So, this month I’ve joined the #urbanjunglebloggers adventure.
Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series, devised by Igor and Judith. The idea is to get some green into our homes, especially for us urban folks! Every month they invite bloggers to share ideas for creating an urban jungle through styling challenges, DIYs, green tips and tricks. Every month there is a different theme on the topic. You can follow and get more urban jungle bloggers inspiration on Pinterest and on Facebook.
February’s theme is: 1 plant – 3 styling challenges
As someone who has a roof terrace, most of my greens live outside. Of course, it’s nice to have some inside too. For this exercise and while out and about on the weekend, I treated myself to a beautiful Hydrangea with a vase. There were quite a few to choose from, all slightly different in colour. What attracted me to my chosen one was the floppiness, more informal nature and subtle changes in it’s colour, from whichever angle you look at it.
Meet Magda in her full glory, very happily settled into her new home! Now to the styling exercises…
Styling 1. The painted version.
I placed the plant and pot on a big white sheet of paper, shone a light on it and observed the shadows. I took various water colours and some very tiny craft beads and painted away to my heart’s content!
Styling 2. The bright version.
I placed a glossy yellow card as the backdrop and connected the disks with copper metal wire. Marian, the 1900 crested grebe, did the rest.
Styling 3. The moody version.
I draped a purple faux fur throw over a console. I used some favourite faux berries and a cushion with silk on one side and velvet on the reverse. The light changes all colours. I like the idea of real and fake flowers living in one space. Texture is key here.
It’s been fun. Want to join? Contact Igor or Judith and they will send you all necessary details. I believe there’s quite a few people joining this month’s challenge so hop over on Twitter or Instagram and look for #urbanjunglebloggers and show them some love!
45 Comments
Hello Magda! I love your stylings, Tina, and the hydrangea fits very well into your colourful home! I love that the plant is floppy as you said it – it is not the standardized shape as preferred by the masses but is very individual, unique and special! Thank you so much for joining the Urban Jungle Bloggers fun this month!!
Ha. You know that any plant I would choose needed to have colour:-)
Yes, you should have seen the other ones. All standing tall and formal. This one was calling me…
It’s a pleasure my dear!
Well, hello there Magda and Marian, so nice to meet you! And how wonderful that you’re joining the UJB fun this month, Tina! The hydrangea looks great in your home, moody, bright and painted… Love your watercolor portrait of Magda: is so pretty & glittery! Looks like you had a lot of fun this month. Merci!! xx
Hello back from them:-)
I knew that Magda was right for the job… she came from a wonderful place, so no surprise there!
It was great fun and happy to have joined you for the dreary month of February. x
Ah, I like the last one a lot, you know, I am a moody lover!
So, who is Marian? 🙂 xx
Hello Gudy,
Yes, of course, you love moody.. but then you do it so well!!
Thank you for pointing out that I lost my explanation of who Marian is… duly changed, danke! x
Can’t say I totally get it but it looks like fun. I’m not into plants inside at all (sorry Igor & Judith).
Yes it’s cool. Nice work Tina 🙂 xx
Should have visited Igor’s site firstly. Having seen his post I think I understand this ‘urban jungle’ idea more now. And by the way, I love no. 2 the best, esp. the adorable Marian. 🙂
Haha. Yes, most would have done the traditional styling… I went for a bit more quirkyness:-)
I’m not the hugest fan of indoor plants. With me it’s a case of less is more.. but I think Magda makes a great addition to the Colourliving HQ.
As for Marian, she’s the best. Elegant, sophisticated and a little regal. I needed to make her more down to earth, hence the street language:-))
Thanks love x
Love all of your versions, especially those watercolors. Plants inside the home are the best, especially if they have color in them (they make the space so much brighter and happier). Sorry Gerard 😉
Oh, thank you so much Giova… it was fun doing the watercolours. Have been craving doing some sketching so this was the perfect opportunity, right?
For me, all plants need to have to have colours, except for Aloe Vera plants (medicinal reasons).
Hope you’re well:-)
Magda? I love that you’ve named your plant! The last picture is my favourite, I’m assuming it’s THE faux fur blanket? The dark colours and pops of velvety brights look great together. I love having plants in my home and I’m starting to figure out which ones are “un-killable” – a very important factor for somebody like me… 😉 xo
Haha. All my animals, curiosities et cerera have got names. They are part of the family:-)
Yes, love, thanks to you.. it is THE faux fur blanket. I much prefer it at night with low lighting. During the day I have to turn it around as it’s sooo bright. It did look totally different on the stand at the exhibition:-)
It has a richness in tone that can’t be achieved with black I think..
Good, knowing what we can help grow is major as it’s very upsetting both for us and the plant when they die:-)
x
hello magda <3 i absolutely love how you combined the plant with watercolours tina, beautiful 🙂 greetings julia
Hi Julia,
Thank you so much Julia. How nice that we can all see each other’s creations:-)
C’est joli d’avoir choisi un Hortensia , il y a de la couleur dans la plante Bonne idée Tina
Merci Nathalie, cool blog, je suis contente d’en avoir trouvé….
Great exercise and I have to say that I am with Gudy. My favorite is also the last one with this moody atmosphere and high contrasting pinks. Just gorgeous!
Hi Corinne, I’ve seen you are on the list so will visit later… it was good fun.
Yeah, here’s to moody shots! Thank you for visiting.
Love it – Magda & Marian & Tina – perfect combo. How fun. Happy weekend
Ax
PS: Sorry I forgot to say – my favorite styling is also the moody one – simply gorgeous color. Much love Axx
Hahaha. Magda and Marian say thank you to everyone…. they feel a little like celebrities in their own right…
Oh, interesting to know you like the moody best. Couldn’t have called that one..
Happy weekend lovely… hope it’s a sunny one. xx
Great fun Tina – a really nice choice of flowers too. As Igor says something a bit different to what people normally go for, and all the more interesting for it! xx
Pargy, we need to get you to do a challenge… come on, out of your comfort zone… you’d be brilliant at it!
Magda says thanks, and she would like to point out that she’s a plant!
Happy weekend sweets x
Tina, I love Hydrangeas and I really can´t believe, that I didn´t think about this plants to style! I really liked your versions! Have a nice weekend!
Hi Jenny, I had no clue when I went plant shopping what I wanted to get. I saw this Magda and immediately fell for her:-)
Thank you so much! You have a nice weekend too..
Fun challenge, I love Magda your hydrangea, my favourite flower. The last photo is wonderful as I favour dark, moody pics. xx
Didn’t know it was your favourite flower.. they are beautiful though!
Was thinking about your pop-up shop you did for VLD.. that was against black.. really loved that!
Thanks Catherine x
Hej Tina!
First of all, wonderful ideas of this montly competition! Yeah, I’m happy to be a new member of this community. It is a problem of the bloggerworld I think. I don’t know so much other mal bloggers except Igor or the big american bloggers like Daniel Kanter … and you spend your childhood in Germany? That sounds interesting!
Well, I really like Ariele Alasko, she inspires me everyday on Instagram. I couldn’t get enough of here werk, did you see the restaurant she builds?! WOW.
Hälsningar,
Jan
Hi Jan,
It’s nice to see more male design bloggers.
Thank you….. I was born in Germany and came to the UK when I was 15 years old. I agree Ariele is incredibly inspiring and that Restaurant… amazing!
[…] time I came with a purpose. Yes, I needed an indoor plant for my recent Urban Jungle […]
All are beautiful, but I particularly like the last one – it has something of an ‘old master’ about it.
Ah, thanks Alison.. interesting what you say about ‘old masters’… didn’t see it before, now I do!
Beautiful stylings, Tina! Everything from the placing to the light is just so lovely….just like you! xx
Thank you Jocelyn xx
What wonderful styling Tina, I really loved that watercolour picture you made for the first style shot, so original and I really love the moody shot also. The use of the faux fur to darken the tone of the image is such a brilliant idea, I may be taking that trick and trying it out on one of my instagram shots 😉 xD
Thanks Doris… it was so nice to do a bit of a watercolour! I so enjoyed it that I must do more…
Ha, but you haven’t seen my faux fur.. it’s purple, but really bright… I think I prefer it in my mood shot:-) Wonder whether I can put a wash on it.. must investigate… but yes, it’s a good way of getting a dark tone. Black can be harsh, although stylish.
Instagram away… I look forward to seeing your take on this xx
Fantastic job Tina, I love the moody one and the painted hydrangeas. It reminds me of a beautiful painting that Guillaume’s mother did for me after I had her first grandchild. I think I might join the next one, it looks like fun! M xx
Thanks Mel… oh, that’s nice, what a wonderful present for you… beats the jewellery:-)
They’re definitely fun and you can dip in and out…xx
The moody one is my favourite. I’ve decided to join the club of urban jungle bloggers too. It has grown in such a nice group of people, and all so versatile. Maybe I should give my plant a nickname too to ensure a longer life span…:-)
Glad you like the moody one. Great you joined. It was a fun exercise and nice to meet such versatile bloggers.
Nicknames always work because it makes it all part of the family:-)
Fantastic! I love to see what comes out of your brain Tina! Things I cannot even imagine 😀
The shadow exercise, including Marian and the moodiness … all ideas so unique from each other. It’S hard to decide which is my favourite …. I think the shadows one.
I am terrible at keeping plants. But I feel they are essential to any space – minus the bedroom. Not a fan of plants in the bedroom for some reason. At the moment I have 5 in my place. They are doing well so far. This spring I plan to repot a few. I wanted to do that last year, but I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to that, so I just keep putting it off.
I agree that Magda is a beautiful addition to ColourlivingHQ!
Xx.
Hahaha.
Ah, I like the shadows one too because it got me to get my watercolours out..
It’s not easy to keep plants but I think we can all learn how to do it. Here’s a really good post on house air-purifying plants:
http://www.canalnotes.com/tag/air-purifying-house-plants/
Look forward to meeting all plants. Maybe we can re-pot together.
Magda awaits you xx
[…] I’ve used Magda, the Hydrangea I bought in February 2014 (for my 1st Urban Jungle Bloggers post). She lasted for a long […]
[…] you won’t have had the pleasure to meet Marian, my 1900 crested grebe. She was featured in my very first Urban Jungle Bloggers’ post in February 2014. Woah, it’s been 2 years of Urban Jungle […]