HELLO AND WELCOME

Hello and welcome!  I’m Elizabeth and I am so happy that you have popped into the Shop to have a look around.  Thank you so much for being here - I hope you enjoy your visit.

AMBLE & TWINE is a unique online store that is brimming with all-natural dried flowers, Australian native wildflowers, everlasting bouquets and wreaths, flower seeds, DIY kits, and plenty of well-made tools to inspire others to grow, gather, and get creative with flowers at home.  All of my flowers are Australian grown, naturally dried, and fully compostable. 

My small business is based around my ever-expanding home garden, where I grow my own wildflowers to use in my work.  Many of the other materials that I use have been foraged from family farm properties, and this combination of untamed ingredients gives my creations a wild and unique look.  

Image: Cutting native ammobium alatum daisies in my garden.

Along with the collections that are available to browse online, carefully curated wedding packages are also offered upon request, with shipping available Australia wide.  This is a popular choice for small ceremonies, elopements, and destination weddings where there is a post office within reach.  With the growing popularity of dried wedding florals and my close proximity to the Hunter Valley wedding hub, many brides also choose to pick up florals from my studio ahead of their wedding date in the vineyards.  Please get in touch for more information about wedding prices and details.  

Image: An everlasting bridal bouquet.

 

AMBLE & TWINE

I am the sole trader here at AMBLE & TWINE and my business is run out of my home studio in the leafy suburbs of Newcastle, New South Wales.  While I do not have a shopfront, customers are welcome to pick up orders from my studio. 

AMBLE & TWINE has been operating in an online space since 2020, connecting directly to a likeminded community of nature lovers, gardeners, flower growers, and creatives... through craft, beautiful imagery, lovely words, and thoughtful offerings - all in a space that is reminiscent of older time when life moved a little bit more slowly.  All of my offerings are designed and made to last.... everlasting flowers to keep for years instead of days, heirloom quality tools to pass on for generations, and timeless homewares with a vintage charm and a nostalgia for the simpler life of decades past.

This is a place for all who adore the beauty of nature and who want to connect closely to the warmth of the natural world.  Naturally dried, Australian grown flowers are a much more beautiful, conscious and sustainable choice than chemically preserved flowers that are imported from overseas.  Naturally dried flowers do take a great deal of time and care to create and are therefore more expensive, but the sustainability benefits and longevity of the flowers is well worth the cost.  Caring for everlasting flowers is simple.  Try to keep them away from moisture and direct sunlight and remove dust by taking them outside for a light shake once and a while.

Sustainability is at the very core of AMBLE & TWINE.  I grow my flowers in the most environmentally friendly ways that I can; I am a soil-focused, organic gardener and do not use any harmful pesticides or herbicides on my property, always working with mother nature and local wildlife at the forefront of my mind.  My environmental ethics extend to foraging as well - I tread lightly in the wild, staying mindful of what and where I am collecting.  And of course, I air dry my materials naturally in my home without the use of any preservatives, additives, chemicals, bleaches or dyes.  Ultimately, all of my dried flowers and everlasting creations can be home composted, returning to the earth from which they came.  

Image: Native Australian wildflowers mix with cottage garden favourites in my backyard.

Image: A beautiful spring bunch of homegrown native paper daisy varieties.

 

MY STORY 

It all started with my garden... with a love of growing flowers and connecting with nature, with gathering, being creative, and staying immersed in the magic of our environment, and finding new ways to bring that magic into my home. 

While I was pregnant with my daughter, Ella, during an extended stay on our family farm in Crescent Head, I started weaving together vines that I collected from the surrounding bushlands until suddenly, I saw a blank canvas right in front of me, one to adorn with all of my home-grown flowers.  I searched for new ways to be creative with these materials, and I started to gather the best tools that I could find to help me along this journey.  With a little nudge from a friend and a realisation that I wanted to work in my garden and share this experience with others - full-time - I created AMBLE & TWINE.

My personal journey into motherhood led to an increasing desire to nurture our home life, to bring warmth and creativity into the home, and to make our garden a place of deep connection with nature.  Here, we cherish slow days spent in the backyard, watching wildflowers sway, counting spots on ladybirds, picking ripe citrus, reaching for hidden berries, and always, always gathering flowers... all beneath the honeyed air, the humming bees, and bustling birds. 

Image: Oliver playing in the backyard wildflower patch. 

Image: Picking paper daisies with Ella. 

We eagerly invite nature into the heart of our home at every turn and enjoy the way that AMBLE & TWINE has become a way of life for us.  Our living space is happily intertwined with my work and we wouldn’t have it any other way.  Flowers hang along our walls and doors, they dangle from ceiling hooks and suspended branches, filling vertical space with wonder and beauty.  My kids have grown up in a flower-filled home and they are included in many aspects of the business.  We garden together, cut flowers together, we gather, create, and just enjoy being in nature together as a family.  This has been greatest joy of building a small, home-based, family-run business.

Image: Our lounge room with flowers hanging above and my studio in the distance.

AMBLE & TWINE celebrates the beauty of the wild Australian landscape, of the unique flora that it provides, and the bounty to be found in a whimsical suburban cottage garden.  Every little piece of AMBLE & TWINE is a piece of me, my Shop is a special place that I have designed to share my story and to inspire others to join me along this joyful path of growing and creating with flowers at home.

Thank you so much for visiting and do feel free to get in touch.  

With much love,

Elizabeth xx

 

MORE ABOUT ME

While I was born in New York City and raised by two passionate New Yorkers, it was their love of adventuring out of the city and into nature that has always stuck with me more than anything.  My dad was an avid sailor, and much of my early childhood was spent on our cherished family sailboat; we eventually moved to a quiet coastal town near to Boston, in a house that sat on the edge of the sea, nestled between towering trees, sprawling gardens and the big blue Atlantic. 

I'll never forget how greatly my mother cared for that home; her cooking, gardening, and creative projects are all nestled deeply within my soul.  I have always had a passion for the outdoors, for photographing nature and creating collections of natural objects. 

I studied a Bachelor of Environmental Science in the US, working towards forming some sort of career with my love of nature.  This was mixed with plenty of travel and study abroad, and as I decided that I wanted to continue with an additional degree in marine science, and migrate out of the states permanently, Australia seemed like an ideal place for me to start a new life. 

In 2009, at the age of 24, I headed down under and never looked back.  I studied and completed my Master of Science in Protected Area Management at James Cook University.  I worked in several marine science laboratories, which is how I earned my permanent residency and citizenship in Australia. 

I worked at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and then spent time at the Department of Environment and Energy in Canberra, assessing project proposals and environmental management plans.  We moved to Newcastle to buy our first home in 2018, just after I had my first baby, Oliver. 

 

GET IN TOUCH

If you are interested in collaborating with me, I would love to hear from you.  Please fill out the contact form - which you can find here - and I will respond to you as soon as I can.