make do & mend.....

is having a revival...it seems that we are all being a little bit more resourceful with our pennies and recycling our clothes more...(there are some positives from the credit crunch!)...

There was an article on the news this morning about how John Lewis are updating some of the make do & mend tips for today's society... and that sewing machine sales have increased by 500%, its lovely to see haberdashery places popping up now. I was in one on Saturday and it was packed, predominately with teenage girls & mums which was lovely to see.

As this trend picks up it won't be so easy to pick up treasures in the charity shops, but I have been lucky and here is my recent haul:-

all the cotton's were £1

Knitting patterns 50p

Sewing patterns 10p each

buttons 50p & rick rac & ribbon 25p a bundle... grand total of £2.95..bargain....

Vintage treasures...

As blogged, yesterday i popped down to Leigh-on-Sea, whilst perusing the high street, I stumbled on one of their charity shop's (they have many!) and fell in love with this... which isn't ideal when you have no bag, you have come by train and a very large hill is between you and the train station... but for £7 i had to have it all!......... I know its not complete and I probably won't use it but I just lYved it!.. and the very lovely lady in the shop wrapped it all in paper, found me a box and held onto it until I had finished my day.... it will look great for afternoon tea for 3!
Blog Update: I have now found out that this china dates from the 1950's and is by Alfred Meakin and is his MontMartre Paris collection.......

Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside.....

After a mammoth shop at the cake wholesalers on saturday morning (for a wedding next weekend), I decided to head down to the coast....my destination Leigh-on-Sea. I had no real plans other than head to the station and get on the train... fortunately no engineering work and a train at the platform saw the 35 minute journey fly past. I have been to Leigh before, as my friends mum lives there and to dine at the Boatyard, but i've never just rambled around.

The weather was lovely and even the steep climb from the station to the high street did not detract from a really nice day. I fell upon a treasure trove of shops which had too many nice things in them and found some treasures in one of their charity shops (of which there are many!)...If I had been a little more organised I would have called ahead and let Just's mum know I was about, but didn't want to turn up unannounced.

After rambling down the high street I headed down to old Leigh where the cockle sheds are and sat on the sea wall and had a beer & some shellfish, a great end to a lovely day.

Enid Blyton...........

This week there has been numerous previews & spoilers of 'autumn' viewing on the TV.... one of which was this, a series of biopic dramas scheduled for bbc4... the first being the life of Enid Blyton (played by Helena Bonham Carter).

As most know I loved the EB books as a child and still have several of my hardbacks from then, including a couple of first additions.... My favs are of course 'Famous Five' & 'Secret Seven'.... no great surprise that I went on to be an investigator.. I wonder what shaped & influenced that then?

Preview here on you tube... so i'm off to make my tomato sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs (with a screw of salt) shortbread, lemonade & lashings of ginger beer in anticipation!

birthday wishes.........

I have had 2 birthday celebrations this week... the first was my sister-in-law who is currently celebrating in Florida's Animal Kingdom with hubbie & kids.... I picked the papers to compliment the venue and the stamped image is courtesy of Hanglar & Stanglar ...both my brother & sister in law run regularly and will even take their 'runners' away with them.. so I hope that she had a fab birthday with Mic & Min..... the second birthday was my friend Lucy... so Happy Birthday hun... we met up last night, it was lovely to see her & the family as we haven't caught up for a while.Birthday Wishes for you both....she's off camping for a couple of days.. so have fun!!

Eye Candy Treats.......

As a huge fan of Mad Men, I am familiar with the power of advertising....back in January I nearly ended up under a train on platform 18 at Liverpool Street station ogling this,

well she's back with another blockbuster, I am of course talking about the fabulous Adele Parks and another eye candy advertising board.... this so brightens up your day traveling through the london transport system!

This a fantastic holiday / staycation read... a fabtastic 'tube' filler which I devoured in 2 days .. It is one of those books that you are shouting "no - don't do it, eyes hidden behind hands , willing the girl not to do anything stupid!... why are we always attracted to the bad boys, when the good guy is right there in front of you....

A great read.... if only you could bring the advert to life for a chapter!

funky 4oth...

Some weeks ago the best friend of my S.I.L contacted me and asked if I could make her a 40th birthday cake. No probs I said... what would you like?...

a 3 tier stacked sponge cake, colour scheme cream, pink & purple was the answer....

... i drew some sketches & designs emailed them over and waited.... a couple of weeks passed without hearing anything. I didn't want to put my SIL on the spot and just thought that she had found something else....

Panic struck on opening an email 5 days prior to the event with a line saying... when is is ok to pick up the cake?... AAAAAH the Don't Panic My Mannering immediately came to mind, said week also involved financial half year at work and my brother and I's birthday! It appears that a mix up with emails, spam filters and holidays had created the lack of communication... not to let her down an emergency trip the the wholesalers and couple of v.late nights ( sometimes my insomnia is a benefit!) i threw together this, fortunately Sonia wanted something funky, which didn't involve lots of fiddly work....

Birthday Wishes Brad...

Today Is my nephews 11th Birthday.... he will spend the majority of it on a flight to Florida, on departure of flight he will spend the next 14 days at Animal Kingdom, accompanied by mum, dad & sister Libby..... I spent last night with him and he was excited although now at the age of playing it cool!... the day after he returns he starts his 'senior' school ( I can't keep up with year.... i'm showing my age with infant/junior & senior school!).. so a busy few weeks for him.

Happy birthday Brad... have a fab vacation... hugs Auntie Tx

cupcake sweets & birthday treats.....

tonight I came home to a little parcel in the porch!... a couple of weeks ago my god-daughter celebrated her 16th birthday, she came upto London for the day with her mum to take in the sights & do some shopping!....(70,000 square feet of primarni (primark) is always an obvious draw to any 16 year old!)... I don't see lots of her although we text a lot! so prior to her coming I had arranged for her to have tea in personal shopping (she saw several celebs!) and to have a make-over on Bobbi Brown (especially for teenagers). She left very happy and with a goodie bag of treats.

So as a little thankyou she left me a Red Herring Cupcake Cosmetic purse which is very cute! (available from Debenhams).. ironically I had picked up the toiletry bag on saturday whilst in london! they had sold out of the cosmetic purse. ~ So thankyou K xx

I also strolled down marylebone high street, well you have to with Emma Bridgewater & Cath Kidston in close proximity!... it also houses a couple of great charity shops, where I picked up the Peggy Porschen wedding favour recipe cards for the bargain price of £1.50!

This was all after lots of cupcakes & treats at the Hummingbird Bakery signing at work!.... mmm.

John Lewis was also visited where I am currently coveting their baking range.... some of this may be purchased to compliment my kitchen!...I just need to finish off my cupboard covers, that match my curtains and I will share pictures.

A lovely SMEG fridge would really finish it off, but alas space & pennies are lacking!

ho bloody ho!

i've held off from posting this but hey it's only 132 days!.... Last Saturday our Christmas hall opened!... (some days behind the other big department store in london)..

you will be surprised the number or people that start to ask for it early july and the tourists love it!... however I can say that I do struggle with delivering training etc surrounded by glitter & fake snow when its 70' outside!...

I can also say that i love some of the stuff.. there is lots of vintage, kitsch & patriotic decs! We have had bespoke aprons made this year for the christmas team that read "Ho Bloody Ho"... I will definitely be bagging one for christmas day!

As previously blogged the union jack has had a huge revival this year & christmas is no different! Emma Bridgewater union jack crackers are on their way!

So Santa as i've been good this year and life has been a bit challenging i'm putting my request in now... George Clooney would be lovely, however if he is busy the scrummy Rupert Penry-Jones or Dr McDreamey are a close 2nd and 3rd!... Thankyou Y

cupcakes & stationery....

...............these are 2 of my favourite things....how cute are all these. The Hummingbird Bakery, famous for its amazing cupcakes has launched a range of stationery to compliment its fantastic book.
An address book for all your cupcake addresses!

Exercise book for all your scribbles....
A set of notebooks and notecards....all complete with recipes.... how yummy are these!

Tomorrow in Selfridges, Tarek Malouf owner of Hummingbird is doing a book signing... i may just feel the need to work!... I must say this book is one of my favourites and the photo's are sumptuous, a real treat and one you will most definitely want to eat!

Birthday Wishes Mum...

Another day, another birthday!... I have lots in august! .... today is my mum's birthday, I hope that she has a lovely day. What with the postal strike & train strike it is unlikely that I will see her or that her card arrives on time!... just want her to know that i'm thinking of her. I've booked to take her out in London at the end of the month. I haven't seen her since clearing out my grandads house, so looking forward to spending some 'happy' time together.... happy Birthday Mum. Tx

Birthday boy...

Today is my Godson's brother Jacks 6th birthday... Happy Birthday Jack. He is currently with his brother in Euro Disney for a few days. They are back at the weekend, hopefully he has had lots of fun with Mic & Min, Goofy & Donald.

As you can see I've used one of my hanglar images which i love!... in lovely tones of blue & brown. The present is of course wrapped to compliment the card!

hugs "aunty Tx"

39 Birthday wishes for a Fab Friend!

Today is my "best" friends birthday... she is 6 days younger than me and has tremendous joy in those 6 days when I am a year older than her!... well today she caught me up so just wanted to wish her a fab day.

We normally travel on the train together to work, but due to the fantastic RMT who are striking again today we couldn't.

When I sat down to make her card I couldn't decide on which Bella suited us so I put together a few!

Huggabella... because she always knows when a hug is needed (nearly always 'virtual' when I'm having a pants day at work!)

sweetabellas... as she always knows what to do through life's ups & downs, and carry's sweets in her bag for the train into work just for that reason!

bookabella.. she always reads the last page and never tells you the ending!... she has to read the end so that she knows it's a happy before she starts!
Peekaboobella... as she will tell you if your bum looks big in it!... the best person to take on a shopping frenzy!and finally...

daydreamabella... two reasons... she's the one person that i can share all my hopes & dreams with and that my friend has the most over imagination in the world and can make me howl with laughter on what day dream she takes herself off to during the course of any given day... and usually relays to me and the carriage each morning...

so a big thankyou for making my day so much brighter... we may be in our last year of our 30's but i still feel 15 when we're together.. Happy Birthday my mad fab friend!

Books to eat........

I have bagged a few bargains over recent weeks at work .... as most of you have gathered I am a bit of a book worm!... i am at my happiest when my head is in a book and I'm lost in the imagination of "bookland"... this is very handy when dealing with the daily commute of trains & tube,( especially when they decide to strike which currently is every thursday & friday in august!)...

I have piled on my staircase which is openplan in my lounge a mountain of books; books to read, books to keep, and books to share!...it is becoming quite a feature! I have also found a shop near me who trades 2nd hand books with credit slips which is fab.. so i have started to swap some now. Along with my obsession to read I also do love a cook book... whilst browsing at work recently the bookstore had Nigella's Feast & Sophie Dahls Voluptuous Delights which I bagged for £7 for the two. On route back to my office with my goodies I had to walk through The Designers Guild where I bagged the tea cup fabric remnant for £1!!... I only popped out for a coffee!

A recent read which had been languishing on the stairs for some time is the fantabulous Time Travellers Wife... i had to read this after seeing this trailer recently at the cinema.. I hasten to say that my ticket is booked for the cinema.... tissues are ready & waiting.

Birthday Wishes Bruv

Belated Birthday Wishes Bruv....yesterday was my twin brothers birthday... so yes it was mine too!
Here is the card & pressie wrapped for him. I spent wednesday evening with him, which was lovely and although we don't see each other as much as we both would like, the time that we do spend together is very special.
Posting is late as life and work have been particularly stressful the last couple of weeks. I'm working all weekend, so little or no time to celebrate birthday.We both have found this week emotional, without either nan & gramps.