2 flower girls #7 - The dahlia edition

Hello everyone, this is my first blogpost today since the birth of my daughter Ella three weeks ago. Inga and I are back with this autumnal edition of #2flowergirls. We chose the most autumnal of all flowers, the dahlia. I chose some deep red and orange ones, I found on my local market. I added some guelder rose berries and some rose hips to the bouquet and displayed some decorative pumpkins on the table to give it a more rustic aspect. Today's #2flowergirls will be on madame love only, but I will show you one of Inga's photos.

If you want to participate, you can post a link to your blogpost in the comment field under this post  and show us how you styled and photographed your dahlias. You can also send us the photos by e-mail or post them on Instagram or Twitter along with the #2flowergirls hashtag. We will then collect the photos and post them on our Dahlia's board on Pinterest.

I also made two small bouquets to please my dear Inga! The red one in the stem vase is called cactus-dahlia

and here is the glomerylane mini bouquet. Inga and I didn't talk about the the flowers before, but we really went for the same colours this time.

We are both looking forward to seeing your beautiful dahlias. We wish you a wonderful day.

Your 2 flower girls,

Elodie & Inga

LOVEly Guestpost by Igor from Happy Interior Blog

Hello everybody! This is Igor of Happy Interior Blog and today I am particularly happy as I am guest blogging on my friend Elodie's beautiful blog. Elodie is hopefully enjoying her time out and is focusing on her new mother role, while I was pondering of a childhood memory of myself. Recently I went to visit my family in Serbia. And there was my idea. As a child, I was traveling every summer to what then was Yugoslavia. To visit the country of my parents, to mingle with my family. But I won't speak of the obvious. One other thing has left deep marks in my memory and shaped my personal view. It was the intense contact with the nature. With the green power surrounding me as a kid. I grew up in Austria and there is nature too, but in Yugoslavia I spent a more intensive time exploring the nature, walking through orchards, vineyards, picking fruits from trees on the go. I remember my grandmother preparing fresh salads with veggies from the garden, the hugest and most aromatic tomatoes, I remember exploring the surrounding hills with my cousins and picking blackberries, plums, apples, running through vineyards and snacking juicy grapes in between, munching on sweet figs while taking in the sweet scent of the fig tree. I remember dining on my grandparents' porch under a natural roof of vines. I remember the scents and tastes of nature and summer.

Today, I am sharing a few pics of our garden in Serbia that I took in August. It's fruits that I used to pick in the morning for breakfast. Just off the tree. As simple as that. Something that I am missing in a city like Munich.

My childhood memory is still part of my personality and I hope that all young parents will take their kids out into the nature. Make them appreciate that food comes from nature and grows. To make them feel the bond between us humans and our surrounding nature. And to make them understand how important it is to us. Hopefully they will become more conscious when it comes to our environment than the generations before and our generation, too. In this sense: Little Miss Love, embrace the beauties of the nature and be a happy, happy kid!

LOVEly Guest post by Katharina from Katharina kocht - Going wild

Dear readers, today I start my  little LOVEly guest post series with my friend Katharina, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did! I need to return to baby love now! See you on Thursday with another guest post. I will be returning myself on the blog with our #2flowergirls flower styling challenge on 2nd October. I wish you a great day and thank you so much Katharina for the great recipe and your beautiful photos. xxx Elodie

Going wild - with eco-friendly tableware for children (plus: a pasta dish recipe to serve upon)

Are you in for a bit of eco-chic? Then today's post might be just the thing for you.

But let me first say hello and introduce myself! I'm Katharina, a German food blogger. You can find me over at Katharina kocht., where I share the yummy things that make their way from our small kitchen to the dining table. I've known Elodie for a while now through our regular blogger meet-ups in Hamburg and I was very happy to participate in her Virtual Baby shower. And of course I'm absolutely looking forward to meet Baby Love sometime soon!

When Elodie asked fellow bloggers for guest post while she and her new little family take time to get to know each other I totally wanted to join in, however my mind was pretty blank. I don't have kids (yet), so I wondered what food-related and child-related idea I could come up with. And just then Birgit of kinderzimmer-haus.de asked if I was interested in checking out some of their infant tableware manufactured by the brand Zuperzozial. Inspiration hit just in the nick of time!

Zuperzozial is a Dutch brand who design tableware from organic material, such as bamboo, corn or sugar extract. Add soy-based ink for the print and there you go: eco-friendly, bio-degradable and, most importantly, really cute plates, bowls and cups for little food adventurers. The dishes’ characteristics are a bit like those of plastic tableware as they not prone to breaking from a little banging on the table or throwing on the floor (rumour has it some kids actually do this - not your little angel though, I'm sure), but it's made from a 100 per cent organic material. It can even go into the dishwasher! Eco-chic at its best, don't you think? And the "Hungry Lion" print makes meals a wild party. As for the goat - I just pretend it's the lion's BFF.

I wouldn't be a food blogger if I hadn't brought a recipe along with the tableware. As probably any child’s, my favourite childhood food was pasta. Oh yes, definitely pasta! I loved the days when little spare time only allowed for a quick pasta lunch, preferably spaghetti with tomato sauce, “sprinkled” with a cheese layer almost the height of the pasta itself. And my grandmother even started cooking tomato sauce, on our constant nagging. She must have been past 70 at that time… Looking at the peas on the product pictures I also remembered how we loved to swarm out into our grandparents’ garden and “harvest” anything that was remotely ripe. No berry and no pea would be safe from us! Combining both memories I cooked a pasta dish for you that is not only extremely versatile but will (hopefully) please both children and parents alike. At my house we call it the "let's see what's left in the freezer-pasta” as any sort of preferably green veggies may go in there. You can basically change or leave out certain veggies that aren't your child's favourite. But who knows, maybe a lion's strength may encourage the little one to brave the green monster formerly known as broccoli?! ;-)

The Zuperzozial "Hungry Lion" tableware was sponsored by the webshop kinderzimmer-haus.de. However, my views and opinions are my own, and I think this stuff really rocks. There's even a girlish variety with a pink flamingo… and a travel mug made of bamboo for mom's caffè latte. Cool, huh?

Veggie pasta with loads of grated parmesan cheese

Here's how I prepare the dish - change and adapt according to your little gourmet's tastes. This makes about 4 servings.

Favourite kind of pasta, I used 300g of conchiglie pasta, but orechiette or farfalle will also work well.

• 1 garlic clove
• 1 TBSP olive oil or butter
• 150 g frozen broccoli
• 150 g frozen green string beans - basically take a handful or a cup of each of the frozen veggies
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 cup of cream
• Salt and pepper
• 150 g frozen green peas
• 1 cup or 1 handful of grated parmesan cheese or any hard cheese of your preference.

Bring water to the boil and cook the pasta according to instruction.

Meanwhile, chop or mince the garlic clove. In a large pot on medium heat, heat olive oil or butter and gently fry the garlic until it is soft and golden (don't burn or it will taste bitter). Add the still frozen broccoli and beans (or whatever veggie strikes your fancy) and fry it for a minute or two along with the garlic. Then add vegetable stock and cream and season with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes, stir occasionally. Then add the frozen peas - they don't need to cook for very long so they can go in last. Add some of the parmesan as well (about one third) and simmer for another 2 minutes.

The pasta should be nearly done by then, it's perfect when it's still pretty al dente. Drain but keep some of the cooking liquid, a cup or so, then add the pasta to the sauce.  Stir well and let the whole thing simmer for a few more minutes, so that the pasta is cooked and the sauce thickens a bit. If it gets too dry add some of the cooking liquid and/or some more cream.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with looooooads of grated parmesan.

Note: If this dish is just for you, you can add some chili flakes as well to give it some zzzzzing!

Good News!

Hello everyone, Some of you know about it already, especially the ones following me on Instagram, our little princess was born last week on 09th September and we are very happy parents.

GOOD NEWS #1

She is called Ella and she is the sweetest baby in the world. She came 10 days too late and I had quite a tough time waiting for her, but I was so happy when she finally showed up that I forgot all about it!

But as you know, good news is like buses, you always have more than one piece arriving at once. That's why I decided to write a good news post today.

GOOD NEWS #2

Yesterday, I was so pleased to see my first interview in  a print magazine: COUCH. I was interviewed together with my friend Inga from the blog glomerylane about flowers and about our #2flowergirls project. I am also happy to tell you that #2flowergirls will be returning on the blog at the beginning of October, and that we have chosen the dahlia for this new edition.

GOOD NEWS #3

My friend Igor is on holiday and he asked a couple of bloggers to guest post on his blog while beeing away. Today, it's my turn with a happy bouquet for the happy interior blog.

GOOD NEWS #4

Last but not least, I can show today a project I have been working on for a while. I made a floral guide of Hamburg for the new issue of sisterMAG, and something tells me that you will be able to read the complete feature in German and English very very soon!

So enough for today! I am returning to baby love. I will take a little blogging break in the coming weeks, but I asked some of my blogger friends to write some blogposts about childhood, while I am learning to become a mother. So stay tuned!

xxx

Elodie

Some dahlias for baby love

Hello everyone,

When I saw these gorgeous dahlias at the market yesterday, I couldn't resist! I decided to be crazy and spend € 2.50 even if I could go to the hospital any moment now, as I am already 8 days overdue. I think the shades of pink, red and purple are just beautiful. They make me look forward to the autumn and its fantastic range of warm colours. I also wanted to use my new mini-medicis vase I found last week. So here are a couple of photos for you and for my baby love. Maybe she will want to come out if she already feels the beauty of flowers. Have a nice day and talk to you soon! Elodie

pennant banner tutorial + free pattern

Hello everyone, As promised when I showed you the pictures of the nursery, here is a little tutorial for the big and the mini pennant banner I made for baby love.

So here you go! It is a very simple project that will not take you more than an evening or a week-end to complete and that is suitable for beginners. I also made a mini-version of the pennant banner. You just have to use the smaller triangle and a smaller portion of bias tape. I made some pictures to illustrate the steps of the tutorial and a pattern to download:

FREE DOWNLOAD

Items needed for a two-metre pennant banner:

You will need:

• the pattern (see above)
• 32 fabric triangles (for 16 triangles). It is good to use leftover fabric pieces from other projects. You don't need 16 different fabrics - just be careful not to put the same pattern next to each other when you assemble the garland
• 2.5 metre bias tape.
• assorted thread (same colour as the bias tape)
• a cutting mat and a rotary cutter (or some fabric scissors)
• masking tape
• a sewing machine
• pins
• iron and ironing board
• 2 curtain rings to attach the banner to the wall.

Step 1: download the pattern, print it and cut it out. Place the pattern on your fabric on the cutting mat and fix it with masking tape. Step 2: cut your fabric. Always cut at least two of each pattern for both sides of your triangles. Step 3 - 4 : place your triangles' right sides against each other and sew them along the two longer edges.

Step 5: cut the point of each triangle with a pair of fabric scissors. Step 6: return your fabric on the right side. Step 7: iron your triangles flat. Step 8: iron one side of your bias tape flat and pin your triangles (2 to 3 pins per triangle) next to each other. Be careful when you assemble the banner not to put the same pattern next to each other and to have a harmonious succession of fabric. Sew on the fold of your bias tape. Leave at least 8 cm of tape on each side, so as to be able to attach your banner to the wall. Take away your pins.

Step 9 - 10: with the help of your iron, fold your bias tape and pin it in place. Step 11: sew your bias tape as close to the edge as possible -  backstitch at the end. Step 12: attach the rings at each sides of the banner, and fix it to wall with simple nails.

Voila!

Take care and talk to you soon! (I really hope this time after the birth...)

Elodie

Theresa's flower diary #1

Good morning everyone, Today I have a special guest on the blog: let me introduce Theresa. Theresa is a blogger and one of my readers, and she sent me the sweetest email a couple of weeks ago with a picture of flowers from her garden and a link to her lovely blog. I asked her if she wanted to regularly guest blog about flowers and cooking with flowers on madame love, and I am so glad she accepted. She will be guest blogging on the 1st of each month with treasures from her garden in Luxembourg. The post is going to be in German and English. I will be back on the blog, I hope next time with some good news about baby love's birth. I will take a little blogging break in September, but my lovely blogger friends from all over the world have prepared some beautiful blogposts for you. Inga and I will also be back in October with a new edition of #2flowergirls and a great flower for you to style!

Talk to you soon, xxx Elodie

Eine Homage an den Küchengarten!

Nichts geht über ein frisch gebackenes Brot mit Schnittlauch oder wilder Rucola aus dem Garten, dekorativ verziert mit essbaren Blüten! Ich liebe es, wenn ich ab dem Frühjahr frische Kräuter in die Küche holen kann. Und da ich oft und großzügig ernte, habe ich von den meisten Sorten gleich mehrere Exemplare im Beet. Von vielen Kräutern lassen sich nicht nur die Blätter, sondern auch die Blüten verwenden. Für eine orange-rote Farbpalette auf dem Sommersalat sorgt z.B. die Kapuzinerkresse. Die Blütenblätter des Borretschs hingegen leuchten in zarten Pastellfarben von hellblau bis dunkel-violett. Der meterhohe Fenchel ist besonders prachtvoll und um einiges robuster als der feine Dill.

Ich bin immer auf der Suche nach neuen Inspirationen für meinen Kräutergarten! Fündig geworden bin ich im Bauerngarten von Hannelore Eggelmann aus Niedersachsen. In ihren liebevoll angelegten Beeten wachsen verschiedene Sorten Thymian, Petersilie, Pimpinelle, Raute, Salbei, Schafsgarbe, Lauchzwiebeln und was auf keinen Fall fehlen darf: Französischer Estragon. Diese Varietät ist geschmacklich viel zarter und feiner, als die weit verbreitete russische Sorte. Angesichts dieser Kräutervielfalt im Beet gerate ich ins Schwärmen. Wir ernten von jedem etwas und machen uns gleich darauf an den Herd! Die Kräuterrolle von Hannelore Eggelmann ist ein wunderbares Rezept für das späte Frühstück oder als Appetizer zu einem erfrischenden Sommerdrink!

An homage to the herb garden!

There is nothing better than freshly-baked bread with chives or wild rocket from the garden, with edible flowers for decoration! I love being able to bring fresh herbs into the kitchen from springtime onwards. And as I "harvest" frequently and in large quantities I have numerous examples of most types of herb growing in the garden. With many herbs you can use not only the leaves, but also the flowers. For an orange-red colour palette on a summer salad you can use nasturtium for example. Borage petals on the other hand light up in soft pastel colours from light-blue to deep purple. Metre-high fennel looks particularly splendid and is quite a bit more robust than fragile dill.

I'm constantly on the lookout for new inspiration for my herb garden and made a discovery in the form of Hannelore Eggelmann's farm garden in Lower Saxony. Various types of thyme, parsley, burnet, rue, sage, yarrow, spring onions and what absolutely has to be there: French tarragon are present in her carefully arranged beds. This variety has a softer, more refined taste than the more common Russian type. When I see this amount of variety in the herb beds I get really excited! We took back a little bit of everything into the kitchen. Hannelore's herb roll is a great recipe for a late breakfast or as an appetizer with a refreshing summer drink!

Kräuterrolle mit Blüten aus dem Küchengarten

Zutaten: Für den Teig:

• 300 ml Milch
• 4 Eier
• 2 EL Öl
• 100 g Mehl
• etwas Salz

Für die Füllung:

• Ein Bund mit verschiendenen frischen Kräutern aus dem Garten oder vom Markthändler (z.B.: Schnittlauch, Bärlauch, Kresse, Fenchel, glatte Petersilie, Kapuzinerkresse, Lauchzwiebel, Pimpinelle, Dill)
• 200 g Frischkäse
• 200 g Schmand
• 100 g Quark
• 100 g Kochschinken
• 1/4 TL Salz
• 1 gehäufter TL Meerrettich
• etwas Cayennepfeffer

Zubereitung:

Den Backofen auf 200° C Umluft vorheizen.

Die Milch erwärmen. Die Eier trennen. Das Eigelb in eine Schüssel geben. Das Eiweiß mit dem Salz steif schlagen. Die Milch unter Rühren nach und nach zum Eigelb geben, bis die Masse schaumig geschlagen ist. Das Öl unterschlagen. Schließlich erst das Mehl und dann das Eiweiß mit einem Schneebesen unterheben. Ein Backblech mit Backpapier auslegen, den Teig darauf verteilen und 15 Minuten im Ofen goldbraun backen.

In der Zwischenzeit die Kräuter waschen und fein hacken. Den Kochschinken in feine Würfel schneiden. Die Kräuter und den Schinken mit den restlichen Zutaten verrühren.

Den Pfannkuchen vom Blech auf ein sauberes Handtuch stürzen, das Backpapier abziehen und den Pfannkuchen lauwarm abkühlen lassen. Die Kräuter-Frischkäse-Creme darauf verstreichen und gleichsam wie eine Biskuitrolle einrollen. Mit Klarsichtfolie einwickeln und für eine Stunde in den Kühlschrank stellen. Zum Servieren die Kräuterrolle in feine Scheiben schneiden und mit Blüten aus dem Garten verzieren.

Ein gute Gelingen und Bon Appetit!

Herb roll with flowers from the kitchen garden

Ingredients:

For the roll:

• 300 ml milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 100 g flour
• a pinch of salt

For the filling:

• A bunch of mixed fresh herbs from the garden or from the market (e.g. chives, wild garlic, cress, fennel, Italian parsley, nasturtium, spring onions, burnet, dill)
• 200 g cream cheese
• 200 g sour cream
• 100 g curd cheese (quark)
• 100 g cooked ham
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 heaped teaspoon horseradish
• a pinch of cayenne pepper

Preparation:

Pre-heat the fan-assisted oven to 200° C.

Roll: Warm the milk. Separate the eggs. Put the yolks in a bowl. Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff and leave to one side. Mix the milk bit by bit with the egg yolks and beat until the combination has a slight foam covering . Mix in the olive oil. Then mix the flour and then the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture with a whisk. Put baking paper on a baking tray and spread the mixture on it and put it in the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Filling: In the meantime wash and finely chop the herbs. Cut the cooked ham into small cubes. Mix the herbs and the ham with the remaining ingredients.

Remove the roll on the baking paper from the baking tray and flip it onto a clean tea towel, then remove the baking paper and leave the roll to cool until it is luke warm. Spread the filling on the roll and then roll it up as for a log roll. Cover in cling film and leave in the fridge for an hour. Cut the herb roll into thin slices and decorate with edible flowers from the garden to serve.

Enjoy it!

(c) All photography by Theresa Baumgärtner

First Feingemacht - Designer market in Hamburg

Hello everyone, A new designer market took place last Saturday in Hamburg. As I was feeling well and baby love hadn't decided to show up yet, I decided to give it a try. It was situated in a very nice part of the Hamburg Conference Centre with a lot of day light and a direct access to the botanical garden "Planten & Blomen". Here is an overview of my favorite exhibitors:

1. Beton Schere Papier:

Beton schere papier is a very sweet brand that produces concrete objects. I am in love with their cute candle holders.

2. nikoki:

nikoki is a doll maker from Berlin. I have met her several times already in Hamburg and Berlin and I am a big fan of her work. Her little grey giraffe already moved into baby love's little nursery. Her handmade dolls are so creative and she gives so much attention to details. I also love her choice of fabrics and how much she loves Japanese fabric. She is working on her website and there should be some new little animals to buy from next week. I am very much in love with Jean Luc the elephant and Pierre the bear and their little baguette. 

3. BOUBOUKI

Boubouki offers great solutions to pimp the tiles in your bathroom or in your kitchen, with very beautiful tiles stickers in the standard format 10x10 cm, 15x15 cm, 20x20 cm. You can also order some custom-made sizes on their website.

4. Frau Sieben:

My friend Trixi from the label Frau Sieben was also there. I talked about her Etsylab on the blog a couple of weeks ago. I love her jewelry and wooden candle holders. I think I need a golden one for my living room. Trixi is also a graphic designer and designed the lovely logo for my sweet virtual baby shower.

Voila! I hope you discovered a couple of designers you didn't know in this post. My friend Maria also visited the market on Saturday, and you can read more about it here, and see Trixi's beautiful pictures on her blog.

I wish you nice day!

Elodie

my favorite French online shops for babies

Hello everyone, there you go. I have another baby related post for you. I hope you don't get bored with it, but I am only a couple of days away from the delivery and getting a little obsessed... A friend asked me the other day for online shop tips for the decoration of the nursery. I have been online a lot, searching for inspiration and I thought I would share some of my favorite French online shops with you.

1. Smallable:

Smallable is my favorite one - I purchased the baby's bed on grey (which you can see below) as well as some very cute baby's clothes and toys. Smallable is a French shop but they also deliver in many European countries and the website is also available in many languages.

1. Grey cloud Mobile by the BUTTER FLYING | 2. Mobile Mr Magique by JALL AND TOFTA |  3. Cloud carpet by PILPOIL |  4. baby bed by COMBELLE | 5. Miffy light by PAPAMARIA

2. Petit Pan

Petit Pan is not only an online shop. It's a parisian decoration and fabric shop, with a lot of asian influence, vibrant colours and beautiful bamboo accessories. Their collection for babies (accessories and clothes) is really beautiful.

1. White animal head | 2. Mobile | 3. fabric banner | 4. plaid | 5. little blue dragonfly

3. Les enfants du design:

Les enfants du desig - is a great website if you want a stylish nursery. They have a great selection of brands such as the British Donna Wilson, or the designer Seventy tree.

1. Chinese paper lamp | 2. cushion by LUCKY BOY SUNDAY | 3. white pompom | 4. Squirrel by Donna Wilson | 5.Poster by seventytree  | 6. grey cushion by NUMERO 74 | 7. pigeon lamp by Thorsten Van Elten  | 8. cushion Liberty Betsy

I wish you a great afternoon!

xxx

Elodie

Baby love's little nursery

Good morning everyone,As promised several times, today is the day of the big reveal: I will show you the finished baby nursery. Maybe baby love will want to visit it soon! So here is what I did with this room after I decided on the colour scheme and did a virtual moodboard and collected some inspiration on Pinterest. I will start with the main pieces of furniture and show you the little details:

Little black sheep by Jellycat

The grey bed is from the French brand Combelle - I bought it on the French website Smallable, along with a lovely grey changing table and I am very much in love. I picked a grey bed with a lot of cushions and made a padded cot bumper in different shades of blue and grey. The mobile adds some purple to make it a bit more girly, and some animals to make it more fun. Stars as a pattern can be found in the shape of the blue cushion, on the mobile and on the ribbons.

For the first months, baby love will sleep in a French antique crib my parents brought me in July, where my sister used to sleep as a baby 28 years ago.

I found this antique wardrobe in the lovely shop Lieblingszimmer in Hamburg (which by the way just opened an online shop) - and instantly fell in love. I like the fact that the vitrine has also got glass on the side. We didn't want to buy something too babyish and I am not sure that this will stay for ever in baby love's bedroom. I could image it very well later in a dining room for presenting pretty plates and glasses. For the time being, I love the fact that I can enjoy the beautiful clothes my mum made for baby love.

 2. On the walls

The print is by UK illustrator Kerry Layton from her beautiful brand Seventy tree.

The pompoms come from the German website Pompom your life. They are hand-made and they have a great selection of colours to choose from on the website.

I made the pennant banner myself. It's a great way to use little pieces of fabric. I used some Liberty of London art fabric, some Japanese fabric, some fabric by Swedish design Lotta Jansdotter and some French fabric from petit pan. I made a big one that hangs above the bed as well as a mini-version. A tutorial is coming soon on the blog.

I also made the embroidery hoops with Liberty of London of fabric that I showed you previously on the blog. They now hang above the changing table.

I wanted to put some contrasting elements on the night blue painted wall. I decided to go for a wall sticker in silver - I have been a big fan of Shanna Murray and was so happy to finally have a good excuse for ordering one of her stickers. The unicorn head is from the German shop Butlers.

3. The lighting:

4. The little animals:

 5. The little stars:

A big thank you to Jocelyn from the gorgeous blog little room of style for her wonderful photos and to my little assistant Cheddar:

So I hope you liked my little nursery tour. I am looking forward to your feedback. I hope it doesn't look too much like a little boy's nursery with the choice of colours.

xxx Elodie

(c) All photography by Jocelyn Casey and Elodie Love

Flowers from Sabine's garden

Hello everyone, I am not making so many bouquets these days, but luckily my friends still are and I love looking at them. Today I would like to show you the little wonders from Sabine's garden. Sabine is a German copywriter and blogger and online shop-owner. Her lovely blog is called azurweiss and her shop la mesa. We first met virtually through the swapping action Post aus meiner Küche last year and in real life in February in Munich during the blogger meet up "I love you blogs and coffee". She posts a lot of charming flower arrangements on her blog, and has participated many times in our #2flowergirls photo challenge. I am a big fan of her Instagram feed, where she posts a lot of lovely flowers. She usually presents simple flowers in very pretty glass or white china vases.  Some are from the flea-market and some can be purchased in her online-store.

Today, I am so glad to be showing you some of Sabine's bouquets from her beloved garden along with a little interview:

Dear Sabine, what kind of flowers do you grow in your garden?

I’m very much in love with cottage gardens and I grow typical cottage garden flowers like cornflowers, cosmoses, delphiniums, peonies and old roses together with tons of herbs like sage, rosemary, mint and chives. And not to forget some tomatoes, courgette and pumpkins. Our garden looks quite romantic and often a little bit higgledy-piggledy (because I don’t have time to keep all the weeds away) but this contrasts quite well with our  house which is pure white and very functionalist, almost Bauhaus-style.

What does your garden mean to you?

Honestly –  I think I couldn’t live without it. Working in the garden just makes me happy and I wish I had more time to spend in this little green relaxing zone.

What kind of vases do you like using for your bouquets?

Most of my vases are made of white porcelain, many of them are vintage. I like to arrange them in groups with flowers assorted by colours – mostly white, pale pink or blue. I also use transparent or blue glass vases or even glasses (vintage or new). Liqueur glasses for example are wonderful to arrange flowers like forget-me-nots or single blossoms. Especially in autumn and winter I often use rough ceramics (mostly vintage) to decorate, for example, dahlias, asters or just branches.

Thank you so much Sabine for sharing with us your lovely pictures and your love for flowers.

I wish you all a great day and hope to talk to you soon if baby love doesn't decide to make an appearance. Only 7 days to go! xxx Elodie

(c) All photography by Sabine Wittig

Pimping Baby Love's clothes - Iron transfer tutorial

Good morning! I am back today with another little DIY tutorial. Last week I presented you my little pink cloud body using stencil printing. Today I want to show you how to pimp baby (and adult of course!) clothes by using iron transfers. I bought these lovely transfers on the Isemarkt in Hamburg from the lovely shop kinder+raum. The designer Evy has got a stand on the market every Tuesday. It is of course also possible to buy the transfers online or in a couple of shops in Hamburg. Here is what I made for baby love and how it goes:

1. Select the pattern you want to transfer and the item of clothing.

2. Position the transfer on your fabric and place it on something hard - a wooden kitchen table would work better than an ironing board.

3. Place a sheet of baking paper between the fabric and the pattern before ironing. Set your iron to 150 to 160° C and press against the fabric with a lot of pressure for 20 seconds. It is important to press and not iron.

4. Peal off the plastic film et voila!

Here are a couple of examples of what I did for baby love.

The colourful bodies are from petit bateau, the white body and kimono style t-shirt from C&A, and the muslim squares from Budnikowski. The patterns are from kinder+raum and the paper box is from Tiger

I hope you like it. It is a very easy and economical way of pimping your plain baby outfits and bodies. Take care and have a nice day.

Elodie

KALASON

Hey everyone, I hope you had a good start to this new week. Today I would like to share with you another shop I love. It's a very Scandinavian shop as often in Hamburg. That is, by the way, one of the reasons why I like Hamburg so much. It's because you often feel closer culturally and design-wise to Copenhagen than to Munich! The other shops with a great selection of Scandinavian design I presented to you in the past are LIV, Lys Vintage, smukkeStore or Nordlys. The particularity of KALASON is that they have a focus on design for children with brands like little elephant or sebra, but you can also find some classic design brands such as nordal or hay. The shop owner Katharina Langewender is also a graphic designer, and a lot of the postcards that can be found in the shop are her own design. Katharina also designs logos and is responsible for Lieschen's pretty logo. The shop is situated in the very lively and pretty district of Winterhude, where you can also find the  shop schön und ehrlich, next to the canal, but you can also purchase everything online via the great online shop.

Here are a couple of pictures. Even if online shopping is great, nothing can replace a real-life shopping tour:

KALASON Semperstraße 2 22303 Hamburg

Tue – Fri: 11:00 – 19:00 Sat: 10:00 – 15:00 Follow kalason on Facebook

Pimping Baby Love's clothes - Stencil Printing

Hello everyone, Today I have a little DIY for you. My fabulous mum made a lot of baby clothes for little Miss Love, and I have been sewing a lot myself lately too, almost only for the decoration of the nursery (which I will be showing you soon, when I think that it is almost finished). Another thing that I have been doing during my maternity leave with my friend Stephanie is "pimping" some plain, white baby outfits I bought from C&A for instance. The first one I want to show you uses the stencil printing technique. Stenciling is a very fun and easy technique for customising boring fabric.

Here is what you will need:

• strong paper and a permanent marker, or stencil pattern
• craft knife
• fabric paint (mine is a Javana Textil)
• small plate (for the paint)
• sponge
• washi tape

1. Choose an existing design or design your own stencil with a permanent marker. I found my little cloud in the book simple sewing for baby by fabric designer Lotta Jansdotter 2. Using a craft knife and a cutting mat, cut out your design. 3.  Pour some of your fabric paint onto a small plate and have your sponge ready.

4. Protect the other layers with another piece of fabric. 5. Place your stencil on top of your fabric and secure it on the sides with some washi-tape, so it will not move when you are printing. 6. Using the sponge, apply an even amount of paint through your stencil. 7. Let the paint dry a little bit before removing the stencil. Fix the paint after drying by intense ironing (5 min. cotton setting). Cover fabric with a cloth. Thereafter your fabric will be washable.

Here is the result:

I wish you a great day! xxx

Elodie

Schön und ehrlich

Hello everyone, Today I want to present you an interior shop I love in Hamburg-Winterhude. It's called "schön und ehrlich" which could be translated as beautiful and simple. I love the puristic design of the shop and the selection of pretty design objects. It is the perfect shop to visit if you want to decorate your home with original items or find an exclusive present for a friend. When you enter the shop, you can see that the two charming shop-owners have a passion for typography and design. The selection goes from home accessories such as beautiful lamps, bare light bulbs and stools to paper craft, postcards and stamps. You can find a lot of pretty prints, for example from the Hamburg-based label Stellavie. I also love their tableware selection from the Hamburg manufacturer ahoi marie, from kopjes or from design letters with the beautiful letter cups designed by Danish designer Arne Jacobsen. Indra is an art director and Christina an architect and you can feel it through the things they sell in their shop. Besides some well-known brands such as house doctor and pantone, you can find a lot of small brands with lovely hand-made products.

You can find a list of the brands they sell on their lovely website.

Have a great day,

Elodie Here are a couple of views of the shop, from my last visit:

SCHÖN & EHRLICH Gertigstraße 18 22303 Hamburg Tue – Fri: 11:00 – 19:00 Sat: 10:00 – 17:00 Follow Schön & erhlich on Facebook

My sweet virtual baby shower

Dear all, I have been wanting to write this blogpost for a while now. As you know I am expecting a baby in the coming weeks and in the US there is this great tradition called "Baby shower".

The original intention was for women to share wisdom and lessons on the art of becoming a mother. My blogger friends are the wisest and the great Katharina from the beautiful food-blog Katharina kocht, organised a great virtual baby shower for me with the best blogger crew in Germany. My party was everything but traditional and there were not only women invited! But there was a lot of wisdom going on!

I got up on 8th July and was so overwhelmed with the surprise. It didn't stop all day, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I received so many lovely messages and blogposts full of love under the hashtag #MADAMELOVESBABYSHOWER.

Here is a little overview of my virtual party for you:

Decoration & flower inspiration:

From left to right and from top to bottom:

• Lovely BABY LOVE Lavender letters from my #2flowergirls colleague and friend Inga from the blog glomerylane
• Sock bouquet for my baby girl from Ann-Christin, from the blog hafenmaedchen
• gorgeous mobile from the my dear Claretti from the blog tastesheriff

DIY Inspiration From left to right and from top to bottom:

• A pennant banner tutorial from Martina from the blog FormTiere
• A DIY nappy bag from Caro from Draußen nur Kännchen
• A baby announcement card - amendable and printable from Dani from the blog cozy and cudly
• A tutorial for a lovely colourful bib from the blogger and fabric designer Susanne from Hamburger Liebe
• The lovely logo for the party was designed by my friend and jewellery designer Trixi from the blog Frau Sieben
• The PSSSST.... frame is from Sabine from the Blog Wohnbedarf, also shop owner at Freundts, where you can buy those beautiful letters.
• Julia from the blog mintlametta, made a great tutorial for a homemade baby book

 Shopping guides From left to right and from top to bottom:

• My friend and wedding planner Eva from the blog Jagentin gave me some tips for a great baby card
• Igor from Happy Interior Blog and Ricarda from 23qmStil know me very well and they know that I am using most of the time from my maternity leave nesting and decorating the nursery, so they gave me some inspiration.

What would the blogosphere be without the food bloggers? So my sweet food blogger friends brought a lot of home baked sweet stuff to my virtual baby shower. From left to right and from top to bottom:

• Lavender shortbreads from my sweet flower girl Julia from the blog junifaden
• Sweet hearts from my sweetheart Küchenchaotin Mia
• Petits Fours à la française from Bianca from the blog ELBCUISINE
• And last but not least the great mini-handpies from the organiser of the party Katharina from the blog Katharina kocht

So my dear friends, I don't know how to say thank you and how much I love you! Baby Love is so looking forward to meeting you all in real life! Speak to you soon,

Elodie

#onebouquetperday by Juliane

Hello everyone,

I met Juliane at the Hive Conference in Berlin last May and spent a lovely Saturday evening chatting with her and a few other girls. Juliane is German and was born in Berlin, but now she lives in the Swedish countryside.

She is a puppeteer by profession (she studied puppetry/ performing arts in Berlin), and she has been making dolls for children since 2009. She doesn't have a driver's license, that is why she walks a lot, which makes it much easier for picking flowers. She shares her beautiful creations and DIY tutorials on her blog Fröken Skicklig.

I started following Juliane on Instagram after we met in Berlin, and that's how I discovered her lovely #onebouquetaday project. I like it so much that I wanted to share it with you on my blog. So there you go - here are a few words from Juliane, explaining her #onebouquetperday project, and her creative way to use Instagram in order to feel more at home in her new surroundings through flowers. I love how she presents her bouquets and I love the fact that you usually also see the pretty flowery pattern on her dress in the background.

I started with Instagram about two months ago. I have spent very little time online and entertained quite a few doubts whether yet another virtual channel would be wise or not. I am not the sort of person who feels the need to blog every day about what I am wearing or to instagram photos of umpteen bowls with cereals and latte macchiato glasses. 

I find it hard to resist picking flowers when we are outside, a habit I inherited from my mother, I guess. She is a passionate gardener, and her hands are never idle, she finds flowers everywhere, in the forest or on a dump in the middle of Berlin. As a child, I often found it embarrassing that she would pick lavender in abandoned allotment gardens or weeds in a city park to arrange in vases on almost every window sill and table at home. But as with so many other habits of your parents, you too end up doing the same once you reach a certain age (I am 35 years old, still plenty of years to fill with funny habits...)

We have recently moved to a new place, an old farmhouse from 1850, deep in the forest in Skåne, Southern Sweden. The garden is overgrown, and it will take some time until my flower beds are in full bloom. I take lots of walks to get to know the surroundings and pick flowers on my strolls through the woods and the fields. Taking a photo every day of the bouquet I have picked makes it easier for me to call this new place our home. It also helps me to share some of the excitement and all the new impressions with my family in Germany. A few others have started to use the hash tag #onebouquetperday which is really nice. There is a Norwegian girl who shares her daily bouquets on Instagram as well, and we find it so interesting to see what the two of us pick the same day, Elisa on her strolls through the bleak landscape in the mountains, and me on my strolls through the woods here in Skåne. Time passes so quickly and it does me good to have these moments of contemplation and quiet, to pick flowers, to take a photo and to enjoy the colours and scents. I love to see the seasons of the year changing, the first wood anemones were showing their white heads and rosy cheeks when we arrived, and I am already looking forward to seeing them again next year.

I am amazed with the variety of flowers Juliane could find around her house. That makes me want to move to Sweden!

Here are some examples of what she found: field scabious, lupine, bellflower, meadowsweet, sea aster, black horehound, dame's rocket, pearlwort, yellow loosestrife, phlox, bugle, pelargonium, lemon balm, aconite, foxglove, raspberry twigs, red elderberry....

Dear Juliane, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your lovely flowers with us today. I wish you all a beautiful day! xxx Elodie

All pictures © by Juliane Strittmatter

LOVEly flower blogs #5: Studio Abloom

Hello everyone, I hope you had a great  weekend. Today I am very excited to be welcoming Laurie on my blog. I met her and her lovely blog virtually last June as she participated in the peonies edition of the #2flowergirls project with Glomerylane. I instantly fell in love with her styling and photos, and asked her to present her fairly young blog Studio Abloom to you today and how she plans to develop it . I completely agree with Laurie when she says that "floral arrangements are really just like little gardens", but I don't want to spoil everything, so here goes to the interview. I wish you a great week full of flowers! Elodie

Who are you and what are you talking about on your blog?

Hello everyone, I’m Laurie Wheeler, a photographer, stylist and designer with a love for flowers and gardens. My blog, Studio Abloom, is where I cast the seeds of my work out into the world. It’s kind of a young blog, but I see it as a place where I write about florals and gardens from the perspective of our senses and emotions as well as style, design and historical details. I also like to feature the use of floral and garden references in art, design, fashion and other parts of our everyday lives. And I include the process of restoring the garden that surrounds my late 18th century home and feature my own floral designs using my own garden-grown, local and foraged materials.

Visual images play a big part in my work, so my photography is a major feature of the blog. I’m a true romantic and so there is an ethereal and poetic feel to my photos and musings. I’m excited to be working with video as well and look forward to adding that to the blog soon. Eventually, I’d like to travel afar with my cameras to do garden and floral “interviews” for my readers. If they can’t be in a garden or have a floral arrangement sitting near them, then perhaps a beautiful photo or video would be the next best thing.

Gardens, to me, directly connect us with the natural world. Floral arrangements are really just like little gardens – only more immediate and portable. And floral and garden motifs are increasingly found in the design world. There are deep restorative powers in gardens and flowers. The senses come alive and their beauty touches us deeply. All can become right when in a garden or amongst flowers. I think we have a built-in desire to take care of what we love. So perhaps, in some little way, my work will instill a love that will ultimately help the planet. You just never know!

I look forward to seeing what Studio Abloom grows into and sharing it with you all as it blooms.

“When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment.” Georgia O’Keefe

Where does your passion for flowers come from?

It may have started early on with the lilac bush that grew outside my bedroom window as a child, or the side of the garage at my childhood home that was lined with rows of lily of the valley. Or maybe the small bouquets of garden roses my mother would sometimes put on my bedside table.

But I think it really took root when I left the corporate world after a period of intense work and travel as a visual merchandiser and stylist for a major women’s clothing retailer. I was really burned out. Soon thereafter, I was hired on by a world-renowned botanical garden as a consultant and buyer to re-style and re-merchandise their gift shop. As a side benefit, I was able to take classes there and worked my way towards a certificate in Ornamental Horticulture. I also took classes in garden and floral design. When I wasn’t in the shop I was out in the gardens. It was a very healing time for me. I travelled to France for vacation around that time and had a brief stay in Paris. I didn’t want to see  museums or really anything other than flower shops! It was that particular time that I looked back on recently when I needed to heal from a very tough personal life situation and I remembered how much I loved working with flowers and being in the garden. So I’m finding my way back to that now. As a designer and a lover of nature, garden and floral design really speak to me as it combines the two beautifully. It also has the sustainability that I find so essential now. I can do it in my back yard and on my kitchen table. I love the ephemeral quality, though it can make me a bit melancholy when the flowers come and go so quickly. My photographs help me get over that. I love the way flowers make me feel. They really are very powerful.

What inspires you?

I’m inspired by my surroundings – home and garden. It’s really hard to separate the two. I have a very deep connection to both. I live in rural Maine, so it’s definitely a bit wilder than what I’ve been used to. I can see that becoming incorporated in my work. It’s a very different gardening experience than what I’ve been used to. I spend a lot of time whacking back the wildness. But I ultimately want to work with it instead of fight against it. There is so much here that I want to work with.

I’m always using my eyes, if not all of my senses. I see in detail more often than broad views, so I can be inspired by anything at anytime. Fashion, movies, history, art, music, shops – they all play their part. I’m always prepared to receive inspiration no matter where I am or what I’m doing. It can often be in the most unlikely places! Because I’m living somewhat remotely, I rely a lot on the internet to stay connected. It used to be books and magazines that I devoured. Now it’s websites. I use Pinterest almost daily as a warm-up exercise to my creative work. Though I do still love and devour books and magazines!

What is your favorite flower?

As a photographer, designer and stylist, typically I fall in love with the specific flower I’m working with. As a gardener, it’s the one that’s currently in bloom. Oh, but okay, if I really must choose just one, it would have to be a heavily scented garden rose. The right rose can definitely make me weep. I am not exaggerating this.

Which other flower blogs are you reading regularly?

I’m enthralled with all the work so many are doing with flowers right now. Though I’m not yet in the business of designing for weddings, I do love seeing all the flower combinations on wedding blogs and they are usually photographed so beautifully. And flowers have been popping up on just about every other kind of blog recently too! On trend!

One of my favorite go-to flower blogs is Worlds End Farm. Sarah (of Saipua) and Eric live in a similar environment as mine and I love seeing what Sarah is doing with the materials that surround her. It also makes me think about doing some flower farming. I have to give a shout out to Chelsea Fuss of Frolic. She was my most recent floral design teacher and her work as a commercial floral and prop stylist is very inspiring to me.

I’m learning so much from so many and they have no idea how much inspiration they give me to go down this road. I’m really grateful to them all. And to you, Elodie! Thank you so much for this opportunity to share Studio Abloom with your readers!

In no specific order, here are a few others... (and oh, there are so much more!)

Floret Flowers Max Gill Design Emerson Merrick Amy Osaba Tinge Floral McKenzie Powell Petal Floral Design Odorantes-Paris

And my favorite gardener and garden writer/spokesperson Monty Don

You can find Studio Abloom on the web here:

www.studioabloom.com www.facebook.com/studioabloom www.instagram.com/laurie_wheeler www.pinterest.com/lauriewheeler www.twitter.com/lauriewcreative

(c) All photography by Studio Abloom

Mr. Love's British cheesecake

Hello everyone, I have a new recipe for you today. This one is not French but British and is from my husband Mr. Love. I told you last week, when I gave you the recipe for the French clafoutis, that Mr. Love is very sceptical and and critical when it comes to clafoutis; I must admit I used to be a bit the same regarding cheesecake. My friend Stephanie who was visiting us last week, insisted in having a cheesecake, so we made one - British style (completely without an oven - which is quite cool in the summer), and I really liked it... So there you go - here comes Mr. Love's cheesecake recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 200 g digestive biscuits - can be found in British shops if you don't live in Britain. We found ours in the British shop Sweet Suburbia in Hamburg-Ottensen. You can also order online.
• a few handfuls of blueberries
• grated rind and juice of 1 organic lemon
• 1 sachet gelatine
• 200 g low fat cream cheese
• 200 g quark or fromage frais
• 150 g natural yogurt
• 50 g caster sugar
• 50g salted butter
• 1/2 sachet vanilla sugar
• sprinkling of yuzu powder (optional)

1. Crush the biscuits into fine crumbs by placing them in a food bag and crushing with a rolling pin. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then mix with the crumbs.

2. Press the buttery crumbs into the base and up the sides of a (pre-greased) 20 cm loose-based flan tin. Refrigerate for circa one hour.

3. Make the filling. Pour the lemon juice into a small heatproof dish and sprinkle over the gelatine. Leave the mixture until the gelatine absorbs the liquid, then microwave the mixture on low power for circa 30 seconds and repeat until the gelatine dissolves.

4. In a large bowl mix the cheese and quark or fromage frais. Add the yogurt, citrus rind, sugar, vanilla sugar and yuzu powder (optional). Beat until smooth, then beat a small portion of the mixture into the dissolved gelatine. Add this gelatine mixture to the cheese mixture and beat well. Pour into the crumb crust and wash a few handfuls of blueberries and sprinkle them on the cheesecake. Refrigerate for 3 hours until set.

Remove the cheesecake from the tin. Serve with a fruit coulis, e.g. pureed blueberries mixed with icing sugar to taste.

Have a lovely Sunday evening!

Elodie

LIV - A new shop in Hamburg

Hello everyone, Last week I visited a new shop in Hamburg for you. The newly opened LIV in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel is full with Scandinavian and German design and fashion. You will find some usual suspects of Danish design such as house doctor but also some less well-known brands. On the fashion side, you can find some great stuff from the Swedish brand Twist & Tango for instance. The presentation is lovely and the selection amazing. The shop really feels cosy as if you were visiting the charming shop owner Mareike at home. Mareike is not only a shop owner with a very good taste. She is also a graphic designer and has her own postcard label called Papier ahoi. The lovely postcards can also be purchased in the shop itself. Here are a couple of photos from LIV. I hope you will visit the shop yourself soon. It should definitely be on your to do list if you want to do a design and interior tour of the city. Have a great day, Elodie

You can find the beautiful and colourful Becksöndergaard Scarfs at LIV

I am in love with the mini-pompoms from OMM Design designed by the Swedish artist Ingela Parrhenius.

LIV Lutterothstraße 8 20255 Hamburg Tue - Fri: 11:00 - 19:00 Sat: 12:00 - 17:00 Follow LIV on Facebook