Every day I feel blessed to be doing something that I am absolutely passionate about, and I love to hear stories of others who have managed to turn their passion into a way of life too. Noreen Giles, owner of Juniper Hearth, is one of the lucky ones!
Some years ago she started an adventure travel business with her partner, Bob, escorting groups to the Indian sub-continent. With a love of textiles, this was a fascinating place for Noreen, and she soaked up as much as she could. Back in Australia she spent some time working in the fashion industry, and eventually created her own designs, with the help a team of Nepalese women knitters. This was the start of Juniper Hearth, a shop which is a fusion of two great passions - travel and textiles.
The shop has come along way since it's opening in 2002. Based in Berry on the NSW South Coast, they now also have an online e-Emporium, and their products come from Australia and around the world. One of my favourite ranges is these wool throw blankets by UK designer, Joy Bates. Joy shares my love of colour and pattern. Her knitted throws, made from the finest pure lambswool, are divinely soft with a Scandinavian flavour.
The names of the four colourways are nearly as gorgeous as the blankets themselves - antigua and ice blue, candy and inferno red, pamplemousse yellow and mercury, and dewdrop and diesel blue.
Keep checking their website, or better yet, join the Juniper Hearth mailing list, as a range of matching cushions are due to join the blankets soon.
Noreen continues to travel on the hunt for more beautiful and exotic products to share with us through Juniper Hearth. She has added Europe to these travels, but her heart always leads her back to Nepal and India. She loves working directly with the craftswomen, drawing on their traditional and extraordinary skills.
What an enviable job and life she has made for herself! Don't you agree?
Some years ago she started an adventure travel business with her partner, Bob, escorting groups to the Indian sub-continent. With a love of textiles, this was a fascinating place for Noreen, and she soaked up as much as she could. Back in Australia she spent some time working in the fashion industry, and eventually created her own designs, with the help a team of Nepalese women knitters. This was the start of Juniper Hearth, a shop which is a fusion of two great passions - travel and textiles.
The shop has come along way since it's opening in 2002. Based in Berry on the NSW South Coast, they now also have an online e-Emporium, and their products come from Australia and around the world. One of my favourite ranges is these wool throw blankets by UK designer, Joy Bates. Joy shares my love of colour and pattern. Her knitted throws, made from the finest pure lambswool, are divinely soft with a Scandinavian flavour.
The names of the four colourways are nearly as gorgeous as the blankets themselves - antigua and ice blue, candy and inferno red, pamplemousse yellow and mercury, and dewdrop and diesel blue.
Keep checking their website, or better yet, join the Juniper Hearth mailing list, as a range of matching cushions are due to join the blankets soon.
Noreen continues to travel on the hunt for more beautiful and exotic products to share with us through Juniper Hearth. She has added Europe to these travels, but her heart always leads her back to Nepal and India. She loves working directly with the craftswomen, drawing on their traditional and extraordinary skills.
What an enviable job and life she has made for herself! Don't you agree?