despite there being very little left in the pot for the finishing off niceties to do with renovating a house I’m always a good looker … I looked and looked until my eyes hurt around all the gorgeous Brighton shops in the lanes. This very much caught my eye – with about 10 light fittings to sort out the idea of multi coloured flexes (is that the correct term) for one or two of them has a lot of appeal
A Timorous Beastie
I heart Timorous Beasties – maybe as a Scot living in London I have overly nostalgic views of Scotland but I do love their take on all things north of the border and love a bit of ‘home’ being added into our life here. Our last house had their amazing red thistle wall paper proudly placed on our chimney breast and this new house will see the Glasgow Toile wallpaper being put in our kitchen.
Posted in A Picture a Day 2012, Scamp loves ...
Gran Glasgow's Dolly Delight
I bought Ava this amazing AK Doll for her Christmas last year (2010) and had it shipped over from Australia. They are hand made in Central Asia and I admit it was far more about me thinking it was a thing of beauty than knowing whether Ava would like her or not. For the last year she has only really been my handmade doll of wonder rather than one that has been played with - dammit, you really do want your children to love what you think is lovely, don’t you? But everything changed this Christmas. Part of the AK Doll thing is that you can make clothes for her, knit outfits and create accessories. She got a number of *new looks* knitted for her, one of which included a pattern for a puff ball skirt. Hey, a little bit 80′s but everything comes back into fashion doesn’t it? So, Gran Glasgow (Gran who lives in Glasgow naturally!) happily accepted the challenge of creating the skirt & made a cape to match as well – both arriving in the post today much to the delight of Ava (and her doll of wonder who has at last escaped the confines of the cupboard to be played with).
I heart this vase
I love beautiful things. I have always loved beautiful things. Many moons ago, I used to work in a lovely shop called Opus (sadly it is no longer with us) - it sold beautiful things and I always remember it was a struggle to save up my hard earned pennies instead of spending them on things from the shop. Unfortunately, it remains a constant battle between my head and my wallet to stay in control of the purse strings!
I like colour, no actually I love colour and print and patterns. Hence the Scamp website being full of colour as it is. So, when we laid oak flooring throughout the hallway, living room and kitchen and put in an oak ‘console table’ into the hallway and an oak shelving unit into the living room I was worried it all looked a bit too samey ( not sure if this is really a word!!). However, it has allowed me to scour around for artwork,vases, cushions and picture frames that are full of colour to bring life into our space.
When I was down in London recently, having our latest business meeting, we did manage to head to Exmouth Street Market which had some great shops and cafe’s all on one little tiny street and I clocked this Rob Ryan vase that I quite simply couldn’t say no to. It looks brilliant in the hallway with or without flowers in it and is just what was needed to bring back some colour. I was a happy bunny on the train back to Leeds – a very productive business meeting and a beautiful thing!!
Baby Carrots
Sadly we don’t have space for any kind of allotment in our garden but luckily for Ava and Jonah auntie Catherine does. On our recent trip up to Manchester to visit Baby Maeve both my kids were keen as you like to sprint out into the garden to help pick things. Having helped plant some of the seeds earlier in the year they very much feel a part of the growing process! Some baby carrots were brought out as well as enough for your pudding amount of strawberries … and they were delicious (well, the ones not already partially devoured by the slugs!)
Strawberry Picking
looking ripe
Stained Glass in the Garden
As well as being dab hands at allotmenting (is there such a word?!) Catherine loves her garden. When she got married Stacey and I bought some beautiful Garden Glass panels for the happy couple – a really unusual and colourful addition to their back garden.
Posted in Little Scamp fun, Scamp loves ...
Guddling in the water (as they say in Scotland)
with all this beautiful weather at the moment seasides are top of my mind … and if you are going to be seasiding in the south of England you can go a lot further wrong than heading towards the Kent Coast line and Whitstable. A quaint and quirky seaside town full of art, lovely boutique shops (my particular favourite being Frank where I got myself a couple of brilliant prints), pebbly beach, oysters, vintage and of course fish and chips and icecream. Go and visit – only 1 hour and 20 mins from Victoria and a whole other world away.
