Hydrangea Girl – elsewhere

As you may know by now, Google reader is going extinct as and from tomorrow. I have no doubt those of you who use it have made the necessary precautions, but just in case, below are a couple of alternative sites you can use to keep up to date with my posts …

Bloglovin’
Subscribe by e-mail

I’m sure there’s more, but those are the only two alternatives I can think of. And while I’m at it, here’s some blatant social media plugging you can find me here too …

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest

For all of about 4 minutes I signed up for Google+ and Instagram, but I quickly deleted my accounts. To me they’re just two more social media sites I have to chase, and I’m quite content with the ones I have to date. No offence to those of you who have those accounts; I feel I’d be spreading myself too thin. It seems less is more is happening a lot around here lately.

That’s all peeps. Stop on by tomorrow for some tasty temptations you will adore / immediately regret consuming. Hell, you only live once. xx A

My kind of style

Let me start by saying that anyone who appreciates hydrangeas half as much as I do is getting their own blog post. Queue a seamless introduction to the insanely talented Abigail Ahern
I picked up Abigail’s new book, Decorating with Style, a couple of weeks ago and might need to invest in a second copy as the pages are already wilted from the excessive amount of saliva having been secreted from my face. Sharing my love of all things dark design, skulls, quirky decor, faux flowers {um, hello}, and not to mention some tore up from the floor up DIY’s thrown in the mix, Abigail’s design is drool inducing.

Flipping through the pages of her book really makes me wish I owned our apartment. I would faux-panel the hell out of the walls and lather them in moody grey hues. Her book perfectly embodies one of my favourite saying these days – go big or go home. Don’t be afraid. Colour outside of the lines. Break some of the rules. Have fun with how you design your home. Unbutton your top a little and enjoy it; that’s what a home is for. And importantly, you don’t got to break the bank – design doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Lord knows half my stuff is the cheapest of the cheap. 
Abigail and her book are also featured in the current May / June issue of House and Home which is on the shelves until the end of this month, so snatch it up while you can. 

And to finish, Abigail’s shop Atelier has been on my list to see for a long time. To quote Liz Lemon –
  
I want to go to there

  
Fingers crossed I can sneak over to London sometime soon so I can go touch everything in her shop. Major design / girl crush. 

Image cred 2 and 5

Safe and sound

Seven days after wrapping, hugging and sending off Hilda’s hydrangea painting Stateside, I’m happy to say it arrived safely to its new owner! Barbara sent me this lovely picture of her and her handsome feline friend Smokey, who Barb admitted, doesn’t look too impressed with her new painting {lord knows how much my cats dis my stuff!}. But us humans know when to appreciate a good hydrangea painting when we see one. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – very jealous of your winnings Barb.

And best of luck on the epic task that is deciding on how to frame that beauty! Shadow box? Add matting? Black, or dare I say a colour frame? A charity shop revamp job? Decisions, decisions … 😉 xx A