Tag Archives: WORK

HELLO STRANGER // Eleanor from Petite Kitchen

Photography by Blackbird

 Meet Eleanor.

The brilliance behind Petite Kitchen. A simple, whole food and clean living website that has grown from the humble little kitchen into seasonal journals and a spectacular blog.

Eleanor is not only a creator of simple, wholesome and delicious recipes. But a mother to two equally delicious children, and the wife to one part of the impressive label I Love Ugly.

I am incredibly honored to know this women, and to be given the upmost privilege of shooting her. Eleanor is quality. Through and through. Furthermore, She is a bit of a babe.

Where do you live? :
Mt Eden, Auckland, New Zealand.

What do you do 9-5?

I have recently decided to take the plunge and work on Petite Kitchen full time. My days are spent cooking, coming up with new recipes, researching, finding inspiration, replying to emails and enquiries, and mainly working on my seasonal recipe journals. Over the last few months, I have had an overwhelming positive response to my work, and felt this was a true indication that I should follow my dream, and share my passion for healthy wholesome food with others.

What do you do with the other hours of the day? :

I pick up my 5 year old daughter Izabella, and 1 year old son Obi at 3pm, then the afternoons are dedicated to spending quality time with them. In the evenings once they are in bed, my husband and I enjoy dinner together, and talk about our day amongst other things.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I have always wanted to own my own cafe. I love the cafe culture here in New Zealand, and this is still something I would love to do in the near future.  I believe there is a gap in the market for a natural whole foods cafe, which focuses on serving wholesome, delicious and nourishing food.

Favorite online places:
Tumblr, and pinterest are amazing for finding inspirational photos and content. I also have a huge list of food and lifestyle blogs which I read on a daily basis. A few in particular are, My New Roots, Manger by Mimi Thorisson, Green Kitchen Stories, 101 Cookbooks, Smitten Kitchen, Che & Fidel, Bleubird Blog, and A cup of Jo.

Favorite real life places:
My husband and I went to Europe for our honey moon a few years back. We both absolutely fell in love with Amsterdam and Belgium, and I would love to be able to go back there again in the near future. The food, the fashion, and the culture is just incredible, not to mention the beautiful surroundings. I also absolutely love New Zealand, and feel sometimes I forget how lovely our home land is. Its amazing how you only have to drive an hour or so out of Auckland to find your own beautiful slice of paradise.

Listening to:
 I love almost all types of music. But at the moment, mostly listening to Tame Impala, and Chet Faker. I have always had a love for blues and jazz too.

Influences:
My number one influence would have to be my amazing husband. Over the last five years I have seen him build his incredibly successful menswear label, I Love Ugly, from the ground up. He constantly surprises me with how talented and driven he is, and his support with Petite Kitchen has been amazing. I believe his passion has been the number one thing that has driven me to follow my own dream.

Until next time.BlackbirdBLOG signature

1 0 1 // Bookshelf Styling

IMG_0400

( above photo is my bookshelf after an overhall! )

Personally I think that every part of a home should be styled. It creates a flow through the house and lets your eyes have a happy little stop over in each place. Starting with the humble bookshelf.

  HERE ARE SOME TIPS ON HOW TO  //

COLOUR CODING // Often a bookshelf looks messy because of all the different coloured jackets. But by grouping them together it looks cohesive and you still get the lovely look of the spines.

STACKING // Try stacking different ways, in a pile, horizontal or even with the ends facing forward.

PROPS // No bookshelf is complete without a few bits & bobs. We all have them around our home, and often it’s hard to find a place for them. The bookshelf is the perfect spot. Old cameras, photos, nic-nacs and vases, anything works.

HATE IT? PAINT IT // Often we are given things, or buy things and our taste changes, but you still love the sentiment of the item. Painting it gives it a new lease of life, so you can put it back on display!

SPACE // Allow space for the items to ‘breathe’, There is no need to push them all together, creating space gives a more ordered and purposeful look.

STORAGE // Remember that not everything needs to be on display, using storage such as wooden or wire crates, decorative boxes and baskets can ‘hide’ things with making them still easily accessible. Then pop them on the shelf and it looks great!

REMEMBER // Inject your own personality into your bookcase, it is a fun place to showcase!

Until next time.

BlackbirdBLOG signature

MAKE IT // Flower Wall

This was incredibly fun to make.

I was commissioned to make a backdrop for a photo shoot and this is the result…
A flower wall!

You will need //

150 +  Artificial flowers
Wire snips
Hot Glue
Artificial ‘vines’

 ( I sourced from a wholesaler, but you can find these at your local emporium )

Pull off all the leaves from ‘vine’ , A lot of them they pop on and off, so you can attach other flowers of leaves there. I did mine in a Ombre effect, using yellows, to orange to pink to white.

Begin to attach flowers, weaving into the ‘vine’ and hot gluing when necessary.

Keep going! It takes a while, but is worth it!

Happy making!

Until next time.

BlackbirdBLOG signature