Thursday Inspiration: Autumn Flowers at Eden Project Cornwall

A Bracelet for Madame De Pompadour - Art Bead October Challenge

I love the monthly challenge over at Art Beads Scene Studio even though I have only taken part once so far. Checking this month's painting inspiration, I loved it straight away - Madame De Pompadour by Francois Boucher, dated 1756 and created in oil on canvas. I like the sumptuousness of the dress and the shades of teal and pink and I instantly thought that I could use the below pendant connector for which I printed a mini image of my original painting 'Daisies and Friends'. 

Cosy Autumn

This post is a showcase of what autumn means to me: autumnal inspired jewellery, dried flowers, cosy knitwear, foraged goodies and the smell of coffee.

Outside studio

Tuesday Inspiration - Rusty & Grey, The Colours of Rustic

Tuesday Colour Inspiration - Green Easter

Photos by Teodora Totorean

It was Easter weekend and I decided to celebrate it in green: green eggs, green cake, green flowers and green (aka healthy) cooking. I come from a culture where we dye eggs for Easter, mainly red, but other colours too. We use either artificial or natural dyes, but I have always tried to use natural dyes: onion skin (for orange and red eggs) and turmeric (for yellow eggs). This year I decided to colour them green and although it was all trial and error, the results are pretty good. The various shades were completely by accident, using a combination of spinach leaves, green crepe paper (not so natural, I know, but the green leaves didn't really do the job) and onion skin. My kitchen was a real mess, but I love the result. I will definitely try it again.

Book Inspiration - Vintage Home by Sarah Moore

When I bought Vintage Home: Stylish ideas and over 50 projects from furniture to decorating by Sarah Moore, the first contestant to win Great Interior Design Challenge, I was attracted by the cover and the title. Knowing that I have a few vintage items in my home and I also like to change things around, I thought I might find some useful projects and plenty of inspiration for the home.

Photo by Teodora Totorean

Tuesday Colours Inspiration - Purple, Yellow, Orange and White

My latest post was about potentially developing a new hobby. Well, a few days later, I can confirm it: I love taking close-up photos of flowers and various objects from my studio. As I already have a big album with flowers and colours that inspired me, I thought I could put them to good use and start a Tuesday Colour Inspiration series where I will post a collage around different colour combinations found in nature and then repeated in my studio, in my creations and, why not, in my outfits and accessories. Today’s post features yellow, orange, purple and white, inspired by the daffodils bouquet and the primroses I currently have in my house. More to follow soon. 

Photos by Teodora Totorean

Eden Project - Trying Out My Camera

Eden Project flowers collage by Teodora Totorean

Our last visit to Eden Project had a purpose: trying out my hard-earned-cash-over-the-past-six-years camera. So far, I have been using my husband’s camera (well, ours, really), but since I have been learning to take my own product photos, I wanted to have my own camera, as in no-one-is-allowed-to-touch-it-or-to-give-me-instructions camera. I wanted it to be light enough to carry it around, easy enough to learn how to use it and good enough to take close-up photos of my products as well as other things that inspire me in my walks.

My Holiday in Cornwall

St Michael's Mount

It’s been nearly three years since I have started my self-employment adventure and I finally had a holiday. For nearly three years I have been trying to establish myself as an artist and also figure out what job I can do to sustain my artistic ambition. As an aspiring artist, I did everything:  building up a portfolio of work; experimenting with various techniques and styles; applying and taking part in group exhibitions in Devon and Somerset; creating other items using my designs like cards, bookmarks and jewellery; selling in online galleries and shops; finding and selling through high street craft and gift shops; taking part in arts & craft fairs.