Makelight Magic

Hi everyone. You may remember back in November as usual I entered the #stylingtheseasons hashtag on Instagram with my flatlay of blues and wintery objects. I don't know if I told you this but I WON that monthly competition and to my delight I was able to pick a photography workshop to attend run by the lovely Emily Quinton. Well last weekend I went on said workshop down in my favourite London town and I had the most marvelous time!!!

The moment I walked into Emily's studio in West Dulwich I knew I had to have one! 

The space is filled with amazing props, pretty things and wonderful light. What more could a photographer and blogger want? We spent a while chatting and picking Emily's brains and I was surrounded by likeminded ladies who were a source of great inspiration too. If you don't know Emily Quinton then you really should take a peek at her lovely website and find her on Instagram. She is a very successful lady and this is clearly down to her hard work and amazing eye for composition and beauty. www.emilyquinton.com www.makelight.io We were then let loose to photograph our hearts out using all of the things around us. I loved the experience and Emily also kindly helped us all out with using camera's and Instagram advice. I took some lovely photos of gorgeous flowers and practiced my flatlay skills and I also used the studio to capture my vintage styling kit. More about that in my next post. Anyway a week on and I am still buzzing from the experience!! It has given me another little push in my quest to break into this industry and it also made me rearrange the dining room into a more studio based workspace. (any excuse!)

So thank you to @aptapothecary @lottsandlots @emilyquinton and @ruthlgarner for picking me I really can't thank you enough xxx

And here are some of the photographs I have been taking at home after my head was filled with lovely stuff! 

Christmas 2015 - Head Explosion!

Hello all, I do hope you are all well, full and happy following the festive season. Christmas is a bit of a funny one for me, not for any particular reason, no bad memories have marred the occasion but I just don't seem to enjoy it anymore. I think maybe I get a bit maudlin as its the end of another year and there is this obsession with being joyful all the time!!!! I am a bit of a miserable bugger truth be told!! However this year I made a massive effort to banish those feelings as I can feel a bit of an epiphany coming on...... 

I have to say Instagram has definitely changed my life! This may sound odd to some of you, after all its just an app isn't it? Well yes it is and when explaining to someone who doesn't use it just how amazing it is I find myself struggling to sell it. Since I started my blog in January and making a concerted effort to use Instagram daily it has opened so many doors to me. I have met so many lovely people, people whom I would never have had the pleasure to meet. I have won stuff!! Always love winning stuff, I have been involved in hashtag projects like #stylingtheseasons, #thisjoyfulmoment, #RMStuesdaytreats and #aquietstyle and this has given me a direction, a real sense of purpose away from my everyday life. I hope that this is a taste of more things to come for 2016 and beyond. In January I am really excited to be attending a photography workshop run by Emily Quinton which I won by entering the #stylingtheseasons makelight competition in November. I can't wait and I'm also going to be lucky enough to style a couple of venues for some lovely events. I'll show you results I promise. 

Christmas this year has been centered around making our home beautiful for us all to enjoy and for other people to get enjoyment out of. I have styled our home in different ways and used the wonderful inspiration that I find on this online community to shape my style for the better. As with many things if you look back to the way you used to do things you often cringe, but thats just change for you. I mean I would never have a perm again - or would I?!!! 

So this post is a little look back on Christmas and a bit of a opportunity to share with you my hopes for next year. The title of this post is Head Explosion - why? Well because I actually have so much going on in my brain, so many ideas I don't know what to do with them. What I do know is that 2016 has to be the year that I make a change ( I am going o be 40 you know!!) and with hard work and determination I've got a feeling its going to happen....... I for one am excited and I hope that you also have a wonderful time too. xx

Happy New Year x

November Styling the Seasons - Feeling Festive Flatlay

So it has happened! The twinkly lights and wrapping paper has got the better of me and though I hate to admit it the festive season has started to appeal..... nothing to do with the prospect of two weeks off work!! I am a sucker for pretty things and Christmas has that in spades, its also another great excuse to spend money and while I shop online something always seems to fall into the basket for me so its a win win situation! (insert the thumbs up emoji)

When I read about the new challenge for this months Styling the Seasons I was really excited at the thought of doing a flatlay image. Emily Quinton was one of the very first people I started following on Instagram and I have really enjoyed watching her beautiful floral images change and alter with the seasons. The idea of gathering all of my favourite pieces together to represent November is a lovely one but I wasn't really sure what theme I would take. The first part of the puzzle happened when I was given some gorgeous grey velvet. Velvet to me sums up this cozy season and I knew I had to use it somehow in my images. Once I had the colour scheme the rest was easy. The blue faded Hydrangea went perfectly and one of my most favourite things as Christmas approaches is wrapping presents in a creative way so I use lots of pretty tags and string. The glass bauble actually never gets put away because I think they are lovely throughout the year and finally my new copper string lights from www.newlook.co.uk are so delicate they fitted perfectly. If I told you that the heart shaped stone was given to me by my husband and the spotty ribbon tied up my wedding bouquet you would think I was soppy, so I won't tell you that. 

I am really happy with the results, I love how it is still pale but feels warm and it has helped to lift me out of my bah humbug mood! 

As usual you can enter into the seasonal spirit every month by playing #stylingtheseasons and this month fingers crossed to win a place on one of Emily's photography workshops #STSxMakelight @lottsandlots @aptapothecary @ruthgarner @emilyquinton 

Good luck everyone and happy wrapping xx

Jackdaw Rooms review

Hi all, I do hope you are well and getting yourself all prepared for Christmas?!! Well that's what we are supposed to do isn't it, buy presents throughout the year and get our Christmas cards in the sale!!! Haha, anyway I thought I would share a gorgeous new shop that I found recently that has in fact not long opened and maybe your Christmas gift buying or receiving prayers could be answered.

At the lovely Curborough Hall Farm countryside centre on the outskirts of Lichfield in Staffordshire there is the Jackdaw Rooms. I found this via word of mouth from a friend who lives locally and heard that it was opening. Specialising in unique one off pieces of up-cycled and vintage furniture and quirky gifts. The owners have renovated the barn space beautifully and the layout is perfect for browsing. I obviously purchased a few items - well it would be rude not to! As well as the loveliness to buy they are also going to be running paint workshops in the new year and I also noticed a few Prosecco/shopping evenings looming which sounds like a winning combination to me!!

I took a few snaps of the stunning interior and some of the items for sale. If you live close by and like to find things a little out of the ordinary then you really should give it a go.

Happy Christmas shopping xx

October Styling the Seasons - Pastel Pumpkins.....

Not only is it October its also nearly the end of October, I mean how did that happen? Now, not being a lover of all thing autumnal as you know, and feeling slightly apprehensive about all things orange and halloweeny I was a little unsure about what my Styling the Seasons post would end up like. I needn't have worried however as I was soon to discover that pumpkins don't only just come in orange they also come in white and duck egg blue!!! Who knew?? So I went on a little adventure this morning to try and find such things and to my dismay this wasn't as easy as I thought. Oh no, a sea of large orange squashes awaited in every place I tried and some of the staff in farm shops and garden centres didn't seem to understand my need for smaller more prettier pastel coloured veg. Luckily however the last farm I tried had a huge variety and I found some lovely blue ones. I didn't get lucky with the white variety and so the only thing to do was to paint it, needs must and all that!!

Anyway, aside from the fact that my post is centred around pumpkins, October is also the birthday month of my first born and so I wanted my scene to be fun and bright. Pastels colours are also what make up our house and my Instagram gallery and I feel like this really goes well. The pretty shades of the faded Hydrangea help with the Autumn feel too and of course it wouldn't be right to not have one of my favourite vintage cups.  

This month's Styling the Seasons has really added a different element to our bedroom, a room that is often forgotten when I am styling so I'm really happy with the results. I will also be able to use the pumpkins to dress the dining table too.

October, you are ok really!! xx

Happy Halloween!! x

Join in with Styling the Seasons and see where your imagination takes you with

@lottsandlots @aptapothecary

September Styling the Seasons - Bringing the outside in.......

I can't believe its nearly a month since my last post when I was moaning about Autumn! Don't worry I have got over that now and I promise I won't moan anymore, I mean I can't stop time. Can I? No? 

Anyway I digress, a couple of weeks ago I finally got my hands on some Eucalyptus, I have been looking for some for ages and as I don't live in a big town or have many florists nearby it wasn't as easy as I thought. I don't think I realised how lovely it was and what a great smell it filled the house with. It gave me an idea for my Styling the Seasons post and what September means to me. As Katy and Charlotte asked for this month to include a vintage item I decided to bring some of my vintage fair finds into the styling too. My house is pretty full of nik-nacs anyway so I knew that wouldn't be a problem, I think I have a problem! 

The colours of the foliage in my enamel jug made me think about my last Vernon Ward picture purchase and I think they go really well together, I have lots of old books that I like to use as props and these 2 were found at an antique market in Barcelona. 

After enjoying having the Eucalyptus in the house it made me think about why I don't bring more of the outside in, after all September has mainly been about keeping the garden going and replanting lots of things to keep it pretty. I love our garden and its a shame to not enjoy the lovely plants out there when the weather isn't playing ball. I decided to dress the dining room table for Sunday lunch using some of my pansies and lavender planted in a vintage tin and bucket. I was really pleased with the results and it made me happy to think that although its officially Autumn  I can still enjoy the garden even when its miserable outside. 

I love #stylingtheseasons and you can join in by styling a part of your home to reflect what that month means to you and tagging @lottsandlots and @aptapothecary 

Happy Autumn xx