faking the sunshine

Still in the spirit of yellowness I've produced a Zig Zag print in a gorgeous golden colour. It brightens up our bedroom a treat. 

Even though it's raining outside and the temperature is chilly I still have my golden mantel piece display to bring me sunshine.

Those little daffodils smell so good. I love this time of year for it's cheap and cheerful flowers. No excuses for having no flowers around when they're just pennies a bunch. 
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on Etsy and on our kitchen wall

OK, so I decided to go ahead with the £6 offer on my new print on Etsy. Just initially to see how it goes. I've hung ours in our kitchen, what do you think?

It's in a wooden frame but I like how you can make a print almost change personality depending on how you style and frame it. I think it'd look lovely in a plain white or a black frame too. Need a trip to Ikea to pick up some supplies I think so I can try out some alternatives.   

The rainbow print in the above image is one of mine too but I've never put it up for sale in my Etsy store for some reason. Perhaps I'll add it this week.

Thanks for looking :)
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organising March

I found this free printable calendar here at zugalerie.blogspot.fr and thought it'd be perfect for my desk make-over. Maybe you've seen it already but I'm so pleased with it I thought I'd share it with you. Each month there'll be a new calendar page to print out. Missed out on January and February's printables but pleased to be nabbing one for March.

So here's to a marginally more organised month! 

A month that hopefully includes me finally getting around to getting my camera lens fixed. Instagramed iPhone photos are a god-send but on cloudy days like this one you need something with a little more omph, don't you?
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a cloud for a baby boy's bedroom wall

I've been playing around with this cloud image for a while now. It's a simple shape and concept but it's been tough getting it 'right'. 

I think I'm being influenced by our anticipated arrival as these colours are the ones I've been thinking about for a baby boy's room make over. White with splashes of black, grey and bright yellow. Maybe a little turquiose here and there too. 

I think this print must be destined for his bedroom wall. Looks like it's finally sinking in that I'm going to have an actual real life BABY here with me soon... Eeeeee!
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making a start

I have a little space that's a place to write, to draw, to make and create. 

Lucky me.

But this space has been in a bit of a sorry state since we moved into this house, with family space always taking precedence. We worked hard on the spaces we use to socialise, to eat, to play and to sleep and although these spaces aren't 'finished' they are moving towards out vision of what we want our home to be. But now, maybe because we have a new baby coming, a new baby who will push our creative space even more to the sidelines, I've decided to focus on this room we're so lucky to have and bring it up to scratch. 

And as I'm a bit of a messy, disorganised cow I figure I need a simple, functional space (which still looks the biz) in order to keep my work in check. So today I started sorting things out.

It's a work in progress, that's for sure, as the other side of the room is heaped with boxes, files and plastic bags full of, um, stuff,

But it feels good to be taking steps towards creating an area to work in that makes us happy. 

More work space posts to follow soon, hopefully!

flowers on the windowsill

Buying flowers for the house makes a big difference for me during dark and grey winters like this. Those little bursts of colour and beauty combined with the way it always feels like a little treat to buy yourself some is happy making.

I always put some on my windowsill so when I arrive home I can see them, bright and cheerful, as I walk up the steps to my front door.

It was a happy thought to bring 

To the dark season's frost and rime 

This painted memory of spring, 

This dream of summertime

from Flowers in Winter by John Greenleaf Whittier

I often buy one big, cheap and often slightly garish bunch and separate it out into little posies for the dozens of jam jars I have ready in my kitchen cupboards.

And daffodils; such a low cost, sweetly scented, colourful way to bring some gorgeousness home with you.

Put them in jars, cups, vases, teapots, jugs and mugs and make your home smile. 

Buy yourself some and enjoy! 

lately, at ours

These last few snowy days have been mostly spent hunkered down indoors. 

We made cookies using this recipe and they ROCKED!

Best biscuits I've ever made (although I admit I haven't made that many). We halved the amounts (apart from the egg yolk, we still used a whole one) and we got two baking trays out of it. 

They've all gone now...

And we've done a lot of slow, cosy, around the house stuff.

So (hopefully) we've seen the worst of the snow and now the thaw can begin. As much as we've loved sledging, snowballing and cosying up with hot chocolates in front of the fire we're ready for some new adventures. 

Our little break from normal routine has been lovely. No school, no work, no popping to the shops for six whole days. Just family, food and play with nothing much important to do. Maybe we needed a little break like that. 

You?

our new bedroom mantelpiece makes me happy

Our living room is still naked above the fireplace but joy of joys our bedroom now has a fully functioning mantelpiece just begging to be decorated with lovely things. How can that be so exciting?

I haven't really decided what I really want up there yet, but then I think that's half the beauty; that you can change it whenever you like, to reflect your mood and what catches your eye. 

It's made our bedroom look a lot more 'finished', and now it feels really cosy. Luckily the mantelpiece was an ex-display piece which we got for a steal.

After buying this house a year and a half ago and doing lots of renovation work it's these little details that make it feel like the home we always wanted. 

Somewhere that feels like ours, somewhere we can relax, somewhere that makes us happy. Isn't that what we all want? X

tiny little tokens

It was still snowy outside today and with Edie's school closed again we had an indoors day. We've been out dog-walking and snowball-fighting every day since Friday but as the snow is turning to lethally slippery ice in places (and I'm 29 weeks pregnant) we decided to give the outdoor pursuits a miss today in favour of the warmth and safety of our kitchen table.

So whilst Edie happily spattered paint around the kitchen I sat for just 15 mins and painted these tiny pebbles, each one just 3cm-6cm long.

Maybe I need a little more practice and a smaller brush, but still, sweet, aren't they?

All I needed- 

•Pebbles
•Acrylic paint 
•Small paintbush

I'll probably give them a coat of clear acrylic matt medium tomorrow to ensure their durability but I think they'd probably be fine without. 

I'd like to leave a few of the heart pebbles hanging about on Valentine's Day for people to find. Maybe leaving them at bus stops, on walls and on benches. 

I'd like to find one at least, I think it'd make me smile :) 

signs of Christmas

We haven't decorated or bought our tree yet (that's a job for this weekend) but the signs that Christmas is here are popping up all over our home...

I had a sweet conversation with my hairdresser last week about the 'magic' of Christmas. She believes in it, and so do I. Can you feel it yet? Is it making your world twinkle a little more?

I really believe that there's something in the air this time of year, and even though I'm dog tired and sleep deprived (little pregnancy moan) I'm still feeling that Christmas glow. Hope you are too!

taking a break from talking

When I get the chance to I can talk. A lot. And right now Im getting the chance to talk a lot on a daily basis thanks to a retired builder who is kindly working at our house as a favor, finishing off our plastering/tiling/painting and so on. I can happily while away several hours deep in conversation with this guy whilst he slaps paint on our hallway walls. In fact we've just finished a lengthy conversation about child-birth. We cover all manner of topics. 

Anyway, there are, of course, a million other things I should be doing, like sorting out my middle room, which is one of my goals for November. So while he's on his lunch break, enjoying his pie, I can pop over to Pinterest and add to my 'workspace' board. 

And so here we go-

Now if I could just click my fingers and make my study/workspace/middle room suddenly awesome I would, but I'm not Mary Poppins and so I guess some actual work is needed. 

Starting, that's the hardest part, eh? 

sweet dreams...

'sweet dreams' by goldlion

floral wreath original britthermann $150.00	Fairisle Knitted Blanke... rcadesign $70.00	Woodland photography gr... bomobob $30.00	FALL SALE vintage 1930s... Luncheonettevi... $12.80
Decorative Pillow -Herc... ColetteBream $89.00	Crocheted Lace Stone, B... Monicaj $35.00	hand knit womens wool s... sockysocks $19.00	Linen bed cover extra-w... LinenCrafts $185.00
Apple shaped cushion/so... studiomeez $42.00	bell jar beccastadtland... $24.00	Vintage Crochet Bedspre... ethanollie $150.00	Wooden Wick Candles tha... BluebellsbyNic... $12.99
Vintage doily upcycled ... ChevronBloomSt... $22.99	His and Hers Cat Nap Pi... Xenotees $30.00	Original modern geometr... NATHANIELGIBSO... $300.00	Block Printed Leaf Quil... hinshelwooddeb... $99.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

One of the many, many, many things I took for granted pre-baby, back when I was a care-free, flipperty gibbet of a fool, is a good night's sleep. Eight long blissful hours of uninterrupted sleep... back then that was a functional necessity, now it's the freaking holy grail. 

I go to sleep, I wake up, I pee. 

I go back to sleep, I wake up, I tell my daughter that yes, she can have that phantom cake (she's a food related nightmare sufferer), I get into her Ikea child's bed with my feet poking through the metal bars at the bottom and I go back to sleep. 

I wake up with every bone in my body aching and my feet freezing, I go back into our room where our bed feels like heaven and I go back to sleep. 

I wake up, I pee... and repeat until morning.

How long can this go on for? I suspect that when Edie (and the next one) are sleeping through the night I'll be onto the menopause, or incontinence, or some such sleep wrecking thing and so I fear the golden years of sweet, delicious, uninterupted sleep are gone. And I need my shut eye, I mean I really need it. Baaaaaaad. 

But what can I do? Besides hiring a nanny for the next five years and hooking myself up to a catheter for the next five months bugger all. But that's ok, just like you accept that you'll spend more on your child's shoes than your whole wardrope you just get on with it. 

And so if I can't a good night's sleep I've decided I at least deserve a pretty/comfy/cosy one.

And so here are my Etsy picks for a beautiful bedroom, if not a beautiful night's sleep.