Ricevere con Stile

Sorry to have been a little absent of late. I've been crazily busy with my current show, rehearsing for another show, taking French lessons, attending art exhibition launches and lots more - phew!

I recently guest blogged for Laura at Ricevere con Stile which I was excited about because Laura & I have so much in common. We often post about very similar things, if not the same things. Funny how someone who lives across the other side of the world (Rome) can have so much in common with you.

Here are a few pics of my favourite things in my home that I showed on Laura's delightful blog...

 

My bookcase, where I display my most favourite objects, collectibles, books, scripts & little treasures.

 

I love old books. Above you can see a 1920's copy of "Through the Looking Glass" and a 1928 copy of "Lorna Doone." Just to left you can see a vintage copy of Fielding's "Tom Jones." 

 

 I love vintage jars & bottles too. 

The white frame above contains an Oscar Wilde quote which I adore:

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." 

~ Oscar Wilde

 

 This is where I blog from (not normally this tidy haha!)

 This is my Ruby. She has a slight obsession with sniffing flowers.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

~ Clare x

All images by me

The Big Reveal....

About a month ago I mentioned that I had taken part in a very exciting photo shoot involving a favourite photographer & fine artist of mine & a very large company. Well it has finally been published, so I can now reveal the details & of course the final image.

The shoot was for Qantas & the amazing, amazing photographer / artist that created this artwork was Alexia Sinclair.

Image by Alexia Sinclair for Qantas Frequent Flyer

Hair & Makeup by Sarah Laidlaw

Yep, that's me. I still cannot believe I had the chance to work with Alexia. She is such an amazing artist!

~ Clare x

A High Tea Fit For a Queen

My fabulous, stylish sister-in-law Aneta recently had a beautiful baby girl, Elisha. For her baby shower she decided to have a small gathering at her house for high tea.

Aneta elegantly decorated the table with a single palm frond down the centre of a white table cloth, set outside in her tropical oasis courtyard. (That's me with the firey red hair!)

Heavily pregnant, Aneta worked in her kitchen for two days to create this magnificent display of delicious treats for us ladies.

These adorable sweets almost looked too good to eat...almost.



Aneta has inspired me to host my own high tea baby shower, so I've decided to have a baby just for the occasion.

Yes I am kidding! But not about the baby. 

I am expecting and it's a great excuse to have a high tea with my closest girlfriends. I'll have to start planning soon! Baby is due late March.

~Linda

Thanks to Aneta for the photos.

My Engagement Shoot

 

Sorting out my computer desk area the other day, I came across my engagement shoot photos & decided to share a couple.

 

They are from a couple of years ago. We used them for our Wedding invites & for the labels on the wine we gave away as thank you gifts.

 

We wanted the photos to be really natural. No hair & makeup or over the top styling, just us.

 

 

The photos were taken by my dear friend & talented photographer, Reef.

 

Photography by Reef Gaha

~ Clare x

Babies, Brûlée, Mummies & Macarons

This weekend saw us ladies enjoying a champagne high tea for Dann's baby shower. We donned ourselves in our best girly frocks & we headed to the Bayside Lounge in Darling Harbour for what I must say was one of the best high teas I have ever had. It was a gorgeously sunny day and we enjoyed the view of our popular Darling Harbour through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Such a lovely day.

 

 

All images by me

I actually ate so much that I felt sick afterwards hahaha!

My show also opened on the weekend. Needless to say I'm exhausted after a weekend of shows, baby showers, brunching with a long lost friend and dinner with our very close friends.

I hope you all had as decadent a weekend as I did...?

~ Clare x

Keep On Truckin'

I never knew a party on the back of a truck could be so glamorous....

Until I found this "Dessert Table on a Truck" shoot over at Amy Atlas.

 

 

 

I love the grey & lemon theme.

There's just something about sugared pears... they always look so beautiful.

 

Styled by Heather of WhipperBerry

Photographed by Jeanna Hayes

Found via Amy Atlas

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

My show opens tomorrow night, the nerves are beginning to set in - eek!

~ Clare x

Wild About Violets

I'm in love with purple and have been for as long as I can remember. My 18 month old daughter's name is Violet and since she was born I have collected all things violet, such as violet-fragranced hand creams, peoms about violets and violet recipes.

Earlier in the year on an antiquing trip (see Clare's post in May) I came across some French candies in several different flavours, including violet and I had to have them. The tin is so sweet and the candies are delicately flavoured with real violets. They're made in France by Les Anis de Flavigny.

Image from here

Just by chance, I found a recipe book on desserts made with violets and violet syrup. Monin brand makes many flavoured syrups, including violet, or 'Violette'. It's also fun to look at their extensive range of flavours - all the possibilities! 



image from here

For the chocoholics, I found this chocolate maker who makes violet flavoured chocolates.

image from here

Rococo Chocolates in London makes beautifully packaged luxury chocolates. They have many other floral chocolates, including jasmine and rose, as well as lots of curious flavours such as Cardamom, Sea Salt and Earl Grey Tea. I'd love to try them all!

image from here

I can just imagine how delicous this violet-scented yoghurt is by Mamie Nova.

In my search for all things violet-flavoured, I found quite a few blogs with very interesting posts.

 The Flowerfood blog is fascinating. It's dedicated to food flavoured with flowers. I found these two products that I'd love to try:

Violet jam

and

Violet lemonade

images from here

Here are some recipes I'd love to try...

image from here

Violet macaroons (a recipe from Master Chef) featured in a post on Bubble and Sweet - a gorgeous blog full of dessert recipes beautifully presented and photographed.

photo from here

I love jelly! The most exotic flavour I've tried is lilly pilly, which was delicious. I'd like to try this recipe.

image from here

How lovely would a lemon cupcake with beetroot frosting and candied violets taste?
I'd love to try recipe if I could find some violets to crystallise!

And lastly, this stunning presentation of violet ice-cream...

image from here

Courtesy of Playing with Fire and Water, an amazing blog by chef foodplayerlinda

I hope you enjoyed exploring the culinary delights of violets as much as I did and discovered some fabulous blogs on the way.

Have an amazing week!

~Linda xx

Blue Remembered Hills

I do hope everyone had a delightful weekend. I'm soooo tired from rehearsing for my latest show!! I'm in production week now, so no rest for the wicked :-)



Now I'm begging for good weather as this production is an outdoor one!! So far the weather has not been very co-operative...

Have a great week!

~ Clare x

It's Party Time!

 

Tonight / today (depending on your location) you'll find me guest posting at It's Party Time all the way over in Denmark. The lovely Marianna so kindly asked me to be a guest on her blog & I graciously accepted. This is my very first time guest-posting on another blog! I really admire Marianna's blog too, so it feels like such an honour.

I know I don't really talk about myself very much on here (I'm working on that). So if you want to learn a little more, you can find me here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

~ Clare x

A Midsummer Night's Wedding ~ Part 2

My last post was dedicated to my dearest friend, Ally. She just recently got engaged to the love of her life & is now planning her wedding. The post was Shakespeare inspired.

Well.... I couldn't help but post a few more enchanted pics that I came across which cast a Midsummer Night's Dream spell on me...

 

 

"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows"

 

"Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows"

"Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine."

~ Clare x

Credits:

1 - 4. Green Wedding Shoes

5 - 7. Rock n' Roll Bride

8 - 10. Once Wed & Jimena Roquero Weddings

Quote: William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oberon 

A Midsummer Night's Wedding

My dearest friend, whom I have known the longest of all my friends, just got engaged! I'm so happy for her. I have never seen her so happy since she met her fiancé. They are truly one of those couples that you just know are meant to be together forever.

So now she has the task of planning her Wedding and since I know her better than anyone, I have decided to put together a Wedding Inspiration post for her, that I know she will love. The theme I have chosen is something very close to her heart.... Shakespeare.

 

"no sooner met but they looked,

no sooner looked but they loved"

  

 

 

 

"no sooner loved but they sighed,

no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason"

 

 

 

"no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy;

and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage"

 

 

 

~ Clare x

Credits: 

1. Kiss the Groom

2 - 6. Once Wed

7 - 9. Simply Flowers by Stoneblossom

10 - 11. Utterly Engaged

12 - 13. Stephanie Williams Photography

Quote: William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Rosalind