We loved the way Angus & Celeste and Eva & Tissy crossed paths. It was via a Jelly Hanging Planter rescued from a hard rubbish collection by Eva & Tissy founder Nina. All tidied up and potted with a beautiful Pilea Peperomia, a world of wild colour surrounded the jelly planter’s new home. It was signature Eva & Tissy styling, and we knew we had to reach out – it felt like fate! Flash forward and collaborating has been so rewarding. We wanted to chat with Nina about her brainchild Eva & Tissy, and share the images she created for us at Angus & Celeste.
Tell us a little bit about how you got to start up Eva & Tissy?
Deep in those early parenting-two-young-children days, I felt like I needed not only a creative outlet, but somewhere I could escape and feel connected to the outside world when it often felt like I was alone. Instagram opened up a wonderful world of inspiration (I am such a visual person), and I loved finding so many fellow creatives. It became my little visual diary, and over the years, people started contacting me, asking if I could create content for them. It has been so fun working with so many fantastic small (and occasionally big) businesses, and I’ve met so many wonderful people.
I felt like I needed not only a creative outlet, but somewhere I could escape and feel connected to the outside world...
Nina – @eva_and_tissy
The images you create are so saturated with colour and energy; it’s a refreshing approach to the minimally styled interiors so popular these days. Have you always been an ambassador for colour?
I’ve got a long history of colour-loving! I’ve got boxes with decades worth of colourful vintage fabric stashed away, overflowing linen drawers and colourful ceramics. I really like minimal modern interiors, but I just love cushions and books way too much! Haha.
Your dashing and gorgeous children are featured a lot in your images; do they help fuel your playful and colourful style?
Yes absolutely! There are so many fun, colourful kids’ clothes out there. I have heaps of fun dressing them. Eva and Tissy have never been too fussed about what they wear, but Mimi, our third child, is so darn fussy she’ll wear whatever she tells me she’ll wear! That can be frustrating when she wants to wear the same thing for two weeks or pyjamas all day, but I just roll with it. I’ve learnt to pick my battles when it comes to three-year-olds.
We were blown away by the riot of colour that set the scene to celebrate the birthday of one of your kids. Did you do much planning for this, or are you a more ‘free-form’ creative-type that lets surprise play a part in the plan?
I’m absolutely free-form, haha. I’ve got a big box of birthday decorations that we pull out every birthday (the kids LOVE this part; they start asking to decorate the kitchen weeks before their birthday), and my cake formula is always just to bake up a few cake layers, whack them together with buttercream and go crazy with food dye. This year Tissy has requested a supermarket cake after having a piece at a friend’s party recently… haha after all these years of baking, he’d rather have a Coles mudcake. So decorating that should be interesting. Nothing an Angus and Celeste plate won’t fix!!
On an average weekend, how do you best spend your time? Take us through what kind of things happen in the home of Nina at Eva & Tissy?
Weekends are family time. We love spending time at home playing in our yard, relaxing, and eating pancakes. Today we rearranged the backyard, and Eva, Paul, and I painted the cubby house together while Tissy and Mimi played on the trampoline in the sunshine, and despite the drama going on in the world right now, life felt so good in that moment. We also love mini day trip adventures. Exploring awesome parks we’ve read about, driving to nearby country towns to hit up the bakery for sausage rolls, or hanging out at the beach.
Despite the drama going on in the world right now, life felt so good in that moment.
Seeing your marvellous cakes on top of our bright ceramics has been a joy! If you were limited to making only one type of cake for the rest of your life, what type of cake would it be?
Oh gosh, I LOVE carrot cake with cream cheese icing. If it were just for me, that would be the one. Not sure I would ever get sick of it. I know the kids would choose something else though… probably chocolate cake with ganache—another yummy and easy one but never as fun to photograph.
A&C’s Best Loved Carrot Cake Twist!
