a bit of blue and white

Although I am fairly obsessed with all things midcentury-mod I can't help having a yearning for the simple charm of scrubbed tables and old blue and white china. I bought this fruity cheese dish at the boot fair for £1.50 along with the rather lovely set of ceramic buttons and jelly mould. I have picked up a few other pieces at charity shops but my favourites - the large art nouveau patterned bowl and the turkey sized willow pattern platter belonged to my grandfather. I also found this little book at a boot fair so now I know what it all means.

tiny collection

The very first vintage book I ever bought was when I was an art student, a battered little King Penguin called Birds of the sea, I was drawn to the delicate water colour illustrations. Every now and then I find a King Penguin in the second hand bookshops to add to my collection and here are a few of them. These slim pocket sized volumes published in the 1940s-50s cover an eclectic range of useful and quirky subjects. Their pretty illustrated covers are always little works of art.

the lucky winners!

I had a fantastic response to my giveaway - 70 entries! I really enjoyed reading the comments and felt quite embarrassed at times as they were so lovely. So I decided to select two winners, all the entries were folded and placed into roddy's Auntie Dill and the winners were picked out by the lovely Lucy.
And here they are - congratulations to Evita and Littlemithi!

casual living

Look who's hiding under the cover! Our house was photographed last year to be included this lovely new book - Casual Living by Judith Wilson published by Ryland, Peters and Small. Believe me, we usually look a lot more 'casual' than this, they have made it look so uncluttered and serene - I want to live there! I have to say the endpapers are my favourites!
This weeks cushion giveaway is going splendidly and thank-you for all your lovely comments. Roddy seems to be winning over Pomegranate tree at the moment but there is still time to enter with your choice just leave your comment here .

roddy&ginger giveaway!

I thought it was about time I held a little giveaway on my blog!  So here it is... I am giving away a roddy or pomegranate tree cushion (maybe one of each if I gets lots of entries, hope I do or I will feel a little foolish!) They are both available printed onto natural linen and I have also listed the pomegranate tree cushions printed onto lovely crisp white linen. You can see the range here and here. To enter just leave a comment on my blog, let me know your favourite and I will pick the winner from a hat next Monday. I am really looking forward to your comments! (and if you want to mention it on your blog that would be lovely x)

slightly spooky

Here's what to do with all those shells collected from the beach! I was snooping around Margate this week and visited the shell grotto,  Margates number one visitor attraction, soon to be eclipsed by the spectacular Turner Contemporary arts center due to open in 2011. The privately owned grotto was discovered under a field in 1835 and it's origin is still a mystery today. Over four and a half million shells encrust the walls of the curving tunnels, said to depict life's path from birth to death in slightly creepy symbols. They mostly looked like flowers to us although we looked hard for the owl, tortoise and squid!
Happy halloween everyone!

happy 19

Another year, I can't believe that my beautiful twins are 19 today! Happy birthday pretty and handsome! It has been a year of ups and downs so I think I deserve a present as well, I am going out to look for a little something from me to me!