In summer mood....

Goodmorning to all who are living in the same hemisphere as where the little Penthouse is located, the living room of which is pictured above and from where I'm usually writing :)

And hello or good evening to those being in different time zones.

I 'm finally managing to come and make an appearance here to say hello and give a taste of this week's happenings (since previous Teusday's last post)  through some pictures. As you may well have guessed, I have indeed been a (very) buzy bee lately! Still, there has been some time to....

style a little tiny bit our veranda, by adding some hamam towels (bought at h&m Home on line)

on the chair and the bench and enjoying some sunbathing during the day or grilling during the evenings

make a collage displaying favorite moments happening around the house, such as 

getting dressed for an "at home" Friday dinner, styling around a bit for some pictures, crafting and making - one of a kind - combined art, collage & drawing cards such as this one,

bringing out Mr Squirrel to help me with providing some string ,as I was packing some gifts for dear friends and therefore making a click to capture the basket holding all of the "balls" of string as they looked so photogenic to me...

making the bed with fresh sheets (Ikea) mixing and matching the pillow cases (Ikea) from different sets with a light grey, duvet cover perfectly light for summer, also found at h&m home....all combined to acheive a minimal look in natural tones...

...also spending long, endless hours in front of the computer screen, processing pictures according to my personal feel and taste,  like the "House with hats" above, photographed by my loving partner (also madly into photography) in our neighbourhood some months ago and processed by me specially for the needs of our Etsy shop

....and the "Happy nuns" pictured above, which you are invited to open in flickr by just clicking on the link to find out why this is the title and which, together with the previous one, belong in the "Stories of times gone by" photography series and was inspired this weekend....

mostly by our visit to the Oltimers car's festival that took place in the park across our home (Verna Park), where I accidentally discovered myself in the reflection of a super polished back part of a 1930's car front light and therefore took a minute for a little - ahem! - posing....

and had plenty of time to fall in love with the cutest of the cars participating in the festival among Rolls Royce and Jaguars to Austin and Bentleys..to  Porches, to astonishing Cadillacs and totally rounded Ford vans... this little guy, an original VW beetle caring "his" vintage, leather suitcase on "his back", simply stole my heart like forever!....that's why he'll have a special place on the shelves of the Etsy shop, at your disposal when you wish to signify that you'll be away or to simply wish a friend:

"Bon Voyage!"....

...and as if all this has not been enough, there was some time to engage into a play with circles, remembering old days of school, when geometry class was one of my favorites(!) and so often run home to find the solutions of the assignments we would recieve, almost always absolutely correct to my teachers' surpise...."get a life you little teenage girl!", they must have thought and actually I do think the same, now.....I wonder what would they say if they saw what has been happening to all I've learned and how it is incorporated into my daily life....sigh....!


 Finally, to be bringing this rather happy Wednesday post to its end....

there has been some time to be feeling just like walking in the skies, when out in our veranda, as apart from the view of little roofs among gardens, one has an immediate connection to the sky, the little penthouse being situated on the 4rth floor. Oh Good heavens, dear all.....if it isn't about celebrating every little moment in life, then what is it about?....hard times will always come our ways as well and am thinking that maybe...just maybe...sucking the beauty of glorious little moments to the very depth of our souls when they occur, can be the antidote when these hard times appear.


All the love and blessings to all 
Friendly yours,
Ivy

Cool summer

Cool summer, originally uploaded by ivy style33.

Goodmorning on a Saturday!

Despite the quiteness here - where are you people?....hellooo....I'm back! - I"m posting this as promised last night. I blame you not for having possibly forgotten about this place and given up hope about me showing up....but I hope that we can catch up with each other.

The collage above is in the same colour mood as yesterday's and gathers some moments from activities that I so much enjoy....travelling, with a few pictures from our current vacation in
Greece and two from The Netherlands included, photography, crafting, styling and interior designing....all adored for the freedom and deep happiness they offer me when engaging in them...

"Colour your mood" could be my moto, as there is so much interconnection between what goes on inside and what is expressed outside....I have noticed the transition from one tone to the other in between days, from more warm to more cool tones, to be smoother and smoother as years go by....like a dance between too lovers, who interchange between moments of passion and ones of tenderness and tranquility....

It's a nice feeling, which can be enjoyed and cherished after many, many intense ups and downs and sincere work on getting to know who I really am and what I want.....claiming not that issues are finished, as they are for me eternal and never ending, with knowledge being a source with which we are never finished....but just wanting to mention that such processes are true treasures to be cherished like the most precious of gifts.

Oh, let us look inside and colour our moods with our personal, magical paintbrushes!

Softness in cool tones

Softness in cool tones, originally uploaded by ivy style33.

...ok....ok....I admit that I' ve been meaning to come here so often during this first week after our vacations, but have not managed to do so....I feel a little embaraced for that, as I know that those of you who are followers - yes at least these eighty six of you! - might have dropped in to see what is up (and actually what 's not!) and therefore noticing that there has been quite some uploading going on in my flickr stream, unlike here!

I meant not to be rude or neglecting, but as I've said in the past a few times, posts come in a free manner and not at all because they are programmed or scheduled...maybe some organisation wouldn't hurt, but for the time being I find this whole posting and blogging thing to be working in this simplistic and free manner.

And now that all this uneasy part is said and done, let me say that I'm happily back and have enjoyed very beautiful and precious moments throughout our 12 days in Greece.

Coming back I felt that there was so much I wanted to share and on the other hand I wanted to take my time into finding the pace in being active on line again.....one step at a time....as both my partner and I were completely technology free during our 8 days in magical Pilion and by that I mean laptop, internet and mobile free.
All we carried were our camera equipments - my modest Minolta Dimage and my partner's two great Sony cameras and amazing lences, on which I don't set my fingers upon.....yet.

If you 'd like to see some pictures of our trip, I invite you here and should you wish to take a look at the place where we stayed when in Athens, that would be my parents' Apartment 44, the making of which I'm responsible for, you may hop over here!

....I decided to return here with this collage of pictures as they represent my current mood today and are connected to the next post that is going to follow in a little while....

I read in the comments of the last post I made the day we left for vacation,, that a reader of this blog - Ana - missed my feelings as she said....now how sweet is that and what a good reason to share! Thank you Ana for caring and taking the time to read!

Some recent thoughts on the endless subject of Love are shared here if you 'd like to have a ...read!

I wish that you all have had a nice Friday and most of all to have the nicest of weekends ahead of you, being blessed, happy, peaceful, creative and having lots of fun!

A happy couple - wishes for a lovely weekend!

A happy couple - wishes for a lovely weekend!, originally uploaded by ivy style33.

Sometimes opposites or contradictions can be best friends...so long as they complement each other....

...bright & dark
...pink & grey
...dots & stripes
...curves & lines
...light & shadows
...low & high
...day & night
...feminine & masculine
...geometry & poetry
...mind & heart
...and so many more, endless pairs of opposites to name...

...all particapting in the dance of life...can form a beautiful wholeness, so long as they accept & respect each others existence....working with and for each other.
...so long as they are both true & authentic, they can complement each other, resulting in a unity based on healthy oneness.

Not the alsmost usual mosaic (so far!-> update: here it is) to wish you all a wonderful weekend, but a diptych instead.
Enjoy all the aspects of life!

Knocking on heaven' s door...

Knocking on heaven' s door..., originally uploaded by ivy style33.

Goodmorning all :)

An official thank you for the welcoming of my Photography series yesterday. I was really delighted by  the warm response! So today, I'll be presenting you here a small sample of my rather big collection of doors, that I've been photographing through out the years...even when digital was a far, far away dream.

The doors - and probably a window or two - participating in this mosaic have been photographed mostly since the very beginning of this year. They were found in various places, starting from our own neighbourhood, to Munich, to Madrid, to Mallorca, to Strassbourg, to Amsterdam (set of pictures is under construction at the moment)

One day, after many, many more trips to come and to experience, I'd like to group them together - including all the ones from other past trips, too - and probably publish something. I find doors to be not only very appealing to me due to their unique architecture and colours, but also to hold a very special symbolic meaning.

Our paths of lives, for example, go always through imaginary doors. Sometimes we open ones to find pure bliss, others to learn a lesson or to find ourselves among others that are to benefit from our own gained knowledge.
There are others that are bright open, but we never actually choose to go through them, either because of a wrong timing or as a result of choice - very often a wise one. Like when we close for good behind us and not ever again decide to go through doors, that led us to unnessary pain or to a way of life that was not suitable to our wishes and standards.

In addition there are these doors, we stand before them with awe and would love to knock, so that their opening reveals an equal incredible interior...probably these are the ones, that need the more stregth and integrity to be opened, as we human beings tend to sometimes be afraid of our own happiness and our own successes.

And finally there are these doors we are sometimes so persistent in opening and keep on endlessly knocking ,despite the fact that there is no actual response....even after many trials...then most probably we are wishing for something the wrong way, we are probably seeking for easy success, without having the required background for that.

A wise decision would be to reconsider both the door we are aiming at and our readiness to enter it.
There are no easy ways, but we are the ones who can make our ways easy...good news is we can prepare ourselves by recognising both our weaknesses and strenghts and arm oureselves both with faith in our abilities and some humbleness, too.

How about you?...are you probaply in the mood for some sharing today?..which are the doors that you have firmly closed behind you in your lives and which are the ones you wish to open?

I'll be signing off for the day and return later tonight, so by then I'm wishing you all to have the best days ever possible for each one of you!

Look around you....

Look around you - love can be everywhere, originally uploaded by ivy style33.

Look around you - love can be everywhere, but of course also
Look inside you - love is hiding there!

...some years ago I realised that living with love is a priority in my life. This doesn't necessarily involve only a romantic approach in to seeing things and it definetely doesn't always mean, that life is seen through pink glasses all the time!

But what does it involve?

It involves living with the truth, living healthy and with sanity.

It invloves living with an understanding both for the self and others.

It involves being fair...oh! so hard in this competitive world!

It involves having the best of intentions, but also being able to move away

from situations, when they prove to be a simple repetance of things wrong.

It involves encouraging others to be the best they can, but also letting it go, when there is a feeling of extreme resistance from the opposite side.

It involves looking inside ourselves for answers, before we point our fingers to others for our misfortunes.

It involves being grateful for the gift of life.

It involves appreciating whatever we might have.

It involves bringing our existences to their highest possible point by

doing the best we can for ourselves and others.

I guess it also involves being authentic, by taking the time to discover ourselves and allow inspiration to come from within....

...again rather hard when inspiration lies everywhere around us, to keep the balance...to look inside in order to offer a  true part of ourselves....

Welcome  to my Diary of Love....where pictures and words will melt in each other, for the only purpose of reminding us the priceless value of love.

It might sound simple, but sometimes real love is a tough path to follow.

Coz loving life means to embrace both the good & the bad, both the bright & the dark...accepting their dual existance and simply making clear choices.

cake love & a happy new week!

cake love & a happy new week!, originally uploaded by ivy style33.

Hello there :)

I hope you all had a delightful weekend and were able to find happiness in the small, simple & important things, among others of course!
Thanks to the recipe & precise instructions of a lovely online friend, enjoying a delicious carrot cake was one of the highlights of this weekend.
 Oh!...the pleasure of accomplishment....can sometimes be found is such simple things as trying to bake a new cake recipe, succeeding, enjoying it or in exploring our artistic natures, such as when crafting and/or photographing for example...

....there are certainly talents & passions in every individual and investing time into exploring them is a valuable way of finding pleasure, a sense of achievement & happiness, that doesn't depend on others, our relationships or our formal jobs, but it is simple and deeply connected to ourselves.

There is always time, if we think about it, sometimes more and sometimes less, depending on our current life conditions. But there is no such thing as being passionate about something and not ever finding the way and the time to be engaged in it!

...and sometimes all we people need is a gentle push and a reassuring tap on our shoulders!

What about you?....what are you passionate about and try to make up time in order to be involved with it?

Or if there is practically no time in your daily lives now, what is it that you wish to and plan for doing, as soon as this is possible?

What is it that you love to do during which you forget yourself and at the same time you find yourself?

Are you maybe lucky enough and have already worked hard to have made your passion be your daily reality, way of living and possibly your formal job?

What a way to start a week....by posing questions! But my intentions are to wish you all a lovely week and do think, that by encouraging us to do the things we really love, is a possible way of managing to experience meaningful moments of happiness throughout our days.

As far as my weekend is concerned, I did take the advice of many of you here, who commented on this recent post - expressing much tireness and temporary inability to move forward - and all I did was relax and free my mind from thoughts!

On line engagement was also limited, despite the fact that the whole Saturday was spent at home, engaging in to such activities, as magazine reading, crafting, cooking & spending nice time with loved ones.

Sunday was a fine day out, with the weather finally showing a more Springy face! Visting family for lunch and early afternoon coffee & cake and  then long walks in the woods, while being on a Photo Safari (of which pictures will be soon shared on flickr) were excellent for bringing peace in a lately overworried mind, settling emotions and charging the self's batteries. Isn't nature one of the most wonderful presents?...and companionship just another one?

Thank you all for taking the time to share and comment here lately! Have the loveliest of weeks!

& now what...?

& now what...?, originally uploaded by ivy style33.

O.k...o.k...I know that I usually come here with a - big - smile and lots of positivism...and I trully like to do that...but as this blog is evolving as part of my everyday life, it is almost impossible to be always on this track. And I trully start to be getting used to coming here and sharing...and I'd like to do that as I often as I can...but this presupposes that I'm not placed high in any podium, but rather we are all gathered sitted on the floor, among comfortable cushions alltogether. Then I can share parts of my everyday life, of my reality, my thoughts and considerations here with you, where you are also welcome to drop in and share.

Just please do be aware that I'm not glued to this blog and I consider it to be....let's say...an extra room, where I get to have meetings with you, when there is free time....but you are all free to gather here and exchange views and opinions with each other, even without my constant presence. In a way, I'm always here, as this is a place created by me.

So today, allow me to share some less than usual clear thoughts and accept the fact that I'm kind of tired and confused....so...

...ever feel that you are stuck?
...that you know exactly what you are supposed to do, but have no strength to do it?
...ever feel that you doubt your own self?
...ever feel that your energy is drained?
...ever feel that you need to learn new skills, more things, but feel like you' ve spent your whole life in endless learning and simply just need a break?

...ever feel that it's time to really - really! - put your plans and wishes in action, but feel that you are tired even without having started?

...ever feel you are scared to become the best you can be?

...ever feel you are scared like mad of letting go of all the possible pain life has brought your way?
...and that it's time to see that there is actually NO pain any more...
...and that everything is just an echo of the past?
...of traumas that eventhough have been very well taken care off, they have left their irreversible marks?

Well, then you know how I feel these days....no, I am not locked in a room with black circles under my eyes, am not living in a mess and am not leaving myself untaken care of...

Our living space is well taken care of, I go out, I dress myself nicely, I socialise and occasionally work both at and outside home...
...but simply it feels like every little thing needs too much effort!

Then, I know it's time to go back and see what I 've lost and where on my way....

Find it...
Pick it up...
Keep it...
And cherish it like the treasure that it is!

And then...do. Life is SO all about doing.