*Stylist* - Elle Decoration UK

Oh my, what a rollercoaster of a month or two it has been. I feel as though I've been through the spin cycle of a washing machine; I am bedraggled, if that's even a word! I hope its not too late for you to scan through a copy of the current Elle Decoration UK (September issue) to see the gorgeous Paris apartment we shot earlier this year. Despite having had my work published many times before, this one really brought a smile to my face. Here are a few scans of the 8 page spread

So many incredible design classics and divine antique pieces to drool over; it was a pleasure to work on and I look forward to collaborating again with the interior designer, Marianne Tiegen. We have a few ideas in the pipeline!

I treated myself to a sweet little neon peach cardi to celebrate!

Lisa x

{images by Lisa Pocklington, original photos - with permission - by Jeremy Wilson}

*Stylist* - featured in rom1.2.3 magazine

When we arrived back from our Christmas whirlwind tour of the UK, there was a lovely little parcel waiting for us from afar. Although I don't read any Norwegian, it was wonderful to flick through the December issue of rom1.2.3 magazine which featured a story we styled, shot and wrote here in France a while ago, in fact it was originally featured in Livingetc last winter

They used a great selection of the shots, want to have a look? Grab a cup of tea and scroll down!

The story is called Winter Dreams and tells how owners Flo & Guillaume transformed a derelict carpenter's workshop into the home of their dreams here in Chamonix. They have made amazing use of the space and worked so very hard to get it looking so cosy

Did you spot the Get Smitten cushions in Flo's grey lounge? She commissioned a set of grey cashmere snowflake ones from me after agreeing to carry the line in her homewares boutique Reves d'Hiver. And the Space Cadet artwork in Simon & Charlie's room is one of my textile art pieces too

My favourite is the main bedroom shot - I just love the mix of textures on the bed. I made the yellow vintage fabric with grey velvet trim cushions specifically for this shoot. I'm thinking they'll look fab in our 'new' campervan this summer if JW manages to fix all its problems! More on that another time... there is too much snow out there for him to tinker on it at the moment

It was fun to flick through the pages of a foreign interiors mag - especially a Scandinavian one; they have such a strong design sense, or perhaps the appeal is that it is so different to the English and French ones that I am used to seeing? Either way, I can tell you it has fueled my desire to visit Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo for some design inspiration

Where have you been in Scandinavia? Where/what can you recommend for me to visit there? I feel the seeds of a trip being planted!

Lisa  x

{photos by Jeremy Wilson, styling by Lisa Pocklington, pages scanned from December 2011 rom123}

*Stylist* - Caught in Action!

A last minute work arrangement has meant I don't have time to write the post I had planned for today - around my Get Smitten activity for October's Breast Cancer Awareness month - as I am literally going to be dashing out the door to catch a train to Lyon as soon as I hit publish on this post!

I thought instead I'd leave you with this pic of me in action, styling a chalet a few weeks ago - I often get caught in action during the light testing stage of the process as I am still tweaking props, lighting candles or placing flowers. Usually I am a ghostly blur across the shot as I am in motion but this time I am in full view and I thought you might like this little behind the scenes sneak peek

Next time I'll fill you in on my Think Pink scheme for Get Smitten during October

Happy Sunday!

Lisa x

{photo by Jeremy Wilson Photography}

Colour Me Crazy!

Let the World Spin by Irene Suchoki

Colour plays a huge part in all areas of my life; it always has. Whether it be for work as a stylist, as a designer or in my home life, there is certain to be a colour palette involved. In fact, I would go as far as to say it was something of an obsession - I have been known to reject seating in a restaurant that clashed with my outfit and I distinctly remember shunning The Brownie Guides uniform of brown and yellow; it would take way more than the enticement of a sewing badge to get me to wear that combination I can tell you!

I will leave it until another post to show you my studio space where all my fabrics, threads and yarns are colour coded; I could go on.. but I won't... you'll only think I'm odd

What I really wanted to show you was this video I came across recently for Dulux paints - you may have already seen it as I think it may have been used as a TV commercial



How gorgeous are those pink and lilac Indian archways?! The video mesmerised me and reminded me of when I was an art student and used to take one of every single Dulux colour chart from the local DIY store. Once I had the entire spectrum I would punch a hole in one end and secure them with a large paper fastener so that I could fan them out whenever I was working and check out colour combos for a project. Ah the simple pleasures in life!

I think it's time I spent a few happy hours playing on Colour Lovers again! Harmonious colour makes my heart sing. What does colour mean to you?

Lisa x

p.s if you can't see the video in your email version, come on over to the blog!

{Let the World Spin photo by Irene Suchoki visit her Etsy shop to see more of her gorgeous images, movie by let's colour project}

*Stylist* - in December's Livingetc

 As a stylist I am no stranger to seeing my work published or my name in print but rarely do I feature on the 'other' side of the camera; I'm usually behind it & behind the scenes. So it's a little strange to flick through the current issue of Livingetc and see a photo of me smiling shyly back atcha from the featured contributors section! (page 12 in case you're passing a newsstand!)

Now, I'm not one for tooting my own trumpet but I must say I'm quite pleased... and honoured to be featured. I had to answer a series of Christmas related questions which I sent in along with the copy I wrote for the article on a gorgeous home here in Chamonix, France. You can see more of the images of this home on the Livingetc website

With this being a Christmas issue story I had the fun task of sourcing and decorating a 5m tall tree!... in February! It was quite a feat to get it into the house and took the best part of a day to decorate. Florence and her family were amazingly accommodating and the kids were super excited to have all the decorations up again (merci mille fois Flo!). Simon was a star and wrote out a lovely letter to Pere Noel about wanting a Labrador puppy and little Charlie was adorable reaching up for the bright pink pompom that I suspended from the Moose painting in the lounge

I'll be posting a tutorial in the coming weeks on how to make the printed ribbons to decorate your Christmas tree as well as the mistletoe ball from the bedroom shot (my favourite!), so watch out for those. In the meantime though, one of the questions I was asked was, "This year my tree will be... (in 5 words or less)"  You'll see in the copy above that my answer was...

"Baubles suspended from the ceiling"

I'm lucky enough to have a beautiful vaulted ceiling in my lounge and I plan to suspend antiqued silver baubles of differing sizes from the light fitting with bright ribbons - and maybe the odd tiny disco ball too!

What plans do you have for your Christmas tree this year?

Lisa x

{photography by Jeremy Wilson}

*Magpie* - Bastille Day Brocante

It's a public holiday today here in France - Bastille Day to be precise - and so what better excuse to scour a brocante or vide grenier for some treasures and then enjoy a sunny lunch with friends.

I scored a couple of great finds; impressive as the searing heat made it near impossible to browse at leisure. It was more of a shade-hop experience! The crochet blanket is stunning; I love the crispness of the perfect white cotton. There are a couple of holes that need mending & a gluey blob along one of the edges but nothing that can't be sorted with a little bit of Lisa TLC. Plus it gave me an excuse to haggle! It's big enough to be a bed cover in a white on white room or a picnic blanket in the dappled shade of a tree; but I can see it draped casually over the handrail of the terrace in front of my studio. Oh, wait a sec... what terrace? What Studio?
Well, a girl can dream can't she?

My second find was this set of old books - something I always look out for as they make lovely styling props. Not sure why but there is something appealing about gold stars. I like shiny.
We rounded off the excitement of the morning's foraging with a lovely, relaxing lunch at Le Délice. If only we could've stayed all afternoon sipping chilled rose and nibbling on tapas {sigh}

Liberté, égalité, fraternité  

mes amies!

Home to Roost

I'm heading back to the UK tomorrow morning for a cheeky visit with my family. Apart from being excited about spending quality time with my nearest & dearest (Christmas was a whirlwind tour!) I am also looking forward to some retail therapy

I love to hit the charity shops when I'm back in the UK - this is where I source many of my materials for the Get Smitten collections. It's so important to me to make the effort to reduce the amount of textile waste the Western world produces with its quick & easy, high turn around fashion culture. More about that another time though! Plus it's nice to support the charities too. I also love to scout for interesting items to use when I'm styling - be it books, vases, vintage patterns or kitschy ornaments. Here's a quick run down on what I'll be hunting for this trip

• retro sewing patterns
• vintage crochet patterns
• odd balls of yarn
• suitable jumpers to unravel for the yarn
• retro bedlinen
• cut glass vases
• books with interesting covers
• vintage sewing/haberdashery notions

 Mum & I are heading to the Victoria & Albert museum - to see the much talked about Quilt: 1700-2010 exhibition. I adore the V&A and am beside myself at the thought of seeing all the amazing quilts they have on display. I have spent many hours checking out the textiles at the V&A  over the last 20 years, although mostly in darkened rooms through flat glass plates, so it will be a real treat to see them in their full glory. You can find out all about the exhibition here

And lastly, I will be making the most of my trip to London by swooning at the gorgeous items in Anthropology. Can't wait to see what they have done for their displays - I totally LOVE their visual merchandising

There's always such a comfort in a trip back to see family - having lived abroad for so many years now I really treasure those moments of laughter, reminiscing & unconditional love. I have several items back there that I want to photograph so I can tell you about them in future posts here. I want to dig out my old ballet shoes so that I can take a dance class here. I want to find my A-Level copy of Pride & Prejudice - the one with all my course notes in. I want to look through the old photo albums of when we were kids. I want to feel that feeling you get when you're surrounded by your favourite people in the the whole world. Home is where the heart is. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to pack!

Happy 10th Birthday Inside Out!

The blogosphere is currently awash with birthday wishes to super cool Australian interiors/lifestyle magazine Inside Out - they are celebrating 10 years of fabulous design, inspiration, ideas, recipes, colour and style.

Now, it is a little tricky for me to rave on about this celebrated birthday issue as I have not yet got my hands on a copy - although I have begged my Aussie mates to post me a copy toute-de-suite! (is part of my need linked to the fact that this issue comes with a screen printed Rob Ryan T-towel????? I'll let you judge me on that one!) So instead I shall link you over to one of my fave Australian design blogs, The Design Files, where the lovely Lucy interviewed Inside Out's editor Karen McCartney, who launched the mag back in 2000

And for a greater appreciation of the talent that goes into such a brilliant monthly mag, you must visit the Inside Out blog, where "the staff happily reveal a few of their favourite things". The Inside Out team totally inspire you to inject style into your life... it's contagious

I had originally thought that this would be the end of this post but then I realised that it is in fact thanks to Inside Out that I have my work now as a stylist. Back in about 2003, when I was living in Sydney, Australia, I found myself assisting various stylists in order to pick their brains about the job & get some hands-on experience of working on a shoot. The first kind soul to give me a break was English stylist Lynsey Fryers & the majority of the jobs we worked on together were for Inside Out with the hugely talented photographer Amanda Prior. Ah, happy paint-fumed, gluey-fingered memories!

I continued to assist various established stylists even when I started to get my own gigs (thank you at this point to kind soul no.2 - Art Director Caroline Sherlock) - it's such a great way to learn a trade, pick up tricks & secrets and meet other people in the industry. Plus it's fun - they tend to get the really good gigs which you can then become a part of. I remember in particular a 2 day shoot with stylist Sam Beer & photographer Lucas Allen - we took over this wonderful home up near Centennial Park & the entire front room was filled with props that Sam had called in from numerous stores and boutiques in the city. I was busy ironing creases from out-of-the-packet bed linens & decorating oranges with cloves (oh, yes - did I mention how glamorous the life of a stylist's assistant is?!) when they suddenly decide that the bed shot would look so much better with a body in it.... cue me, stripped down to my essentials & in a nightie, frolicking on a luxurious bed of throws & blankets with lights & cameras pointing at me. I can assure you I am not accustomed to this type of behaviour! Here, I have just dug out the clippings for your amusement!

So I guess that just leaves me to wish all at Inside Out a very happy birthday & here's to another 10 years of style inspiration for the home & for living!

photos of selected Inside Out/Home Beautiful magazine clippings by Lisa Pocklington

Wear the Colours of Your Country

February 12th sees the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which I'm strangely excited about for some reason?! I'll confess that I'm not your greatest sports fan and, unless it's on the Wii (I'm a legend at the Ski Jump!), I'm not that good at playing them either. Although I'm happy to cheer my Nation on in sports events - {flashback to yelling myself hoarse on the Sydney Opera House steps watching the Rugby World Cup Finals in 2004} - you'll certainly NEVER catch me wearing any of those hideous team shirts or painting my face red, white & blue. So when I saw these cute ballerina flats by Pretty Ballerinas on Daily Candy this morning, it made me smile. This is how I would be wearing the colours of my country - with style! Love the nod to the punk movement with the addition of the safety pin detail. Go Team GB Go! The pumps come in a number of other Nationalities too.

Valentine's Wish List (hint hint!)

It's Wednesday afternoon & Valentine's Day is this coming Sunday, so I've left it a tad late I know! But, for what its worth, here is my little wish list...

 

Paris: Made by Hand by Pia Jane Bejkerk

First is this book of hand selected places in Paris to find wonderful hand-made lovliness. It is by the amazingly talented Pia Jane Bijkerk - a stylist working between Sydney, Amsterdam & Paris and is basically an all singing, all dancing, full colour version of her stylist's little black book (we all have one you know!) Her blog is both beautiful & inspirational, you have to check it out! Jez & I are seriously overdue a trip to Paris & I ain't going without this baby tucked into my weekend bag!

 

Flea Markets of France by Sandy Price & Emily Laxer

Second is another little book, again on the Paris trip theme but this time covering all the best flea markets & Brocantes to find vintage treasures. I stumbled across it while searching for Pia's book & well, while you're at the bookstore you may as well get both! This covers the whole of France so it will be invaluable in hunting down wonderful new bits & pieces throughout the year as we travel around on photo shoots

Third is the box set of Flight of the Conchords - Series 1 & 2. These guys make me laugh so much, I never tire of watching them. I would love to catch a live performance & had actually watched all of their live clips on YouTube before I had seen a single episode of the series. Pure genius



So many clips to choose from, but here is a live version of "It's Business Time"

Finally, and most unlikely (as they have all already sold out), is one of the totally incredible, limited edition Rob Ryan Valentine lasercuts. Swoon. Image from the Rob Ryan blog. Oh if only I had seen it earlier!

To be honest, we rarely exchange gifts on Valentine's day - for us it's more about sharing a day together & usually revolves around food! (I'll be posting my fave Valentine's dessert recipe later.) This year we plan to take the cable car up to the Aiguille du Midi (it's right behind our house) and catch the adjoining Helbronner cable car over into Italy for a high altitude coffee & ice-cream. Hope it's a sunny day - the views will be breathtaking!

Get Smitten in Livingetc

ooops, looks like I forgot to update you with the news that some of my cushions were featured in an alpine chalet article in this month's Livingetc magazine in the UK. The shoot took place at Paul & Louise Venning's wonderful scandi inspired family home here Chamonix, France. How cosy is the opening shot?!

 The sofa in the lounge is scattered with a mix of my Winter Dreams and Snow & Neige cushions - the brown wool blend fabric looks so warm & inviting against the clean cream leather - and oh, for an open fireplace like theirs!

My Birds & Bees silk cushion in the neutral colourway sits so beautifully amongst the fur throws on the bed... so much so that I ended up making one for myself but added a deep turquoise velvet ribbon instead. Well, it's a perk of the job!

 

If you missed the December issue or can't get hold of a copy of the mag, here is a link to the online version of the story at the Livingetc website