Traditional christmas....

In our house its a tradition to have smoked salmon and bubbles for breakfast on christmas morning, its one of the things I look forward to most :-)

What christmas traditions do you have in your family?!

merry christmas....

Its a proper white christmas for once! xxx

Snowed under....

I am not a happy girl :( I am snowed in again, for the second time this month, only this time I'm alone and missing my family Christmas celebration which I have been really looking forward to, it is the worst snow I have ever seen in the UK and looking through the window makes me feel like I'm living in a snow-globe!

So - in an effort to try and cheer myself up I am sharing something lovely that I found online last night that make me happy, and will hopefully spread a little cheer around :-)

I found THIS post last night on the Creature Comforts blog, and it tickled me pink, these actual Chocolate buttons are perfect for a sweet novelty gift or a wedding favour, and so easy to do!



The original TUTORIAL is from a lovely website and blog called BAKE IT PRETTY which is where I found this lovely picture and they sell all sorts of wonderfully cute molds and baking accessories and have lots of fabulous ideas on their blog too!

The vintage button mold is available HERE, and is superbly cheap at around £1 / $2 plus shipping.


They also included printable toppers to present the choccies in as shown above, what more could you want?!

Fingers crossed that the snow stops soon, so I can go home and see my family!

Baby knitting....

There has been something of a baby boom around these parts recently, and so I have put my knitting needles to good use and made a few pressies for the babies, here are some pics of the finished items....

Snow Hiatus....

It snowed last week.

Serious snow.

8 (!) inches in 2 days....

So as a consequence it was a slow week for blogging, I promise normal service will be resumed soon!

Brighton...Vegas of the South....

Things have been HECTIC recently, I'm on the other end of a 2-week work bender and haven't had any time for anything extra-curricular lately, how depressing...

Anyway, this weekend I was able to finally get away from it all and spend some time with friends in beautiful Brighton celebrating the 30th birthday of my friend Mike, we went to the arcade on the Pier and had some fun with the amusements, and I really enjoyed the bright lurid colours of it all, the neon was just what I needed to wake me up....

Petshop friends....

On our trip to the local pet shop last weekend I found a few new friends to photograph, I just wish I could have taken them all home with me!

Lava necklace....

A while ago I wrote THIS post about The Ultimate DIY contest, and my proposed entry into it....

Now - obviously I did not organize myself well enough to actually send my entry in, but I did make it and have worn it several times since, so thought I might as well show the final product to justify my efforts!

Its amazing what you can do with an extra long shoe-lace, some seed beads and a needle and thread!

Cowling....

The latest addition to the Lucy Knits and crochet collection....

A military style extra chunky crochet snood!

It was so easy to make, I just bought some extra chunky yarn (106 yards / 97 metres / 170g) , a 20mm crochet hook (monster size!) and just crocheted around in a circle through the back loop until the yarn ran out (or until desired length) to achieve a reversible textured snood, one side is ribbed, the other is a nice nubbled texture (as in the pics above).

endpapers....

I love endpapers, to me they are the best bit of the book, and I saw a post on
Andrea Joseph's Sketchblog
today which inspired me to do a post of my own on some beautiful examples I found online.

Yellow phantom

http://www.drawger.com/show.php?what=shows&show_id=27&image_id=955

Velveteen rabbit

http://www.drawger.com/show.php?what=shows&show_id=27&image_id=957

Poe’s tales of mystery and imagination

illustrated by Arthur Rackham, originally published in 1935, this is a reprint from the 1970's.

http://www.drawger.com/show.php?what=shows&show_id=27&image_id=1873

A selection of Nancy Drew book endpapers

Mama’s bank account

found by Jeffrey

http://www.goofbutton.com/2007/12/mamas_bank_account.html

Exactitudes....

THIS website is fascinating, here is the blurb explaining the project.....

"Photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek have worked together since October 1994. Inspired by a shared interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups, they have systematically documented numerous identities over the last 16 years. Rotterdam’s heterogeneous, multicultural street scene remains a major source of inspiration for Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, although since 1998 they have also worked in many cities abroad.

They call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people’s attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element. "

Wim van Sinderen, Senior Curator Museum of Photography, The Hague

Red sky at night....

Shepherd's delight.

The skies above London Victoria station looking amazing at dusk on my home from work the other day.

collections....

My Dad collects things.

All sorts of things.

On my last visit home I took a few snaps of a couple of the collections that were on display around the house....

Crystals... (this one is a beautiful Quartz that he found when he worked in a Tin mine in Cornwall when he was a young man - my sister and I coveted this as kids).

Books and Crystals....

Books....

More books....

and Maps.

I'm a versatile blogger!

I have been nominated for the versatile blogging award by the lovely Laura Lo Bear! This is a huge compliment and has really made my day - thank you so much Laura :)

Laura's blog is one that I have started following recently and I love her blogging style and photography, I also love that I can see the world through her eyes and enjoy her outlook on life from across the pond!

I see that there are rules for accepting "The Versatile Blogger" award:

1) Thank and link back to the lovely friend who gave you the award.

2) Share 7 things about yourself.

3) Pass it along to 7 blogs you have recently discovered and enjoy.

4) Leave your recipients a note, telling them about the award.

So - in the spirit of this award, here are 7 things about me.....

This is a picture of my old house from the 1920s !

1- I grew up in a lovely little village in Bedfordshire (just an hour outside of London) and had a pretty idyllic childhood

2- I LOVE lipstick, my favourite colours are coral red and Pillar box red.

3- I have to do something creative every day or I get fidgety, I always need to be doing and learning something, it makes me ridiculously happy :-)

4- I work for a well known British fashion label, and have done for 8 1/2 years....yikes!

5- I love to laugh, it's an addiction.

A picture of the parrots in winter this year!

6- I currently live in a little picture postcard village in Surrey, with a duck pond and a pretty park right next to my house, I love being able to work in central London and go home to my village at night, the best of both worlds in 30 minutes, and we have parrots that live wild in the village too (seriously)!

7- I am head over heels in love with my monster Maine Coon cat Murphy (in case you hadn't already noticed)!

and here are 7 of the blogs I am passing the award onto :

1. Cupcake Couture
2. Lipstick&Lumber
3. Made by Jenni
4. Queenly Things
5. Three Buttons
6. Dixie DIY
7. Miss Molly

Have a great weekend!!

Hypnotic handwriting....

Legacy of Letters from Luca Barcellona on Vimeo.

Coral wristwarmers...

This is a semi-tutorial for a pair of wrist-warmers from an old sweater / cardigan, I was given a beautiful Coral pink cardigan for my birthday a couple of years ago, and it was the victim of an ink stain last xmas whilst printing my gocco cards....

Anyway - I loved the colour of it and it is the softest angora merino mix so I didn't want it to go to waste, and as it was freezing on Friday night it spurred me into action!

So - I cut 2 pieces out of one of the sleeves :


Then I turned them inside out and then flattened them out and stitched down the vertical center of each :


Then turned them right side out so that one side fits into the other and there is a double layer as below :


Et Voila!


Roasty Toasty Wrist-warmers for no extra cost!