Emma Bridgewater VQ digital radio

This week an early Christmas treat has arrived in the post in the form of a DAB Radio. I'm not a great technology gadget fan, usually slow to get the latest phone and I still don't own an i-pod, but put a flowery design on the outside and a bit of retro styling and I'm all ears.

I'm a huge fan of audio books, not having time to read hard copies I do find that long car or train journeys and even visits to the dentist can be made more enjoyable while listening to a good book.

My latest is a Bill Bryson, which I mentioned before, and it's totally brilliant.  This VQ mini radio also has blue tooth connectivity and so now I can forget those uncomfortable ear-phones and listen through this really cute radio.  They come in many different colours and patterns including this rose design by Emma Bridgewater.

The Retro Mini DAB+ has an alarm clock so the design lends itself to a few different places around the house or even your camper or caravan as the vintage look and pastel colours blend in with decor so much nicer than a boring black box. It can work in a bedroom setting without looking intrusive. 

This one has a section for batteries at the back so it's totally transportable for when you are out and about or you can plug it in when you are near a socket. The size and handle make it really easy to carry along with you on your travels and I think I'm going to take it on car journeys and save my poor ears the discomfort of inner ear phones. 

On day one I've already listened to my book and found some local radio stations I didn't know about before.  So this Christmas there's no reason to be disappointed with the t.v. scheduling.  Our recent trip to The Welsh House taught us to go a few days without t.v, however, I would have liked to take this little cutie with us and we could have listened to my latest Bill Bryson together.

I think this would be a great gift for a Mum or Grandma and with the bluetooth function you can play as much music of your own as you want too.  

To get yourself one then you need to go to their website : MY VQ where you can also see the other choices for colour and design. Alternatively vote for my blog and photos above and you can win one, watch out for notifications from my Facebook page or on twitter either from me or MY VQ Twitter of how to go about voting.

Good Luck, I know you will love it as much as me. 

Sisterhood and Mavens

There seems to be a spiritual consciousness in the ether this year, which for me comes at a really good time.  Never has it been easier to meet new people via social media and network with those sharing the same passions and interests.

I believe that women are really coming into their own in this regard, good at socialising and empathising there has never been a better time to find support from other women. Or so I thought.  

Perhaps it's because the changing times find us able to work on our own from home, using the web to connect, and creatives now have more platforms than ever to show their work, that a new generation and style of networking has begun.

Thanks to a few risk taking individuals, those not afraid to say 'hey lets get together", some of us are finding the support that we seriously need. At a time we really need it too.

I was going to talk about a bad experience I had on twitter, but I'm not giving that air time, they can sweat and wait to hear from my solicitor. But it does just go to show that social media is a double-edged sword and it's sharp so use it wisely.

Through this media I have met an enormous amount of great great women, all making a way in their businesses and looking to create opportunities and introductions to others, as together we are stronger.

The two saving graces for me most recently are called Conversational and Sisterhood, both of which have organised face to face events, on different scales, but just as fruitful in their outcomes.

Last weekend I attended one of the Sisterhood events - the winter supper which can be found on instagram with the hashtag #sisterhoodsupperwithtoast.

The event was visually stunning and with workshops which provided me with the chance to try modern calligraphy with Quill London. The venue has just opened and it's called The Forge Bristol. 

After the supper I drove on into Wales to The Welsh House group of cottages for a few days break without wifi or phone signals.  

I think we all need reminding of how life used to be, and how great it feels to try some slow living, simple pleasures.

This house has made me look at a few things differently, a great lesson in dealing with low light which is much needed as the days get darker and I only like to use natural light in photos.

The cottages have a weight, a gravitas to them, visually stunning inside and out, they must be the most beautiful places to stay in the whole of the UK, and trust me I've stayed in a lot of places.

The attention to authentic detail by owner Dorian is second to none, I am usually highly critical about other people's decorations but here I couldn't fault a single thing. In fact, I would happily buy the cottages with all the furniture in them as it was just perfect.

I have so many beautiful shots, I fell in love with the window ledges, is it possible to have a love affair with a window ledge? Perhaps because mine at home are so wimpy and rubbish in comparison. I want to knock the windows out and start again!

I will be talking about this trip quite a bit in the coming weeks and have put together Christmas styling ideas for a visual story illustrating A Child's Christmas In Wales.

The area in Carmarthenshire has stunning hills and valleys and very interesting historical sights, including woolen mills and cheese making. One trip which has been on my hit list for some years was to visit Jane Beck Welsh Blankets, an adorable shop in the middle of nowhere with the largest selection of vintage and new Welsh wool tapestry blankets. 

Jane Beck Welsh Blankets 

If I have enticed you to think about booking The Welsh House go to http://www.thewelshhouse.co.uk/ and see the choice of three cottages along with the history of how Dorian made a dream become reality by building and renovating.

I'm sure by the time you have seen all my photos you will be rushing to book a long weekend for yourself, they can also be found on Air bnb here.  You have a choice of three different style cottages and I will be featuring the two which are next to each other, Bryn Eglur and Ty Unnos.  I didn't get many outside shots of the house as the weather took a turn for the worse, however, I'm sure you will agree that these cottages are so cozy it hardly matters.

The word Maven came about from a meeting with Hayley who sells her own range of clothing and organised Conversational it means : A maven (also mavin) is a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others. The word maven comes from Hebrew, meaning "one who understands", based on an accumulation of knowledge.

Be a MAVEN and not a TROLL ...

Instagram lovelies and hashtag fun

For the last few months I have been getting messages and questions from friends and colleagues about Instagram.  Several of my blogger friends have been running online courses to help you focus on the look of your feed but the one thing I get asked a lot is "who do I follow" and "which hashtags", for the beginner who wants to get involved in this community here is just one small element that has taken me the last year to distill. These are my personal choice of people I have watched and interacted with and maybe this will give you a starting point if you are feeling overwhelmed.

Before I start on the lists, please please, forgive me if I have missed you out, I put this rough list together in just the last few days. Since getting the menopause (theres a month of blog posts right there!) I have suffered from chronic fatigue and forgetfulness.  So I started to write down notes and take screen shots of posts on Instagram to remind me of things I wanted to take part in and that I thought would be good photography tasks.

As you investigate the accounts and hashtags that I recommend you will become familiar with the style of their work and theme. The photo above is something that I would consider for Emma Harris's tuesday challenge #aquietstyle, taking a moment of quiet in the day for peace and calm and a bit of styling. 

You may have seen some of my posts for Urban Jungle Bloggers, this is a community for plant lovers, they set a monthly topic to style your plants in a certain way, so above is my #plantshelfie.  Urban Jungle Bloggers is a worldwide community set up by Igor and Judith. If you have plants in your home then you may want to sign up with them, info can be found on their UJB site.

For interior design lovers who are proud to show off their homes and peer into others, then At Mine is a community for you. It is a website of members homes which is constantly being updated. On Instagram they also set monthly challenges, so the pic above is one for Style At Mine table settings this month. 

Instagram hashtag challenges are often set up as collaborations by two accounts.  The first I ever tried is dear to my heart and it is 'A Year Of Moments' with Lobster & Swan and Candy Pop.  Every month they give you a topic to interpret, this month it is #ayearofmoments_magical so I took the above photo with fairy lights to add a bit of sparkle and seasonal magic.

This photo could span several topics, it show a cup of coffee so could be put in for #adoremycupofcoffee  and #mythursdaybreaktime as I have used the autumnal colours, leaves and pumpkin it also fits with any November themed tags - #cherishandrelish_november #natureinthehome #stylingtheseasons 

Styling The Seasons with Apartment Apothecary (Katy) and Lotts And Lots (Charlotte) is a big favourite of mine too.  Usually I style a whole area of the house and totally enjoy doing it.  But this month it's a flat lay as they have joined with Emily Quinton to win a place on a course with her. So the hashtag this month is #STSxmakelight.  Emily started the huge hashtag #floralfridaycompetition, and like many weekly hashtags it runs on a certain days. The clue is usually in the title like #mymondaymoodboard with Jess and Lucy (it also has its own instagram account). Others are like ; #mystillsunday #itsamoodywednesday #mandalamonday #mymonthofsundays 

Some larger hashtag communities have their own devoted accounts and nominate guest hosts every week to choose the winners and set the topic. Accounts like It's My Week will set a tag like #myweekofwhatisee #myweekofabstract.

There are too many people here for me to set up direct links to, I have also compiled a Pinterest board showing lovely photographers you can find it here, this is just a small selection of accounts that style in a way I find pleasing. They may give you ideas of what kind of pics you want to take yourself. Remember that Instagram is all about the photo. 

My personal advice is not to bother with a hashtag that says #flowers #pink and general descriptive words of that nature, but to find a group of people producing say a pink floral image - this may fall into floralfridaycompetition as an example.  Anyway I think you get my point about which hashtags to use and research. The best way to suss it out is just to go on there and click on the # to see what comes up, explore for yourself.

The themes are so many and varied, it will be possible for you to find ones that fit with the kind of pictures you want to take, it just takes a bit of hunting.  So the one above would be suitable say for Capturing Colour with Capture By Lucy, a colourful lifestyle theme.  

This is quite a list to type so you will need to sift through it and keep referring back I expect so here goes with the hashtags and themes I have been looking at this week :

#laidbacklivingis with @dorisleestudio, #stsxmakelight #stylingtheseasons with @aptapothecary @lottsandlots, #oftheland and #fosterthoughtfulness with @toasttravels, #ayearofmoments_magical with @lobsterandswan @candypop.uk, #cherishandrelish_november @allenandbear @flojoro123, #natureinthehome @littlegreenshed, #mythursdaybreatime @littlemaldod #myseasonof_florals @claireyclaire @hellolaurajane, #nestandflourish @xxbirdhouse @liveandbloom, #petalsandprops @aalmadr, #thesestoriestold @rosehippaper, #sundaysatmine @atmine, #capturingcolour @capturebylucy, #floralfridaycompetition @emilyquinton, #aquietstyle @aquietstyle, #mystillsunday #fouriadorefriday @kimklassen, #slowliving @geoffreyandgrace @hippieindisguise, #thisjoyfulmoment @ruthlgarner,#byarrangement with @sarahnotes 

There is no quick fix with Instagram, it takes time but is a very rewarding community to be involved with, unlike Twitter it seems to focus on support, positivity and kind words and as a more artistic based app, I think reflects the nicer nature of artistic people. 

They say the like-minded people flock together and no better place than on Instagram.  Bullies can keep their cowardly rudeness over on that other place, and what miserable lives they must lead, but not us with our flowers and scissors and bits of faffery, oh no.

If you want to take your instagram more seriously then perhaps do an online course with someone like Emily Quinton at Makelight or Me And Orla (the Instaretreat) and for more info about hashtags have a read of Lucy's blog this week  (click on that to link).  


Always feel free to ask me questions on instagram and to engage with the hashtag setters themselves, Im sure they would love your feedback.

Festive Pegboard

A quick update on the Rose & Grey white pegboard styling challenge, and I've added a festive theme to it this week.

The Autumn Surprise Project organised by 'Capture By Lucy' is drawing near so I picked up some paper, tape and tags this week to get an early start.

To get myself in the spirit I bought some mini mince pies, and promptly ate the whole packet! Woops, just a tad too early. 

I have also decorated the board with vintage baubles, fairy lights and leaves as I had these for some other styling photos I was working on and tidied them away on here. 

I'm off to Sisterhood Supper this weekend where we will be trying our hands at a few different crafts and rounding the day off with fine dining, all held at a great new venue called The Forge.

Lots of info about that and some weekend get away ideas next week, until then, I hope your festive preparations are coming along, just don't eat all the pies!

French Foraging on the English Coast

When I get a bee in my bonnet I really do go all out.  I have for some considerable time, wanted a very particular small leather club chair, it had to be the smaller version, a very particular shade of leather colour, with a shaped back and just the right amount of tatty.  Dated about 1920 to 1930 from France.  You can find many variations but the price is always, shall we say, reflective of the age and rarity. I've noticed that the good French antiques mostly come over with the dealers on the coast, namely from Brighton along to Margate, where they are then distributed to the rest of the UK, or even back to France as one dealer told me.

So I resigned myself to having to travel to pick it up and used that as an excuse to have a night away and a little explore along the beaches and cliffs. I really want to explore the UK more so plan to do a few travel blogs for anyone wanting a day or more nights trip.

the most interesting shop in the world, my friend Jane says so, it's in Rye

Last time we had a week exploring this area, in the summer, we stayed in hotels and honestly, they really weren't brilliant.  I chose the most reasonably priced so didn't expect the Ritz, however some basics were lacking, generally in the bathroom, room size and wifi departments. One bathroom was so small you had to squeeze along the side of the loo so that the door could close before you used it. The sink was designed for 'Barbies' house and it was impossible to get a cup under the tap such were the dimensions. Mostly one had to wander around, and end up sitting next to the receptionist to get any kind of wifi connection and one pub hotel in Lewes (not the cheapest either) had peeling paint on the walls, threadbare carpets and the worst tasting wine I've ever been overcharged for.

With this experience behind us I said to the other half, well let's try an Air bed and breakfast it can't be any worse and it's only for one night. 

Maybe it's because I'm listening to an audio book by Bill Bryson, that I thought I would blog about the trip. The book is the follow up to Notes From A Small Island. (I can't recommend these books enough, they really are riveting and his observations are so spot on it makes you want to cheer loudly). The most inspiring sort of travel writing you are ever likely to read. 

So in my Bill Bryson mode I thought I would talk a bit about this area's highs and lows.  In a nutshell, Rye is gorgeous, every nook and cranny seems to be picture perfect, although parking is a bummer. It has quirky right up to it's eyeballs, there's even a shop(pictured above) which doesn't seem to have a name, never has its front door open and everything inside seems to be sold. But, it's the most interesting thing you will ever stumble across.

Hastings has some cool streets and seems to be on the up but St. Leonards and down to Eastbourne have areas that really have seen better days and it would be so lovely if something could be done to make them great again. 

This I believe is the nature of seasonally visited tourist towns and it's a shame, but while the buildings are struggling to keep up to standard, the beaches, promenades and the NATURE is spectacular. The area of countryside just above that stretch of coast is beautiful too, particularly now in it's autumn glory.  My eyes have been over saturated with the orange and red tones of the trees as we meandered up and down winding roads from Fairlight to Battle.

The light was very strange, there was a red stripe on the horizon like the sun was setting, or rising, but it was the middle of the day, this added to the dramatic effect of a slightly blustery day on the English coast. It was beautiful and raw and so far removed metaphorically to the cafes and restaurants along its shore side. Get your kagool on and explore, find driftwood, interesting stones, watch seagulls and marvel, it's like standing on the edge of the world. Then you cross the road and back you are ...

Am I the only person who has a problem with UHT milk in those little plastic containers? Why? Why? oh Why? do we still have them. The milk tastes gross, theres never enough in one for a cup of coffee or tea, and the containers don't bio-degrade.  So what's with that, why can't the cafe owners buy a pint of milk and put it in a jug? is that really too much to ask for.  This little plastic pot is neither here nor there.  It's not old-fashioned or modern, it's stuck somewhere in another age of ignorance and sadly it is reflective of some of the establishments one encounters in coastal towns. The kind of places that still have flourescent strip lighting and menus harking back to the 1970's, when the only Italian food the English had heard of was Spaghetti Bolognese and Lasagna. 

We found a few of these, hiding in different guises, one Italian restaurant purporting to be of great quality by its reviewers, had the most un-appetising pasta range and the food, when served was luke warm. Sat next to the front door, I dined in my coat on tepid and very over priced food.  

The Air b'n'b I chose was a very large house one block behind one of the hotels we stayed in last time so felt that this would make a good comparison. I'm happy to say that my experience was good, the room was larger, the bathroom not bad and it had it's own kitchen so you could rustle yourself up anything from toast to a meal should you fancy. The wifi was very good in our room, so all round, considering it was about 20 pounds cheaper than the cheapest hotel, we were impressed with what we got for just under 50 pounds. 

I'm quite fussy about interior decoration and attention to detail so I won't talk about that as it's personal taste.  Also some things you just have to pay extra for, like plush en-suite bathrooms (with a bath not just a shower), but unless you are pushing the proverbial boat out for a special date, then the compromise is value for money.

And so the French chair, well that came from a man with an e-bay shop and website called The French Depot and they have a huge stock of large pieces of furniture, well worth a look.  We found a second chair, in need of a lot of repair and also brought that home too so I will be trying my hand and fixing it up over Christmas.

It's a shame that the English coast struggles out of season to provide eateries.  If you are a food lover stick to Rye rather than take a chance on a seafront diner which may leave you out of pocket and still hungry.  

If, like us, you are shopping for Antiques then you will not be disappointed.  I have ordered some leather chair repair products so that I can have a go at this kind of re-upholstering/repairing and I will do a blog about it with my findings. That may be helpful to you if your budget will only stretch to one in disarray. 

If you need a blast of fresh air then I highly recommend nipping along to this area of coastline.

Pin Up Peg Board from Rose and Grey

This month's styling challenge from the on-line company Rose & Grey is a white peg board, definitely an old school item for sure.

The board comes with cute little wooden pegs which have different coloured tips, they are quite secure when pushed in and as you can see will take light weight objects.

I started with a children's theme as I had a lot of baby toys in the house.  No, don't go and get all broody on me, and no, I haven't got some exciting news to tell you, the only patter of tiny feet in this house are from cats .... lots of cats ...and squirrels. 

As I don't have children this is one area of decorating that has passed me by, and whilst I pride myself on having just about every prop imaginable for photos, I was severely lacking in the baby department.

The reason for the baby items came about because I was photographing some adorable keepsake toys which had been made from baby clothes and embroidered with the child's name and birth date.

It was a lucky coincidence really because I think the pegboard looks like something that would fit nicely in a nursery or young persons room, (although it is so completely versatile I can also imagine in in a stylish office) and it fits nicely with the keepsakes theme as this would be a great way to display cards, baby shoes and small toys.

And if it's not going from one extreme to another, here's my Styling The Seasons photo for Halloween, featuring my Ziggy, who was bribed with treats ... appropriately .... Ziggy says Treat not Trick!

Peg Board is available from Rose & Grey, Mirror Glass Stars from http://www.holycowhome.co.uk/ , broom Ikea, Hat Waitrose, and Keepsakes From My Sewing Room 

Loving my blender

It has been my intention for quite some time to expand my blog posts into more life style than just interiors, my focus on colour inspiration took up a lot of my time this year so I'm hoping to now expand more into travel and food and whatever takes my fancy that I think might be of interest to you.

The food element, however, may not be such traditional content as recipes but more the 'non cooks' alternatives. And so, as it has influenced my eating habits since August I really would like to talk about the Nutri-bullet (or nutritional smoothies however you achieve them).

As a non cook, I'm not very good at getting my five a day, I don't eat junk, (perhaps as the odd treat), but I was concerned that I should try and pack in more nutrition into my diet.  The other thing is that I don't really like to eat fruit, I buy it, it sits in the bowl, it goes soft and grows a furry jacket and I throw it away. That's the brutal honesty, good intentions which somehow don't come through.  Several ladies I'd met this year were raving about the Nutri-bullet and when my tattooist Tracy told me that there's virtually no washing up, well, I was sold. I'm telling you this because if I can switch then maybe so can you.

It will probably take too long to explain all the combinations of fruit, vegetable and nuts/seeds etc. as these are explained in the brochure when you buy the bullet and the possibilities are endless, so here's just my preference for those who don't normally like the taste of green and healthy drinks. 

To get some greens into the drink you put a handful of kale or spinach in first, not too much to start with especially if you don't like the taste like me, but hopefully the other fruits will disguise this.  Then something to create a creamy texture, for me that's always banana. Then you go freestyle with your other combinations, mango, strawberry, blueberry, pear and so on. The liquid can be water, coconut water, juice or almond/coconut milk. I also add some oats. For sweetness add dates then pop in some super food extras like Goji berries and Chai seeds, nuts etc.  OK you get the picture.

Generally speaking this will all taste great, however, every now and again the colour may look a bit brown and this puts me off.  So to keep my enthusiasm up I try to make the colour as nice as possible too.

At a recent get together with some other local business women I was given some sachets from a company called "Love Your Blender".

They make five different flavours of a super food boost to add to your cup before blending. I had never heard of the fruit Lacuma, anyway the Sweet Lacuma blend gives a lovely caramel taste, the sachet contains, Lacuma, Carob, Vanilla, Mulberry, hemp seeds, pecan nuts and flax seeds. All this adds fibre, good fats and proteins.

The Cherry Rose additive sachet is really good for your skin, containing Acerola Cherries, Rose Petals, Sea Buckthorn Berries, Vanilla Pod, Almonds and Hemp Seeds.  'Love Your Blender' give you recipe ideas and this is a great help as it cuts down on the hit and miss of free-styling.  For all the detailed information check out their website here 

I need to keep myself interested and inspired so these have been a great help and I'm thinking that when there is less choice in seasonal fruits around they would be a good taste booster. 

Personally, I feel the smoothies are great as a meal replacement and it's a good idea to have at least one a day, they are very filling too so I'm sure you won't feel hungry.  If I find any more killer recipes I will let you know and please can you also tell me of any of your favourite fruit combinations, any recommendations gratefully received. 

Styling The Seasons with Annie Sloan Wall Paint

Last year I was a 'painter in residence' for the chalk paint by Annie Sloan, before being chosen I had been using it for some time on walls, despite the fact that it was originally intended for furniture. For me it was a welcome change to traditional emulsion paint, giving a velvety matt surface.  The lack of sheen on the surface gives the colour more depth which changes throughout the day depending on the light. 

This however is not for everyone and is probably not ideal for areas of high wear or where water might splash. So now to fill that gap, Annie Sloan has developed a specific wall paint and this week I got to try it out.

My studio has wooden 'tongue & groove' panel walls, so in actuality I was painting over a standard emulsion on wood. This made the roller slip a bit so there is some slight patching, this would only take a few minutes to rectify and was down to the roller and not the paint.

I'm so familiar with the original chalk paint I find normal major brand paints very weird. Firstly, emulsion wall paint is so thin and splattery, needing several coats very often and the cheaper the paint the worse it is.  Secondly with wood paint Im allergic to the fumes and this was the major reason I changed to chalk paint in the first place.

The colour I've used here is Versailles, but please don't take these photos as a good representation of it, I was shooting in quite strange light and depending on your computer screen settings, the colour will not be precise.  For a truer colour look at the Annie Sloan site  and get tester pots, paint large areas of the walls you want and see how it looks in situ. I have seen Versailles look quite yellow in some light but in my studio it is a pale coffee beige. I wanted a neutral that seemed quite seasonal, matching the tones of changing leaves in nature. 

So how is this paint in comparison? Well, firstly I was really surprised with how thick it is, it must be the thickest wall paint on the market.  This I think would be particularly useful if you are painting a light colour over a dark colour, on the last photo I painted over a very dark blue chalk paint on the chimney breast and it covered it just fine. Also as I was painting onto a wall there was no slipping with the roller so its incredibly flat there.

I used a very cheap and very rubbish roller to apply the paint, just to put it through its paces.  It went on the wall a treat and while it didn't look 'even' when wet, it dried all one colour. 

The paint has a very slight silk finish so is suitable for wiping down or splashes of water but still matt enough not to be shiny.  

  

You can see the range here.  The coverage was good for a thick paint too and so if you are using the furniture paint you can find a wall colour that will work with it as Annie's paints sit very well together and she gives excellent tips about which ones sit alongside each other. 

While I'm here I would like to say a thank you also to stockist Dawn at Halcyon Days in Rye who very kindly gave me a tester of the wall paint in Duck Egg Blue, which I've used in a few photos now. I wandered into her shop when on holiday this year and we spent lots of time there chatting and laughing, she has some great vintage items too. 

The wreath on the chimney breast is now on its third or fourth incarnation. It was the one that I was given when we went to the 'Styling Spring At Mine" workshop.  It is now resplendent with dry hydrangea heads and I expect will get a bit of ivy and maybe even some holly nearer to Christmas.   

This wall paint has given me the bug again, I'm thinking about some other lighter colours now the natural daylight is disappearing. Also time soon to dig out the furry rugs and woolen throws. I've already started to light fires as there is a distinct nip in the air, and yet there are still roses on the bushes outside so it's an odd time to be sure.

Janice. 

Urban Jungle Bloggers Plants and Blooms

Im so happy to be part of this community of Urban Jungle Bloggers, Igor and Judith are very generous in sharing posts and photos and their appeal is worldwide so it's very interesting to see people from other countries following the same challenges.

This month its Plants and Blooms, very appealing to me as there is usually some floral element in my photos, it's the finishing touch, a way to capture forever the beauty of something transient and fragile.  Below are some of my home grown roses, the bushes were planted this year and still giving me lots of fragrant blooms.

My background colour in these two shots is using Annie Sloan Wall Paint in Duck Egg Blue, but as I painted over a green colour this may have effected its hue. Always consider this when painting, colours will change from that on the tin if you are painting over another strong colour. 

I shall be reviewing this new wall paint soon, with full details of how it differs from Annie Sloan's chalk paint.

Above is a new play thing, a notice board from Rose & Grey. It comes with clips and a finish that looks like old wooden pallets. 

I should also mention that a couple of these small planters are hand made. Above the little pale green one is from Katie Robbins (Ceramic Magpie) and below the mug top left is from the online store The Future Kept.

This large round vase is a vintage one by the company Bitossi, a highly collectable retro range.  I really want one of their lions, and am always on the look out for one.

More vintage goodies in this photo, I attended a truly fab event The Bloggers Vintage Jumble and instagram meet. Fellow bloggers from far and wide congregated on a sunny Sunday afternoon for tea cake and shopping in a village hall in Lindfield. It was lovely to see the faces of social media friends, a too rare occurrence in my opinion.

Jessica Trent sold me the embroidered table cloth and this was one of many great items I came home with, I was unable to show any restraint. Heather Young very generously let me snaffle the hydrangeas.  I'm currently growing a lot of the plants but as it's their first year the blooms are still a bit young and floppy to hold any shape when cut. From what I can work out, the hydrangea heads only look like this when they are quite old flowers which almost dry on the bush before picking. So thank's Heather you have saved me doing a midnight raid on a neighbours garden .... :)

My next blogger meet is in Bristol for the Sisterhood Supper with Toast, not toast to eat, silly, but Toast the great label. The food is being cooked by a well known chef and we will be learning calligraphy and wreath making. 

I hope you are all enjoying the Autumn colours, in the UK we have been blessed with such great weather the last few months making this time of year even more special.