Wish List - Shopping the Anthropologie Sale!

I have been nosing at some of the sales online so thought I would put together some wish lists. It's unlikely I'll manage to buy any of it as I am trying to save at the moment, plus I have decided not to buy any more clothes till I drop this weight! But I can always dream!

 Today's post is all about the Anthropologie Sale! And boy there are some major bargains to be had, some truly beautiful items!

Tulia Blossom Dress WAS £178 NOW £52.95

Leaps Ahead Dress WAS £258 NOW £76.95

Matt Bernson Street Fair Booties WAS £238 NOW £149.95

Peter Som Beaubourg Gladiator Heels WAS £198 NOW £49.95

Mademoiselle Tara Bow Stripe Dress WAS £218 NOW £64.95

Tailored Paisley Blazer WAS £118 NOW £58.95

Josseline Brocade Dress WAS £158 NOW £46.95

Plumage Trilby WAS £128 NOW £89.95

What do you think? Any piece catch you eye?

Home Interiors - Jimbob Art

I recently stumbled across this awesome designer who creates these really fun animal plates and other items with hand drawn illustrations printed onto them,  I have fallen for them hard. I think the plates  would look so much fun hung on a wall in a little collection, although I would happily use them every day too if I didn't think it would ruin them!
You can find them all on Wolf & Badger

What do you think?

Etsy Finds

Been having a bit of a snoop on Etsy, inbetween proofreading documents, this week, on the lookout for christmas presents. So here are a few of the beautiful things I have found

In love with this delicate Ombre Necklace from Laura Stark

Winter means a need to wrap up warm and I would like to do nothing other than that in this stunning hand dyed scarf from Scout and Catalogue

Animal Necklace anyone? Their Kitsch and cute and I want them all! From Mogo and Co 

Still on my homewares binge and I have a bit of a morbid curiosity around skulls - I love these planters from Mudpuppy

The morbid curiosity also runs to these shark teeth from Lux Divine

I love simple patterns, and elegant styles that wont date. This dinner set from Room for Emptiness is perfect

Most of you know I adore sliced agate, so it will be no surprise I love these agate coaters - just stunning, from Kirahley Kreations

So that's what I have been lusting after, what do you like the look of? Have you found anything you've fallen in love with recently?

Review - How I Wonder Personalised Stationary

Most of you know that I am a complete Snail Mail lover! So I often send postcards and penpal letters to my lovely ladies around the world, that means I am always on the look out for new stationary or pretty papers on which I can write. So when 'How I Wonder' dropped me an email last week and asked if I would like some of my own personalised stationary I jumped at the chance. I chose their Forest Friends design as it has little bunnies on it! And here it is, all personalise with my address!

They also sent me the 2 little notebooks as well, which I love and will come in useful as I always carry notebooks for list making and random thoughts!

I love how pretty this stationary is, and I cannot wait to send it out on it's travels into the world.

Here are the other great items they have in their store, it's not just the stationary! Their designs are put on lamp shades, cushions and now a range of bowls and plates! Take a look.

I am seriously in love with these last 2 bowls! I would love a few of them myself!

What do you think? Have you heard of How I Wonder before?

Anyone else into snail mail? If you fancy swapping letters drop me a message, always on the lookout for more pen pals.

And if you want to know more about them you can find them on twitter!

Outfit Post - Mr Style #2

The boy is often complaining how unfair it is that I sometimes get gifted clothing items to try out and style for the blog and he never gets anything, then I got contacted by Surfdome.com. They stock brands like Converse, Superdry, Dr Martins, Diesel and Rip Curl, to name but a few, so I thought they would be the perfect store to get something for Jon to try out instead of myself.

He was very happy to hear he was going to be able to chose a free item from the site, and Surfdome were pleased that they were getting a menswear review instead of a womenswear one that they would with most bloggers, so it was a win win! Jon decided he would like a new t-shirt as he would get lots of wear out of it, so he set to work looking through the entire site for something he loved. The site has a huge selection of clothing for men (women and kids too) so there were lots of items he liked, there is literally something for everyones tastes! He eventually chose the Van's Headress t-shirt, you can find the Van's range here. 

Jon loves it, so has worn it a few times already, this is him on our little trip to Bath this week!

 Jon is wearing:

Vans Headdress T-Shirt to be found at Surfdome

Jeans from Matalan

Boots from Catapillar

 The t-shirt is really nice up close, the motif is fun and bold in the bright yellow on the black background. Jon likes shirts that are a little different and isn't really a fan of tops that have brand names right across the front so this one was perfect, the brand is just on the sleeve, but it still has a great front motif. The fabric is 100% cotton so is lovely and soft, but I am happy to report it has been washed and has kept the shape, the colour is perfect and the motif hasn't budged (unlike the last Mr Style post I did!) And it retails for just £19.99 which is really reasonable for a quality mens t-shirt!

Do you know of any other great online sites for quality menswear? 

Have you used Surfdome before?

Review - Bee and Tea Homewares

I have been on a bit of a home interiors binge recently, Jon is getting thoroughly fed up of me sending him links, emails and pintrest pictures of homey stuff I like (usually whilst its quiet at work or when I am procrastinating from doing an editing job) I pretty much have our house planned, in my head that is, sadly actually getting our own first home is a long way off. But that doesn't stop me nosing at beautiful and chic interiors and homeware items. 

That's when I came across the quaint company Bee & Tea, a British company run by 2 sisters, Bridget and Natasha, specialising in nostalgic floral and fauna prints on household objects! Bridget is the talented artist behind all the prints, and Natasha is the business brains. When I contacted the sisters to ask if they would mind me featuring their products on my blog, they kindly offered to send me one of their beautiful screen printed 100% cotton tea towels so I could see the product for myself. This is the one I was sent:

 Beautifully delicately painted Pansy tea towel.

This is a close up of the print. The tea-towel is really pretty, the printing is perfect and very colourful, plus the 100% cotton towel itself is really high quality and pretty absorbent - nothing worse than a tea-towel that doesn't actually dry anything!! I have also washed it once since receiving it and the pattern hasn't budged one bit, which is really important to me as some often fade really fast, which is useless as tea-towels get washed so often. Their tea-towels are £10 each, a little pricy, but totally worth it as the quality really is great, and they are made in Britain too, which is really great.

Here are some more of the items they currently stock:

If you would like to find out more about Bee & Tea or purchase one of their items either visit their online store here (or they are stocked in a few stores also) or find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Have you found any local companies producing great products recently, I would love to here about them? Or if you run a company and would like to be featured please don't hesitate to get in touch. 

Don't forget to enter my Creative Tops Giveaway to win yourself a cheese baker!!

Review - Table Treasure Tapas Dishes

I was recently contacted by Amanda who owns Table Treasure, a site that is dedicated to bringing quality tableware to people who love to dine in style and enjoy hosting dinner parties. Amanda is a trained chef and simply loves beautiful made and presented food, so has decided to dedicate her self to find beautiful dining accessories at affordable prices for the UK market.

She asked if I would like to receive one of her lovely tapas dishes to try and of course, being a food lover, I jumped at the chance. And I am so glad I did! She sent me one of her Ocean Spray Tapas Dishes which retail at £9 each. The quality of the dish that arrived is amazing, the dish is just so beautiful! I am actually tempted not to use it for food at all but keep it on my bedside table as a ring dish. I would happily have the entire collection of these dishes as they are so beautiful, they would make a great addition to any kitchen. The dishes are all hand thrown from terracotta, meaning they are all slightly unique, which just adds to their charm as far as I am concerned! The glaze covers the entirety of the main dish top and bottom, but leaves the little base part unglazed, which makes it look more rustic!

Asides from the tapas dishes her store currently also stocks, stunning Olive Wood, Rustic Wood and Elegant Wood boards and utensils, Just Slate platters, Spanish terracotta cookware, stainless steel utensils, stoneware and a number of linen brands. Here are a few of her other items, that I am just a little in love with!

Amanda also shared with me her current favourite Tapas dish recipe:

Banderillas

Ingredients
12 toothpicks

12 baby pickled onions
12 capers
12 anchovies
12 roasted red pepper slices
12 roasted yellow pepper slices
12 stoned black olives
12 cornichons (baby gherkins)
12 slices chorizo sausage

Assembling 

Place one of every ingredient carefully onto a skewer.

Choose the order of the ingredients before you start so you plan which colours look best next to each other.

For best results, follow the same order for each skewer. This way when placed on your tapas dish, the colours stand out giving more impact rather than looking a bit jumbled when you skewer them in a more haphazard way.

We wrapped the anchovies around the olives and the red pepper slices around the gherkins, giving a bit more interest to the eye.

This is such a great recipe as of course you could swap the ingredients for others if you choose, as long as they taste good together.

Traditionally, pimento stuffed green olives, pickled red peppers and often tuna are used, so you can see I changed the ingredients to produce a version suited to my tastes.

If your passionate about your kitchen and your cookware then take a look at Table Treasure for some great quality pieces at affordable prices.