Tuesday 29 March 2011

Its Time For A Murobond Giveaway..

The giveaways are back! Thanks to the wonderful people are Murobond who have kindly offered a Chalkboard Kit, featuring a colour from their new range of Chalkboard paints.
The kit includes "Paper Bag" Chalkboard Paint, Chalk, stirrer and a brush to get you started.
All you need to do to be in the running to win this lovely prize is to become a follower of our blog, or follow the link to our facebook page and "like" it.
If you're already a dedicated fan then check in next week to see if you're the lucky winner..
Good luck!

Wednesday 23 March 2011

How To Decorate Heads To Tasmania...


I'm so excited because we're taking our How To Decorate Workshops on the road - first stop... Launceston in Tasmania! The date is Saturday 3rd September 2011 (we're in the throes of confirming the venue) - the day runs for 4 hours - including light refreshments and a gorgeous Shannon Fricke goody bag to take home. Click on this link if you'd like to get in early and book your place - or if you'd prefer to wait for venue confirmation then send me an email here and we'll pop you on the details list.
I hope to see you Launceston for a day of decorating!
sx

Sunday 20 March 2011

A Lovely Day Indeed...



I had a lovely day on Friday at our How To Decorate workshop. We had a small crew this time - as there were a few last minute cancellations due to personal tragedies! It seems that the world is in a state of flux right now - and there isn't much good news going around for many of us... But nonetheless, our day at The Little Cottage was a beautiful one - as we shared our decorating stories, our hopes and dreams for our homes and our lives... Again, I was inspired and humbled by the extraordinary women who make it to my little studio in Bangalow. Women who are beautiful on the inside and out, women who love their homes and are inspired to make their little patch lovely for themselves and their families. We had a lot of laughs, and we learnt a lot... It's inspired to run some workshops for smaller groups - as the dynamic was simply lovely. And so, over the next little while I'll pop up some details as to how these kinds of days will transpire. In the meantime, happy homemaking to you all on this lovely and relaxing Sunday...

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Decorate...



I was very excited to receive my advance copy (due to be released in April in Oz) of Holly Beckers new book Decorate - and what a gorgeous book it is... Congrats again Holly - it's just lovely to see a project come to life - and in such a divine way. And how terribly exciting to open the book and see a quote by moi only a few pages in! Thanks Holly for including me - it's a great honour...
sx

Monday 14 March 2011

How To Decorate This Friday...



Hi all,
A quick note this misty Monday morning to let you know that we still have some spots left at the How To Decorate workshop for this coming Friday 18th March 2011... Give us a call at The Little Cottage (02-6687 2184) if you feel that a creative day in Bangalow is the thing for you - or head directly to the website (www.shannonfricke.com/Workshop.html) to book your place. It's a small group this time - which is a great opportunity for us to get into the nitty, gritty, bitty of decorating... Hope to see you in Bangalow on Friday...

Saturday 12 March 2011

Joyfully....


Enjoying this beautiful, nature filled colour palette... I do love yellow and aqua aligned side by side - it's a lovely bridge between our coastline and countryside. Ideal if you love to live amongst nature but need a little oomph of the ocean to keep you on your toes... I've been in love with this colour palette since coming across Cloth fabrics Wattle fabric - such a divine combination of colours in muted tones that greet you with a subtle smile... I've designed some of The Little Cottage with palette... As you know, The Little Cottage is my working space - and I find this palette both calming and inspiring - creative and productive... A palette like this reminds me of the joy you can find in colour - bliss... From this picture above, I'm reminded of how important it is to creative a concept for your interior before you begin the decorating process... It's not enough to plough in and buy, paint or sew without having a clear concept or framework in mind to work to. It's a little like steering a ship that's lost its rudder. What to chose? Where to put your choices? How will it all hang together? With decorating, always begin with a concept - take the time to collect things that you love, and to place them onto a board (as above) - move the bits and bobs around until you feel comfortable with the balance... Once you love your combination of colours, textures, patterns, paint swatches, fabrics - then work out how to bring them to life. Look at the weight of colour on your board. Loads of blue? Then perhaps swathing your walls in blue is for you... Too much? Then sofas, armchairs, fabrics is the answer... Remember, it's all about looking at what you love with a critical eye - and then going for it... Yes, you do have to take the leap at some point - and the trick is to do just that, joyfully.... It's a process... It's creation after all... And perfect creation takes practice.... Ah decorating, the bliss of it all!

pics from homelife.com.au

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Terrain...


Thanks so much to Lindsay (one of Styling 101 participants) for introducing me to Terrain - a gorgeous garden/homewares store (in the vain of Petersham Nurseries) in Philadelphia. I don't know how I could have missed the opening of Terrain - how could I have been sleeping when such beauty has been presented to the world! These pics (from Oh Joy) give us the most gorgeous insight into what goes on in the Terrain world - and so I just had to share them with you - I think we all need a little Terrain inspiration today...

Monday 7 March 2011

Real Women Who Love to Style...










Wow! What a day we had on Friday at our inaugural Styling 101 workshop here at The Little Cottage. Wow! Wow! Wow! I'm always completely inspired by the gorgeous women who come to the studio to share a day of styling and decorating with us. Always beautiful souls, real women with real lives and real loves - the kind of gals you're happy to sit down and have a cup of tea and a yarn with... It's a special thing when you can share a day with like minded people - particularly when those like minded people are creative. I loved giving our inaugural styling 101 workshop and sharing all of things that I've learnt in an industry that I love working in... Here are some snaps of the day to give you an insight into what we got up to... Always exciting is when we have return guests (we had 4 or 5 this time!) - as we feel as though we're welcoming old friends back again. Thanks everyone for making Friday such a special day. And to Nicky for a feast to remember and Charlotte for being there to help out. We're on a roll this year - and I'm really looking forward to our How To Decorate workshop on March 18th - and then our next styling workshop in May...

Thursday 3 March 2011

Styling Central...


We're frantically preparing here at The Little Cottage, for our inaugural Styling 101 workshop - to be held tomorrow! We have a lovely and very excited group of gals making their way to Bangalow for the day - which is promising to be an fun and inspiring day filled with inside info and beautiful things... I've had loads of enquiries re whether or not I'm holding more styling workshops this year (the first two sold out real quick) - and the long/short answer is probably/definitely! We're working on the schedule for the second half of the year now - so keep popping back to the blog for all the latest. In the meantime, our How To Decorate and Just Colour are filling up fast - (the first Just Colour workshop for 2011 was so much fun, drawing a colourful crowd!. Thanks girls!). Head to the website if you feel a creative stopover in Byron Bay/Bangalow coming on... All the workshop details and availability is posted there... Hope to see you here in 2011...

pic via Twig Hutchinson

Wednesday 2 March 2011

I'm Free...

Blue skies, a muted palette of blues, greens and yellows, a dotty sunhat, bathers and lounge chair... Ah, summer... The beauty of it... The bliss of it... The laid back nature of it... I love summer, it's the time of year when everything comes to life and the living is easy... Sadly, in the southern hemisphere, summer is drawing to a close...  But regardless, I'm wringing out every last minute out of it here in Byron Bay... Ah summer....

pics from TOAST

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Decor8s Decorate


I'm simply busting out of my skin to see Holly Beckers new book - Decorate - which has hit the shelves overseas and soon to be released here. I'm so proud to say that Holly is one of my blogging friends - and such a great gal at that. She never fails to inspire us with her news and views over at Decor8 - and I'm so happy that she has finally released her book to the world. There's something quite wonderful about writing a book. It is such a large commitment of time and energy - you literally throw yourself into the deep end and cross fingers you make it out the other side (I say as I frantically type away on my keyboard with the aim of meeting my mid year deadline for my new book to be released next year! Yay!). Thanks Holly for giving us your everything in this book... I know it will be a success....

P.s Talking of inspirational gals - I did have the pleasure of meeting another one on my trip to Europe over Christmas. You will all know the divine Carla Coulson through her beautiful photography and blog - carla loves photography... I have been a big fan of Carla's for the longest time (since her book Italian Joy made me want to ditch my day job and head to Florence for a life of love and coffee!). Perusing her site one day, I found that Carla photographs portraiture - and as the family and I were heading to Paris I thought I'd book her in for a day to photograph a series of family portraits as a mark of our journey together... Sooooo excited!!!! Over on Carla's blog today you can see a couple of the images from our portrait session - moody, black and whites with the oh so beautiful Paris as our background!!! Thanks Carla for your beautiful images - you are simply a star - and a gorgeous girl too...