✴ the unintentional vase, part two

I really can't resist looking out for unusual, or unexpected, vessels for pretty florals.

There is something so charming and quirky about filling an old tin can or bottle with a bunch of delicate blooms. 

And such nifty, thrifty chic to boot. 

I found this decanter {cut glass, or dare I wonder, lead crystal, perhaps??} in the local charity shop the other day. 

I only nipped out for cat food. 

It was missing it's stopper which I think contributed towards its very respectable price tag of £1.

I gave it a good clean in hot soapy water and tied a scrap of pointe shoe ribbon around the neck, filling it with the prettiest rose tinted lisianthus.

Keep a look out in charity and junk shops for anything imperfect. That is, missing a lid or a stopper, or a handle or perhaps even has small chips and cracks. They make the loveliest and thriftiest of vases.

In case you are wondering, part one was these pretty milk/cream jugs which I filled with bluebells. Although these are perfectly perfect and are also used for their original purpose, they sometimes like to moonlight as flower vessels! 

Who can blame them?!

Taking part in Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

✴ to sleep, perchance...??

It would seem my little princess has a pea the size of a 'waterlemon' {her word} under her mattress judging by the amount, or lack of, sleep we have been having this week. 

We have been awake all night. No, really, ALL night! I managed to sleep for one hour before the princess awakened from her sleep of disrupted enchantment and decided enough was enough, why bother waiting for morning...

I know I should be napping now, while she {finally} is. But the problem is I just can't;

{1} a couple of hours just won't cut it and I'll feel even worse, I know it, 

{2} the chance of some quality time on the stitch with glorious peace and daylight far outweighs the bliss of sleep. Really. I know. I'm bonkers.

I made this 'Princess and the Pea' for her the Christmas before last, her first ever one. I'll admit, it was initially met with an expression of what am I supposed to do with this...?

However over time she learned the simple pleasures of flinging the mattresses to the far corners of the living room, or even at a passing cat. And now, we are almost a very grown up two and a half, we have fun with tucking the princess up into bed and kissing her 'night, night'.

It's not even finished {gasp, shock} I had wanted to embroider 'the princess' on the blanket and I was never that happy with how my princess turned out! We have seemingly lost the pillow and a couple of the mattresses {probably under the sofa or hidden by the cats}.

Despite this and although it took a little while, she loves playing with it now. I think children adore to sort and stack and this seems to fit the bill perfectly. There is nothing worse than spending time and love with every stitch of a handmade toy for it to be pushed to the side in favour of some cheap plastic tat!

{'princess and the pea' pattern from More Softies }

✴ the torment of inconsistent raisin distribution...and winners

I don't know what it is with baking with my little one that turns me into a highly strung, perfectionist mumma. 

Fanny Craddock crossed with Hyacinth Bucket, but there it is....

"Noooo.....Let mummy pick that up....now, careful, ooopsss...we'll do that bit again.....I'll finish that bit off........shall I do it??........"

I'll happily sit back and let her paint splodges with carefree abandon.....squidge play dough into mounds of nobbly wonder and dig up parts of the garden with a stick {ok that last one, not that happily...}, but I come over all wobbly when I see a gingerbread leg ripped mercilessly from one and pressed onto the tummy or head of another. And don't get me started on raisin distribution....

I need to get over myself....obviously, the one legged, 3 {raisin} eyed man is going to taste just the same as the others...! Maybe even better!

And so, as we happily scoff our gingerbread walking wounded for afternoon tea, we had a moment to scrunch up some names on paper {including those names wiped from the comments by the mischief making of blogger!!!}, tip them in a small mixing bowl and pulled out three at random.

The winners of Ediths Brooch giveaway are...

Tracey :: Seaweed and Raine :: Lyndel

Well done ladies, I will be in touch.

Apologies to everyone else and thank you all for entering and for indulging my ramblings with your sweet comments aplenty. 

Check back here as I hope to offer up a bit of a freebie for all in the next week or so.

✴ happy monday

I've been flower mad recently. Dismayed at the lack of floral prettiness in my garden I've been researching the diy option and along the way have discovered a vast array of paper and fabric flower tutorials on t'internet. 

I'm normally crafting fake fabric flowers and twirly, ruchy, frilly bits for hats and headdresses so it was quite pleasing to find some ideas of the paper variety and the larger and more decorative the better.

So on friday afternoon me and the little lady sat at the kitchen table and buzzed away in our little creative spaces, me with cutting and pleating these petals while she got messy with paint and brushes.....

{we are still trying to comb dried paint out of her hair...}

This giant poppy was made from a Martha Stewart tutorial. I changed it slightly, using fabric as well as paper and stuck a large vintage button in the centre. I must say it was a sheer delight to make and pretty simple and quick too. 

This one ended up as a gift for a birthday girl. It was such a calming and relaxing pastime that I'm sure I'll be making more, watch this space....

Happy flower filled week. x

✴ green living

I'm loving the green that surrounds us. Everything is thriving from the fabulous sunshine and although the garden is lacking in colourful blooms {must do better next year...} I'm learning to love the green and the leafy.

Jasmine leaves in a tiny glass bottle and small ribbon-tied bunches of ferns are making my heart sing this week. 

The botanical greeneries and crisp white linen make me think of an Edwardian parlour, I'm not sure why but there it is. 

So gloriously glorious and springy are the green and white hues, a perfectly elegant and cheap way to decorate a room and so very weddingy too! 

There I go again, obsessed with all things weddingy....

All things green....

ferns and jasmine from a shady nook in the garden,

transferware sauce boat from a nearby charity shop and a gift from a thoughtful friend 

{thank you Miss S.}

Burleigh chinese style bowls {x 2} in pale green 'Asiatic Pheasants' pattern, local charity shop £3

home grown and home made pea shoot and walnut pesto, recipe here.

{I used old baby food jars, which are a perfect size for pesto and improvised jampot covers with fairy cake cases!}

More Flea Market Finds here

Also, still time to enter my giveaway I will draw winners next week.

Sorry if you have had trouble commenting, blogger was a bit disturbed last week and I fear I have a lost some comments in the process. Hopefully now normal service is resumed {because wasn't it a pain?!!!}

✴ happy monday

At Borough Market on saturday. Ashamed to say I have never, ever been before.

Delighted to say that I will most definitely be going again!

It was packed. But just so lovely to be amongst crowds who just have such a thrill for food and freshly grown produce. Everything is just so delectably delicious. The smells of baked goods, freshly squeezed juice, bubbling pans and sizzling grills of cooked delights! Ahhh....bliss. 

I am always drawn to the pretty and unusual at these sorts of markets and find myself needing to buy items that you just can't find in the tesco 24 hour garage....globe artichoke, ostrich fillet, elderflower and gooseberry jam, spelt bread, ludicrously long cinnamon sticks.......

All the traders are just so very friendly and helpful there too, from the man who helped me choose a selection of flavoured turkish delight {my one weakness...!} to the lovely chap who gave me a demonstration of how to brew the perfect pot of darjeeling tea!

Have a delectable week. x

✴ edith's sweet treats::giveaway

Today this little blog is celebrating it's 3 year....ermmm...and one week birthday!

Ok, so with all the excitement, festivities and bank holiday relaxing of last weekend I completely forgot about my little blogs special day. I'm sorry little blog. 

Anyway, to mark this momentous moment....ahem....I shall be doing a little giveaway.

A short while ago I started to stitch some button brooches from a raggy old bit of unfinished embroidery. And so, although progress has been a little bit slow - blamed solely on my infatuation with watching The Killing almost every night and as we all know, evening craft and subtitled viewing do not mix well - I think I may have a few of these little vintage embroidered brooches to giveaway to a few lovely readers...that is you. Details below.

Someone asked me if I had ever thought about the stitcher of this unfinished embroidery, and let me just say, OH YES, I HAVE......! {Warning! Long ramble approaching...}

I imagine she is a lady who lives in a house similar to mine, in a London surbarb. 

Her name is Edith and it is spring 1939. 

She spends her day consumed with duties of a busy housewife. In the morning she cleans out the grate of last nights blackened ashes from the stove, washes the windows with newspaper and vinegar solution. She exchanges pleasantries and discusses the delightfully clement weather with the postman and visits the grocer for cabbage for the evening stew she'll spend the afternoon preparing.

She is a stocky, middle aged lady with greying pincurled hair. She never leaves the house without her hat and her best coat, even when the sun is warm and always wears her crossover pinny when home. She's a bit clumsy and heavy handed but she works hard and is meticulous in her chores.

She worries that she cannot keep up with the local housewives and their 'domestic goddess' like ways.

Having visited them all for afternoon teas and congratulated them on their lightness of scone, selection of perfect china and beauty of their delicately hand stitched and co-ordinated table linens.

Realising it will soon be her time for an 'at home' and she sets about with a 'stitch it yourself' small tablecloth. 

Oh how she wants to impress those opinionated ladies. 

The stitching is harder than she thought, the threads become tangled all too often and the embroidery takes many months of stitching.

She works on it in the evening while her husband sleeps off dinner in the armchair and listening to the wireless she trys to shut out news of the impending troubles in Europe with colourful threads of periwinkle blue, peach and magenta, slowly creating a bouquet of flowers on the cream linen cloth.

The tablecloth will never be finished because with the outbreak of war comes far more important chores than embroideries and afternoon tea. Edith carefully places the unfinished embroidery in her sewing box.

She now wears overalls and sturdy lace up boots, she rolls up her sleeves and heads off to the local garage to take up her job as a mechanic. 

Now the men are all off fighting for their country it's down to the strong and sturdy women like Edith to keep things going. This was what she was born to do. The 'domestic goddesses' are appalled at her dirty oily hands and disheveled hair but are secretly just a bit in awe too.

Edith finally feels important and worthy, she never takes out the embroidery again, such delicate tasks are not for the likes of Edith. Neither does she worry about her failure in baking or spends too much time on making her windows shine. Instead she is Queen of the engine and all is good.

{not factually based....obviously - ramblings of a daydreamer!!!}

These two little birds {£3 each}, picked up and subsequently sprayed in white from the local charity shop the other week, were just a bit chuffed to be asked to carry the banner to announce the giveaway. I can't help but notice how lovely these are in a weddingy sort of way. A brilliantly cheap way of decorating a venue.

I'm wondering about giving them gold painted beaks...what do you think?

So if you would like to enter, just leave a comment below with an email address/blog link so that I can contact you should you win.

No need to be a follower, or mention this on your blog, or tweet or bleat or whatever else about this. It's just a simple gift from me, and I am happy to send these little lovelies wherever in the world you may be.

I will, in a blindfolded sort of way, draw three winners from the proverbial hat {well, in actual fact, probably a real hat...} the week after next so you have until midnight {GMT } next sunday {15th} to enter.

Brooches will be selected randomly and I suspect a few other bits of craftiness will be added to the giveaway package!

Bonne chance, mes amis!

{Swinnertons 1950's cake stand from my sister-in-law}
Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures.

P.S Please do not reveal the ending to The Killing, I have not finished watching it yet!!!!

✴ start of the season

I think we can now most definitely say that wedding season is upon us. As someone who works with beautiful brides and spends most days looking lovingly at wedding inspirations I think there can be no better kick off with all things weddingy than with the recent nuptials of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Did you watch? I spent the day with two lovely hat wearing ladies and we supped bubbly and ate breakfast and supped bubbly and ate lunch and then just supped bubbly. 

We gasped and we oohed and we ahhed at the sublime beauty of Miss M in her beautiful gown. 

Imagine how hit-the-roof excited I then was to discover that my dear, and oh so talented friend, had been a special stitcher of that most famous frock. She was one of the embroiderers from The Royal School of Needlework. How gobsmacked was I?? The BEST KEPT SECRET bar none! 

You can read all about it here.

So, buzzing with this knowledge and therefore reckoning that if I spent the weekend congratulating and stroking the arm of said friend and royal stitcher {ok not the whole weekend, that would be weird} then indeed I could conclude that I am only one very petite person away from that most famous frock......that's how it works in my head anyway....

Not surprising then, that my space is of the bridal kind this week. 

With finishing of some pieces and the beginnings of others. Working on new brass pieces with vintage lace and quartz crystal, ideas brewing for these teeny tiny brass lockets, baby blue grosgrain ribbon, cinderella style tulle bows and finding inspiration in delicate forget-me-not flowers.

I feel compelled to doth my feathery fascinator style cap in awe to the brit style front cover of Grazia and the utterly brilliant headline "Arise McQueen Kate". Well done Grazia.

More Creative Spaces at Kootoyoo.