Its been too long........

Hello hello - is anyone out there?

The only way I can start this post is with a big fat apology - I'm sorry - I have been missing in action for many months and the happymarket, my blog and the world of Etsy whilst very much on my mind, have all taken a back seat pretty much since March.

Now, I am not one for excuses, but, sometimes, life just takes over and around the time of my last post was a time of major news, upheavals and challenges which meant I just needed to focus my energy on other things for a little while..... so, what have I been up to? Well, mainly I have been busy working on this.....

That's me on the right, standing next to my best friend, who as you can see has also been a little busy!  And now there's only around 7 weeks to go before all being well, we meet the little person who is making me rounder than a pumpkin - how exciting! 

I know that life is going to change massively, even more than it already has over the past 7 months, but I hope that these changes, as well as keeping me very busy are going to give me some space to re-focus on the things I love and all the exciting inspiration that I want to share here on the blog and in some other places I've got plans for.... so, I'm sorry for my rubbishness and for being away so long, but I hope to be picking up the pace soon and I hope you'll join me here..... I'll keep you posted - watch this space!

Spring has Sprung and (belated) Happy Birthday to me!

Long time no Blog - sorry guys!

Its was a heck of a March, I had tons of work which has kept me really busy, (I can't complain I guess), plus there have been hen parties, weddings and birthdays too - all of which have been a big distraction from blogging and getting my Etsy stuff sorted.

Spring certainly seems to have sprung here in London and the trees are blooming with blossoms making me feel very cheery indeed.

There's not much progress on my Etsy shop to report, but I promise that we'll be working on stock this month and will launch asap!

In the meantime, I have to just share with you what a lucky lady I am, since it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I got some really lovely things including;

This gorgeous hand drawn and painted card from the Lovely D - a very creative way to tell me that he didn't get me a present, but who cares when I am married to talent like that eh?

My Birthday Card from D. Love it. 

This lovely book full of great ideas;

Decorate by Holly Becker & Joanna Copestick available on Amazon and lots of other good shops!

This super print for my kitchen - a message I need to take on board - step away from the toast!!!

Print, Imperial War Museum 

Plus lovely flowers, chocs, stationary, toiletries and money to perhaps go towards some of those lovely bits from my last post. I feel so lucky to have such lovely and generous friends and family. Thank you everyone!

My birthday itself was pretty tame (hey, I'm getting on a bit now!), but me and D spent a lovely afternoon in Rye, one of my most favourite places to visit, and had fish and chips and ice creams at Camber Sands where the sun shone, and then on Saturday, I met up with lovely friends and visited this gorgeous place a few streets away from me; (let me first apologise for the photos which were taken on my phone ages ago - I wrote and asked if I could use pics from the Violet website but no answer yet... if they say yes I will swap them in as my pics don't do it justice at all)

Maybe it doesn't look like too much from the outside, but Violet is the most gorgeous little cake shop which is soooooooo pretty and sells the most delicious goodies on lovely vintage plates! Delish!

Plum Cobbler - now you see it....

......now you don't!

Visit the Violet website here and check out the blog here for more! Yum Yum.

Quite apart from all this merriment and celebration, it hasn't escaped my attention that the world seems to have gone crazy just lately, and so many sad and bad things have been going on that sometimes I have just not been able to think about some of my passions. My heart truly goes out to anyone whose life has been affected by the disasters and conflicts that have unfolded - just because the newspapers are so quick to move on the next story, let's not forget that for thousands of people across the world, a huge struggle to rebuild their lives is just beginning.

This print says 'Hope' in Greek. and is available from the Etsy shop Nane
check it out - there's some other cool stuff there too!

I hope the months ahead bring good things for everyone and peace and calm where it has been missing.

Here's to Spring, fresh starts and new beginnings.

L. x 

In the bedroom...

Hello people!

Well - sorry it has been so long - I actually prepared this post a little while back but strange events both in my own household and the wider world have kind of taken my attention away from the blog for a little while and writing about beautiful things and eye candy hasn't felt like such a good thing to do with so much bad and sad stuff happening in the world.

Anyway, I am back now and will try to get back on board the blogging train and see if I can cook up some interesting bits to share with you.

Hope you had a great weekend? What have you been up to? Anything exciting? A couple of weekends ago I was away celebrating a Women's Institute themed hen weekend (!) in honour of my lovely friend Lou (the very talented florist who did my wedding flowers)  - she's getting married this Saturday and I know it will be such a beautiful day - getting the hankies ready though - somehow weddings just reduce me to a puddle!

It's been gorgeous outside today and on sunny days, I LOVE my bedroom - its on the bright side of the flat and the sun streams in  making it lovely in the mornings.  The room itself is not huge, but we recently passed on our wardrobe and a chest of drawers to a new home (thanks Dad) and now, before we get new furniture, I'm thinking of giving the whole room a bit of a makeover. I think the room is a bit girly at the moment - don't know how it ended up like that really, because its not really my style and after all, I share the room with my lovely husband....

In an attempt to make the room a bit more masculine and grown up, we painted the bedroom grey a couple of years ago which was a risk but paid off in that it made the room feel much more cosy. However, I think I just want to return to white walls, to give the room  a fresher feel, so I'm collecting images of nice rooms and bits and bobs at the moment in the hunt for inspiration.... here are some of my picks so far....

I'm always drawn to this image on the website of bed company The Sleep Room - I like the mix of colour and   pattern in this room..... and the fact that its a bit vintage looking.... and somehow looks a bit Indian....

Image: The Sleep Room

I'm thinking of maybe using tongue and groove panelling to create a feature on the wall behind the bed head  a bit like in this sweet room photographed for Lisa Stickley's new bedding range (bit too girly for me though) ...

Image: Lisa Stickley

And for the details, here are a few nice bits and bobs;


Shelves and hooks;
We don't have a lot of surfaces in the bedroom and could probably do with a few more shelves and places to help me keep things neat and tidy (I'm sure D would agree with that one!)

Shelf from A Country Way on Etsy

Shelf from Urban Outfitters

Studio wall shelves (so sweet!) Ferm Living

Lighting;

I'm drawn to this pendant light, but maybe its too girly?? Still, its really sweet eh, and I think the cage gives it a bit of a tougher look....

Pendant Light from The Conran Shop

But, we have already invested in this light from Ikea which I think will cast some cool shadows in our bright room....

Maskros Pendant Light, Ikea

But will it work with this gorgeous light?? which I think I would want suspended by my bed for reading by. I'm loving the gold....

Work Light by Form Us With Love 

On the floor;

I like this rug from Anthropologie but its pricey - probably need to look for a budget version!

Rug, Anthropologie

This rug would look cool on a painted floor.... 

Rug, Urban Outfitters

And the other details;

Cute vintage fabric for a nice bedspread, cushions or even curtains???

 Fabric, The Vintage Cabin on Etsy

Love the Brass Crane, and the styling in this image

Brass Crane Ornament, Comet Wreckage on Etsy

Ok, I've featured this print twice now, so I think that's telling me something! 

Print, The Big Harumph on Etsy

I'm fancying a bit of hanging foliage, which would do well in my sunny room, this planter is featured as a DIY project on the excellent Sew Trashy blog (there's also an Etsy Shop) (Sew Trashy, I e-mailed to ask if its ok to use this image but haven't heard from you - please please let me know if you're not happy for me to have it here on my blog!)

Image; Sew Trashy

What do you think? Nice? Its a bit of a mish mash at the moment and I'm not sure its quite there yet, but I'm going to keep collecting pics because I'm determined to get my flat ship-shape and looking beautiful before summer comes.

We have so much stuff that we need to clear out all over the flat, from clothes to furniture, knick knacks and junk, and now the weather is picking up, I think its time to do a car boot sale and maybe that will fund some of the new things for the room...

Are you planning any makeovers this spring? I'd love to hear about them if you are....

Have a lovely Monday evening and hope its sunny where you are for the rest of the week.

L. x

A splash of colour

The end of last week was sunny (well, for a day at least!) and got me daydreaming of summer days, so I curated a little list of Etsy treasures to keep the sunny vibe alive  - Enjoy.

Dress, AidaCoronado

Photo Print, Elgarboart

Sandals, Oliver and Alexa

Blanket, OliverBDesignStudio

Dress, NuBambuVintage

Rainbow curtians, TheVintageCabin

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. Check out the full treasury here and enjoy a little splash of colour for your Tuesday. 

L. x

Amazing book alert!

Morning lovely people

have to just quickly share this amazing book - Maske by Phyllis Galembo - that was bought for me by the lovely D. I saw it in a bookshop a while back and couldn't stop thinking about it, but when I went to get it, they had sold out, so D tracked it down for me - the photographs are just amazing!

Maske by Phyllis Galembo

Ngar Ball, Traditional Masquerade Dance, Nigeria 2004
 Photo: Phyllis Galembo

Makishi Masquerade, Zambia 2007
Photo: Phyllis Galembo

Ano Women's Masquerade, Nigeria 2004
Photo: Phyllis Galembo via Stephen Kasher Gallery

Much like the Human Planet programmes I mentioned before, images like this just remind me of the amazing world out there that is so easy to forget sitting in London on a grey and drizzly day. 

I don't doubt that some people would find these images a bit scary or even disturbing  - I find them slightly creepy and I used to work for a mask theatre company where I would scoff at anyone who found masks frightening, but they are also so interesting and they just fuel my imagination in a crazy way.

It looks like Phyllis Galembo has made some other interesting books, so check out her website - I am now a BIG fan.

Enjoy and have a great Tuesday.... more soon.

L. x

Normal Service Will Resume Shortly.....

Hello hello!

SOOOOOOO sorry I have been rubbish and not updated in a while  - I have a few things to share with you but its been a busy week and I have not been great at making time to work on the blog, or my shop, which is bad bad bad. This week I had my Sister and her husband and my gorgeous niece and nephew to stay - it was a tight squeeze with six of us in our little flat, but so much fun. I'm sure all the parents out there might beg to differ, but there is something very cute about being visited by excited children in pyjamas first thing in the morning!

To keep the kids entertained, we went to the park, the market and best of all, the zoo! I'm not sure how to feel about zoos really, the animals always seem a bit sad, but, if they are being protected and money is going into conservation work, then that can only be a good thing- and I did really enjoy seeing the kids' reactions to the animals. My favourite sights were the incredible butterfly paradise where beautiful huge butterflies flutter around and even land on you, and the otters - oh wow - I LOVE them so much - such cute, funny creatures with incredible personality - I could watch them for hours.

Inspired by my zoo visit I am fantasising about this lovely blouse from Anthropologie.....

Sadly, its rather out of my price range, but, a girl can dream......

Anyhoo, its sunday night and I have that 'back to school' feeling, so i'm going to watch a film and pretend the weekend isn't over. I will try to get back into my routine and promise to resume normal blogging service soon!

L. x

Almost there...

So sorry for my lack of posts since last week - I am finishing a big project (more on that later) and my head is full of clutter with a generous helping of stress thrown in for good measure!

Here's a quote from that oh-so-quotable lady, Eleanor Roosevelt which I need to keep in mind, and maybe it will help you if you have any difficult challenges ahead this week....

You must do the thing you think you cannot do

Eleanor Roosevelt

Did she actually really say all these things? If so - what an amazing lady! 

So, heads high, chins up, keep going, almost there....

I will post more later I promise.

L. x