EllaBellaMaeDesigns - Squee!

Lookit! Lookit! Just LOOK at the pretties!!

I was just browsing Etsy, as one does, and look at the gorgeousness I found!

Butterfly Garden Wreath

Vintage Gnome Wreath

Panda Wreath

These beauties are all from the wonder-working mitts of Shannon at EllaBellaMaeDesigns. I want them ALL. 

Jar of Luck

How sweet would this one look in a bathroom?

Beach Lighthouse Wreath

Whimsical Black and White

Soft Aqua, Pink Blossoms, and Bird Wreath

I want this one most of all:

Pop Art Wreath

Partly because this one has already been sold. Sad face. Although I'm not surprised, because IT'S GOT A PONY ON IT!!

Vintage Horse and Red Roses

You can find all of Shannon's beautiful designs here. Which one's your favourite?

Katie xxx

Eating and Shooting Leaves

Hey m'dears

Did you have a nice weekend? 

This weekend has lasted five whole days for me (as I personally think all weekends should) because Tom and I took some time off to celebrate his birthday. We've had a lovely time eating too much, staying up late, eating birthday cake, watching films, pottering about, and eating. Did I mention eating? 

This morning I took pity on the forlorn-looking bananas in our fruit bowl, who had been abandoned in favour of birthday cake, by smooshing them into a loaf-sized version of my banana oat muffins. The fact we ate half the loaf for breakfast wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't added half a bag of Christmas chocolate stars to it too. Oops. 

In the hopes of counteracting the excess of the last few days, and so I can wear something smaller than a duvet cover to work tomorrow (boo), we then headed out for a walk around Nymans; a local National Trust property. 

I think this species is called Frillius Maximus

We basked in the glorious, wintery sunshine, photographed the tiny green shoots pushing their way through the mulch-covered earth, and squelched across the waterlogged lawns in our wellies. 

Beautiful blue sky

Photo taken by Tom - I'm not that good a photographer!

Spying on Tom. I was like James Bond in wellies. 

We saw a National Trust attempt at an optical illusion, and a teeny, tiny gate; which I am hoping was made to make rabbits feel more welcome.

"We need to cover the fountain for winter. What shall we cover it with?"
"A photo of the fountain - so visitors don't feel hard done by".

I also discovered that infant pine cones look like miniature roses. How sweet are these?!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed the walk burnt off our breakfast, because my plans for the rest of the day involve hot chocolate, biscuits, and old episodes of Jonathan Creek! 

Katie xxx

Chalk and Teas

Hello lovelies!

How've you been?

Today I'm sharing another craft project involving the wonders of chalkboard foil; although this one's much simpler than my jewellery box makeover.

As you may have noticed, I'm something of a fan of a cup of tea or two. Preferably accompanied by a slice of something baked/a handful or eight of whatever's lurking in our chocolate tin. 

I love having lots of different teas in the house to cater for any beverage-related whim which may befall myself or any thirsty guests. I keep a rotating sample of whatever flavours I'm currently favouring in the cupboard with our mugs, and the rest reside in our makeshift larder. 

Said vast selection of teas means I subject our guests to a list of options which lasts a good 17 minutes. I dread to think how long it would take if I were to add coffee syrup and hot chocolate flavours into the mix! To save my poor guests' earholes, I've decided to put some in labelled jars; so they can choose for themselves straight from the cupboard. 

The Popcorn and Jasmine tea is from my Teapigs Xmas haul.
The Crème Caramel is from The Tea House in Covent Garden.

If you fancy giving this a go, you'll need some empty jars (I used Ikea clip-top jars and old jam/mustard jars), some blackboard foil, and chalk pens. I cut out random shapes of foil for each jar, then wrote on them with chalk pens. Easy.

Katie xxx

The one where I put a ring on it....

Sorry to any of you expecting an OHMYGODWE'REENGAGED post, but I couldn't resist titling this post à la Beyoncé. Bahaha. I'm actually sharing a ring-related craft project.  

The project was to make over the rather tatty jewellery box I'd had since I was little; a treasure trove of colourful plastic trinkets which had started looking a bit sorry for itself. I've never been particularly enamoured by the colour or design, aside from the tiny ballerina who used to dance inside the box whenever the lid was open (sadly long ago misplaced), but it holds too many childhood memories for me to bear to replace it. 

The white mark is from a snowman sticker I stuck on it when I was 8.

I had planned to decoupage it, but instead I covered it with a magical adhesive blackboard foil which Tom bought me last year. I used a scalpel to trim the foil around the hinges and the clasp once I'd smoothed it over the sides and lid.

Looking better already!

Then came the exciting part; choosing what to draw on the box. I initially tried to find a fashion-related quote to write across the top, and nearly went for this one, but decided I'd get bored of reading the same quote every morning. Admittedly, the blackboard foil will allow me to erase and re-do the design whenever I like, but I wanted to start with something I'd be happy looking at for a while. 

I considered covering it in cartoon-style diamonds, and then I remembered the amazing diamand ring painting I'd seen at the Tate Modern's Lichtenstein exhibition. Isn't it pretty? 

Image source

Chalk pens can be quite tricky to rub out, so I decided to sketch the design onto greaseproof paper first, and then trace it onto the lid of the box:

A lot of careful colouring-in later, and my jewellery box makeover was finished!

 It's not a perfect replica of Lichtenstein's version, but I'm pretty happy with it. It certainly looks much better than it did before!

What do you think?

Katie xxx

Hey, Doll Face!

Happy Friday Eve people!

How've you been? 

My day has been filled with bargains and oddities. Let's start with the bargains, shall we?

I popped into the New Look sale on my way home (damn those huge red signs in the window saying DRESSES! FIVE POUNDS!) and walked out with my 8 millionth piece of novelty knitwear. Isn't he precious? I think I'm going to call him Renard.

Fox jumper - £11 in the New Look sale

Then, whilst grabbing our dinner from Tesco, I accidentally on purpose wandered down the Seasonal aisle; only to discover that all of the Christmas chocolate was reduced to under 40p! This lot cost me less than £3.50. BOOM. 

You might think that's some rather excessive, but I reckon I've been rather restrained today, really... I mean, just LOOK what I found in Lewes Antique Shop:

Excuse the shoddy photo here. If you can't tell, this is a bag of pinecones.
For £2.

You know what put me off about decorating with pinecones at Christmas? How dang expensive they are. I mean, a girl has to EAT people- so one can't go frittering all one's money away on pinecones. If only I'd known sooner that I could've picked some up for a mere £2 (and antique ones, no less!) 

To be fair, I shouldn't expect too much from this stall, because I've previously seen them selling last-season's Primark as vintage, daahling, for more than it originally cost...

And then, just when you thought things couldn't get any better...

FOURTEEN doll faces, for a mere £10

I don't even know where to start with how creepy this is, or what I love about it the most. Perhaps the fact it's a bulk purchase? I mean, why buy one doll face when you can buy 14?! Or the fact that Joy has chosen to display them like a celebratory fruit basket for cannibals....

To top off the oddball sundae that has been today, I spotted this poster gracing the platform opposite on my way home from work today. 

I have NO IDEA what a "Mr Tom's Tomface" is, but I really want to make Tom do it. 

Have you seen anything strange lately? A bucket of teddy bear legs, perhaps? 

Katie xxx

Recite This

I think I've found the solution to my prints dilemma. I've just discovered Recite This, via Pinterest, and have been thinking of quotes for posters ever since.

Recite This is a site of pre-designed posters which you can update with your own quotes, and then download to print for freeeeeee. My favourite price. Here are a few I've designed so far:

I want them all....

Katie xxx

Prints Charming*

Do you want to know one of the most exciting things to happen to me so far this year? 

It's pretty epic. Hold on to your bobble hats, people:

Tom and I have decided what to put on the blank wall above our sofa.

Told you it was epic.

I'd been swinging between a triptych of large frames, a collection of faux animal heads, and a picture ledge (like a Linda Barker/Tarzan hybrid) but after spotting some beautiful rooms with picture ledges in the latest Ideal Home my mind was made up. Plus, no matter how hard I pleaded, I'm pretty sure Tom wouldn't let a stuffed unicorn head into the house.... Sadface.

It'll kind of look like this...
[Image Source]

So I've placed an Ikea order for two picture ledges and a smorgasbord of white frames in varying shapes and sizes so our display will (hopefully!) still look as eclectic as the rest of our house. We're planning to put two ledges next to each other, to span the length of our sofa; so we'll have 2.3m of stacking space to play with! 

[image source]

Then, as if I hadn't just spent enough money on Ribbas and Ubersluckens and whatnot, I logged on to Rockett St George (one of my go-to sites for industrial interior gorgeousness) to do a little internet-window shopping. I promise it was meant to be window-shopping, until I saw that this beauty (who'd been on my wishlist since the Great Deer Hunt of 2013) had gone into the January sale. Oops. But look how pretty:

Plaster of Paris Roe Deer head from Rockett St George

He hasn't arrived yet, but when he does he's got to go straight into the loft; because apparently deer now have to be "Just For Christmas" in this house. Boooooooo.

Anyway, the point of this post (and that pun) is that I bought a whole load of frames but currently have nothing to fill them with. So I've been rounding up potentially awesome prints from all over the internet. Which one(s) do you think I should get? 

I tracked down this Dancing Foxes print after spotting it on Laura's blog.
This one is actually the greeting card version - small and sweet.

I love all of these tea prints by Peskimo but this one is my favourite

Ok, this isn't a print at all. But COME ON- (re)drawing Nic Cage's
hair would provide hours minutes of entertainment

I'm slightly freaked out that Joe Carr is stalking my dreams.
There are no words to describe how amazeballs this is.

This Tiger Timbergram is an A3 version of the
wooden postcard I bought my friend Holly

I really love this print. Something about it reminds me of Escape To Witch Mountain.

This print would certainly give guests a hint of the colour they
can find elsewhere in our house

This lovely mountain print is currently on sale too!

There's nothing like a bit of enthusiasm

If you've seen any other awesome prints recently please do send me links (in the comments or on twitter) so I can drool over them too!

Katie xxx

* Just FYI, this may be my favourite play-on-words of all time. Apart from perhaps the Ninjaraffe.