Inspiration: France

Being an expat in France has its advantages - and I am not only talking about more than 350 varieties of cheese...
I mostly enjoy observing the local architecture, especially windows, shutters and doorways, and am always discovering charming details, be it in larger towns like Besançon and Dijon or small town houses in my neighbourhood (Pontarlier).
Here is a collage of images, taken by me in the last month and posted to my Instagram album.

Have a great weekend!

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Življenje v Franciji ima svoje prednosti, pa ne govorim samo o neštetih vrstah sira - zelo rada opazujem metstno arhitekturo, predvsem okna z očarljivimi polknami in vhode v stavbe, pa naj bo v večjih mestih (Dijon, Besançon) ali našem malem Pontarlieru. Tule je izbor slik iz mojega Instagram albuma, posnetih v zadnjem mesecu.
Lep vikend želim vsem skupaj!

December

Busy, crazy and fabulous december is here and I am sorry it took me so long to find time for this post.

I had to prepare the advent calendar for the children - we made the frame last year so I only had to find interesting little surprises (that were not all chocolate) to put into the red paper bags. Besides that there was a lot of snow shoveling going on, this week we've had 30 cm of fresh snow and it is still coming down strong, they are predicting another 30 cm over the weekend...

My instagram gallery shows the begining of snowy season, the view from my window is much whiter as I write this post. Tigrou the cat likes to play in the snow to a certain point (the snow now reaches up to his ears) but once his paws get cold he is happy to spend the next few hours sleeping by the fireplace. And there is nothing better than watching the snow outside while enjoying a cup of coffe by the cozy fire - it is very hard to find motivation for anything else...

 This week we started decorating the house, we put up our little Christmas tree and hung a simple branch on the wall which I then decorated with little metallic bird ornaments - I like the simple, clean look and we might keep it the whole year round, perhaps changing the ornaments each season.

Have a nice weekend!


December

Nori, besni in krasni december je tu in čas mi polzi skozi prste. Prejšnji konec tedna sem pripravljala adventni koledar za otroka - leseni okvir z mrežo smo naredili že lansko leto, letos je bilo samo treba najti dovolj zanimiva mala presenečenja (ki niso vsa čokoladna) za v papirnate škrniclje. Poleg tega skoraj vsak dan besno kidam sneg, ki ga je v zadnjem tednu zapadlo že 30 cm in še toliko ga bo menda preko tega vikenda... Moja instagram razglednica kaže šele začetke sneženja, zdajle je slika že precej boj bela. Mačku sneg sega do ušes in rad se igra v njem, a le dokler ga ne zazebe v tačke in potem gre oddremat eno rundo pred kamin.
Ta teden smo začeli z okraševanjem hiše, postavili smo malo smrečico in na steno obesili vejo, ki sem jo odrezala v bližnji giščavi še preden je zapadel sneg. Nanjo sem obesila kovinske ptičke in rezultat nam je vsem zelo všeč - morda vejo kar pustimo za stalno.

Imejte lep vikend!

Week in pictures

Taken from my Instagram album:
Another week deeper into winter and the streets of Pontarlier are putting on their Christmas decoration. Somebody in our house doesn't seem to be impressed by approaching holidays - Tigrou enjoys quiet time when children are at school...
Sunsets are particularly picturesque this time of year and there are some lovely winter flowers and branches growing near our house, perfect for a bouquet.

And tonight I listed four new items in my shop: three sets of Christmas ornaments and a new zippered pouch. You are welcome to take a closer look!

Teden v slikah
iz mojega Instagram albuma: mesto Pontarlier se odeva v božično okrasje, maček Tigr se za to ne zmeni in uživa v dopoldanski tišini, ko sta otroka v šoli. V tem času so sončni zahodi še posebej slikoviti in okoli hiše najdem lep pušeljc suhih vej za v vazo!
In v moji trgovini so štirje novi izdelki, trije kompletki hišk okraskov in ena nova puščica na zadrgo. Vabljeni na ogled!

Week in pictures

I am introducing a weekly post of selected Instagram pictures that sum up a week of inspiration, work, and fun behind Loddelina designs.
Sadly, I had to make my Instagram account private because it got spammed beyond control so unless you are following my feed you can no longer see the pictures (you are welcome to look for my account under @loddelina and send a request to follow).

First here are some images from week before last, spent in Slovenia, visiting my family, running some errands and sometimes walking my parents' dog Miško.

I spotted this old couple in Ljubljana one day - they were holding hands like newlyweds, exchanging a few words but mostly silently walking alongside, enjoying each other's company. And then there's Miško, enjoying his treat after a long walk. The woods around my parents' house are magical this time of year and even old churches look mysterious on dark and cloudy days.

Second set of pictures was taken back in France, where days are getting quite chilly and in the morning everyting is covered with a layer of frost  - I find this very charming excep when I have to scrape it off the windshield before driving my children to school. But frosty foggy mornings mean beautiful sunny afternoons so Tigger the cat spends as much time in the fresh air as possible - if not, he gets very bored in the evenings...

Have a nice Friday and the weekend head!

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Teden v slikah (skrajšana verzija, je že pozna ura...)

Tokrat nekaj slikovnih utrinkov iz moje Instagramove galerije - profil sem bila prisiljen zakleniti za javnost, ker so me do vratu zasuli s spamom. (Tako so slike trenutno dostopne le sledilcem, če pa želite to postati, me na Instagramu najdete pod @loddelina).

Prvi šopek slik je z mojega obiska Slovenije, drugi pa je nastal po vrnitvi v Francijo.

Želim en prijazen petek in lep vikend!

Springtime inspirations

Spring is officially here and I am attracted by bright colours and bold combinations everywhere I go. Here are a few of my most recent colour inspirations...

Beautiful blooming forsythia on our way home yesterday afternoon

Who doesn't like baloons?

And who doesn't like flowers...

Some gorgeous fabrics at the curtains store

(Visit my Instagram album to see more pictures)

Enjoy your Sunday and don't forget to set your clocks if you are in a daylight saving time zone!

New home

After watching my husband play with iPhone application Instagram for the last five months and getting more and more hooked, I too started discovering this new platform for sharing images. The standard square format of photographs makes one pay more attention to composition of the pictures and application's many filters make it fun to change the mood, contrast and feel of each image. 

I downloaded some of my Etsy shop photos and cropped them through Instagram lense, which gave them a new, artistic look I like very much. Since I also like to take pictures of nature and all things that inspire me, it is now interesting to see all these images together on my Instagram account. 

You may find my pictures under username Loddelina or, if you don't use Instagram click on this link. 

Publishing pictures on Instagram also allows me to simultaniously post them on my facebook and twitter accounts. So many homes, so little time...