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Inspire: The Art of Living with Nature *plus* a Giveaway

Tuesday, August 15, 2017



Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies!  We enjoyed a really long weekend at Lake Martin (Thursday through Monday), a very rare long weekend.  We had a wonderful time.

Today I want to share with you a pretty and creative book:  Inspire: The Art of Living with Nature by Willow Crossley.  Crossley is a British floral designer, stylist, and author, and I've read a few articles about her in British magazines.  This book presents simple ideas to incorporate nature in your home. With chapters entitled: Woodland, Flora, Fauna, Beach, and Edibles, there's surely a chapter or two that will appeal to most readers (I loved the Woodland, Flora, and Beach chapters).

Since it's summer and we haven't made it to the beach yet, I wanted to bring a little of the sea into our home.  I liked how Crossley placed orchids in clamshells and houseplants in nautilus shells:



The photographs are beautiful in this book.  Although many of the floral arrangements and other projects are simple, the staging of the projects elevate them.



This is my take on the clamshell project:



I placed my project on this little MacKenzie-Childs table in the art studio.  See it?
Come a little closer...




I placed my little orchid...




...inside an abalone shell rather than a clamshell.  I love the color and texture!  And don't worry....I did a better job placing the bark around the roots later.


One of the great tips I learned from the book is the best way to water an orchid.  Once a week, place an ice cube on the roots.  As it melts, it waters the orchid!  A couple of other favorites from the book are: a gorgeous arrangement made with radishes and a fun, large arrangement with branches and pompoms.  

Because I enjoyed the book so much, can you imagine my delight when Amazon notified me that Willow Crossley has a new book?  Can you?  I ordered it.



*squee!* Another book with 50 beautiful projects to bring the outside in.




Ummm....there's a slight problem.  Although the books have different covers, they have the exact same content inside.  :/



Truly, I don't know whether I should be more annoyed at Cisco Books or Amazon.  Honestly, I'm more annoyed at myself for falling for it.  I have been burned by magazines doing this, changing a cover to sell more of the same issue.  I won't fall for either scheme again, I tell ya!

My stupidity, My Lovelies, has a silver lining.  I don't need two copies of the same book, so I will share.  I will give the newest one (the one on top in the photo above) to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favorite idea for bringing nature into your home.  I will read them to Shelley and let her pick her favorite.  Here's a hint: she likes pretty!  She will pick the winner one week from tonight, and I will announce the winner on Wednesday of next week.  Please leave an email so I can contact you if you're a No Reply Blogger!  Good luck!


Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill




12 comments

  1. haha...I have also fallen for this with magazines, especially the holiday issues - last year I got so angry that I sent an email to the mag and they sent me a different issue! But so strange that this even has a different title!! I adore your little table - and wallpaper! Your arrangement is perfect!! Count me in on your giveaway!

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  2. Hi!
    My favorite way to bring the outdoors in is to stencil. In my kitchen I have 2 trees stenciled on the wall and my husband hung a lantern on each with a large iron hook. The base of my kitchen counter is stenciled as a garden with a white picket fence. My children's bathroom is sponged painted to look like water and fish are stenciled swimming around. I do have houseplants too, but the stencils require no care at all. :) I'm not sure if you will get my email with this, so here it is: tlummer1@gmail.com

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  3. It's easy to bring flowers inside, we love the outdoors and it has inspired us for wall colors, earth, grass, stone colors, as well as water or sky. I love finding something that reminds us of our vacations to National Parks and in operating them or the garden with wall decor.

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  4. Magazines make me crazy when they do that but I've never seen a book with repeated content. Bless your heart for sharing!

    I just love seeing your colorful home. :)

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  5. I love the idea of planting an orchid in a large shell like you did. I have a huge Abalone shell that my grandmother used for garden club arrangements that would be perfect for this. I need to dig it out of the basement and get an orchid.

    To bring nature into my home, when I'm walking our dog in the woods, I use one of his poop bags to pick up natural treasures. Fall is my favorite time as then I gather dried grasses, seed pods, pine cones, lichen, and dried shelf fungus. I use all of my natural elements to make small vignettes in old pottery vases that I've collected to display around our home. It's fun to collect the items and my displays are free to make.

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  6. Please do a post on how you planted the orchid in the shell. I have an orchid and a shell. Now I need to know how to go about this. ;-)

    Well you know, I love flowers. I have fresh cut flowers all over my house. Small vases of tiny flowers in the window sills. Large bouquets on the dinning room and kitchen table. Small bouquets in the bathroom. And a special bouquet by my bedside.
    Thank you for the opportunity,
    Carla

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  7. I love your colorful wallpaper, paintings and accessories.
    I had that happen with a french style magazine and it really disappointed me.
    NIce of you to share with a giveaway.
    Glad you had an extra special weekend at the lake.

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  8. omg, that is awful!!! You should have sent it back!!! But you are so sweet to share! As for bringing the outside in, I usually do it with a little help from Trader Joe's or Publix, I love love flowers, but I'm not much of a gardener :) My favorite thing in the summer is big hydrangeas in rustic containers. I am drooling over your MKC table, and the orchid looks fantastic in the shell~
    Jenna

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  9. My favorite way to bring nature into my home is to surround the rooms with portraits of flowers. The more the better. Thank you for the giveaway.
    MarilynDKC[at]AOL[dot]com

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  10. I bring nature into my house by buying flowers to go with the season. Thank you for the opportunity to win this lovely book.
    JoanEC128[at]AOL[dot]com

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  11. Adding nature to my house is by putting up pictures of butterflies and a few animals. I have a few deer crewel pictures from my Grandmother. Thanks for this generous giveaway.
    MarionMPC[at]AOL[dot]com

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  12. 1 can't resist picking up feathers and bringing them into my home. I am always in awe of birds' ability to soar and glide, and I feel privileged to have a small part of that magic close by me. Peace and Blessings.
    technoturt@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete

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Hello!

I'm Ricki Jill. Welcome! I'm honored that you're reading my blog. I enjoy sharing my creative lifestyle @ The Bookish Dilettante. For more information about my blog, please read the Start Here page. Thank-you for stopping by, and I hope you'll consider following me via email.

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