Styling The Seasons - June

It's June already! seriously how did that happen? 

Pink has made it into the nature spectrum after the yellow and blues of spring. Lilac and blush are all appearing as the start of summer, with the more vibrant colours following closely behind.

You may remember a couple of posts ago I visited some artists in their studios and this week I popped back to see Wendy Johnson at Orchard Studios for her preview evening before Bucks Open Studios opens. 

Wendy is exhibiting with several other artists at her home studio, all of whom are very skilled in ceramics.

Some of the work exhibited is Raku - a Japanese firing technique, and my prediction that in interiors there is an increasing feel for Japanese style. Wabi Sabi is definitely the order of the day for the current zeitgeist.

The beautiful organic shapes of the vases and mugs are perfect for the cuttings from the garden.

I have never tried making ceramics, it is the one area where I prefer to just buy from those skilled in this area, I have visions of a coil pot made in junior school and feel that this is probably the peak of my pottery career.

If I'm being totally honest I also don't like getting my hands mucky, as soon as I get stuff stuck to me I can't concentrate on anything else, must be some version of OCD, which I believe is inherent in all artists. Sometimes you just know when something is for you or not and while I have a yearning to learn how to make everything on the planet, I may have to draw the line at ceramics.

My curiosity into how to make and create must stem from my father who had many hobbies, all of which he became brilliant at, and also he was an engineer so just had to take everything apart to see how it worked.

When Wendy went into great detail about the scientific processes behind her work I was just mesmerised, it is so interesting how the finished product comes into being, when there are so many things that could go wrong along the way.

The gallery for #BeHomeFree (my hashtag), is looking so beautiful, please check my previous posts for details of this months sponsors and the prizes on offer for those joining the photo challenge. Your home stylings are very uplifting, and I hope that here you get the same from me in return.

Holy Cow Home brings the Sprit Of Summer

My good friends at Holy Cow Home are doing some exciting London shows this year and as I will be helping them style an area at The House Fair - Spirit Of Summer. They have very generously donated the most amazing prize for #behomefree (my new hashtag).

The House Fair at Olympia in London runs from June 22nd - 25th, in conjunction with the extremely classy House & Garden magazine. The show is an absolute essential for anyone interested in interiors, there will be some styled room sets by some of my fellow Amara Interior Bloggers, a summer restaurant run by Mossiman and the theme is 'Sprit of Summer'.

THIS IS THE ACTUAL QUILT WE ARE GIVING AS YOUR PRIZE

Several years ago I appeared in a Homes & Antiques issue all about an Indian Summer, and that year I introduced my latest discovery -the Kantha quilt.  This has become a staple of all cool eclectic boho homes, with summer seeing us changing over from the winter wool throws and blankets to the cotton Kantha's which are hand made from vintage saris.

Nothing says summer more to me than Kantha quilts, I take them everywhere, I even make tents out of them on hot days, the mixtures of muted and vibrant colours, the adorable little patches, and the softness of the worn cloth make them an incredibly versatile item.

So, guess what, you can now also be the proud owner of your very own Kantha quilt, courtesy of Holy Cow Home, PLUS ... two tickets to the House Fair.  

If you are really keen, there are two chances to win as Natasha whose blog is called "Taking A Moment In Time" will also be offering a quilt with her new hashtag #thewayweliveinthecountry where she will be showing how she takes her Kantha out of the house.

So here's what you have to do to be entered into the competition ;
follow me @Janiceissitt_life_style  and @holycowhome on instagram (or twitter if you don't have instagram) and tag your photos with #behomefree with a little explanation about how you would use a #Kantha quilt.

We will choose the winners in time for your to arrange your travel to the House Fair/Spirit Of Summer.  

Be Home Free

drum roll please ...... today I am launching my own hashtag!!!

I'm so excited about the possibilities, so here's what it's all about.  

After much cogitating and talking with friends I finally settled on the tag #BeHomeFree and for me this will encompass a multitude of different things.

The dictionary definition of "Be Home Free" is to be certain to succeed at something because you have done the most difficult part of it.  I feel like this in my life, now in my 50's, I'm happy with the way life is going, and semi-retirement means more time to pursue happiness and well being.

As a crafter, this could also mean that you have broken the back of a project you are working on, which I certainly know the feeling of. 

As this blog is about life and style as I see it, then there are many other aspects to the words.  

To BE - in the moment, taking time for yourself, a simple meditation that takes the stress away .... 

HOME - where-ever you lay your hat, making a space personal so that you feel cozy and good, let me see your favourite aspects of your home, little corners, personal objects that you like to have with you ... HOME is many things to many people. 

FREE - out and about exploring, adventures and travels. What style do you like to wear when you are away from home? What do you always take with you? Cool and beautiful places to stay and visit ... freedom, what does that mean to you? 

Freedom from convention, free style, if you are like me and not conforming to the stereotype of your age group or gender then here is something that I want to discuss. 

I will be setting the prompts for these different aspects over on Instagram and announcing the winners here on this blog, I already have a handful of great sponsors for this hashtag so there is something for everyone here.

One of my most liked photos on Instagram was of the string of bottles from Rose & Grey so they have kindly said that they would give one away to the winner of the hashtag competition, how fab is that.

So all you have to do is post a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #behomefree and at the end of the month I will announce across all social media the name of the winner and sharing their photo too. If you don't have instagram but you do have twitter then send it to me there, my link is ... @janiceissitt

So, please put it in your diaries, the hashtag launches today June 1st and the closing date for our first competition will be at the end of the month, post your photos any day of the week and I will be doing a round up each week of how the #behomefree community is growing.  

I can't wait to see your interpretation of the phrase, and for this first month I would like to you to post a photo that shows 

....... a sense of home and how you see it. 

x

Swedish Air and Antiques

As you may know, I pop to Sweden quite a lot to see my best mates, my god-daughters and to photograph for the Van Asch catalogue. On this last trip I also had the opportunity to meet again, a group of business women and chatted to them about expanding their network with the use of a hashtag, so when this little plan comes together, they will be looking for brand representatives in the blogging world and for other Scandinavian women to join in with that community.  I will be spreading the word to all you Scandophiles (is that a word) as soon as the plan comes to fruition.  

I really fancied a bit of a country jaunt to somewhere unexplored for myself and my friends, somewhere not too far from Stockholm as we had the girls in the car, affordable and fun, so we got onto Air bnb and found some great places.

We most fancied exploring around Uppsala, and I always love to pop to Sigtuna, so we plumped for this little cottage, in the garden of the Air bnb owners, near to a castle called Vik.  

Nothing says Sweden more than these little red houses with the green and white around the windows.

Our little dolls house of a cottage was absolutely adorable, it did seem to need a bit of an airing to our towney noses however, but as it was only one night we treated it as an adventure more than a luxury.  After much driving around in circles, we finally found it, directions could have been  a bit better, luckily though we kept phoning the owners and telling them where we were, eventually we found the road between the big red barns that led to the cottage in the woods.

Inside there were some super cute rooms.  On route we visited many Loppis and as the weather had taken a sharp cold turn, we bought some extra layers and dress up clothes for a night of watching Eurovision in our play house.

I have written before about Loppis, but if you aren't familiar with that term let me explain.  A Loppis is a kind of junk shop, garage sale, carboot, kinda thing. Anyone can put a sign up outside their house with "Loppis" written on it and you just go and have a good old rummage.  They vary enormously, some are just a small garage of unwanted items, some are a thriving cornucopia of antiques and collectables run in a professional manner.  Some are a dusty old mess and others beautifully laid out and displayed.

The great thing about Loppis is that there is something for everyone, so you can give the youngsters some money and they go off and find all kinds of toys, jewellery, dress up clothes, while mum is swooning over old tins, kitchenalia and furniture.

I found lots of lovely wooden things, chopping boards, the big scoop, pastry cutters, cake tins, enamel ware and so on.

And a trip to visit Van Asch wouldn't be complete without the collecting of mad props for photos, this time we hired some taxidermy from a tattoo shop in Stockholm.  We checked that the taxidermy was all ethically sourced and came away with a swan and a crow.  I also managed to pick up these cute little antlers (antlers - why am I so obsessed with them?) as I'm working on my logo of antlers and flowers.  If any illustrators out there could draw and paint me a really detailed one I would love that. During the break down of the set we built I also managed to drop a heavy backdrop on my foot and chipped the bone in my toe - pain like no other I have ever experienced and the first time I've ever broken a bone!

I would definitely do the Air bnb in Sweden again for a one night road trip with the girls, they are very reasonably priced too and a very authentic experience.

Until next week then - hey da, vi ses.

Healing Aromas

My house smells incredible at the moment, it is a real feast for the senses in every aspect. I often talk about colour and how it affects mood, but this week it's all about aromas.

For a few years now I've been getting a bit obsessed with fragranced candles, probably coinciding with a quite a few things.  I have very sensitive sinuses and have started to get a bad reaction to anything with fumes, like paint, glue, bleach ... you get the picture.  It manifests in the most awful headaches and sometimes allergy like symptoms, like Im coming down with the flu. So, calming of the nose is much required.

Without spending the whole blog post talking about my ailments, I have also at times suffered with anxiety and at the peak of that I became obsessed with lavender bags. So it's just starting to dawn on me that there really must be something behind aromatherapy, and although I'm not the greatest representative for natural therapies, you have to admit that there is definitely something to be said for recognising our bodies demands and functions.

The theory behind aromatherapy is that through the inhalation of essential oils, the brain is stimulated and connects to the limbic system, a complex system of nerves and networks which control instinct and emotions.  Having tackled personally the illogical affects of anxiety, I completely understand the fight or flight mechanism, and the ways to control fear. So reaching them through the nose makes perfect sense to me.  

In these photos you can see the diffuser from Organic Aromas.com which I asked if I could try out, I was keen to witness the inhalation of essential oils through a diffuser which doesn't adulterate the pure aroma. While it does plug in and makes a pleasing colour glow at it's core, there is no heat or water involved in this process, yet it produces an extremely fine mist, a vapour of pure essential oil, straight into the atmosphere. 

In this process the original chemical structure of the oil remains intact and the fine vapour is quickly absorbed into the body. This little teardrop works it's magic in a far more efficient way than anything else around.

 My diffuser came with a bottle of Signature Blend, which contains;

 Elemi, Clary Sage, Cajeput, Bergamot, and Chamomile Morocco. I did find this has a slightly medical smell, but on further investigation realised that it is really suitable for me right now, as I've currently had a few medical procedures. Here's what all the elements do: 

Elemi is conducive to the healing of wounds and can promote the growth of new skin.

Clary Sage has anti-depressant and anti-septic elements.

Cajeput has disinfectant function and is good for respiratory system and to boost immune system.

Bergamot is thought to lower body temperature and is a good sedative.

Chamomile is also calming and a powerful anti-inflammatory.

I'm also going to try a few of the other blends as I do like nice earthy warm smells like patchouli, rosewood and frankincense.

Trying to relax is really an art-form, it can take quite a lot of effort to wind down when you have a busy life. Having had some major changes in my life ten years ago I can honestly say it took many years to unwind from the pace of London. It's all about balance but putting that into practise can be harder than it looks.  Smell, breathing, it's key to relaxing and clearing the mind, and can help you to focus and meditate.

And of course, breathing the aromatherapy vapour is something that can be done while doing so many other things, reading and knitting would be my choice.


After my first real blast with the vapour, during the evening, I slept better than I had done for a very long time, a good deep sleep when normally I wake having hot flushes (oh Im painting such a glamorous picture here aren't I), I slept so well in fact I overslept and forgot to watch Game Of Thrones. I'm a bit shocked at how well it worked actually. 

If you pick up a copy of either 91 Magazine or Homes & Antiques, you will see some small contributions from me this month.  Both are excellent reads to take your mind off the day to day.

Isn't it strange how memories connected to scent and sound are the strongest, they can be connected to some very powerful emotions too.
I probably like patchouli because we all wore it back in the 70's with our hippy beads and cheesecloth.  If smell can carry you back to a different time and place then perhaps we don't give it enough credit.

A lot of discussion is had between bloggers about how much we talk about our personal lives, I think it's important to be honest but not bore the pants off people, to be positive and realistic at the same time, so when you read a blog, whether it's mine or another, remember that no-one has a perfect life, we all have dark moods, health problems and other worries. Maybe the duty of a blogger is to entertain and inform and also look at the beauty around us, but in doing so that may make our lives seem unreal.  

I don't want to be the old lady at the back of the bus who never stops going on about her hospital visits, but if my experiences can help someone else feel less alone with theirs, then I will aim to do that here. 

For more information about the Organic Aroma diffuser range have a look at https://organicaromas.com/

Jungle on the table

This month's topic for the Urban Jungle Bloggers is showing plants as a table centerpiece or decoration, what a good idea so long as it's your shorter plants, after all, we want to see our guests through the jungle don't we?

 I don't think I would have thought of doing this as an actual thing if Igor and Judith hadn't chosen it as a styling prompt. Flowers are pretty and obvious, but considering I usually keep a few of my plant gang on the dining table anyway, it wasn't too much of a stretch to the imagination. 

I don't really find myself entertaining too much,  so the table setting is purely for me, with my planty friends of course and a few cats at my ankles. As I'm not much of a cook, and I work from home, If Im meeting with friends I like to go out for a change of scene.  However, one really should make an effort as much as possible, and so even when it's just a simple salad or breakfast eggs, it's more inviting to eat at the table when its decorated with flowers or plants.

Open Studios

This week I have had the great pleasure to visit, not one but two amazing artists at their studios, both of whom I could easily just take all their work home it is so special. Both are participating in their local Open Studios, Anne Marie Butlin as part of Crouch End Open Studios and Wendy Johnson for the upcoming Bucks Open Studios.  

Wendy is still preparing for the opening night so much of her work was not available to photograph, Im going to pop along to the private view as I really want to own some of her Japanese Raku pieces.  

Raku is the name for the type of firing, a process which involves many stages of work.  Firstly the bisque item is fired in a normal electric kiln at precisely the right temperature for it to withstand the next few stages of work.  It is then covered in liquid clay - slip, over which a Raku glaze is applied.  This is then ready for the next specialised firing of an outdoor kiln and then being plunged into sawdust.  The carbon of the burning sawdust creates the black marbled effect on the work.  When removed from the sawdust the item starts to cool and the outer layer of slip peels off to reveal the pattern underneath. 

What I particularly like about this technique is the very matt surface, it becomes something other than traditional ceramic. It also lends itself to sit perfectly with a minimal black and white interior scheme. 

Painter Anne Marie Butlin works from her cute studio at the bottom of the garden and her work divides into two main categories, floral (still life) and portrait. 

I bought a painting from Anne Marie last year which has featured in may of my photos, it hangs in my bedroom currently.  As I like to photograph little still life pictures at home her paintings really speak to me, I love the style of her brush strokes and the colour palette she uses.  It is very easy to live with Anne Maries work in your home. 

If you would like to see more of these two artists please have a look at http://www.anne-mariebutlin.com/index.html where you can also see her current exhibitions.

Wendy Johnson can be found at her studio in Great Missenden Buckinghamshire, and the Bucks Open Studios runs from 11th to 26th June, more information on their website including a map of how to find Orchard Studios. Wendy also teaches from here if you are interested to learn from this master craftswoman.

Buying original art is something I'm passionate about, I would rather spend money on a painting that a sofa, the original versus the mass produced, there really is no competition in my opinion.  
Open Studios happen all over the country and to meet the artists is so great for them also as they often work in isolation and want feedback.  It's a great way to spend a weekend too, something a bit different, so dont be nervous to try it, you aren't obliged to make a purchase but I bet you fall in love with something just like I did.

making it wonderful everyday

The latest hashtag I've been going crazy for is the Ikea one, #WonderfulEveryday. It completely describes what I'm trying to achieve in my life.

It warms the cockles of my heart that so many people are embracing the concept of slow living, something I definitely did not do in my youth, but I'm well and truly ready for it now. 

Whether approaching retirement or just choosing not to work so much, filling the empty spaces between what you have to do and need to do, is very important. Time is precious and as it ticks away I'm making plans, always making sure that there is something to look forward to in the diary.  Taking life by the scruff of the neck and giving it a massive shake. But fulfillment doesn't have to be frantic. 

Keeping my hands busy at all times, making things for myself or others, this ethos of creating something from nothing is integral in my life.  A hand knitted gift is always well received. It is also very therapeutic, a great stress reliever and proven to lower blood pressure. 

Volunteering in areas that you love, donating your precious time to help others, there is nothing more rewarding.  For me it's animals and particularly wildlife and on our rescue missions we meet other animal lovers who, like us, will go the extra mile to help out the wildlife around them. Fresh air, finding new places and interacting with nature, all these go along with the work.

Earlier this week we were called out to save a swan who had been attacked, unfortunately she did not make it and died on top of her eggs on the nest. We moved her body so that the male swan could take over, he seems to be doing very well on his own, so we hope he manages to rear the baby signets as a single parent. The people living locally are buying swan food and keeping a very close eye on him. So many people were deeply upset by the death of the female swan, there are a lot of other animal lovers out there. 

No these aren't swan eggs, they are quail eggs which were bought out of some complete madness by my other half. So I used them in some photos. They may go in a salad.  Tattoos, oh yes lots more planned, Ive got bookings with three more brilliant lady tattooists including Rebecca Vincent and Aimee Cornwell. And whilst this might sound like a bizarre way to nurture yourself, yes it is very painful - silly question - it is an incredible culture to be involved with. 

Lots of travel booked too, I can't believe how cheap flights can be if you are able to travel at any time. So Sweden next week, Romania in the Autumn (I shall be talking more about that soon), and plenty of exploring around the UK.  

So whatever the extent you go to in pursuing some nurturing for yourself, whether its a small bunch of flowers, some lovely healthy food or an adventure, I hope you find some moments between the madness to explore - both the physical and mental.

Share your love where you can good people, and be good to yourself.