Something about....

...late afternoon sun.  Firstly the sun is still shining.  Secondly I am loving it!  Enough said, but the sun really does make people happy.  These shots were taken yesterday in our kitchen.  The jug, orchid and bird tray were gifts for my birthday last month.

Firefly Drinks

 Props for my little photo set up

Happy Friday, really looking forward to this weekend not much on, but hoping for snow!  Anyway for those of you that follow me on Pinterest you would know that I have a weakness for lovely packaging. It quenches the side of me that wished I had done graphic design.  I am always on the lookout for packaging that use photography.  Found these little treasures the other day, love the polaroid feel to the photos used.  Out of the two drinks my favourite is Pomegranate & Elderflower.  Happy Weekend!

Cosy Afternoons

Well it’s the last day of 2012 and what a memorable year it has been.  My firm highlight was the Olympics.  Even though we watched the games at home, we imagined the buzz and energy of these various venues and the roar of cheering on team GB. 

At the other end of the spectrum, one of the things I have struggled with this year has been the amount of rain we have experienced.  We have had to make the most of the few dry spells that we have had, but have inevitably returned home cold and wet on a number of occasions, the only consolations being our newly decorated lounge and log burner.  After our walks, we tend to return home craving hot chocolate/green tea and spend the rest of the afternoon in front of the fire, reading books, magazines, newspapers and other blogs!

With this in mind, my second theme for Argos online was ‘cosy afternoons in’.  There is something in me that loves to hibernate and potter about, making our home warm and inviting. 

Now that the girls are that bit older, a regular pass time is to play a board or card game at least once over the weekend.  I remember as a child how I loved the thrill of Monopoly, or stepping into character for a good game of Cluedo, feeling grateful for the hours that my mum would spend with me on a card game or Connect Four.  We own most board games we felt nostalgic about as a child, but remained clueless about the new ones that are on the market now. 

After a little research, I took the plunge and chose Blokus and Rummikub.  I have to confess L and R tend to play Rummikub, as it is more suitable for her age group (age seven), whilst I chill out with C our four year old.  As a foursome we have had hours of fun with Blokus.  It was really easy for our four and seven year old girls to grasp the rules, yet we have all exercised our grey matter developing our winning strategies! I really recommend this game for children and adults to play together.

To add to the cosy afternoon feel, I chose this lovely grey throw.  C and I especially like to throw something over us whilst we are sitting around, and with this stylish design I am not ribbed too much about my ‘granny’ tendencies. I also like the way throws break up the colour and texture of a vast sofa.

  

My final touch was this striking embellished cushion.  I am a sucker for anything that has the word Love in it!  From mugs to prints, and now a cushion! 

As I draw this post to a close, I would like to thank Argos online for asking me to be a part of this social media project.  Also to wish my lovely readers a very Happy and Inspiring New Year!  I look forward to hearing about all your new year goals and hopes.

Argos Online - Kitchen Updates

This post is one of two that I have been so excited to share with you.  A few months back I was contacted about working together with Argos on a social media project.  I was able to choose some lovely products from their online catalogue to photograph in our home.  I loved thinking through each possible theme.  There were so many tempting products to choose from, but I really wanted to stick to the two themes that kept on jumping out at me.  The first collaboration is built around the theme of simple kitchen updates.  I liked the idea of not having to spend vast amounts of money on trading in existing tableware but introducing items to compliment what we already had. 

I could not help but be drawn to the Habitat range that Argos sell via their website, and found some delightful designs to tempt me.  My husband often teases me about my obsession with mugs and glasses, so it was an obvious choice for me to pick a lovely set of four hand blown mugs.  What stood out about these mugs for me was the simplicity.  I have been collecting some Orla Kiely mugs for some time, however I have also been on the look out for some plain designs when I fancied a change.  Rather than opting for a plain white design, I went for the clear simple glass effect of these Lasang mugs which come in a set of four from the Habitat range.  I am an avid green tea drinker and my husband loves black coffee and these mugs show off the tones of these drinks over a lazy weekend breakfast. 

Our girls now prefer to use ‘grown up’ knives and forks, so we are finding that our dearly loved wedding day gift cutlery is a little limited with demands of having the girl’s friends back for tea, in the light that the odd piece has gone missing over the years.  So I was thrilled with this simple yet sturdy design from the Amefa cutlery range. 

With Christmas entertaining around the corner, we were running low on wine glasses.  We seem to easily break them along with my second hand china teacups, (hard to replace).  The Vienna wine glasses from the Habitat range come as a set of six and are just perfect for mulled wine, rosé and sparkling juices.  We were thinking of selling our redundant trolley since the sideboard for the kitchen arrived, but with our new wine glasses, I think the trolley lends itself perfectly to the creation of a little drinks corner.

Last but not least, as these tumblers are my favourites, both the colour and texture set them apart.  The Chicago tumblers from the Habitat range come two colours either the beetroot (which I chose) or clear glass.  Both were tempting but I loved the stand out colour of the beetroot.  Not only am I making use of the lovely products, but also love photographing them, here are some images especially taken for this post, no doubt they will be popping up in other shots!