the green gal

Say hi in style

So, this is what I've been hinting at – my new range of vintage illustration postcards! There are six hand drawn (by me) illustrations of vintage items – typewriter, suitcases, tea pot and tea cup, sewing machine, camera and telephone – in six different colours – sea green, camel, dusky rose, russet red, chocolate and cloudy blue. And each illustration is accompanied by a little message or statement, such as 'time for a brew', 'smile, please' and 'stitch it', in a black, typewriter typeface.

The A6 postcards are blank on the reverse for your message and the designs are printed on 100% recycled 300gsm card, plus they come with 100% recycled brown envelopes so are super eco-friendly as well as gorgeously stylish!  

I've worked and tweaked at these designs and I'm so pleased with the final result, I really hope you'll like them too. Postcards have so many uses and I think these are nice enough to perhaps loiter on the mantelpiece rather than being recycled straight away…!

You can buy the postcards as a set of six of one illustration in six colours, or a set of six mixed illustrations and colours, and you can find them all in the stationery section at the green gables now.

But that's not all! I launched these cheerful note cards at Top Drawer and have finally managed to get them onto my website!

There are two sets to choose from – flowers and hearts or kites and balloons – each set has four A6 100% recycled 300gsm note cards, blank inside for your message, with matching green or blue FSC paper envelopes. Perfect for sending a thank you note, using as party invitations or just to keep in touch with a friend, they bring a bit of colour and joy to a grey February! You can find them at the green gables now.

PS All my note cards and postcards are available wholesale so if you are a retailer do get in touch!

Papercraft Inspirations

The above photos are of a project in Papercraft Inspirations magazine featuring my red and white heart design recycled wrapping paper. The very talented Kirsty Neale used my gift wrap to show how cards, tags and gifts can be made to celebrate Valentine's Day. I love how creative Kirsty's ideas are and it all looks so pretty! It seems that there are endless uses of wrapping paper!

You can find my gift wrap at the green gables and PaperCraft Inspirations is out now. 

Daisy Green magazine

I've written a few times about fab website daisygreenmagazine.co.uk but this time I can tell you they've produced the magazine in print!

The website has been growing from strength to strength for three years so the team decided to take things a step further and produce a 32 page, A5 size magazine to showcase all the website has to offer. And, yep, little ol me has a feature in there too. 

The magazine is being given out at lots of events but you can get your hands on a free copy if you ask the lovely Daisy ladies nicely, find out how here. 

There's a Spring edition already in the making…!

Too beautiful to ride or wash in

source

What a fabulous idea. When I should ever have a bathroom big enough to fit a bike in it I'm absolutely going to install this. One day.

Pretty and planet-friendly finds: Howies

I heart Howies.

dress, jacket, cardigan

The thing with Howies is that I want it all. The clothes, the lifestyle, the rugged outdoor, the cosy indoors, the hairstyles… it's so aspirational while also feeling totally achievable. But it's not just about how good it all looks, the clothes are made with as little impact on the environment as possible and they're made to last. Organic cotton is used for jeans, shirts, t-shirts, dresses, tops and skirts, the jacket above is made from 100% recycled polyester (the stuffing is down so it really would feel like you're wrapped up in a duvet!), and that beautiful cardi is 100% lambswool. 

When you have clothes as beautful, as eco-friendly, as well made and as long-lasting as these, why buy cheap, sweatshop-made clothes that will last one wash before falling apart? 

Christmas press

I've been a bit slow about putting this post together but I've finally got on with it! I'm really pleased to have a couple of my products featured in two magazines that are new to me. First up is Prima Christmas Makes…

If you love your Christmas mags this is a feast for your eyes! And secondly is The Green Parent…

Now, I'm not a parent, green or otherwise, but I really enjoyed this mag, so much interesting info and several great articles that apply to life with or without children, so I'm really pleased to be included in it.

Given the chance I'd buy the December issues of all my favourite mags, and a few more, I just love poring over the festive shoots. Good thing I don't raid my local newsagent as I don't know where I'd get the time to read them!

And to help you with your Christmas lists, don't forget you can get £5 of when you spend £20 at the green gables with code NX5 until the end of November.

Getting sticky with it

So, remember I said in this blog post I'd tell you when my new finishing touches products would be available on my website? Well they are! You can now find the marvellous twig colouring pencils, mini wooden pegs and colured twine at the green gables.

But that's not all! I am very excited to reveal a brand new product I have designed – decorative bunting sticky tape!

red heart bunting sticky tape

Available in red heart or blue star bunting designs this tape will perk up any present, package or envelope.

blue star bunting sticky tape

The tape is 25mm wide and comes in 30m rolls so you can glam up a lot of gifts. (And a lot of order packages if you're me!)

As well as the pretty tape I've also added a few more things to my web shop, including sets of doily-edged brown paper gift tags…

set of five tags

twig pencils (similar to the colouring pencils but a bit more grown-up)…

twig pencil

and sets of occasion postcards with envelopes…

occasions postcards

So, I hope you like my new additions, I'd love to know what you think. And don't forget you can still get £5 off when you spend £20 at thegreengables.co.uk before the end of November with code NX5!

Pretty and planet-friendly finds: Love Eco

I first came across Love Eco years ago and bought my mum one of their chicken doorstops. One of the things I love about this online store is that you can always find ethical and eco goodies that you don't see anywhere else, the three pictured are perfect examples. 

T-shirt, vinyl record clock, socks

The T-shirt looks so comfy and cool and is made from a new eco fabric called Eucalytus Tencel. It seems there are lots of uses for vinyl records, besides listening to the music on them, but this record clock can be sat on a desktop with its folded edge or hung on a wall. And as for these socks, they come in several gorgeous colours plus, when you buy one pair another pair is given to a street child in Mongolia. Feels pretty good to me. 

I know what's going on my Christmas wish list…

Early Christmas bird offer at the green gables

Why wait till December and have a mad rush to get all your Christmas present shopping done when you can take advantage of this special offer and be finished before the end of November?! 

I'm giving you £5 off when you spend £20 or more at the green gables for the whole of November. Plus, as always, you don't have to pay for postage and packaging on orders over £30. Just use the code NX5 at the checkout before 30 November to receive your £5 off.

You're a lovely bunch and have been so supportive of my new business, especially since I made the giant leap to work full-time on the green gables, so I hope you can take advantage of this offer. And, if I can spread out the Christmas order rush a bit more evenly over November as well as December my life will be a smidgen less crazy stressful – this way we all win! 

So, pootle on over to www.thegreengables.co.uk and have a wander around. And if you're still at the gift and wish list writing stage, this free printable might be useful…!

Pretty and planet-friendly finds: EcoCentric

I'm writing this week's pretty and planet-friendly find post while it's 0º outside and with a roaring fire inside, so it's safe to say I'm feeling quite wintery. And that's probably why I'm drawn to the warm, cosy products on today's gem – the web shop ecocentric.co.uk. This website has so many fabulously stylish items it was a real challenge to narrow down the choice to just three:

tea light holder, blanket, wallpaper

I love snuggling under a blanket on a chilly evening and EcoCentric has several pure wool beauties to choose from. The one above is made from rare breed Jacob wool using traditional looms in Scotland, and as each sheep's colouring is unique, so is each blanket. I'm really rather taken with this mustardy yellow wallpaper, it would look fab as a feature wall, plus it's printed with eco-friendly inks on PEFC paper. And what's a firelit evening without a spot of candle light too, would you have guessed it's recycled glass?

Stylish and sustainable, I love it.