Secrets of a Butterfly

Vintage floral finds

Have you found anything in the sales lately. I chose this blazer at Urban Outfitters online. I'd had my eye on it before and was very happy when it was much less than half price! Their sales are one of the best i've found. I hadnt bought a blazer before as they had all seemed too formal and restrictive but this one is the exception and is not just pretty, its very soft and comfortable too.

If you like Noa Noa, Inis online have their sale on with some pretty pieces. I also use Whistles quite a bit. They have some wonderfully made pieces, T shirts in slubby cotton (i have a peach one on in the photo below) which are just so comfortable and blouses in fresh white and nude colour tones. Their sale is still ongoing with most items below £60 now.

The bag below is my find for June,hand made from vintage fabric and came from Happy Loves Rosie. I also got a present for a friend from there at the same time, but obviously keeping that a secret!

I'd like to thank anyone who commented for the first time on the previous post. I love hearing from you. I have been enjoying visiting your blogs too, as i always pop across when your link is left with a comment. I have been adding to my sidebars, and have included some of your blogs there.

I have so much to share with you but am having to pace it, as i don't always have the energy. I am looking forward to telling you about a liberty print skirt, stationery finds, and some indie magazines amongst other things.....
love

A fairy journal

Return to Fairyopolis from Secretsofabutterfly on Vimeo.

I like alot of books but there are certain ones that i really Love. Quite often these seem to involve fairy's i can't quite tell why....

A while ago i gave a friend a baking book. And just lately she gave me this one which she saw and just thought so me- which it v much is!(thankyou honey it was a lovely surprise,and wishing you a beautiful birthday today xxx)

I sat in the garden looking at it and found myself wanting to share some of the details within its pages with you all. So i made a little video. Hope you like the book as much as i do,
love and fairy dust

Vintage china and roses

These roses were right at home in my new little jug. I found this Taylor and Kent vintage china tea set on ebay. A scottish seller named Posy Green. It dates from pre 1891 and has been handpainted. It caught my eye as i like the delicacy of the pink floral design along with the shape and the lightness of the porcelain.

Being Victorian and so old the glaze has a few little marks upon it and yet the imperfections add to its charm for me. I am amazed at how it has lasted so long and wonder about its story over the past 120 years! Where it has lived, who's shelves has it nestled upon, was it loved and kept for best or loved and used everyday. There is obviously a strength in even the most fragile of things.

I am always so taken with the photographers that incorporate vintage china into their flower photos and felt this set would enable me to have a play and create some prettiness of my own.

I love the way seeing people creating what they love, inspires my own creativity and makes me want to continue to express through photography and develop a style.

Some of my most favourites have fine art photography shops of their very own at etsy:
Yvette Inufio,
Georgianna Lane
City of blackbirds
Gabrielle Kai
Kristybee
Lynda Naranjo
My Fine Garden
Bella Luce
Vintage chic images

I may currently only use the auto setting on my Nikon but i still feel i am developing, especially when it comes to compostion. Its something creative i can enjoy even with limited energy, so i think thats why i love it so. That and the fact that i get to focus on roses and flowers, another big love of mine.

Thankyou vintage china for finding a new home with me,and thankyou friends fo looking at my photos today. Do have a spot of tea and a little treat before you go...

Shoes or bags?

1. Upcycled knitting bag, 2. bambi bag, 3. This was unlike the story it was written to be., 4. bags

Are you a shoe person or a bag person? is it possible to be both? I think that's me as i can't seem to choose. i collected together some of my favourites of each for todays post. which are your favourites i'd love to know?

1. Untitled, 2. repetto flats, 3. Untitled, 4. IMG_3944 bis

The Butterfly tree

This is my entry for a summer home styling challenge run by My voucher codes.see it larger here.

Have you come across them before, its a Uk site that keeps you up to date with discounts for online shopping. They've just started a blog Most Wanted and they have been asking for readers to submit their favourite 10 items to update a room,in their Summer Home styling challenge. All the pieces must be under £50, as its all about style on a budget.

As you know, i like sourcing home accessories, and so thought i'd give the challenge a go, using polyvore to create my collage.

I think one of the best parts of designing a room is accessorising. It can really change the whole ambiance quite easily. Its a good way of updating a room or altering the mood. I think its important to have things you love, and to find them at a good price is even better.

I chose some floral wallpaper(centre) with a silver tone background. At £18 a roll i imagined covering the fire breast wall using 2 rolls. (hence still under £50).

I thought the butterfly mirrors would work well upon this or a facing wall, they're £30 for the 3 at Tesco. The silver theme is continued with the candle holders from Graham and Green. I would term there site affordable luxury, as though they do sell expensive pieces of furniture, they also source beautiful accessories that are very well priced.

I also picked the butterfly drawer knobs from there, what a great addition to an otherwise plain chest of drawers these would be, they are carved shell-gorgeous.

The lamp is from Zara home. The paper roses are from The Lavender room. They can be wrapped around banisters, or mantel pieces, or a mirror. Very versatile and a different look to fairylights.

There's a venetian glass frame, and bird embroidered cushions, which are again from Graham and Green, and look alot more exspensive than their price i think. The storage tins are at John lewis.

Lastly the ivory tree is by Next and is designed as a photo holder, i imagined you could hang little things off the branches and create a family tree with black and white photos.

The links for the items are here.
Love and wishes


p.s. if you are seeing no right hand side bar displaying, my apologies there is a glitch with my typepad, hopefully it'll be back to normal soon.

To be a fairy of the rose

I have been so enjoying the roses from our garden. I am inspired by the photos of my friends on flickr. And have been arranging them in various little vases, including this tiny teapot. I picked out some in pinks to share today, and have a few in yellow to follow. I wish i could add a link for you to smell their scent. The pink ones especially are heavenly! I made the last photo of this post with petals on the grass.

The poem below is from the flower fairy website.

The Rose Fairy Poem

Best and dearest flower that grows,
Perfect both to see and smell;
Words can never, never tell
Half the beauty of a Rose-
Buds that open to disclose
Fold on fold of purest white,
Lovely pink, or red that glows
Deep, sweet-scented. What delight
To be a Fairy of the Rose!

Good, sweet, best and dearest

Rose is a sweet, gentle Flower Fairy, who likes nothing more than fluttering around her flowery home, tending to the roses in the warm sunshine.

She wears a beautiful pink dress made from velvety petals, finished with a sprinkling of fairy dust!
She makes rose water when she has time, which you might be able to smell in your garden in late spring and early summertime.

Writing little letters

Remember in May i made a cuff for Eadaoin to wear for her wedding. While away in Paris she collected me a package of stationery goodies, and they arrived in the mail lately. Wasnt that so lovely of her.(thankyou honey xx) Its so lovely when you can exchange parcels with blog friend's isnt it. Here's some of the beautiful cards and extras that Ead gave me....

Such yummy things,(including a Parisian chocolate) i must confess to a slight stationery addiction! And French paper products are amongst the best, just the right touch of quirky/sophisticated/wimsy/childhood reminising...if you love paper and cards too,then you know what i mean.

Whenever i can i love the act of writing a letter, and i always like to add stickers and things to envelopes, here's the thankyou note i sent Eadaoin....if you like them they were from iLee at etsy.

In a way, the posts i write here at Secrets are alot like letters too, with love

The softest wash of colour

I like the soft colours of this collection i drew together from my Flickr favourites. The naturals and softest of greys with just a hint of blue. The image links are:

1. Untitled, 2. coral lit sunsets, 3. Turning into the light, 4. Dress

You know i love to place images together that evoke memories or feelings. They tell a story, that can be unique to each of us.
Can you expand each of these photographs and imagine the greater context they're in. What is going on just before or after? Is it the photographer you wonder about behind the image or is it the subject...
Its fascinating how we respond to the same photograph in so many different ways isnt it.

When Nancy asked me to guest post at her blog, Wolf and Willow, i was not only so happy to be asked, as its one of my favourites, but i knew almost immediately that i wanted to submit some mosaics to her flickr fun catagory.

So my sweets, here's the link if you'd like to see it,
Morning Light
Till next time, with soft wishes of peacefulness on the breeze tonight

Fairy thimbles and photographs

Rarely have i come across a blog focused on fashion that has captured me the way Clothes Cameras and Coffee has lately.

Roz is just 15, yet her creativity, style and expression is that of someone far beyond her years. The shoots she shares upon her blog, involve clothes found through markets and charity shops, which she then styles and models. But she writes about her inspirations for each outfit, the process of putting it together and what each piece means to her, where it was found, how she altered it, and what era its from or evokes for her.

If modeling is a gift, then she has been born to do it. She makes it look effortless,transforms each photograph into something beyond just another image of a girl in an outfit. The result being,you are drawn into imagining a story...as if a page from a beloved novel has come to life.

Many of the images,which are exceptionally well taken by her father, evoke something of the Toast asthetic. (models not overly made up, but stunning in their beauty and set against naturual surroundings, with simplicity a foundation and the story built upon it) As with Toast, you end up coveting the clothes simply because she breathes such beautiful life into them.

Her talent does not stop at modeling(through Select), her photography is blossoming and her creativity in both styling and fashion illustrating/designing is also exceptional.


She sites herself as a nostalgic person, happy looking through old family polaroids and reading books as an avenue to dreaming. I hope she can retain a balance as things progress and that her centredness within the world she lives now, can remain with her as she ventures out into new creative pursuits.

I hope as time passes you can continue to post Roz,so we can see which paths you take next, your blog is a delight,full of grace and brings so much inspiration,
with blessings and bluebells

Folklore for Bluebells...they have long been symbolic of humility and gratitude. They are associated with constancy, gratitude and everlasting love. Bluebells are also closely linked to the realm of fairies and are sometimes referred to as "fairy thimbles." To call fairies to a convention, the bluebells would be rung.

The Carousel Horse

Musical Carousel Horse from Secretsofabutterfly on Vimeo.

This is a little video of my musical carousel horse, which i was inspired to share after seeing my friend Paula's last week, you can see it here at her blog Pinkbow

I hope you are touched with some sparkling magicalness, if you watch,
love