71 and counting!

Ok, so I didn't quite make 150 followers by last night but I really do want to giveaway prizes to people for following me so I am going to extend the deadline to next Sunday! The game is still on, if I can get 150 followers by Sunday this coming weekend there will be 3 winners who can choose any item they want from my shop!

Up to 66 now... 84 to go!!!

Tell everyone you know about my blog challenge... details on the next post down!

FREE PRIZES If I can get up to 150 followers on my blog!!

Today is the first day of a competition I am hosting this weekend - If I can get up to 150 followers on my blog by midnight Sunday EST I will enter all my followers into a random prizedraw and 3 lucky winners will get to choose an item each from my shop FOR FREE! So, to all my lovely followers, email your friends or better still, post on your blog, and tell them to follow me, then you can be in with a chance of winning!!

The Honey Trap...

I came across this beautiful shop yesterday on Etsy called The Honeycomb. I just love these beautiful hair pieces which are so much more than mere accessories... they remind me of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Away with the fairies!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6048800

Secret Address Book London... The Cloth House

If you are like me, nothing will give you greater pleasure than discovering a really well-stocked gem of a fabric shop! This is exactly what I did at the weekend and hence, here it is in my Secret Address Book post. This shop on Berwick Street, London is an Aladdin's cave of batik prints, hundreds of simple muslins, faded vintage Indian ribbon which would once have been so bright, shell trims, antique Russian buttons all set in a quaint shop with stripped hardwood floors, walls covered in old pattern papers, the odd battered leather armchair and a box of antique wooden shoe trees. A perfect place to while away an idle afternoon!

New Watercolor Painting!

Over the weekend I did some painting - check out this watercolor. It's a vintage style Moroccan/Saharan scene with a view of the old medieval entrance to the medina of Fez. Now on Etsy, only$8!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29200256

More of Marie Antoinette...

Not content with my previous posting about Marie-Antoinette, here are some more of my favorite images from the film including the pair of shoes which inspired my blue and white 'rosette' headbands as below!

Here is the link to this headband:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28084139

Model Home...

A few pics of my sister and her husband's (Emily and Ben, collectively known as Bemily) home...

Robin the Cat....

I've just spent the weekend catsitting Robin, my sister's cat. We have had a lovely time, he's been helping me with the paintings I did this morning and even got on the laptop for me to renew a few of my listings on Etsy! He is a handsome chap isn't he?!

Garden and Cosmos...

I went to an exhibition today at the British Museum called 'Garden and Cosmos', a collection of Indian miniature paintings from the Mughal era in Rajasthan. I've always loved Indian art but I can honestly say that these were the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen! I am feeling incredibly inspired and after this post I am going to examine the exhibition book and maybe try my hand at the style of painting. I'll keep you posted with how I get on....

Prints Charming

I love the way the beautiful old department store Liberty's has painted one side of the building in their famous 'Liberty Print' pattern... So pretty! Click on the image above to see it in full detail.

I fell in love with London again today...

If you want to fall in love with your city again - explore it! Go to places you don't usually go, visit museums and exhibitions, walk instead of taking the underground, and always, always, look up! Look up at the wonders around you from the architecture to the trees to the sky, you will notice things you have never seen before. This is what I did today, taking photos as I went. I discovered new shops, new streets... I fell in love with London again today...