coming up roses...

...i just spied these gorgeous tiles on Sharon's lovely blog Blossom and just had to post them up here :)

~ patchwork ~

~~ roses ~~

...they are by Welbeck Tiles and these floral ones in particular are from their 'vintage collection'. each one is individually handmade here in the UK, in Cornwall, which makes them kinda pricey but all the more beautiful...
...i think the chintzy, Cath Kidston style florals of the patchwork collection are my favourites. i really like the way they've been interspersed with plain white tiles so that the overall effect isn't too much. also, i'm sure they would look great if you had a completely white bathroom or kitchen but filled the sink splash back with them to create a pretty wee focal point...
...i know for a fact my man won't entertain this idea especially in our tiny wee flat, which i agree needs as little visual clutter as possible to create the illusion of space. so, i'm going to store this idea away for the day i have a huge studio which, from now on, will include a wee kitchenette corner decorated in such loveliness :)

emma
x

creative clutter...

...this was my wee studio as it greeted me first thing yesterday morning ~ and while it may look like a pretty interesting pile of colourful, creative clutter there was barely an inch of space to get out my wee notebook and write this weeks 'to do list' (the number one 'to do' being to tidy my studio!), let alone start any work!
...so of course the only thing to do was to head straight for my pc and work on a blog post in the hope that by the time i had finished the wee 'tidy fairies' would have popped by and worked a wee miracle on my cluttered room...
...as you can probably guess that didn't happen because, as we all know, the 'tidy fairies' are very, very shy! so we, that is Spanner and me, thought that if we went for a very, very long walk in the spring sunshine it would give them plenty of time to pluck up their courage, come out of their wee hidey-holes and set about the place with dusters in hand...

...ha!

...in the end i decided it would be far quicker to just get on and do it myself. which wasn't such a bad thing after all as i had quite a therapeutic afternoon organising all my bits 'n' bobs and choosing which tins they should live in :)
...once i was done i sat down with a fresh brew, in my favourite new red and white spotty mug, and some yummy chocolate that didn't last very long (note the lack of chocolate in this pic as it's all in my belly!), and started work on some new potholders for an exciting custom order i got this weekend ~ the perfect way to end the day :)
...

...oh, before i go i just want to say a huge thank you to the lovely Liane, of enhabiten, for featuring a few of my ladies in one of her blog posts yesterday ~ thank you Liane!

emma
x

colour your monday happy...

...with yet more vintage crafting colours ~ i just can't get enough at the moment!

~ Folly and Glee ~

~ mialiv ~

~ joanac ~

~ enhabiten ~

~ Paper Pie ~

...i am so smitten with this collection of images today with their beautiful colour and detail, pattern and texture. but especially so with enhabiten's tantalising close up of one of her 'antique quilt pillows', i'm loving the mix of earthy browns, greens, navy, red and turquoise combined in those delicate antique prints ~ so beautiful...

...remember to pop on over to 'all colours in...' for more beautiful and colourful inspiration... :)

...wishing you all an inspirational week!
emma
x

colour palette ~ vintage crafting...

...image credits ~ 1. Philippa Wood, 2. Ravenhill Designs, 3. Sophie Isobel Designs, 4. Made In Chorlton, 5. Karen Barbé, 6. Three Red Apples, 7. A Fanciful Twist, 8. Little Bird 1, 9. Madeline Bea...

...i think this has to be my most favourite mosaic and palette yet, i just adore this riot of vintage colour ~ goldenrod, teal, olive, beige, red, ochre, granny knicker pink (as it shall forever now be known!) and soft cream...

...oh, and how gorgeous is Sophie's wee vintage button wall collage? i think i may need to raid my button jars, i wonder if i have any blu-tack squirreled away somewhere...
...hmmm, can you still buy blu-tack!?

...apparently you can and they have a handy wee 'uses' list on their site ;)

...wishing you all a lovely weekend...
emma
x

going green for earth day...

...Conscious Clothing...

...b. bags...

...Fawn Potter...

...Muddy Feet...

...BottleHood...

...Just hatched...

...of course we all know that 'going green' shouldn't just be for earth day. no, we should be striving to change our attitude and impact on our environment and show some appreciation for this incredible wee planet we're all living on, every single day that we live on it...

...there are so many easy things we could do daily, things that once we started doing them they would become second nature, things that are so simple that it would be just plain silly not to try!

~ like switching off all non essential electricals...
~ turning off the light when you leave a room...
~ remembering to turn off the radio when you take the dog for a walk...
~ choose a handmade soap for cleaning your mucky pup...
~ choosing an organic peppermint tea...
~ only filling the kettle with just enough water for your cup...
~ try to only buy biscuits in recyclable packaging...
~ choose an eco-friendly detergent...
~ or opt for a (mostly) non chemical approach to cleaning...
~ use bio-degradable rubbish (trash) bags...
~ generally recycle where you can...
~ use recycled or organic yarns...
...choose only to eat organic chocolate ~ and lots of it ;)
~ and obviously, buy handmade!

...now this is just a small list i pulled from my daily routine and i'm sure most of you do all this and much, much more! i would love to hear any of your wee tips if you have them :)

...happy earth day everyone!
emma
x

another year older...

...my wee man is five years old today!
...(or 35 if you're counting in dog years!)...

...this afternoon i've been delving into the archives (a pile of cd's that have all our old photos on) looking at Spanner's puppy pictures. these are my absolute favourites from the day we brought him home ~ just look how small he is and how different his markings look...
...and how cute is that wee fluffy face!?

...happy birthday my wee man!

emma
x

flutter by...

...i saw these gorgeous wee crochet butterflies last week on EZ's blog, Creature Comforts, and i haven't been able to stop thinking about them. they are just so intricate and beautiful, not to mention animal friendly! definitely the kind of specimens i would like to hang on my wall :)

...you can find them in the 'oeuf' online shop...

...what is even sweeter about these wee winged beauties is that they are Fair Trade ~ made from 100% alpaca by indigenous women of Bolivia. if you have a few minutes i promise you won't regret peeking at the rest of their site and the gorgeous knits these talented women create, including this delicate knitted bunting...

emma
x

colour your monday happy...

...with a touch of beautiful retro colour ~ 'all colours in' style...

~ Cottage45 ~

~ ethanollie ~

~ m soto ~

~ kitsch&curious ~

~ dottie angel ~

...good morning! i do hope your Monday is bright and cheerful, and that you're raring to go for another creative week!?
...i can't wait to get started today as i've got a few projects nearing completion ~ three new cushions in need of some pretty buttons and a wee bit of finishing, plus a huge pile of flowers (productive weekend!) waiting to be strung into garlands :)

...i'm also hoping to make a trip to the post office this week to send out some international orders. but of course that all depends on the 'volcanic ash cloud' that is drifting in from the Icelandic volcano. UK airspace (as well as a huge chunk of northern Europe) has been completely closed for the last few days ~ i'm carefully checking the news and weather (every few minutes!) hoping that things will start to get better before the end of the week...
...i really do hope it's not affecting you too badly? i know there are a lot of people stranded abroad and have no idea when they will be able to get home ~ although not so bad if you're somewhere warm and pretty ;)

emma
x

a sunny day... (part 2)

...yes of course there are pictures Spanner! possibly the best pictures of the day some might argue ;)

...are you sitting comfortably?
...then we shall begin ~ this is the story the wee man and his 'episode' in the water...

...it was a warm sunny day, unusually warm for a spring day in early April...
...the wee man had been cooped up in the car for the whole half hour drive to the fabled town called Haddington...

...once he arrived at this pretty wee town all he wanted was to run in the open park, woof at the ducks by the river and claim lots of new territory for himself (yes, he wanted to 'piddle' on everything!)...

...(please note there was no woofing at the swans, they're a lot bigger than he is! also, it is open to debate as to whether or not he was actually woofing at the ducks. but most people who know my Spanner know that he likes to woof ~ at everything! ~ so yes, he probably was woofing at the ducks)...

...so with the unusual heat and his usual amount of 'piddling' he was in need of a drink...
...so off he went to the edge of the water, although not the main river as he's not too fond of the water. no, he chose the much smaller slipstream...

...as he was gingerly leaning over a slightly steep bank, guzzling as much water as he could, the sandy bank suddenly gave way under his paws and in he went ~ head first!

...now this wouldn't be such a big deal for most dogs, most dogs would turn or swim round and climb right back out again...

...not Spanner...

...oh no...

...being not so fond of the water as we have already mentioned, and a very poor swimmer, he went into a blind panic and swam directly for the opposite (virtually inaccessible) bank...

...much calling ensued with tempting phrases such as 'look what i've got' and 'would you like...', as he desperately ran up and down the bank trying to find a non-existent bridge to lead him back to safety...

...eventually he mustered every ounce of courage he could and threw himself back in to the water ~ such a brave wee man!

...he then paddled around for a few more panic stricken moments desperately trying to find a stretch of bank that wasn't too steep, but really he wasn't having the best of luck that day! so he decided that the best plan of action was to give up, cling to the opposite bank from us and whine until someone came to his rescue...

...so it was up to me to leap two four foot church walls, fight my way through a few bushes and find a strong enough tree by the waters edge to hang on to while i leaned over to pull him out by his collar...
...(thankfully lady luck was on my side that day and i was able to stay dry!)...

...i'll never forget the look on his wee face ~ desperately wanting to woof his wee heart out but finding himself speechless at what had just happened, and at the same time a look of extreme gratefulness for being rescued :)

...in the end we were all very grateful that it was such a warm, sunny day so that he dried off very quickly and we didn't have to face the car journey home with a smelly, soggy dog!

emma
x

a sunny day... (part 1)

...in Haddington...

...above ~ St Mary's Church and the Nungate bridge...
...below ~ the witch's broom and my 'mossy macro' addiction!

...above ~ gorgeous colours in the beautiful painted buildings in the old market square...
...i have no recollection of these from our first visit, i know it was very foggy but it can't have been so bad that i couldn't see a building ten feet in front of me !?

...below ~ one of these buildings decaying and crumbling...
...it did look a wee bit sad next to all the other meticulously preened facades, but it had it's own beautiful charm none the less, and i especially love the warm, soft, muted colours...

...now i know what you're thinking ~ 'a day out and no pictures of the wee man!? i want to see his cute fluffy face, nay, i demand to see his cute fluffy face!'

...'part 2' will follow shortly ;)

emma
x

familiar faces...

...vera...

...daisy...

...daphne...

...nancy...

...lillian...

...part of my wonderful weekend included a wee trip out to Haddington to pick up these lovely ladies from the Peter Potter Gallery...
...while i'm a wee bit disappointed that more didn't find themselves lovely new forever homes, i was pleased to know that they were admired and enjoyed, and were able to spread a wee bit of 'granny chic' charm to who ever happened upon them :)

...it has also been really lovely to have them hanging in my wee studio again, i kinda missed having them around in all their glorious colours! but now that they are rested and refreshed after their exciting adventure they are ready to let their 'granny chic' charm shine once again on the shelves of my wee shop...

...now i'm off to potter in my wee studio for the rest of the afternoon and i shall be back tomorrow with some pretty pics of a much less foggy and much more sunny Haddington...

...wishing you all a wonderful creative day...
emma
x

colour your tuesday happy...

...inspired by gorgeous sunny days!

...that vase ~ karibombari...

...wythe blue room ~ lakbdesign/fergusandme...

...Sunflowers ~ Miss Danae...

...African Flowers - Daisy Cushion ~ Elizabeth Cat...

...green thumb. ~ sfgirlbybay...

...hello my lovelies!

...today i'm feeling so happy and refreshed after spending an absolutely perfect weekend with my parents ~ we had the most glorious sunny weather for a wee bit of sightseeing (pics to follow soon!), lots of walking, tons of great food and wine including the first picnic of the year! and of course a wee bit of crafting :)

...so of course today's collection of inspirational images from 'all colours in...' are celebrating my perfect weekend and how a few gorgeous sunny days can make the whole world seem utterly fabulous!

...i do hope you all had the most wonderful weekend too!?

emma
x