Our Biggest Project

So...going back a few months, and Im talking mid August here, we decided our next project in our little riverside house to be tackled was the kitchen. By September I had packed precious things into boxes and moved everything else into our dining room so the work could begin. As you can see, the kitchen is covered in a horrendous lemon meringue style artex - I guess at some point someone thought it looked fabulous!!
The plasterers came in and worked their magic (oh the joy of smooooooth walls!!) and we started to take apart the damaged and old units. Our idea was to reuse the original solid oak doors and update them with fresh paint and new handles and make the units solid and secure...thrifty eh?!

Jumping forward a few weeks to early December and after alot of hard work our kitchen is complete! Mellow sage cupboards and chalk white walls make the room look much more spacious, and the wall tiles which were a bit of a splurge (and from Italy) and the slate floor tiles bring the look together.


A new shelf with wrought iron brackets is a great place for my favourite cook books and shabby chic decor!

Little hearts find their way into all sorts of places!

I would really like to thank my folks and my dear partner for all the help they gave in creating this beautiful little room - anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy cooking and baking delicious things and now I have a gorgeous place to do it in!!



Our little house has been a work in progress since we bought it 3 years ago, its over 125 years old and there has been a heap of decorating disasters to overcome! Our next major project is our lounge/dining room which we will begin next year...its time to kick back now and enjoy the Christmas season with family and friends now the hard work is over!


This isn't an art related post as such, but I wanted to share what we did with you here. I feel that this blog is evolving quite organically to encompass other areas of my life where creativity spills over - be it kitchen makeovers or fresh batches of deliciously decorated cupcakes, inspired inspiration doesn't just belong to paint and canvas, it appears marvellously in the ordinary areas of our lives and I think its wonderful to be able to put that stuff out there.


Sending you spiced, heart warming mugs of mulled wine and fresh mince pies...come on, its Christmas time and you know you want to!

J x

Shabby Chic Inspiration

Last week we returned from a trip to Suffolk to find a bit of a leak under the kitchen floor (it was pouring out through a crack and down the cellar stairs!)so we promptly departed to my folks' house while the kitchen floor was excavated and new pipes laid....!

Due to the fact that there was no internet there, I spent many an afternoon when the little one took her nap, browsing through various magazines and drawing furiously in my journal, mostly ideas for new Christmas cards of which you can see the results of one here!

Id been rather taken with this faded aqua green handmade paper that I found in our art store recently and felt it would enhance the shabby chic style lettering I wanted to use for this design. I was very inspired by some of the nordic Christmas style decorations I saw in some of the magazines, and liked the simplicity of the ginghams and spotted fabrics that were used. I've attempted to recreate the effect of fabric here using watercolours and watercolour crayon, edging each letter when dry with tiny stitch marks made with a very fine liner pen.

The finished card in all its Christmassy glory!

I recently decided that I would like to make a contribution from each card that I sell, to the Downs Syndrome Association. Im very lucky to be blessed as being Aunty to a very special little boy, Oliver, who was born with downs, and this charity has been a huge support to my sister (Ollies' Mum) and surrounding family. Ollie is pure sunshine, the bonniest little chap and you can't help be be bowled over by this happy little person when you meet him!

This card is for sale at my Etsy shop right now, for £4.50 (includes P&P).

Sending sparklers and catherine wheels to light up your November the 5th!

Julia x