A Mixed Bag...

Firstly, thank you Nicky at Hollypops for this lovely award ~ so thoughtful of you!

I'm not used to doing this, but I believe that I have to list 7 things that I love and pass on the award to another 7 lovely bloggers. Hmmm, the first part is easy, the second ~ not so easy! I would of course like to award it to all the blogs that I follow and read, but I know lots of you lovely ladies have this award already. I hope I'm not duplicating, but I'm sure it doesn't really matter ~ it just means that you are doubly 'Kreativ'!

So here goes (loving my family goes without saying so will not put that on the list...)

I love...

...a vase full of fresh flowers ~ I would spend my last bean on cut flowers..roses, violets & sweetpeas are favourites...
...a snowball ~ the alcoholic variety ~ I am a '70's girl at heart!
...Audrey Hepburn & all of her movies
...an old children's Ladybird book called 'Gingers Adventures'. I have the copy I had when I was little and now read it to my gorgeous girl.
...my aga! A bit sad to list something so material, I make no apologies because I do absolutely love it. My husband calls it 'the most expensive radiator he has ever bought!'. It wasn't new, it was a wreck that was lovingly reconditioned and is a cream 2 oven. I'm sure that I will bore you with photos as some point...
...musical films from the 1950's ~ like 'Singin' In The Rain', 'Carousel', 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' 'High Society' etc. etc...
...wrapping packages ~ I much prefer the giving...

I would like to pass the award on to:
Lissylou at Lissylou & The 2 Little Boys
Robin at Miscellaneous Thoughts
Maggie at Sweet Scarlett
Primchick at Tales From Our Cottage
Vintage Nina
Charlotte at Cottontails Baby
Floss at Troc Broc and Recup'

I finally managed to get to the Country Living Fair this weekend ~ I've never been and felt I wanted to satisfy my curiosity! It was a bit of a mixed bag really ~ some very beautiful, unique high quality products and some that fell a bit below expectations ~ or maybe I just had very high expectations! I did make a few purchases...

A Victorian slop bowl with a pretty floral design from Kitty Fisher ~ I have an assortment of these as they look lovely all mismatched on a table for serving food.

A pretty cushion from Louby Loo. I know I shouldn't be buying cushions and could make them myself, but this one was the perfect colour combination for my gorgeous girl's bedroom. We have finally dismantled her cot ~ she is 3 but absolutely loved her cot, I think she would happily have remained in it for years! So we have changed her bedroom around and has a new day bed which looks so cute but sadly means that lie~in's are now a thing of the past...

Another purchase for gorgeous girl was the cutest pure linen summer dress from Little Linens. The colour is an adorable tea rose pink with flower shaped mother of pearl buttons at the back and they had the sweetest fabric corsage to pin on it!

I had to buy a bottle of Violet scented linen water from The Laundry bought at the 'Selvedge Magazine' stall. I have never seen this fragrance before and for obvious reasons ~ it needed to come home with me!

I have been intrigued by Tamar at Tamielle for a while ~ I think I must have seen an article on her in Country Living in the past. Her printed lavender sachets and handkerchiefs are beautiful and feature exactly the images that I love ~ old perfume labels, handbags etc. Her packaging is delightful. Each item is hand sewn in Bulgaria by women working in their own homes. This handkerchief in its pretty box was purchased for pure inspiration!

Finally I stopped at Caroline Zoob ~ one of the nicest stands by far, I could have bought everything! I would love a selection of her creamware china with delicate painted flowers, but as I was travelling by train this was a no no. I did pick up a couple of rolls of ribbon on wooden spools in my favourite colours, but will be visiting her website again to drool over the china!

I have to say another huge (enormous!) thank you to Sadie at Cotton Rose for such a kind gesture in sending me one of her delectable little cushions. I am a sucker for miniature pillows and this little flag cushion is just gorgeous. In my favourite colours, it has found the perfect, albeit temporary home on a child's painted Lloyd Loom chair I have downstairs. Eventually, when I redecorate our master bedroom it is destined for another special chair! Sadie has a giveaway at the moment on her blog ~ so if you are quick you might be in with a chance of having one of these special pillows...

The new Kate Forman brochure arrived this week ~ if I could wish for my whole house to be instantly redecorated, then I would wish for Kate to organise it! Every picture in the brochure is beautiful, inspirational and aspirational. I promise myself that I am going to redecorate our bedroom and use one of her stunning floral linens. Here are some photos to get your creative juices flowing...

Photograph ~ Zara Hart

Photograph ~ Zara Hart

Photograph ~ Zara Hart

Photograph ~ Zara Hart

Until next time Ali x