Sunday, July 31, 2016

#collectandstyle - July Monthly Favorite

bymeeni, Madeline Norris, bymeeni on Instagram, #collectandstyle Instagram hashtag, floral plate and flowers

Hello #collectandstyle community, thank you for visiting the Under The Plum Blossom Tree blog! It is a joy and a pleasure to share with you my favorite image from this month's Instagram #collectandstyle hashtag. Please welcome the multi-talented artist Madeline Norris, who is known on Instagram as bymeeni

In her own words, Madeline is a "mama, artist, maker, lover, dancer, sister, dreamer, friend, singer, and daughter". If you were to view her blog or any of her various social media links, Madeline's talents and interests reach far and wide. Well versed in both art and craft, you'll find her skillfully drawing original animal and people characters, wielding a craft knife and creating magnificent paper cuttings featuring birds, hearts and flowers, hand sewing beautifully dressed cat, bunny and fox dolls, and teaching children how to paper craft windsocks and carnival headdresses.

Madeline is also a baker, who often uses seasonal ingredients. Some of the delicious looking recipes she has recently made and shared are her lavender biscuits with lemon glaze, rose petal chocolates, meringues with cream and fresh berries, and a raspberry and red currant cordial.

Nature plays a large role in Madeline's life; she enjoys gardening, walking, and photographing the outdoors. You'll find yourself appreciating the many flowers, trees and beautiful skies that she lovingly captures with her camera. She runs a seasonal hashtag on Instagram, the current one being #summercolourloving, so be sure to share your summertime nature-inspired images with her there.

Social activism is important to Madeline. She recently contributed her quilting, fiddle playing and singing talents to a local effort to assist refugees, and is involved in building relationships of trust in her neighborhood through #nearneighbours on Instagram.

As you can see, Madeline possesses an abundance of talent and that may have you wondering, of all these gifts, what draws me most to Madeline's work? 

That is very easy for me to answer! The above still life image is a small sampling of her vintage crockery collection, styled beautifully with pretty doilies and seasonal flowers. Madeline is a regular contributor to #collectandstyle, and I enjoy seeing how she styles beautiful old ceramics, whether it's with freshly picked flowers, or her favorite recipes.

Want to find out more? You can find Madeline on Instagram, or at her blog, meeni.co.uk. You can also find her on TwitterFacebook, Pinterest, and YouTube, so be sure to follow her!

Thank you for stopping in; I hope you've enjoyed getting to know the creative personalities behind each of the monthly #collectandstyle images I've featured so far, and I look forward to seeing all of your delightful postings there over the next month. 

If you would like to participate in #collectandstyle, you can get all the details here. I'll see you there soon!


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Saturday, July 23, 2016

Vintage Finds: Tickled Pink!

Daher Decorated Ware, Designed by Daher, Daher of England, Daher made in England, Daher Long Island New York, Daher 11101, Old Royal Bone China England, Old Royal Bone China Teacup and Saucer, Vintage Teacup and Saucer, Old Royal Vintage Bone China Teacup and Saucer, English Bone China, Chinoiserie style lamp, vintage Chinoiserie style lamp, Oriental vintage lamp, Oriental girl in dress vintage lamp, Asian girl wearing dress vintage lamp

Hi Everyone! Today, I'm delighted to share with you a sampling of color filled vintage finds from a few of my recent treasure hunting adventures. It's exciting to find the sorts of home wares that I adore, and I also love the challenge of styling and photographing those items for you, both here and @undertheplumblossomtree on Instagram. 

In deciding what to share this month, I realized that the three objects shown in the picture each had the color pink in common, and that I was captivated by how well they harmonized. 

The blush pink Old Royal bone china teacup and saucer is a calm and stable element, compared with the more lively shades of pink in the Oriental dancing girl ceramic lamp base, and the vigorous saturated pinks in the stylized flowers of the Daher of England decorated tray.

Very soon, I plan on fitting hardware and a cute shade on this old ceramic base, and placing my new 'Chinoiserie' styled lamp on the bedside stand. And on a lazy morning in the not too distant future, there will be tea served in bed - in the pink Old Royal bone china cup, carried in on the Daher tray. What fun!

Do you enjoy styling, and using, your vintage finds? If so, please join me on Instagram at #collectandstyle. There are now over 1,000 images posted to the #collectandstyle gallery, and you can meet other like-minded creatives and have some fun. See you there!
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