Pretty Peacocks

'peacock dress' greeting card by elizabeth lamb




At last, my lovely birds and peacocks have arrived! I could not wait to get them unpacked and up onto the Christmas tree. Along with the gorgeous, almost life sized peacock, I also got these cute small birds with peacock feather tails and some lovely feather covered ornaments.

Some other birds that came in, that I almost like better than the peacock are these cute owls shown below. To me there is something whimsical and almost magical about owls. Some people think 'Harry Potter' but the white owl reminds me of the gorgeous Owl in the movie 'Labyrinth' (one of my all time favourite movies). I did get four large white owls but they sold before I had a chance to photograph them!
It seems many people collect owls, something that is understandable given all the interesting associations there are to do with 'wise old owls' and so forth.  There are so many 'owl' quotes and stories, but here is a great 'peacock' reference that I love:


 "People are crying up the rich and variegated plumage of the peacock, and he is himself blushing at the sight of his ugly feet. "
Sa'Di

Fanantique Flowers

With Christmas just around the corner, this poor blog has been terribly neglected as things in the store get busier. We have received so many gorgeous new things in but I am also waiting on many more. I have some gorgeous Peacocks due in store at any minute and I am dying to put some images up.
I am planning on putting together a Christmas tree covered in Peacocks, so I can't wait for them to arrive.
As I write this I have one eye on the door waiting for the delivery!
In the meantime, here is just one of the the things that has kept us busy.
Our friends next  door at Il Caminetto restaurant (they do delicious Italian food and the BEST coffee)
had a function on and needed some flowers and decorating, so we were more than happy to lend a hand.
The event was for a 21st Party for a girl who wanted something 'pretty'. With some help from my Mum (a retired florist) and Gabor we set this up.

The room had two beautiful mantles, each with a gorgeous ornate mirror which reflected and highlighted our flowers. (We cheated a little and used a combination of both fresh and artificial)

oooh...the peacocks have arrived, more coming soon!

Christmas Cards & Wrap

It's that time of year again! Time to prepare for Christmas. For the past few weeks we have been busily unpacking Christmas decorations at Fanantique and preparing for the busy weeks ahead. I always love the Festive Season and enjoy coming up with a different theme each Christmas.
Before I opened the store, I would always illustrate a new collection of Christmas cards each year, which would then tie in to the style and color of my gift wrapping and decorating. Sometimes I would even make my own hand painted wrapping paper!
As we are already into November, I am not so sure that this will happen this year!
I do have some gorgeous, vintage style cards and wraps from Zetta Florence as well as a collection of reprints from some of my previous collections.

Above: Vintage style Christmas postcards and wrap from Zetta Florence, available at Fanantique.
Below: Some illustrated cards from my collection. "Christmas Shopping" and "Holly Martini"  themes are both watercolor and ink. The black and gold images are created with collage. (Wrapping paper, photographs, colored paper and glitter).

Christmas Cocktail

To get into the Christmas spirit why not celebrate with this Nutty Martini?

Martini Glass

Ice Cubes

Amaretto to wash

60ml Vodka

20ml walnut liqueur

10ml frangelico liqueur

walnut half to garnish

Wash ice cubes with amaretto. Stir remaining ingredients in with ice then strain into Martini glass. Garnish with walnut half. Yum!