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I have taken so many beautiful pictures over the years, most are hidden away in folders on my computer, some make it onto facebook and occasionally they even make it into a frame!
Since moving into the new house I’ve decided that I want to be surrounded by more photographs. They capture happy times, memories and love and who doesn’t want to surrounded themselves with that?
One thing I have always loved but never actually done, is canvas printing. I don’t really know why! It is such an affordable way to create a big statement on your wall. Pictures of family and friends or beautiful shots of places you’ve been, give a talking point and that unique touch of your own personality.
So when Your Image 2 Canvas offered a £50 voucher for me to review their canvas prints I jumped at the chance. I was only faced with the dilemma of which photo to choose, I have so many beautiful ones that I love! My gorgeous Littlelish would have to be the subject but now to sort through and find the perfect one…
I loved the recent photo I took on my phone with her fairy wings on, unfortunately the quality of my phone camera is not great so I had to opt for a larger image taken with a camera. This was on the advice of the extremely helpful and patient team at Your Image 2 Canvas who looked over the initial phone image I sent them and even tried to sharpen it. In the end I went for the beautiful picture I took at last years Wilderness festival. She looks so happy and pure with a little sparkly gold butterfly on her cheek. It was a high quality image and they quickly set to print.
The website where you place your order is extremely user friendly and has very clear instructions guiding you to choose exactly what size, depth, edging you would like on your canvas. You can also select if you would like it in black and white or sepia. I opted for a large coloured square (30 inches x 30 inches), deep canvas with the image wrapping around the edges. It cost a total of £58.99 which for an artwork of that size I thought was rather affordable.
Within a day (yes one day! If you order before 3pm your product is shipped for free to you the following day) my finished product was there waiting for me in the porch. Eeeek! I was so excited to see how it had turned out and I am pleased to say it is absolutely beautiful! The print quality and finish is perfect and I really couldn’t be any happier with it.
I’ve already had both the visitors that came to my house since yesterday ask me where I ordered it from! So if you are looking for some personalised wall art I can definitely recommend checking out Your Image 2 Canvas and the huge variety of options they have available. Thank you Your Image 2 Canvas!
A home is so important. It’s the place you spend most of your time, where you create memories. As an extremely visual/aesthetic person it’s only natural that when I am surrounded by beauty I feel happier (I guess this is the same for most of us). For me living in a beautiful home, in beautiful surroundings is one of the key things in life that makes me happy. As a creative, I also need it to be an inspiring place. The house we live in now is small and perfectly formed, just right for me and Littlelish. We have a country cottage kitchen and a lovely garden, both of which we spend most of our time in.
Although it is perfect for where we are right now, I dream about the future (because you’ve always got to dream haven’t you?), about where we will be living a few years down the line. I just love property and interior design and one of my favourite things to do is check out lush properties I may consider living in if I were a millionaire ;) It can’t just be me that does this right?
I have an absolute obsession with Georgian houses, they are by far my favourite. It’s something about the elegance and symmetry, they always seem so gracious and light.
So my dream house today is this little beauty on the market with Savills based up in East Lothian (Innerwick). I know I know I’m not really going to be up-footing it all the way to Scotland but this is a dream right?
Mansewood is a stunning, secluded, B Listed Georgian property which dates from 1726 with later additions in 1830. The magnificent Palladian front elevation has a central Doric portico and classic fanlight over the front door.
I’m sold! How about you?
The house looks like a lovely family property with 5 bedroom, 3 reception rooms, 3 bathrooms & shower room, plenty big enough for us! As would be expected in any period house it has a host of gorgeous period features like flagstone flooring, log burning stoves, open fires, a free standing roll top bath and a double Belfast sink (I have a Belfast sink in my house at the moment and I LOVE it!) An absolutely stunning sweeping stone staircase takes you upstairs. Oh my goodness just imagine the photographs I could take in this house, swoon!
Most importantly for me the house is light. I love houses flooded with light! It has high ceilings, amazingly large windows and I just love how the walls have been left very neutral and light, a perfect backdrop for gorgeous furniture and art. It also lets the beauty of the building really speak for itself i think :)
The modern and new have also been merged well in the house as it has a lovely contemporary kitchen, again with those luscious windows and a cool zinc roofed extension which I think works well.
The house also comes with an annexe, Dad that could be for you? And did I mention it has a walled garden (Oh I just love the magic of a walled garden), a productive kitchen garden AND fruit trees including plum and apple?
Yes this is most certainly my dream home! Anyone got a spare £620,000 for me?
Image source: www.increation.co.uk
Sometimes when you flick though slick interiors magazines it’s hard to imagine some of the rooms after five minutes with your little tribe. But with careful thought it is possible to combine a stylish home and a fun family life.
The first thing you need to consider is whether your space is to be shared with the children or dedicated to them. Bedrooms are clearly dedicated spaces, whereas living areas may be combined. If you have enough reception rooms it may be possible to have a family or kids room separate to an entertaining place strictly for adults only.
Vincent from London interior designer Increation says he has clients from both camps; “some are happy to have spaces dedicated for the children in their lives and like to keep them separate from the ‘good living room’ and the ‘nice furniture’, whereas others like to have the whole family involved in every room.”
Dedicated space
A dedicated space for kids can be great fun to design and live with. Bold bright colours teamed with clever materials and storage make it easy for the kids to please themselves, but still have a cool room to share with friends and family.
Image source: www.pinterest.com
Bedrooms can be really fun to design for kids, as unlike adult bedrooms they are so much more than a place to rest. In smaller kids’ rooms the range of beds that share the floor space with seating, study room or clothes storage is now huge, and the climb up to the high bed makes bedtime into an adventure they are keen to take part in. Such a piece of furniture leaves more floor space for play or seating depending on the child’s age and there is a huge market in play mats and seating to suit a vast range of themes.
Image source: www.pinterest.com
Dedicating a downstairs room for little ones is also great fun. Clever hideaway bespoke storage can be installed in simple white to last through the different ages and phases they will pass through without major redesign every few years. Deep sliding drawers that hold Lego today can be the computer game storage of tomorrow.
Image source: www.pinterest.com
Bean bags and soft furnishings can be scattered around large storage boxes for toys which can be converted to a coffee and chat area for pre teen girls later on, by replacing or updating fabrics used. Carefully designed book cases will grow with the children too, as their reading habits change and cool shelves with lots of different spaces and levels can be used to display any number of other things if they don’t turn out to be big readers.
Shared spaces
If you need or want to have a room for shared family use, you don’t have to miss out on the fun. You can decide to embrace the child friendly look and centre your design around it, or use clever materials and furniture to minimize the children’s effect on a room.
Image source: www.pinterest.com
For example, to embrace the look you could choose some of this season’s bright limes, yellows and blues with easily washable fabrics and throws to build up a great colour palette that will mean toys and books that are left lying around don’t look too out of place. You can choose some classic artwork either direct from children’s literature – think Quentin Blake or Oliver Jeffers -to tone with the colours and bring a sense of mischief to the room. For older kids, bolder colours and some comic strip or pop art like Roy Lichtenstien could team with smooth white walls and large windows for a studio look to wow visitors of all ages.
Image source: www.pinterest.com
Again, clever storage is a must. A smooth wall of fitted units can hide a multitude of sins and there are many tables, stools and chairs on the market, which hide away more goodies! Make sure too that all flooring and furniture can survive hard knocks unless you are going for the rustic or distressed look, which could fit nicely with the latest trends for natural materials.
A couple of weeks ago I declared my love for stationery and a certain online stationery boutique, inkThistle. The owner Debbie was so thrilled with the post that she sent me some gifts to giveaway to one lucky reader!!
I’ve a beautiful set of Orla Kiely stationery including a pocket sized A6 lined notebook, a beautiful set of 6 pencils and a handy expander file (as shown on the images).
Orla Kiely is an Irish fashion designer based in London. Her designs are iconic the world over after the creative world of Orla Kiely was founded in 1995. Created to express visually her love of pattern, colour, texture and rhythm, which as components of her designs all play and work together. Her instinctive graphic discipline to simplify and stylise everyday motifs and forms adds another dimension. With clean orderly repeat patterns and a boldness of scale, her work achieves a modern quality, blended with her nostalgia for all things mid-20th century. 
To enter the competition simply follow the instructions on the rafflecopter below! Good luck (and I’m slightly jealous of you, I want them!) x
As you may know I love hosting competitions, especially ones with a great prize! The generous people at Kaleidoscope are offering one fab accessories bundle, shown above, containing two scarves for bright but chilly spring days, a pair of stylish sunglasses, a trendy necklace and a fashionable bag to one lucky reader! Woooo!
Kaleidoscope offers a stylish range of ladies fashion and footwear as well as beautiful items for your home. Whether you shop online or by catalogue, our latest collection is bound to have the perfect outfit for you, no matter what the occasion.
All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment with the name of your perfect item by Kaleidoscope to transition your outfit from Day to Night. It could be a pair of shoes, a bag, some jewellery? I’ve created some moodboards below for inspiration! Extra entries can be added via the rafflecopter :)
I, Mummylish, was a 90′s teenager too. For me the 90′s were a heady mix of Nirvana, knee socks, platform shoes, Tupac, sports bras, chokers, baggy skate pants, The Crystal Maze, Gladiators, record bags and push pops!
See if you can remember these 90′s crazes from today’s guest post…
For those of you who grew up in the 90s it was a heady time of Helly Hansen jackets, cheesy commercial dance and of course the big battle between Oasis and Blur (or even Take That and East 17 depending on your preference).
But how much do you really remember from your school days. Here’s what we came up with.
Mongoose BMXs
If you were into BMXing in the 90s, there wasn’t any room to mess about. You had to get yourself down to your local cycle shop and get sorted out properly. If it wasn’t a Mongoose or maybe even a Schwinn, you just weren’t anywhere. And don’t forget pegs on all four wheels – perfect for backies.
Kickers
One sole was red, the other green – strictly no fakes; no one would stand for that. Kickers were the epitome of cool, but fads change and they were very soon to be replaced by Rockport (or Rockie Ps as they were known at our school).
Fubu / Wu Tang hip hop gear
It’s funny to look at Ali G now in his ridiculous garms, but even funnier if you remember how many of us used to dress. Listening to the likes of 36 Chambers might have given you a certain level of credibility at school, but coming in on “own clothes day” dressed head to toe in Wu Wear, Fubu or Sean Jean was next level. It was such a simple time.
Velcro Wall
Remember them? They had them at the school fair a couple of times. Get dressed up in a furry suit – jump at a Velcro wall. They were rubbish.
Games Workshop
Strictly for geeks. We never went there. Well only a couple of times, but we didn’t really like it (well only a little).
Bop It
There were some “must have” toys knocking around in the 90s, but Bop It from the late 90s really takes the biscuit. We loved its timed based musical challenges. We were the kings for a while, maybe it’s still in the basement somewhere.
Fish tail skateboards
You don’t really see these anymore. They were cool in the 90s – they’re not very cool anymore.
Global hypercolour T Shirts
We can’t remember if these were late 80s or early 90s. Either way T shirts that show your sweat – that’s amazing. Well maybe not.
Want some more 90′s nostalgia check out Stylist.co.uk. What can you remember from the glory days?
I’m happy. After an extremely sickly couple of weeks we are better and actually managed to have a fantastic Easter! I’ve loved every minute of it :) It was kick-started in spectacular style last week when I was invited as part of a bloggers day-out by Achica, the luxury lifestyle store to visit Rococo Chocolates, an exquisite London based chocolatier. Lucky me!
Venturing into Knightsbridge by car was brave and I pretty much instantly regretted it due to traffic but oh it was so quickly forgotten as I parked up and ventured down the very pretty sunlit Motcomb street to the flagship store of Rococo. The beautiful blue and white shop greeted me with a smile, waiting inside was a true treasure trove of imaginative chocolate creations :)
At the back of the shop, Julie was waiting to welcome our group of bloggers and tell us all about Rococo chocolates.
Rococo was founded by Chantal Coady in 1983, nearly three decades, three books (about chocolate of course) and three shops later, Chantal and Rococo are still inspiring many through warm and inviting shops, delicately nuanced flavours and creative, beautiful packaging. In fact, the Academy of Chocolate awarded Chantal and Rococo for ‘Changing the Way People Think About Chocolate,’ and the Wall Street Journal recognised Chantal as the founder of the ‘New British School‘ of chocolate.
Always intent on using authentic, healthy ingredients (eg a big ‘no’ to artificial vanilla and hydrogenated vegetable fat) and sourcing fairly, we’re proudest of our latest venture, Grococo, the ‘home farm’ that is supplying its entire harvest of organic Trinitario cocoa beans to make the fine chocolate used in our house blend.
The original shop can be found on the Kings Road, along with a store on Marylebone High Street and of course the flagship store I visited in Belgravia’s Motcomb Street. The only location outside of London to be lucky enough to have a Rococo store is The Chester Grosvenor Hotel, which opened in 2012.
During our talk we were treated to an exquisite thick hot chocolate drink with a raspberry marshmellow dunking cube. H.e.a.v.e.n.l.y. The London traffic melted away and I was captivated, she had my full attention! Julie continued to explain how chocolate is made which I found fascinating as I’ve always fancied trying it myself! I also learnt some interesting things like what white chocolate is made out of, which is something I always wondered about! The answer by the way is cocoa butter!
It was now time to move on to the workshop where we were lucky enough to be decorating our own Easter eggs! The table was laid out with chocolate piping bags, liquid chocolate to paint on, an assortment of coloured and metallic chocolate decoration balls, shakes, glitter, yoghurt flakes, crispy bits even cocoa butter transfers which we could apply. (I’m definitely going to do this with Littlelish next Easter!)
We were let loose literally like kids in a candy shop and it was great fun to be creative in this way. I got stuck straight in applying swirls, copper dust and green chocolate balls to my first egg. Then I made a special egg for my girl, a hedgehog egg with her name on it :) As a group of creative bloggers from the interiors world and creative mummy bloggers, we had some fab creations!
We left with our extra special eggs and a bag of wonderful mini eggs, of which I will say, if you try one thing from Rococo chocolate make it the salty caramel Seagull eggs!! Yum! The Easter eggs from Rococo went to the special ladies in my life, Littlelish and my mum and were apparently divine! Thank you Achica and Rococo for a truly fabulous event. Indeed once bitten, truly smitten! Rococo chocolates is officially my favourite chocolatier :)
With Easter fast approaching my thoughts are turning to all things springy; crocuses, lambs, bunnies and erm…. snow?! I wanted to share these fab necklaces by fashion jeweller Tina Lilienthal with you because I just love them :) They come in a variety of different colours and are a seriously cool accessory to brighten up any outfit. Her designs are worn by some serious fashionistas, including Kelly Osbourne, Keira Knightley, Alexa Chung and Davina McCall.
Seriously inspired, Tina creates amazing jewellery. If you haven’t heard of her why not take a peek at her collections… Astral – space themed, Lash and Little Lash (hey that sounds familiar!) – knotted, Cherries, Skulls, Strawberries… gorgeous!
Image: www.winster.org
Littlelish and I moved into our new house just over a month ago. It’s lovely. I knew the first time I viewed it that this was going to be a place I would be happy in, which was important to me. Sure it might not be the most practical of places, it’s a 200 year old stone cottage, it’s cold, has oil central heating and tiled floors. But hey it’s nothing the woodburner and a pair of slippers can’t fix :)
I was right, it is definitely a happy place, I knew the charm of stone walls, beams, woodburner and a country kitchen would do it for me…. and they most certainly do. Even when my Littlelish goes off to see her daddy I don’t feel alone, this house is my company. It lives and breathes and has a sweet soul about it. It’s tiny but that makes me feel safe. Its pretty much 2 up, 2 down and I call it my hobbit house, even I bang my head on the door frames and I’m only 5’7!
Space is definitely something we struggle with though so I’m on a mission to find practical storage solutions for every room. Despite being a Capricorn I don’t really do massively practical at home, or maybe I do and I’m doing myself a disservice?… I do try!
The main issue at the moment is toy storage! Why are toys so bloody messy? And why are they either tiny and fiddly (I find little moshi monsters or Sylvanian family bottles in every corner of my house) or large and weirdly shapen = impossible to put away? I need some serious help with toy storage!!
In search of some affordable, sturdy options for toy storage I visited Littlewoods who have some fantastic options available and guess what they have a sale on! Hallelujah. These are my favourite options for tidying up those messy toys.
While I was online I also had a little nosy around the other things available at Littlewoods. I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of cool stuff for the house. Did you know they stock Graham and Brown, Julien MacDonald and designs by Laurence LB? There is some seriously lush bits to be found…
I had a little play with a moodboard for restyling Littlelish’s room. What do you think? I’ve always like to keep children’s rooms beautiful and stylish as well as child friendly. I just love this butterfly wallpaper and the white/multicoloured theme, food for thought indeed :)
Anyone who knows me well will know of my love of stationary is endless. Paperchase is literally my idea of heaven. But where do you go when you want something a bit different, a bit unique and a lot beautiful? I’ve discovered a new online stationary boutique on my travels and I have more »
Anyone who knows me well will know of my love of stationary is endless. Paperchase is literally my idea of heaven. But where do you go when you want something a bit different, a bit unique and a lot beautiful? I’ve discovered a new online stationary boutique on my travels and I have fallen in love! inkThistle is a British website created by a lady called Debbie who also has a self confessed lifelong passion for stationary, notebooks and all things officey. She realised her dream to have her own stationary boutique and inkThistle was born!
Debbie sells a range of notebooks, journals, accessories and home office filing solutions many of which are made using traditional paper, printing, book binding and leather making methods! Stocking classic Moleskine, Paperblanks and LEUCHTTURM1917 products as well as the more quirky, original Paperways, Katy & June and Bomo art, there is most definitely something to suit every personality and function.
I love everything on the site and would quite probably want to own it all ;) but I’ve style spotted my absolute favourite item, this amazing iPad cover from magpie! (Now I just need to purchase an iPad haha!)
This was my favourite but why not pop over and check out inkThistle for yourself?
I’m a freelancer in creative marketing with a background in design and styling but when I'm not working I'm doing the most important job in the world, being mummy to my beautiful little girl! I love to create and craft and have a passion for colour and beautiful detail. This blog is all about my life, my amazing daughter, my inspirations and creations!
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