Interior Design

To all my dear readers and anyone new that discovers "Lee Caroline - A World of Inspiration". I'm unfortunately unable to post at the moment as sadly my mother is finally loosing her battle with cancer. As you can imagine I cannot focus properly and feel physically and emotionally drained. My beautiful mum has been fighting metastatic breast cancer for two and a half years,  I hope you forgive me but PLEASE do not leave me I will be back as soon as I can and meanwhile if I have moments of being able to hold myself together I will try to post. Thank you for your patience, thank you for your lovely comments on my posts. If you want to read a little about my mums story and how I ended up back in New Zealand, please read this post which I wrote last year on  "Love".   My beautiful mother and my father the way my mum would want my readers to see her. This photo was taken when when she was 30. Thank you for your patience.  I will be back as soon as it is possible. Lee...

My day has been brightened by this lovely little video... set in Spain the theme is a couple finding the "perfect" picnic spot and then setting up to entertain outdoors. It delighted me, I hope it delights you...

Jars of prettiness, what a lovely way to decorate your table for a wedding, summer picnic, courtyard luncheon, or just pretty up your coffee table with treats for your guests. Love the idea of cucumber slices in spring water rather than lemon alone. A simple ribbon tied around a jar of striped straws adds such a lovely touch. I'm definitely going to put some pretty jars on my coffee table and can't wait till Summer to create a lovely table for luncheon with friends. Collages created using Style Me Pretty, see more of my boards "here" If you love macarons, you can find a previous post and recipe "here" If your looking for pretty coloured straws like the ones above, please see my post "here" sharing this week with: Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage Open House Party at No Minimalist Here Time Travel Thursday at the Brambleberry Cottage Show and tell Friday at My Romantic Home At The Picket Fence ...

More sweet discoveries this week... Raspberry & Yogurt  Mousse cakes Create these pretty layered Raspberry & Yogurt Mousse cakes, recipe can be found at Project Wedding . Photography and styling by Aran Goyoaga . Watermelon and Raspberry Currant Pops - Photography Aran Goyoaga. This recipe plus further recipe's created with currants can be found on Aran's beautiful food/styling blog, Cannelle et Vanille . All images copyright & reproduced with permission from Aran. Make this lovely button Monogram for a childs room or door. Step by step instructions from Spearmint Baby. cute straws for weddings, parties or just to brighten up your outdoor entertaining. available from DondaLees   Etsy shop  Sweet screen printed linen tea towels from Lauren Alison  - other colours available but I am loving turquoise at the moment. Ship internationally. Create your own gift soaps with these free printable labels from Creature Comforts  . Easy step by step instruct...

Congratulations to Kay the lucky winner of Cake Star by Jade Lipton. Kay left a comment and became a follower here. All entries both on the blog and FB were combined and a random generator used to select a winner. Kay 14 July 2012 06:05 I would love to win this book because baking is what makes me happy, and my family too. My family love to get in from school to have fresh cake to eat. My husband calls it my therapy, it is far cheaper than seeing a shrink! I have over 100 cookery books and most of them are about baking, as a girl can never have too many cakes to try. Decoration is my downfall though and I often turn to my 13 year old daughter to help me out there. This book wouold be a family treat, I could bake the cakes, my daughter could decorate them, and we could all eat them. Thanks for a great giveaway. Kay, if you can contact me by email : leecarolineart@gmail.com  with your full name and address, then I will post this wonderful book off to you wherever in the world you may...

Loving the latest bedlinen from Anthropologie.

Throughout my years of living in Asia and the UAE, I experienced many exuberant interiors. Gold leaf, over ornate cornices, exotic patterns, rich colours, clashing colours and gold, gold and more gold!...sometimes" ornateness" to the extreme.  I've actually been lucky enough to visit the Sultan of Brunei's Palace several times and experienced the most lavish interior first hand. I remember some amazing chairs in his gymnasium with gold plated shuttle cocks for feet and gold plated taps in the bathrooms. These interiors always fascinated me but I must admit I was not a fan of them and was always looking for that Asian interior that I might go, Wow! I actually like this. Today I found that room... This gorgeous Asian room has simple panache and although a mix of patterns and colours it is much subtler than the interiors I experienced living overseas. I love this look and could quite happily spend and afternoon reading a book in this light filled corner.      ...

Some lovely discoveries this week... Blackberry cabernet cupcakes from Bakers Royale We all know about the famous Key Lime Pie, but what about the most gorgeous key lime cream cake. Recipe over at the lovely Bakerella  . Upcycle some raffia or woven materials with Martha Stewart's easy instructions ...Give some "oomph" to raffia with silver spray paint. Don't these look great! Up-cycle  that plain T shirt, simple instructions from Sweet Paul I hope you enjoyed this weeks inspiration from the blogasphere and please don't forget the wonderful  cake decorating book giveaway , "Cake Star", which closes 19th July, not many entrants yet so your in with a great chance. Worldwide entry. Sharing with: I Should Be Mopping The Floor Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style Ivy and Elephants Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage Open House Party at No Minimalist Here Time Travel Thursday at the Brambleberry Cottage Show and tell Friday at My Romantic Home...

Last year I thoroughly enjoyed watching the popular TV show "New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker". On the show, one of the judges was Australian Jade Lipton, known for creating "CakeStar" , a highly successful boutique cake business in Brisbane. Jade's fabulous cakes are highly regarded, Mercedes Benz, Audi and Australian Fashion Week are among her high profile customers, so I'm excited that  Jade's publicist has kindly given me a copy of her new book "Cake Star" for one of my lucky readers to receive. Packed with more than 25 spectacular and show-stopping cakes, cupcakes and cookie designs, all easily achievable by the home baker.  Jade's descriptive instructions and step-by-step photographs teach readers how to create her stylish and skillfully decorated cakes that are sure to impress. Sneak Peek... Each of  Jade's beautifully photographed designs vary in skill level teaching you how to achieve the slick, professional, yet fun, look ...

I'm not the artist of the norm, as most artists love to be surrounded by colour and usually their homes reflect this. Myself on the other hand am an earthy person at heart, I love the country and I think it reflects in my own home.  Don't get me wrong I do love colour and if I had a larger house I think I would bring more into my home but I do feel very comfortable and peaceful surrounded by earth tones.  Earth tones suit the Farmhouse/French/Country look perfectly especially if your walls are white. The living room below is just "perfect" to me, light, bright surroundings with soft earthy colours as accents.  Beautiful natural textures have been added to create that earthy feel such as the basketry on the wall and the natural branch above the door. The rattan lamp table adds a slightly rustic feel. However, the lines of the contemporary lamp soften the feel in this contemporary/country room. Image source - unknown Another lovely room setting with earthy colours and t...

Visit  Jenny Steffens Hobick   for her fabulous strawberry and blueberry layered icecream cake recipe. Plus lots more wonderful images of her 4th July party ideas, including how to  set up your outdoor bar and table Or watch the video of Jenny Steffen's Hobicks Star Spangled 4th of July party, how to set the outdoor table. Patriotic icecream cone wrappers from Martha Stewart, instructions  and printable links  "here" Or download these cute printables - patriotic summer drink parasols from Martha Stewart   Or what about a star spangled cookie wreath from Sweetopia, with easy step by step tutorial. Lovely July 4th Printables from "The Sweetest Occasion" see more images and download info "here"    Hope you have plenty of inspiration to create something special for your celebrations. Sharing this week with: Monday: I Should Be Mopping The Floor Wednesday: Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style Ivy and Elephants Thursday:   Transformatio...