't hear these stories till after we departed.. Otherwise i might have had trouble sleeping.