YES, I'M STILL ALIVE!

Hi Guys!

I'm really only back briefly (again!), just to say that i miss you all lots and i'm really looking forward to getting back to normality and regular posting. That time is coming though, so you should have me back in the next couple of months, can't wait!

xx

DID YOU MISS ME?

it's been a long time.

for various different reasons, i haven't had proper internet access since my last post + unfortunately, it doesn't look like the situation is going to change any time soon. C + i have just moved to a new town for his new job + we're currently living in a hotel. as you can well imagine, life is a bit different for us both just now - mega changes are underway but some exciting stuff too.

at the moment, i'm sitting in the reception area of a premier travel inn (no expense spared on the part of his new employers - ha ha!) and spending £1 for 10 minutes internet access. needless to say, any posts for the next little while will be short + sweet - we've got a new house to be spending our money on!

it's unbeleivable how much i've missed the blogging world while i've been away. i'm totally amazed at how much losing it from my day-to-day routine has affected me, especially after only being involved for such a short time. i'm desperate to catch up on what everyone's been up to (there's an awful lot of reading to be done) + also get back in touch with you all. i really have missed you, it may be a bit sad but it's completely true. thank you so much for all the lovely comments posted while i've been away - it's been great to come back to such a nice welcome.

i'm off now to crack on with all of my emails + blog reading - hopefully be back soon.

xx

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

it's C + i's second wedding anniversary tomorrow - two whole years since i married my best friend + enjoyed the most wonderful day of my life. i know that sounds really cheesy + cliched, but for me it's completely true. we've been together for over 11 years now (since we were 16 + 17) + he really is the most amazing person in the world. it's impossible for me to share all the happy memories i hold from that special day, so here's a quick little flavour of it-

we were married + held our reception here

the following poem was read at the ceremony by one of our closest friends + holds a great deal of meaning for us

I Will Be Here - Steven Curtis Chapman

If in the morning when you wake,

If the sun does not appear,

I will be here.

If in the dark we lose sight of love,

Hold my hand and have no fear,

I will be here.

I will be here,

When you feel like being quiet,

When you need to speak your mind I will listen.

Through the winning, losing, and trying we'll be together,

And I will be here.

If in the morning when you wake,

If the future is unclear,

I will be here.

As sure as seasons were made for change,

Our lifetimes were made for years,

I will be here.

I will be here,

And you can cry on my shoulder,

When the mirror tells us we're older.

I will hold you, to watch you grow in beauty,

And tell you all the things you are to me.

We'll be together and I will be here.

I will be true to the promises I've made,

To you and to the one who gave you to me.

I will be here.

the 'theme' (don't really like that word) was white + floral.

the flowers were hydrangea, peonies + ranunculus - all of my favourites!

that's enough. don't want to be a wedding bore, so i'm off now for a bath + some much needed beauty sleep - got to look my best (or half-decent at the very least!) for our special little day.

xx

I'M IN PACKING HELL.....

...... + don't know if i'll ever escape!

just thought i'd write a quickie to let you know that i'm still alive + share a bit of my packing misery with you all. yes, the photo is terrible + blurry - this is a weak attempt at using imagery to express how i feel. no. i'm lying. it's nothing to do with imagery, just a really bad photo + i couldn't be bothered taking another one!

have a great weekend.

xx

WHAT I'M DOING THIS WEEK......

1. wishing i had tickets for the chelsea flower show
2. settling for the flower show coverage on the BBC
3. packing up our belongings to move out
4. looking for somewhere new to live. we're moving in with friends in the meantime, but need to find something else soon!
5. trying not to be too stressed out by the previous two things
6. replying to the much-appreciated emails from neglected bloggy friends
7. dreaming of better weather - come on mr sun, you can do it
8. eating take-away so i don't have to cook
9. reading this cute book
10. celebrating my second wedding anniversary - if not already separated after the moving + stressing!

all in all a very busy week. hope you have a good one. xx

I DARE YOU NOT TO SMILE......

......you did didn't you!?!

how could anyone NOT smile at this wee guy, look at his contented little face - he's the cutest little lamb-that-looks-like-a-camel the world has ever seen!

C took this with the fisheye camera i bought him for his birthday. the shot doesn't work very well at this size on blogger, but if you click on it, you can see it full size over on flickr. it's taken a few rolls of film to get used to it, but it's definitely been worth it to get this shot, i love it.

as you've no doubt guessed, i'm a total sucker for fisheye style animal shots - find some great ones here, just click on 'world archive', type in whatever you're looking for a photo of (e.g. dog), click on search, sit back + enjoy the results!

xx

BIG KIDS - THE RECIPIES

at the request of marta + jamieanne, here are the super-simple recipies from yesterdays post:

:: top hats ::

100g chocolate (i use a really nice belgian milk one but any type you like will work) - 20-30 marshmallows - 20-30 smarties or m + m's

• set out 20-30 petit-four cases
• melt the chocolate
• pour a little chocolate into the base of each petit-four case
• plop a marshmallow into each pool of chocolate
• dot a little bit of chocolate on top of the marshmallows
• pop a smartie/m + m on top
• place in the fridge to set

:: mars bar crispie cakes ::

these are pretty much a free for all + i just chuck in what i've got in the cupboard. on saturday the ingredients were something along the lines of -

5 mars bars (milky ways in the US) - 50g milk chocolate - a splash of milk - 125g rice crispies (rice pops?) - 50g white chocolate

• lightly grease a swiss roll tin
• melt the mars bars + milk chocolate
• add a splash of milk to loosen the mixture
• stir in the crispies
• press the mixture into your tin
• melt the white chocolate + drizzle it excitedly over the top
• pop in the fridge to set

:: C's smarties cookies ::

100g butter (softened) - 100g light muscavado sugar - 1 tbsp golden syrup - 150g self-raising flour - 100g smarties

• preheat the oven to 180c
• beat the butter + sugar together 'til light + fluffy
• mix in the syrup
• add half the flour + stir through
• add the smarties with the remaining flour
• bring dough together
• divide into 14 balls
• pop the balls on a baking sheet
• bake for around 12 mins 'til golden
• cool on a wire rack

ta-dah! if any of you try these, let me know how you get on. enjoy!

xx

BIG KIDS

yesterday, C + i spent part of the day in the kitchen churning out sweet treats to take round for our friend A's birthday. now, when i show you the photos of what we made you might be fooled into thinking A has just turned 5, but he hasn't, he's actually 25!


now, i'm all for making fancy cakes + bakes (in fact i absolutely love it), but sometimes only good old, kitsch, kid's party food hits the spot. oh + didn't it just! we stopped short of doing the whole jelly + ice-cream thing, but did produce 2 old faithfuls - top hats + mars bar crispie cakes.

top hats are great, look at them, they're amazing aren't they? i seriously could eat about twenty in one go - why, oh why, don't i make them more often?

+ these......wow!

mars bar crispie cakes with an over-zealous drizzling of white choc

the best thing of all, for me, was that C made the effort in the kitchen alongside me. i'm the main cook in the house, but i love when we work together in the kitchen as a team. i love it even more when he makes these gorgeous smarties cookies all...by...himself! yes i am the luckiest girl in the whole world - he doesn't do it often, but when he does it's well worth the wait! yum.

anyway, i need to go + deliver the goodies, so have a lovely evening.

xx

P.S. i wish i could pop round to each one of your houses with some treats, especially after all of the lovely comments i've received over the last couple of days. thank you, it really means a lot. xx

I'M A HAPPY SHOPPER

bargains, bargains, bargains......that's what i got!

like i said yesterday, the past week has been pretty rubbish here in the little special household. so, like any girl worth her salt, i indulged in a bit of retail therapy. nothing huge, nothing expensive, but a few nice bits + bobs all the same.


lookie lookie, i will show you my haul (albeit with dull, rainy-day photographs) -


first off, we have some goodies from primark - yes, the shops are like jumble-sales but i persevered + managed to find a couple of things i liked which were also in my size - result!

a charcoal smocky vest top with burn-out flower detail (£6)

+ a chocolate brown smocky, long-line top (£6)

on to faithful old topshop, where i picked up......

......this cute little necklace with beads, mother-of-pearl discs + sweet little embroidered felt flowers. so delicate + pretty, i couldn't resist!

+ a green empire ruched tee

i also bought these gladiator sandals which i really need your combined opinion on. you know when you like something but you're not sure if it's just you, well that's how i feel about these shoes. are they really ugly + tacky or are they pretty fabulous? please help + let me know what you honestly think!

finally, to demonstrate that it's not ALL about me, there's the best little outfit ever that we bought for my husband's cousin's baby boy. prepare yourselves because it's unbelievably cute......

......look at that shirt + the shoes! i told you didn't i? cute. cute. cute.

i absolutely love this fabric + wish i could buy it by the metre. congratulations baby gap, you've done it again!

anyway, that's surely enough showing off for one day, so i'll be off.

xx

GET REAL!

it's been a stressful, crazy, mental week + i've been AWOL for far too long - i'm so sorry, did you miss me? i thought not! as a result i feel i've got to fill this post with something good, something that's been worth the week of neglect, i can't promise anything but i will try.

inspired by a couple of brave little bloggers, who posted about the 'real' them (step forward ali, alyson, tonia + sarah ) + their subsequent "if you're reading this then consider yourself tagged" tag, i've decided to get a grip + let you in to the 'real' me.

now, it's not like you all think i'm perfect anyway (surely not!) but i totally get the idea that when you're reading someones blog, you generally just see the person that the blogger wants you to see - not necessarily the real one that lives behind all the loveliness.


so here goes, my five confessions......

number 1 - i graduated with a fashion degree over 8 years ago + have only made one item of clothing since - it was however, an elvis jumpsuit for my husband and probably doesn't really count! i'm actually really ashamed of this, although i didn't study fashion to become a designer (i was more interested in the buying/business side of things), i do feel i should be putting what i learned to more use. i'm just scared to give it a try now in case it's a total disaster.

number 2 - for the last few years i haven't done any exercise (at all!) + yet i complain about how i look. every. single. day. don't get me wrong, i'm not big, but i hate all of the wobbly bits that have become a part of me. even though i know i've only got myself to blame, i never seem to shift my (big) bum into gear to do anything about it or turn down the offer of a cake!

number 3 - hmmm, cake that's another one. i always bully other people into eating cakes or similarly fattening things. if i want one, i persuade the person i'm with to have one too so that i don't feel so guilty about it. this is terrible i know, but i do stop short of force-feeding my victims, so that makes it ok, doesn't it?

number 4 - i find selling my work very hard - going out + promoting what i make really scares me. i think it's mainly a confidence thing (as are most of my confessions in a round-about way) but i also wonder why anyone would want to buy something that i've made, when they could probably do it themselves. does anyone else who makes things for a living feel like this?

number 5 - i don't wash my bedding or clean my bathroom nearly as often as i should. i'm not going to go into any more detail than that, no timescales or examples, i just simply should do it more often. i'm so glad my mother-in-law isn't reading this, she'd be disgusted......but there it is, i said it + i'm not proud, but it's true!

phew, done + dusted. now it's your turn, yes you! if you're reading this (+ haven't already done your own version) consider yourself well + truly tagged. post five 'confessions' about the real you on your own blog - go on, you know you want to!

night night

xx

ENJOY!

now i don't mean to show off or make people jealous, but i just have to share the loveliness that came through my letterbox yesterday.

this wonderful package of truly vintage buttons which i 'won' from paula last week.

if you aren't familiar with paula + her simple me blog, please go + have a peek......not only is she incredibly generous with her buttons + stylish in her packaging of them......

her words, work + photos are just beautiful.

thank you paula, your kindness made my day!

xx

A QUICKIE

hi team!

just a short one today. i've had a bit going on the last couple of days so i've been struggling for time to check in - it amazes me how desperate i am to find out what everyone's been up to though!

some things i'm loving:

• the glorious sunshine
• this mark ronson track - can't get enough! set me free why don't you babe.........la la la
• all of the lovely comments on my last post - my head is now far too big! thanks guys, i really appreciate you taking the time to say nice things......or anything at all for that matter. xx
• these funky shopping bags - oh unicorn, please decide to start selling them online, i don't live anywhere near manchester + i really, really want one some.
• this pretty bike basket. which might just convince me to make more use of mine. find it at design house stockholm
  
  
  

• this post from ali, which really made me smile - not sure if i'm ready to join in with the confessions just yet......maybe in a little while, but don't hold your breaths!

xx

THE WEEKEND

a great weekend!

the highlights:

• dinner, drinks + laughs with my friend L
  


• watching my husband + her boyfriend A falling drunkenly into a bush while clinging to each other in the hope of staying upright - it's not big, it's not clever......but it really was very funny!
  


• snuggling all day sunday with a sleepy + hungover husband
  


• watching stranger than fiction on dvd. this was such a sweet film + in it, maggie gyllenhaal's character has my dream job - running a little bakery, serving homemade cookies + cupcakes. wow, lucky girl.
  
  
  

• finding out that bernadette at sugarloop has put another batch of spring tree prints up for sale + managing to snap one up! this design is a little different to the first (linked to last week) but equally beautiful.
  

• the relief that my sent swap packages made it to their recipients safely + delight at their response. both nikole + donna seem to be happy with what was sent......thanks girls! here they are before being shipped off to canada + scotland respectively (the packages, not the girls!)
  

......my red, white + blue, british-themed vintage button swap package

+ the tuquoise hued, mellow + yellow swap one.

i'm off to dream about the cookies i'll serve in my imaginery bakery......

hope you all had a lovely weekend too!

xx

GREEN + GORGEOUS - THE PHOTOS

back again! two posts in one day is an undeniable achievement

......or might that be a miracle? you decide!

so here are the photos of my swap package from donna - they're still not great, but i didn't know how long i'd have to hold-off for some proper sunlight + i couldn't wait any longer to show you! scroll between today's + yesterday's posts for more details.

......the swap booty in all it's green-hued glory

......a bit more detail

......my amazing necklace with beautiful glass beads - do you

see what i mean about it reminding me of the seaside?

......my cute little pad. how cool is the sausage dog in his orla-esque coat!?!

......and last, but by no means least, the wonderful vintage buttons!

have a great weekend everyone (especially you donna, you amazing swapper you!)

xx

EGG PRESS

i've just discovered the egg press website + i think i'm in love!

my favourites -

• let's stitch frank - a dog called frank that you stitch yourself, what could be better than that!?! first of all, i love that he's called frank (it's totally in keeping with my belief that boy dogs should be called real names - i.e. steve, barry, ian, derek....you get the idea!) + secondly, he's really, really cute. check out the hoots + scoots kits too, they're fab.
• this beautiful letterpress 'love tree' card, which comes with a fantastic woodgrain patterned envelope. i think i'll have to buy one to frame-up - it's so pretty + i can imagine it hanging in my hallway making me smile every time i pass!
• the sweet collection of cards - the cupcake + sunshine designs in particular tickle my fancy!
  

the best thing about egg press is......they have 2 stockists in london! Yippee! addresses have been noted + a visit is definitely on the cards sometime soon.

another great print-themed find for me today was sugarloop. bernadette is an illustrator from aukland, nz + you can buy her beautiful prints here + here. i'm really taken with the style of her work + this design in particular - i absolutely love it, but unfortunately the last one was sold a couple of days ago. not to worry, there are plenty more lovelies to choose from!

happy browsing!

xx.

MELLOW + YELLOW = GREEN + GORGEOUS

today the postie brought another lovely package to my door! this time it was from the very talented donna, my partner from marta's mellow + yellow swap.

now, i don't know what i did to deserve so many gorgeous things all in one week, but this was another cracking package + i'm such a lucky girl!

these were the rules of the swap......

choose a favorite hue + incorporate your colour theme throughout your entire package. participants are asked to send three items both mellow + colourful to their swapping partner. be creative with your interpretation. think of items that are simple, unique + lovely. focus more on your chosen colour palette than on monetary value. your colour will be a surprise to your swap partner. choose items that will delight. objects can be vintage, new or handmade. your partner will be sending 3 items in a colour all her own

clever donna chose green. i really, really like green!

when i opened the box, this is what i found......

......six pretty little parcels, waiting to be unwrapped!

i'm really sorry about the poor quality of the photo - there's absolutely zero light here today. because of this, i haven't managed to take any good shots of what was inside the little packages......the ones i took just didn't do anything justice. so, hopefully i'll be able to post some good ones tomorrow, but in the meantime, here's what the sweet little tags say + what was inside each one......

:: clockwise from left ::

...not strictly green, but too cute to pass up...

a funky little block pad with creatures on - v.cute indeed!

...to bring a little bit of outdoors indoors...

a pretty matt green vase, just waiting for a simple white flower

...these remind me of summer - my favourite time of year...

WOW! a beatiful, delicate necklace, made from natural string + pale green glass beads. i'm picturing sea-glass, beach huts + sunshine! i think donna made this herself......it's so lovely + she's so clever.

...light to relax by...

a scented candle in shades of green, hmmm...looking forward to lighting this + soaking in a nice bubbly bath!

...vintage...for your collection?

an amazing selection of vintage buttons, i. love. every. single. one.

...green AND good for you!

some wonderful green tea with lemon - jacksons of piccadilly, my favourite brand!

thank you donna for putting so much thought into your package + for choosing so well, everything is really great. i love it all + can't wait to show it off tomorrow

xx

(a photo from my collection - it's mainly green + i like it!)

LONDON CALLING

things seem to have calmed down a little bit after the last few days of button swap excitement!

a few days ago i said i'd tell you about my jam-packed couple of days with jules, so that's what today's post is all about.

we started off on friday with lunch, so a visit to carluccios was in order - delicious. tummies full, and onto selfridges......i LOVE selfridges, it has so much to offer - great stationery, an excellent mix of clothes (high street + exclusive), fantastic homewares, amazing foodhall, i could easily stay in there for hours. we didn't though, just bought a couple of little bits + pieces, then battled our way up oxford street to topshop. now......i also LOVE topshop + in theory should adore the gigantic one at oxford circus, but i don't. it totally overwhelms me......there are too many things...... i can't seem to take it all in! i know there's some great stuff in there, but i never seem to be able to find it - drop me into a normal sized topshop though + i'll find loads i like. it's a strange one, but i do still get lured in by it's sheer size - maybe one day i'll learn!

we then moved our shopping trip onto covent garden, where we had a bit of a browse before succumbing to our tummies once more - wagamama this time......yum! i'd managed to book half-price theatre tickets the day before, so we finished our day off brilliantly with a trip to see dancing in the streets......

......it was really good! i'm mad on motown music, so i was in my element + jules loved it too, so it was a great end to a lovely but exhausting day.

the following day was destined to be a more chilled out affair, we took our time getting ready before heading into london again. first on the agenda was buying a picnic to take with us to the V&A - cue EAT for salads + sandwiches......

and peyton & byrne for some delicious cupcakes - check out these beauties......

strawberry cream + choc mint

(both fared pretty well but the heat did take it's toll on the crispy dried strawberries!)

because it was such a beautiful day outside, we had to force ourselves into the museum to see the kylie exhibition. it was worth it though, there are some amazing costumes + photographs on show - it's so interesting to see how her outfits look in real life compared to on stage or in photos. i'm honestly not kidding when i say that most of them look really, really tacky......even the dolce + gabbana ones, we couldn't believe it! the best ones in the exhibition were two stage costumes by john galliano (from the showgirl + showgirl homecoming tours), these really were gorgeous + so beautifully made - view them here + here.

before we left the museum for home there was time enough for a look round the fantastic shop + for me to treat myself to a few little goodies......

a cute pattern-cutting sketchbook and two funky cards, featuring designs from st.judes

all in all a lovely couple of days spent with a very special friend.

hope i didn't bore you all too much with my rambling!

xx

VINTAGE BUTTON SWAP DEUX

prepare yourselves. this post is going to be filled with so much gorgeousness, you might struggle to cope with your swap envy. you are also going to want to adopt my wonderful swap partner nikole as your new best friend......but you can't have her, she's mine!

this sexy little number turned up on my doorstep on friday morning.......

because i was just on my way out the door with my friend jules (more of that tomorrow) i didn't get a chance to open it, even though i was absolutely dying to. to cut a long story short, i didn't actually get to open it until saturday morning. this was a result of a very late return home on friday + the lack of daylight for me to take step by step photos - yes, the anticipation was excruciating!

anyway, first layer of wrapping off (don't you just love the lacy tape?), box opened + i was greeted by this......

inside was a charming little discription of the whole package and where everything came from. nikole decided to send all reused + recycled items, which is so clever + fits in perfectly with the vintage theme of the swap. the box itself was divided into three layers (to resemble a three layer cake - how sweet is that?) + the first one looked like this......

JEEZY PEEPS! is the bunny not the cutest thing you've ever seen? hasn't she arranged it so beautifully? imagine the delight at knowing this is only just the beginning, there are still two more layers to go!

:: top layer contents ::

a pretty duck-egg buckle

duck-egg + brown speckled feather

an air mail envelope from japan......

a lovely scattering of vintage buttons

the beautiful bunny pin - made by sonja ahlers from recycled sweaters

on to the patriotic middle layer......

:: middle layer contents ::

cool little recycled notepad from five + a half

bulldog clip from japan

stripy string from austria

a canadian stamp + funky maple leaf button - homage to nikole's homeland......

10 other colourful buttons (special mention to the little blue one (top left) and the red + white stripy/spotty one!

this layer freaked me out a bit when i uncovered it - you'll understand why once nikole has received her package + i'm able to talk about what i sent her......it's quite scary.......but in a cool way.

last (but by no means least) we reach the bottom layer......

:: bottom layer contents ::

a beautiful black + green leaf, glass button from the czech republic

3 chunky beauties - she got these from an estate sale - $5 for someone's whole collection, why can't i find things like that!?!

4 cute hors d'ouvres sticks

a yummy bar of soap

the sweetest little message + tag

i. love. everything.

thanks nikole, you really are the best + i hope you're not too disappointed with your package, cause i know it doesn't even come close to this one.

everthing is laid out so perfectly + looks so good on it's corrugated card that i don't want to take it apart. i think i'm going to leave it all as it is for now as i can't bear to break up the collections just yet......maybe i could hang them on my wall!?!

oops, too late - the bunny's already broken free!

have a great day. xx

SHORT + SWEET

well, i've not been around here for a few days, did you miss me?

probably not, but at least now i've got LOADS to tell you about.

now, because i'm very lazy and unimaginative, i'm going to spilt all of my stories up + spread them over the next couple of days - sorry if that's really naughty, but that's what's going to happen!

even though i'm not going to go into detail about my button swap package today, i have to tell you this......it's the best swap package you've ever seen. tune in tomorrow for all of the stunning details, but here's a sneaky peak for now......

i really must go 'cause my dad is down in england for a course + he's meeting C + I for dinner. i haven't seen him since january so i'm really looking forward to it. got to shoot off, don't want to be late - cambridge + daddy, here we come!

xx

CUTE + FUNKY

just discovered sandra isaksson (via tania's blog), who is a uk-based graphic designer/illustrator.

her work is right up my street and the best thing is......she has an online shop!

these are a few of my favourite things:

:this counting poster:

the beautiful illustrations in this book

:these daisy prints:

this funky custom wallpaper

these retro style cups

the observant among you will notice that most of these things are for kids......i don't have any kids......says a lot about my maturity doesn't it. I don't care, i unashamedly want them all!