If you go down to the woods today...

 If you go down to the woods today you can wade knee-high through huge stretches of bluebells right now if you would live where I live -and it  really is at its prettiest late in the evening.
After weeks of rain  it's so lovely to be able to go out a bit and be able to play football with Maud who is very good at this- she loves the ball and can't wait to get going.

The cats were getting pretty stir-crazy too so we all enjoyed ourselves outside today  in the sun....delicious!

Tilda is quite timid and strange noises outside make her quite panicky so she does not come outside much.. She always reminds me of the white cat in " The Aristocats"..here she is sitting right in the middle of a big urn on the back lawn...

 ...which should be full of flowers but is still full of wild grass .The cats seem to like it so much that I haven't got the heart to replace their grass which they love chewing .

I adore Tilda with her funny little pink nose..but she is a real menace with furniture .As you can see from the arm of the chair she quite innocently does a huge big stretch and a bit of a scratch..which  leaves quite a few of her clawmarks ..

I have been working over the last week or so on designs for block printing and stencilling fabric...like this Bluebell design..

..which I think would work as cushions and I can see my ottoman with a new cover like this as well...
 It must have been at least a month and a half since the lady who ordered these customised oven mitts at the Country Living Spring Fair finally got back to me..

but it seems she DOES want the mitts - so that is a bit of a relief- and just as well that I did not start using them myself in the meantime!!
I so look forward to the summer with lovely walks, bumble bees ..

and strolling through nature to get inspired..

..so hopefully we will keep some lovely weather as I would love to get some gardening done as well in between my designing and walking the dogs..
..

Have a wonderful week !!
XOXO
 Bea

How to build your own dream garden and dream home

Today I wanted to share some tips on how to achieve some loveliness with your house and garden - through a house that is very close to my heart, and which is gorgeous to boot.
It's the house of my lovely talented and artistic neighbour.
 She is thinking of moving so if you are bowled over, you could actually buy this piece of lovely-ness - here:  link.

Topiary is a fantastic way of adding evergreen structure to a garden. You may think that you won't be able to or can't get the budget together for an amazing garden like this,but take heart.I have seen this lovely place develop over the years- and both the house and the garden have been through many transformations till they reached this fairytale look.
The knot garden was there ten years ago, but was in it's early stages as it had just been planted.

With no budget to speak of, you can plant your own -free- box parterre- by taking box cuttings, either from a friend who is trimming their box plants, or by going into the forest and taking some cuttings- box is a tree that grows in the wild in forests.Box cuttings taken in late summer or early autumn will root quickly and be ready for planting out the following spring.

Here are some more tips on how to do this courtesy of the BBC Gardening website- here is the tutorial.
Once you have potted up your cuttings with some root powder, keep the soil moist and in the shade for a year or so, and you will have your plants ready to start your own box parterre .

                                                            picture credit : gapphotos.com
 If you want to create your own topiary like box balls and such, there are lots of sites with advice as well- here is a link to one of them right here.
Here is the main picture of the house with the box parterre in situ.

( The house is now for sale -by the way- amongst other things -on www.zoopla.co.uk with the link to the details here ) .

If you think of garden design, and you want to go the classic English country garden route ( as my neighbour did here )  you really want to think about introducing symmetry.
That starts with the entry to the house and garden if you can- like here at the fence.
Note the two hurricane lamps in the distance that draw the eye, throught the rose- arch.
You need to look at where the eye falls on from any angle of your garden and then see if you can create a symmetrical vignette.

Here some more symmetry- wood storage.Note the two urns to the left and right.

The symmetry returns in the adorable kitchen garden as well.

Such a lovely area and a must-have  if you want to go for that country house look!

These raised beds are a really interesting feature but are super simple to make- you just need 4 planks of wood and some bits for the corner- but it gives a good structure to the garden- as kitchen gardens can look very messy and untidy- as long as you keep the symmetry.

Here is a long view of the herbaceous border with garden obelisks.

Obelisks make striking focal points in gardens, and again, you can do this with a very limited budget- there are loads of websites with instructions on how to make your own.

In fact, here is a link to a tutorial right here .
 So there are a lot of things you can do yourself with time and effort.Rome was not built in a day!
And this lovely garden and house was lovingly created over quite a few years, adding this, and that, and eventuallly becoing a dream home.
I hope this has given you some inspiration and I wish my neighbour all the luck and succes in the world to
find a new project to build another dream home for herself as I am sure she will.
Have a fabulous rest of the week!!
XOXO
Bea






 

Loving red and white embroidery- and how to create your own without needle and thread.

                                                      Picture credit :Chloe Antiques
 I just love this rustic French style of cushion with the red and white embroidery, and if you have the money you could buy them , for instance through Chloe Antiques . Or you could hunt around in other antique shops near you.
There is a French tradition to embroider the initials of the owner of the house on all house hold linen in red and white and I have really fallen in love with it.

But I wanted to show you today how you can make your own without having to use needle and thread....
Red and white has my preference- so nice and fresh.

But instead of spending hours on embroidery, you could easily try some fabric painting pens, cut yourself a stencil for the initials and get going that way. I used Dylon Fabric Painting Fine Nib Pens.

But you could try any fine nib fabric painting pen , really.
Piece of cake !

 

I know it's not the same as embroidery  but it's one heck of a lot quicker.

Give it a go !

And to all my fellow Dutch men and women : a very happy 5th of May ( Bevrijdingsdag).We celebrate the end of the Second World War today.
And for everyone else: a wonderful weekend!
XOXO
Bea

linking to
Feathered nest friday


 

Happiness is ...

.. finally having the flowering cherry in bloom...
Yes, Spring has finally arrived although it is a shade nippy here..
Happiness is also.....

..finally having all your orders ready ..

and being allowed time for new designs...and some " down - time" with lovely walks..

 and time to sunbathe...

Have a lovely week!
XOXO
Bea

Easter egg painting inspiration.. and another feature on www.houzz.com

I can't stop being all Eastery and thought to share with you my inspiration for painting Easter eggs.
I can really recommend creating your own heirloom pieces from a simple chicken egg.

The enamel eggs from Halcyon Days are a real inspiration, if you want to move away for a change from the simple stripe or dot  .

                                                         picture credit : www.abitofbritain.com
                                                                      
I would love to get an egg as a present with a ruin painted on it like this one.
Or this adorable one ..

                                                       picture credit : www.figurines-ornaments.com
                                                                        

                                                    picture credit : www.abitofbritain.com
                                                                                
Yet, with  prices like $125,-  to $245,- for an egg like that, this is the time I usually decide to create my own.

This is and Easter egg I did some time ago, covered with butterflies.
You start with a chicken egg, from which you blow out the egg white and egg yolk,( you can read how to do this on this post here )  then cover with a base coat of paint.I used artist's acrylic paint as it has a matt shine and dries relatively quickly.
Then you find a design that inspires you, and draw the design on your egg with a Staedler Technical Drawing ink pen 

or a Rotring Pen 

These pens will give you a very neat line and can draw very precisely and thinly.
Here is an chicken egg with a design drawn on with one of these pens.

You then fill in the colourfields with acrylic paint.An egg with both sides painted takes a bit of time ( it takes me two days ) , so varnish it afterwards so the paint won't run  and your work won't be ruined.
Here's some more Easter egg inspiration for you..

                                                         picture credit : www.seawaychina.com
                                                                               

                                                 picture credit : www.scullyandscully.com
Have a wonderful time decorating and painting!!
XOXO
Bea

ps.
I received another email from the editors from www.houzz.com. that one of my ideas , again for a garden  design ( paving ) had been featured in one of their idea books.

Here is the link.
Happy Easter !
XOXO
Bea

p.p.s.
And the latest adventure of Maud and Millie can be found on their blog here

linking to the 
Weekend Wrapup party
Easter craft party
Bunny Bloghop
Inspiration Friday
Frugal Friday
Feathered Nest friday 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter lovely people! I am still knee deep into finishing orders I took on the Country Living Spring Fair, so I thought to give you a recipe which I have posted before in case you feel like making your own Easter hot cross buns....   and Simnel cake.( recipe is also on the blog).

                                                        

Before I came to live in England, I had never heard of hot cross buns- but I have really grown to love these little buns with dried fruit and cinnamon and orange zest .They are really  

 tasty and quite fun to make- and absolutely delicious straight out of the oven with some fresh butter.

And Simnel cake, basically a fruit cake with marzipan, is very festive and yummy and gets you really into the Easter spirit with a nice cup of tea.
Here are the is the recipe for
Hot cross buns.

This is an overnight recipe so the dough can rise- so remember to start the evening before!!
Ingredients:
150 ml milk
2 eggs
50 gr butter
400 gr  white flour
yeast : 2 x packet of dried yeast ( = 2 x 7 gr= 14 gr)
125 g mixed dried fruit
1 clove
grated zest of 1 orange
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger powder
2 cardamom pods


Preparation :
Put the flour, yeast and dried fruit with the spices in a bowl.
Warm the milk with the butter, zest , clove and cardamom, melt the butter in the milk, then leave to let the flavours get into the milk.
Let milk cool till luke warm, then take the cardamom pods out. Beat in the egg, then add the whole of the milk and egg mixture to your flour mixture.Knead through till you have a nice elastic dough.This is best done by hand, as you can feel the dough change.Form into a ball then put in a covered bowl in the fridge overnight.
The next day, take out the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up- I usually use my airing cupboard- you need a warm-ish place with no draughts.The warming up will take at least 30 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees Centigrade .
Knead the dough again til it feels smooth and elastic.Then spilt it into 16 ball, which you roll between the balls of your hands.Take an oven dish and line or butter it ,and put the litle balls on it. Cut a cross with an kitchen knife in the top of each ball.Cover  the oven dish with a clean tea towel, then let it rise for 2 hours.

Take 1 egg and beat this into a small bowl, then cover the buns with the egg-wash on the top.
Take 3 tablespoons of flour , 1/2 tablespoon od sugar and dissolve this into 2 tablespoons of water, so you have a thick white paste.Use the end of a teaspooon to dribble this white paste as a white cross on top of the buns.
 Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.

Mix 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of hot boiling water, and brush each bun withthe sticky mixture so the buns are all shiny, then ..
try not to eat them all at once !!

Happy baking !!

Have a lovely Easter weekend!
XOXO
Bea