If I lived by myself I would probably live in a polkadot
palace, with lots of pastel colour and vintage second hand refurbished furniture!
Until next time, K x
Friday 26 April 2013
Friday I'm in LOVE...with polkadots
It began when I stumbled across a new fashion blog this week...the
blogger was wearing FANTASTIC polkadot jeans with a smart blazer and an
oversized clutch bag. Before I knew it I was seeing polkadots everywhere!
Thursday 25 April 2013
On the tiles
When I first moved into my house one of my favourite
features were the fireplaces which all had beautiful coloured tiles. I think
they are genuine vintage Victorian – but they could just be reproduction –
either way I love them! Is there a foolproof way for novices to find out?!
The previous owner had used the colours in the tiles to
decide the colour scheme of the rooms – think retro mustard yellow, deep forest
green and scarlet walls! I prefer to keep all of the walls neutral which I
think makes the colours in the tiles ‘pop’ more.
These are the tiles in my home...
Plus a few which I have recently ‘discovered’ on Pinterest!
I love the colours, the patterns and the mismatched style of
these tiles.
This sky blue colour screams vintage chic!
I have tried to
persuade my boyfriend that these would make an amazing sink splashback
in the bathroom when we finally get round to redecorating it...but as yet he remains
totally unconvinced. Don’t worry – I’ll keep working on him!
Until next time, K x
Wednesday 24 April 2013
20 years of Cath Kidston
I am a Cath Kidston addict.
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There. I said it. Don’t people say that admitting you have a
problem is the first step to recovery? Well this is one addiction I hope I
never recover from, although my poor long-suffering boyfriend may not agree!
Through the post today I received this lovely little booklet
with the latest things from the Cath Kidston shop – as well as the history
behind some of the iconic prints and patterns. I decided to mark my own
celebration of 20 years of Cath by showing you my own collection...
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It started with a love of the perfect little dog Stanley.
Some gorgeous wellington boots seemed the perfect tribute to him!
Then I discovered the clashing pastel florals and I was
hooked. Some pastel tea plates were smuggled into the house one by one to avoid
suspicion. Then a mug. Or two....
My birthday last year was a Cath Kidston extravaganza – I
got this beautiful teapot from my mother-in-law, aswell as a purse, a keyring
and some delicious bath salts.
My latest Cath treats have been more affordable –this year I
have been very good and only bought napkins and ribbon...but I have a birthday
this week and will be batting my eyelashes at everybody!
Happy 20th birthday
Cath!
Until next time, K x
Friday 19 April 2013
Friday I'm in LOVE...with pastels
Today I have mostly been...falling in love! I have a very
lovely boyfriend but this week has been all about pastel colours – I just can’t
get enough ice-cream shades!
There is something about minty green, dusky pink and soft
pastel yellow that makes me think of summer holidays, 1950s style prom dresses
and the film Pleasantville.
If you haven’t seen it then it’s a great film where Tobey
Maguire and Reese Witherspoon find themselves transported to a 1950s American
TV Show and become Bud and Mary Sue Parker.
Whilst they try to stay in character they can’t help but
start to influence the characters in the show. Slowly the town begins to change
from black and white to glorious colour as people start to experience passion
and emotion. Some of the town’s elders begin a campaign to ban ‘coloured
people’ from public venues, which starts a riot amongst the enlightened town
residents.
Bud and the owner of the local diner paint a colourful mural
to show the beauty of the colourful world and are arrested. Finally, one of the
few black and white people left – the mayor – feels such strong anger about the
changes to the town, the rebellious children and the independent thinking wives
that he becomes colourful!
I couldn’t help but feel passion towards these beautiful
pastel pretties which I have been coveting this week!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stripey-mooka/6708530899/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tangfang/4953268649/in/faves-missdxb/
Cross Stitcher Magazine
http://www.debeecampos.blogspot.nl/
http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2009/05/ladder-plant-stand
http://allemaalkleurtjes.blogspot.co.uk
I hope this has given you some pastel inspiration,
Until next time, K x
Monday 15 April 2013
Happy Easter
Happy Easter!
Yes, I know I’m a little late...but if you knew me
personally you would know that I’m a little late for everything! To the extent
that during school when my best friends would invite me to sleepovers they would tell me a time half an hour earlier
than everyone else so that we would all arrive at around the same time!
Today I made these little beauties, because there can never
be too much Nutella or too many mini eggs in one day!
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The mixture makes twelve cupcakes.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/gas mark 3.
Put the 100g
plain flour, 20g cocoa powder, 140g caster sugar, 1 ½ tsps baking powder, pinch
of salt and 40g softened butter
in a mixer and beat on slow speed or mix by hand until all ingredients are
combined.
Pour 120ml milk
into the mixture and beat well until all ingredients are well mixed.
Add 1 egg
and beat well.
Spoon the mixture into paper cases around two
thirds full and bake for 20 mins or until the sponge bounces back when touched.
Leave to cool, then turn out onto a wire rack.
When the cupcakes have cooled, cut a teaspoon sized
hole in the top of each cupcake and fill with a spoonful of Nutella. Replace the top of the cake.
Beat 250g
icing sugar and 80g softened
unsalted butter together by hand or using an electric whisk.
Once well mixed, turn the mixer down to a slow
speed and slowly add 25ml milk.
Beat on a high speed for at least 5 minutes until
the icing is light and fluffy.
Stir in 80g
Nutella by hand until evenly mixed.
Pipe the frosting on top of each cupcake and
decorate with a mini egg.
Dust with a little icing sugar for that professional look!
Please forgive my poor excuse at icing – it was my first
attempt using a piping bag and it is a heck of a lot trickier than I thought it
would be! I am a true supporter of the
phrase ‘practice makes perfect’, so hopefully future baking attempts will
showcase a more polished performance!
Until next time, K x
Saturday 13 April 2013
Saltburn Farmer's Market
Sunshine! I’m sure you’ll forgive me for that exclamation
but it has been so long since we saw any that it took me by surprise when it
turned up today! Summery weather only means one thing to me – the beach. No
matter how sub-zero the temperature actually is, if the sun shines then I can
legitimately go to the beach and have an ice-cream whilst dipping my toes in
the arctic water!
Luckily for me my sand-phobic partner had discovered that a
farmer's market was on in Saltburn so he was happy to indulge in a day by the
sea. A market to him is the equivalent of a charity shop to me so it was the
perfect combination of sun, sea and wild boar sausages for the day!
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Delicious homemade cakes
This cutie was hiding away under a table!
Handmade beauty
After the market and a delicious hog roast sandwich we had a
stroll along the pier with the obligatory rum ‘n’ raisin cone and watched the surfers
and donkeys on the beach. We even took a trip up the beautiful Victorian cliff
lift. The lift is one of the oldest remaining working lifts of its type and it
is an iconic part of the railway heritage in the North East.
Isn’t the stained glass stunning?
Until next time, K x
Monday 8 April 2013
Spring is in the air
When my boyfriend and I decided to buy a house together a
couple of years ago we both had a list of ‘must-haves’ and ‘must-not haves’.
His essentials were very sensible – off street parking to lower the car
insurance, a shed or a garage to store his biking gear, and a spare room so
that friends and family could stay over after boozy evenings.
I was looking for a lot less rational items – I was desperate for real wood floors, feature fireplaces and high ceilings.
I was looking for a lot less rational items – I was desperate for real wood floors, feature fireplaces and high ceilings.
Let’s just say that I got everything on my list...and
my partner got just a few things on his!
One of our life ambitions has always been to live ‘the good
life’. We want to grow our own produce, have a well stocked pantry of home
baked cakes and pies, and be able to buy from independent retailers rather than
chain-stores...all on two minimum wage pay packets!
Our first small step towards being self sufficient involved
my boyfriend digging two trenches in our front garden last week. I have to
admit that I wept a little inside at the sight of my lovely grass being bagged
up for recycling because it is the only bit of ‘nature’ that we have, as the back yard is completely paved over.
I’m sure I will look at them abit more lovingly when I can see the fruit (or vegetables!) of his labour – potatoes, beetroot, carrots, parsnips and onions. After the awful snow and general wintery weather that we have had so far this year we are both being cautious about the results of his mini-allotment so we went to the garden centre this weekend and stocked up on some colourful plants to give us something to look at outside!
The beautiful Belfast sink that we were given as a moving in
present from my mum and her boyfriend...
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I have always wanted hanging baskets overflowing with bright
flowers outside my front door!
We got three of these amazing whisky barrels for a bargain
on Ebay. When the boyfriend was drilling drainage holes you could distinctly
smell the sweet whisky within the wood!
I have also planted lots of seeds indoors and at the moment
I have things growing on every available windowsill – the sweet peas, sunflowers
and tomatoes seem to be the happiest at the moment! Hopefully in a few weeks
they will be strong enough to plant outside to grow up a trellis.
Until next time, K x
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