Kitchen Heaven

I have fallen head over heels in love with the gorgeous, understated kitchen seen over on the Me & Alice blog.

Where to start with this piece of heaven?

The natural honey toned wooden floorboards?

The simple white walls?

The lovely displays on the clean white shelves?

The vintage wooden crates used to organise table linen?

The mismatched chairs at the dining table?

pretty much all of it then!

I am always wary of brilliant white kitchens - so many of the ones I have seen are cold or too modern for my tastes but this one is perfect.... Admittedly I would have to stick a bright red kettle on the side :-p hehe

xxx

Cute bits and bobs!

Loving the etsy shop INK + WIT - such cute little pieces - from patterned papers and stationary, to bunting and stamps with cute and quirky images (perfect for making your own cards and adding a personal touch to letters... if people send letters anymore!)

xxx

Apologies!

Oh. My. Goodness...

Apologies are definately in order as I have completely neglected the blog lately - I do honestly have very good reasons

a) Lily has been pretty ill with a viral infection (bad germs! probably because she puts everything she finds in her mouth!)

b) I have been busy working on not one but TWO weddings - the last one was Saturday 9th October, last weekend, and it was completely hectic - I think my body is still trying to get over the tiredness

c) Scott has been working loads so every minute we have spare to spend together we have been - it's horrible to not see him all day, spend a little family time together and then go off doing separate things!

ANYWAY...

I will be sure to post as much as possible this week to make up for my long absence, I am sure you all missed me! haha!

xxx

ps engagement shoot is this saturday and the dress i bought off of ebay to wear (gorgeous 1950's repro navy blue halterneck hasn't yet arrived aaargh!) xxx

Engagement shoot - but what to wear?

Yay! I am a very happy bunny today because I just booked our engagement shoot :-)

Ruby of Ruby Yeo Photography is flying over from Malaysia to see her sister and has very kindly agreed to shoot our engagement pictures!

Visit her blog here to see some of her work:

http://rubyyeophotography.blogspot.com/

Sooo I have a photographer, I have two locations (London Southbank where Scott proposed and Greenwich where we went on our first date), I have the fiance to be photographed with and so now all I need is something to wear!

I have absoloutely nothing post-baby that will look good for a photo shoot :-( I've ransacked the wardrobe and can find NOTHING so now its onto the web to find something just right for the engagement shoot!

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

xxx

Cute carnival themed engagement shoot!

OMG! How cute is this Carnival themed engagment party from green wedding shoes?

I am actually in love... and a little bit sad that despite being engaged for nearly two years (this christmas) we still havn't had one! I now desperately want one! The amazing stationary were designed by the bride's friend, the food was all organised by family and the decorations were DIY, borrowed or given as gifts... Dreamy!

See more on the bride's blog:

http://rachaelnicolephotography.com/blog/?p=1562

xxx

And whilst we are on the subject... Non-floral bouquets...

Images via google

How stunning are these bouquets? The first image is called a button bouquet (no surprises for guessing why?) and the second one is made completely out of felt flowers!

sooo stinking cute...

Unfortunately my husband to be doesn't share the same opinion - in his words they are 'strange' *tut-tut* maybe he is more traditional than I thought :-p

Well despite his inability to get past them being a bit 'weird' I think they are stunning, and I may just have to have a go at making one myself :-)

xxx

Non-floral Buttonholes



Buttonholes from Elizabeth Anne Designs and etsy seller Frittsrosenow

Lately I have become totally obsessed with sourcing out original ideas for DIY wedding projects. Whilst browsing Etsy for hours on end (as usual) I came across the idea of non-floral, handmade boutonnieres (buttonholes).
Traditionally these consist of a single flower - roses or thistles are popular and a small amount of greenery wired together and are given to the groom and groomsmen the morning of the wedding to wear on the day.
However I can think of nothing better than making one of these delightful buttonholes as a present for my groom and his groomsmen - my thinking being that a) they would work out a hell of a lot more budget friendly than the quote I got for £5 each (for rose and some weeds :-p) from the florist. b) they would look funky and unique and c) they would be a memento that lasted forever of our wedding day.


The two examples above are just two of the millions of ideas you could use - you could make them completely personal and individual to the man wearing it - or you could make the same for all the groomsmen and add a little extra touch to your husband-to-be's buttonhole. The first image shows a buttonhole made out of felt flowers and delicate beads and the second is, of course, made for a guitarist out of a tiny guitar and personalised wedding date pics.


There are endless ideas for ways in which to make your own buttonholes - button badges, felt flowers, twigs, feathers, mini plastic toys (what about incorporating fun superhero figures for the super-men in your life?) I know that something like this would go down very well with the men in mine!


xxx





Venue Woes

So these past few days I've been doing a lot of thinking about the type of wedding venue that Scott and I would like to get married at. However it's become clear that it is awfully hard to find reasonable wedding venues in London - particularly ones that meet my (quite fussy it seems) requirements.

My Ideal venue:

• A Blank Canvas - it's important to be able to inject our own personalities and colour scheme upon our venue - the last thing I want to be doing is having to make my flowers and bridesmaids dresses match the walls in a stuffy room... this may seem a bit random but imagine a Red and Black wedding theme in a blue and white roccoco style room... exactly my point!
• Outdoor Space - Granted outdoor space is rather limited in London but would it kill someone to open up a venue where you could have guests wander freely in pretty, scented gardens or at least a terrace where we could serve up BBQ and cocktails... clearly it would! The venues with outdoor space know that it is a valuable commodity and so charge through the roof for it - out.of.order methinks!
• Budget friendly! haha - now this is being unrealistic it would seem - a venue in London, with outdoor space for less than a hire fee of £4000 and without a minimum catering spend of £80 per head - pah foolish for even hoping for it!

Ok so maybe I am asking too much - but I just want our wedding to be perfect. Unfortunately perfection comes with a price... one which I would be unwilling to pay even if we could afford it!

Some of the dreamy but waaaay over budget venues I have been looking at this week:

The Imperial War Museum, London

Vinopolis, SE1

Kew gardens

Fulham palace

Queens House, greenwich

and my personal favourite: London Zoo (plenty of outdoor space but I can't imagine my guests being too comfortable with eating with the lions can you?

xxx

Anybody for a shot?... Of coffee that is :-)

There is nothing quite like a cup of turkish coffee (Kahve) to wake you up in the morning and I absoloutely love drinking from the dinky espresso style cups - particularly now I have my very own ashy grey set from Ikea (once again I heart Ikea!) 

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My new Ikea kahve cups... £2.59 for cup and saucer

Cute, cheap as chips and an ever so stylish accompaniament to my morning toast :-) xxx

Daytrip! We heart Ikea!

Spent today dawdling around the Ikea store in Croydon with two old school friends (believe it or not i've known them since primary school!) and Lily-Rose!

It was Lily's second trip to Ikea (which is one of mummy's favourite stores!) and her first time EVER to be sat in the little seat section of the shopping trolley which she loved... although I was a little less enthusiastic once she decided to try licking the metal bar at the front *GERMS!*

There was another great first for Lily today - Swedish meatballs with gravy and loganberries- she loved them, which is good because so do I and it was very exciting to see her tucking in to brand new food - feeding herself of course!

Aside from lunch and trolley experiences we brought home some little treasures at bargain prices... The first image is of the Duktig 14 piece felt vegetable basket set which cost just £5.99 and will be used for years to come for role play and the second are the Mula stacking cups at £1.99 which Lily already adores!

xxx

Cake Love... Yum!

Oooh found this cake on Project Wedding and it made me feel extremely hungry! I may have to forget the diet and pop down to tescos in the (very) vague hope that they stock something resembling this!

I've never been one to place much emphasis on wedding cakes but the more wonderful, creative cakes I see the more I begin to change my mind.

Although to be honest seeing the price tag that would go with a cake like this would probably stop me drooling anyway! hehe

xxx

Budget Special: Headpieces and Side Tiaras

Ok so whats a girl to do if her budget doesn't stretch to swarovski crystal encrusted Jenny Packham then?

I've spent the past few days hunting down glamorous, affordable alternatives that still look a million dollars and here are the two best I came up with...

The top design is (and you will never have guessed it!) from Topshop and is just £8 un.be.liev.able! So cute and so on trend it hurts. This design can be worn as a traditional alice band or as a 'side tiara' and could easily be glammed up by sticking some sparkly gems to the centres of the flowers! Now that is what I call a bargain.

The second design is more expensive at £88 from Glitzy Secrets (the home to the most fabulous costume style jeweller you could find) and although a little bit less affordable it is very luxurious and sparkly and would add that 'wow' factor to a wedding outfit with very little going out of the purse! Glitzy secrets have designs starting at as little as £16 but once I saw this 'Eternal Rose' I was stuck... there's no beating about the bush - I want it!

xxx

Spotlight on Jenny Packham - Accessories

This absoloutely stunning and ornate 'side tiara' is one of the new accessories in the 2011 Jenny Packham collection. It is called Acacia II and is a smaller, less elaborate (although you wouldn't guess it!) version of a previous design... imaginatively the design that it is based on is called 'Acacia'

My budget would never ever stretch to one of these beautiful and intricate designs (this one comes in at around £300 - a reasonable price for JP) but to be perfectly honest if I had a spare £300 it would all go on shoes!

xxx

Competition Win!

Wow! I am absoloutely thrilled to have won a competition on Whimsical Wonderland Weddings Blog for a Boudoir shoot.

Lou and Shaneen (the photographer) judged the entries on imagination and creativity and my entry for a literature/movie themed boudoir shoot came second place! Unfortunately as I was only runner up I didn't get a completely free photoshoot however Shaneen was extra generous and has offered me a heavily discounted shoot! Wowee! So i'm going to check the bank balance and beg and borrow to get the shoot of dreams.

My entry was for a shoot based on mine and Scott's favourite films and books - in particular Twilight, Alice in Wonderland and Indiana Jones!

Visit Shaneen's site at: http://www.rosewarnecoxphotography.co.uk/

and the amazing Whimsical wonderland weddings blog: http://whimsicalwonderlandweddings.blogspot.com/

xxx

It's all in the paper!

Continuing my interest in all of the little details that people put into making their wedding stationary amazing I found these invitations on Project Wedding.

I like the top set because the maps and calligraphy were all produced by the bride to be herself, the vintage cinema 'ticket' reflected the couples love of film, the printed invitation itself was on vintage floral fabric and hand sewn to card backing. SO much effort went into this and you can completely tell!

The second I love because... well just look at it! Each invitation was individually packaged in a coordinating box with SWEETIES in it :-) How cute is that?

xxx

A little something extra...

I am a big believer in the idea that it's the little things that make a big difference and that when it comes to weddings that it is the small details that people remember the most.

I came across these images on The Knot and Green Wedding Shoes and absoloutely love the way that these couple's invitations suites are completely infused with personality and detail. From the vellum printed inserts and photobooth strips to the absoloutely Ah-maz-ing handmade Vintage Book invitations that are unlike anything I have ever seen before.

The bride actually created the Book invitations herself - sourcing vintage books of love poetry and romantic stories, cutting out a section in the middle and printing all of the inserts etc - the copper plate pocket was made by her husband to be and the buttons were all from her grandmother's collection! So romantic, so personal and so unique!

I think i'm in love :-)

xxx

Big Fish, Little Fish

A few days ago Scott took me and my younger brother and sisters and Lily (a lot of us!) to the London Aquarium for the day...

It was the first trip for Lily and two of my sisters to the aquarium and they had a great time looking at all of the fish and the sharks, sting rays, jellyfish and crabs...

The all round favourites were the tropical fish in 'Nemo's Cavern' which we couldn't tear Lily-Rose away from and the Stingrays, with whom we spent a good hour watching them splash around and play in their open tank... unfortunately the rules have changed since I went with my primary school and you are no longer allowed to touch any of the fish which was a bit dissapointing as I had told all of them about how fun it was to feel the stingrays and the starfish in the tanks...

One tank I definately wouldn't be putting my hand in is the shark tank though! It was a great day but VERY expensive for all of our entry's and food etc... but definately worth it for the quality time we got to spend together which so rarely happens :-(

xxx

'Just keep swimming' Dory - Finding Nemo

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Hiya

I am sooo sorry that I have been so neglectful lately - i've had a mega busy time this past couple of weeks, have been house sitting, puppy-sitting, looking after my younger brother whilst my parents are away on holiday and spending as much time as possible with my gorgeous fiance and our baby girl whilst he has the time off of work!

So what have you all been up to?

Here are just a few of the things i've been getting into in my absence:

Baking yummy lemon sponge cake and strawberry cheesecake for a BBQ party with some friends...

Spending time playing with Lily-Rose and her lovely activity cube (bargain from Tesco!)

Visiting the London Aquarium...

Taking a trip to the park...

And watching lots of movies with the other half...

Hope you've all had a great a couple of weeks as I have!

xxx

Unique Hand-illustrated Save-the-Dates

How cute are these hand-illustrated save the dates from Etsy shop FeliceDesign?

They would be perfect for mine and Scott's wedding - he's a coffee guy and i'm a tea drinker. I'd customize the design a bit more though but the essentials are there :-) Adorable!

xxx

Book inspired weddings

I totally love this vintage book inspired tablescape by Brancoprata at Marry You Me. What a great way to incorporate a little bit of personality into the wedding decor, and as an avid book-reading couple we will definately have to find a way to use this in our wedding... albeit without the doilies (i'm sure I have a phobia!)

Im thinking maybe stacks of books to rest the flower centrepieces on? Or maybe even a copy of one of our favourite books as a favour... expensive but very personal?

OOOooohhh *lightbulb* how about buying up books in bulk from local charity shops (or asking friends to donate), and covering them in brown kraft paper - the same way I used to cover my school text books in pretty wrapping papers... that way they will all be coordinated with the colour scheme and we could 'print' our own titles on the side :-)

My brain is going into overdrive on this book theme wedding inspiration... will think of some more to share soon

xxx

Pin Up Couture

I am putting this up in the vain hope that someone out there loves me enough to treat me to one of these fab Pin-up couture dresses for christmas... although I wouldn't say no to getting one just for sake of it (and then maybe the other one at christmas!)

What could make you feel more glam than a sexy wiggly swing dress... helloooo sailor!

xxx

Bridal Shower

Found this beautiful Bridal Shower on the greenweddingshoes blog today and just had to share it...

The bride-to-be Leila was the inspiration for the whole theme which was the 'L is for...' theme represented in all of the paper goods... This included 'L is for Leila', 'L is for libations', 'L is for Lucky' and 'L is for Lewis' (her new married name) as just a few examples.

Her planners organised an absoloutely amazing day with a wonderful dessert bar, coordinated a la Amy Atlas, a perfume-making bar for the guests, and an ice-cream bar with assorted toppings - very cute and easy to use for any celebration :-)

xxx

Just a little note...

Ok so here's the thing, I truly and honestly believe that alongside shoes, hugs and friends a girl can never have too much paper goods...

Other people tend to go a bit glassy eyed and stare into space once I start going on about paper weight and thickness but this is a subject I am really passionate about... getting married? Don't worry about the flowers think of the invitations...

Having a baby? How are you going to let people know? You get the drift i'm sure...

So when I stumbled upon these cute as cupcake notecards on etsy shop Kawaii De Sune I fell for them big time. I can just see all the possibilities for them :-)

xxx

Good enough to eat...

Omg my beautiful friend Lauren sent me a link to this fab jewellery seller on etsy today. Fatallyfeminine designer and creator Aubree desribes her work as 'Handmade jewelry that is inspired by Japanese Street Fashion, an overdose of girlyness, and childhood whimsy' - although she fails to mention that it is totally awesome and sweet on the purse!

Just searching through the numerous pages of cute polymer clay jewellery made me hungry for cake and cookies and WAFFLES! Can I please please please get one for christmas... or just for being me?!

xxx

Camping Engagement Session

How adorable is this 'camping' themed engagement session from green wedding shoes?

It has seriously made me want to escape to the woods somewhere, set up a tent and get cosy under the stars with my wonderful Scott. Something about the cosy tartan rugs, the warm muted colours and the unashamed sweetness of it all just makes me so happy :-)

Cuteness

xxx

'It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent,' -Dave Barry

Wedding shoes! Yum!

Wow! I've been looking for inspiration for my wedding outfit for quite a long time now and when I came across the Christian Louboutin 'Margi Diams' shoes on Net-a-porter I was (literally and that's a first for me) speechless! Cue sending a link straight to Scott's blackberry with a massive pleading text attempting to express to him just how much I love these shoes... all was well and good... that is until we noticed the hefty price tag of £1200!

And so then it was back to the drawing board - unless we win the lottery - and that when I came across these fabulous 'lady dragon' shoes by Vivienne Westwood that are a lot more purse friendly at less than £100! So they aren't quite the shoes of my dream but if I really must compromise then these are what I want!

xxx

'I don't know who invented the high heel, but all men owe him a lot' - Marilyn Monroe

Engagement Session 2

Once again on the hunt for engagement shoot inspiration I came across this fab london-based shoot by photographer James Brown via Rockmywedding.co.uk

What I love about this shoot is that it is so different from what I have seen before - no jeans and relaxed summer clothes in sight but a real fun, brightly coloured 1950's dress and skinny suit and converse :-) much more our style.

Plus so many of the Engagement sessions that I have seen are photographed over in America, usually amidst a field of corn or on an extremely well styled outdoors set - not this one, nope, good old London au naturel was all the background they needed :-)

xxx

Engagement Shoot

Lately I have been completely obsessing over the idea of having an engagement shoot - it's quite traditional in the US and has only just started becoming popular over here in the UK. This one above is a Valentines Themed engagement shoot via greenweddingshoes.com.

How in love do they look? And I would love those wings!

xxx

'True love stories never have endings' - Richard Bach

Twilight Eclipse: Movie Review

Wooohoooo!

Thanks to my wonderful, amazing fiance (did I mention how wonderful and amazing he is?!) we got preview tickets for me, Scott and my three little sisters to see Twilight Eclipse last night!

And it was great! I was super excited about the movie release and was definately not dissapointed. With a lot of book to movie adaptations you miss out on a lot of the 'background story' and the emotional stuff but the director did the book justice in more ways than one. The fight scenes were well captured and quite stylized although in the words of my seven year old sister [she would have preferred] 'a longer fight and a lot less of the kissing'.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our evening, although it must have cost Scott a small fortune in supplies *n.b we should probably get shares in a popcorn distributor!* and the movie was ten out of ten!

Go see it when it's released in cinemas next week...

ps: jasper Cullen suddenly got very hot, especially with that cute southern accent *swoon*

xxx

'His touch brought with it the strangest feeling of relief - as if I had been in pain and that pain had suddenly ceased' Bella Swan, Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer.

British Colonial Style

After blogging earlier about the epic movie 'Australia' I was caught up with thinking about the interior design of the film sets. Based on what can loosely be called 'British Colonial Style' the home that Lady Ashley (Nicole Kidman) inherits upon her husband's death is absoloutely stunning - a really elegant and timeless style.

Other movies that feature a 'colonial style' of interiors include 'Indiana Jones' and 'Out of Africa' and for me it is the juxtaposition of 'stately home' british style against 'safari lodge' that make this such an interesting choice for an interior and I would love to transport the feel into my own home - most likely in the living or dining area.

A few things that sum up Colonial style for me are:

Steamer trunks, Chesterfield Sofas, Dark mahogany and teak furniture, handpainted botanical inspired wallpapers, cream linen, framed sepia maps, nautical and hunting accessories, rattan furniture, sisal rugs, 1930's elegance, safari,white gauze curtains, wooden shutters, antique leatherbound books, easy 'liveable' elegance...

Where to shop for this look: Think vintage in the main - if you want something that looks aged and as if it has a history then try to go for pieces that actually do! Laura Ashley for soft furnishing and classic lamps, John Lewis for dark indian sheesham wood furniture and natural textured accessories.

Images, clockwise from top left: Luis Vuitton Steamer trunks via Country Living, Can Texas safari Lodge via 'weloveit', Can Texas safari lodge via 'welove it', 'Chesterfield' leather sofa John Lewis, colonial living, Becker furniture world and Chair from Ralph Lauren's Cape lodge collection.

'Home is a place not only of strong affections. but of entire unreserve, it is life's undress rehearsal, it's backroom, it's dressing room' - Harriet Beecher Stowe

Australia: Movie Review

Ok so I have a confession to make, I am in love with Hugh Jackman and so I was a little biased when I sat down to watch this with Scott at the cinema last year.

However even if Hugh Jackman hadn't been in the film (topless is one scene!) I would have still fallen head over heels in love with it.

Everything about this movie is amazing - the story, the actors, the set design, the amazing landscapes, the costumes... EVERYTHING! And so it is with hand on heart that I can give this movie a 10 out of 10 rating! It made me cry, it made me laugh out loud and it is one of those films that makes you feel all warm inside - don't pretend you don't know what I mean :-p

Could somebody please send me and the family over there please? I want to live in the sun!

xxx

'If you got no love in your heart you've got nothing... no dreaming, no story, no nothing' - Magarri the Magic Man, Australia.

Twilight Eclipse

I very, very much doubt that I am on my lonesome in being super excited about the upcoming release of Twilight 'Eclipse' next week! However I certainly wouldn't be willing to stand outside in the cold waiting for the stars to make a brief red-carpet appearance... even if they were showing up...

'Twi-hard' fans, as they like to be known by, were on the news this morning complaining about how bitterly dissapointed they are that stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart would be boycotting the London premiere of the film in Leicester Square - the official reason given is that their safety was under question after they were mobbed by fans at the New Moon premiere however the dissapointed fans aren't impressed, at all!

To be honest I like the movie because I think that, so far, they have been great adaptations from Stephanie Meyer's novels - I couldn't care less if the trio decide to stay in L.A and send video messages to the red carpet - I just want to see the Edward and Seth Versus Victoria scene... and the 'big question' :-p

So here's a toast to the new movie, not to the 'celebrities' who act in it, I'll be reviewing 'Eclipse' on here asap.

xxx

Image courtesy of filmofilia.com

'The clouds I can handle, but I can't handle an eclipse,' Jacob Black, 'Eclipse' by Stephanie Meyer.

Munchies: Lighter beef tacos

Was scrolling through Martha Stewart's recipes this afternoon and came across this recipe for Lighter Beef tacos - perfect dinner for the weather we have been having today.

Will be cooking these tomorrow night, i'll let you know how they go.

xxx

'You said I killed you, haunt me then! The murdered do haunt their murderers I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always, take any form - drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss where I cannot find you!' - Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

Design Classic

Ok so I know I will probably never be able to afford one of these chairs but I just had to share with you a complete design classic.

It is, of course, an Eames chair (image courtesy of Swank Lighting) - a mid century modern design that will just keep on going for aslong as I can foresee.

What I wouldn't give for one of these beautiful chairs at my desk...

xxx

'And so the lion fell in love with the lamb' - Twilight