HIGH UP IN THE TREES

A kind of sparkle.

{There, illuminated, all sparkled. Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison. Christmas print 2010.}

Dear you,

Following on from last year's tradition, Louise and I have a new Christmas print for you.

++ Download print (1.4 MB PDF) ++
(To print on an A5 (210 X 148mm) piece of paper or larger should you wish.)

Good luck to you is my wish sincere. I look forward to seeing you in the sparkling new 2011, my friends. May it bring you much of gladness, yield good fortune that shall stay, and banish every shade of glumness.

Many are the hugs,
G xo

A composition made in this way.

{Together. Gathered. For today.}

To paraphrase a line I recall in Bleak House, all’s treasure that’s caught in my net. This sums up perfectly how I feel about the year 2010 thus far. It’s been great, busy, with highs and lows in keeping with the natural order of things, though already I find that I am dreaming of the New Year. I have plans afoot to read all summer long in the garden under the shade of the hibiscus and olive trees that are becoming increasingly intertwined. I have plans to make new artists’ books with Louise in edition sizes small. But first, I have four empty photo albums (handmade by Louise) to fill with printed memories and gallery postcards from London and Paris, from a holiday that resulted in several publications acquired by the Tate Library for their artists' book collection.

+ Look! Always nice to see our parcel of paper goods in good hands. (Thanks Maria.)

Plans are afoot for a festival.

{Following you in Firenze.}

With some of my work commitments now very near done (save one big delicious deadline that still looms), I can make plans for berry picking and other seasonal delights. I have set aside one fine late December day to take to the hills to pick loganberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries and boysenberries with Louise and my Mum, in preparation for Christmas feast and the days that follow. Mum has found a recipe she wants to try and to say I am happy to oblige with the gathering of some of the ingredients is too say too little. Here is to a December tradition I cannot forgo.

+ Thank-you, Kat, for featuring us on your wish list of trinkets and treats. Louise and I are flattered.
+ Lest you missed it, this is making me most happy too.

Put one's best foot forward.

{After yoga, in my Mum and Dad's backgarden and with slippers on my feet (for purpose of sharing with you these delightful numbers made by Teresa Cunha). For such a long time have I longed for a pair of these handmade embroidered slippers. They are as comfortable as you can imagine and too charming by half.}

Of late, I have been swayed by all things rose and have just come indoors having planted a Blue Moon rose in the front garden. I am in process of making own green nest a paradise. I am getting ready for summer days to be spent in the garden with nose buried in one book after another. Yesterday, upon rose fragrance whim, I tried a little of Serge Luten’s Sa Majesté la Rose on my right wrist and Les Parfums de Rosine’s Diabolo Rose on my left, and I fell for them both. I say a little of each, but in truth it was two decent squirts on the inside of each wrist, so liberal they trickled down my forearm. It feels this passion for all things rose has come unexpectedly, and I am hoping familial Christmas elves will take note. I’d be happy with a bottle of either, or with a Gold Bunny.
 
+ But a handful of weeks ago now, I was crowned a luck-struck giveaway winner. From loja de estar came all manner of delights to afford a grin. Thank-you Elisabeth, thank-you Sílvia, and thanks to the blogging community of clever, crafty, kind souls. Treat yourself too, why don’t you.

+ Thanks for playing along. xo

In answer to your question...

{The Eastern box turtle could turn self into a rock.}

From dear Hila of le project d’amour a real lolly of an award she has handed me. To Louise, too, and perhaps you. I am this grey Wednesday morning the proud recipient of the I Love Your Blog prize. I am one of many lucky souls, and the ribbon for such a prize I choose to imagine to be rich saffron yellow in hue.
 
The rules of the prize are:
Do an entry with the prize
Answer the questions
Give the prize to 10 blogs
 
1. Why did you create the blog?
In the New Year of 2006, I decided to start this blog. I signed up one January day with little knowledge of what blogging entailed. I was not a regular reader of blogs but of the ones I had seen, I liked what I saw. Moreover, I wanted to join in. I created High Up in the Trees with little knowledge of what I would actually do with the space. All I knew was that I wanted a space comfortable and mine, a place to show my postcard collages. The name I pulled from a line of text featured in All These Black Days — Between by Rebecca Horn (and to lesser extent a visual painted in Chekhov's The House with the Mezzanine (An Artist's Story)). I did not think that it would be a name long in the keeping, but four years later this is clearly not the case. This space proved then, and still, a comfortable and somewhat orderly repository for my thoughts and hopes. From my comings and goings (upon occasion), to a sprinkling of visuals from both worktable and day, I hope it is something I have an interest in maintaining for a few more years yet.
 
2. What kind of blogs do you follow?
The blogs I follow have several shared features. They feel personal, engaging, welcoming, and are creative in some way. Visual content features high, from photographs to crafted creations, illustrations to paintings. They afford me a look at a day unlike my own. They afford me a look at a day similar to my own. And on days when working from home I have no reason to feel lonely. Many of the blogs I follow now I have followed for years, and this is something I like very much indeed.
 
3. Favourite makeup brand?
A little of this and that sums up my makeup regulars, I could not choose a favourite. Chanel, Stila, Yves Saint Laurent, Nars, By Terry, and Philosophy, why, the happiness they bring justifies all expense, and to this many will attest. No, I cannot resist their alluring packaging. I cannot resist the thrill of the quick and decadent purchase.
 
4. Favourite clothing brand?
A Karen Walker Marcel Blazer is a relatively recent spring purchase that I love to wear, though now that summer feels to have truly arrived its outings are becoming less frequent. Favourite thing to wear must equal favourite clothing brand according to my pre coffee logic.
 
5. Your indispensable makeup product?
A light coat of Chanel Inimitable mascara (in Noir Brun) on the top lashes for they are fair. If pressed I would also find it hard to do without YSL’s Touche Éclat and Stila’s Convertible Colour in Rose. And something for my hair, too. This humidity and rain is curling my hair into many ringlets.
 
6. Your favourite colour?
I am often drawn to rich golden yellows and blues that are almost green. I like my colour with a little earthiness to it, muted over bright. I like them with a warm base.
 
7. Your perfume?
Kai Perfume Oil most of the year round. It's the gardenia.
 
8. Your favorite film?
Too hard to pick right now. I am feeling too indecisive. A storm is forecast for today and my mind seems elsewhere. Perhaps it is best if I tell you that the last film I saw at the pictures was a half-price Monday screening of Copacabana starring Isabelle Huppert. The tower of recently watched dvds will tell you that of late I have been in the company of Fred & Ginger (Swing Time, Shall We Dance) and Pedro Almodóvar (Volver, All About My Mother), and To Catch a Thief (which goes hand in glove with warmer days) and Welcome too.
 
9. What country would you like to visit and why?
I’m with Hila in her wish to see the majesty of the Northern Lights, but this morning in answer to question I will say please take me to the Czech Republic for I have never been there and am unlikely to in the near future.
 
10. Make the last question and answer to yourself: what are you looking forward to today?
Pottering in the garden with a cat or two in tow, if the weather permits. There is little I love better than to spend time garden investigating new growth and removing dead leaves. My two tomato plants are as tall as I am now, and they are covered in tiny yellow flowers. High in the trees I recently spotted White-plumed honeyeaters. How glorious a name!
 
And the 10 blogs I give the prize to:
From Sundari passed to Hila. From Hila passed to me. From me to… Lea Bolvig, Alexandra Hedberg, Nathalie et cetera, Deleilian, Christine Clemmensen, Made by Katrina, Chez Denisse, Tiny Happy, Natsumi Nishizumi, Marie-Louise Sundqvist… and you. If it appeals and if you have time please play along.

Thank you.

Opened by chance.

{One, two, three, four...}

A random photographic quartet that for me is capable of conjuring with quick fingers all kinds of travel memories previously thought lost to fog: a pug in a doorway of a Parisian post office; a love heart masquerading as a leaf or a leaf that wishes it were a heart; the green creep of Oxford; and the stage set in London. A haphazard collection they now form and to me whisper in my ear of where I have been. I recall now the excitement of waiting for the curtain to lift before The Royal Ballet’s performance of Onegin. The night it was a Saturday, the ballet told in three acts, and my forearms prickled from beginning until close. We sat up high, in a theatre familiar to me not from previous experience but from film. My heart a loud drum, I vowed then to read Alexander Pushkin’s classic verse-novel (though I have only now purchased a copy from my local bookstore).

+ Lest you missed it the first time around, we are offering 20% off all things listed, from artwork to zines, until Christmas eve 2010 (simply type in 'littlewolf' at checkout).