Getting in the Christmas mood - my article in Blossomzine

Hello everyone! Today is December 1st. Time to get a little bit in the mood for Christmas! Today I would like to share with you a little Christmas decoration idea I styled for the last issue of the brilliant online flower magazine Blossomzine. You can find my contribution here. 

Christmas means magic to me and I love to have a white Christmas. Yes, I know we are not lucky every year, but every now and then, we have snow for Christmas and I just love it! If this winter is not cold enough, you can still recreate a white Christmas at home on your dining table or on a cabinet in your living room. I was very inspired when I discovered the little animals, mushrooms and pine cones from the German decoration company Räder. I wanted to recreate a little enchanted forest in my living room.  I wanted to keep my decor as white as possible and worked with dried white heather and added some golden sparkle to make it more christmassy. You can recreate this decor on a cabinet in your living room or on your Christmas table. 

I hope I could inspire you a little with this little table decoration and I wish you a very nice December with your loved ones.

The animals can be purchased here. Thank you very much to Räder for supporting this blogpost. 

Speak to you soon, Elodie

first bouquet from my garden

Hello! Ok, maybe I can't really call it a bouquet. So let's call it a mini-bouquet, or miniature bloom.  Those campanula muralis are the last flowers in my garden and they look really cute in a little vase.  My garden need a lot of work and I will see how much I will manage before the frost. It is so humid at the moment and I am alone with Ella, so it is a bit difficult to work in the garden, but I will still be planting some flowers to be able to make some bouquets with FLOWERS FROM MY GARDEN - Yeah! in the spring. I wish you all  a great day!  Speak to you soon with some Christmas inspiration. Elodie

Parenthèse urbaine in Paris {urban bracket}

Hello world! I hope you are all doing fine! I must say, my life hasn't been that easy or glamorous since we moved to France. So much to unpack, organise etc... so many phone calls and emails with different administrations in France and in Germany, and that feeling to have forgotten a very important deadline all the time.  On the other hand, I don't regret the decision we made, for one second and as my husband keeps repeating: "nobody ever said, that an international move with a baby would be easy!". The Parenthèse Urbaine, I attended last Sunday, has been a highlight in my parisian life so far. This afternoon tea was organised by two lovely sisters (they made me think of my dear sisterMAG friends Thea and Toni) : Mathilde and Marie. The idea behind the event, is to make people, who usually only meet and share their passion on social networks, such as Instagram, meet in real life, with a nice cup of tea and a piece of cake in a magical place, that is kept secret until the event takes place, somewhere in Paris. This second edition took place in a little tearoom called Maison Bastille, a lovely place, situated in the 11th district of Paris. The event was also a way to introduce some French designers to the participants. The designers were all attending the event, were showing their work in the café and helped with the decoration and set up.

 The following designers have been participating in this edition:

AIME COMME MARIE CINQ MAI FRANCE DUVAL-STALLA LILI ET LES PETITS LOUPS COTE DILETTANTE M COMME MUM OSCAR ET LILA

It was a really good beak from my current every life. I met some lovely ladies, I hope I will stay in touch with. Some I already know, I will be meeting next Sunday at "Creation et Savoir Faire", the French DIY fair, organised by Marie-Claire Idee. I hope I will find more time in the coming weeks, to be back more regularly on the blog with some flowers, decoration ideas, and maybe some pictures of my new home! I wish you all a nice evening! Elodie

we are in France!

Hello everyone!

Just a quick note to tell you that we are in France now. Safe and sound.  The move has been pretty challenging and we are still living out of boxes, but we are happy and I am trying to work out how I will arrange the garden. I found a pretty little flower shop around the corner, and I will be back on the blog more regularly soon.  I am going to my first French blogging event in Paris this afternoon. I will be showing you the pictures on the blog and on Instagram soon.

Have a great day everyone!

Elodie

#2flowergirls - flowers for inga

Dear international readers, I will write this blogpost in German exceptionally. My dear friend Inga Lorig from the blog glomerylane lost her fight against blood cancer last week and I am writing this post in her memory -for her, her family, her friends, and her readers who took part in our little #2flowergirls project in the past 2 years. 

Hallo Ihr Lieben,

wie viele von euch schon wissen, hat uns unsere liebe Inga letzte Woche verlassen. Es macht mich unendlich traurig und sie hinterlässt eine sehr grosse Lücke. Inga war eine sehr lustige Person, die das Leben geliebt hat und ihre Pläne unbedingt verfolgen wollte.  Sie wollte zum Beispiel unbedingt, dass #2flowergirls weitergeht, auch als sie im Krankenhaus lag. Ich habe immer gesagt, dass das digitale Leben warten kann und dass sie sich aufs Gesundwerden konzentrieren sollte. Für mich hätte #2flowergirls ohne Inga keinen Sinn.  In den schwierigen Zeiten haben Inga die Blumen und die schönen Sachen im Leben unglaublich geholfen und Mut gegeben. 

Wir haben stundenlang über Skype gesprochen als ich in Elternzeit war und uns über Blumen unterhalten. Mir war es sehr wichtig heute fröhliche Blumen auszusuchen, die Inga gefallen hätten und so möchte ich mich an Inga erinnern. Sie war ein unglaublich positives Wesen und hat sich über die kleinen Dingen eben gefreut und hatte eine wahre Leidenschaft für Blumen und Planzen, die sie über Ihren Blog und über #2flowergirls teilen wollte. Das letzte Mal, dass wir uns trafen, als sie im Juli nach Hamburg kam, hat sie viel gelacht und sich über Ihre neue Duftkerze, die sie in ihrem Hotelzimmer anzünden wollte, gefreut. 

Ich werde jetzt nicht stundenlang über diese furchtbare Krankheit, die mich sehr wütend macht, schreiben. Ich möchte mich nur von meiner lieben Freundin verabschieden und ihr diese paar Blumen schicken. 

Inga, diese Blumen sind für dich, ich habe an dich gedacht als ich die im Garten von meinen Eltern am Sonntag gepflückt habe und diesen Strauß für dich komponiert habe.Das sind die letzten Worte, die Du mir geschrieben hast, eine Woche bevor Du gegangen bist: "Ich kann nicht glauben, dass Du bald "weg" bist. Wobei eigentlich bin ich schneller in Paris als in Hamburg." Ich habe diese Worte 1.000 mal seitdem wieder gelesen und die haben einen so bitteren Geschmack, jetzt dass du "weg" bist.

Ich werde versuchen ein paar unsere Geheimpläne umzusetzen und immer mit einem Lächeln an dich denken. Ich habe Kapuzinerkresse und Dahlien für dich ausgesucht, weil ich weiss, dass Du die so gern mochtest.

Es gibt einen Weg, Betroffene von der Krankheit zu helfen und zwar indem man sich bei der Knochenmarkspenderdatei registrieren lässt und zwar hier. Inga hatte im Juni dazu einen Aufruf auf dem Blog von Steffi gestartet und sogar zwei Spender gefunden. 

Wer mag, kann auch eine Spende überweisen, die nach Inga's Wunsch einer Stiftung zur Erforschung des Louis-Bar-Syndroms zukommt. Kennwort: Im Gedenken an Inga, Sparkasse Neunkirchen, IBAN: DE80 5925 2046 0034 2121 83, BIC: SALADE51NKS.

Wenn Ihr Lust habt, mitzumachen, könnt Ihr es gerne tun und den Link zu euerem Beitrag hier eintragen. Ich werde auch die Sträuße hier sammeln. Hier könnt Ihr auch gern Blumenfotos auf Instagram ab heute mit dem Hashtag #flowersforinga und #2flowergirls posten.

Viele liebe Grüße

Elodie

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We are moving to.....Paris!

Hello everyone, I have some big news. I am moving to Paris very soon! and I am very excited. We found a pretty little house in the suburb with a little garden really close to the Gare St Lazare. That means a lot of chances in our lives, but I am really happy about it. Now it's getting so real, that we have even booked a moving company, I can't wait to be there.  I have been spending over 10 years in Germany, Berlin first and then Hamburg. I am really grateful for all the great experiences I had here, and all the great people I met and will dearly miss.  That's where I started my professional and marital life, where I started my blogging life and where my sweet little Ella was born. I will never forget that, but I am excited now about starting a new chapter of my life and living closer to my family, which will also be great for little Ella. 

I am so excited about:

* The food * The museums and the cultural life  * The concerts  * being able to work in my mother tongue * being able to see my family without having to take a plane * having a garden and be able to grow my own flowers * discovering some new flower shops  * growing a cut flowers garden in my mum's garden * being able to see my French friends a lot more

Of course, I will take madame love with me in my little suitcase and continue blogging about flowers and interior design. I will also of course share my shopping tips with you along the way and start a Paris guide after my Hamburg guide.  Talking about Paris Guide, you can check out the blogs of my friends Igor and Judith for some great Paris Tips.  PS: I stole their beautiful pictures (with their permissions of course) to illustrate this post, and now I am even more excited about our new start! Take care and have a lovely weekend! Elodie

madame love loves: Shanna Murray

Hello everyone! How are you doing? I have been very busy here, but I will tell you very soon why, and I am sure that you will forgive me! Today I want to show you the lovely stickers by New York based artist Shanna Murray. Each sticker/decal is  created from super thin vinyl, which allows each decal to appear hand painted. I love how delicate and thin they look.  You can order the stickers via her online shop or on Neëst, a lovely French online shop, I already presented here. Wall stickers are so easy to install and don't leave any trace on the wall when you want to take them off. It's a really good decoration solution if you are renting your place. I collected a little selection of my favourite ones on Pinterest. I really love that Shanna's stickers come in different colours and textures:

• speckled gold
• speckled silver
• matte white
• matte charcoal
• matte fog
• matte black

so you can stick them on a dark or on a light background.  For Ella's nursery I ordered the "i love you beyond measure" sticker in speckled silver to stick on the dark blue wall.  I wish you all a great start in this new week! Elodie

red garden roses

Hello everyone!The days are getting colder and shorter here. The time of dahlia has come. But today I wanted to show you this beautiful roses, and you can arrange them in small vases and glasses to make a little charming composition.  I really love making mini bouquets and grouping them at the centre of the kitchen table or on top of cabinet. I also love using mini bouquets to decorate a table for a dinner and putting one bouquet next to each guest's plate. I wish you all a great week end! I will be back next week with some exciting news! Talk to you soon, Elodie

#flowersonmyway - Give Away!

Hello everyone! When I started my Instagram Photo Challenge #flowersonmyway in February, I never thought, you would love it so much and post so many beautiful flower pictures from all around the world. As of today you have posted more the 900 pictures, are the ones in the collage above are just examples of the amazing variety and floral inspiration you all put out there! Thank you so much! To say thank you, I have teamed up with the German decoration brand Räder, and we are giving away a beautiful vase from the same collection as my badeteich vase.  To take part in the give away, continue posting the flowers that cross your way on Instagram with the hashtag #flowersonmyway until 30. September, and I will publish my favourite image from September on the blog at the beginning of October, which will at the same time be the winner of the vase.  I wish you all good luck! Talk to you soon! Elodie

LOVEly flowergramers: @caroline_odonnell

Good morning everyone!Just a few lines today, to introduce you to one of my Instagram flower crush: @caroline_odonnell, the lovely lady beyound wild folk studio (floral and styling studio in Somerville). I really need to do a flower tour of the US one day and visit all this talented florists. In the meantime, we have Instragram to dream a little everyday! I wish you all a not too stressful day! Elodie

madame love loves: bolia

 Hello everyone! I hope you had a great week end! This time, I am not showing a little brand, or less well-known online shop or designer in my madame love loves column. If you live in a Scandinavian country or in Germany, you will already have heard of bolia. Unfortunatly, they are not implanted in other European countries now, but you can order online as they deliver to all EU countries. Bolia is a Danish furniture brand, with its own team of designers. I have known Bolia for 4 years now, and the book shelves in living room as well as my sleeping couch comes from Bolia. The amazing thing with bolia is that they are getting better every year.

I went to one of their shops/showrooms in Hamburg this week end with my little family to have look at their new collection and saw some really lovely pieces.  I am for example completely in love with their TuckIn recliner chair {1.149 €} (at the bottom left of the collage) which comes in many different colours. I also love their new floor lamp called Heavy {579 €} (at the top right of the collage), which mixes steel, concrete and leather. 

I love the materials they use, a lot of natural wood of course, as many Scandinavian brands and also a lot of leather. I also love the colour scheme of the new collection: grey, black and nude. I think those colours work so well together in fashion and decoration.  They also have a arrival of gorgeous berber rugs, unfortunately, Mr. Love isn't a big fan, otherwise I think I would have bought one for my home. 

I wish you all a great day! Speak to you soon

Elodie

baby's breath for my baby's first birthday

Hello everyone! My baby is turning one today! This first year has been a great adventure and I am so happy to be her mum!  This special event inspired me today's bouquet. Gypsophila is also commonly called baby's breath.  This flower is not often used alone, but as part as a big bouquet. I love it as a stand alone flower. I love it's airy structure and fluffiness. I think gypsophila is so tender and sweet.  This bouquet is for you my baby, my sweet little Ella!

The end of summer - beginning of Autumn bouquet

Hello everyone! How are you doing today? I bought some flowers last week at my favourite flower shop, choose them all with long stems and decided to make two versions: One tall bouquet in a transparent vase and a small one in spotty red vase. The tall one has a autumnal touch to it, with the warm red colours. The small one with the playful red dots looks more summary. I just wanted to show you that you can get two very different results with the same flowers.  I haven't been using the spotted carafe as a vase in ages, and was very happy to use it again! Like an old you haven't met in a long time, and you suddenly realise that nothing has changed!

So! What do you think about the two bouquets? I will never want to hear agin:

"I don't have the right vase for those flowers!"

My tips are:

1- Be creative (use carafe, tea pots, glasses, etc... as vases) 2- don't be afraid to cut the leaves and shorten the stems 3- never try to stuff a vase to much, give your flowers room to breath. If you realise you bought or cut too many flowers, just make a mini version of the same bouquet, or two bouquets.

I wish you all a great day! Talk to you soon and thank you for your kind words for my interview in Sweet Living Magazin! It means the world to me. xoxo Elodie

Lovely Press Coverage: madame love in sweet living magazin

Hello there! Have you heard about Sweet living magazin? The new German decoration magazine? The third issue is coming out today, and..... surprise...... madame love is in it with a double page spread! I am so happy about how the interview with the publisher, the lovely Marion Hellweg turned out and I love the layout! Even if I am a truly digital person, and love blogs above all, it is really a thrill to see yourself in print. The new issue is really beautiful and full of scandinavian inspiration. I am curious to hear if you like it as much as I do! Have a great day and talk to you soon. I will be back very soon with some new floral inspiration. xoxo Elodie

#flowersonmyway in August

from left to right and from top to bottom: @23qmstil//@dasrotegartenhaus//
@stylingfieber//@mintlametta

 Hello everyone! we are already in September! unbelievable! So here are my favourite pictures for August. Thank you so much for posting your lovely flowers on Instagram with the Hashtag #flowersonmyway! Already almost 900 pictures have been posted so far. Next month, the winners will winn a little vase to display the lovely flowers they found on their way. Keep posting and discovering beauty along your way. Talk to you soon!  Elodie

Pizza party al fresco in Umbria + a delicious pizza dough recipe

 Hello everyone! Today is the first day of September and it already feels like autumn here. Nothing against Autumn, but I just feel the need to remember those long summer nights we had in Umbria at the beginning of August with my family. We stayed for a week in a beautiful villa surrounded by woods of oaks and chestnut trees, with a stunning view on the valley. One of the great things about the casale del gallo, was its patio, where we had candle light dinners every night, and its outdoor pizza oven, which made us truly feel like we were in Italy! My nephews and nieces decided to make some pizza for us one evening and it was so delicious and beautiful that I wanted to share the recipe with you as well as some impressions of this beautiful evening.

 So here comes the recipe!

[yumprint-recipe id='3'] 

I wish you a great day! and lots of outside dinners to come! Talk to you soon! Elodie

Wild Flowers from Umbria

Hello everyone! Those of you who follow me on Instagram, that I just come from a week in Italy with my family. We stayed in Umbria, to be precise, in a village called Massa Martana - I could never remember the name and always said Tikka Massala ;). The house with stayed at is called Casale del Gallo was truly magical and big enough to fit 12 people. I will show you the house in another post. Today I wanted to show you some of the bouquets I made during our stay only using wild flowers growing in the property: sweet peas, scabiosa, queen anne's lace, wild mint, clover. The variety was breathtaking, and I was really not expecting finding so much beautiful flowers in this region especially in August! I wish you a great day! Talk to you soon with more impressions of our italian holiday. xoxo Elodie

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Lovely Flower Blog #10: Linger Flowers

Hello everyone! I am back from Umbria, with a lot of impressions and over 1,000 pictures. I will show you some soon on the blog. I am very happy to introduce a new Lovely Flower Blog today. I discovered Nikki and Andy Shenk on Instagram last May and love her story and how her dream came true. I also love the fact that have been inspired and motivated by blogs and Instagram to start their floral business.

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

 We’re a wife-husband duo, Nikki and Andy Shenk, that fell in love with flowers and decided to start our own business, Linger Flowers, in Cincinnati, Ohio. We focus on weddings, holidays and classes. Andy is a writer, so he runs the blog, where he features both the work we do, as well as other elements of the business and our personal life. Our name, Linger, is very significant to me and Andy and we try to capture our philosophy of savoring each moment in the day through the blog. Flowers, especially, help both of us to linger and appreciate the beauty in our life, which is what we hope to share with our community, whether that be online or in Cincinnati. 

Where does your passion for flowers come from?

 I never imagined I would be a florist when I graduated from college, but after a few years I realized that I was very drawn to floral art—wedding invitations, dresses, paintings—and wanted nothing more than to create those same beautiful designs with my own hands and with real flowers. Flower blogs and Instagram also played a big role in my decision to become a florist. I had never known just how artistic and creative florists could be until I started following them on Instagram. Now, when I look back, it makes sense. My mom was a flower enthusiast and I loved to admire her pretty blooms from the garden, as well as the arrangements she would buy from the florist. And I always loved art in school—I just never thought that it was a viable career option and didn’t connect the dots to becoming a florist. 

What inspires you?

I feel my most alive when I’m surrounded by buckets of blooms and foliage and have all afternoon to craft a new design. It’s intoxicating to be able to create beauty with fresh green stems and tender blooms. I love how flowers feel in my hands and the way that they brighten and fill a room, especially when the light is just right. 

What is your favorite flower?

Hellebores are my favorite, because the colors are so perfect. When I’m feeling wild, though, I go for fritillaria. And I have a major crush on poppies, since I couldn’t get them while Andy and I lived in Russia, where they are illegal! 

Which other flower blogs are you reading regularly?

Of florist blogs, Saipua is my favorite. In addition to being an incredible florist, Sarah Ryhanen is an exquisite writer. My other must-reads are Floret Flowers and Rosegolden Flowers. On Instagram, there are so many talented florists. My biggest obsessions right now would have to be Tinge, BRRCH, Twigss, Honey of a Thousand Flowers and McKenzie Powell. 

Thank you so much guys for sharing your story with us!

© pictures by LingerFlowers

first dahlia of the season

Hello everyone! I hope you are doing great. I have had quite a rough week last week, with a sick mama and a sick baby and a very hot weather but as I read recently on the Instagram feed of my friend Ricarda, the quieter the online, the louder the offline life!  The good thing about this short break, is that I managed to go to the market on Friday and found some awesome free range dahlia. It isn't uncommon to find dahlia at the beginning of August, but they are particularly early and beautiful this year. I bought enough flowers to make three beautiful bouquets and I only paid 10 €! I often that flowers are expensive on the market, but I think, they are usually much cheaper than in the flower shops especially when locally grown. So - I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do. Have a great day and speak to you soon! Elodie

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Lovely Flowergramers: @nonihana_

  Hello everyone! As it is also probably the case for you as well, I am using and liking Instagram more and more this days.  It is a place where I share some flowers of course, but also some little corner of my home and some more personal pictures, of my daughter for instance. I also a place where I connect with like minded people from around the world. I am following a lot of flower enthusiastic on Instagram: florists, growers, flower stylists or just flower lovers. I spotted a lot of the blogs I have presented so far under Lovely Flower Blogs on Instagram.  A lot of my friends, send me emails or tweets, when they spot a nice flowergrammer, So I thought I might also share them with you! Unfortunatly, the great Flower Instagrammers, or Flowergrammers are not always bloggers, but they take such great pictures, that I thought, I would do a new series on the blog and show you my favourites - one each week.  The first one is a flower stylist from Japan called Yukiko Masuda and @nonihana_ on Instagram.  I love her simple and elegant style and her use of linen and used wood as a backdrop. I wish you an excellent weekend! I hope you like this new series. I can't wait to show you the lovely flowergrammer I picked for next week.  Talk to you soon, Elodie