Spring is on it's way!

Spring has definitely been in the air this week... It is my favourite season, I love to watch the flowers blooming and the buds blossoming, as well as the baby lambs skipping about in the fields (I just love the way they jump!) The sunshine feels so good after a long cold, dark winter, and I can't wait for the time that I can sit out in the garden again.

I was looking through some of my photos from last year earlier and I came across these pictures of my hydrangea, all pretty in the sunshine! How lovely and Spring-like does it look with it's soft pink-tinged petals and rich dark green leaves...

Unfortunately it is looking a little sorry for itself at the minute, having been left at the mercy of the British winter, but little green shoots and leaves are poking through once more, so hopefully it won't be long until it is flowering once again!

Have a lovely Sunday x

A lovely week...

Have had a bit of a disjointed week work-wise, not that I've minded too much! The beginning of the week saw me working on an exciting commissioned project (not allowed to say much at mo though). Then the last few days my mum and sister Harriet have been visiting. We hardly ever see them, so it was so nice to spend some time with them! 

Went shopping in Bath on Wednesday, including afternoon tea in the Pump Room - how very civilised, hehe. We also took a trip to the city of Wells yesterday, which is really pretty with some lovely little shops and a stunning Cathedral.

I didn't buy that much in Bath except some new jeans but I did pick up these little cuties from New Look of all places! I appear to be developing a full blown 'love heart' obsession and I just couldn't resist these plasters to add to my collection. There are three different designs saying 'love hurts', 'kiss it better' and 'ouch' - so sweet!

I also bought this cute toast stamp - a post Valentine's bargain, but I've wanted one of these for ages, so it was a good find! Have yet to test it out, but I will post a pic when I do.

I've also made a couple more mirrors this week - the same as my little personalised 'I love...' badge actually. I am featuring for the first time in the Not on the High Street Spring Catalogue which comes out next week (eek - not feeling very prepared!) so I thought a co-ordinating handbag mirror would be a good idea! The couple of prototypes I have designed have now gone to good homes:)

I hope to have them live in my NOTHS shop soon. They will be £6.00 each and will come in a little ivory organza bag to keep them clean.

Mum and Harriet left this morning to drive back to Shropshire but the rest of my day hasn't been that productive! To be honest, I'm in the mood just to have a weekend off and start afresh on Monday but I have lots to prepare for the catalogue drop next week, so I think in reality I'm in for a weekend of ironing fabric and cutting out backing cards! Hope you all have a good one though... What are you doing, anything nice? 

Oooh nearly forgot but before I go I must say a massive thank you to Anna at SilverPaw, who makes the most lovely jewellery - pop across and check out her work, it's beautiful! Anyway, she was kind enough to award me the Stylish Blogger award last week - very flattered indeed though as I received it not that long ago, I won't bore you all with more facts about myself so soon;) Was very much appreciated though, so thank you again Anna!

xxx

Homemade biscuits

This will be a bit of a short post as my camera's playing up and I've not managed to get many photos, but I so wanted to post a couple of pics of my iced biscuits I made yesterday! 

I was originally planning on baking some 'Valentine's Day' heart biscuits next week but my sewing machine bulb blew (again) yesterday, and as the natural light was awful, my sewing plans had to be put on hold for the rest of the day! 

You may remember that after Christmas me and my sister tried our hand at icing, and I loved it, so I have since invested in three squeezy bottles and three icing nozzles. This meant that I could do each of the threes colour separately... so much easier than switching all the time!

I kept the shapes and designs simple, but I'm really pleased with the way they have turned out... I especially like the dotty ones (anyone who knows me will testify I am a little obsessed with red and white spots!) What do you think?

They also taste very yummy and I ate far too many yesterday! The biscuits themselves are made from a 'super choclately' recipe out of my Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits and have proved a big hit so I will definitely be making them again soon I think.

That's all for now, hope you all have a smashing weekend xxx

Hearts, hearts and more hearts...

A few of my bloggy friends have been showing off their hearts recently and I couldn't resist taking a few snaps of some of mine! Now I have nowhere near as impressive a collection as Becky over at Dots and Spots, who has so many she's had to split her posts by room! Anyway, here are a few of my favourite hearts from around my house...

Cute heart measuring spoons - I bought these from here a few months ago, and love them, they make the boring 'measuring out' bit of baking so much more fun!

This is my favourite ever mug - my OH gave it to me a few years ago for Valentine's day and I use it at least once a day without fail. If I ever break it, I will cry.

This is a lovely linen heart given to me by a good friend, so simple but lovely all the same.

Heart cookie cutters... I think these are adorable, especially the tiny one! The pretty heart tin has to be the best thing about them though.

Lovely big red tin heart - have got cream versions of this too!

Cream hanging wooden hearts, given to me by another friend for a birthday a few years ago!

A pretty wire heart hanging in my studio... use it to pop little notes and photos on (took them off though so you could make out the heart shape!)

Green spotty wooden hearts hanging in my kitchen at the minute. I really love this eau de nil colour, I have a lot of it around!

Lastly, this heart was made for me by my younger sister when I was in hospital years ago. She would only have been 4 or 5 at the time, but when she gave it to me, I stuck it to the back of my hospital bed and have kept it ever since!

So there you have some of my favourite hearts - I do have more, including lots of christmas decoration hearts, but they are all packed away now and could not face getting them down just to photograph!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend xxx

Giveaway winners... could it be you??

Before I announce the winners of my giveaway, I just wanted to post about an absolutely lovely prize I myself won recently... It was very early on a Tuesday morning a few weeks ago, and I was checking my emails and facebook account like I always do first thing, and to my delight, there was a giveaway posted from Coco Cuscino, who make a beautiful range of cushions, bolsters and accessories. My early start definitely paid off and I was lucky enough to win this lovely cushion from their Mini Coco range!

 

I'd asked  Leila whether she would mind sending me a pale blue version which would fit in with my decor, and she didn't disappoint. The package was beautifully wrapped in tissue and ribbon and the cushion itself is gorgeous - I love the stars fabric and the pom pom trim too - it looks so lovely residing on my little button back chair.

A big thank you again to Coco Cuscino - if you haven't heard of them yet, make sure to pop over to their website and facebook page to take a look at their beautiful range!

Now... on to the winners of my own handbag mirror giveaway - apologies for the slightly delayed reveal, not sure where the morning has gone to be honest! 

Thank you to everyone that took part, I can't believe how many entries there were, thank you all! I have used random number generator to pick the three winners, who are...

So thats... 

Number 56 - The Patchwork Heart

Number 147 - Megan

Number 160 - Sarah Foster

Well done ladies! xxx