Learning To Carefully Walk Again

Hello Lovelies,

This last winter has been a turmoil in my life, to say the least... So I had to stop blogging here very suddenly, without even having the time to say goodbye properly to all of you lovelies.

But anyway... Here I am again. Learning to slowly walk again. I took a stroll in the great outdoors the other day and here is the result:

 

 

 

And after all that walking, a nice cuppa was in order, of course! 

Dans mes cartons

Hello Lovelies!

 From Pia's book

This post's title is a pun: it means I am both "in my cardboard boxes", sorting things out and decluttering, as well as having interesting stuff in my paper files, waiting to be published here. Simply because "cartons" means both "cardboard boxes" and "paper files". ;-)

So, what's up? I'm not perfect, but I feel at home, despite the mess that is going on right now in my house. Don't declutter like I did: avoid taking all of your possessions at one out in the open to be sorted. Be patient, work one room at a time. Maybe I feel good during difficult times because there are 2 or 3 things I know about wabi-sabi, or happiness.

Hearing about Seamus Heaney's death, this end of august really feels like the end of an era. Maybe we all need new beginnings - and ask to be given light.

On another note, I've been thinking about sharing my own version of the hummus recipe. Soon. and end of summer doesn't equal the end of dipping one's toes in the nearby river, either. Ditto:

 

photo, my own.

Links in this post will all lead you to lovely posts on blogs by people I admire (found through Pia's blogroll. Pia's book is very high on my want list right now, too.

Enjoy!

-Alix of TeaButterfly.

The Beauty of the Letterpress

Hello Lovelies!

I recently posted the following blogpost on my design/home decor blog (you can read the original post here), but thought I should really share it here, too!

Please read below, a new update awaits you at the end of this blogpost.

the Beauty of the Letterpress logo.

After reading this blog post over at "how about orange" (a fave blog of mine), I decided it was really worth donating a little dough in order to help the Hamilton Type Museum. You can donate as little as 5 dollars and get a nice letterpress postcard for your contribution to the project. 100% of your contribution goes to help the Hamilton Type Museum.

More details here and on the "Beauty of the Letterpress" contribution page.

image source : the Beauty of the Letterpress.

Since the "Beauty of the Letterpress" is a fairly new site, I am now off to explore all the goodies the printers and artists have to offer over there!

 image, my own. taken from my flickr "Beauty of the Letterpress" image set

[Edit: I am now so, so happy to report that the lovely letterpress print, a limited edition of "The Beauty of the Letterpress" pictured above has safely arrived to my mailbox. It now adorns my home office desk. *Swoon* will post pictures soon here on this blog and on my flickr "Beauty of the Letterpress" image set. You can also check out this other set of mine about interesting type & fonts as well as the "Interesting Type Face" set.]

For more visual inspiration, check out my "Type Love" pinboard.

Enjoy!

-Naomi of TeaButterfly.

I Want a Simpler Life but... Where Do I Start?

Hello Lovelies,

original image via - text added by me.

This blogpost is a bit of a note-to-self kind, but i am publishing it here so it might be useful to others, too.

Well, do you want, just like me, a simpler, slower, more filfilling, zen-like & do-what-you-love kind of life? Do you want to actually live your dream life? OK, me too! ;-)

...But the task of simplifying may seem daunting and well... not so simple! We're often at a loss as to where do we even begin!

That is why I did a little research online and found out 3 must-read simplicity resources.

First, I highly recommend ypu read a short, simple personal story, so you can get the picture. This is simply because, if you know what your dream is, you can start & achieve it! Or, as Jennifer and Aby put it: "Living Your Dream Life Begins with Knowing What You Want."

a beautiful reminder to just "stop & smell the roses", via

You can then have a look at a very thorough zen guide to simple living that answers simply the difficult question of "where do I start?". I suggest you pick a maximum of 5 points (out of this list) - simply choose the ones that are particularly appealing to you, and start working on them... now!
I, for instance, love points #9 #13 #14 #15 of the ZenHabits guide mentioned above.

So, in a nutshell, determine what is your biggest dream/goal and read/act accordingly.

Roughly the same thing as the ZenHabits guide, but in French, the "Par où commencer ?" guide to personal development.

In closing, my motto, beautifully calligraphed:

image via

Enjoy!

 -Naomi of TeaButterfly.

PS: if you're willing to dig deeper, there are literally tons of reading material on and offline including these pinterest boards of mine:

* visual candy to help you get organized at home
* articles (less visual) to read about "getting things done"
* visual inspiration : what a simple life looks like

And, finally, the Brain Pickings site has a whole range of articles on the subject of "do what you love" for a living. You can start by this one: "How to Find Your Purpose and Do What You Love"

Reflections on "What Makes a House a Home?"

Hello Lovelies!

 image source via

There are many ways to make a house feel more lived-in and cozy. I love this advice: "Surround yourself with happy memories", found here at the Whole Living website, and illustrated by the above picture. I also like this advice: "Get cuddly accents", found here, as illustrated below:

Today, I'll publish another (!) excellent excerpt from the May 18th 2013 GON newsletter, because YES, it is that good and I highly recommend you subscribe to it! This short article deals exactly with the important question of "What Makes a House a Home?"

Excerpt:

***

"My friend's 7 year-old son, Jack, is a very outspoken and fun child. His new thing is to point at beautiful and big houses and declare that's the kind of house he wants to live in.

The other day, his mom reminded him that the size of a house doesn't necessarily make it a loving home. That it's the people living inside a house that make it special.

While he may be too young yet to understand the message of her statement, I wasn't...it was a GREAT mind jogger for me.

I love organizing and decorating homes. I enjoy watching HGTV, reading home improvement magazines, and scanning the latest ideas on Pinterest.

BUT a home doesn't mean spending lots of money on redesigning a space or buying the most expensive furniture. A home is a place we and our children can go to for comfort and security.

Fortunately, we can create that space by investing our time and energy with the people that matter to us the most.

I hope you have a wonderful week and make sure to enjoy the individuals that comprise your life!"

***

 

image source: Fi & Livvy's Cozy Home


Newsletter excerpt: (c) Copyright 2013 by Maria Gracia, Get Organized Now!

* Copyright, contact and reprint information:
http://www.getorganizednow.com/contact.html

* To subscribe, visit:
http://www.getorganizednow.com/free-ezine.html  


In closing:

photo source: World of Interios, via

You can find a lot of visual inspiration through commented slideshows about lovely, cozy and lived-in homes here:
at AT (cozification article)
at RS (5 ways to create a cozy home)
at Whole Living (13 ways to a cozy up at home)  
I also love the home inspiration posts by Jane, at her lovely "Ill seen, Ill Said" blog.


Enjoy your home!

-Naomi of TeaButterfly.

An Inspiring woman: Maria Sibyalla Merian (art & insects inside)

Hello Lovelies!

 The art of Maria Sibyalla Merian: Masterful insect drawing in the late 17th century, beginning of the 18th century. image via Jane's blog.

I have a board on pinterest called "Inspiring Women" - the inspiration for it obviously comes from Jane Flanagan's series of posts that are all about discovering the lives and deeds of incredibly "Inspiring Women" on her wonderful blog (a must daily read).

 Cover of the book "Amazing Rare Things". Art by Maria Sibylla Merian



On her blog, Jane has criticized our collective (mis)use of pinterest, and I fully understand her position. I try my best to not "hoard", as Jane puts it, that is I try not to mindlessly collecting beautiful images all day long while neglecting my own life.

That said, I find pinterest practical for the time being, as a virtual bookmark of sorts, especially now that we can have secret boards. I personally avoid pictures of hairdos, beauty products that are not organic, weddings, babies and tattoos on my pinterest boards.

 Maria Sibylla Merian, Passion flower plant and flat-legged bug, c. 1701-5 image via a great article on insects in art.

Some other boards I created aim to share the work of artists I admire, my own artwork, as well as other interests I think are valuable enough to share. That is why I mention the masterful art of the insect illustration by Maria Sibyalla Merian here today.

Maria Sibyalla Merian was a woman, an accomplished artist, an "insect lover" or rather a naturalist with a pioneering spirit, all wrapped in one. Her accomplishments as a woman living in the late 17th centurey are beyond amazing. Read more about her here.

So here am I adding today a "pinnable" image of one of her plant/insect illustration, so that anyone not aware of Jane's blog can see it on pinterest and get to know Maria Sibyalla Merian and many, many other inspiring women.



Enjoy!

-Naomi of TeaButterfly.

Sudden Inspiration

Hello Lovelies!

 image source : the Beauty of the Letterpress.

I know I haven't updated this blog in a long time. Times were tough lately, and well, Murphy's law was upon me, giving me the gift of sorrow and despair day after day.

Then suddenly, inspiration hit me and I just wrote five blog entries (on my home decor blog) within 2 hours' time. Go figure. All these blog posts are somehow design-related. If you wish to read them, here they are:

Hello Design Enthusiasts!

The Beauty of the Letterpress

Spring Colours Week - my 2013 photos

I forgot to mention: I have moved

Inspiration: The Perfect Place For Me.

You can find all of them at: http://strangerfiction.canalblog.com/

Enjoy!

After all the stressful events in my personal life, I am taking some time to rest, relax and reflect. Please understand.

I will be back in a month or so. See you then!

-Naomi of TeaButterfly.

     

Who doesn't like a FREEBIE?

Hello Lovelies!

 via laviedebrioche.com

Thank you for reading my blog! Here are a series of FREE bonuses you can get here:

* My Organic French Beauty Tips series.

* My Small guide to Paris.

Enjoy!

Naomi of TeaButterfly.

Enjoy My Tumblr Blog

Hello Lovelies!

A quick note to let you know I have a tumblr blog you can look at!

Here's a screen capture, where you'll find tea scenes, dragonflies and butterflies, as well as interesting quotes.

The address is as follows: http://teabutterfly.tumblr.com/

Enjoy!

-Naomi of TeaButterfly

A Small Blog Update

Hello Lovelies,

 dreams - via pinterest

I haven't published anything here in a while, wasn't feeling so well, but wanted to keep you lovelies posted.

Today, I have finally joined the google+ communtity, making it easier for you to share and like my content. Come join in the fun! All the google+ gadgets are on the far right column of this blog.

selfportrait, me smiling at last!

I also added a new profile picture of me, smiling at last! see above.

I also intend to share with you very soon my fall & winter essentials (from my French beauty tips series), the process of me drawing  and some new drawing and paintings. Stay tuned!

image by Stuart Wilson, check out his design blog!

And by the way, Hello December!

Naomi of TeaButterfly

I'm A Social Butterfly

Hello Lovelies,

It's that time of year again, I am paying a small visit to the hospital. I'm all right, tough, justy need to readjust my treatment.

On a lighter note, I have started to use instagram (for android) YAY!

You can follow yours trulmy as a social butterfly on instagram under the name of

teabutterfly 

(of course).

You can also find me on facebook, twitter, and in my etsy shop as soon as I return. See you soon!

-Vic from TeaButterfly

Apologies, Readers!

Hello Lovelies!

"snowy day" By elena {pretty light}

I apologize for staying for so long away from this blog!
The thing is, life's tough right now, it's cold, and grey and plain winter outside plus I caught the weirdest case of cold/flu that is just lasting forever.

But, but, but... my plans are to recover over this coming week-end, start to write some posts and resume posting this coming Monday, January the 30th.

How's that for a plan?

So talk to all of you soon, I have quite a lot up my sleeve,

-Vic from TeaButterfly.

Hello December!

Hello Lovelies, how are in this beginning of a new month?

 Wow! What a lovely "December fog"! found here.

"I'm so glad I live ina world where there are Octobers." OK, and Decembers, too!

I'm re-reading my list of Winter Essentials, so I won't loose courage and won't forget what I'm thankful for!

Life has been really tough for me and my family the last couple of months and I'm just recovering... But I'm glad and happy for this new season of merriness.

So I'm sharing with you my ideas for a simple, lovely white handmade Christmas, just here!

Have a great time decorating your house!

-Vic, from TeaButterfly.

Et la vie continue...

Hello Lovelies!

image found via OhOcéane

Is it November already?! Wow! Time for some blog updating!

 image source via pinterest

Turns out that, well, Mom is very ill but faces her illness with a smile. I admire her, she ages so gracefully...

I want to take care of Mom, but she wants me to go back to "normal" life. So here goes: life goes on! Or as we French people say: "La vie continue".

I don't know yet if I'll be ready for Christmas, art and shop-wise, but I'll do my best. And will keep you guys informed, of course.

Talk to you soon,
-Vic from TeaButterfly.

Winks & Pins

Sorry Lovelies!

My lavender country - photo by Lipson (c) 2011.

I had the chance to leave for a long week-end in the nearby countryside (see photo) so grabbed my bags and that didn't leave me the time to say goodbye on Friday!

Now that Monday has come (and I wish you a very nice one) I thought it was timely to share some winks (or week-end links).

You know by now that Jane's blog is one of my faves in the blogosphere... I also appreciate Diana's, aka Miss Moss. I think she is right about Pinterest, it can be addictive and interesting to sort images you are interested in, (I also started to use it in order to track where the images I use on my blog come from, instead of just apologizing and saying "photo source unknown") BUT in the long run - or soon enough - you can also discover that a lot of pins are annoying and even offensive. I try to follow like-minded peole, and when a board of theirs does not interest me (say, if it's about their private life, their wedding, or comprises too many cute babies pictures), I just unfollow said boards. No hard feelings towards cute babies, but seeing too many of them is not my cup of tea. I'm also not getting married anytime soon, so the reminder can become an itch.

And now to a new blog I've just discovered, and like a lot. Sorry, it's about home improvement again (one of my hobbies) but it's drool-worthy. It's called "A Roof and Four Walls", and that's really an understatement about the lovely house that is being renovated and decorated by the writer of this blog. Very much to my taste.

Check out Inklore's blog, too. I love Samantha's works and prints, and she has a lovely blog with short, fun and informative posts. Writing briefly is not my forte, but maybe' I should work on it. Like the aim should be: more posts, but shorter ones. We all lead busy lives!

Happy reading, and talk to you soon,

-Vic from TeaButterfly.

Heat Wave

Hello Lovelies!

The heat wave is in its 4th day now in the South of France (while the rest of the country is experiencing big summer storms) and I. can. barely. type.

It's just too hot!

I just can't write or blog right now, all I can think of is big naps in fresh linens... And lots of homemade lemonade, too!

I hope to be back blogging real soon,

-Vic from TeaButterfly.

note: all photos found around the web. sorry, source unknown.