hilkat

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been this bad at blogging since the whole project started - but hey ho, that’s life with a toddler for you! I’ve also been really busy making our new home look pretty, investigating shops for goodies (TK Maxx homewares department is an absolute GOLDMINE) and generally making everything as cosy and comfy as possible. I’ve developed some sort of a mug obsession… I’ve never noticed until recently just how many wonderful cups and mugs there are around….

My favourite so far (it was a tough contest, and this one only won by a whisker!) is nothing short of fabulous, and I love the little saying painted round the top; “life is like a teapot, what you put in is what you pour out”. Brilliant!

The kitchen seems to be the area getting most attention at the moment, whether it’s with plates and trays…

…floral goodnesses….

…or egg cups and oven gloves (what a wonderful name that would be for a domestic blog - Egg Cups and Oven Gloves!)…

And although there hasn’t been much progress anywhere else, a tiny corner of the bathroom is looking a lot more colourful than before…

The little beach hut is actually a box, and although I have absolutely nothing to put in it, I couldn’t resist - it does the perfect job of brightening up the window sill.

Finally, after two weeks of carrying, lifting, moving and shifting, losing feeling in our feet and continually digging the car out of the snow and ice, we are settled in our new home. Somehow, I managed to pick not only the same year, but right down to the same week and even day to move house that the UK decided to go all unnatural weather-wise, and deliver us 20cm of snow - if it hadn’t been so annoying, it might have been funny. I hate moving house at the best of times, and it’s safe to say that trying to get everything done during what was dubbed, ‘The Big Freeze’ with a fifteen-month old toddler in tow really iced the removal cake. BUT, we’re in now, so I can get on with more exciting things, namely, new crafty goodies and a sneaky peek into our new home!

Our new place is much bigger than our old one, so we have lots and lots and lots of homewares shopping to do (secretly, my favourite kind!) to really fill it out and make it look as comfy and cosy as we can (while remembering to place everything up high so it’s safe from the sticky grasp of the little man). I’ve made a good start on the kitchen, with milk jugs, flower pots and printed trays all jostling for space along the worktops, and gorgeous little postcards dancing along the picture rail…..

The views from the huge lounge windows are lovely, and on a clear day you can see all the way across to the Isle of Wight - although this week it looked more like this…

Apart from the endless possibilities of finding coloured delights and little knick-knacks for our home, the second exciting thing is how many crafty projects I’m planning. For Christmas, my lovely husband-to-be bought me a Brother sewing machine, so I wasted no time in logging on to eBay to see what lovely fabrics I could find - I particularly like the blue owls that I’m going to use in the little man’s room, and the colourful flowers…and the stripes… actually, I love them all!

As you can see, I’ve also got some rather lovely new yarn for various crochet projects I’m starting (why work on one thing at once, when you can work on ten?!), and several new craft books to work my way through. I’m planning a post soon to actually start showing you some of the things I’ve (half) done, so keep an eye out!

My blogging productivity seems to go in peaks and troughs - the latest trough seems to have outlasted all the others by miles, though. Work, the Boy becoming a walking, talking, miniature hurricane, the festive season (SO many post opportunities missed!) and moving house have all taken their toll on my poor, neglected blog, so I thought it was time to add some content.

I’ve got plenty of pictures of gorgeous fabrics, snippets from around our new home, the snowy scenery and other delights waiting on the camera, but typically I seem to have mislaid the lead which connects it to the laptop. Sigh. So for now, here is a little post on some of the best cushions (is my obsession with interiors showing through?!) around at the moment from two of my favourite websites.

Etsy

Not on the High Street

Apart from art, books, bright colours, crafts and gorgeous vintage clothes, one of my favourite hobbies in life, like many women, is shoes. A former slave to heels, my shoe wardrobe took a rather drastic about-turn when my son was born, and I now find myself dedicated solely (get it? Sole-ly? Oh dear…) to flats. Pumps, brogues, boots and ballet slippers all contribute to my (somewhat lengthy) winter shoe lust list, found everywhere from French catalogue La Redoute to rather more trend-based Topshop.

Dorothy Perkins
Dorothy Perkins, I have to admit, isn’t on my list of top shops to visit, and I tend to find them a little, dare I say, overpriced? However, I was pleasantly surprised when I wandered in there on the off-chance one day, and managed to indulge my brogue obsession for a mere £28 (red, patent, heaven!). The shoe-lover in me continues to head there first for cheap-but-not-too-cheap footwear, which may not break the bank, but won’t fall apart in five minutes either.

Topshop

Kate Kanzier
I only discovered Kate Kanzier when someone at work mentioned the website, and as soon as I visited I fell in love with the collection of brogues. They might not be leather, but at the bargain price of £35, you can’t really complain.

La Redoute
Jewel coloured pumps, stack heeled boots and fringed ankle boots - what a wonderful selection! I’ve never really investigated the La Redoute catalogue before, but after seeing these I might be having a further look!

Office
Office has to be the King of the Shoe Shops… it caters to every taste, holds numerous concession lines and above all, stocks shoes under a massive price range. As you can probably tell, I’m a huge fan of flats (in truth, I can hardly walk in heels!) and they had the best selection I could find - how I’m supposed to choose between them is beyond me!

I’m terrible with projects, really I am. I’ve got about ten half-finished things on the go at the moment, from clay bead making to knitting, several crochet ventures and a little dressmaking (note: I’ve never made anything clothes-wise before in my life…) thrown in for good measure. The two most predominant are my crochet blanket, which is technically a gigantic granny square, and my knitted scarf, which is turning into a multi-coloured wonder. Neither are anywhere near finished, but here are some more current pictures anyway…

I’ve also added to my button collection with these gorgeous little beauties - the reason behind my rapidly expanding collection is that I was going to add buttons onto the purl sections of one end of the scarf. The majority is knitted in garter stitch, so the two purl stripes create two indentations, perfect for sewing buttons into. Surprise surprise, I haven’t actually managed to sew anything on yet, but am justifying this by deciding that it should be done last, after the knitting is complete. Ahem.

While I spend most of my time dribbling over the Toast website, stroking the beautifully made and brightly coloured clothes at Paul Smith (my place of work!) and perusing the Next catalogue, I have to admit, I do still receive the Topshop style notes email. Usually, I scan it quickly and then dismiss the bodycon dresses (after a baby? I don’t think so!), hot-pants and shorts (ditto), and paper thin t-shirts and fashionably ripped jeans (Winter equals cold, and I’m just not prepared to suffer for my fashion anymore…). But when I received the latest edition, detailing the rather lovely Jubilee collection (OK, perhaps not the cycling shorts…), I sat up and paid attention. I am a big lover of cardigans, comfortable clothes, sequins and bright colours, and this little lot seemed to tick three out of four boxes. Although I’m not that keen on bows in the hair (surely not on anyone over the age of ten? Is that controversial?), bows on clothes is fine, and while sweatshirts are great for Winter, they’re always a bit better when they’re embellished. So lets have a drum roll for my pick of the rather lovely Jubilee collection at Topshop…

I think Autumn is one of the best seasons for photography - the bright colours and changing nature scenes make for wonderful pictures, rather like my latest ones. Outside my window is a tree which seems to be losing its leaves at a rate of knots, leaving the ground looking like its been carpeted in yellow, while a little way across is another tree which has turned bright orange.

As I was resizing the images, I got to thinking how much like the blog is currently like the Autumn season - lots of changes, everything from the past making way for new things and an overall sense of progression. I’ve finally got to grips with the fact that I can enjoy clothes and crafts and domesticity and going out for the evening, all at the same time. Liking fashion doesn’t mean you have to follow trends religiously, as I used to (and frankly, with a one-year old, who has time?!), and I’m currently reveling in bright colours, patterns, the Toast catalogue and pretty dresses. Reading previous posts makes me smile to myself, as it was only over the summer that I was convinced I had to keep up with the teenagers with regards to style and clothes - I’m far happier just collecting pretty things!

PS: I bought some great buttons yesterday!

Since changing the blog, I’ve decided it’s now fine to be much more personal with my posts, and to write about a whole variation of things, which is why today’s post is about…. our upcoming nuptuals.

I’ve got very definite ideas about what I do and don’t want (DO: a relaxed and fun day, vintage country style decoration and dress, minimal fuss, candles, flowers in jam jars, nothing too matchy-matchy, and above all, cost effective. DON’T: ‘Bridezilla’ moments, bows, frills, anything too ‘done’, one theme colour, anything avant-guarde or modern, anything ridiculously overpriced) and have decided to share some inspiration pictures with you. The idea is to keep expenditure down to an absolute minimum, and while food is one cost that is always going to be fairly large, I’ve got no intention of paying £200 per table for them to be decorated, so I’m intending on doing all that myself (with the help of my Mum and Maid of Honour!). Here’s how!

I decided rather than paying for expensive vases, we would be thrifty (and eco-friendly!) and use jam jars to hold the flowers and candles. I love the effect this has, and although it sounds cheap and tacky, it looks marvelous!

After researching table centre-pieces, and almost fainting at the price of them, we’ve decided to do as much with candles and flowers (probably bought from a supermarket and trimmed accordingly the day before!) as we can. I’m a big candle person anyway, so its not going to be a problem, and once lit they look absolutely gorgeous. Tea lights, church candles, votive candles…. they’ll all be in there!

We’re also considering the idea of using bird cages or lanterns on the tables, either with candles or flowers arranged inside - I just love the vintage country feel they add. Plus, then I’d get to take them home and adorn our house with them!

For the place settings, I’m almost a hundred per cent sure that we’re going to incorporate vintage china (picked up from charity shops between now and then!), simply because it’s so colourful and in keeping with the rest of the look.

Obviously the flowers are pretty important, and the main idea is to keep them looking as relaxed and un-arranged as possible. I love the mix of tea-roses and carnations, in delicate shades of pink, yellow and green, and want the same sort of things in my bouquet. My worst nightmare is anything that looks like it’s been strapped in place with florist wire - let the flowers be free!

I’m like a magpie when it comes to shopping - anything coloured, patterned or slightly eclectic draws me in and usually ends up coming home with me. My latest purchases are no different - and I love that since I’ve expanded the content rules for the blog, I can now post wonderful pictures of them as well, hurrah! - and have absolutely nothing to link them all together, apart from the fact that I just had to have them…

I was browsing through Whittard during my lunch break last week, searching through for any mugs or plates that caught my eye for our new flat, when I stumbled across this tea towel. The teapots featured in the design are the exact style of china I love, and am aiming to start collecting, so of course it ended up in the basket (along with some tea bags and two bags of chocolate coins!).

Another lunch break (maybe I should just stay in the staffroom and read?!) led to the finding of (and this was actually written on the label, it’s not one of my awful jokes…) Lorraine Deer in Paperchase. She’s made up of such a lovely fabric, that I thought it would be something nice to keep with the Christmas decorations. The owl tissue paper was collected on the same shopping trip, and the intention is to wrap my Mums birthday presents in it in January, as she loves owls and I thought it would make a nice change from the usual ‘Happy Birthday’ rolls from Asda.

Lastly, and by no means least, a trip to Hobbycraft resulted in the gorgeous wool pictured below (on the ironing board - what a great cover!) and a French knitting dolly. The fingerless mittens are from Asda, and are to keep my hands warm while I labour over my own pair - although keen, I’m pretty new to crocheting and knitting, and projects tend to be slow and rather laborious.

I haven’t done French knitting for a while, and had to do a search on Google Images to see what could actually come out of it, and I was quite pleasantly surprised. Although the only thing you end up with is a long piece of knitted cord (which could obviously be used as a…cord…), there are plenty of things it can be transformed into, and I have an overload of ideas of using it for words and phrases, as well as weaving several together into a scarf. And not forgetting the rather obvious rug option, of course.

What further evidence could you possibly need that knitting is officially cool? If it’s an acceptable hobby for two of the most iconic women in the entertainment business, it’s certainly good enough for me….