emmalovesretro

Design Indaba Expo Cape Town 2012

On my recent holiday in Cape Town and discovered that the Design Indaba Expo was on at the weekend, so I popped along to check out the local talent and was really impressed by what I saw.
Lots of lovely fabric designs from Indigi designs (run by the lovely Natalie), love milo, Fabric Nation, Unwrapped, Marieke Adams, tamelia, my favourite colour, Claudetee Maskell and Mantis to name a few. Fantastic jewellery, beadwork, baskets, ceramics and some really gorgeous furniture from the likes of Vogel Design, tonic and Okha Design & Interiors.
Check out a few pics and links below. I'll be making sure I get down to Woodstock and visit The Foundry as well as the Biscuit Mill and also Skinny La Minx's new shop in Bree street.

Fabulous fabric and funky furniture and lighting with an indigenous theme from Indigi Designs

Cute squirrels from Unwrapped.

Cool cushions and textiles from Mantis Prints.

Beautiful furniture like this Skandi looking chair by John Vogel - Vogel Design

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emmalovesretro on the Alan Titchmarsh show

Cheese plants are my favourite plant, partly because of the seventies connection and also because they're the only ones that don't swiftly die when brought into my house!

I used a cheese plant leaf design for this lovely appliqued felt wall hanging that graced the wall in the background of the Alan Titchmarsh Show on Friday (3rd Feb). See the show online here. I hand stitched it all using a chunky blanket stitch in contrasting embroidery thread. 

It was a one off, but I take commissions! Find more info on my website here.

Paper and pens

Recently when passing through Singapore airport I can across a shop called Kikki.K, full of the most beautiful stationary from Sweden. I was on my way to Bali and it wasn't practical to buy anything so I was delighted to find out they've got an online shop. Check out these delights! 

www.Kikki-K.com

Going back to my roots

Well, I may have taken a break over Christmas, catching up with friends and family, eating too much and generally rebooting my brain, but I still had my ears and eyes open.

After nearly 13 years in London the country still holds a place in my heart. I had really an idyllic childhood and as I get older I realise how important and formative those years were and how much the friends I made then still mean to me now.

The escape this year from the grey of the city was a revelation. Even on the dullest of days there were a myriad of colours to be seen in the freshly ploughed fields, hedgerows and horizons and the exciting thing is that as the seasons change the colours will eplode into a whole new palette.

On boxing day we went for a walk along the shoreline (with half of the rest of the world it seemed) and on the way there the hoar frost on the hedgerows and across the fields was magical, unfortunately I didn't manage to capture it on film, but I doubt I'd have done it justice anyway.

Here are a few images from that trip. (I couldn't resist using my hipstamatic app, it gives them a lovely retro mood).

I love the countryside...

...and here's a photo of beautiful if not sunny Dorset to prove it.

 
 
I've been thoroughly enjoying shopping inthe various junk shops and charity shops in Bridport, Lyme Regis and Topsham. Should I have bought that bell jar in Lyme today? Maybe I'll regret not getting it, but I did find a lovely old cigar box and a pair of Victorian bloomers in the Quay Antiques centre in Topsham yesterday. www.quayantiques.com

Country walks

This weekend I've been in Dorset again and season is definitely different. The greens are much darker and the wild flowers are nestling between the heads of corn rather than springing from the hedgerows. We walked through fields of wheat and towering maize. Here are a couple of pics taken with my new iPhone using the Hipstamatic app!

 
 
  
 
 

Beautiful Dorset

I'm beside myself with the natural beauty I witnessed this weekend in Dorset. 

It's funny how at times in your life you lose the appreciation of things but then come back to them again and are filled with wonder at how amazing they are.

I was so lucky to have spent a lot of my childhood in Dorset as my family has a holiday place there. And as an adult am keen to share it with friends.

There are so many wild flowers everywhere, in fields and hedgerows, and the bracken is curling it's leaves out to create a carpet of green. We missed the bluebells best days by a couple of weeks, but there were still a few blooms around.

The weather was touch and go on Saturday, but it came good on Sunday in time to a lovely walk up the Golden Cap. Here are a few of my highlights...