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Verso Design Kivi Place Mat : Gifts and Accessories from Scandinavia

Verso Design Kivi Place Mat : Gifts and Accessories from Scandinavia

FREE UK POSTAGE! Designer Wallpaper - The Perfect Pad

FREE UK POSTAGE! Designer Wallpaper - The Perfect Pad

More wall decals.

I've just put up these wall stickers today and they look fab. Sorry the picture isn't very clear. They are in my favourite colours and go perfectly with my duck egg blue and cream kitchen! My archived entry back in Jan shows the Beearo decals that we hung in our family room, but I wanted something more colourful for the kitchen. I think they work well. Available from Decoccinelle.

Gaudi paving tile...

I meant to mention the tile on the table beside the orchid. It was my favourite gift last year. Our daughter Katy, hence the name Katyboo, bought it for us when we were in Spain in the summer and kept it until Christmas. It is a replica, in my favourite colour, of the Gaudi paving on the Passeig de Gracia. It's beautiful and very special to me.

Gaudí designed a paving stone for the Batlló house (1904-1906), which was finally installed in the Milà house (1906-1910). In the 1970's the Gaudí design was adapted for use on the Passeig de Gràcia avenue.

Orchids

If you've read my profile you'll see that one of my favourite flowers is an orchid. They may be expensive to buy but the flowers last for months, really, and if you're lucky like me they flower again and again. This is my latest triumph! I have to admit they don't look too pretty once the flowers have dropped off and the stem is cut back, but have faith, keep them draught free, water now and again, and they seem to thrive. I have found that they take about six months to re flower but worth the wait don't you think?

Hearts Galore...

I do have a soft spot for a heart and seeing as valentines is coming up I thought I'd share some of my hearts that are around my home. I like ones that look simple and are made from natural materials, though I do have a few wired hearts on the door handles that have pearlised buttons threaded through them.

The bottom two are my favourites. The one made of cut branches was bought in Dublin last Autumn and the willow twig wreath was from Annie Mos (My favourite shop in Aberdeen)

Full steam ahead...

The postie has just been and it's arrived..... my Simple Sewing book. It is beautiful if you can call a book that. I could sit for hours pouring over the designs, fabric, patterns etc. It really is wondeful, and has the perfect pattern for my apron. However it is given a difficulty rating of four so i may have to work up to it! In the mean-time I'll be searching out fabrics to use and trying some of the simpler projects to start with.

Bellabee Designs Shop

I have just come across this lovely apron on Etsy. It's made using Amy Butler fabric and is gorgeous. A little matching pot holder can be bought to go with it too!

I'm waiting on my Amazon order coming through. I've ordered Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing. Hopefully there will be an apron pattern in it which I can use to help me get started...

My likes...

Hello, I 've just updated my personal profile on swap-bot after looking at other peoples lists. I felt a little strange writing all my likes, but I suppose that's how people know what to send you! It'a fun looking through all the swaps on offer, I'm looking forward to having a rating so I can take part in more!

Swap-bot

Hello,

I have just discovered swap-bot.com It looks great. I've read about people doing swaps on-line for a while and fancied giving it a go. I've signed up for Whimsy Jar and Easter goodybags and a surprise swap. I'll let you know how I get on, but I'm looking forward to finding intersting bit n bobs to put in my parcels. I could have gone mad and signed up for loads, but keeping in mind my focus on family at the moment I decided to stop at three for the time being. I did fancy some of the international post card swaps to brighten up our fridge. I think I'll wait tho' until I've found some in the shops that I like first. My swap partners may end up with one highland cow card too many if I buy under pressure!

Belle and Boo

I thought I'd share with you these beautiful prints from Belle and Boo at Etsy. The artist, Mandy Sutcliff, is a British illustrator who's drawings are truly adorable. I've bought a number of her prints which look lovely framed in natural oak frames. They are simple yet stunning. My friends love it when I send them a card from her range. They come with matching envelopes, address label and a pretty little sticker to seal it with. Belle and Boo have their own blogspot too...http://www.blogger.com/www.belleandboo.blogspot.com

These are the other two decals that I nearly chose. I love the Fleur Murmansk from Pure Deco http://www.pure-deco.com/ on the left. The bamboo is also from Beearo but I think I may have struggled to text wrap it around the TV! I think I visited every site on the web that sells decals before selecting my top 3 designs. That's an idea, I may set up a link to all the sites I bookmarked during my search.

Just perfect...

Having spent months searching for a feature for our family-room wall I came upon http://www.beearo.com Discovering they shipped to the UK was great, and adding to that excitement, they told me I was their first international order.

The decals are a walnut finish vinyl with strong adhesive already applied. Application is easy. My poor children were sat on the sofa while I experimented with the design using blu-tac. When we were happy we peeled off the backing and stuck them in place. This did take a while and a lot of patience. However the kids feel like they designed it, and now hopefully won't try and pick it of the wall!

We love it. Most definitely my best Internet buy to date.