From Downton Abbey to the "House of Art"

Being a Downton Abbey fan I was very excited to visit this great house this week - situated in the beautiful Hampshire countryside Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey) is still the family home to the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. The house was also the home of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon who famously discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922.

The interior of Highclere Castle feels very much like a grand family home and those rooms used by the TV show are instantly recognizable - the drawing room, Lady Mary's bedroom and the bedroom in which the rather unlucky Turkish envoy briefly stayed in!

The house sits in beautiful gardens - the layout and appearance of the parkland has not changed much from the original Capability Brown design and contains many flower and plant species from around the world.

Petworth House in West Sussex is by contrast a much more formal building and was in it's day called the "House of Art". It is jam packed with Turners, Gainsboroughs, 2 beautiful William Blakes and many other stunning paintings and sculpture that the owners collected on their "Grand Tour" during the early 19th century.

Petworth also gives an amazing insight into the lives of "ordinary folk" and those that worked in the kitchens of the big house. The kitchens have also been restored to their former glory showing the vessels and tools of the chefs of the day

I have only touched on the wonders of these magnificent buildings - for more info go to http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/ and http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-petworthhouse/

Anyone For Tennis!

Watching Wimbledon on the TV has always made me feel homesick for good old blighty. My trip home this year coincided with those 2 weeks in June and I was extremely lucky, thanks to some old friends Sophia and Andrew Castle to go to the great event. The All England Lawn Tennis Club looked magnificent - the sun was shining, the flowers were blooming and the tennis was great.

On the Saturday I watched Andrew play in the veterans doubles competition. His partner was the legendary Mansour Bahrami  - the master of the amazing touch and trick shots - and boy could he play and that was with an injured arm.The ball was flying everywhere and in one hilarious point played out in slow motion there was no ball! The umpire didn't seem to mind - in face she was happy to join in the fun especially when the champagne arrived court side! Andrew and Mansour's opponents Aussies Pat Cash and Mark Woodforde were also great sports and went on to win the match and ultimately the competition.

Mansour Bahrami, Andrew Castle, Pat Cash and Mark Woodforde

The next day was the men's final Nadal vs Djokovic at Centre Court - what a treat. We were seated one row above the players boxes and the tension between both camps was intense - alternate sides jumping up and applauding as each hardly fought point was won. The gorgeous Nadal was my favourite and probably most of centre court (and I have it on good authority he is a great guy too) but no one could deny the brilliance of Djokovic on the day.

Djokovic preparing to serve



Before and after the match I was able to do a touch of  "star spotting" in the VIP area - Rafael Nadal, Martina Navratilova, Pat Cash, Virginia Wade, Jeremy Bates and Boris Becker  to name but a few. Sophia and I were also on the TV briefly and spotted by many friends throughout the world - very funny!  A great weekend - cheers Andrew!

Photo shoot Summer 2011/12

Here is a snippet of our recent photo shoot - hope you like it!

Photo shoot for Summer 2011/12

We were blessed with the most stunning weather again today in Melbourne - just perfect for our summer 2011/12 collection photo shoot with our new model, the beautiful Julia. Here is a sneaky peek  - we think they are just gorgeous!

Summer Inspiration

Even though it may be grey and freezing outside we are putting the finishing touches to our new collection for Spring/Summer 2011/12 which will be launched at Lifeinstyle in August here in Melbourne. Here is a sneak peak of our inspiration for the new range - think vibrant, juicy, beachy glam with lots of silver accents.

We will be posting some gorgeous new photos soon!

New Limited Edition Pieces Online

We have just put some gorgeous new limited edition pieces on our online store (click the picture to the left of this post to take you there). The vintage spoon pendant necklace is made from an original sterling silver bon bon spoon with a concealed heart pattern - we have put it on sterling silver chain with sterling silver and 14kt gold fill balls - quite divine and so limited we only have the one in this design.The vintage watch earrings are also one offs and so cute! Be quick and happy shopping!

Vintage sterling silver spoon necklace

Vintage watch face earrings

Let Your Spirit Fly Bird pendant

Flower with love pendant

http://leoniandvonk.bigcartel.com/products

Michaelangelo Di Battista

Thanks to the wonderful Yellowtrace blog we recently stumbled upon the work of this amazing photographer Michaelangelo Di Battista. Di Battista initially studied at art school in Milan and then spent an addtional 2 years studying Photography in New York. He now spends his time between London, Paris and New York producing stunning images such as these below.A clear case of where fashion meets art.