the green gal

Beautiful bandeau

Just a quickie to show you the beautiful head bandeau I bought from the lovely Lune Vintage folk. Their etsy shop is taking a break at the mo but you can still catch up with Jill and the team at their blog.

I love the colour, obviously, and how it makes my hair look so much prettier whether I've pulled it up in a knot or wearing it down. And of course it's handmade by an independent artisan!

Hope you're enjoying the snatches of sunshine this Bank Holiday weekend!

A spot of tea

Anyone for tea? If you're British, or probably even if you're not, it's always time for a cuppa.

1. Vintage demitasse violets teacup 1, 2. Cream Tea , 3. All in Pastel, 4. cup & saucer nostalgic, 5. Vintage Tea, 6. Silverware, 7. vintage tea set - C1895, 8. 1930's tea set by Vintage Tea Sets, 9. Pink Bloosom Teacup

A flick through flicker resulted in my creating this mosaic of beautiful vintage tea sets. As I type I'm drinking a cup of English Breakfast from a vintage turquoise (there's a surprise) china tea cup. 

Did you know that the practice of pouring milk into the cup before the tea comes was to protect the delicate china cup from cracking under the hot water? So with today's mugs there's no real need to continue this custom.

What's your favourite accompaniment to a cup of tea? Slice of cake, biscuit, scone? If it's a biccie, do you dunk? If it's a scone, do you slather on the jam first or the cream? And what's your favourite tea to drink? I'm rather dull and stick with English Breakfast but perhaps I'm missing out, am I?

Who knew there could be so many tea-related questions?! Looking forward to reading about your tea times…

Art + bunting = gorgeous

How beautiful is this piece of art?

A super talented artist named Pragya K created this stunning piece, I found her through this post on Try Handmade. You can find Pragya's artwork at her etsy shop,  or discover more about the artist at her blog, Artocrat.

I absoloutely love it and if I could afford the art and the postage I'd snap it up in an instant. You know me, I'm a sucker for bunting of all shapes, sizes, colours and now as multimedia art!

For now, though, I'll have to adore it from afar…

Weekend getaway

Last weekend, the hubbie, doggie and I spent a few days on the Isle of Wight.

Cows not Cowes

We had such a lovely time, if you've never been I highly recommend it.

Hubbie and doggie sharing a mutually adoring moment

Although it's still England, there's something about getting on a boat and crossing a (small) stretch of sea that makes you really feel like you're going on holiday.

The only bit left of an ancient church at Niton – nicknamed the Pepperpot, I think it looks more like a medieval space rocket…

And with brilliant sunshine and soaring temperatures it was perfect holiday weather.

All holiday snaps have to include a dodgy self-portrait

Hope you've been enjoying the sunshine too!

I heart nature

Month of May

Well, it's been quite a month and it's not even over yet. My month has been so packed already I felt the need to stop and look back at it so far. So, this month I…

• have been laid low with a stinking cold which became a hacking cough which turned into a chest infection

• had family and friends to stay, before, during and after my lurgy – lucky them

• took part in Copy and Paste's first birthday blog party, a rip-roaring time it was too, if you didn't pop in at the time you can still read all the posts

• held a little competition to win something I made, and people actually entered! The lovely lady who won the string of bunting seems v pleased with it and sent me a piccie of it hung in its new home

• managed to correctly predict the coalition government outcome before it was officially announced so we could create and print the weekly newspaper for children – First News (that's the day job)

• finished my Challenge Inspiration Thursday posts with my favourite colour combo, but that doesn't mean the end of turquoise for me!

• was told I needed new glasses so went for a new style

 

• met 11-week-old George – the little poppet – new baby of my friend Libby and her husband Richard

• spent 2.5 hours on a tractor learning all about farming courtesy of Richard (above) who's a dairy farmer. Here's an observation: when I go to into work I find the usual office furniture and co-workers. When Richard walked into his workplace – the silage barn to be precise – one day last week he found a mallard had made a nest and laid several eggs. You tell me, who has the most interesting start to their day?

Source

• saw several cows receive a manicure. Not that it ever occurred to me before but it makes sense that cows' hooves grow continuously as humans' nails do, and so need trimming. And there's an entire career to be made as a hoof trimmer

• tried on loads of my mum's clothes from the 60s and 70s. Came away with a cosy knitted shawl plus two fantastic shirt dresses circa 1970 (post three of my siblings being born but pre-me) – hurray for a hoarding mum!

• also tried on a bunch of clothes my brother-in-law's girlfriend is giving to charity (sorry, charity, I intercepted) and took away a never-worn top, a wraparound cardigan and a pair of linen trousers – thanks for the cast-offs!

And a trip to the Isle of Wight is yet to come!

So, how's your month been going?

Colour inspiration – turquoise and white

 

1. joyful simplicity, 2. Café de Flore, 3. Untitled, 4. Open Your Gift, 5. Vintage Blue, 6. Fresh Vintage, 7. Gray, 8. IMG_4387, 9. I heart tea

Of all turquoise colour combinations, this is my favourite. When my husband and I were planning our wedding and designing our stationery (more than five years ago) we realised that turquoise would suit us perfectly for several reasons – since Breakfast at Tiffany's became one of my favourite movies I had loved Tiffany's, we chose my engagement ring from the San Francisco store, and turquoise and white struck us as being a wonderfully fresh and light colour scheme for a summer wedding.

I hope you've enjoyed my colour inspiration posts and found them lovely to look at and even a smidgen useful. This is my final turquoise and colour inspiration, my favourite colour is going out on a high! But don't fret, I'll be posting plenty more colourful and creative inspiration posts in the future…

The lucky winner is…

  

Congratulations, Barbara! Drop me an email so we can organise posting your prize. I hope you'll be very happy with your bunting. 

Thanks to everyone who commented, it was great to read about the fab books that have stayed with us since childhood.

Next month I will be opening my online store selling handmade goods, including bunting – very exciting! Just thought those of you who didn't win the bunting might like to know…!

 

Who wants a prize?

If you've found me through the Copy + Paste party, welcome! If you're an old friend popping by then hi, how's it going? And if you accidentally wandered onto this page, do keep reading, you could win a prize…

The fab Kirsty and Julie at Copy + Paste have been holding a truly inspirational creative party all weekend (and it's still going) to celebrate their first birthday. There are some incredibly talented people taking part with blog posts and giveaways and downloads and all kinds of loveliness.

A few weeks ago they opened up the floor to anyone who wanted to try their hand at producing something from this inspiration to earn a guest place at their party table.

I thought I'd have a bash at it as the girls are huge inspirations and I do like a good party. No party is complete without bunting so I made this for decoration:

 

And what do you know? I only went and won myself a place at the party! Here's my little contribution to the festivities, if you haven't popped along there already, go check it out now!

Because I'm in the party spirit I'm giving you the chance to win this length of bunting. The eight flags are all made from remnant fabric swatchbooks (waste not, want not!) and the entire length measures about 2.5m with plenty of space at each end for hanging up.

If you would like to become the bunting's new owner and bring a bit of bunting love to your home, or workplace, or street corner – really, bunting looks good everywhere – this is what you need to do:

Check out Copy + Paste's birthday party here, then come back to this post and tell me in the comments below what was your favourite book as a child and why you loved it. You have until Tuesday 5pm GMT so get reminiscing and good luck!

See you at the Copy and Paste party

Following my bid to be a guest poster at the Copy and Paste party, I am delighted to tell you that the lovely Julie and Kirsty have made the (dubious) decision to let me join them! The party is happening here right now and all weekend so scoot on over. There's loads going on with guest posts from hugely talented people and fab giveaways!

Here's a little glimpse at what you will see from me…

See you there, I'll be the one in the corner playing bar tender…