Modern Bohemian: Spring on Gabriola....

It's all about the pillows...

I love pillows…

I love their coziness, their luxurious voluptuousness and the possibilities of beauty and comfort they provide. It may have to do with the word “pillow” itself…what do you think of when you hear it? Big, soft, fluffy pillows piled on top of your bed; piles of gorgeous pillows in fabulous colours and textures on a deep-seated sofa…perfect for reading or napping on a cold, rainy day. Or perhaps it is the pillowy hug from the woman you love or the mother who held you when you were tired or sad.

Wherever you find the word “pillow” it is usually associated with comfort. I have always carried my pillow (or “pullump”, as the five-year-old Aussie kid in me says) on any trip, be it a short road trip or a fifteen hour flight across the Pacific Ocean.

As a little girl, when my dad would come home from work he would call out “get your pullump Christine, we’re going to Queensland!” Oh the heaven of it! A huge pile of pillows and blankets in the back of the van and a thousand mile drive ahead of us. Too bad I had to share it with my two little brothers - but that’s another story.

Then there was the bliss of being wrapped in the loving, pillowy bosom of my nanna when we finally arrived in Queensland and climbing into a bed that was encircled by a "romantic” mosquito net and made up in clean, white, cotton sheets and pillows. One of my daughter’s few memories of my dad includes bringing her pullump into bed with him and nanna for a morning snuggle.

I have this huge collection of of gorgeous fabric and vintage blankets that just keeps expanding; spilling off the shelves, into drawers, out of drawers; piling up in corners…

So when I asked myself the question “what do I want to do?” I thought…”I want to make pillows.” I will make beautiful pillows to make people happy.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Spring on Gabriola....

Vintage metal bike basket filled with spring colour beside the front door.

OK, how can you guess this is my favorite season of the year... and just as well I love yellow. As daffodils are one of the few flowers that the deer don't eat, I have lots and they are naturalizing like crazy. Here are some images of pots on my deck and my "very natural" garden, mixed in with some beautiful images from Pinterest including tulips. Tulips are my absolute favorite
flower, and just because the deer won't let me have them in the garden doesn't mean I don't have them in the house all through February, March and April...

Ciao

Christine

Details of the above basket, a lacy fern, double primrose, tiny narcisus, an alpine tulip and a candlestick primula tucked in the back hiding from the deer.

This is a pot on the back deck filled with blue scilla, tiny narcissus and a variegated ivy.

Detail of the above, I have had this beautiful rusted ball for many, many years.

Pretty double primroses, a graceful grass, tucked into the moss in my favorite pot.

Looking across the "lawn" moss, daffodils amongst the native ferns.

This vase comes out in the spring to hold daffodils from the garden and dark blue anemones or hyacinth when I can find them. The color is perfect for the vibrant spring blooms.