She's got style...

 For this weeks she's got style, I have decided to look at Kate Hudson. Mainly due to her fab relaxed style. Her outfits seam to come together with ease and her palettes are kept very simple.

For a mum of two little ones she always looks great... yes I know she probably has loads of people around her helping her out with everything but I like her style...

Easy plaid shirts... fab maxi crocheted dress... it all looks so thrown together with ease

Chilling in white in the summer sun...  I have to say I am a bit of a fan of a white shirt and jeans, it just works so well for any occasion... I love love love her white dress on the left, definitely a holiday dress!

Easy outfit building with simple natural palettes... natural colours always look timeless and classic

Rocking the yummy look with style in the black...

This really isn't my kinda jacket but Kate seams to carry it off with style.

I love this white backless dress all I need now is a ball to go to... oh and a hot guy to go with...

Looking pretty in yellow, after the flim 'How to loose a guy in 10 days'... I  wanted a yellow dinner dress, Kate even looks great in the middle picture when heavily pregnant!

'How to loose a guy in 10 days'... this dress is dreamy.

Well the girl has style... either casual and laid back, little make up and relaxed stunning hair... or... dolled up to the max!

Illustrator... Shirley Hughes... 'My naughty little sister'

Illustration is a real passion of mine and I am often found doodling people while sat in a cafe or making up children's story books. I started a illustration degree when I left sixth form and completed the first year before realising that maybe I should go in the textiles direction... but the illustration styles and passion will always be a part of me.

One of my favourite illustrators is Shirley Hughes, she has a lovely changed sketchy style of drawing and you can really imagine the characters behind her stories. I love the way all the characters look so real... there clothes are always a bit out of place there hair is never perfect... the houses or streets in which the stories are set are very 'everyday' lived in.

A few years ago I meet Shirley Hughes in Oxford and she signed a book...she is definitely a illustrator I admire.

One of Shirley Hughes many books she has illustrated is 'My naughty little sister' by Dorothy Edwards.  It has to be one of my favourite childhood books and one that I have read over and over again since, it was one of those books with a few rare black and white illustrations dotted throughout the story... just enough to let the characters be put in to your head but for the mind to imagine everything else! In time these are definitely illustrations I would love to frame and have up in a future house... they are just so cheeky and naive.

   

I love the fact that the library was selling it off and it became one of my favourite stories.

No coloured illustrations but the story was lovely and you can imagine this naughty little girl on all her adventures...

Beautiful warn and loved pages...

                                     

My favourite chapter...

Meeting the guard... who will look after my naughty little sister on her trip... on the train all on her own... this shows how long ago the story was written. I remember when I was little thinking how exciting this would be, imagine putting a four year old on a train on there own these days!

Stunning pen drawings... this makes me want to sit in a cafe all day people watch and draw!

 The beautiful back cover... Don't you just love her little outfit and the suitcase 

(If I remember right this is my naughty little sister after 

she returns from a sleepover with the lady next door!)

I am going to try and post each week about one illustrator as many great children's book illustrators are forgotten about!

Porcelain days...

So while googling 'pretty blue shoes' the other day, I came across these beautiful blue court shoes! They are perfect for Spring and I love the way they look so fresh and clean. The flowers are beautiful and the porcelain palette of colours makes them dreamy... either teamed with a crisp white cotton dress or warn dirty denim.

LK bennett

But these shoes are the start of a loevly trend hitting the catwalks and highstreet this Spring... I'm calling it 'Porcelain Days'. It's fresh easy and full of a lovely range of inky blues, the illustrations and prints are intrcate but dreamy and the shapes are classic with fun twist on the past. Scale is important and it is key that this look isnt taken to seariously, mix this trend with colour blocking and warn denim to keep it up todate.

From the catwalk...

To the celebs...

To the highstreet...

shirt hobbs... www.hobbs.co.uk

Shirt... www.ailexpress.com

Cute pants... www.matalan.co.uk

Also from Matalan

Swimsuit... www.warehouse.com

To me...

Jacket... www.h&m.com

The inspiration...

Cute hearts... www.etsy.com

I love this look it is so easy to pull of and in time it will still look classic even after the trend has faded from the highstreet. I always think Blue is pretty on little girls and I can see this look being taken into little ones over the next few months.

It reminds me of hoildays traveling through the Netherlands with the Deltware china...

Spring is here to stay!

A day in the past...

So Saturday I took a trip to Flur-De-Lis in the welsh valleys, its a tiny little village hidden away that most people probably never pass through... but its a cute little place.

It is the village where my Gran grew up, so I am always being told about the 'new school' the viaduct and the walk to school... but my Gran is now 90 and a few things have changed.

Ever since my Mum died nearly 3 years ago it has made me realise just how little I really know about the history of my family. My Mums Mum... my Gran has always been a huge part of my life, but since Mums death she means even more.

Often its really hard to spend time together as she reminds me of the good times with Mum. I never want to worry Gran or tell her about how life isn't always going to plan... day to day silly worries. I wish I could sometimes just get a bit braver and not worry about getting upset or remembering the past, often the hardest part is getting the the car, as I know as soon as I walk in to Grans flat everything will be okay... My Gran is the best; shes tried a zillion and one times to teach me to crochet, used to spend hours showing me how to watercolour, trips on the bus to town... she always has an ear to listen, gives me the best advice and never judges. I know matter how long it is between visits... even if she does ask me if I have run off with a china man... I know she will always be there and I hope she knows I will always be there for her too.

So Saturday was my time to show her how much she means to me, after a drive up to the valley we came across Flur-de-lis otherwise known as 'The Flower'...

Doing the tourist thing...

The road on which my Gran grew up...

Grans old house... I still can't believe how big it is as in my head I always imagined it to be a small little terrace house. Im guessing the garage extention is a fairly new addition. It looks like it would have been a lovely family home.

The Pub which Grans parents ran... I didn't even know they ran a pub till the day before this picture!

The viaduct... this just to be a major part of village life but now it is just a walkway which has become part of the Taff trail.

During the drive round the village we were trying to find St. Luke's church but after chatting to a guy in the pub we found out that just a few years ago the church was taken down and a house was built instead. You can just about see the house between the trees.

Spring has sprung in The Flower.

This sculpture made from coal carts now sits at the entrance to the vaiduct path... Its huge and is pretty impressive, apart from the kids graffity underneath the carts.

Dad, Teal and I at the end of the viaduct path...It was a fab day re discovering grans past.

I guess this also counts as one of my 30 before 30...

19. Ring my Gran more and take more time to learn about her past. 

Real pizza...

Place...   Dona Bella Pizza
              West Broadway
              New York City

A week or two ago while I was in NYC for work we went for a lazy tea and grabbed a big slice of real pizza from the pizzaria on the corner and it was amazing! Neither of us were that hungry but we new we had to eat something after a long day hitting the shops, but it was probably the best meal we ate during our trip.

A real pizzaria...

No airs and graces just good food at good prices...

Any topping...

One yummy pizza! 

I'm not even a fan of pepperoni pizza but it was shouting out at me, just realised how big it was compared to the paper plate... this left me inspired to design a over all print...

A quick patten repeat I designed... Elspeth Morris

The denim dress...

Denim dresses have been key on the catwalks this season from little ones to womenswear and within weeks they have been key pieces of the celebs wardrobes. The dresses are coming in all shapes and sizes... everything from pinafores to A line dresses. Dark washes to soft chambreys and not forgetting the mix and matches of different washes.

I love denim dresses they are so easy to wear, go with everything can be dressed up or dressed down and  you always feel girly when wearing one. It was only this Autumn that I threw my last homemade one out. It was a simple pinafore shape that was made from lovely soft dark denim, but after a few years of being put in the wrong wash and it shrinking and slowly dying it was time to throw it out... so which will my next denim dress be? (Will probably whip another one up next weekend anyway as the shape was lovely... but you can never have enough denim dresses)

Catwalk to High street... 

The Sienna Miller dress has to be my favourite the shape is feminine, the sleeves are beautiful and the embroidery  being solely in brown keeps the dress low eye and on trend. I can't find the designer of this dress but I will keep and eye out...

Miss Selfridge

Asos

Asos

I love this dress the shape is very girly and very me! and the colours are lovely... I just wonder if it would be as cute in real life? I'm debating asking for it for my birthday? Be cute to team with a coloured cardie and simple sandals.

 Topshop

This dress is fab and I would love to have it in my wardrobe but now I have seen the Asos printed dress I can't decide which one i prefer... I they both do different jobs but I think that the printed one is more 'me'?

Which denim dress in your fave?

Easter madness...

Just before Easter I went to NYC with work for a couple of days and while there I spotted a lot of easter madness. I know in the UK some parents go over the top buying stupid amount of chocolate eggs to make there kids super size, but the shops in the UK don't seam to embrace it half as much as the USA.

So it is very cute to dress your little one in big bunny ears and to send them out in there dressing gowns in to the garden to find little hidden eggs... but these shops just go nutty for it! I couldn't help but take a few pics in both Target and Walmart.

Cuddly toys, plastic egg shells, cookie cutters, big baskets, drink beakers, toys, cards, greeting cards,gift wrap, table decoration and even special plates and bowls...

Just a tiny selection of cards, the sheep one made me giggle! Does anyone in the UK really send Easter cards, or is it just grandparents who are giving older kids money instead of eggs?

Walmart beakers... 

Target beakers... This proves they are two different customers. This was clear walking through the store, in the quality difference of the garments and the feel and laylout of the store. The Target products were generally more design focused and possibly built to last slightly longer? These beakers are pretty sweet.

Horrible plush toys, cute cookie cutters.

Creme eggs with the old wrappers.

What easter is really about... I am just suprised they have made it out of chocolate!