Secrets of a Butterfly

Enchanted wood: Surrendering of wishes

 

image by Anastasia

Enchanted Wood, is a series of posts upon my blog, where we can revisit and reawaken the connection to nature and the magic that we may miss from childhood.....the credits for each image lie beneath.

Let the photographs take you inside of them, into another world, where you can rest a while, feel the enchantment about you and begin to remember your dreams beyond ordinary reality.

 

by Chad

Here pixie dust, and fallen leaves mix together, tiny bells can be heard and a certain long forgotten magicalness, still lives.

 

by emma

As we step through our Enchanted Wood, we hear its forgotten whispers within the heart and we breathe in its peacefulness

 

wishes

like the scattering of dandelion clocks, wishes are carried far, words can resonate with many...

Rosee

 

daisies

 and if you listen to the silence, you may here the flowers whispering...

 "the seasons change but we fear not, for their is a time when our petals return and we dance freely in our meadow once more.

 It is this trust which allows us a surrendering to the seasons and to change, for we feel the innate support of being at One with all of nature around us"

love,trust and magicalness,

 (more from the enchanted wood series)

An abundance of gems and jewels

You know how here at Secrets i have a passion for jewellery with meaning, the sort of pieces that can be worn as a type of talisman or to remind you of a personal representation.

Well, when i found out about a new Uk based website that stocks many of my favourite designers that make jewellery of this nature, i was thrilled. Its called So Charming, and their logo has a pink butterfly next to it, always a good sign!

So here are some of the delights that caught my eye, as i browsed their website this morning.

Oh how i love seeing little swallows in jewellery. They appear so uplifting with their wings stretched out!
This pair is by Catherine Weitzman and i liked the colour of the stone against the gold.
I think the rings here by Robindira Unsworth go beautifully with them too. There's such a trend for stacking gem set rings at the moment and these are the nicest i've seen. She also does the most gorgeous bangles set with gemstones. This stone is a beautiful green named Chrysoprase.

I seem drawn to these ocean colours just now, soft greens and pale blues. This seahorse pendant another item by Catherine is so pretty as well.

It can be hard to come by Energy Muse, and Jeanine Payer here in the Uk. So i was pleased to see they stock those along with one of my all time British favourites, Lola Rose.

They also have a vast range of Dogeared, which i have blogged about before when i recieved some for a Christmas present. It is always a wonderfully engaging range, due to the little charms they feature and the packaging which carries such inspiring words.

I'm particulary taken with the new Eat Pray Love range by Dogeared ( a tie in with the Julia Roberts film). Their earrings are so very wearable, and the range offers matching thread bracelets or necklaces. They also have some pretty bookmarks with quotes upon them, such as "the hub of calmness that's your heart"-beautiful!

My favourites are from Robindira Unsworth's range. I didnt know much about her design philosophy, so i stopped by her site, which is beautiful. Robindira works with her husband Robert in the company. Their lifestyle brand is inspired by the Californian vibe where they live, combined with middle eastern influences. So a harmony of East and West infuses the jewellery.

I read on her blog that she has just had a precious baby girl in September, named India.
I like these earrings (reduced on site, so i may add them to my wish list!)and all her necklaces!(featured in the first photo, though they are a bit out of my price range)

And before i go, specially for Secrets readers....
there's 10% off all jewellery at So Charming when you use this code: charm10 (its valid for 3 months and they ship worldwide)

Love and blessings

Love,trust and pixie dust

dust

Some magicalness just to lift my heart and i hope yours too...
thank you for the lovely wishes for my mam yesterday. i wasnt as well as i hoped, but i did get downstairs for a while in the middle of the day - we had a lemon cake my brother made...mmmm!

treasure

basket

field

rabbit

room

grey socks

did you catch the dust,if you did, don't forget to make a wish,

A special birthday post

 

Today is my Mam's 60th Birthday so i wanted to post up some of my roses photos for her. And share a few of the gifts that i have wrapped.

 

 

These were the very last blooms from the small rose bush in the front garden.

The presents i wrapped in a swan paper by Nina Campbell  which i discovered at Paper Nation.

 

 

 

I took the roses on my bedroom window sill, as it was the only place with enough light.

 

 

 

This is a photo from 1976, with dad and mam holding me.

 
 

 Happy Birthday Mam, may you be sprinkled with special magical fairy dust today, granted your wishes by angels and surrounded by the love of your family.

thank you for being there and being You and i love you....xoxoxoxox

 

A touch of the magical: Thimble and Violet

A touch of the magical..Thimble and Violet  

Such a beautiful collection of images are to be found at Skye's flickr stream. It's a haven of white rabbits and unicorns, shared secrets and special places. Like pages from a storybook, her images remind us of tales we hear as children, and they carry the same wonder.

Skye also has a diary named The Lost Princess

Here are some of my favourites from her collection

 

 

 

I believe in Unicorns don't you?

 

 

 

 

This is an beautiful collection in Skye's journal. It reminds me that i want to return to my own journaling again. sometimes i find too much online, and though its inspiring, i find a different type of pleasure in the act of scrapbooking images and my writing like this, in the "old fashioned way".

 

arent they wonder - filled, there's something so special about these sort of photos, they really lift my heart and help me to continue on my journey. they bring life into focus and remind me of my own creative dreams, which however hard times have been lately i won't forget about. i want to touch trees and capture sunlight like the girl here

......soon may be soon...

this post has been made with love

 

 

We love trees

(* by anna)

Playing under the trees,
almost as magical as under the stars

certainly just as fun
and you get to hug trees

you can't hug stars
though you can make wishes on them

(* Luigi)

(*)

(* by Bonita)

(*)

maybe you can make wishes on leaves too...

(* amelie)

( this post features my friend Anna's 5 year old Luigi with photos taken in Wales and photos from my friend Bonita of her little girl Amelie taken on the other side of the globe, in New Zealand)

with love

Delicate porcelain jewellery

You know how very much i love butterflies,I took this photo through our living room window, back in August. I decided to post it today as it reminded me so much of some beautiful porcelian earrings that are made by Amy, of Red Raven.

Amy began her business in '06 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the US.
Her work is entirely handmade from porcelain and collaged with ceramic decals, inspired by vintage designs and textiles.

Ceramic decals are known for adorning the side of many a vintage tea cup, but as the popularity of these household items faded, they became less used. Its such a good idea to turn these decals into something wearable and lovely isnt it.

You may remember this photo of some little pieces of heather that i shared in my Romantic style post recently. I love delicate pink like this, so these earrings and hair slides are my favourites from her collection.

She also makes the sweetest little white buttons, which i could imagine using as closures on fabric purses...

such as this one made by the lovely Jasna

And i spotted this yellow rose necklace which i am quite tempted to purchase as a gift for my mam as they are her favourites. I think Amy takes custom orders too, so i would probably want it as a brooch version.

Although the items are handmade and may look expensive, i was very taken with the website, as the pieces are affordable. Earrings start at $26 and necklaces are $42.

Amy says " I strive to create unique accessories that stand apart from store bought items and inspire people to support handmade."
And her range certainly fufills that intention.
love

Interior styling

These images are by Jo Tyler, i just loved the sitting room above. And these rose petals floating are so beautiful.

I shall have to try that in my photography. Up until now i have done candles and whole roses and flowers floating but hadnt thought of just the petals in water.

This living room is so Christmassy isnt it. Speaking of Christmas, this week i have been enjoying browsing the catalogues that have come in the mail. The White Company have some gorgeous white decorations. Their whole catalogue is so inspiring,its been styled so well. I shall take some photos to share of the pages, or you can see most of it at their website.

I have been pinning onto my boards at Pinterest. If you'd like to see some further interiors i adore, then thats the link to follow.

with blessings,

A touch of the magical: Deer at dawn

Andrew Evans  lives in Kent England, to me he is "the deer man" on flickr.

He has the most natural way of capturing early morning light and infuses his photographs with a magical-ness that cannot be put into words.

It is as if you step through into another world or another time,one when the world was less hurried and simpler. Maybe when man walked more in harmony with the nature around him.

 Andrew's favourite time for using the natural light seems to be the early hours of morning. Dawn is a time of day so often overlooked, yet as anyone who practices yoga or meditation knows, a certain type of serenity is to be found in just those hours. For me that same energy or feeling is imbued into Andrew's work. It seems that magic rubs off on you, when you lay eyes on the photos.

These are the most delightful deer you will ever see. They seem almost to have made friends with this quiet stranger amongst them. He must spend hours in the woodland awaiting their appearance and yet it seems to me,he is also blessed with a certain special touch. Like a natural gift for wildlife photography which explains the wonder of the poses he captures. I don't think its something you can be taught.

Its not often that a complete stream of photos at flickr takes my breath away, but that's what happened when i found his. I cannot fail to be charmed, inspired and uplifted.

 feel the magicalness too, here: Andrew Evans.

love and light

Enchanted wood: When the leaves turn

playing

Here's this weekend's woodland collection of images from flickr. I was in an autumnal mood when i compiled it. Hope you enjoy!
Click the link to read more about the enchanted wood series.

soft leaves

lying

fairy dish

(*)

leaves

standing

Today the wood whispers to me "to play, play softly in the leaves and let go of cares, like the trees let go of their leaves during this season."
kat x