Royal Wedding

I've got the bunting out and I wish Will and Kate all the happiness in the world.

We will be having some friends round to watch the wedding and maybe raise a glass or two of something bubbly to toast the happy couple! 

Let's hope that this is one Royal marriage that really does have a happy ending. 

Not Another Bill

I can't exactly remember where I heard about notanotherbill but I seriously love this. The idea is that you sign up for one month (£15), three months (£45) or six months (£90) and each month (or just the once) you get a beautiful, quirky, interesting, present lovingly packaged and sent to you.  

Just out of curiosity I decided to treat myself to a little present from them and when it arrived last week I was very, very excited. I loved it, even the envelope it arrived in was lovely. It was beautifully packaged, beautifully wrapped up and the sheer excitement of not knowing what was inside (even though I'd paid for it) was bizarre but thrilling. I wasn't disappointed and thought the necklace was gorgeous (in fact I haven't taken it off).

Would I get more ... well I just don't know. If I suddenly won £90 then yes I probably would because it's such a fun idea receiving a monthly random package but it is a risk (what if I didn't like it one month) and a big luxury (although I probably spend £15 a month on random stuff anyway). It would be just as much fun if someone else paid for it so perhaps some generous person will sign me up for it ... !?!

Signage Matters Too

Following on from my post last week about how lazy I'm becoming as I now just let customers tell me what they want and hey presto I have a new product, well it's happened again! 

This time the request was for some wedding signage in the same style as my Just Married bunting. It must be a seriously upmarket wedding as the lovely customer wanted Candy Bar, Cigar Bar and Champagne Bar! Now, I'm not expecting a huge demand for Cigar Bar but if anyone would like some wedding signs then have a look at notonthehighstreet.

I am more than happy to do different signs {although I will be deeply impressed if I get another order for Cigar Bar} so just tell me what you would like.

Happy Easter

Last week my two boys went to stay with their godparents and I got to have an arty-crafty-girly afternoon with a friend's daughter. This little girl just loves colouring in, sticking, cutting and making things. We had a wonderful time making an Easter tree.

We coloured in some egg shapes then carefully stuck two together with a piece of baker's twine sandwiched in between. 

I guess I would tire of arty-crafty-girly time if I had two girls and would wish for some rough and tumble outdoor play but still it was a real treat for me to have a little girl in the house. We even got round to doing some of her school sewing project which I would quite happily have sat and completed for her but she wouldn't let me!

Happy Easter to you all. x

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

It's not the most fashionable place to have a beach hut but we love it all the same and this little hut has become part of our family history over the years. It amazes me every year how much the boys continue to love going 'down to the beach hut' and we had a lovely day there last week.  

The beach is a bit stony but the shells are very pretty. 

Although there are some lovely pastel beach huts to look at in one direction, I think I prefer looking the other way to see the higgledy piggledy green ones that have a bit more of a story. Some are loved and used all the time, some old and unloved (just for a while) but every one has a family and I'll bet each one will be in a photo album somewhere.

It was good to be back down there again and I hope I will be sharing lots more photos of the beach hut on hot, summer days. Oh wouldn't it be lovely to have a good summer for a change, but will it happen I wonder? Never mind if it's not sunny there is always the lovely bunting my mum made to look at if it's not exactly blazing sun outside!

Size does matter

I had a request from a notonthehighstreet customer asking if I could make some bigger personalised bunting as she wanted some for a 30th birthday in a hall and the personalised bunting I had on sale was just too small and didn't quite 'cut the mustard'. I was very happy to have a go and I hope she is happy with the end result. The added bonus is that I now have another product. It is great when someone makes a specific request and I hope there will be other people who would like bigger bunting for parties in big halls!

Lilac and Pink

Lilac and Pink

This bunting is a lot bigger than I normally make and the pennants measure 14.5cm x 21 cm so hopefully it will make a real impact. So party on ...

Decorated Easter Egg

Every year the boys enter their school Decorated Easter Egg competition. It's always a bit of a trauma coming up with an idea, decorating and transporting the eggs so I was glad that this year the boys were happy to "get on with it themselves" and were not overly concerned with winning just wanted to do their own thing. Their entries were funny and produced with minimal effort - yes I am a bad mother! They had fun making them and Oscar was pleased because his teacher thought his was funny :-)

Needless to say, no prizes this year but pretty stress free which is a result in my book.

"I think the game of crack the egg went a bit too far"

Copied from here http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.196844413.jpg

Hope my husband doesn't read this ...

As a garden designer he may not want me to show you photos of our garden with weeds and tulips that were the wrong colour for a client (supplier got it wrong). Oh well, regardless of his minor annoyance, if you walk round our garden at the moment you can't help but love the odd weeds and unwanted flowers as well.

Happy Easter, OK not yet but you've got to be ready

Now that Mother's Day is over I've been thinking about Easter. I love Easter and always put a few decorations up, so with that in mind I have some Happy Easter bunting available in my notonthehighstreet shop. Pretty pastel letters with pretty pastel easter eggs - ahhh.

Birthday Part II - Spoilt

Spoilt ... yes I was. Loved all my presents even the ones I haven't got yet which includes  some oak from the family farm which will become hammock supports :-) 

The Orla Kiely book was among various, gorgeous presents that I wouldn't have bought for myself but sooooo glad someone else did. 

A small collection of wonderful presents!

Birthday Part I - Chicken or the egg?

It was my birthday last week and I got some lovely, lovely, lovely things. I was very lucky to be given a Kindle but I also got some 'proper' books. I was given a book called Little People in the City by Slinkachu and this is my "take" on it called Little Chickens in the Country!

[I have just discovered they have a blog and I love it ... !]

A Right Royal Wedding

Entering into the spirit of the forthcoming Royal Wedding, and to practice with my new camera, I put my name down for Tea For Joy's Straw Styling competition. I really enjoyed "styling" the shots (I went down the less is more line obviously!) and here's what I came up with.

There was a very worthy winner (who also has a lovely blog btw) so I wasn't disappointed that I didn't win and anyway I had fun doing it so it really was "the taking part" that mattered! It was fascinating to see the other entries, to see how differently people interpreted the challenge - go have a look at the other great entries on flickr.

I just love the straws - go over to Papermash to get yourself some in time for 29th April.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

Spring Greens

Inspired by this image from sushipotparts via oh, hello friend

I decided to do my own ...

I do love a bit of colour co-ordination!