weeee

So excited to be featured in this month's Gardening Australia Magazine! Such beautiful Autumn colours too!

mothers day

eeeee we are loving the magnitude of amazing gifts at hardtofind, you are preeetty much guaranteed to find a perfect little something for your beloved Mum! They have everything from prints to scarfs, shoes to ceramics.....consider the gift hunt over!

lula & bella HQ

Here's a little sneak peek at the Lula & Bella HQ! We love our creative haven and have just put up one of our new giant wall decals! Super happy with it! We'll be launching our new range of chalkboard vinyls and wall decals very soon...so watch this space!

fandango kambamboo

L&B are loving the bold, natural designs from Kambamboo! Based in Byron, these guys strive to use durable and eco-friendly materials wherever possible…their cushions and pillows are made from 100% recycled PET plastic bottles! Check out their website to see their bright new Autumn collection.
p.s I want me that yellow and blue chair!

clifftop boutique

A clifftop boutique wedding styled by Georgeous, Nina and Nick couldn't go wrong! Set on Philip Island about 140 km south-southeast from Melbourne, the stunning view and perfect weather was matched with whimsical styling and decor. Jam jar cocktails and hanging paper lanterns lost in leafy garlands draped from the ceiling... and so much more.
Watch this stunning wedding appear from nowhere...



... and then disappear... like a dream. x

Event Management & Concept Design & Styling | Georgeous
Floral | Cecilia Fox
Chuppah | Greg Hatton
Marquee | The Marquee People
Lighting & AV | Select AV
Photography | Steve Gourlay

lighting up my day

In the market for some new lighting I went in search of something with a little je ne sais quoi...and unearthed these guys! Empirical Style are based in Melbourne and offer the most fabulous range of vintage lighting! I just love the Edison bulbs...ok I'm kinda biased...after all I share the great man's surname (if only we were related I'd have a warehouse full of these right?!). A truly ambient and inspiring collection...nice work Empirical Style!x

wedding registry extraordinaire...

From vintage bikes to letterpress coasters, dinnerware to picnicware Wedding List Co have EVERYTHING! There is nothing bog standard about this wedding registry! Such an amazing collection of designer pieces, and with a store in nearly every major city in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane & Perth) they are definitely worth checking out! You can also visit their website here. Inspirational shopping at it's best...enjoy!x

10 minutes with... briar stanley from sunday collector

As fellow Manly locals we are often on the other side of Briar's morning coffee, stylist and blogger of the beautiful blog Sunday Collector. We managed to get 10 minutes of her time - between styling, blogging and mumming - for a bit of Q&A with the inspired treasure finder...  

Hi Briar, please introduce yourself.
I'm a Sydney based Props Buyer and Interior Stylist who works in film and magazines. I'm married to Mark and Mum to Sunday, our 10 month old baby girl. I write a blog called Sunday Collector with my own photography that documents my sourcing travels, food, restaurants, handy suppliers and (lately) new baby adventures. 

How do you start your day?
Early. I've always been an early riser - which is guaranteed now with a baby. I'd love to say I start my day with a glass of hot water and a squeeze of lemon juice, but reality is it's a very big coffee - I can't start my day without one.

Where do you go for inspiration?
Lately, it's Instagram. I follow people (stylists, artists, chefs, even my Mum) from all around the world and love how instantly you are connected through the little photo squares. I also love blogs. I have too many favourites to list, but some are:

Ché & Fidel
Oh Happy Day
A Beautiful Mess
One Claire Day
The Beetleshack
Oh Joy!

Tell us a bit about your creative path, have you taken breaks or worked in other mediums/industries?
I originally studied Graphic Design at Enmore Design Centre for three years, and my first job was working at an advertising agency as a graphic designer for clients such as Telstra and KFC. I ended up on the set of a few television commercials with the client and spotted the 'set decorator person' amongst the film crew having what looked like a lot of fun. I had never considered the role as a career direction but realised I really wanted to give it a crack. At age 24, I left my full time job and got a job at a restaurant as a waitress. During the day, I worked for free on any film and television job I could. After about 2 months of work experience, I got my first paid job as a Junior Props Buyer on a Channel 10 telemovie. Jobs in film and television are rarely advertised, so it's really word of mouth in Sydney. I often work with the same crew, we just move around as freelancers from job to job.

What couldn't you live without?
Besides my husband and baby - I'd say (in no particular order): coffee, pedicures, stripes, polka dots and avocados.

What was your best find or best project?
Best project to date was my role as a Senior Buyer on the film 'The Great Gatsby' - due to be be released in May. In magazine land, I'm always pleased when my stories make front cover - see attached for examples. On a more personal level, I loved decorating Sunday's nursery while I was pregnant.

Have you been offered any professional opportunities due to the popularity of your blog that have surprised you?
I originally started my blog as a creative outlet as I was taking lots of photos, but doing nothing with them. As corny as it sounds, I find writing a blog recharges me and my thoughts. Any thing else gained is really just a bonus eg. Back in 2011, I was thrilled to be a guest blogger for a week on one of my favourite blogs The Design Files (click here to see the posts). Also through my blog, I was approached a few years ago by the boutique butchers Victor Churchill to create some window displays for their Woollahra store (see here) and I was once given a Ford Focus car for a week to test drive and review, which was very unexpected but good fun (see here).

What has been the strangest thing you have ever sourced or blogged about?
That's what I love about my job -  the strangest items can appear in a script from day to day, and there is nothing like the 'thrill' of sourcing something after going on the hunt. eg. While working on the television series Underbelly, I had to source a '1970's toy gun cigarette lighter'. I luckily found a collector about three hours out of Sydney that had over 20 original designs in his collection. No day is ever the same in my job, that's for sure. Re. my blog - I was surprised at how popular my week blogging about my trip to Bali became - I still get emails from strangers thanking me for the travel tips (click here to see Briar's Bali blog).

What’s your most favourite thing on your desk?Definitely a moodboard - I have always found it a handy inspiration tool. It enables me to illustrate visually the direction of style I invariably end up pursuing. Or, it can be just be simply something visually pretty and inspiring - in the case of me having a more permanent one in front of me at my workspace at home. As an alternative to corkboard, I had an inexpensive pegboard cut down to size at Bunnings.
 
Your bags are packed, your ticket in hand! Where are you going and why?
A trip to New York with no expense spared. Why? For obvious reasons - the food, the shopping, the museums and galleries. Sigh…one day.