Life is Simple ● the art of living a beautiful life: flowers

Shadows and Light at the Eden Project

Hey friends! Sorry for the quiet, I've just been away to Borneo with university, but there'll be plenty of posts on the way soon.
Last month Leon and I visited the Eden Project on the way home for the holidays, and despite being more excited than a 6 year old on Christmas Eve, the day somehow managed to exceed all expectations!
I've visited a few times before with family, but never been to their 'Shadows and Light's show.
After exploring all day and marvelling at bright flowers and colourful birds, as the daylight faded the domes started to come alive again. The photos really speak for themselves!

As it was getting dark we found ourselves in the Mediterranean dome, which came alive with colour and lights. All the olive trees had streams of fairy lights, and the projections onto the plants made it feel like we were underwater. We'd spent the day looking around the domes, but when night came it was completely different and it felt like we were on a different planet! In the middle of the dome there was a laser forest, where you could walk through and as each laser moved it made a different sound. It was so surreal and magical I'm sure we enjoyed it more than the children did!

Now to the rainforest dome! This one appealed to the scientist in me- the lights and mist were based on an algorithm that took into account precipitation, temperature, humidity, wind speed and cloud cover from real time rainforests. You could easily have missed it, but if you watched carefully you could see the slight changes to sound and colour as you walked among the plants. Even regular leaves were transformed into something from Avatar, and the whole experience was mesmerising. I really don't think there's much I can say to do the whole experience justice, so I'll leave the photos to do the talking...

One of my favourite areas was the orchid house, which is always colourful... but the glow from the light show brought it to a new level! It would have been really easy to just project lights and undermine the simple beauty here, but instead the lights were so carefully placed it simply enhanced it. The colours really glimmered in every vein and water droplet within the dome!

We finished the evening by stopping off and having some homemade churros, then listening to some festive Christmas music whilst wrapped up warm! We also paid a visit to Infinity Blue, which is a 20 tonne, 9 metre tall ceramic sculpture inspired by cyanobacteria. With stunning music and rings of scented vapour, this was an incredible end to the day. Our inner children were very happy running after the rings, especially putting our arms (and faces) through them!

It was then time for the Eden Project to close, and despite spending 8 hours exploring we still didn't see everything! If you've been to the Eden Project before, let me know in the comments which your favourite bit is :)

Also, if you need local accommodation, we stayed in a gorgeous little barn we found on AirBnB, and we can't recommend it enough! Woodlands Oak Stable was a charming converted stable, and had everything you need including fresh eggs, bread, colouring books and a wood burner. It's just down the road from the project, so if you're visiting make sure you check that out too for the night. Please note, I wasn't asked/paid to say this- it's just one of the nicest AirBnB's we've stayed in- they even helped fix my car when it broke down!!

What are your favourite places in Cornwall? I'd love to hear about them in the comments :)

Emma xo

Photo credits: Leon Nixon (Instagram: leonnixon_) and Emma Lane

January 23, 2019
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How to Make a Natural Foliage and Berry Crown // DIY

DIY

Today is another tutorial, this time for the leaf crown I featured in my recent outfit post here. Other than a few fiddly bits of weaving the foliage, the main steps are reasonably simple- just start winding and adding greenery until you have the desired effect! To make the shaping of the crown easier, I'd recommend using flexible greenery, so young, fresh and smaller branches tend to be the best because anything too woody will either break or not weave properly. You can also substitute berries for small rosebuds or flowers, but bear in mind that they don't last as long!

Ready to get started?

You will need: Wire, tape measure, pliers, scissors, greenery of your choice- mine featured ivy, fir, eucalyptus and dog rose hips.

1. Cut a length of wire long enough to go around the circumference of your head two and a half times.
2. Bend the wire into a circle a little wider than your head, and wrap the rest of the wire around to strengthen it. This bit doesn't have to be tight or perfect- in fact you're going to need slight gaps in between the wires for the next steps!
3. Begin by using long vines of ivy to wind around the wire base. Poke the ends of each vine into the gaps between the wires and tighten the wire together if needed to secure the vines. Keep winding and weaving the ivy around each other until you've got a good base covered in greenery.

4. Next, poke the stem of a eucalyptus branch into a gap between the wires and ivy and wrap the around, adding more branches until you get a shape you like. There isn't really a huge amount of technique to describe here- just keep adding and manipulating the greenery as you build it up.