When I was growing up, every year for the first 11 years of my life we would always head down to Cornwall for our annual family summer holiday. Cornwall is down in the far south-west of England and when you look at England on a map, it’s that bit in the bottom right hand corner that looks a bit like a foot kicking out into the Atlantic. It really is a very special place with its own quirks and charms that really can’t be found anywhere else. The coastal scenery is take-your-breath-away spectacular, and all the little towns and fishing villages are as quaint as quaint can be (and in a completely uncontrived way too). And then there’s all the food: clotted cream teas, fish and chips, Cornish pasties, clotted cream fudge… the finest of British fares. To this day, it remains one of my very favourite parts of the UK and it’s right there on the top of my list of places to take Baby Peach when he’s old enough to start enjoing holidays of his own.

These warm cosy feelings are probably some of the reasons why I love visiting Pipany’s blog so much. Even if you don’t read anything over there, the pictures of Cornwall make it well worth the visit, especially the ones in this post. By the way, she’s also a rather good crafter too which is always a bonus!

Click here or the pic above to be taken there.
Enjoy! xx

Have you wooted? I did last week for the first time after having eyeballed the site for quite some time in pursuit of that elusive deal that was worth waiting for. And I got lucky- they happened to have some of what I wanted left in stock!

What is Woot! exactly? One day, one deal, that’s what this site is all about. When it’s gone, it’s gone. The concept is simple: every day at 12am central time the folks at Woot! post that day’s deal-  just one item, usually electronic, usually heavily discounted and it remains for sale on the site until it’s sold out or until 11.59pm central time, whichever comes first. Rinse and repeat. Intrigued? Confused? Then why not take a gander at the explanation given by the folks themselves, it’s far, far better than anything I could put into words. Even if you’re not interested in partaking of their service, it’s well worth a read for entertainment value

So what exactly did I get? Well, you’re just going to have to wait and see, won’t you, hehe.

Click on the pic above to be taken there… xo

I like things that look pretty, all the better if I can *make* things that look pretty too, and *even better* if the pretty things that I make are from pretty materials that are all colourful and girly and fresh. If you are anything like me, then you will probably enjoy Heather Bailey’s website…

It’s a little treasure trove of pretty paper, pretty fabrics and pretty sewing patterns, all so fruity and delicious I could eat them off my computer screen with a spoon… especially these yummy little strawberry pincushions which, SQUEE! she also sells as kits.

Aren’t they gorgeous? I am *so* tempted to treat myself to one, in fact I think I might. The red one perhaps?

If you like her style, her blog is also a very nice place to be (and a favourite place of mine to visit). Lots of nice pictures to look at, as well as lots of nice crafty tips and tricks. But the very best bit of all? She gives away some
free sewing patterns…
Flower pinwheels
Square Deal™ Pincushion
Freshcut™ Quilt
Party Chicks™
Paper Globes
Hooray for Headbands™
Bitty Booties™
Gift Card Box

Enjoy! xx

Before writing this post, I sat down for a few minutes and had a good old think and I honestly can’t remember the last time I paid full price for something either online or in a real life store (ok, something that wasn’t a dolly). Despite the fact that I own quite a lot of things I actually don’t really like to spend money. But when I do, I usually try to invest in things that are of classic design, and are of quality material and workmanship which will stand up to the test of time. And because of their durability and the fact that I try to look after things well (especially chothes), over the years they accumulate and I end up owning a lot of things. Case in point: I still have clothes and shoes that I wear on a regular basis that I bought over 10-15 years ago. See? That’s why there’s lots of stuff.

For the most part, I clothe myself from ebay, charity shops, and consignment stores, for equipment I’m not afraid to buy stuff that is used, reconditioned, or the shop floor model, but for everything else that can only be bought new I tend to find what I want in the store, then come home and find a way of buying it for cheaper online. This is made all the more possible  by websites like RetailMeNot.com, an extensive database of printable discount coupons, and codes for online discounts at all the regular stores. Yes, promo codes for the regular stores so you can buy with confidence and can be assured of a return policy.

click pic above to be taken there

It’s so easy, just type in the name of the store you want to buy something from (e.g. macys.com), click to search and within seconds you will get a list of coupons and promo codes along with an indication of their success rate and voilà, you need never pay full price again. Sometimes it’s just a coupon for free shipping, but that’s still money saved on free shipping! And the nice part is, it’s a global website so stores from all over the world are featured in the list.

There are of course plenty of other websites offering a similar service, but I find RetailMeNot.com particuarly easy to navigate. Freeshipping.org and Reesycakes are also another couple of favourites.

Enjoy! xx

One of the things I very much enjoy from reading other peoples’ blogs is that I get to discover new things- sometimes it’s as simple as learning a new recipe, other times it’s as pleasing as discovering a new knitting pattern, sometimes it’s just a little something that brightens my day. Of all of these, my very favourite thing is to be introduced to new websites that I can enjoy and be inspired by, so I thought that every Saturday or so I would share some of my favourite websites too, and hopefully brighten up somebody else’s weekend in the process.

This weekend I would like to introduce you to GreenGate, a Danish company that make oh-so-pretty homewares, and also some clothing too.

I first discovered GreenGate a couple of years ago in one of the village shops near to where I used to live in England. It’s a little on the expensive side, but everything is of a very pleasing quality and classic design.  It’s similar to Cath Kidston, but much, much better in terms of quality and value (as much as I like it, Cath Kidston’s quality isn’t that wonderful and hugely overpriced for what it is). If I had the money I would buy up everything from their entire catalogue. The downside is that their webshop is only for Danish customers only they don’t seem to sell their wares in North America at the moment, but they are available in lots of other countries. Either way, the catalogue is still very inspirational to look at, with lots of pretty pictures of lots of pretty things and there are also some pretty Danish people in it too.

Here are some of my favourite things from their Spring-Summer 2009 collection (click on any of the pictures to make them bigger).

Enjoy!
xo