Bookworm Eats Flower

I Spy Friday

2011-12-09T09:26:00.001Z

Christmas has really snuck up on me this year, but I'm happy to say that all of my shopping is done as of yesterday! As you can imagine, M. and I are really, really excited about Christmas this year. Not only is it Baby Kate's first Christmas, we're also heading home for a little over three weeks. Our first Christmas in America since we moved to the UK!

I can't wait to give Kate her first Christmas presents (we got her an amazing stocking as well, something I've been thinking about since this summer)... of course she won't remember it, but it's great fun for the two of us. And here's hoping I get a few of the things on my wish list this year...

From top to bottom:
Hidden Animal Mugs, from Uncommon Goods (I love these mugs, which are quite similar to a froggy mug my grandmother has. It's still my mug of choice when I'm at Grandma's.)
Red Snowflake Pyjamas, from Debenhams
Tea with Bea, by Bea Vo, available at all good bookstores (recipes from my favorite cafe, Bea's of Bloomsbury--they have the best cupcakes ever!)
Hattie cardigan, from Fat Face (love, love, love this cardi!!!)
Bern Baby Bern boots in oak by Keen, available lotsa places (perfect with that cardi, no?)
Chocolate herringbone flats, from Toms

Is there anything special on your wishlist this holiday season? (I hope you get it all, plus some fun surprises!)

Kelly's wedding

2011-12-06T10:06:00.000Z

Kelly is pretty much the opposite of a bridezilla. Instead of determining every last detail of her bridesmaids' wardrobe, she just asked them to wear black and choose their own shoes in a different bright color. Then she came to me to create wedding flowers using all of these colors (blue, green, aqua, purple, and I think I'm forgetting a few), along with red to go with her own shoes, and sheet music or book pages, also chosen by each bridesmaid.

I won't lie, I was a little afraid I wouldn't be able to combine all of those colors without it looking like a hot mess. But, in the end, it all came together pretty well, I think:

Each bridesmaid bouquet was a combination of pinwheel flowers and roses containing all of the colors in the palette, with the color of each bridesmaid's shoes determining the main color of her bouquet.

Kelly's bridal bouquet was in roses, again containing all of the colors of the palette, but with an emphasis on reds and sheet music.

The groom and groomsmen's boutonnieres coordinated with the bouquets.

And I also did some corsages and boutonnieres for the parents, including some special sheet music and maps.

And perhaps the best part of all (for my ego, anyway!), I recently heard from Kelly that she and her husband, Zachary, have their flowers on display at home!

Congratulations to Kelly and Zachary!

Photos courtesy of Ellis Photography

Rachel's wedding

2011-11-30T21:06:00.000Z

Rachel described her wedding as '60s Jewish chic--think Mad Men in a sleek, white temple with a kraft and green color scheme. Rose bouquets worked perfectly with the mod look Rachel was after.

As you'll see in the photos, Rachel has a great eye for detail and an amazing vision for her wedding day. She sent me some swatches of her wedding invitations to match, and two Hebrew texts to choose from, one large and one small. I couldn't pick between the two, so printed one on each side of kraft paper and used both. With a few moss green roses to complete the look, the bouquets were a lovely accent to Rachel's wedding day.

Love, love, love the bridesmaids' look!

I think the cake sums up this wedding: simple, chic, lovely.

I love this shot! The light effect is so gorgeous.

Theme-appropriate font... such a simple but effective touch.

Congratulations, Rachel and Bryan!

Photos courtesy of Justine Bursoni. You can see more beauty shots at her website!

Happy Cyber Monday!

2011-11-28T11:17:00.000Z

I've added holiday ornaments and hand-cut gift tags to my ArtFire shop today!

PLUS get 10% off items in the bouquets and papercuts sections of my ArtFire shop! (Today through Wednesday) Just use the code BWEF10.

I Spy Friday

2011-11-04T17:02:00.000Z

Here's what all the fashionable babies are wearing this season... (Well, it's what my baby's wearing, anyway.)

From top to bottom:
Ellie onesie, by Honksville (no longer available, but they do have a new, awesome milk carton one)
Wool and cotton sleeper, from Petit Bateau
Fish sleeper, from Baby Joule
Hooded embroidered cardigan, from Mamas and Papas
Red sweater dress, from Baby Gap

Wedding Wednesday

2011-11-02T12:58:00.011Z

This is a bit of a different Wedding Wednesday. It's more of a cry for help than anything else, really.

You see, one of my cousins is getting married this winter, and it's going to be a rather fancy evening wedding in Manhattan. And I'm feeling a little underconfident about what to wear... I haven't been to a dressy event in ages. Not since my own wedding, I think.

The dress and shoes are pretty much set, as I've already bought the dress (on sale, holla!) and the shoes are quite similar to ones I already own. Not spending money, holla once again. I just need some help deciding on accessories.

Here's the dress:

Penelope and Odysseus dress, from Shabby Apple

And some shoes that are similar to the ones I already have:

Patent leather heels, by Michael Kors (again, not my actual shoes, but if you like 'em they're on sale at Zappos)

So here are the accessories I'm considering, from top to bottom:
Silver lace necklace, by BranchBound
Black lace bracelet, by BranchBound or...
Vintage collage bracelet, by Tatty Chic
Embroidered oak leaf headband, by Faerie Market

Kat ruffle shoe clips, by PixelandHank (I think I'd wear these on the ankle)

I don't think all of these together would be great (too overwhelming!), but I like them all. What do you think? Any other accessory suggestions? I spend most of my days in pjs or yoga pants and my sense of style is not doing well. Please help!

I Spy Friday

2011-10-28T09:06:00.001+01:00

Yikes, I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted! Actually, it's not too hard to believe; I've been spending a lot of time being cozy with this cutie:

And wiping a lot of this:

And I feel like it's become autumn almost without my noticing. We had a gorgeous Indian summer for a few days, but now it's suddenly rainy and chilly, and I'm even more motivated than ever to get snuggly and cozy with baby Kate. But she has to sleep sometimes, and when she does I've been looking for some lovely coziness to share with you.

From top to bottom:
Winter antique glass 3-wick candle, from The White Company
Cider dress, from Shabby Apple
Apple cups tutorial, from Gimme Some Oven
Cosy cunnel-neck fair isle sweater, from Boden
German pumpkin soup in a pumpkin recipe, from Adventures in Cooking

By the way, what is it about the word pumpkin that makes people want to type it over and over? Seriously, go on Pinterest, do a keyword search for pumpkin, and you'll see what I mean. While you're at it, you can follow me too.

I Spy Friday

2011-09-30T19:48:00.000+01:00

Hiya, friendos! I've got a few more goodies from the Origin Craft Fair to share with you this week. Check it out...

From top to bottom:
Comb by Gill Wilson
Alice chair by Christian O'Reilly
All the Days artbox by Lisa Swerling
Paper Milk Jug by Jennifer Collier
Metal and porcelain platter by Joanne Bowles

I Spy Friday

2011-09-23T17:39:00.000+01:00

I usually head to the Origin Craft Fair every September, but I won't be able to make it this year. I was looking over the website the other day, and I can't believe how many great exhibitors I'll be missing this year.

I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you this week, but I had too many favorites so I'll be back with some more next Friday as well.

From top to bottom:
Cushion by Trisha Needham
Ceramic bird by Mizuyo Yamashita
Glass lace platter by Catherine Carr
Fingerless gloves by Jo Gordon
Tea cozy by Catherine Tough

Everbody, meet Kate.

2011-09-21T09:28:00.000+01:00

Kate, this is... everybody.

After a little bit of a wait and a difficult labor, Kate finally arrived on the evening of September 1st. Although she's a pretty easy-going baby, M. and I are finding life with a newborn to be a bit of an adjustment. So please bear with me over the next few months as I'll be on semi-maternity leave. It's taking me a long time to get to emails and custom work queries, but I promise I will get to them all as soon as I can

I Spy Friday

2011-09-16T17:13:00.000+01:00

I love porcelain. It can be so amazingly practical, and so gorgeously impractical. Like a plate, and an embroidered plate.

From top to bottom:
Embroidered plate, by Diem Chau
Modernist mugs, from West Elm
Large flower bowl by Emma Clegg, available from Miratis
Porcelain lace, from Kristen Wicklund
Bee votive, from Have You Met Miss Jones

Nursery: mini-canvas letter art

2011-09-13T07:13:00.001+01:00

When I did my lampshade project for the nursery, I not only ended up with a lampshade that I love, I also had a pile of kraft letters sitting on my coffee table:

It seemed ridiculous to just throw these out, so I grabbed some glue and a mini-canvas from my studio and sat down to create some letter art.

I use this awesome acid-free medium for most of my gluing needs. I used it to lightly coat the back of one letter at a time, and placed each letter in a jumbled-up manner on the canvas.

I made sure to have some of the letters wrapping around the bottom and sides of the canvas. Why? Just 'cause.

And here's the final result! Not too bad for a few minutes' work, huh?

Nursery details: a papercut lampshade

2011-09-12T19:20:00.006+01:00

Remember a few months ago when I posted a sneak peek of a project I was working on? It was a lampshade that I spent countless hours on, drawing and cutting cute animal shapes into darling circles of solid papers, stringing them together with still more darling circles of print papers, and... I hated it. It turned out terribly. Just a big hot mess.

So instead I whipped together a simple but highly personal papercut lampshade that took me all of an afternoon, sitting at the coffee table with a movie or two playing in the background.

I couldn't share it with you before, because we were keeping baby's name a secret until after she was born. But now that the baby's out of the bag, check out her handmade lampshade...

I just cut her name over and over (and over) into a roll of lightly ribbed kraft paper that I bought at the post office.

Of course, it was slightly more complicated than that. I first cut out a length of paper the height I wanted, and slightly longer than I needed. Then, I created a template in Word of the name typed three times in a row, and printed it out backwards. (I actually can't recall what font I used, and I've deleted the document now. But it looks like Garamond, right? Or possibly Andalus, which I've been loving recently.)

Then I traced the template over and over on the side of paper that I wanted to be the inside of the lampshade.

Once I'd finished the cutting, I glued the shade onto a lampshade form that I had purchased previously.

By the way, photographing a lit lampshade is quite difficult. The best way I could find was to do it at dusk, so that the lamp wasn't the only light in the room, but I'd welcome any tips.

Even though it was difficult to photograph, I really love how this project turned out and I was thinking of adding it to the shop... what do you think?

I Spy Friday

2011-09-09T16:54:00.000+01:00

I've gone a little embroidery mad this week. That stitched notecard from Little Birdie Secrets got me going on all things embroidered. I especially want that lovely swallow t-shirt...

From top to bottom:
Swallow embroidered t-shirt by Poem, available from Oliver Bonas
Embroidered chambray skirt, from AE
Wallpaper collage and embroidery art, from Claire Coles
Aqua gradient embroidered necklace, from bStudio
Embroidered hem sheets, from Pine Cone Hill

Diarmuid's flowers

2011-09-08T09:30:00.001+01:00

They say a successful business is run on repeat business, but there's (hopefully!) not much call for that when you're working on weddings. So I was pretty chuffed when I heard from Helen, one of my first brides ever, requesting a bouquet for her husband as a first-year anniversary present. As she pointed out, the traditional present for a first anniversary is paper, after all.

Helen wanted a bouquet that recalled her wedding bouquet:

But she wanted a few key differences: something a little less feminine, and sheet music instead of book pages.

Luckily, I had a little paper and several buttons left over from Helen's bouquet, and I found a lovely lime green floral paper to complement the vintagey yellow floral in the original bouquet. We decided on roses and circle flowers anchored with buttons to give the more masculine feel Helen wanted.

And here's where it ended up:

I love the streamlined look of the bouquet.

And, though I says it as shouldn't, I think my photography skills have improved quite a bit since last summer...

And as a special surprise, I included a couple of little hair clips for Helen as well. Congratulations, Diarmuid and Helen!

A major sewing project

2011-09-05T18:58:00.000+01:00

Okay, it's major for me, anyway. Which means... pretty minor.

I picked up this super-cute little jumper (in the American meaning of the word) by Creme Anglaise for our little girl at the Craft Guerrilla summer fair in July. I think it'll be perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

Loooove the retro print!

But as much as I loved the dress at the fair, I loved it even more when I got home and realized that I could easily make it reversible. The jumper is lined with a solid purple fabric, with just a bit of the lovely floral print peeking out at the bottom hem. With no tags sewn into it, all the dress needed was a few extra buttons to become two dresses in one.

I went through my stash of buttons to find some matching sets of buttons big enough to work. I tried out each set against the purple side of the dress, and ended up picking the vintage yellow set in the foreground.

Then it was just a question of finding some purple thread and sewing them directly opposite where the big purple buttons are on the print side (testing my sewing skills to their limit), and voila!

Not too bad, right?

I love these yellow buttons! And I love this jumper! The best part of it is that this project only took about 10-15 minutes, and didn't cost a cent, since I had the buttons and thread on hand already. Sweet.

I Spy Friday

2011-09-02T16:16:00.001+01:00

This time of year always makes me hanker after new stationery. It's that lovely back to school feeling, except without the annoyance of a teacher's list to stick to, keeping me from buying the pretty stuff, like these...

From top to bottom:
DIY sewn notecard, from Little Birdie Secrets
Utility word search card, from Grain
Personalized chevron notecard, from Naomi Lynn
Ellie boxed letterpress notecards, from Smock (on sale!)
Indian inspired flat cards, from Starshaped Press

Sian's flowers (sort of)

2011-09-01T09:47:00.009+01:00

Sian emailed me in May, with a lovely idea that I admit hadn't occurred to me before. She wanted some wedding flowers, but not for herself.

Sian is a friend of one of my first clients, Helen, and loved Helen's wedding bouquet. With a slew of weddings to attend this summer, she asked me to create floral yet bookish gifts for her friends, all of whom (like she and Helen) were literature grad. students.

For some friends who had recently married in Scotland, Sian requested a mini bouquet and boutonniere that recalled the bride's wildflower bouquet. For this one, I used a purply leaf paper to make poppies, blue forget-me-nots, and roses made of pages from If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by John McGregor. The stem was wrapped in gray washi tape (mini-bouquet stems are too slim for thick ribbon). For the poppy boutonniere, I used the same blue paper as in the forget-me-nots, with a fringe of text paper and a vintage black button.

For another friend, Sian wanted to incorporate blues and silver, plus pages from Winnie the Pooh. She wanted me to create something that could be used as the bride's something blue, as well as some ornaments for after the wedding.

We went with a circle flower hair clip...

...and several ornaments, also heavily featuring blues but picking up on colors from the illustrations in Winnie the Pooh as well.

For the third gift, Sian wanted to use Wind in the Willows in a mini rose bouquet, along with some purple paper.

A mix of moss and pine green leaves and a purple washi tape wrap were the finishing touches on this mini bouquet.

For the final gift, Sian asked me to draw inspiration from the wedding's setting, Santa Fe. We went with the vivid colors of an adobe house in a desert sunset: vivid pink and blue, bright orangey yellow, and a bit of brown to anchor the bright colors. And for a truly personal touch, a few specific pages from Mary Gaskell's North and South.

I was so pleased with this little set, and even more pleased to hear from Sian that the bride and groom liked their flowers enough to use them in the wedding!

Thanks, Sian, for giving me such a fun and personal commission, and congratulations to the four couples!

Wedding Wednesday

2011-08-31T16:32:00.001+01:00

Last week's stationery post got me started on a bit of a kick, so here are some amazing wedding invitations for this week's Wedding Wednesday...

From top to bottom:
Fall harvest invitations, from Thoughtful Day
Floral print and kraft invitations, from Seven Swans
DIY wheels invitation, from Burning House SF
Papercut invitation, Made by Julene
Royal navy invitation by Paper Plain, available from Minted

Please excuse my absence...

2011-08-30T18:05:00.000+01:00

I won't be able to respond to any queries or emails for a week or so, as I'm heading into the hospital tomorrow morning to be induced. I've pre-scheduled several posts to take the blog through the next few weeks, but I promise to be back as soon as possible with some cute baby photos!

Papercut closet dividers

2011-08-29T19:27:00.000+01:00

I don't know if other parents and parents-to-be have this problem, but I have a ridiculously difficult time gauging what size baby clothes are. And it's kind of annoying having to dig down into tiny shirts and dresses to look for a size tag. Not to mention having to do mental math half the time, since a lot of our baby clothes have European sizes, which are... weird. (They go by baby's length in centimeters, which makes sense, but in order to figure out the approximate age that corresponds to the length, you have to subtract 50 from the listed size, and divide the answer by three. Or six. Or something like that.)

I clearly need something to keep some semblance of sanity and order. Because if all of the above is kind of annoying now, I imagine it'll be pretty much impossible once baby arrives. Labels made with washi tape on the wardrobe shelves took care of the folded stuff, but I still needed something to keep the hanging stuff in order.

Since I wasn't keen on the idea of spending money on something I thought I could DIY quite easily, I decided to make some papercut dividers for the clothes rail.

I forgot to take pictures of the process, but it was pretty simple. First, I figured out the width of the clothes rail by measuring its circumference with a bit of twine, then using that to get the circle's diameter (guess my math teacher was right when she said we'd need to know about pi for real life). It came out to be a little over 1 inch in diameter.

I wanted the dividers to be quite a bit wider than the rail, so I drew up a template in PhotoShop Elements making then two inches wide, with the hole and text centered. I made one divider for each of the typical baby and toddler sizes (going all the way up to 3-4 years because, well, they fit on the sheet), using the font Andalus. I looked up a sneaky way to adjust kerning in PSE (kerning=the space between letters) so that they'd be pretty smushed together. I also faked small caps, which you can't do in PSE, by making the numbers (and NB) four points bigger than the abbreviations for "months" and "years." Here's how the template came out:

I flipped the template backwards (a printer function, not a PSE function, in case you're wondering) so that any ink that showed through would be on the back of the dividers. Then I just printed the template and went to town with a craft blade.

Here's where I really should have gotten some in-progress photos. I wanted the sizes to be visible at a glance, so instead of making them negative space, so to speak, I made them positive by cutting out the red bits around them, of course leaving them attached to the divider. To give each character more stability, I connected them whenever possible and didn't cut out any holes in them (as you can see in the 6 and the B).

I also cut out the circle for the rail, of course, and made a diagonal slit (which you can kinda see on the left of each divider) so that I could actually get them on the rail.

And here they are in the closet! I'm pretty pleased with how well these turned out. I want to see how well they'll stand up to the rigors of every-day life, and if they do okay you might just see these turn up in the shop. What do you think?

I Spy Friday

2011-08-26T07:57:00.002+01:00

This week I have a very special I Spy, featuring just a few of the amazing prizes donated to the Riot Raffle. Every day, new prizes are going up on the site, so be sure to head over there and make a donation to help small businesses hurt by looting while you're at it! (Unfortunately, the prizes are available only to UK residents, but anyone can donate. :)

From top to bottom:
Aran cushion made by Blueberry Barn
Small jug made by Stephanie Earl
Owl cushions made by Red Berry Apple
Owl fabric storage basket made by Alexia Claire
Drum lampshade made by Designs on Paper
Spotty throw made by Sorella

(All photos by respective sites.)

Wedding Wednesday

2011-08-24T15:59:00.001+01:00

I've been having so much fun exploring Pinterest over the last few days. There's so much creativity out there! I've been really impressed with some of the wedding favor ideas I found for this post, most of which are DIY.

From top to bottom:
DIY pie in a jar, from Our Best Bites
DIY candy poppers, from Paperie and Jackie Wonders (via Style Me Pretty)
DIY felt hearts, from the purl bee (these are intended as brooches, but I think they'd make great sachets)
Snowflake bookmark favors, from Wedding Favors Unlimited (on sale!)
DIY s'mores favors, from Three by the Quill Pen (via Ruffled)

Dana's flowers

2011-08-22T08:53:00.001+01:00

When Dana got in touch about a bouquet for her wedding, she wanted something a little different from the norm, but with a feminine twist, preferably with water lilies. I suggested roses and circle flowers, and created a soft, lacy lily for her from some of my favorite paper ever:

Making a prototype flower (always a little nerve-wracking for me) wasn't the only challenge for me with this order at first. Dana requested a palette of earth tones, silver, yellow, and teals, and at first I had a real problem mentally reconciling those colors.

Then I thought of a birch and maple grove in autumn... something a bit like this...

Except with a range of softer teal blues than that bright cerulean... like this...

I love the play of different textures in this bouquet... the barkiness of the brown leaf paper, the slightly embossed blue and yellow florals, the softness of the lace lilies, the pebbly silver paper.

And to give it the final feminine touch, the stem was wrapped in a deep brown grosgrain ribbon, overlaid with cream colored vintage cotton lace.

I had such an amazing time making this bouquet! Congratulations to Dana!

I Spy Friday

2011-08-19T10:00:00.001+01:00

I usually try to keep this a pretty baby-free zone, but as my due date approaches there's little else on my mind. (In fact, I might have nothing else on my mind... this post, and most of the ones in the next few weeks, are pre-scheduled, just in case.) So here are some of the pretty baby things catching my eye at the moment.

From top to bottom:
Denim peekaboo dress, from Pit Pat, Waddle Pat
Brown polka dot one-piece, available at The Gap
Gray faux suede baby shoes, from Mico Shoes
Pink ruffle bloomers, from Ma Bella Bel
Felirobe dress, available from Du Pareil Au Meme

p.s. If you want some baby-related DIY inspiration, check out this excellent round-up from Betty Joy. I wish I could sew!

Riot Raffle update

2011-08-18T17:59:00.000+01:00

The Riot Raffle website is now up and ready for you to buy your raffle tickets! You can find out more about how the RR got started, see a few of the 100 prizes that are up for grabs, and read a bit about the charity on the receiving end of your donation, Retail Trust.

By the way, there are now 100 makers donating prizes!! Did you notice how I slipped that in there, all casual-like, in the preceding paragraph? 'Cause I'm smooth like that. But that's really a ton of amazing prizes, and a ton of chances to win. So head on over to www.riotraffle.org now!

New bouquets in the shop!

2011-08-18T14:17:00.000+01:00

With the baby coming any day now, I hope, I've put myself on maternity leave for the next few months. Which means I'll be accepting custom orders for weddings in February 2012 onwards and I'll be available for planning, but won't be taking on any custom work this fall.

There are a few off the peg items in the shop, however. This includes a few bouquets and bouquet/boutonniere sets that I've added today, at discounted prices and with a discounted shipping rate! So if your wedding colors happen to work with one of these, be sure to head over to my ArtFire shop...

I'll be adding one more bouquet tomorrow, and if this baby is overdue, I'll probably be adding some more goodies in the days or weeks to come.

Wedding Wednesday

2011-08-17T09:53:00.000+01:00

I spotted this bridesmaid dress on Pinterest, and absolutely fell in love with it. I wish it had been around when I was getting married. But at least I got the fun of putting together a little outfit.

From top to bottom:
Cream Icelandic poppy hair fascinator, by Faerie Market
Fluid Dynamics dress in aero, available from ModCloth
Minty cream vintage collage cuff, by Tatty Chic
Ivory corsage court shoes, available from Dorothy Perkins

Riot Raffle: updates & my contribution

2011-08-15T08:05:00.000+01:00

Last week I blogged about working on a contribution to the Riot Raffle, a fund-raising effort lead by Zoe of Zoe and Drew. Things have been progressing... you can now follow @riotraffle on Twitter for the most up-to-date source of information. There will also be a website coming soon, with details on how to purchase raffle tickets. I'll post more information on that as I have it.

And, best of all.... 80 designers have pledged to contribute at least one prize to the raffle! Isn't that insane? At least eighty lovingly handmade items! I've heard about a few of them (a quilt and some plush toys), and I've seen one or two on blogs around the way. I can tell you that this is going to be amazing for the prize winners. And, of course, for the small business owners we're trying to help.

My own little contribution has been made and I'll be packing it up, ready to pop in the mail to the winner as soon as the raffle is done. Wanna have a look?

I was so frustrated at not being able to help with the cleanup efforts that I channeled all of that energy into making a papercut honoring Londoners. (Which is not to minimize the citizens other affected cities, but I started on this before the violence had really spread.)

I admire so much the spirit of everyone who refused to let looters define their city. They stood up and said, "we are London." So I made a papercut that says the same thing.

It's unmounted (the blue is just to provide contrast for the pictures) so that whoever wins it has some flexibility in how they present it. I think it'd be fantastic in a floating frame.

I cut it from a recycled, acid-free kraft paper with a slight ribbed texture.

And the words "we are london" are backed in recycled, acid-free red paper.

This is certainly the most intricate papercut I've done so far, and it's my favorite. What do you think?

(By the way, if you're a designer-maker and would like to contribute something, I believe there's still time! Get in touch with @riotraffle on Twitter!

I Spy Friday

2011-08-12T12:59:00.000+01:00

Even though it's August, it's starting to feel like fall in London. Well, it hardly felt like summer at all this year (thank goodness! I hate summer!), but the last few mornings and evenings have had that delightfully crisp, back-to-schoolish feeling about them. Thanks to the unseasonably warm spring we had, I even had to do some apple picking the other day, and we've been eating blackberries for weeks.

All of this is leading to one, inevitable point... I feel a need. A need for... plaid.

From top to bottom:
Kanzashi flower brooch, by Madeline's Wardrobe
Great British tweed coat, from Boden
Perfect Weekend dress, by Miss Patina, available from ModCloth
Fabric button ring, from Heyday Handmade
Phoenix tartan bag, from Monsoon

Some thoughts on current events

2011-08-11T18:01:00.000+01:00

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted! I've really neglected this blog woefully, as I've had to focus my attention on finishing a few orders and getting the house prepared before the baby arrives.

In fact, I was so wrapped up in my pretty world of babies and flowers, that I didn't know about the London riots until about 24 hours after they had started. On Sunday evening, M. and I heard sirens as we got ready for bed, and he said he hoped the riots weren't starting again, or spreading. I had no idea of the violence that had happened in Tottenham the night before until that moment.

Unfortunately, he was right, and the riots (looting, really) had spread. Monday morning we awoke to the news that there had been violence and looting not ten minutes from where we live... although we probably could've guessed it, because the sirens from the nearby hospital kept us awake for a lot of the night. All day and evening, I watched Twitter and live news, hoping it wouldn't happen again only to see, horrified, that it had gotten worse. Fortunately for our peace of mind, our area remained calm, but some friends and colleagues reported groups of thugs roaming their streets.

And on top of this there was the depressing news from home about the economic situation. I just kept thinking, Is this the kind of world I want to bring a child into? Do I want my child growing up in this city as it is, and then moving back to America, which seems to be heading for a different type of wreck?

On Tuesday, the #riotcleanup movement started. People made an effort to get out in the streets and protect them, just by being present. I was so relieved to see this side of Londoners... the side I've heard about but never seen, because it only comes out in extraordinary circumstances, this ability to band together and keep going, and say, you can beat us but you'll never break us. And, of course, it's not restricted to Londoners... in each city the lootings touched, there have been similar efforts. Everyone is so determined to clean up their city that it has become almost comical: there are more helpers than there are messes to clean, thanks to the excellent work of the councils.

Although I read about their efforts with admiration, I was very frustrated, as I couldn't really join in the clean-up efforts. I'm enormously pregnant and seem to have permanently swollen ankles. And the baby dropped on Tuesday, which means that walking has become uncomfortable and slow.

So when I saw a tweet from Zoe (of Zoe and Drew), who couldn't help due to distance and was feeling similarly frustrated, about organizing a raffle of handmade goods in aid of small businesses victimized by looters, I immediately said I'd contribute something, and started mentally designing a new papercut.

There are still a few details to be worked out, but it looks like the raffle will be held via JustGiving.com, feature handmade goods from around 50 artisans, and benefit Retail Trust, a charity that helps small retail businesses. This is amazing right now, as so many small business owners not only lost stock and had their premises damaged, many of them live over their shops. Which means that if thugs decided to burn the shop, the owners are now homeless on top of everything else. (All proceeds from the raffle will go to small businesses targeted in the looting, by the way, not large chains that can fend for themselves just fine.)

I'll be posting more details here once I have them, but if you'd like more information you can also check Zoe's blog. If you're on twitter, you can search for #riotraffle or follow @zoeanddrew as well.

And just to whet your appetite, here's a sneak peek of the papercut I'm working on for the raffle. I went with a simple design, but it calls for a lot of cutting. My poor fingers are aching, but I'm determined to get it done fast (before baby throws a spanner in the works)!

And I'll get back to my normal posting, starting tomorrow. I want to share some of the bouquets I've made over the past few months, not to mention a few nursery projects.

I Spy Friday

2011-07-15T10:30:00.000+01:00

Who else is excited that today is Harry Potter day?! My sister's in town and we've got tickets for a showing this afternoon. Sadly, my days of midnight screenings are probably mostly behind me.

In honor of Harry Potter, I've got something... completely unrelated. More blogs!

First up is a somewhat wedding-related blog that I probably should've put in Wednesday's post. Oh well. Stinkerpants is a stationery company founded by a bride (Sara) after she used her illustrating talents on her own wedding invitations. Of course, I had an immediate affinity for this lady since our business stories are so similar.

We have a few other things in common, too (like our attitudes on environmentalism and marriage, plus an inter-racial marriage and a bi-racial baby), so I love reading her take on, well, everything. And I think anyone can get behind sweet illustrations and awesome style.

To keep on the stationery track, next up is my favorite paper blog, Paper Crave. If it's lovely and paper-related, it's on this blog. At the moment I'm particularly enamored of the letterpress cards from Farmee that were recently featured.

One of the problems with reading crafty blogs is the constant feeling of inadequacy. I always end up thinking that if I had more time or, more likely, a little more self-discipline, I could probably accomplish a lot of the things I see online.

Not so with Posie Gets Cozy, Alicia Paulson's gorgeous blog. She creates such gorgeous knitted and sewn treats, like the embroidery sampler above, that I know I could never reproduce in a lifetime. I only wish she sold more of the finished creations, and not just patterns and kits. Because I'm just so not a textile lady.

Possibly my favorite blog at the moment is Young House Love, in which Sherry and John Petersik take you through each renovation and new coat of paint on their home as it happens. Aside from the DIY tutorials and eye candy, there's the bonus of their adorable dog and baby (check it) and dorky sense of humor (who doesn't love a good crack sand joke?).

Wedding Wednesday

2011-07-13T20:02:00.000+01:00

This week I wanted to share some bloggy goodness with you all. Today I've got some wedding inspiration, and on Friday I'll have some non-wedding inspiration.

Most of these blogs are not specifically wedding-related, but they all have great style and design inspiration. And, luckily enough, some of those non-wedding blogs are featuring some wedding content at the moment.

The first two blogs are from two of my very favorite online shops, ModCloth and Ruche. Not only do they have lots of fun fashion (like the top picture, from ModCloth), but they also give you all kinds of inspiration from pretty much anywhere (like the second picture, from Ruche). How amazing is the color scheme in that cherries and ice cream photo? Very. How much would I love for a bride to send me a picture like that and say, turn this into a bouquet. Lots.

The only exclusively wedding-related blog on my little list is The Natural Wedding Company blog. But I'm a sucker for rustic/vintage style, so it's one of my favorites. And, as a bonus, not only does this blog have lots of wedding inspiration, right now Charlie (who runs The Natural Wedding Company) is sharing all of the dreamy details from her own wedding. (Photo by Mark Tattersall Photography)

Tuppence Ha'penny (Charlotte in real life) is a both a lover and a seller of vintage, and her blog frequently features her own amazing vintage style. At the moment she's doing a series on vintage wedding style, including this still from Funny Face, one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn films.

Finally, we have the Paper Source blog. My absolute, hands-down favorite paper shop is Paper Source. The only thing wrong with PS is that they don't have any stores in the UK! Their employees are so knowledgeable and helpful, their paper is acid-free and eco-friendly, and their blog is full of wonderful tutorials and inspiration. They have a dedicated wedding section, but the rest of the blog is sure to give you lots of food for wedding-planning though as well.

I Spy Friday

2011-07-08T16:29:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday, M. and I took his mother for a visit to Kew Gardens. It was so lovely there, we spent the late morning walking around, had a picnic lunch, and then did some more walking. At one point M. and I passed the cutest lady in a lovely simple summery dress. "I wish I was the sort of person who just wore dresses pretty much every day," I sighed (as I waddled along... 8 months pregnant = ungainly).

"So why not just do it?" was M.'s answer.

Ummmm... huh, yeah. I had no reply. Why don't I? Well, for a start, I'd need to stock up on one or two casual, versatile dresses. Kinda like these:

From top to bottom:
Other Allways dress in turquoise, by Out of Line
Pink embellished prom dress, from Dorothy Perkins (okay, this one's maybe less versatile, but it's super cute!)
Portrait Perfect dress, from ModCloth
Rowboat dress in Abyss Blue, from J.Crew (betcha a million bucks this would terrible on me, but I thought it might be nice for you...)
Blossom chambray dress by Dear Creatures, available from Ruche

Wedding Wednesday

2011-07-06T21:03:00.000+01:00

Something for the fellas this week...

For some reason this one was really fun to put together, maybe because M. has quite, um, traditional taste in ties. It was fun going fantasy shopping for him! And I love that these ties would work well on a wedding day or after.

From top to bottom:
Original Geoffrey tie, by GoodHEAVENS
Striped necktie, by J.A. Christensen, available (if there are any left!) from The Curatory
Byron tie, by Dolbeau
Two-tone seersucker and vintage fabric tie, by General Knot & Co. (it's reversible!)
Stone wash denim plaid tie, by Calvin Klein, available from ties.com

I Spy Friday

2011-07-02T09:03:00.000+01:00

So... I spent all of yesterday thinking that it was Thursday. I didn't realize until the evening that it was actually Friday.

Oops.

I haven't really been sleeping too well. Babyworm likes to kick all night long. I can only imagine how sleep deprived I'll be once she's born. Yikes.

One of the other pregnancy issues I've been dealing with recently is frequent hunger. Very frequent. I'm eating every few hours these days. And when you put together a blog post while hungry, you end up with this:

From the top:
Chocolate and sprinkle covered pretzels, recipe available from Cupcakes and Cashmere
Homemade lemon-lime soda, recipe available from I Am Mommy (for more awesome homemade soda recipes, see the most recent issue of Sweet Paul. I've also posted my super-simple fresh lime soda recipe below.)
Mehndi biscuit, available from Blueberry Blue
Fresh strawberry pie, recipe available from Salad in a Jar (this is almost the same as a pie my mom always made when I was a kid, except she made her own pie crust--the best part of the pie. It's also great with peaches instead of strawberries.)
French sea salt butter caramels, available from Fusion Sweets (I'm dying to try their Masala Chai caramels!)

Super Easy Lime Soda Concentrate

Ingredients:
Limes, sugar, water

Juice your limes, measure the juice, and set to the side. (To end up with about 1 liter of soda, you'll need about 12 limes.)
Measure out the same amount of water and sugar. (So, if you have 1 cup of lime juice, you'll need 1 cup each of water and sugar.)
Put the water and sugar in a pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Once all the sugar has dissolved, turn off the heat and leave to cool. Now you have simple syrup!
Once the simple syrup has cooled, mix in the lime juice.

To serve, mix with either fizzy or flat water to taste. I like about a 1/4 ratio. The concentrate will store in a tightly closed bottle in the fridge for about a week. I haven't tried freezing it yet, but I bet it will freeze beautifully.

Wedding Wednesday

2011-06-29T12:09:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I got a sale catalog in the mail from one of my favorite online shops, Cox & Cox. I always think of them as a home goods and gift shop, but looking over the catalog reminded me that they have a ton of great wedding and party goods.

And, they have some amazing deals on right now. So here are some amazing, affordable party ideas...

I love their Seed Favors Set. It comes in a pack of 50, and each favor contains 10 seed sticks. Sure beats a few Jordan almonds.

These Friendship Birds are listed as a wedding gift, but I think they'd be lovely on a cake. Perhaps not on the top tier, but nestled together on one of the lower tiers.

Can you beat the beautiful simplicity of these Handmade Placecards? Nope.

Sweet (sorry!) but not cutesy, these Mixed Sugar Hearts would be perfect for a wedding or bridal shower. I love that they come in different shades of brown as well as the usual white--I always prefer a nice, non-bleached sweetener in my tea.

While these would look lovely as centerpieces or on serving tables... I kind of just want them in my living room! Ooh, or the bathroom...

Everything available (on sale!) from Cox & Cox.

Wedding Wednesday: How to have a highly personal wedding without really trying

2011-06-22T19:26:00.000+01:00

Every now and then I feel quite guilty about promoting commercialism each week, even in the name of awesome wedding style. This is one of those times, so instead of giving you ideas of things to buy this week, I thought I'd give you something else: unasked-for advice.

It's what planning a wedding is all about, right?

In fact I'm going to dole out a bunch of unasked-for advice. Once a month or so until I run out, I'll do a post on how to have a very personal wedding day, without too much effort. Because everyone wants a wedding day that just screams us!, but few people actually have the time and energy (forget the money) to create that dream day meticulously crafted to Martha standards.

So here's the quickest and easiest way to create a wedding that is uniquely you (plural): figure out what's not important to you and your partner, and don't do it.

Simple, really.

Of course, it's not necessarily as easy as it sounds. It can be surprisingly difficult to figure out what you want, and what you think you want because you're supposed to. And, of course, there will be areas where you'll have to compromise. But that's kind of awesome... it's like practice for marriage. (After all, if you can't compromise over the wedding stuff, you might want to rethink a little.)

For me and M., the things we didn't care about were pretty easy to jettison: no limo, no guest book, no favors (we did a donation in honor of our guests instead), and no flowers... sort of.

Which leads me to the contradictory part of this advice: if someone close to you (like your mom) really wants your wedding day to include something that you're really not into (like flowers), don't dismiss the idea immediately. Do explain to them the thinking behind your decision (no time, no space in the budget, etc.). Be prepared to politely but firmly stand your ground if necessary.

But if someone offers to help organize (or even pay for!) something you had decided you didn't really want, give it some thought. You never know what may come of it. You may discover that flowers are totally you, in a way you never realized they could be.

I'm just saying. It could happen.

Did you manage to plan the most perfectly unique wedding ever? Have any tips on how to do so? Tell me about it in the comments!

Naomi's flowers

2011-06-21T13:24:00.000+01:00

I'm so excited about an order I recently finished.

Naomi's order was so much fun because it was highly personal (different text excerpts for pretty much every member of the bridal party!), very flexible (i want yellow, she said, all different shades, i trust your judgment), and I got to use a new flower (carnations!).

Naomi's bouquet featured text from a favorite play and poem.

The bridesmaids' bouquets featured excerpts from four different books, chosen by the ladies themselves. I had to label everything quite carefully to keep from getting a bit mixed up.

The groomsmen's boutonnieres also featured a different text each, although the boys seemed to favor songs and poems. And, of course, black leaves. (people tend to be very conservative about leaves, for some reason. i love this!)

All of the boys' bouts included an illustration from the Transformers (optimus prime vs. megatron, nice), and the groom's bout. had a loooovely plummy colored rose.

Instead of the two hair accessories she originally requested, Naomi ended up going for several clips to give her more flexibility.

Congrats to Naomi and Yoann! I hope you enjoy the flowers as much as I enjoyed making them!

I Spy Friday

2011-06-17T12:18:00.000+01:00

Maybe it's just the nesting instinct kicking in, but I felt the need for a nice home goods post this Friday.

From top to bottom:
Vintage tea light candle holders, available from Idyll Home
Organic teapot by Linda Bloomfield, available from Not on the High Street
Vintage rulers lampshade by Rory Dobner, available from Roost Living
Wobbly bowls by Mizuyo Yamashita, available from Roost Living
Vintage linen embroidered cushion cover, by Polka Dots and Blooms

I Spy Friday

2011-06-10T08:16:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I took advantage of some downtime while my cat was recovering from his trip to the hospital and my husband was in San Francisco to have a nice long virtual window shopping expedition, and I discovered three things:

1. Shabby Apple (how did I never find these dresses before? amazing.)
2. Down East Basics (is this a west coast thing? surely you guys should be sharing stuff this good... I refer you to my favorite song on sharing. love will surround you.)
3. I'm really into pinks and corals at the moment. This is pretty unusual.

From top to bottom:
Pink and green moonstone cuff from Oliphant
Casanova dress from Shabby Apple
Royal Ruffle Tank from Down East Basics
Wildflower Ballet Flats in coral from Acorn, available at Zappos
Blue Mess embroidery art by LittleDear

Wedding Wednesday

2011-06-08T10:42:00.000+01:00

It's normal to have a few butterflies on your wedding day, so why not do it in style...

From top to bottom:
Butterfly serving dish available from Cameo Nouveau
Butterfly haircomb by Which Goose
Butterfly cake decoration available from Butterfly Bazaar
Ethereal monarch dress available from BHLDN
Butterfly place cards (DIY) from TrouwPlaza (and in the original Dutch)

Movie Night

2011-06-06T14:27:00.001+01:00

I had kind of a rough weekend. M. left on Thursday morning for a friend's wedding in San Francisco, and the night before he left Max the Cat got quite sick. I'll spare you the details, because it was kind of gross but ultimately not serious, but it meant that Max had to stay in the animal hospital for a night and has to take a few medicines now that he's home.

All of this meant lugging him back and forth from the hospital twice (and Max isn't exactly a lightweight) and forcing unpleasant things down Max's throat (squirting liquids, shoving pills, etc.) three times daily, getting thoroughly scratched in the process. And, of course, Max resented this thoroughly and gave me the cold shoulder all weekend!

So on Sunday evening, I decided I needed a little treat.

I couldn't find microwave popcorn at the local grocery store (sometimes I don't understand this country), so instead I grabbed a chocolate bar and some pretzels to make chocolate-covered pretzels (with sprinkles, of course!).

I also put together a bowl of strawberries and cream to make it moderately healthy, and got a bottle of diet soda (a rare treat these days), and then I settled down to watch Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately the DVD skipped about half a dozen times.

But the snack was awfully nice.

Making the pretzels was ridiculously easy... I just microwaved the chocolate until it melted, then spooned some onto a pretzel and topped with sprinkles. Repeat until the chocolate's gone, and then put in the fridge for an hour or so until the chocolate hardens. Voila, simple and delicious.

Best of all, my assistant is back on the job today: cuddling, lazing about, and generally hogging everything (even the computer).

Wedding Wednesday

2011-06-01T16:36:00.000+01:00

Last week was all about the girls, and this week it's the boys' turn. Here are some ridiculously cute ring bearer outfits and accessories...

From top to bottom:
Ring bearer globe, available from MyHaleyGirl
Plaid suit, available from Beane and Co.
Seattle bow tie in red, available from Urban Sunday
Knicker suit, available from Dapper Lads
Leaf bow tie, available from Divine Domestication

Jonah Day

2011-05-31T16:38:00.000+01:00

Today has been a terrible day, starting with not enough sleep last night. Then it continued... I did laundry, and went to the post office. I kept dropping things, and was told that my parcel was too large (but it's the same size I've been using since I started the shop!) and would be more expensive to mail. Upon leaving the post office, it was raining, on me minus my umbrella, and on my laundry hanging to dry in the back garden.

Sigh.

But it wasn't all bad... I managed to help my buddy Isa find a shop she'd been looking for fruitlessly. It was nice to succeed at something, and to help someone (in a very small way) who has been very kind and helpful to me.

And I also got some work done on a new project. Do you want a sneak peek?

I'll give you one small hint... I'm making this project for the nursery, but it just might end up in the shop (post maternity leave) as well.

Oh, and there's something else nice, too! Max the Cat is snoring on the couch behind me as I type this... and kitty snores are second only to baby snores on the cuteness scale. (Some days, you have to mine the small things for all the joy they contain.)

I Spy Friday

2011-05-27T09:20:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I popped into my favorite paper store here in the UK, Shepherd's (or is it Falkiner's? I really don't know.) to pick up some paper for a client. On my way out I stopped to get myself organized because a. I'm a little scattered these days and b. it was raining like nobody's business yesterday. (Seriously, don't even ask.) And because I'm a. (a little scattered these days), I got distracted from boring organization by some beautiful little greeting cards by Hannah Battershell. Which prompted a dive down the illustration rabbit hole this morning, and led to today's I Spy. (Because, to be frank, I had no I Spy topic picked out when I woke up this morning. Sometimes it happens like that. Hooray, procrastination!)

(This is a very parenthetical post, isn't it? Anyway, here's what I came up with...)

From top to bottom:
Insect Buttons by Hannah Battershell, available from Artists & Illustrators
With Nothing On by Jessie Willcox-Smith, available from All Posters
Water Dandelions II by Melissa Launay (get in touch with her for purchasing info.)
Passing Shower by Eloise Renouf
Swift Fox by Oh My Cavalier!

Wedding Wednesday

2011-05-25T07:51:00.000+01:00

It's probably not surprising that, although I'm hard at work on several orders, I've got babies on my mind a lot recently. Specifically baby girls, and cute clothes for them. I try to keep it off the blog because I really doubt that's what most people come here to read about (with the exception of a few people who know me irl, like my mom, but maybe I can start a baby blog just for them).

But it's getting harder by the week, so, as I enter the third trimester, I made a little compromise with my baby-addled brain: one post on flowergirl dresses. It's not baby clothes, but close enough. And still ridiculously sweet and cute. Maybe I'll celebrate my eighth month of pregnancy with some awesome ring bearer outfits...

From the top:
Vintage pear daisy vine dress, available from Boden (US or UK)
Chiffon cascade dress by Blush (US Angels), available from Bloomingdale's
Pewter gray silk plaid dress, by Beane and Co.
Giovanna dress, available from Monsoon
Trapeze chiffon dress by Rare Editions, available from Choochalicious

A feature! of me!

2011-05-24T17:01:00.000+01:00

Local(ish) wedding planner, Clare Beckwith, was kind enough to feature me on her blog! Check it out!

Go for the paper flowers, stay for the rad vintage bus...

In the Garden

2011-05-23T11:52:00.000+01:00

As I said on Friday, spring has been lovely this year. Not too warm, but very sunny. As a result, our garden is growing well ahead of its normal season. I took a little tour around it this morning.

There's a young apple tree right behind our back door.

The cherry tree in the back of the garden put on a spectacular display about a month ago, and now it's covered with lots of lovely young cherries. We're still not sure if they will be edible or not.

The black currants look like they're well ahead of schedule. Their season usually starts in late July or early August, but these look like they're only a few weeks from being ready to harvest.

Of all the fruits, I'm possibly most excited about the gooseberry bush we inherited from our landlords. I've never had gooseberries before, and I've read that they making amazing jam and desserts.

This little pepper plant doesn't look like much, but it's more than twice the size of the seedling we planted about a month ago, and it has a few months' worth of growing left to do.

This will apparently turn into a head of iceberg lettuce in about four weeks. Somehow that seems incredible to me.

I love the way the raspberries look, the starry topsides...

...and the hairy, juicy underbellies.

Some of our strawberry plants were inherited, and so are probably too old to yield much, but it looks like it'll be a decent crop so far (if we can keep the birds off of them).

Of course, the garden also came with plenty of lovely flowers, but I'm not much for flowers. Even so, the pink and red poppies in our back garden are stunning.

I Spy Friday

2011-05-20T09:18:00.000+01:00

Spring has been unbelievably beautiful in London this year. It's hard to believe that last year we had to keep the heat on well in to May, and it only started to warm up around this time.

This year we've actually been wishing for rain, for our poor little garden. I've started having anxiety dreams about lettuce. Every silver lining has its cloud, I suppose.

But the silver lining this spring is pretty enormous: perfect picnic weather, every weekend. We've been grilling almost every weekend, making s'mores and drinking homemade limeade (the best--I'll have to post the recipe soon). Now I'm just wishing for a few little extras to make for the perfect backyard picnic...

Recycled glass holder by Garden Boutique, available from Not On the High Street
Jackie Oval Sunglasses in gray, available from ModCloth
Striped outdoor cushion, available from Greening England
Carnival Hamper, available from Online Basket Company
Picnic Blanket, available from Mulberry Hall
Links Adjustable Deck Chair, available from Mufti
Floppy Hat, available from Accessorize

Wedding Wednesday

2011-05-18T10:47:00.000+01:00

I'm so in love with the nautical trend this summer, and I think it makes for gorgeous bridesmaid outfits.

From top to bottom:

Phase Eight striped maxi dress, available from John Lewis

Phase Eight Eton stripe dress, available from John Lewis

Cotton Rope Headband, available from Marcela Camargo

Gull Wing dress in red, available from Anthropologie

Yellow Seersucker shoe clips, available from Black Satin Shoes

Semaphore dress, available from ModCloth

Lorelei cotton dress in alabaster, available from j.crew

Wedding Wednesday

2011-05-11T16:09:00.000+01:00

I had a really cute post planned for today, but I just found out about a really cool service that Dessy has started up, called Newly Maid, and all my other plans just fell to the wayside.

Basically, it works like this...

Say you have one of these in your closet:

Yikes.

You send it in to Dessy (they accept special occasion dresses from about 20 different labels), and provided it's in good condition, they then either turn it into something new or send it to charity. And they give you a discount on one of these:

Of course, even with the discount these dresses aren't exactly cheap ($110+), but it beats having a puce dress you'll never wear again taking up space in your closet.

After all, there's no such thing as a must-have LPD, is there?

I Spy Friday

2011-05-05T10:40:00.012+01:00

*Okay, I totally scheduled this to come out on Friday, when M. and I were in Madrid. And clearly I also totally did something wrong, because here I am on Sunday posting it. Oops.

My birthday is coming up! Only 10 8 more days, and I can't wait! M. and I are heading to Dublin for our 2nd annual birth-a-versary trip (we got married exactly one week after my birthday), and we're going for a lovely afternoon tea on my birthday.

This week for I Spy, I put together my birthday wish list. Since I already know what I'm getting from M. for my birthday, this one is likely to stay a wish list. But that's okay, dreams are nice too.

From top to bottom:
Sophie Conran pitcher, available from Gifted (perfect for the homemade limeade I've been making recently)
Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag in Deco Dandelion, available from Amazon
Fragrant Outdoor Firelighters, available from Cox & Cox (for all of the grilling we've been doing)
Drawing Nature journal, by Jill Bliss, available from Amazon (but check your local bookstore first)
Charleston Cloche, available from Anthropologie (we're in the middle of a serious heatwave here--~~it hasn't rained for weeks!~~ hadn't rained for weeks, until the day we left for Madrid.)

Wedding Wednesday

2011-05-04T10:34:00.000+01:00

For my wedding, I wasn't too interested in having a huge, ornate cake. I was much happier with the thought of something a little simpler and, perhaps because of that, more fresh. And, of course, less expensive.

Maybe it's a good thing for our budget that I didn't come across these two cakes while planning our wedding.

Meringue Mushroom Cake from Martha Stewart.

Mushroom cake, by Erin O'Brien, via Once Wed.

mushrooms + meringue = amazing

The Royal Wedding

2011-05-02T11:04:00.000+01:00

Or, "What I Was Doing When I Should've Been Blogging on Friday"

On Friday, M. and I took a bit of a holiday along with the rest of Britain. We weren't particularly interested in the Royal Wedding, but it would've been madness for him to go to work in central London, and I'm always happy for an excuse to hang out together and bake scones.

We did watch the wedding while we were eating breakfast (homemade bagels) and pretty soon I found myself getting into the spirit of things.

I accessorized my pjs with my lovely Yellow Bird fascinator. They're totally regretting not inviting me to the wedding.

After the wedding, we grabbed some lunch and got down to making scones. This was my first attempt at making plain scones, and they turned out alright. They looked nice, but I think I'll make a few changes next time.

Everyone else must've had the same idea we did, because there was no clotted cream to be found in any of the stores. So I whipped up a mock clotted cream, using cream cheese, double cream, and a little sugar and vanilla. It wasn't too bad, but next time I'll get my clotted cream well ahead of time.

After tea, we headed out for a walk over to Wanstead. We'd heard there were several street parties going on and even though you're not supposed to participate if you haven't contributed, we thought it might be okay to wander by and take a few pictures. (And we did get a few weird looks, but I think it was alright in the end.)

Fortunately, we came across one party just as I was starting to get a little tired. It looked like everyone on the block had dragged their kitchen tables and couches out into the street for the pot-luck lunch.

There were also plenty of games for the kids, and even a bit of dressing up. I love the wig and hat on the girl in the center.

The Brits don't seem to come over all patriotic too often, but they do it right when it does happen.

And to make the day perfect, we stopped for a rest (for me) and a beer (for M.) at our favorite pub in the whole of Britain, the Cuckfield. It has Blue Moon, that elixir from heaven, on tap. I love Wanstead.

Wedding Wednesday

2011-04-27T12:34:00.000+01:00

Are you on Pinterest? It's such a great site for finding inspiration, and I went trawling there a few days ago to find material for this post.

As soon as I saw this picture I knew it was perfect for this week's Wedding Wednesday:

When I followed the pin back to the original site, I was not too surprised to find that this gorgeous dress is from The English Dept., a Portland-based vintage shop. Owner Elizabeth Dye also designs gorgeous dresses that are available on Etsy. I've come across The English Dept. before, because one of my favorite bloggers found her wedding dress there.

I love Elizabeth Dye's sweet and feminine but unfussy style. And I can't get over the short wedding dress. Short dresses are the best!

She also designs a few lovely hair accessories. It's enough to make me want to get married all over again.

I Spy Friday

2011-04-22T13:19:00.000+01:00

Every so often, I like to put together a post about one of my absolute favorite things in the world: red shoes. I'm not too much of a shoe person in general. I like them, but not more than any other accessory or clothes, ya know? Except for red shoes. Red flats, really. So here are a few of the sweet red flats that have caught my eye recently:

From the top:
Marc Jacobs flats, available from Zappos
Lagoon ballet, available from ASOS
Rocket Dog flats, available from Schuh
KG espadrille sandals, available from John Lewis
Beating Heart flats, available from Ruche (and Ruche is having a sale right now, so get on over there!)

Wedding Wednesday

2011-04-20T17:24:00.001+01:00

I've decided to start a new weekly feature, Wedding Wednesdays. This is partly so that I'll be forced to post more, but also because I do make wedding flowers after all. I should pay more attention to what's going on in the rest of the wedding world.

So, once a week I'll share some lovely bit of wedding paraphernalia that I've come across recently. This week's item I stumbled upon while checking out Little Goytre, who was kind enough to include me in a post last week. She also included this gorgeousness...

Cutture is a London-based stationery company that creates intricate laser-cut objects of beauty.

I can't believe the gorgeousness of this place card. I usually prefer hand-cut when it comes to paper, but there is something to be said for laser-cut when it looks like that...

And if you're not currently planning a wedding, they still have something you might like, such as these skyline greeting cards featuring famous landmarks from famous cities. Amazing!

Perfect Sunday

2011-04-18T11:06:00.000+01:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, I worked super hard on Saturday, in the hopes that I would be rewarded with a fantastic Sunday. Well, it wasn't fantastic. It was perfect.

To start off with, M. was able to stay home all day for once! This was only because one of his experiments from the day before hadn't worked (he's a cancer-solver), but at least we got to have a weekend day entirely together, which hardly ever happens. And somehow, miraculously, spring and London coincided for one glorious day. And so we got this:

(Yes, that's our laundry. Few things make me happier than air-dried laundry.)

And this:

And we did this:

And ate this, on a blanket in our back garden:

(We also ate s'mores, but I was too busy eating to take pictures. Which is how you know you have a really good s'more.)

And we cleared out a huge patch of over-grown weeds so that we could plant these:

(I really wish I had a before picture, because it was really crazy over-grown. Those are pepper and lettuce plants, ringed with charcoal ash to keep the slugs and snails away. Which kinda worked. If anyone has hot tips on how to [organically] keep those little buggers off my garden, please let me know in the comments!)

And we also planted a few of these:

Such a lovely, perfect day. (And I didn't even mention our veggie full English breakfast, or watching the London Marathon in between weeding, or white and orange butterfly that paid a visit...)

I Spy Friday

2011-04-16T13:50:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago, I went away for a long visit home, getting back only this Monday. It was great to see all of my family one last time before I can't travel anymore for a while, but it was even nicer coming home again. For one thing, M. had stayed home and I hate being apart. For another, our garden bloomed while I was away, and I came home to a riot of blue, red, yellow, and above all green.

It made me itch to get outside and growing things. Or trying to, anyway. This year we've already made huge strides in our gardening ambitions: we went out and bought a few seedlings. Just some lettuce, peppers, and strawberries to get us going. Tomorrow we plan to be outdoors all day, planting and weeding and grilling and hanging laundry out to dry. So today I'm staying in and trying to get all of my work done. (Including things I should've done yesterday, like... this blog post. Jet lag really kicked my butt this week!)

So here are some garden-y things for your I Spy this week. Even if, like me, you have more gardening ambition than ability, you can at least look the part.

From top to bottom:
Fine straw crochet hat, available from Accessorize
Ethel's Long "Lace" Gardening Gloves, from the Victoria & Albert Museum Shop
The Kitchen Garden, by Alan Buckingham, available from Amazon (and probably your local bookstore!)
Traditional Herb Growing Kit, by Erin, available from GreenFingers
Stripe Wellies, by Joules, available from John Lewis (So much prettier than Crocs!)
Walker waterproof picnic rug, available from John Lewis

I Spy Friday

2011-04-07T19:25:00.002+01:00

So, for a while now (longer than I'd like to admit), I've been reading the blogs on a great baby site called Babble. And recently on Babble, someone posted the perfect summertime uniform for moms, which I loved. I think it would be an amazing, cute, casual couple of outfits for just about any lady, in fact. (Aside from the gladiator sandals. I just don't get those. They look so uncomfortable and are, to me, extremely ugly.)

But when I took a closer look at the ensemble, I realized it came in at $1200+. !!!! (And that's not including the cost of one of the tops, which is no longer available. Even more !!!!!!!!)

So, since I won't get to wear awesomely cute clothes like these this summer, and since I love this styling so much, I put together a more budget-friendly version with two minor changes. First, no gladiator sandals for the aforementioned reasons. Second, no nail polish because a. I forgot to include it and b. I bet you can find red nail polish on your own. You're pretty smart. And I left the TOMS in, because, really, can you beat that? A pair for you and a pair for a child. Nice.

From top to bottom:
Weeping Willow hat, from Anthropologie
Cuffed shorts in greenway, from The Gap
Twist-Neck Roll-Up Top in navy stripe, from Old Navy
TOMS in classic red, from TOMS
Cuffed denim bermuda shorts from Levi's, available at Zappos
Drapey stripe tee in heather gray, from j.crew
Rothco messenger bag, available at Amazon
Gilded Heart bracelet, from Ruche
Sharon sandals from Bass, available at Zappos

And, all told, that comes to just $265! Saving $1000 feels so nice.

I Spy Friday

2011-04-01T19:08:00.007+01:00

Happy Mother's Day! Yep, this weekend is Mother's Day in the UK, so I decided to do a little gift guide this Friday. Which leaves plenty of time for you Americans to get your shop on.

I'm not too sure why the background came out pale blue this week, but I kinda like it. Anyway, on to the products...

From top to bottom:

Ebelskiver pan, available from Williams-Sonoma (I feel like I might've posted about this before, but I really want one, so it's always on my mind!)

Tote Devine bag, available from Ruche

Rob Ryan water bottle, available from ModCloth in the U.S. and John Lewis in the U.K. (among many others)
Dimpled bowls by Linda Bloomfield, available from Not on the High Street
Mandarin pear green bangle, available from Ruche

I made a new flower

2011-03-29T16:12:00.000+01:00

I made this as a sample for a customer. I hope she likes it.

But even if she doesn't, I think I'll be using this one in the future. What do you think?

But I don't know what to call it. Any suggestions?

New bouquet, new wrap style

2011-03-28T18:59:00.000+01:00

When I was getting ready for the Handmade Wedding Collective showcase, I decided that I just had to make a yellow and gray bouquet. It's one of my favorite color combinations, and I've never had the chance to create a yellow and gray bouquet before.

But I didn't count on the lack of yellow and gray papers on the market in the UK. It's a very popular palette in the US, and it can be found pretty easily in fabrics here, but seems to be pretty well non-existent in paper. After about a million years of searching, I was tearing my hair out and torturing myself by looking at the amazing yellow and gray papers available from Paper Source and elsewhere in the States.

Finally, after staying up waaay past my bedtime perusing paper craft sites, I had one more look at my stash... and came across a yellow and gray checked paper that I forgot I even had.

I meant to make this bouquet on the Saturday and Sunday before the exhibition, but M. left for a conference in Japan early Saturday morning and I spent the day tracking his plane and feverishly checking news updates. So, it wasn't until two days before the exhibition was due to open that I got to work on my yellow and gray bouquet.

Partly because I didn't have time to make leaves, and partly because I wanted to keep trying to use paper as foliage and wrapping, I used some amazing gray lacy paper to replace both leaves and ribbon on this bouquet.

I wrapped it all up with vintage cotton trim and left a little lacy skirt poking out the bottom.

I love this look, and I think it would be amazing with fabric as well. Maybe a few vintage, lace handkerchiefs.

And, of course, I used lots of gorgeous vintage buttons to give the finishing touch...

Handmade Wedding Collective: Set-up

2011-03-14T21:19:00.000Z

So, the Handmade Wedding Collective showcase hasn't even started yet and I already have a ton of pictures to share! I had a great time setting up today, and meeting most of the ladies participating. Four of us there today are pregnant! Isn't that crazy?

Anyway, here are the pictures:

My little display area.

I made this bouquet and matching bout. on Sunday and I freaking love them! I love using the lacy paper instead of leaves, I love the colors, I love the buttons, I love anemones! Love love love! By the time I finished them, it was too dark for photos. I'll get some proper ones and do a post just about these ladies once the showcase is over.

Not my original wedding bouquet, just a fun throwback.

One of my contributions to the Craft Central display window.

My other contribution (the cake topper on the right, not the gorgeous fake cake. But you knew that.).


The display window... almost complete (still awaiting a few deliveries).

Some of my fellow showcasers.

I hope everyone in the London area can make it by (we're there tomorrow through Sunday). I'd especially recommend stopping in for the evening event on Wednesday. Free cake and drinks! Hooray!

Anemone bouquet at Oak Studio

2011-03-10T13:33:00.000Z

As a part of build-up to the upcoming Handmade Wedding Collective (so excited!), I was asked to create a bouquet to go on display at Oak Studio in Hampstead.

This is what I came up with:

I did a few things differently with this bouquet. Usually I like to work with lots of pattern and texture, but I wanted a more subtle effect so I went with monochromatic flowers and just a hint of texture.

I also recently found a new, amazing vintage button source, and so I tried to play up different textures in the buttons rather than the paper.

And I also made a pretty big departure in not using leaves on this bouquet. For a while, I've been a little tired of the my leaves. They're fine as filler and to hide ugly wire stems, but they're a little boring. I wanted something a little more fun.

So, I used paper instead, some of my favorite Japanese paper. It has an amazing texture, soft and pliable but extremely tough. Almost more like fabric than paper.

What I love about this is that it's another amazing way to personalize a bouquet. This would be lovely with just about any fabric, especially something lacy.

I Spy Friday

2011-03-04T16:33:00.000Z

I'm so excited about this week's I Spy, because today I'll be featuring work from a handful of my colleagues from the Handmade Wedding Collective. I feel so lucky to be a part of this amazing group of designer-makers, and I think you'll understand why when you check out their work. It's going to be even more amazing in person, so please be sure to stop by the showcase if you're in London!

From top to bottom:
Thank You cards from Marby & Elm Letterpress
Cupid Ring Bowl from TOFT porcelain
Vintage Ribbon Garter from a.alicia accessories
Hummingbird by Lou Rota, available from Not on the High Street
Mika Shoes by Hetty Rose

I haven't had a yen for something like I have for those shoes in... forever. I might die if they don't become mine!

You're Invited!

2011-03-04T15:40:00.001Z

...to the Handmade Wedding Collective's first showcase! The Handmade Wedding Collective is a group of UK-based designers creating beautiful wedding-related things to wear, decorate, or give (whether it's your wedding or someone else's!).

We're going to be showing off our wares from March 15-20 in the Craft Central showcase space, near the Farringdon Tube stop. I'd encourage you to come by any time during the showcase, but especially for the private shopping night, Wednesday March 16 from 6-8 pm. There'll be a cake tasting (from Craft Cakes) and free beer (from Meantime Brewing), as well as a handmade giveaway! Not to mention the chance to meet a lot of lovely designer-makers...

In case the image isn't showing up for you, here's the most important information again:
Handmade Wedding Collective showcase, at Craft Central showcase space (33-35 St. John's Square, London EC1M 4DS, near Farringdon Tube stop)
March 15-20
12-6:30 pm, Tuesday-Saturday (open 'til 8 pm Wednesday)
12-4 pm, Sunday

Please feel free to download the invitation image and repost to your blog, facebook page, or wherever! I hope to see you there!

I Spy Friday

2011-02-25T13:30:00.000Z

Since finding out, back in December, that I was pregnant I've been trawling around for ideas and products to decorate the nursery. One thing that has surprised me is the amount of nursery-geared stuff out there that I would love to have in any other part of my house, so I decided to share some of these with you this week. To me, altogether, these say nursery, but individually they would work in any other part of the house.

From top to bottom:
Tree bookcase by Shawn Soh
Amy Butler retro lampshade from The Old Lamp Shed
Shoe progression from Real Simple* **
Lovebirds fabric mobile from BabyJives
Tree decal from Cox and Cox (this one's on the way to my house right now!)
Embroidery hoops display from The Purl Bee using Liberty of London fabrics

*I saw this idea on pinterest and loved it, but I cannot find the tutorial for it anywhere on Real Simple. If anyone can find it, please post a link in the comments! But, honestly, it doesn't look like it'd be too difficult to figure out: shadow box, pretty paper, shoes, adhesive, labels. I'm not into shoes for babies (they don't need shoes! they can't walk!), but I think I might do it with socks. How freaking precious would that be?
**Okay, this one might violate the anywhere-in-the-house principle, but I love it so who cares.

New bouquets: small and mini

2011-02-23T10:53:00.000Z

As promised, I'm back to share some new products with you! I don't normally stock ready-made bouquets in my shop. It just doesn't make sense to try and predict what clients will want next; I'd much rather hear it from the source and then create it.

But I've been lucky enough to be invited to participate in two wonderful events this winter. First was Craft Guerrilla's recent Love Easy Valentine Market. It was so much fun, and I wish I had had the energy to post about it ahead of time. Prepping for it was enough for my first-trimester racked body to handle, unfortunately.

But the second event is coming up soon, the new London Handmade Wedding Collective's first showcase! I can't wait to share more details about it in a few days, but for now here are some of the new bouquets I've got ready for the showcase:

These are small and light bouquets of just a dozen flowers (the size varies because of the differing thickness of the papers). They are simple (no leaves) and spare (gorgeous, thin washi tape on stems that are too slim for ribbon wrapping).

Right now these are available in white and text, but they can (of course!) be customized with any paper. A variety of washi tapes are also available to choose from, and if demand is strong enough I'll get more colors in. These dainty little bouquets would make great flower girl or toss bouquets.

I've also got several mini bouquets in stock, in red, white, text, and pink. (But I'm just sharing a few pictures of red and text bouquets today.)

These minis are made with 6 roses, and measure only about 6 inches long.

Perfect for place settings (with little tags attached), or just to decorate your desk, mantle, book shelf...

Best. Valentine. Ever.

2011-02-15T15:02:00.000Z

I'm so excited today, because I can finally share some news that I've been sitting on for a few months. This is the real reason I haven't been posting much lately, because as the day when I could share the news got closer, it became increasingly frustrating to not be able to write about what was foremost in my mind. Also, I was feeling sick and tired pretty much 24/7.

Why?

Because I'm pregnant!!!!!

We had the first sonogram yesterday, hence the title of this post. It really was the best Valentine ever, not least because it I'm a total defensive pessimist, and I refused to let myself get really psyched about the pregnancy until I saw a heartbeat.

Well, I saw a heartbeat. And the rest of our adorably-already-chubby-cheeked little worm.Wanna see some pictures?

I thought these images were pretty easy to figure out, but a friend who I emailed them to was completely confused, so I've annotated these.

For some reason, seeing the umbilical cord is super fascinating to me.

And, by the way, we like to call our little fetus Cletus. And I'll probably also call him/her BabyWorm. Or the Worm. Because we're keeping the name (both options already picked out thankyouverymuch) a secret until Clet makes his (or her) debut.

So, anyway, that's my news. And I haven't forgotten all of my promises about sharing some new stuff. There will be a few new things going up in the shop every day for the next several days, and I'll post pictures here as they go up. And I have a more professionally related bit of exciting news to share in a few weeks, too! Hooray!

I Spy Friday

2011-01-28T16:11:00.000Z

Usually on I Spy, I like to stay within the realm of possibility. I might throw in an outrageously expensive thing here or there because it's too pretty to resist, but I like to think that I might end up owning some of these things one day, so I keep it reasonable.

Not this week. This week, cost was no issue. I won the imaginary lottery, and I spent it all on expensive pretty things for my imaginary expensive house.

From top to bottom:
Three Blind Mice hand-embroidered throw, by Comma Workshop
Heirloom Recipe Box, available from Rifle Paper Co.
Mayfair Steamer Secretary Trunk, available from Restoration Hardware
Etude 6 by People Too. Available nowhere I can find, it's just so beautiful I had to share it.
Bronze Farmhouse Chair, by Ghost Furniture, available from bouf

Oh, if only. sigh.

Why I've Been Gone for a While

2011-01-28T11:10:00.000Z

I thought I was on blog hiatus for one week. But then I signed in to post an I Spy, and it turns out I was MIA for two weeks. Which pretty much sums up my life recently.

Things have been a little chaotic, caused mostly by an exciting new development that I'll be sharing in a few weeks. And at the same time this crazy new stuff was going on, my worst nightmare happened: half of an order that I shipped just before Christmas got lost in the mail. In retrospect, shipping two days before Christmas was probably not a great idea, and I really wish I didn't have to learn that one the hard way.

There was a chance the package would be unlost in time for the wedding, but no way to be sure. But fortunately there was enough time to redo the order and ship it express in time for the wedding (which is tomorrow!). So that's exactly what I did, which would have been pretty stressful, but I was also sick at the time. So my life kinda stunk for about a week there, and everything else fell by the wayside.

Oh, and then the original package showed up two days after I shipped the replacement order. Yippee. (But the main thing is that the bride will have her flowers. Yippee!)

So sorry to everyone whose email languished for a few days, and sorry for not posting for a little while. Things seem to be back to normal now, and I've got a lot of cool stuff to share with you over the next few weeks. I've got a Valentine's market that I've been making some fun papercuts for, a new variation on an old bouquet, and the most exciting venture that I've been involved with yet. I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Our House: some bedroom decorating

2011-01-12T11:04:00.000Z

Back in September, M. and I moved from our rather nondescript apartment in a not-so-nice neighborhood, to a gorgeous Victorian terraced house. Since we moved, we've been slooowly decorating it a bit to fit our tastes, so far as our landlords will let us.

One of the first things to change was the master bedroom, which previously featured a dark purply burgundy. Not a color either of us dislike, but it wasn't fading well--it was clearly becoming pinker--and we wanted something a bit more restful in the bedroom.

We decided on a yellow, gray, black, and cream color scheme, and painted three of the walls cream. The fourth wall, the one with a pretty (but unfortunately non-functioning) Victorian grate and mantle, got painted a lovely medium gray. And then I had fun making a little decorative focal point out of the mantle.

From left to right:
French weather art by Wall Envy Art
Vintage rose bell, gift from my grandmother (a part of a collection that she's had for decades)
Floral tile, by Rosie Lovelock
Mini yellow latte bowl, from Anthropologie
Vintage French ad reproduction, gift from my sister (I think from Target, but, like, seven years ago)
Paper anemone, by me!
Vintage ceramic inhaler, approx. 1930s British (bought in the Portobello Rd. market)

I love the mix of personal and handmade here. Only one item, the Anthropologie latte bowl, is new and mass-produced. And every time I pass this arrangement I think of my lovely grandmother.

One of my favorite things about our new house is all of the period features. I wish the fireplaces worked, but at least they're both (one upstairs and one downstairs) pretty. Plus there's all kinds of crown molding and nice wood floors.

And it's lovely that our chubby kitty, Max, fits so nicely into the bedroom's palette.

There you go, a little glimpse into our house. Including a shot of our clothes organization, score.

I Spy Friday

2011-01-07T16:24:00.000Z

This week I wanted to share some crafty bits and pieces that are inspiring me recently.

From the top:
East of India blue and cream ribbon with red stitch detail, available from Designs on Pine
Vintage buttons, available from Step Toes Antiques
Seam binding, available from Fresh Lemon Blossoms (I love using seam binding instead of ribbon, especially on my wreaths.)
Litho-printed Florentine papers, available from Falkiner's
Hand-printed brolly fabric in teal, by Plain Jane Textiles
Mini wooden buttons, available from Designs on Pine

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T11:25:00.002Z

School children in Jiangxi province

A papercut Happy New Year from school kids in China. Love it!

I Spy Friday

2010-12-31T10:48:00.001Z

After a lovely Christmas weekend of indulgence and laziness, and a week of trying to pretend to not be lazy (and failing), I'm ready for some New Year resolve. And, of course, even the strongest of resolve needs to be strengthened with a little shopping.

But if your resolution is to save money, don't worry. Everything in this week's I Spy is on sale.

Get Organized: Dove Grey Gesso Noticeboard, available from Cox & Cox
Get Crafty: Learn to Knit Kit by Keep & Share, available from Not on the High Street
Get There on Time: Retro Alarm Clock by I Love Retro, available from Not on the High Street
Get Clean: The Art of Good Housekeeping, available from Foyle's Books
Get Green: Enamel Compost Bucket, available from Garden Trading
Get Growing: Grow Tins, available from Pedlars

CSN Stores Giveaway Winner

2010-12-20T12:56:00.000Z

I'm sorry to have taken longer than expected to post the winner to this giveaway. I had trouble with embedding random.org's little number-generator widget to prove the randomness of the selection. Well, I never did figure it out, so instead of taking more time to do so, I figured you'll believe me that this selection was made by the impartial random.org.

So, according to random.org, the winner is...

#10, new follower Liz! Congratulations! I or someone from CSN Stores will be in touch soon with your discount code!

I Spy Friday

2010-12-17T10:37:00.000Z

It's freezing (literally) here in London right now. I'm sitting in the kitchen and looking out the window, and it's snowing! For the second time this year! Which is pretty exceptional.

So, when I started thinking about putting together a Christmas outfit, I thought warm. And cute, of course.

From top to bottom:
Chunky Funnel Knit sweater from Fat Face
Pretty Ruffle Tee from Boden (in Clover)
Cord pencil skirt from j.crew (in Rich Brown)
Dulce Ring by Lavender Room, available from Not on the High Street
Glamour Headband from Banana Republic
Inhale Pant from Athleta (in Falcon) [For after dinner. Especially if your family likes games that include a fair amount of jumping around, like mine does.]
Soft and Dreamy Top Striped Knee High Socks by K. Bell, available from Sock Dreams
Sémillion Flats from Mod Cloth

At Home: Helen and her flowers

2010-12-15T11:55:00.001Z

I'm always so curious about what brides do with their flowers after the wedding, so I was so happy when I got an email from Helen (remember Helen, who eloped to NYC this summer?) with some pictures of her with her bouquet at home.

Here are my thoughts: I kinda hate Helen for being one of those girls who can pull off really high-style-y type clothes, and also I want her home.

Here are some more thoughts: I kinda heart Helen for being so sweet and stylish, and for incorporating her bouquet into her home decor so nicely. Not to mention sending me these lovely photos. So, in other words, I'm torn. But leaning towards heart.

p.s. If you like Helen's stylishness as much as I do, be sure to check out her blog, Alma Matters.

Kaylee and Matt's wedding

2010-12-13T11:29:00.009Z

Do you wanna see a wedding? A wedding with a super-cute and gorgeous bride? And a handsome groom? In a casual, rustic, stylish setting? With a bad-ass bridesmaid? And some pretty paper flowers?

Well, what a coincidence, because I just happen to have some pictures Matt and Kaylee's wedding!

Kaylee ordered some autumnal flowers that she wanted to arrange herself, and I have to say she did an amazing job. (And by the way, how lovely and sweet is this photo?)

She added some dried flowers and made fabric leaves.

Did I mention a really cool bridesmaid? Here ya go:

For more pictures of Matt and Kaylee's gorgeous fall wedding, head over to Kaylee's flickr stream.

Photos by Tina Hessenaur

I Spy Friday

2010-12-10T18:37:00.004Z

One of the best and worst things about the holiday season is all of the parties and family gatherings. While it's wonderful to go out and visit with friends, fitting it all into your schedule can be so exhausting. Never mind the effect that huge groups of strangers have on the somewhat retiring (like me).

One of the most difficult things is finding a perfect host or hostess gift. Something with personality, but not too much. Something fun, but also useful or yummy. Rather than fall back on the eternal bottle of wine, I've compiled some lovely gift ideas in a variety of prices that would work for just about anyone.

Owl Candy Dish by fruitflypie, available in her etsy shop
Tasting Selection Box ('cause if you're going to do wine, you might as well go crazy with it), available from Fortnum & Mason
Handcrafted Marshmallows, available in chocolate or vanilla from Williams Sonoma
Handprinted Tote Bag by Sima, available in her ArtFire shop
Vintage French Linen Tea Towel, available from LaManche

Happy shopping! And don't forget to enter the giveaway for a CSN Stores gift card!

Giveaway: CSN Stores!!!

2010-12-08T11:58:00.001Z

Just in time for Christmas, the lovely folks over at CSN have hooked me up with a giveaway for you, dear readers! So, really they're hooking you up. Nice, huh? In case you're not familiar, CSN Stores have a ton of sites, both in the US and Canada, and in the UK, that sell just about everything you could ever need, from bedroom furniture to appliances to jewelry and just about everything in between.

And, since they're just that nice, this giveaway is good on both sides of the Atlantic. If you're in the UK, it'll be a £15 gift card. For those of you in the US or Canada, it'll be a $20 one-time discount code. In either case, your discount can be applied to any purchase on any of CSN's sites.

So, here are the rules:
1. Follow the blog (if you don't already). If you do, skip to step 2.
2. Leave a comment on this post, announcing to the world that you have followed the blog, or that you already follow.
3. Do all of the above before Wednesday, December 15th.
4. On Thursday the 16th, I'll randomly pick a number and announce the winner here!

Good luck!

I Spy Friday

2010-12-03T20:08:00.000Z

So... all of my good blogging intentions kind of went out the window this week, as I was preparing for this Saturday's Craft Guerrilla Christmas Emporium. But I promise to be back with more next week, including the last stop of our India trip and some of my favorite Christmas decorating.

In the meantime, here are some gift ideas for guys. My husband had final approval on all of the items on this one.

Paul Smith telescopic umbrella, available from Fortnum & Mason
Thermos flasks, available from Pedlars
Musette Deployment sling bag, available from Not on the High Street
Vintage Harris tweed jacket, available from Whistles
Derek Rose striped pyjamas, available from John Lewis

I Spy Friday

2010-11-26T23:11:00.005Z

Yesterday, after spending some time on the couch with my brand new food baby, I managed to get the energy together to start the Christmas decorating. The tree still has to be put up, but otherwise we're sorted! (I'll share my favorite homemade decoration with you next week. It's a classic, but so, so easy!)

So, in keeping with the post-Thanksgiving tradition of decorating the house, I thought I'd share some of the decorations I only wish I had in this week's I Spy.

From the top:
Merry and Bright Garland, by sarahisabella, available in her etsy shop
Arctic Express, Christmas Bus Roll Canvas, by TransitDesign, available in their etsy shop (My absolute favorite, since I'm a huge holiday movie fan. Miracle on 34th Street is another Thanksgiving Day tradition in our house.)
Pick-and-Mix String Lights, by Cable and Cotton, available from Not on the High Street
Red Berry Wreath, available from Cox & Cox
Christmas Tree Cookie Cutters, available from Cox & Cox

Happy decorating!

The new products. Thank God, the new products.*

2010-11-26T11:10:00.000Z

Okay, that is admittedly a somewhat weird post title. I might explain it if you keep reading...

Meanwhile, happy Black Friday! (For my non-'Mercan friends, Black Friday is day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year in America--the traditional official beginning of the Christmas season, and the day retailers go into the black for the year. Allegedly.)

To mark this very special day, I have some very special new products for you all. So, I'll just say that all of these are available exclusively in my ArtFire shop. Now let's get stuck in...

Gift tags:

I love these papercut gift tags! They're made from a combination of found, recycled, and handmade Italian papers. Each set of 6 comes with 3 solid tags, with the hand-cut designs you can see below, and 3 patterned tags, with a hand-cut Christmas tree on each. Perfect for tying onto your gifts with ribbon, or sticking on with a little swipe of the glue stick!

Solid tags: kraft with snowman, red with garlanded tree, green with holly leaves and berry.

And, of course, even though each set contains the same elements, each tag is hand-cut and therefore unique!

Ornaments:

I've had so much fun this week putting together these ornaments, an ethereal take on the traditional ball ornament.

Right now they come in green (made from a totally luxe handmade Bangladeshi paper) and white (a delicate-looking, lacey white Japanese paper), but I'll be adding more colors to the inventory over the weekend!

These are all hand-sewn, with ribbon (pale blue rikrak, satiny red, or satiny green) or twine loops. The loops have been both sewn and glued on, for extra security.

The range this year also includes these lovely text ornaments. Each of these sweet and light ornaments is unique, featuring different types of edging and different button embellishments. Also, each has an invisible fishing line loop.

Wreaths:

Last but absolutely not least are some lovely wreaths! These have been such a joy to make. Combining new and vintage ribbons and trims, and all sorts of papers and buttons has been so much fun.

This one features gray grosgrain ribbon, navy and gray super-wide matte grosgrain ribbon, newspaper roses (including the Financial Times, for a hint of pink), and some of my most fun new and vintage buttons in lots of different textures.

I'm loving gray right now, so this one has quite a bit of gray as well! With a base of burgundy grosgrain, embellishments of cream and gray trimming, and a great bunch of roses, it has an adorable country chic feel.

I think this one is so sweet. (But please note that these are indoor-only wreaths! I took this photo outside because the light was a little weak that day.)

And for an unabashedly cheery, springy, country feel, I have one last wreath to share. With a base of natural hemp twine to set off the bright fringe flowers, this wreath is a great way to have spring in your house any time you like.

That's all for now, but I'll be adding new items to the ArtFire shop right up to Christmas, so keep checking back! Also, I'm keeping back a few goodies that anyone coming to the East London Christmas Craft Emporium this Saturday will have first crack at... including some new ornament varieties, and at least one lovely holiday wreath, so be sure to stop by if you're in London!

*While riding through Delhi--which as the capital of India is home to all the Indian armed forces--we passed a billboard for the Indian Army that read only, "The guns. Thank God, the guns." M. thought this was the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen, and I've since traced (read: googled) it as a Rudyard Kipling quote, apparently beloved of the Indian Army.

Pondicherry

2010-11-23T21:28:00.000Z

The day after Diwali, we headed south for a quick one-day trip to Pondicherry. Our timing couldn't have been worse.

Our one day in Pondicherry also happened to be the day that a typhoon made landfall in Andra Pradesh, just north of Tamil Nadu. This meant that Pondicherry came in for quite a bit of rain and wind, and we seemed doomed to be stuck in our hotel room all day, staring out the window at this:

Uninspiring, right? But the hotel refused to call us a cab. And, looking at the roads, we couldn't blame them.

We had just resigned ourselves to a day of Indian TV, including gems like this:

Needless to say, "the game vas the date" is now a catchphrase in our house.

Fortunately, the skies cleared (ish) and then so did the streets (ish). The hotel still wouldn't call us a cab (no clue why), so we ventured out on our own and grabbed a rickshaw.

We had planned to do some shopping, and visit the famous paper factory of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, but unfortunately almost everything was shut due to the typhoon.

We did make it to the ashram, thanks to the guidance of the little dog in the bottom of the frame. It was lovely, but no pictures were allowed inside. The paper factory, one of the main reasons I had wanted to visit Pondicherry, was not open, unfortunately.

The ashram was in the lovely French quarter of Pondicherry.

The Bay of Bengal was still open, at least.

And quite beautifully rough, thanks to the storm.

Even the temples were closed.

But after a few hours wandering around taking photos, the rain was clearly not done with us yet. So we headed back to the hotel, where I spent the remainder of the evening messing around with this lovely new scarf:

And the next morning we headed out bright and early on our way to Delhi, for the last stop of our trip.

Wanstead: Den of Insanity

2010-11-22T17:05:00.000Z

According to the Londonist blog, our new neighborhood is a hot-bed of UFO enthusiasts and the sort. I especially like the part about the four-foot high thing wandering around Hollow Pond (a few minutes' walk from our new place). Sounds like an English version of Sasquatch.

I Spy Friday

2010-11-19T12:46:00.000Z

This week I've got a girly gift guide to share with you. My only criterion for making this list was that it could only include things I'd love to find under the tree.

From the top, they are:

Vintage Button Hair Grips by Samantha Stas, available from Not on the High Street

Tweedy Bee Reversible Hat, by Flipside Hats, available from World of Good

Pretty Pink Vintage Teacup Candle, by Teacup Candles, available from Not on the High Street
Wild Whisper Notebook by Sarah Hough, available from Gertie and Mabel
Blue No No Small Clasp Purse by Teresa Green Purses, available from Gertie and Mabel
Completely Perfect Print by Gail Bryson, available from Pedlars

Happy shopping!

South Indian Tea

2010-11-18T09:50:00.001Z

One of the things I really cottoned to on our trip was South Indian tea. I'd been familiar with South Indian coffee for a while, since my MIL makes it for M. every time he visits home. I've never liked coffee, so I never tried it, but it always seemed like the kind of coffee I could get behind. You see, it's brewed in milk instead of in water. And then it's served in metal cups like these:

Davarah (or dabarah) and tumbler. Unfortunately we don't have these at home (I yanked this image from Wikipedia).

The coffee is poured back and forth between the two before drinking, to cool it slightly and thoroughly mix any sugar in. Watching someone expertly and absentmindedly stream the coffee from cup to cup--without looking at the cups--while chatting to friends is quite a sight.

So, in India, when I saw South Indian tea on the menu, I jumped at the chance to try it. And then I had more every chance I got. So, when we got home, I had to perfect a method to make South Indian tea at home. After a week of tweaking, I think I've got it down.

Here's what you'll need:

Dirty stove is optional.

If you don't have loose tea or a strainer, a few tea bags would work.

After assembling the ingredients, pour a mug's worth of milk (plus a dollop, to account for the milk the tea sucks up) into a pot and on a burner at medium heat. Meanwhile, add as much sugar as you like to your mug.

I like to use my enamel milk pot from Labour and Wait. It heats beautifully and makes pouring simple and clean. Once the milk has heated up a little bit, add one-two teaspoons of tea to the pot. (More if you like your tea stronger.) You'll need more tea than normal to get the strength you're used to, since the milk won't get to boiling.

This is the important part: stir. Stir, stir, stir. You want the milk to get quite hot, even simmer a little, but don't let it boil or you'll get a yucky skin on your milk. You may need to turn down the heat a little at this point.

Once the tea has reached the appropriate strength for your taste, pour it into your mug.

This is the best photo I've ever taken. Left-handed, with my arm curled around into my chest and it's in decent focus. I'm pushing the bounds of what is humanly possible!

This step is also very important, though not very photogenic: be sure to rinse the spoon you used to stir the tea leaves before you use it to stir up the sugar in your mug.

Add some buttered toast, an orange, and some blogs for the perfect breakfast of champions.

Yummers.

So, to sum up:
Ingredients: tea, sugar, milk
Materials: pot, strainer (not necessary if you're using bagged tea), mug, spoon
Heat up milk on the stovetop over medium heat. Add sugar to taste to your mug. Once the milk has gotten warm, add tea to taste to the pot. Stir continually as the milk heats, never letting the milk quite come to a boil. Once the tea has reached the desired strength, pour it through the filter into your mug. Rinse your spoon before stirring in the sugar.

Craftacular Christmas Extravaganza!

2010-11-17T17:05:00.000Z

It's my 100th post! And I can't think of a better post for it than this...

Next month (December 4, to be exact) I'll be joining some lovely friends at the William Morris Gallery for the Craft Guerrilla Christmas Market!!

William Morris Gallery, Forest Rd. Walthamstow London E17 4PP
Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th of December.
11am to 4pm

Roll up, roll up for the greatest show on earth: a Christmas craft weekender showcasing the finest, most beautacious and delectable London based indie crafters!

Come and browse through a selection of designer hand-crafted items and find that perfect gift.

It's the kind of event that will have ladies fainting and gentlemen swooning for all things handmade!!!

Craft Guerrilla is all about providing shoppers with quality, desirable, handmade gifts that you won't find in any High Street shops.

This year Craft Guerrilla have teamed up with our gorgeous sponsors CraftNation.com to present the good people of London with a different kind of shopping experience. It's a CRAFT weekend extravaganza with two days of fabulous handmade loveliness. There will be different designer makers at both dates so it's well worth making a weekend of it!

So to sum up: fabulous museum + Yuletide spirit in abundance + me and some of my crafty besties + the lovely ladies of the ELCG = the perfect way to spend your weekend. And be sure to come on both days, since the Sunday show is completely different from the Saturday show!

p.s. Did I mention that you can win some prizes?

Diwali in Chennai

2010-11-16T18:27:00.004Z

We arrived in Chennai on Thursday the fourth, the day before Diwali Day. Diwali (the w is pronounced like a v) is a month-long celebration in the fall that culminates on the final day, which is also called, simply, Diwali. It's a festival of light, sweets, and happiness. And new clothes. It's a time for fireworks and family and flowers.

Flowers in my hair and new kurta on my back, I was ready for Diwali day. I spent a lot of the time trying to get pictures of what was going on in the street, because there's no central, municipal-run celebration. Every family's celebration spills out and whole blocks light sparklers and firecrackers together. So, I won't clutter this post up with too many more of my own words, just a caption here or there to clarify what you're seeing.

Cow ignoring motorbike.


Flower sellers

Autumn in Chennai

Kerala

2010-11-14T19:43:00.002Z

After a quick stopover in Mumbai (which I'll talk about later), Madhu and I flew to the Trivandrum airport, and headed to the luxury portion of our trip: the Leela Kempinski at Kovalam Beach, considered one of the top ten places to visit in India.

We started the trip off right, with drinks on the patio overlooking the Arabian Sea.

From the start, it was pretty clear that this place was a. ridiculously luxurious and b. ridiculously out of our league irl. I mean, they greeted us with seashell necklaces and coconut water from a real live coconut with a straw stuck in it. We were a little overawed. Thanks to the discounted conference rate, though, it was only slightly out of our league, so we enjoyed every second shamelessly.

Closest land: Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Saudi Arabia. Rawr!

For the lead up to Diwali night (more on that later, too) they had fireworks, which were set off from a cabin over the beach, and a few hundred feet below our room. We had to cower under the tiny balcony roof in order to see them and not get sprayed with debris. Possibly not the safest thing ever, but it was so amazing to be so close to the action. And I love how this picture looks like the view from the Enterprise NCC1701-D as it goes into warp. (Oh, sorry, is my nerd showing?)

The conference arranged some amazing entertainment for one of the nights: a recital of various styles of traditional Indian dance. In the picture above, the woman is dancing on a brass plate with a cup of water on her head. Hence the look of extreme concentration on her face.

There were also several tours arranged for "accompanying persons." Although the resort wasn't completely isolated...

The area's largest mosque and fishing boats, adjacent the resort's beach. Every day, morning prayers rolled in through the window to wake us up.

...it was great to get off of the resort for a day and see more of "real" India. There was an election a few days before our arrival, so the political banners were still out in full force. Note the hammer and sickle on the right; the communist party is very popular in Kerala. Still more popular: mustaches.

The tour I took went to a 16th century palace made almost entirely of teak. The day was so humid that I kept getting little smudgy bits on my photos, although I kind of like the way this detail of the palace wall turned out. The light in there was incredible.


Stupid smudges! But I still love this photo.


A very helpful 16th century elephant, in the only part of the palace made of stone.

After leaving the palace, we drove down through the Ghat Mountains to Kanya Kumari, the southernmost tip of India and, according to my MIL, a very auspicious place.

The gorgeous Southern Ghats.

Fishing boat off of Kanya Kumari, meeting place of three great bodies of water (Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Indian Ocean).

The Swami Vivekananda memorial and view of the town of Kanya Kumari.

After Kanya Kumari, it was back to the resort and a few more days of this before we had to leave:

Next up: we head east to Chennai to celebrate Diwali night with M.'s family.

India, India

2010-11-12T20:43:00.000Z

We're back home after a few amazing weeks in India, first for a science conference for M. and the beach for me, and then for some traveling and visiting family. M. and I arrived home late last night after an arduous journey home (turbulence + me = upset tummy). It's good to be home again, but I think we're both really missing India right now. We spent a week at a gorgeous resort on the beach in Kerala, where M.'s conference was held, and then another week-plus on the road.

I have a habit of falling in love with places I travel to (notably Japan and France), but I think my love affair with India is bound to be long-standing. For one thing, M. has a lot of family in Chennai and so we plan to be back for regular visits.

I can't wait to share our trip with you, and all of the inspiration that I found along the way. But for now, I'll just leave you with this little collage:

I Spy Friday

2010-11-12T17:47:00.001Z

I hate wearing dresses and skirts in winter. It's just too cold, even in (relatively) balmy London. So I decided to search around for dresses that might keep you warm this winter, or at least keep you looking good.

Tweed dress from Monsoon

Cord dress from Boden

Charcoal cable knit dress from Dorothy Perkins

Corduroy tunic dress from Laura Ashley

Knit dress from Esprit

I also tried to keep it pretty colorful, since winter clothes have a nasty habit of being drab!

I Spy Friday

2010-11-05T17:30:00.000Z

Every year around this time, I get a little sweater-obsessed. So far I've managed to keep myself from buying any, but here are a few that are tugging at my heart-strings recently.

Au fait cardigan from anthropologie
Cable knit top from ModCloth
Charcoal cardigan by Petra Peplum from Monsoon
Fairisle sweater from Top Shop
Pumpkin patch sweater from Ruche

Although, now that I look at them, I seem to have gone pretty monochromatic. Don't worry, I'll add some color in the next few weeks...

I Spy Friday

2010-10-29T16:58:00.003+01:00

For those of you who want to bring fall indoors (or create some in regions where there's none), here's some autumnal decor to brighten your home.

From top to bottom:
Pure wool throws by Bob by Post, available from Not on the High Street
Autumn harvest recycled bike clock from 1byliz
Forest fragranced handmade candle by Melt, available from Not on the High Street
Autumn fragranced handmade candle by Melt, available from Not on the High Street
Cloche from West Elm
Shaker-style wooden star from Cox & Cox
Puffy-painted pumpkins created by Young House Love, tutorial here

Of course, a lot of these items would work all year, especially the lovely star and cloche. Those plus the candles would make for an easier transition to holiday decorations.

You probably noticed the new format I've been doing for I Spy posts... what do you think? Let me know in the comments!

On vacation

2010-10-29T11:58:00.000+01:00

I'm taking a few weeks off, and won't be answering email very promptly while I'm busy relaxing. I'll be back on a normal work schedule starting November 12. In the meantime, I have a few posts scheduled for you. See you soon!

I Spy Friday

2010-10-22T17:55:00.001+01:00

The weather has been so crisp and lovely here lately (almost as nice as Boston), that all I can think about is going apple-picking. I don't think we'll have time for that this year, so I put together an apple-picking outfit instead.

Shirt: Freya Check Shirt, Monsoon

Cardigan: Kew Cardigan Coat, John Lewis

Hat: Cable & Honeycomb Baggie Beanie, Accessorize

Pants: Stretch vintage bootcut cords in spruce, j. crew

Boots: Nellie pull-on boots by Timberland, buy at Office

National Apple Day may have been yesterday, but I still want to go for a walk in the leaves in this snuggly outfit.