Whitstable Oyster Festival 2014

on Sunday, Sarah and I decided to have a drive down to the coast to the Whitstable Oyster Festival it was such a lovely day, here are a few snaps... oh and i managed to buy a new cup & saucer for my collection, happy days!

my week in photos

what a busy week, lots of lovely things to tell you about, firstly Friday I took a sneaky day off work to laze around in the sunshine... was staying in hackney so decided to take a stroll over to London Fields and have a long lunch in Pub on the Park... the steak and chips was delicious and company not bad either ;) on the way back we stumbled across a gorgeous patch of wild flowers, don't know how i resisted picking them... 

I also read in Time Out about a pop up bar on Hackney Road in a converted hardware store, and it happened to be next door to where I was staying, the interior was very cool and i fell in love with this retro roller skate lamp...

After a great start to the weekend, Saturday brought the start to our family weekend (mum wanted to spend a whole weekend together as the "Bannisters" before my little sister gets married in 2 weeks....) we had a delicious brunch at home and then packed up the pic-nic and booze and headed off to Rochester Castle for The Proms Concert... I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was brilliant, we recognised most of the songs and the fountains and fireworks were spectacular! Having turned 30 last year I have realised pretty, posh festivals where you do not have to sleep in a tent are the way forward.... I will definitely going back next year with my posh picnic, trestle table and candelabra!

my Aunty was having a drink in Rochester so we popped over to see her and her gorgeous pooch Honey.... cutie pie or what...

skinnny face selfie of mum, katy and I at The Proms :) 

 Lastly we popped out shopping on Sunday to get a few last wedding bits and I came across this gorgeous 1928 Vintage collection of earrings in House of Fraser, I want them......... these particular pair are gold and pacific green opal £24

Last but no means least, another lovely weekend to look forawrd to ahead... this time, change of location, the girls and I are off to Leeds Castle (shamed to say I live 5 miles away and have never been) but we are going to the Luna open air cinema showing of Dirty Dancing, tickets were £15 each, bring on the bubbles and horrendous singing ha ha... ps nobody puts baby in the corner!!!!

Emma's fabric studio open day - Lenham barn

Sunday just gone Mum and I wandered over to Lenham Tithe Barn in our village to take a look at the fabric / craft fair that was being held there, what a lovely surprise, check out my photos..... great event, take a look at Emma's website for great fabrics ...

shopping edit 04.07.14

first of all i apologise i have not blogged in a while, life has taken over and i just haven't found the time, what with Glasto and little sister's wedding planning, life has been a bit hectic, however i am back !!

I thought i should start with a shopping edit as I haven't done one in ages and lots of things i am already adding to my birthday / christmas list ha ha

first off, growing up in the 80's, I'm sure i was not the only teen who requested a polaroid camera from Santa one year.... I am very glad to say Fujifilm have updated the Polaroid and released this adorable FUJIFILM Instax 8 mini camera, not only is it fun and great for weddings / parties/ festivals it also comes in 4 colours, the yellow is my personal favourite but it also comes in white, baby pink and baby blue, and at £79 i think its a steal....and it seems the films have gone down in price since i was a teen £14.99 for a film of 20! Get snap happy!

second up, i recently came across this gorgeous fruity summery scent in my last Company magazine, and had to buy it.... Prada Candy Florale from £30.00 for 30ml bottle

Next up, any excuse to drop in the fact that my best friend and i have booked our summer holiday, we are jetting off to Lafodia Sea Resot, Lopud Island, Croatia at the end end of August, can't wait to just relax and soak up some sun for a week, before the madness of my midwifery degree sets in, and of course I will be needing a lovely beach bag to take away with me, Zara Home have a sale on at the moment and this is an absolute bargain at £12.99!! Comes in both turquoise and pink, grab one before they are all gone...

as you may now i am an avid tea cup & saucer collector, but recently I went to a local farmers market and came across a very sweet little egg cup and seeings as it was only £3 i bought it, this got me thinking of how i could display said collection and here is the perfect answer, although slightly expensive... Olive Bonas display cabinet £95

Last but no means least I absolutely love these wire rack storage units, from £85 Oliver Bonas, really simple but effective way to store magazines etc, i just need to buy a huge house now to fill with all these lovely things...

blooming green

on friday night i ventured to Loddington farm, Kent for the Blooming Green hand-tied bouquet and buttonhole course , in preparation for my little sisters wedding in august (i am making her bouquet and the buttonholes for the big day, eeeeeek!) The course was brilliant and I learnt many techniques that will come in very handy for the big day, take a look below... they even provided yummy nibbles and home-made apple juice. The flowers were beautiful and I loved the very relaxed, wildness of the bouquets we made, I also discovered lamb's ear for the first time, soooooo cute!

every friday afternoon over the summer you can pop down to blooming green's and pick your own flowers, a bucket load for just £10, blooming bargain if you ask me....

homemade presents

with my newly acquired skill of decal transferring, I decided to give it a go for a few presents, a way overdue house-warming present for my best friend Sarah, she is obsessed with nuts and olives so I bought these very cute heart bowls from e-bay and upcycled them with these insect / flower images...

second up is the butcher's pig platter (bought the vintage platter from Columbia Road Flower Market), one of my other best friends Edward turned 28 at the weekend, we celebrated in style at the Rugby Sevens, amazingly fun day out (and I don't even like rugby!!!) He recently started his own food blog "Get Stufffed" and i thought this would be ideal to serve up some of his culinary creations on (hint hint Ed, I am still waiting for that dinner invitation)

anyway I hope you like them .....

out of the dark: crafting a future together

Furniture: salvaged

Young people: trained, educated, employed

Furniture: restored & revamped

I feel the need to share this amazing organisation with you "out of the dark", I love their ethos and  think its such a brilliant idea, combining furniture upcycling with educating and training young people, we need more apprenticeships like this..... you can follow them on facebook to see more of their pieces!

shop of the month: Yumi

flicking through LOOK magazine this week I stumbled across a new online retailer I have never heard of before "Yumi", so I headed over to their website and my my what a treat..... beautiful quirky dresses at  very respectable prices (£30-£50).... take a look

The Great British Sewing Bee - 1930's vintage Blouse challenge

i am very sad to say that The Great British Sewing Bee has now finished... at least we have the The Great British Bake Off to see us through the summer! Having been completely inspired by the talented contestants on the show I have bought the book Great British Sewing Bee book, £12 Amazon and fallen in love with the 1930's inspired vintage peplum blouse, so far I have only traced out the pattern and cut it out, need to pick my fabric and get going, wish me luck! The plan is to wear it to my sister's wedding brunch....

zon