February Styling The Seasons ~ Studio Ready......

It's the end of the month again!! You are really going to have to slow down ok?

I have had a really busy month, 10 days of it were spent in Florida I know!! But the rest of the time has been sorting out the dining room into my new studio. I have so many boxes of props for the event styling and stock for the Vintage Styling Kits that I am running out of space. However, as usual I didn't just want it to look average!! I need my work space to be inspirational and make me smile on a daily basis so I have tried to bring all of my favourite objects together, including lots of plants and flowers. I really can't believe how much flowers have taken over my life in the last few months, I am a little bit obsessed to be honest. They bring so much to the house, its like a continuous makeover with different colours and shapes filling corners of our home.

I think signs of spring have really started in The Vintage House That Could and this is evident in the images I have been taking, lots of pastels, pinks and whites. This months Styling the Seasons hasn't been a specific area but more a way of life! I'm loving my new room, who cares that we have nowhere to eat dinner!! Styling is more important and getting myself business ready is even more important. Roll on March........ Still so much to come. Eeeekkkkkkk!!!!!!!

Don't forget that you can join in with #stylingtheseasons with @lottsandlots and @aptapothecary follow them on Instagram and style up somewhere in your home to reflect that month.

Katie xx

Vintage Styling Kits.....

Hello!!!

Nice to see you back, I thought the time was right to introduce you to my Vintage Styling Kits.
The story so far....

One night in November whilst struggling to sleep (again) I had an idea! I absolutely love styling my home and using the vintage finds that I have discover at car boots and vintage fairs but what if people don't have the chance to source these lovely things and maybe they would like someone to do it for them? D-dah!!! The Vintage Styling Kit was born!! Now what to put in it....

What you receive in every kit......

• A MUST, a vintage cup and saucer, these are my absolute fave and I use them all over the house to add colour, I fill them with plants and they look lovely with fairy lights in. Hey, you can even have a cup of tea in them! Noting tastes better. 
• I had just purchased some delicate copper string lights and I loved them so I knew that they needed to form part of the overall kit. They are so versatile and I love using them on shelves and mantelpieces to add a bit of drama to my scene. 
• Vintage books are a big love of mine, they come in gorgeous colours and aged patinas and I love how they add character to any collection of objects. 
• Vintage style milk bottle, I used these for my wedding as favours and ever since they have been a godsend as mini vases, straw holders and I even put milk in them!!! 
• Postcard - I use stationary, greeting cards, postcards and generally anything with typography on all around my house to add that bit of interest, tie in the colour scheme and sometimes just to make me smile. This I thought was a necessity in my Styling Kits and I have been using the amazing Calm Gallery designs which have a brilliant quality and great colours. 
• In order to display your postcard you always need a trusty roll of Washi Tape, I wouldn't be without it and neither will you.
• And Finally every single kit comes with a surprise vintage gift. Noting makes me happier than looking for pretty little objects that add a touch of the unique for your home and I love the fact that you kind of know what you will get but its not until you open the paper bag or peel away the tissue paper do you really know. Eeeeekkkk!!!
• Every kit comes beautifully packaged inside a pretty cardboard suitcase, each piece is individually wrapped and so if you have purchased this for a gift all of the hard work is done for you and the lucky recipient is one lucky recipient!! 

So, who doesn't love a present? I especially love buying presents for myself! The beauty of the styling kit is that you can choose a basic colour scheme and then I put it together for you, so china designs, books and postcards are all a mystery until you open the parcel. 

So far kits have gone down a storm!! And I am excited to say that a new variety of styling kits will be emerging soon, these will be kits that you can order for special occasions and will be a bit more personalised. Different sized kits will also be appearing and there will also be the possibility of Modern Styling Kits for those of you that prefer something a bit more on trend.  Exciting times and more details will follow...... 

I do hope you like them, if you do, buy one! Or tell a friend. Oh and don't forget its Mothers Day on March 6th!!!! 

Vintage Styling Kits are £35 plus £5 UK P&P

Overseas prices for P&P are available, just get in touch xxx

ktallulah30@aol.com

Katie x 

Happy shopping! xx

January Styling the Seasons - The Start of Things To Come.....

January is usually rubbish isn't it? Back to work, cold weather, no money after Christmas and a long time to wait for anything exciting.... Well normally yes, but for me this month I have had a lovely time! 

My plan for 2016 was to make a change, get the styling business up and running and generally enjoy life a little bit more and I am pleased to say that I have successfully started the year on the right track. I have sold lots of #vintagestylingkits which I am very thankful for, its been a pleasure to source and pack up beautiful kits for ladies who really appreciated vintage treasures and pretty styling. 

I have my new website underway which will include all of the services that I have to offer under one lovely new umbrella and I can't wait to show you all. 

I had the pleasure of meeting up with @allisonsadler www.thepeopleshop.co.uk who helped me to consolidate all of my thoughts and plans and made me feel more confident in my new venture. This was a fab evening and I would really recommend it if you have exciting plans and are not sure how to make them into a business. 

Other things I have achieved, I styled a beautiful Christening, visited Emily Quinton at the gorgeous www.makelight.io studios and have been having fun chatting with my brides to make sure that we get the styling just right for their big day. (I nearly forget the amazing Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour!!!!)

So, I have been a lucky girl so far and as its the last day of January it was time for me to decide what my #stylingtheseasons theme was going to be. I decided to use these little cards from Flow Magazine  as they have been a wonderful source of inspiration this month. If you don't already know about Flow you should!! www.flowmagazine.com a beautiful magazine for lovers of illustration, with interesting articles and great styling. These 366 days of Flow cards all have a different message, quote or recipe and I decided to use some of January's for my post. I also love my new diary which came in the January My Little Box www.mylittlebox.co.uk/home perfect for keeping all of my important dates at hand. 

Anyway, what a month!! Lets hope the rest of the year is as exciting! I promise to keep you posted! 

Don't forget that you can join in with #stylingtheseasons with @lottsandlots and @aptapothecary follow them on Instagram and style up somewhere in your home to reflect that month.

Happy planning xx

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