Little things

Super cute reusable party picks from Cox and Cox

Image Cox and Cox

Winter cupcakes

Jessica is hosting lots of yummy cosy winter and holiday recipes over at her blog Way Side Violet including my winter orange and amaretto cupcakes.

Staying warm.

Hi, how are you? Did you find lots of great things to make in the Sweet Paul Magazine?

Today for me has been spent staying warm, wrapping an Autumn package and eating all my favourite things.

Stay close as I have another super exciting giveaway tomorrow. x

Illustration day continued

I am in the mood for fantasy today as it is so grim outside, and although I am dressed it is still cold so I am back in bed writing, drinking a cup of tea and eating turkish delight. Extravagant I know, but I can't go anywhere so that is that. I will admit, even though I think it to be wildly uncouth I have reheated this tea twice, please lets just keep that between us.

Anyway my third illustrator today is the wonderful Kate Wilson of Little doodles. I do wish my backyard wildlife were as enthusiastic about pretty things as these little feathered folk, when we finally get our own garden and bird table I will teach them some new tricks. They will dine on peanut party rings and birdseed macaroons.


All images Kate Wilson

A decent meal

One of my favourite things about being at home so much is eating three proper meals a day. No more hastily grabbed snacks like greasy sausage rolls or cardboard tasting sandwiches that are laced with too much mayonnaise and cheap margarine. My fridge is also a happier place now that the greenery gets eaten before it wilts, and I get to see my husband for lunch too. An hour of daylight spent slowing down and spending some time eating home cooked meals at the table without our laptops is a simple luxury.

I am leaving for London now, excited to be meeting some other creative girls, we so often speak via email and twitter but rarely find the time to gather in one place, so it will be a treat to put the faces to the names I know so well.

A week of pretty

Fondant creams, favourite books for inspiration, frilly layers, lavender and rose, cushions and colour charts. I love making things and this week off has really been great. Sad to go back to the day job next week.

Six of the best . . . images

I have saved to my desktop tonnes of inspirational images and sorting through the loved, already used and unnecessary this afternoon I found these six to share which you too might love. Pretty girly things for a dismal afternoon, to get you in the spirit for making tea and cake.

1 Catherine Campbell.

3 Selvedge Magazine.

4 and 6 Martha Stewart Weddings.

5 Rita Konig's apartment.

If you are the owner (or know who is) of the pretty garland in image 2, please please let me know and I will add the link. Enjoy.

Fashion pilgrimage

Up early so I can catch the really good sun, the sun that makes my diamante sandals sparkle as I walk, the sun that inspires me to have a 1950's style breakfast, the perfect sky to accompany me to the newspaper shop on a Sunday morning fashion pilgrimage.

Lyon, everything I hoped.

We walked so far and saw so much in our two days of sunshine that an hour drifting in a boat on the huge lake in the park was the perfect way to relax, before finding somewhere to eat an evening meal.

Lyon, clothes cakes cheese and charcuterie

Overindulgence is always a danger when we cross the La Manche. Delicious cheeses, sausages and hams, cakes and pastries glazed and glistening with caramelised sugar and berries, pastel pink meringues piled high like raspberry clouds. I saw some beautiful dresses with cotton ruffles and light gauzy tunics, at least my credit card forgotten, safe at home was spared a battering.

A black liquorice door.

Every time I walk up towards my house, freshly painted pale grey like the British sky with white icing around the windows, I can't help but wonder how fabulous it could be in pink, a huge hunk of pink birthday cake with iced windows and a black liquorice door. Cream puffs for shrubs and sugar flowers in the garden. I have been awake since five this morning and as I'm sure you can guess, baking since six thirty. My brain is addled from all the lemon frosting and chocolate cake batter.

With the frill off an old dressing gown, some fabric flowers, vintage french ribbon and a roll of pretty making tape from the lovely Lynne of Papermash I decorated the corner of the kitchen to accommodate my makeshift cake stand. Then popped in to town to deliver the cakes to my colleagues as an afternoon cheer up, had some lunch and made it home between the summer showers.

Looking

Watching Marie antoinette over and over and . . . I am looking for a pretty tiered cake stand and found these great images for inspiration over at Wedding Magazine.

Pretty in pink

Kitchen is sparkling clean and a subtle scent of lavender is in the air. Lunch and a bakewell, which looked pretty in pink but had icing like a rock and zero flavour, that will teach me not to bake my own. I think I will make one now to delete the bad memories of this cute looking one.

Happy Wednesday

Pretty in pink, things for a sweet tooth and new craft projects. I'm going to London for the day with my sister to meet a friend and see a show. Happy Wednesday.

Lisa Stickley's tea time crockery

Happy weekend to you, I have had a lovely day out with my sister. Eaten way too much, spent a little too much. But I arrived home to find my inbox full of fun things. Some just for me and some to share, like this.

I have been a fan of Lisa Stickley for years now, I love her nostalgic memory inducing designs, I once got a cushion cover from her stand at one of the home shows when she was just starting out, and seeing the photos now I realise that is was Lisa herself who helped me choose a design that day.

Her newest collaboration is with Debenhams and Lisa is launching a beautiful collection that will include printed bed linen, kitchen storage, tea time crockery, table linen and kitchen textiles as well as decorative accessories. If only my buckling kitchen shelves could take another cake stand.
Recently I was lucky enough to steal some of her time and Lisa answered these questions for me. I hope you find her answers inspiring.


Who or what are you creative influences?

I am very much a magpie and constantly collect bit and pieces from all over the place. I have always been drawn to the more utilitarian times of the 1940’s and the colour and way of life from the 50’s. I have always been a passionate admirer of the artist cy twombly and the wonderfully poetic nature of his paintings. also I am an avid collector of david shrigley. I love the way that he sees the world and his topsy turvy, idiosyncratically intellectual work.

What has been one of your favourite collaborations or design opportunities?

I have particularly enjoyed my collections for the last 10 seasons for Ships in Japan. this is an ongoing collaboration and is great especially when we get to go and visit Tokyo and enjoy the karaoke culture!

Across the pond (and in their new stores in London town) I have embraced the concept of the frilly pinny, and along side other kitchen product I have pulled together a kitchen collection for Anthropolgie.

Was it difficult to manage your own range whilst working with such a big high street department store such as Debenhams?

It is always a good test to manage time well and even harder to switch off at the end of each day. I often have as many projects on the go at any one time along side working on my own ranges and of late working hard on the PR side of things. I seem to have interviews coming in from all directions at the moment, which is fantastic if not a little exhausting! I very much enjoy being busy though and have a great team working with me who all help in keeping things running smoothly and look after me very well.

It seems as though a good dose of nostaligia goes into the mix when you are designing your collections, would you share one of your fondest childhood memories?

It would have to be repeatedly watching the sound of music with my best friend Jo often dressed up as rabbits with tights on our heads!


I fondly remember a notes and doodles page like a mini blog that was sent out via e-mail will you continue to write this.

Yes! we send out regular updates of the goings on at lisa stickley hq to everyone who is on our mailing list and notes and doodles is a favourite page of mine, although we are moving more hi tec (!) too, and will be blogging more and more often in the near future.

What is you favourite sunday outfit?

If I am lucky my pyjamas with a cup of tea and the sunday papers. if I am very lucky and the weather is good a bikini and beach towel on the common or on the beach in kent! sunday should be time to relax.

Tell me more about the most treasured item in your house.

This is tricky as most of the items/ pieces in my home are important to me one way or another as I do tend to surround myself with things I love. people always come before objects though so a big Sunday roast with friends and family around the table makes me very happy. my goldfish Ingrid and Marmaduke sit quite high on the treasured list!

I dream of running my own business, what are the key elements to managing your own time? do you let work and social time overlap?

Hmm, social life is very rare at the moment and I am working hard to find a good balance (its difficult to stop when you love what you do). running a business does take an enormous amount of energy, focus and determination and I am very lucky to have extremely supportive friends and family around me. time off is very important but often very much a luxury, although fully taken advantage of when it happens!



Thank you Lisa.

All images from the Lisa Stickley range for Debenhams.

Cutting and sticking

How is everyone? I had a lovely weekend, managed to resist the call of the bottle as all my friends went out to watch the first England game at a bar, I stayed in and watched silly movies and ate fish and chips with a fellow world cup disowner. Sunday was spent drinking homemade smoothies, eating peanut butter smothered muffins, and adding a few items to my clothes line of inspiration in the kitchen. A little too much TV, but with no garden or the will to attempt the short walk to the beach, home we stayed. More football ensued.

The world cup is taking over here indoors too so I have been using the time to form orderly volumes of beauty, cutting and sticking all the recipes and interior image scraps the are in piles all over the house, driving my husband up the wall. But disaster has struck and I have run out of double sided tape. This would never have happened on Blue Peter. Maybe I can get some delivered with my groceries?

I hope this weekend saw you pick up where you left off on creative projects and you didn't waste too many hours with television like me, we need to make the most of balmy light evenings and early sunrise wake up calls, don't you think?