Splashes of colour

Let's gloss over the the shameful gap in postings shall we?

Let's just be forgiving and understanding. 

After all it is almost spring, the season where everything blossoms anew and winter is forgotten. So let's just say that my blog was going through its own winter while its writer conserved energy in a deep deep hibernation . 

The truth is, I struggle with winter. Post Christmas the January blues creep in and I usually fall victim to some plague or another and motivation is always in limited supply. This year it's taken a little longer to get myself out of the January slump, mainly due to aforementioned plague.

But while the days have been grey, sometimes white, I have been doing what I can to bring those splashes of colour into my everyday life. 

Whether it be physical, literal colour..flowers, decorations...teacups..

Or the kind of colour that comes from making something or doing something different, something interesting, something that takes your mind off the grey outside. 

A new craft perhaps? A visit to a new town...

There's nothing like doing something creative to add a bit of colour to the day...and if the result also brings colour to my home then so much the better.

I kept myself busy this winter by making metres of bunting..just because. I hadn't made anything in a very long time and my home needed a lift after the Christmas decoration purge. Such a pretty pattern.

 I also enjoyed working with this little bundle of colours when I decided to make myself a granny square blanket. This meant that I needed to learn how to crochet. Something which I was certain that I never wanted to do. But I'm a determined soul when I want to be. So with the help of many youtube videos, I taught myself and I spent many a dark night turning these little balls of colour into something that I can keep and pass down. Learning something new is fun isn't it?

It's getting there slowly.

Of course what I really wanted to be doing was writing but I seem to be failing in that area. So many ideas and such a lack of confidence. Somewhere along the line in this busy thing called life I feel like I lost my writing talent and I'm sure I had it once. Now, not even I believe myself when I say I'm a writer. Still trying to find a way out of that but for now the blog will have to do. 

How did you make it through the winter this year? Or was the promise of spring enough to keep you going? Well it'll soon be here.

 So until next time, let me welcome you all into March and bid you farewell. Until next time...and there will be a next time I'm sure of it.

With love,

Lexie

P.S I missed you.

♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥

The Festive Home

Ahhh Christmas. Is there any other month more wonderful than December?..every day takes you closer to the best days of the year and while we wait we get to decorate our homes and enjoy the festive sights and smells.

I truly love this time of year.

My house is looking suitably festive, I trust yours is too by now. This year I am particularly happy with my festive home.

I have contrasting tastes when it comes to Christmas decor. I love a rustic, country Christmas style decor with natural garlands, greenery and scandi style red and white combinations. But I also adore a faded, frosty look that screams vintage oppulance. The two don't exactly mix so this year I have tried to keep them seperate and only mixed where I feel it looks right...mostly on the tree. I think I've managed to get it right for once...

The living room is rustic, with berry and ivy garlands on the mantle piece, candles and frosted twigs in a vase.

The tree is an ecclectic mix of scandi patterns, reds and whites as well as pinks, ivories and florals (of course).

The hallway is full of frosty white, ivories and golds. Lots of faded glitter, lace and vintage gold ornaments and some frosted pinecones to keep the rustic theme going.

My bedroom continues the theme with whites, creams and fairy lights. 

And when all is decorated, I love to sit back and enjoy the sights by evening candle light..

And those glorious Christmas smells..cinamon, cloves, clemantines..

There definitely is no better time of year.

Happy decorating and thank you for reading.

Lexie

x

♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥

Sweet Charity

Hello pretties.

I hope I find you well this December eve. November has been madness for me..from beginning to end. I have spent all of two full days at home this month and spent the rest of the time either working, at weddings, working, visiting people and more working. Phew. I need some quiet weekends to get my self ready for Christmas.

One thing I also spent my November doing was raising money for charity (no, not by growing a moustache). At work I have been taking part in a project called Micro Tyco where as a team you are given £1 to turn into a profit for charity. Well, me and my team had no end of fun coming up with innovative ways to make money and I won't bore you with the details. Except for this..

We decided to make some Christmas decorations to sell and I had such fun making them I had to share. To make these baubles I used:

10 polystyrene balls

Bauble hooks

Fabric scraps cut into small pieces

Tissue cut into pieces

Sheet music

Ribbon for hanging

Glitter varnish spray to seal and add sparkle

Simply cover sections of the bauble in glue and layer with a fabric or other material of your choice.

It's fun but quite fiddly. I got covered in glue, covered in glitter varnish and frustrated but for a minimal amount of effort the results were quite something. What do you think?

I set them up in their own display box in the hopes that people at work would buy them..

And here they are all set up at work ready for some customers. Have you ever tried making Christmas baubles? 

Besides raising money for charity I have had plenty of  other things to smile about this month. 

~1. Quality time with my niece ~ 2. Silly faces ~ 3. I went home to Wales
and met my mum's new dog ~ 4. I went to a wedding ~ 5. I enjoyed a welsh frosty morning~
6. I hung my decorations and I couldn't be happier.

With love,

Lexie

Lexie in Edinburgh

Hi petals.

I have had the pleasure this weekend of spending some time in Edinburgh. Although Saturday and Sunday were filled with work, work and more work I spent Friday afternoon in Edinburgh, exploring the city for the first time.
Edinburgh has been on my bucket list for a long while so it is nice to have finally been there. Now I am desperate to go back.

We had afternoon tea at The Georgian Tea Room at The Dome which had been decorated for Christmas and looked exquisitely beautiful. And we walked and walked and walked through winding cobble streets. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset with the sound of bagpipes in the distance.

I took plenty of photos despite it being quite dusky while we were there and I wanted to share a few. Enjoy.

Edinburgh has captured my heart and I am smitten.

Well that's it from me for now. I am exhausted so I am off to snuggle down and rest my tired eyes.

Lexie

x

♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥

Turning 20 (plus 8)

It's Sunday, It's November...it's flipping cold and here I am bidding you all a fond hello...hello!

So last Monday I reached the grand old age of 28 and had a fabulous birthday weekend doing my most favourite things with my most favourite people.

On Saturday bestie and I headed to the city from our little London suburb. It's been so long since I spent time just wondering the London streets and wondering we did. We were meeting my lovely friend L for the day and we had a splendid albeit very cold time. I made my first trip to a Laduree shop (more about that in a seperate post though) and we lunched and chatted and ambled until the sun went down.

|Left to right: 1. Wrapping up warm| 2. Waiting for the train| 3. Kensington| 4. Breakfast in a park|
|5. Autumn leaves|  6. Feet| 7. The V & A| 8. Baked treats| 9. Macarons|

On Sunday my surprise birthday weekend started...I was only told to pack an overnight bag, I did and then off we went, the bestie and I. Heading south for a surprise adventure.

We ended up in Lewes, East Sussex. Chosen because it is a gorgeous little town and absolutely teaming with antique shops which I was very quick to discover. My bestie really does know me so well.

I was in my element! We found the Lewes antique centre which was four floors of absolute heaven. I found a lot of treasures in there, including a birthday treat from my mum...an antique eiderdown. My first and it's a thing of beauty. Later we headed to the Lewes Flea Market which again housed a lot of treasures waiting for me to find them and take them home.

The surprises didn't end there. Our place to stay for the night was a gorgeous four star hotel 'Pelham House'. We had a girly night in our bargain twin room..watching tv, eating and relaxing before my birthday.

Monday morning soon dawned and I was 28 all of a sudden. I started off the next year of my life with a four star cooked breakfast and a visit to my favourite farm shop 'Secretts' and the beautiful Winkworth arboretum before getting back on the motorway and heading back to reality to carve pumpkins and eat some seriously decadent chocolate birthday cake.

Left to right: 1. Lewes Flea Market| 2. Hotel room view| 3. The Pelham House Hotel| 4. Hotel artwork|
| 5. Views across Lewes| 6. Lewes castle| 7. Birthday dinner at Bill's| 8. Birthday morning| 9. Secretts farm shop|

It was a truly lovely birthday weekend and I was very sad to go back to work on Tuesday. I felt older with a heavy heart. But I still had lots to look forward to..this weekend I have spent some time with both my besties  and spent a wonderful few hours at the Fleetville vintage emporium...although, as much as I loved it second time around, it's not a patch on Lewes. Which makes me desperate to go back soon.

So as you can imagine with all the time spent looking around such wonderous places with birthday money in my purse I have acquired a good few new treasures for my home. I will share them with you very soon.

Until then, lots of love..

Lexie


♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥

Pumpkin O'clock

Hello Pumpkins.

Just stopping by to wish you a Happy Halloween before I get another knock on the door from another small child in another adorable outfit!

I will be back soon with some lovely posts. I promise! I've been busy...I had a birthday and I've had some great adventures to celebrate. Can't wait to share. For now I shall leave you with my pumpkins.

What do you think?

Oo there goes the door again!

x x x x


♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥

Autumn Leaves

Well hello beautiful strangers.

I have neglected you and I'm sorry! Life got in the way again and I have had nothing to say. It seemed as if September was pulled from under me before I even had a chance to enjoy it and here we are midway through October. Where has the year gone? I find myself just two short weeks away from my birthday..oh how I love my birthday! But it blows my mind to think the end of the year will not be far behind.

It's so nice to see the leaves finally changing colour in London and falling all around me. My absolute favourite time of the year. I have mostly been trying to avoid the lurgy these last few weeks while having some fun times in between. Some family time, some time back in Cheltenham, some outings, some thrifting. Let's see shall we?

I went back to my beloved Cheltenham for the day. Had tea in the best tea room with the best of friends. Strolled through much missed streets and parks. Found a new hat and started making plans to move back there in the near future..yes indeed.

I spent a weekend recently at my dads in Essex and had the pleasure of looking after my delectable niece and nephew for the day. I love them so much I could squish them!

Of course there is always time for china hunting..and always space on my blog for tea cups! I was delighted to find a basket full of saucerless tea cups in a Cheltenham charity shop. I chose my favourites and brought them home with glee. I have also found some lovely pastel plates and utility wear bowls recently.

While I am yet to see some real autumn colour, I have been loving the changing season. I just love feeling the colder breeze, the fresher air and seeing the crisper blue autumn sky. 

I am not the type to change my home around with the seasons but I do enjoy making my home more cozy as the nights roll in. That usually means the fairy lights get switched on and maybe moved around to new locations...it also means some much needed tidying and sorting. Perhaps to de-clutter my house and my mind and make room for the excitement of my birthday, Halloween, bonfire night and then...Christmas!!

And then there's these two...Buckley, the bane of my existence..a true devil cat. And my Austen..he follows me everywhere..preferring to perch up high so he's at my level...we call him shelf kitty.

And that just about brings us up to speed my dears! I am on birthday countdown..my usual crazy levels of excitement are kicking in..perhaps not just because of my birthday but because my birthday is the start of my favourite part of the year with so much to look forward to! 

If you are using Instagram please do feel free to follow me and see what I'm up to when I'm not blogging. 

Until next time,

Lexie

♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥

The wonders of 'Washi tape'

Washi tape is no new thing. It is known and loved by many craft bloggers. I stumbled upon Washi tape when I picked up some Cath Kidston tape in their winter sale last year and another pack with different patterns a few months later. Sadly, Cath Kidston no longer sell the tape (you can find some of it on Ebay/Amazon or in outlet stores though)

But since then, Washi tape and the many equivalents are appearing everywhere. Much to my delight. I have blogged about my previous Washi tape projects here and here  and the other day I popped a little photo on Instagram of my most recent Washi tape project.

The welly boot picture is a handmade greeting card that I picked
up in Norfolk. It was always destined to be framed.

It's just an old white frame covered in floral tape. Nothing too special. But people were quite taken with it. What struck me the most was that people hadn't considered using the tape in this way before. This simply cannot be. So, I thought I would share some of the potential uses of this wonderful tape invention and hopefully give you some new ideas.

The great thing about patterned tape is that it is translucent and so when it sticks to a surface you can't see the tape and instead you are left with a painted pattern effect that is quite striking.

Bring new life to cheap old frames

You can pick up old frames by the dozen at any charity shop but why just paint them when you can give them a whole new look with a pretty pattern. Press the tape on tightly so it gets into the grooves of the frame and it will look natural and lovely.

Add detailing to furniture

Chairs, door frames, cabinet edges or shelf edges. Think about it. Anything with a flat narrow edge has  potential for some patterned tape detailing. I used tape to decorate the edging of my craft cabinet shelf and I was instantly struck by the painted flower effect. It looked like I had painstakingly painted every rose petal onto the shelf. Similarly, the spice rack was painted and then every edge carefully covered with tape that had been delicately trimmed to fit and it looks lovely. I keep meaning to sell it but haven't got round to it yet.

Brighten up woodwork

Plain wood is screaming out for decoration like this. I transformed this simple ikea frame with a layered tape effect to show two lovely patterns. The wooden crate was the first item that I decorated with tape. It was one of those "I'll just try this" moments and I loved the effect...it was the idea that spawned an obsession I think.  I love the blue spotty tape but sadly is isn't available anymore. You can get a different set with a floral print and a green polka dot tape though on Ebay and Amazon.

So there you go, have a look around and see what might benefit from this simple trick. Patterned tape is available all over the place these days. I've seen it in Paperchase and Waterstones to name a few place but you can get an extensive range online. It's fiddly work but by far the easiest way to transform something with quick and effective results that I just adore. I hope you do too.

Happy taping.

Lexie


♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥

Step back in time..

Hello readers.

I had myself a little weekend getaway in Norfolk over the last few days, courtesy of some lovely friends. I had never been to Norfolk before and was very excited to see a new corner of the country and some new countryside. There will be a post to share some photos and the best parts of my adventure but for now I simply had to tell you about my visit to Sheringham..because I simply can't wait to share. Patience isn't my strong point.

Having never been to Norfolk, I had never been to Sheringham but on Sunday we found ourselves in the quaint little town, famed for its steam train and vintage station. Well, of all the days to pay the town a visit, we picked a good one. We landed right in the middle of the 1940's, well in the form of a forties weekend and boy was it a sight to behold.

Having never seen quite so many 1940's enthusiasts in one small area I was really quite taken by the effect and for a second or two I let myself get swept away and imagined I was in the 40's too..because my mind works like that, of course, someone carrying a great big camera would soon walk by and ruin the entire effect..(I'm ignoring the fact that I was one of those people with a big old camera). As we walked around the town and through the crowds I found myself feeling dull, modern and severely under dressed. They were everywhere, servicemen from every country, nurses, ladies, gentlemen old and very very young. Amazing really.

Well..see for yourself..

I loved these two, they looked so refined and
honestly looked like they had strolled right out
of the forties. 

I think I spent too much time looking at these two!

I didn't really get to look around the station itself, it was packed with people which made photo taking quite interesting. I just had to look over the fence from the outside like a commoner but it was wonderful all the same.

As we walked down the street a procession of service men and women passed us as all the shops played 40's wartime music..and then there was the window displays, all fitting in with the forties theme. What a great time to visit a place, that's all I can say.

Having spent the morning at a 1950's costume and textile fair I was feeling all kinds of nostalgic as you can imagine.

What an experience.

In other less interesting news, I made my first sale in my shop today!! Have you stopped by yet? Better have a look at my china before I decide I can't part with it!

With love,

Lexie


♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥

Coming up roses..

Happy Saturday my dears,

Has it been a scorcher where you are?

The universe was smiling down on me today. I sulked this morning because I had a serious craving for a boot sale..yes I crave them! Can't explain it. But I had booked a hair cut this morning and I had to go, I'm terrible at convincing myself to go because I hate going so having already booked it I really couldn't flake. Well would you believe it, when I walked out of the salon onto Chiswick high street with my OK but not perfect hair cut I spotted a boot sale on the green opposite the high street. Madness. It was completely one off, never been there before but there it was today, waiting for me. I found some treasures too, most of which have been added to my Etsy shop. Some of them stayed with me though of course.

Anyway, I am not here today to tell you about my latest finds. I am here today to finally share something creative that I have been doing.

It may have come to your attention that I am somewhat obsessed with rose prints, specifically vintage rose prints. I live and die for them, honestly I do. I have to fight against myself very hard to not cover my entire house in them. So I came up with a little compromise...rose decals. I found a supplier of rose decals/transfers and have filled my world with different patterns and prints. They are just perfect for putting a little extra something onto your plain glassware, furniture, plastic..whatever. I especially enjoy using them to beautify plain jars and glasses.

Do you want a peek?

With just a damp sponge and some heat these beautiful vintage style roses will stick to anything. It reminds me of the temporary tattoos we used to wear as children, except much prettier! Today I gave this £3 glass jug from a supermarket a bit of personality with a pretty floral bouquet. I saw one similar in an antique centre with six glasses but it was selling for £20. My jug is just a lovely now and much better on the old bank balance..

And here's those beautiful roses up close..

Now I just have to fight the urge to use rose transfers on everything! Seriously, if you put anything down in my house, chances are it'll end up looking rosey..

Have you discovered rose decals? How do you use them? Are you as obsessed with vintage rose prints as I am..shall we start a support group?

If you haven't paid a visit to my vintage emporium yet, do please stop by. I have filled it the brim with mismatched china and vintage wonderfuls.

With love,

Lexie


♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥

Teacups for sale

Good evening all,

Feast your eyes on these beauties for a moment:

Are you in love as much as I am. These beautiful specimens of vintage china lovliness are now for sale in my shop. Head on over and if you love them enough to keep them forever then make sure you use the discount code 'WONDERFUL' when you check out to get 10% off.

Happy Tuesday!

Lexie

♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest ♥