KARA ROSENLUND
cutie patootie, styling and vignetting queen,adventurer, photographer extraordinaire,caravan owner and finder,forager,and collector of beauty...
Oh yes,if the title of this blog post sounds a tad fan girl,well done,you spotted it.True.
I first started noticing Kara's photos many, many years ago...and then she popped up in a few magazines, and then her cute caravan Frankie,or her stunning home began appearing on the covers of said magazines.Then I saw her name on Instagram,and attached to #7 Vignettes.
So..I went snooping around Googling her.As you do.I saw images that made me swoon.Her love of Australia,of travel,her colour palette,and her damn skill with a camera made me just think...WOW.I began following her on social media.
Then earlier this year,a dear and lovely fellow Instagrammer,RED AGAPE,was at my house,shooting it for a magazine spread...and she mentioned she was going to do a Kara Rosenlund vignetting workshop at this fabulous place in Sydney called "The School"(LINK HERE!).
Well,of course,having been there before, meeting Megan Morton,the uber creative genius and spark behind this amazing space,I did virtual cartwheels! I was supposed to go to one of the workshops earlier in the year for my birthday...but it had been cancelled(boo-hoo)...so I had all that excitement still bottled up.
But if I was to go to this session...here here would be my fellow Instagrammer and new friend red Agape,Kara,Megan,vignetting, photography,creativity,beauty,styling, Sydney...all in one...Oh yeah baby, bring it on!How could I say no?!
Fast forward...October 4th.
And so it was the day.Finally,a little late due to parking and driving (country bumpkins in the BIG SMOKE!?)but finally,eventually, stumbling into The School studio room. And before us, a table laden with props, Kara herself, Megan with a tea trolley doing a super stylish air hostess impression,and a swag of other people like me, waiting to see the magic happen.In this crowd were 2 ladies who I had only known from them living in my phone and computer- Merilyn and Cateybain but who I loved communicating with, my new wonderful friend RED AGAPE,
AND a friend from Uni days, who through the magic of social media I had reconnected with, Urbanrustic. My insides were giddy with joy.
Calming myself, I listened to Kara talk about herself and her creative journey - HUGELY inspiring.I watched as she effortlessly created a beautiful red vignette,a little tweaking here and there,a little colour coding,and the sharing of some vignetting secrets.I was handed a list of tunes to vignette to....my creative juices just fizzing over.
Soon we were given the keys to the Propery (oh my giddy Aunt, that is another adventure and blogpost right there), let loose on the prop table, and away we went...to vignette. Or in my case...to just talk and chat and giggle like a schoolgirl.. and actually interact with people I had just met but felt like I knew already...
Eventually, we did actually do a vignette, not on a table, but with a chair, a stool, and raids from the prop room. It looked pretty good, considering my complete lack of focus...really it must be said my partners in styling did much of it.
Others around us were good girls, furiously and attentively forming wonderful little moments, and I did admire them.But truthfully,to a retail starved,visually overloaded, extremely
"Oh my gosh this is like XMAS"
normally isolated-country-living-middle-aged-woman...it was beyond me.
So what did I take way from all this? Well, for starters, Kara Rosenlund is an amazingly generous,earthy,beautiful big-hearted, sensitive,talented beautiful soul.I would hang out with her, have her for dinner,go shopping or foraging with her, take photos with her...in a heartbeat.She was just a lovely person.Megan Morton is still as elegant,funny,beautiful,tall,generous and as encouraging as I remembered. And the people I have met on Instagram are REAL PEOPLE, and are as lovely as I hoped for and thought they might be...
And I even learnt a little bit about vignetting!
Truly an awesome way to spend a Saturday. Highly recommended.x
table laden with goodies...props galore
and from all these things...we edit, and discern patterns and differences, contrasts and stories
Kara tells us how, shows us how, selecting from the props table
Kara Rosenlund
The beginnings of a Kara vignette, in red, on a mantlepiece
finished vignette, photo courtesy of Red Agape!
And our little vignette, down low, old stuff, green stuff, books, and bits and bobs... by Red Agape, Merilyn and rare pear studio!
