An amazing Melbourne based photographer

Have you met Cindy?

She is an amazing Melbourne based freelance photographer, specialising in food and product styling and lifestyle photography.

If you haven't already, make sure you check out her website: http://www.cindychen.com.au

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What I come from

Day 1 of Blogtember! I've been so excited to see bloggers getting pumped over this challenge. If you're participating, I hope you enjoy the topics and make lots of new friends this month! Or if you're just reading along, as always, WELCOME and THANK YOU. Hope you enjoy the topics as much as I have a feeling I'll enjoy writing on them. You can expect some other routine SOML posts as well, so get ready for a busy month around here! :)

Today's prompt asks that you describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

Several months ago now I sat down to dinner with my sweet late grandma, who was perfectly healthy at the time but gone just a few short weeks later after a blood vessel burst in her brain. She's the beauty in the photo above, taken on her wedding day. Those of you reading a while now may remember that time and how my family’s heart broke with grief that she was gone. I still miss her every single day. But I remember that dinner like it was yesterday, and how I laughed because she was being her usual sweet and spunky self and said something silly and sarcastic, and I remember feeling so proud of the type of women I come from. Women that stand up for themselves and speak their mind and have an opinion of their own but are also kind and expressive and demonstrative and intelligent and strong and full of empathy and good humor. I felt overwhelmed with this pride in my grandma and also a desire to be more and more like her.  So much of who I am today seems to have been passed to me straight down the line from my grandma and mom - everything from migraines to mood swings to gaining weight in the ass region. But I couldn’t be more proud to come from them. 

I guess this discussion wouldn’t be complete, though, without saying that there’s a little bit of darkness there too, in where I come from. I come from hardworking and passionate people, yes, but I’ve learned a lot about my family on both sides and I also know that we are prone to addiction, mental illness, and disfunctionality of many kinds. I feel that in myself, sometimes. People who are close to me see it there, twinges of it. Many of the people I come from are profoundly empathatic and feel things very deeply, but we tend to have poor follow-through in relationships, scary tempers, and unhealthy levels of ego. So basically, it’s an intersting concoction, my blood. A funny mix of light and dark I always feel competing in me.  But in the words of Sirius Black, “we’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.” 

There's so many ways to interpret this prompt, and I could go on and on. But I'll leave it at that for now.  Can't wait to see what everyone else has to say... leave your links below! :)

*note: the scroll bar may not show up on your computer, but this list is enclosed in a scroll window, so be sure and scroll with your mouse to see the full list!

how to create a rustic spring bouquet

I am delighted to share some tips and tricks I learned at a floral workshop presented by Antonia Georgas of Ruby Slipper Floral Design.  To celebrate the start of spring, and all the lovely flowers available, Antonia taught us "straussing" - the art of making a bunch of flowers in your hand.  I am delighted with how mine turned out and will definitely be using this technique again!  Skip down if you want to find out how or just enjoy the pictures of my lovely bunch on my kitchen bench top.

How to make your own rustic spring bouquet.

Selecting your flowers:
Antonia recommends using 1 primary flower, 2 supporting flowers, and a filler.
In our bunches she selected ranunculas (primary), jonquils and Japanese anenome (supporting), and pieris (filler).
Getting ready:

• Strip stems of leaves, twigs and older blooms. 
• Lay the stripped flowers in bunches by type on the table.
• They need to be ready to use and easy to get to as you will only have one hand free once you begin.

The Straussing technique:

• Start with a stem of your primary flower and lay it across the palm of your left hand (swap hands if you are left handed).
• Next select a supporting flower and lay that across the first stem with the flower slightly to the left of the first stem so that its stem crosses the first one from left to right.
• Continue adding flower stems, alternating the varieties as you go, but make sure each stem is added across the bunch at a slight diagonal from left to right.  This achieves the diagonal stem effect you can see in my photos.
• Vary the height of the flowers to create a looser look.  It looks a little strange in the beginning but will make sense as the bunch grows.  I raised every 5th or 6th stem I added so that the flower was higher than the previous one.
• Turn the bouquet in your hand slightly as you go.  Holding all the flowers in one hand feels awkward at first but gets easier as you go.
• Once you are satisfied with your bunch tie the stems securely with twine and trim the stems to an equal length.
• I snipped the twine once I had put my bouquet in a vase and made the arrangement slightly looser, personal preference really.

There is really no wrong way, with such a lovely combination of flowers your bunch is sure to turn out just lovely.

If my description doesn't make sense why not do your own workshop with Antonia at her store in Paddington.   I will be back for more, next time I want to learn how to use succulents.  

Top Tip

• Keep water in vases clean by adding a spoon of sugar to the vase before filling with water.

I have tried to show my bunch from every side so you can see how lovely it looks from every angle.  I think it is one of the prettiest bunches I have ever arranged myself and I will definitely use this technique again.  

Thanks Antonia, it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning.