Flyer no.2

My dear friend Su put together another flyer for me with the aim of rolling them out in the run up to Open Houses.  I am so very shattered but excited about this year's open houses.  Also I am constantly, amazed, encouraged and touched by the online support that I've received, via pinterest, twitter, facebook and instagram.  I truly cherish and feel so grateful for all those that have stuck by my journey.  A heartfelt thank you.

Could I get away with this?

So when I was seventeen I bought my first second hand satchel and then ditched my obsession in my twenties.  However over the last few months I have rekindled my love for this style.  Admittedly it has been kick started by this lovely back to school range created by French Label Bakker with Love, found on the little zebra website.

New Venture

These are the two possible logos for our new venture Magpie and Mustard.  My friend Su and I have joined forces and come with a few posters and cards to sell online and through other stockists.  The first will be a children's poster.  So please watch this space!

Thrilled

Ever since I first learned of Samantha Robinson's ceramics, I have loved her work. I love the patterns, designs and colours. While R was away in Australia he stopped by Husk and bought me these two cups. I love them and hope you like them too!

Wishlist

Rockett St George is one of my favourite online stores. They have even managed to persuade me to think about getting some artificial flowers! There is a couple of dark corners in our house (landing areas) that could be brightened up with a few flower displays. Also my thing for gnomes is not passing, so I am about to order one to place on my desk or kitchen window. As for animals in clothes, ever since Barber I cannot shake this love either. If you have some birthdays coming up, I recommend a visit.

All images taken from Rockett St George

Table Lamp

Confession time, I have been utterly distracted by Pinterest. It is so easy to access countless images and ideas that create fabulous mood boards. Anyway this morning I pinned my latest find from Abigail Ahern. I am especially fond of the pelican lamps and the grey walls!

Kitchen Table Wishlist

With Christmas fast approaching we are saving our pennies towards present buying. I have put together meal plans in order to minimise fridge content waste, cut back on magazines and we have cut back on eating out. In my search for Christmas presents for friends and family. I have found a few pieces that grabbed my attention. Firstly, the wonderful duo that is James and Tilla, and there stunning and simple ceramics. I especially like the pourers, it is a must for any table. Secondly a simple white coloured glass vase by Brissi, and finally to place it on, a runner for my pine table by New House Textiles.

Lovely Lights

It's cold outside, so my thoughts entertained with the cosy indoors. I am thinking blankets, slippers, log baskets and soft glow of candles and lights. I am particularly drawn to a locally based company called Cable and Cotton. I love the warm colours and textures of the these lights. Personally I think that my love for them stems from the stunning lifestyle shots. Loving the deep colours and distressed feel to the setting.

Wonder Wall

For fans of Naploeon Dynamite, you have to visit this link (click design mom). The above is a mural from twelve year old Ralph's room. He is into all things films and his mum, cleverly came up with the concept of this image instead of poster. Love it!

ps. Listening to Diane Birch and off to see Broken Bells on the 22nd June

Nelly the Elephant

By now, it is becoming a little obvious that I have a picture/print addiction. I love seeing so many homes, displaying a wonderful mix of print and oils, vintage and modern frames and the thought and expanse of grouping these together. The talented Betsy Benn's prints has grabbed my attention, in particular this Nelly the Elephant inspire one. Her warmth radiates in her work and she is certainly on my watch list!

Photo image taken from Betsy Benn Website

The colour Purple

A dear friend and I have been talking kitchen extensions lately as we are both embarking on knocking out walls. Her's is more immanent than ours as we still haven't put in for planning. We are loving ideas of colour and vintage....mood boards to follow. Until than I am dreaming of the melty colour that is purple....I say melty as the ultimate purple is the cadburys wrapper. Both Le Creuset and Denby have introduce variations of this colour under the guise of cassis and amethyst

Putting the pieces together

Recently I disclosed that our spare room, is more like a junk/storage room. In the light of de-cluttering and trying to organise our family spaces, I have set my mind on having a lovely guest room. I love the simplicity of the bedding in the new home range at Jigsaw. I am particularly found of the Newquay range, as it reminds of the multi - stripe retro bedding from when I was younger. Ps. I do like the dark grey walls....I am a sucker for grey!

Spring Clean

We are in the midst of a thunder storm. Yet all I think about is what on earth are we to do with our garden. It's not very big, but we have to accommodate a play area for our little ones, plants and a place to eat and relax. I am highly visual, so I love colour. I am also not very good at keeping plants alive. So I find myself distracted by the idea of an outdoor wallpaper feature by the very talented Susan Bradley. Her garden wallpaper is an design idea that I wish I had.

Merci Merci

For those of us who dream of popping to Paris for the weekend, maybe we could settle for a little bit of Paris in the corner of London's Liberty Store. This week in store they are showing of a fab collaboration between Merci Creative Director Marie France Cohen and London's Liberty. With Children in mind, the profits from the achingly hip Paris Store goes to a women and children charity in Madagascar.

Images from Liberty Blog, as is the word 'achingly' which is fast become a favourite for today!

I like...

Not much to report back on....it's raining and I cannot keep putting off my endless chores. However I really like these jugs by the talented Rachel Barker. Also checkout her collection for John Lewis.

Images Rachel Barker

Remembering the 80's

Later this month Richard and I are off to a friend's 80's themed party. It is a little sad how much time we have spent planning our fancy dress, some would think we never get out! Anyway we have come up with a few film inspirations to base our look on, the original Miami Vice, Pretty in Pink and a dash of Desperately Seeking Susan. Carrying on with the eighties theme, I must mention my favourite find Coulson Macleod have got a series of decade prints (70's, 80's and 90's) which have highlighted events, sayings and pop culture trivia. I have found myself laughing out loud as I remember things I have forgotten. Ending on a 80's guilty pleasure, the faithful attic roll, I had to snap it, so I can look back on it with nostalgia!

Details

Now I have only seen Ilse Crawford once on a television programme and she stuck me as someone approachable with an intense understanding to detail. The above is taken from Stoke Place, and Studio Ilse have brought together details that simply jump out! I love the use of blue and the empty gold frames on the above staircase, the collection of butterfly prints by two red stools, the grass green wall in the en suite and aubergine against the buttermilk in the seating area. So this weekend, I am hoping to find more ways of adding colour our home and use details as gentle way of making my mark.

All images from Stoke Place.co.uk

Sweet Dreams

Truth be told my spare room looks like a junk room. I would love for it to have the warm welcome, but alas it is simply warm. This would be the mix of tranquil and vintage that I'm looking for. However with thoughts of renovating the kitchen, the last thing on our mind is decorating the guest room. So in the meantime I can but dream of the above. (no pun intended)!

Image taken from the Antoinette range at the sleep room

Inspired Monday

Over the weekend, I spent time on flickr enjoying the photo streams of those that have become my favourites. I had a lovely time in Lewes, chilled out with our girls and de-cluttered some more with my husband. So this morning, I took some snaps of our home, arranged our a kitchen a little and took this photo. I am particularly fond of a design company called Rosehip and the wrapping paper in the above image is one of theirs. Being addicted to stationary, I also own four of their notebooks!

Miss Print

It is fast approaching a whole year since Clara has been in her own room. She truly has the smallest bedroom. In light of this, it has still taken us the same amount of time to decide on a wallpaper design for her feature wall. We've gone all pink (second image down) and opted for the stunning design by a lovely duo behind Miss Print, who are based in East London. Besides their stylish wallpaper, they do much more including lampshades!

All Images Miss Print