House and Home

My latest contribution to House and Home
Wrapping paper tips to follow tomorrow!

Ermmmm…Macaroons

26 flavours to have to painstakingly choose from...too much choice

Pinks to make the boys wink!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found Laduree in Dublin. (I then realised it has been around for a considerable time in BTs!) Macaroons, such a French icon, they brought back all the lovely memories of the tastiness of Paris! Not only are their macaroons a thing of beauty but their packaging and other little treats are to die for. I love their pastels shades punctuated by some utterly gorgeous vibrant tones. Laduree also stock gorgeous marshmallows: pistachio, rose, orange blossom and strawberry. As soft and fluffy as clouds. And my favourite macaroon flavour… Rose Petal : )

Alternative envelopes

I love love love these stunning envelopes, such a clever idea from the genii at 100 Layer Cake. (I simply can not get enough of this beautiful blog!)

A very cute idea for a envelope liner by Getchichtenvonkat.

My love for vintage never fades. This envelope spent its previous life as an engraved map of Mississippi dating from 1886. Chasing Lightening Bugs do a beautiful range of gorgeous goodies.

These two chappies are from Adnagam- I just can't get enough of maps and old paper!

My love for alternative or recycled envelopes has officially been rekindled –Envelopes, I believe, are actually one of the most fun and often over looked aspects of successful card making.

Birthday Time

If there is one thing I love it is making cards. Here is one I made earlier! (Happy belated birthday Paget) The envelope was made using a photocopied page from an edition of "La Vie Parisienne" dating from 1895! I simply adore the old illustrations. The present was wrapped in white tissue and then encased in a pretty doily, finished off with a ribbon.

Book in a braclet

I found these old pics while trying to find some very old work on my external hard drive. I utterly love experimenting with materials to see what comes about and this little collection was the result of one of those occasions. They are made using tiny stripes of text from a ancient German book I picked up in Amsterdam (According to a random pair of German girls I met it is archaic German, perhaps even a Shakespeare equivalent, that was before I processed to partially shred the book.) The writings will however now remain forever trapped inside double sided sticky back plastic (yes the kind that you tediously cover school books with). These tiny pieces were then one by one threaded in the hundreds on to jewellery wire.

Brrrr!

I think the sudden changing of the clock and long, damp nights has forced me into early hibernation… but no more!

I love…. prints!

Whistles River Island
Centro Moda
Vintage (My mum's dress from her youth, now mine- isn't great when you can recycle clothes)
Vintage Dolly Day (another dress from my Mum's youth)
Noa Noa

I suppose this will come as no great surprise, but I just love print! No matter whether it is on fabric, ceramics, paper, you name it I get drawn to it like a bee to a honey pot. Here are some of some of the prints in my wardrobe. (Do you spot the reoccurring colours?- Yes, I am also addicted to certain colour palettes)

Moody seeds and weeds

I am far more fascinated by seeds, leaves and dead plants than flowers when it comes to photography and my textile designs. I saw these delicate weeds while on a walk along the river bank in Arklow and thought they had an almost magical air with the still reflective water in the background.

The delightful work of Esther Coombs

I wanted to share my discovery of … Esther Coombs. Her illustrative work is really stunning and I absolutely love her use of collage and her application of her drawings onto ceramics. Some people have a special skill when it comes to their use of line and Esther is one of these talented people. I saw her work in London and fell in love. I am determined to have a wall of plates one day when I have my own house (…sigh) and I think I will have to purchase one of Esther’s pieces to add to my expanding collection of plates. I also possess a rather large collection of tea cups and saucers (at some point I shall share some pictures of my treasures!) which I have been collecting for the last six years. I have always planned to do a series of decals to do my very own collection of ceramic drawings but Esther has really inspired me to hopefully get on with it! If you would like to own your very own Esther Coombs original check out her Etsy shop here.

Oh, the joys of eBay!

I’m a big fan of eBay because you can always be guaranteed to find something a bit different and normally for next to nothing! My most recent purchase was this gorgeous vintage seed pearl necklace and it was an absolute steal. It’s so unusual and the detail and time that has gone into stringing this by hand is phenomenal. When it’s worn it resembles a lace collar. I lurvee it : )

Little Red Riding Hood

I picked up the photo of this cheeky chappy in Budapest a couple of years back. I found it recently and it made me smile. I added the cute red hood.

Penguin Classics redressed in cloth

I have recently joined a book club which has lead to spending quite a lot of time in bookshops, something which I would never object to! While browsing today I came across a stand of the most beautiful books I have ever seen. Penguin have given their classics a facelift with these superb cloth covers by the jacket illustrator, Coralie Bickford-Smith. The picture above shows some of the selection that is available to buy via the Penguin website. On further investigation I couldn’t find any images of the books I actually saw in the shop but did find the following image, aren’t the colours nothing short of amazing? I would be tempted to buy them just so I possess a rainbow bookshelf…emmmm! *images via Design Sponge

Textile Workshop Dublin

Some of the work from the print workshop


Work by a member of the class from the Ready, Steady Embroider.

Here is a fantastic idea brought to Dublin by the creative duo Paget Scott McCarthy and Rebecca Devaney who have recently launched the Textile workshop. I think all will agree that’s great to finally see a contemporary creative outlet for all textile enthusiasts! Whether you just need to refresh your machine skills or would like some creative encouragement, they offer a broad range of classes. They have had great success so far and some brilliant work has been produced. Check out their website at www.textileworkshopdublin.com to see what’s coming up next and for further information.

The milk bottle social experiment

I literally stumbled across this amazing milk bottles on a recent web trawling day (my life seems to consist of a lot of them at the moment!) I was bowled over by the detailed intricacy of them. They also have a great story behind them. Apparently unsuspecting residents in the West Midlands in the UK started to find these etched bottles on their doorsteps in return for the plain ones they left out the night before. The artist in question, Charlotte Hughes Martin, says "I like to think I'm cheering up people's days." I love her sentiment as much as the milk bottles.