Lytham St Annes Wedding

Once again I realise I have been a bit quiet of late. I have been busy baking cupcakes for the wedding of two gorgeous friends that I attended this weekend gone in Lytham St Annes, near Blackpool. It was a wonderful day and the happy couple looked absolutely made up. Thankfully the cakes survived the seven hour drive from South East London!

Garage Booty

We recently cleared my parents garage out for them and whilst the majority of what was in there went to Freecycle or the recycling centre, there were a few gems that have now joined the queue of furniture to be revamped in our flat. My favourite two pieces are below, but I also kept an old child's school desk that used to be mine (the sort with an ink well and a flip up lid), a wooden sledge, a 1930s wooden toy theatre and a little wooden child's chair. These have gone in the attic in the hope that one day there will be a Crafty junior to make use of them!

I love the shape of this desk:

I think I am going to paint it cobalt blue and give it some new pretty handles. It will fit in just beautifully in our sitting room as a home for our laptop.

And this was my grandmother's trolley:


She used to keep her sewing machine on it and threads etc. and I may just do the same. I think this will probably end up yellow and I will probably use some wallpaper on it as well.

Goodness knows when I will find the time to finish them but I am really looking forward to seeing them revamped. I grew up with both of them so it will be lovely to have them in my own home.

Little fireplace update

A while back I posted about my discontent with my fireplace and the lovely Eden Rose suggested that perhaps a turquoise glass vase might be the ticket. I wholeheartedly agreed and have been keeping my eyes on eBay for one I liked to come along. I was delighted when I managed to bag this fella for a mere £6.

I really think he makes all the difference along with my new white candlestick - found in the bargain corner in Paperchase for £3.

Pretty Pictures All In A Row

Some of you may remember my post about the fantastic prints at Advice to Sink in Slowly. I bought a couple of my favourite prints a while back and have been waiting to get them up on the wall but wasn't sure where to display them.

I have seen a few picture ledges featured on design blogs recently and really liked the effect so when I saw Ikea did a white rail as part of their Ribba range I snapped it up.

I have also been coveting the butterfly prints at Rockett St George for a while so decided to snap one up as a centrepiece for the rail. This is the finished display - our blank walls are at last looking a little more interesting!

Back with cake pics

Well I am back from a glorious week in the French countryside where we celebrated our first anniversary. We spent a lot of time reading with glasses of red wine in hand - blissful!

But before I left I promised a photo of the cake I made for a friend's 30th last weekend so here it is:

I designed it to look like a Birkin Bag and a pair of Manolos. I was a bit nervous that it wouldn't end up anything like the image I had in my head as I haven't really done that much in the way of 3D cakes before but I was really pleased with how it turned out. Hope you like it!

Happy Anniversary

Sorry I haven't been posting much recently. I have been up to my elbows in icing sugar and sugarpaste the fruits of which I will post in a little while once it has been viewed by the soon-to-be birthday girl it is destined for.

In the meantime I just wanted to interrupt my normal musings in order to wish my wonderful husband a very Happy Anniversary in advance for Sunday:

I honestly do not know what I would do without this amazingly kind and caring man. Fate has chosen to throw a lot at us during our first year of married life and it's largely a testimony to his seemingly limitless understanding and support that we are finishing the year closer and happier than ever. Here's to many more years of love and laughter!

We are taking a little break to celebrate so I will resume normal posting in a wee while...

Town Mouse, Country Mouse

Last weekend I spent a glorious day in Rowland's Castle, an incredibly pretty Hampshire village complete with a perfect green that plays host to a traditional style village fair:


I went with a friend and we had a lovely time supping Pimms, wandering round the various stalls, watching the tug of war, eating local sausages and casting an eye over the competition entries in the marquee such as these pretty roses and Victoria sponges:


It made me very wistful about village life. There was such an incredibly strong sense of community and I began to think in a romantic fashion that I could happily spend my days baking cakes and making jam in a place like Rowland's Castle. The thought of being surrounded by fields instead of tower blocks becomes more and more appealing the older I get.

And then on the other hand I have been rekindling my love of London of late. Last week I went to see a the Royal Opera's production of La Traviata screened live in Trafalgar square. We took a picnic and sat on the ground with hundreds of other Londoners and watched opera as London buses circled around the square and the sun set over us.

I have also been enjoying London's foodie scene a lot recently what with all the credit crunch offers that are around at the moment. Last night Mr Crafty took me to Galvin at Windows for my birthday. The food was just incredible and the views over London are amazing (the restaurant is on the 28th floor of the Park Lane Hilton). All in all a lovely evening:


Whilst Rowland's Castle is extremely pretty, London can sometimes present you with a view that just takes your breath away. I just wish my camera could do this sunset that I saw over the Thames the other evening proper justice:

I am so very torn as to where I want to end up. As I sit in South East London village life appears to me like an idyll and the thought of a pretty house with a big garden that we could gradually do up and make our own is very appealing but whilst London can sometimes be a frustrating place to live am I really ready to give up all it has to offer?

Decisions for another day but at some point Mr Crafty and I are going to have to decide where to put down our roots. I wonder whether we will end up Town or Country mice.