Hello Liberty

This has to be one of my favourite fashion collaborations - Japanese icon Hello Kitty and British institution Liberty of London. Using a mix of new prints and ones archived from the 30s the collab has brought about a range of products from cosmetics through stationary to alarm clocks and jewellery in the world renowned ditsy florals with a HK twist - Kitty Town features all of the Sanrio characters in a quaint English countryside setting, Music Festival sees Kitty playing her favourite instruments, Apple Tree features one of HKs favourite foods, Kitty Wonderland is a fantasy world with all of Kitty's favourite toys while Karenkubo is an adaptation of an original 30s print.

Launching exclusively at Liberty from September 26th.

Vintage Bathrooms

Fingers crossed in a few weeks we'll be installing a new bathroom suite into our house. Our current one is very bog standard (non-purposeful pun there) and cheap but we have been given a freestanding bath and pedestal sink so all we will need to buy is a new toilet. If the bathroom stays in the room it's in now then we'll just do a little touch-up decorating - it's quite spa-like with white floorboards, white muslin curtains and sand coloured walls and giant tiles. If, however, we are able to move it to the smaller 2nd bedroom I'm thinking a cosy vintage look will be in order - especially since this room houses one of the two original fireplaces. The space where the sink would go would also allow us to have a vanity unit! And I'm thinking of lots of extravagant, over-the-top details - chandelier light fitting, heavy pile cream carpet, vintage mirrors...Ooh the possibilities...

♥ the metro tiles, the vanity unit, the deep plum wall, the venetian glass mirror ♥

♥ vintage serving tray filled with bottles, jars and vintage trophy cups for storage ♥

♥ the vintage trolley filled with rolled up towels ♥

♥ the painted towel rail and the freestanding shower ♥

♥ the organised baskets and vintage ladder as towel holder ♥

T & D[IY]

How awesome is this tea service? This is the end result of a tutorial from re-nest that I cannot wait to try. I already have a cute little blue and white thrifted tea service and am scouring ebay for a black porcelain paint pen with an idea in mind that will hopefully end up in the shop (which will, fingers crossed, be live come the middle of august).

A Waterfall Of Ruffles

Received my bargain sale curtains from UO today (down from £60 to £20!). I've wanted these forever so was really excited when they went down in price. Don't actually have any rails to hang them from yet so this website photo will do for now...

Double DIY: Chanel Perfume Bottle

I own four scents but two that I would describe as being 'signature' - Thierry Mugler's Alien and Coco Chanel (my other two currents are Marc Jacobs Lola and YSL Parisienne). When it comes to perfume I love the containers as much as what they hold so when one is finished I keep it, only getting rid if I replace the perfume with a new bottle of the same. A couple days ago I realised I had managed to accrue two empty bottles on top of the one I am working my way through. It kinda seemed a shame to just put them in the bin...that big cut glass stopper was calling to me specifically.

So after a lot of twisting (and, I'll admit, tantrum throwing in frustration and my boyfriend taking over) the lid and its little plastic 'cuff' where separated (FYI my bf ended up having to use a butter knife).

 

The first DIY I wanted to go for was turning the 'cuff' in to a thumb ring. Be prepared for spending a lot of time cleaning glue remnants from it once you've finished!

Obviously I didn't want to cover the black and gold band or the interlocking C's so my chosen decoration had to be focused on the top clear plastic lip. I dug out some lightweight vintage gold toned chain and measured it around the circumference to work out the correct length. I was lucky enough that the ends just overlapped so I opened up one end link, liberally applied glue (I used Tesco's All Purpose...very similar to E6000!) then stuck down the chain. After a few seconds of letting the glue cure I was able to push the open link around the other end of the chain and nip it closed , forming a perfect fitting circle of chain on my ring.

From here onwards it was slightly trial and error as I figured out what looked good and what would not make the ring too chunky. In the end I settled for using some vintage diamante studs which I wedged inside every other link using the same glue to secure. I then sat patiently and picked off any excess, visible glue with a pin (time consuming but works well as chemicals tend to tarnish).

And that's it, one night, one Chanel thumb ring...

[chipped up manicure using Topshop's Milkshake]

And now for the double part of the DIY - remember the glass perfume top? Well turn it upside down and pop a tapered candle inside (you may need to add a little melted wax to the bottom first) for a simple, chic candle holder. Several of these in different sizes with different coloured candles would look amazing!

 

Click here for my previous posts on Coco inspired DIYs. Feel free to post links in the comments to your own Chanel makes...

Smells Sweet, Tastes Sweeter

Received these a couple of days ago from Lexi of Faith Trust & Pixie Dust - not only are they a beautiful display of carnations and gerbera but she also worked three candy lollipops in there too!

A Sweet Smelling Secret

So, despite the fact that I was in London and did pop in to Oxford Circus Topshop I completely forgot to check out their newest fashion collaboration. The difference this time is that it's not clothes that have been produced but a pop-up florist (also at Topshop New York).

Topshop have teamed up with design duo Meadham Kirchoff who have curated displays of buyable floral arrangements. The florists is also the entrance to a hidden section of the flagship store, hosting jewellery and womens wear by London and New York designers including Pamela Love, Nasir Mazhar, Ann-Sofie Back and Meadham Kirchoff themselves, as well as re-issued pieces from the Topshop Unique archive.

Ed Meadham and Ben Kirchoff worked with Nikki Tibbles of Notting Hill's Wild At Heart for the launch of their first flower stall, which included trawling New Covent Garden's flower market for peonies, azaleas, poppies and sweetpeas.

The East End design duo told Vogue a little about their inspiration and reasons behind the collab:

"The idea is that if you’ve only got a few pounds to spend, you can still go home with a flower or a plant...It’s going to be very teenage-bedroom-y...No two bunches will be the same...We’ve been to car-trunk sales and vintage markets to source pots, and painted them in the studio. We’re wrapping them up with hair accessories and things for baby showers. It’s going to be very us"

As for the flower shop itself - it's a riot of colour filled with recognisable (even to non-green fingered folk like myself) plant life sold in coloured glass jars and paint splattered terracotta pots with prices from £5 upwards (though it appears a fiver only gets you a glass jar with a handful of carnation heads!)...

Will other stores follow suit with similar fashion inspiration pop-ups? One things for sure, we'll be seeing more flowers from MK if they get their way...

“One day, if we ever open a store of our own, we’d love to sell plants and flowers. On the Topshop stand, we’re hoping to show what we mean: that flowers are something everyone should be able to take away to make their life a little more colorful and enjoyable”

Vintage Cafe

This week saw the opening of my Aunty's tea shop, Vintage Cafe.

My first visit was for a pot of tea served in a vintage cup and saucer (with a shot glass of dolly mixture on the side!)

And here are few more snaps I managed to get before we had to run home to get an umbrella on our way into town...

A very good commandment for a tea shop (and life in general)

[artwork by Olivia of Goldielocks & Cupid]

Cake, blackboard menu and pretty things

Cosy corner for reading and drinking hot chocolate

Cabinet filled with vintage and shabby chic bits n bobs

Part of the backroom seating area with black and white photos of Hull 

(which are also available for purchase)

Since my favourite thrift store is nearby, I won't be needing to make many excuses to head in the direction of Chanterland's Avenue from now on.

Find out more on the Vintage Cafe Facebook page (and don't forget to click like!)

William IV

For our holiday to London we stayed in the pub come hotel William IV, about a half hour walk to the centre of Portobello Rd.

Despite the fact that it was a nice hotel with easy access to the Bakerloo line I don't think it's somewhere we would stay again, mainly due to the fact the function room was only a stones throw from our bedroom which led to a couple of sleepless nights (though we were pre-warned of this via the website).


But for looks alone WIV scored high with original features intact (fireplaces, beams, sash windows) and a colour palette straight out of a Farrow and Ball catalogue. The layout was characteristic of a country cottage - accessing certain rooms meant going upstairs then back down via different steps - creating a secret passage feel.

Furniture was a mix of old and new - the bar area (including the beer garden) was a mismatch of leather wing chairs, couches and stools, while the rooms included low leather bound beds and disco ball style lighting.

The food was also amazing...on our first night we ate in the bar and had breakfast in the restaurant every morning (unfortunately we missed out on the BBQ menu which came out on Saturday):

Viva La Difference

Name any simple household object - a chair, lamp or candlestick perhaps - and Designs by Viva will transform it (if they haven't already!)

Using cotton fabric the Viva team focus on unusual prints, vibrant colours and off-beat patterns to change taken for granted pieces and make them into usable pieces of art.

You can buy direct from Viva's website or contact them for a bespoke piece.

Fawning All Over You

If it wasn't for the fact that I'm on a strictly 'no spend' to save money for LDN I'd be buying this adorable little guy from TTA fave Thrift-ola to add to my collection. At just 7 quid I hope someone snaps him up and gives him a good home.

Meet Indie Cindy

Well, to be honest Cindy was a little busy stocking her new shop and making preparations for its official opening party on May Day. But her lovely friend Rowan was more than happy to give me a little more information on the new addition to Bird's Yard in Leeds.

Rowan herself has been hand making and selling jewellery under the moniker Kitschen Sink for some time now in galleries, Selfridges and in her online shop. But now she's taken the leap and opened up a real life store! I shot Rowan a few quick questions to find out more about what we can expect to get from Yorkshire's newest indie edition.

So, what made you want to set up a bricks and mortar store?

Opening a bricks and mortar has always been a daydream of mine. I've always loved customer contact and I love Leeds as a whole but never thought I'd seriously get a proper shop right in Leeds city centre's independent shopping district! I'd heard a lot about Birds Yard so I checked out their website to find them and noticed they had a room available on the first floor. I figured if I asked how much it was, it could be something I could work towards. Two weeks later I'm head over heels in love with the art deco building and Bird's Yard vibe and setting up shop with my imaginary business partner/friend Cindy!

Which independent designers are you going to be stocking?

I'm really lucky to have sold alongside some amazing talent at Selfridges, the Knitting and Stitching Show and Bust Craftacular amongst other places, so Cindy has some awesome designers like Knit and Destroy, Magasin and Littleclouds, nestled nicely between more local designers like Chickadeedee, Memo and Finest Imaginary.

What kinds of products has Cindy sourced for us?

Cindy is selling all things useful and/or decorative that are either colourful or cute, and are original designs. No beads on strings here! It's important to Cinds that the designers she picks make something that's identifiably theirs, that her shoppers will want to wear or show their purchases with pride and boast where they bought them from!

Pop to the first floor of Bird's Yard (83 Kirkgate, Leeds) to visit Indie Cindy - prices start at just £1 for postcards up to £50 for a handmade leather bag. In between you'll find fashion jewellery, prints, notebooks, pocket mirrors, badges, cushions, glasses cases, key rings, canvas totes and more!

Near Leeds on May 1st between 2pm-4pm? RSVP at the Indie Cindy blog and grab yourself a party ring and a piece of craft couture from a host of independent cult designers.