Non Drinkers and Christmas Parties

I don’t drink. I don’t mind if everyone else does, in fact I want them to have a jolly good time ! But for the love of Aperol Spritz, please stop asking me why I don’t chose to participate. This is particularly difficult over the Christmas season, the television is full of ads for special sparkly wines and cocktails. It appears to be a national expectation that we all get sloshed at Christmas.

As a non drinker at a boozy party, I often feel like a party pooper. It’s true, I can’t stay up late with a bunch of tipsy revelers having fun until the wee hours. However I love a canape and a loaded karaoke machine. i recently heard from a non drinker that they were offered orange squash at a dinner party. (She wasn’t 10 years old by the way). Perhaps this year we can do better and offer the non drinkers something nice in a fancy glass like the coupe’ based on the breast of Marie Antoinette with some sort of frosting?

Shloer does not cut the mustard and neither do regular soft drinks. Fanta with your Caviar ? No thankyou. I recently enjoyed a very nice Seedlip Garden Non Alcoholic Spirit and I intend to try out their Citrus Fizz this season. Otherwise a glass of fizzy water is fine by me. But please don’t ask me why I am not drinking.

Bottoms Up!

Sophie x

Bow in Liberty Fabric Capel

Bow in Liberty Fabric Wiltshire

Bow in Marmalade Linen

Give Back Weekend

Over the past few posts, I have talked a lot about the value of small business and how in fact you are getting a good bang for your buck when you buy from small brands. Their businesses are often built on high quality craftsmanship, good materials and a little mark up to keep the ball rolling. Many small brands including ours, are not able to offer Black Friday Discounts, as you are getting the best price we can offer every day.

As in previous years, we have decided to support our local food banks this long weekend. Basically, for every purchase you make, we will buy two essential items for Penryn Foodbank in Cornwall. Most Foodbanks will provide you with a list of required items if you give them a ring.

Don’t forget about the little guys in over this crazy commercial period. If you go back a couple of posts, you will find some of our favourite small brands. Also remember, the best gifts you can give your time and experience (and maybe some nice ceramics… hint, hint).

Have a great weekend and don’t get sucked it ! If you know of any businesses that are trying to make a small difference this weekend please put their details in the comments.

Sophie xxx

Tablecloth, Napkin and Placemats in Florence Linen

Small Shop Directory : Home

Ceramics

Marigold and Lettuce create beautiful chunky white china. I love the way you can see the potters’ thumbprints in each piece. Best of all you can throw everything in the dishwasher which is a massive win in my book.

Florence Mytum. If you are a fan of wobbly china you will love Florence Mytum’s mugs and candle holders. I have the gorgeous wiggle mugs in the studio, they are robust and everyone admires them. Florence is a ceramic artist based in East London.

EOT Ceramics are all handmade in Cornwall. Emily’s designs are perfect someone who favors a paired back Scandinavian aesthetic. We particularly love the dimple mugs. Keep a look out for EOT’s winter collection launching on 13th November

Textiles

In Casa by Paboy : Paboy crafts the most beautiful cushions, towels and other accessories from vibrant cottons expertly patch-worked together. Each piece is a work of art. Paboy has the most astonishing and inspiring story and this is definitely a fantastic small business to support this Christmas.

Sunday and Story : Alongside sourcing amazing rugs from around the world, Josephine has a lovely selection of smaller pieces such as wool pouffes, pretty jute placemats and Kilm Cushions.

Poppy and Honesty : From pouches to huge scalloped edged quilts, we have a gift for almost everyone. All of our textiles are handmade from start to finish in Cornwall from Liberty fabrics, our exclusive linens and velvets. Please check our lead times for bedding sets and quilts.

Cards and Art Prints

Mimi Dickson : Mimi is the queen of beautiful tiny illustrations featuring little nostalgic joys such as Penguin Classics and jars of Marmite. Mimi makes beautiful cards and personally I would rather send x5 of her special creations that x50 generic Christmas cards from Tescos.

Charlotte Farmer : Bold coloured screenprints and wild designs (some even glow in the dark). These prints would be the perfect gift for someone with a sense of humour and a colourful home.

Rosie Harbottle : Gentle watercolour and pastel prints of still life compositions and more stylised images. Based in Dartmoor, Rosie’s beautiful paintings and prints are so pretty and nostalgic.

Other lovely things

The Appreciation Project : Natasha stocks the most beautiful selection of dried flowers which will look lovely and delicate on your mantlepiece even when the fire’s roaring and the heating’s wacked up. The Appreciation Project also sources the most exquisite marble vases.

Folie Chambre : Alongside beautiful bobbin mirrors and lamps, Natalie also makes candle holders and christmas decorations. Folie Chambre is known for amazing British craftsmanship as beautiful antique treasures.

I totally understand that shopping exclusively from small brands is not budget friendly for most families, however I hope that there is a small way you can support little independent businesses this Christmas. Please add your favourite small brands to the comments below, we’d love to know where you find your treasures.

Sophie xxx

Shop Early and Shop Small

According to everywhere, Christmas is on. As someone who won’t put up the tree until mid December and is likely to punch a box of mince pies if Maria Carey sings in the supermarket before next month, the prospect of Christmas shopping seems very premature. However if you are planning to support small independent brands it is important to get ahead with gathering your Christmas haul.

Small shops like Poppy and Honesty don’t have the capacity to stock all of their products as many of these are handmade to order. We offer such a huge range of sizes, that we ask our customers to allow 2-3 weeks for bedding sets and quilts to be handmade. Other small retailers will need longer lead times as they will possibly need to source materials to make your beautiful orders

The joy of shopping from small businesses is that there is no big guy in a shiny office taking a handsome cut from profits. Therefore your hard earned cash is more likely to be reflected in the quality of the product and will find its way more easily into the pockets of makers and small business owners. Think of it this way, your Christmas pounds could be paying for someone’s ballet lessons, school holiday, electric bill or even turkey!

I am absolutely no expert in economics but including shopping from small brands when you are gathering your Christmas loot seems like a pretty good idea. Over the next few weeks, I will be creating some mini directories of my favourite small businesses. If you have any suggestions, it would be lovely if you could add them to the comments below.

Happy November

Sophie

Quilt in Liberty Fabric ‘Ciara’

Duvet Cover in Liberty fabric ‘Poppy Forest’

Bows to bring joy

We have been busy hand crafting huge bows in the studio to be launched on October 8th. Each is carefully handmade from either Liberty fabric or linen and lined with soft cotton wadding to provide some structure. We have added a ribbon for hanging and also provided a little square tag if you would prefer to pin or nail your bow to any surface.

For me ‘the bow’ is a symbol of joy. From the sickly cellophane bows around bouquets to wedding cars, gifts and lavish 80’s bridesmaid dresses. Put a bow on anything and it makes it feel special. When I was about 9 years old I was obsessed with making Fergie bows, the larger and more gaudy all the better ! A little cottage in a village we used to drive through, was seasonally dressed in a huge pink ribbon with a large bow. The treat of seeing this gift of a house was source of fun and anticipation for my family.

Perhaps you will keep your bow wrapped up with your Christmas decorations and treasures to bring out ceremoniously every year. I am sort of girl who never keeps anything for best and would probably hang a bow over the downstairs loo or on the end of the bed. A little reminder that life is a gift, even though it doesn’t always feel like one.

Sophie x

Beep Beep ! Here come the bows…

Winter Love Bomb

At this time of year my children become increasingly anxious that they are on the naughty list and are rather obsessed with their obscenely extravagant Christmas lists. Apparently this year FC has a budget of about 1,000 pounds per child (Wow! who knew he was so eligible?) Anyway, at this point, I start to self implode and mumble about the poor starving children which has absolutely no impact on their moral compasses whatsoever.

This year I am determined to install some kind of Christmas spirit into the entitled little rat bags  without bursting their whole sparkly Christmas bubble and spending the day ranting into my mulled wine.  Getting the children to give is quite a challenge. To be honest their contribution to the Shoe Box Appeal (choosing a toothbrush) and The Food Bank (carrying the cereal) is rather minimal. So brace yourself lucky friends and relatives, this year, the kids are making stuff for you.

We're big bath-fans in our house. It's not really about getting clean (thats just a bonus) but more about having some lovely floaty time-out. So we're making lots of fabulous multi-coloured sparkly love (bath) bombs for everyone. Embellish as you wish, rose petals, glitter, degradable confetti; all provide lots of decadent fun amidst the fizzle. Making stuff for people at Christmas is hardly original but like many parents, I become so consumed getting the festive haul together, I forget to schedule 'making time'. It's a great opportunity for kids to properly give and maybe even start to understand what Christmas all about, a giant winter love bomb (with lots of presents and some good old festive fighting). 

Sophie xxxxx (see Winter Love Bomb recipe below)

Recipe for Winter Love Bombs.

INGREDIENTS.

300g Bicarbonate of Soda,

100g Citric Acid

10ml Fragrance or Essential Oil of your choice (for sensitive babes use half)

Colour - most food colours are fine. 

Razzamatazz- glitter, rose petals, confetti, go wild.

METHOD...

1. Brush a little olive/almond oil inside your mould (silicone ice cube trays or cup cake moulds work a treat)

2. Combine the bicarb, citric acid with food colouring and mix together with your hands.

3. Add your essential oils and mix to combine.

4. Spray a little water into the mixture, just enough so that it holds together when you squish it in the palm of your hand.

5. Add your razzamatazz (glitter, rose petals etc).

6. Push into your moulds and leave to dry out for 2-3 days.