Art in the kitchen

The walls in our new kitchen have been pretty bare for the last few months while I decide what and where to hang things. But when I saw this print by Yourtype in the Southwood Stores online shop, I swiftly sent the link to the hubby as an idea for my birthday. I thought he'd decided against it, but then a few days after my birthday, to my joy, it arrived! 

It's a large print in need of a large frame, and I was very lucky to have collaborated with eFrame - an online framing service - who provided this lovely white wood frame. I mentioned how I used them for the artwork for Ruby's room also as you can create bespoke frames to your own size specifications. 

Funnily enough I don't actually drink coffee, but at the moment I feel like the word coffee here should be replaced with baby! That is pretty much my routine at the minute!! 

thanks to the hubby for the print and to eFrame for providing the frame. 

DIY: Fabric lanterns

Today I'm sharing a little project for using up lengths of fabric and that will make some pretty decorative lanterns for hanging up around the home or even for a party. 

Add thread and hang them up or you can set them on a table with some battery operated candles inside. 

See the full tutorial over on the AO at Home blog. 

New lighting in my home

The clocks turned back last weekend, so it is darker earlier these days. So when Homebase recently offered for me to choose some new lighting to help illuminate my home during the winter months, i jumped at the chance. Good lighting, whether it's candles or electric, really does create atmosphere and cosiness and I'm really pleased with the two choices I made from their Habitat range. 

Firstly, for our bedroom I chose this bright orange lamp. I am really loving orange at the minute, especially this bright, eye popping shade. As our bedroom is mainly pale, subtle colours I love how this lamp has now added a splash of colour, which brightens up quite a dark corner even during the day. 

The colour of the lamp reminded me of the berries on a Solanum plant (also known as Christmas Cherry - perfect for this time of year) so I picked up one of these while in Homebase also, and I think they look lovely together. 

Here it is switched on - the perfect little bedside reading light! 

My other choice was the Helena flower lamp. This light has been around for about 10 years, designed by Helena Christensen for Habitat, and it's one I've always admired, and I thought it would work really well as a feature in our new kitchen/dining area.

I love how you can bend the 'stem' of the flower around into a shape you like, and how it looks like it is 'growing' out from behind the sideboard! It almost echos the shapes of the real flowers at the other end of the sideboard, and the copper flower adds a flash of metallic colour.

With a lovely orange-y glow it creates a lovely atmosphere in this corner of the room in the evening... it's definitely a piece I can see me owning for years and years to come and moving it around as our home (or future homes!) evolve.

Thanks so much to Homebase for these lovely items! 

xxx

DIY: Ghost garland

Halloween is just around the corner and while I've been so tempted to purchase a costume to dress Ruby up in, I think I'll spare her the humiliation. until next year at least! ;) 

If you're having a little party or just want to craft and decorate with the kids then here is a simple little project for making a ghostly garland! 

The full tutorial is over on the AO at Home blog, and there is also a lovely post about carving a pretty pumpkin you should check out too! Happy Halloween!

Winner of Rewined Candle

Thanks to everyone who entered our recent giveaway to win a gorgeous Rewined Candle. The winner has been selected at random.... Congratulations to GRACE who said her preferred scent was Riesling. I'll be in touch Grace! 

If you missed out this time, you can check out their website, I think these would make lovely Christmas gifts don't you?!

New work from Seventy Tree

I am a big fan of Seventy Tree, and in fact we featured designer Kerry Layton's lovely home in issue 9 of 91 Magazine. So I was excited to see Kerry has recently released some new designs and she has teamed up with stylist Charlotte Love and photographer Joanna Henderson to produce some lovely images of her work...

I absolutely love Charlotte's styling - she has also contributed to 91 Magazine in the past with some gorgeous shoots - her work is so fresh and colourful and always fun. I love the painted plants in the above image.

The images really capture the essence of Kerry's work, which is also colourful and fun and often quite graphical. I do think if you are a designer/maker it is definitely worth budgeting for some great photography and styling, as it showcases your work in a way that you might not be able to get across otherwise. As I say, I already love Kerry's work, but when these photos popped in my inbox, I immediately wanted to share them on the blog! Great images = more exposure for your brand! 

Check out the rest of Kerry's new work at Seventy Tree and peruse some more lovely styling and photography on Charlotte and Joanna's websites. 

PS - I will select the winner of the Rewined candle next week, I am taking a few days off first! :) 

Finally finished - my patchwork quilt

Back in June 2013 I started making a patchwork quilt. I'm generally quite impatient, so a project like this was going to test me a little, but I actually really enjoyed having something I could pick up now and again and work on in front of the TV. Saying that, it's not a regular occurrence when I don't have something else more important to work on or do, so it has taken me over a year to finish the quilt! 

It was sewn by hand using the paper piecing technique and I used bits of fabric I found cheaply in haberdasheries or in vintage shops. Quite a few of the fabrics were used to make napkins for our wedding last year so I thought it would be nice to include these as they'd remind me of the day. 

I originally started following an online course via The Amazings, but as it took me so long, by the time I was getting to the construction stage The Amazings website had closed! So I had to find another source to learn how to finish it. I used this tutorial as I wanted a shaped edge as opposed to a straight one. I'm not sure whether the wadding i used was too thick or if it's the way I've quilted it, but it is very textured in comparison to the one in the tutorial, but I actually quite like it. My edging isn't perfect either, but hey, for a first go I'm pretty happy with the overall result. 

For the backing I bought some Liberty fabric from eBay...

It isn't full double bed size - mainly because my impatience kicked in and I just wanted to finish it! I've got it on our bed at the moment, but one day I will probably give it to Ruby for her bed. That's if it hasn't fallen apart by then! ;) 

I'm pleased I stuck it out and finished it though, it's been really rewarding. What I found is that a long term craft project creates memories as you make it. I loved picking out the fabrics for it,  it reminds me of certain day trips when I bought some of the scraps. I also spent quite a lot of time trying to get it finished while I was pregnant so it will also remind me of that really special time in my life, and then finally finishing it off during the last few weeks with Ruby sleeping at my side. It will be lovely to tell her that when she is older. 

Are you a fan of the long term craft project? Or do you prefer to start and finish something quickly and move on to something new? 

DIY: Fabric lunch bag

If you child takes a packed lunch to school (or even if you do to the office!) then rather than chucking all your bits in a plastic bag, this lovely fabric drawstring bag will keep everything together and also looks lovely! Or, you could increase the dimensions and make a laundry bag! See the full tutorial for making the bag over on the AO at Home blog...

Win a Rewined Candle

October is here, and while September was a great month weather wise, it is set to change this weekend and everyone is now thinking of autumn and getting cosy! I do feel a little like summer has passed me by this year with the arrival of Ruby.  We spent one of the hottest weeks of the year cooped up in a hospital room and were desperately wishing for cooler weather, and since being home, while it's been nice going for walks with the pram, I've generally been too worried about Ruby getting the sun on her or her getting too hot! We are spending quite a lot of time at home with her, so I am actually fine with the idea of autumn arriving and just curling up with my little family in front of a good film.

And of course for that cosy atmosphere, candles are a must, so it was lovely to receive this gorgeous one from Rewined Candles recently. 

The South Carolina based company make the candles from recycled wine & champagne bottles. The soy candles scent mimics the tasting notes of wine - yum! The one I received was Champagne scent and smells delish. I'm really loving the design on the candles too, what do you think? 

If you like the look of this, then listen up! Rewined Candles are giving one Patchwork Harmony reader the chance to win a candle, and you can even choose the scent you would like! 

To enter just visit their online shop and then leave a comment on this post saying which scent takes your fancy. You can get an extra entry by tweeting: "I've entered to win a @rewinedcandles candle via @patchworkhrmy www.patchworkharmony.co.uk/blog/2014/9/2/win-a-rewind-candle "

TERMS: 

Closing Date is 10th October 2014. 

Open to UK and international entrants.

Winner will be selected at random and you will be notified by email.

Make sure you leave a contact email address so you can be contacted if you win. 

DIY: Appliquéd dishcloths

Does anyone else hate those thin, ugly dishcloths that seem to be the only option in the cleaning aisle at the supermarket?! If you'd rather have something prettier (and more durable) next to your sink then why not make these cute little dishcloths that can be chucked in the washing machine and will look lovely hanging in your kitchen? The full tutorial can be found over on the AO at Home blog. 

Issue 10 of 91 Magazine is online!

I knew it was going to be the trickiest issue this year, being the first one I'd publish after Ruby was born, but luckily I planned ahead and managed to get most of the magazine ready before she came along! So here it is, issue 10 is online! 

Inside we've got gorgeous creative spaces such as the home of Norwegian blogger Inger Lill Skagen (as seen on the cover). We chat to the designer behind Red Hand Gang in our Folksy Seller Spotlight, and we've been busy stitching with our tutorial for some beautiful embroidered napkins, plus lots more!

Pop over to Magzter to download your copy. Do let us know what you think, we love to hear what you loved/hated. Email us, tweet, facebook or even instagram your pics of you reading the lastest issue! 

Don't forget you can now experience 91 Magazine in print too in our collaboration with Mollie Makes. It's now in the shops! All the info here. 

www.91magazine.co.uk

DIY: Handmade notebook

I LOVE stationery and papergoods, especially a pretty notebook. As I had some vintage wallpaper knocking around I thought I would use it to make my own handmade notebook for a recent post for AO at Home. 

Just pop over to AO at Home for the full tutorial if you fancy making your own handmade notebook! 

Collaboration with Mollie Makes - 91 Mag in print!

You may remember last year I guest edited the Mollie Makes Home bookazine? Well, I was so chuffed to be asked to edit this year's issue as well. I absolutely love doing these projects, and love working with the team at Mollie Makes. They are so supportive of what I do with 91 Magazine also, so much so that with this bookazine we have collaborated to bring you the FIRST EVER print issue of 91 Magazine!

I can't tell you how excited I am about this. It's always been a dream to get 91 into print, and to be working with one of my favourite magazines on it is just fabulous. 

Here are the covers of both the bookazine and this special edition of 91 Magazine: 

It is a mini 32 page special of 91 Magazine and it will come inside the Mollie Makes Home bookazine, so essentially you are getting two magazines for the price of one! Both magazines are packed full of gorgeous homes, craft projects and interviews with some of my favourite creative people. 

It will be available on 28 August from all good newsagents, supermarkets online at myfavouritemagazines.co.uk and on Apple Newsstand, priced £7.99. Don't miss out on the latest news from Mollie Makes. Sign up to the newsletter here: www.molliemakes.com

I know a lot of you who are fans of 91 are also Mollie Makes readers so it really is £7.99 well spent, and I may be biased, but I honestly think you will love the content!

I haven't actually seen the print copy myself yet, I shall be waiting with baited breath for the postman this week now! And who knows, this could be a very exciting new beginning for 91 Magazine! 

Thanks again to Lara and the rest of the Mollie Makes team for making this happen! #dreamcometrue

xxx

Introducing Ruby

I've been out of blogging action for a few weeks, and if you follow me on Instagram you will know this is due to a new little person in my life who takes up most of my waking hours and doesn't tend to let me have many sleeping ones! 

Meet Ruby Elisabeth Rowland!

She was born on the 14th July, and unfortunately we had a little bit of rough time - I won't give you my full birth story - but basically she was delivered by forceps, then I was taken to theatre to have my placenta removed as it was stuck and then I lost loads of blood so had to have transfusions. We spent a week in hospital and Ruby and I were both on antibiotics so it wasn't much fun, but 6 weeks on and I'm fully recovered and now just suffering with the usual new parent symptom of sleep depravation! 

Despite all of that, it has been the most amazing 6 weeks getting to know her, watching her grow and develop, and getting used to being a mum! I'm so excited for the years ahead spent with this lovely little person.

You might also notice something new around here... my brand new website and blog! After I accidentally deleted lots of my images from my blogspot blog, I decided it was time for a fresh start and have moved over to the Square Space platform. I've brought the blog and my main website together and have went for a much cleaner and more simplistic look. I've been trying to declutter my home lately to make room for Ruby so I thought I would also declutter my online space too! I'd love to hear what you think and if there's anything you think could be better.

I'm currently adding archival content to the blog - not everything - just my favourite posts and those that have proved popular and I hope to get back to regular blogging as soon as I can, although there are so many things that take priority - Ruby of course, and also getting the next issues of 91 Magazine ready! I have some other exciting projects on the horizon so look out for news on those here soon! 

xxx

Waiting for baby...

So my due date has been and gone... It was only yesterday, but I'm already feeling very impatient! I'm struggling to get around at the minute as my bump is so heavy so feeling a little bit housebound! Fingers crossed that baby will come along in the next few days!

One thing I've been doing to pass the time is working on a new website for Patchwork Harmony and the blog. As you may have seen I accidentally deleted loads of my blog images recently, so I've made the decision to make a fresh start with the blog. I'm planning to add some of my archival posts but not all. 

With this in mind and our new arrival imminent, I think I'm going to leave you with this as my last post on this blog, and introduce the brand new blog once things have settled down here and I'm back to blogging! 

As I'm clearly baby on the brain at the moment I've spent a lot of time browsing the internet for gorgeous baby things and pinning them to my baby Pinterest board.. I can't tell you how hard it is not to go mad online shopping when you are sitting at home with not much to do! :) 

If you are interested and want to keep updated on the news on the new arrival, then follow me over on Instagram as I imagine that's where I will announce the news first! ;)

Coral Koskshi Doll, Sketch Inc, £20 / Bib, Bibaloo, £4.97 / Sleeping bag, The Kid Who, £50 / Crochet rattle, Molly Meg, £20 / Embroidered Dress, Zara, £9.99 / Stripe cloud cushion, Molly Meg, £60 / Noodoll, Molly Meg, £17.50 / Cloud cushion,Kokokoshop/Etsy, £32.93 / Salmon pink blanket, Molly Meg, £59 / Printed dress, Zara, £9.99

DIY: Cardboard mobile decoration

School holidays are just around the corner, so I'm sure lots of you are thinking about activities to amuse the kids with! This little hanging mobile decoration is simple and can be made with materials you've got lying around the house... the kids can customise it to their tastes, and will have a cute decoration for their bedroom at the end!

Check out the full tutorial I created over on the AO at Home blog...

DIY: Pom pom magnets

Pom pom making can be seriously addictive, so it's lucky there's so many things you can do with them - decorate gifts with them, make a garland, trim a blanket or cushion with them, even add them to a pair of slippers! This week I decided to give my new fridge a little pom pom love with some cute little magnets...

I think they look really sweet, and give a little bit of tactility to area which is mainly hard edges and surfaces. They are SO simple to make as well, you can follow my tutorial over on the AO at Home blog.

Let me know if you give them a go! ;)

xxx

The nursery makeover

If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably seen a few little sneak peeks into our baby's nursery already, but as it is finally finished and all ready for our new arrival, due in a couple of weeks time (!), I thought I'd share some photos of the whole room.

The room had been my office before, stuffed full of craft supplies, books, props, paperwork etc, so I've really had to downsize on that front and in fact the cupboard on the right hand side is actually being used to store a lot of that stuff. The wallpapered wall on the left used to be covered by a bank of ikea shelving that were there when we moved in. Hiding behind the shelves was a botch job of a partition wall, so we had this rebuilt when we had the builders in recently. Apart from that, in terms of decorating, all we've done is paint the walls and ceiling white, wallpapered and repainted the floor.

I'm so pleased with the wallpaper by Ferm Living, which I ordered via This Modern Life. It is perfect for growing with our little one, as it's not babyish, but still a lovely nursery pattern. The cot is from John Lewis, please excuse the plastic covering on the mattress! The baby will sleep in our room for the first few months, so I've left that on there for now!

I bought the 'Whale in Paris' print from one of my fave shops, The Hambledon, on a recent trip to Winchester, and the honeycomb decorations are from Ikea. The fox cushion is by Sweet Reverie available at Society 6, and the little striped cushion was a lovely gift from a new brand based in Barcelona called Mint Banana.

This lovely knitted blanket was handmade by my mum (thanks mum!), and the spotty one came from Gap.

These drawers were a fab eBay find. The little pink turtle was handmade by Ooh La Lapin and the gorgeous moccasins are by Monkey and Mole. The toadstool lamp came from Bimbily - it's the only place I've seen stocking the gold version of this, so I was really pleased to find it.

The curtains are a simple set of grey linen ones from Ikea, but I've customised them with a little bit of pink pom pom trim, which was so simple to do and I think really adds something to the curtains.

I've blogged about the little cupboard before which I bought from the fab Goose Home and Garden. The huge pink honeycomb ball was another Ikea purchase, and the ice cream one is from The Hambledon. The 'My Daily Melody' print is by Audrey Jeanne, which I bought online from Tea and Kate.

I've had these little shelves for a while, I bought them in a charity shop for £5 and have just repainted them. The 'little girl' postcard and the elephant also came from Tea and Kate - I love how the elephant's pom poms match my curtains! The Polish wooden dolly was picked up at The Vintage and Handmade Fair which i visited a while back. 

I blogged about artwork for the nursery a while back so you might recognise some of these prints. The seal is from Isa Form, the elephant on the bike is by Ez Pudewa and the other elephant is bySeventy Tree. I've managed to frame all the artwork relatively cheaply, with a mix of Ikea frames for the standard sized prints and then some custom made frames by eFrame - which is a fab online resource, where you can enter in the exact dimensions of your print, what type of frame you want, whether you need a mount etc, and they are delivered to your door. I'm always really pleased with them and think they are affordable considering they are custom made. 

The very last thing we added to the room was this light from John Lewis. It is made from plaster and punched with lots of tiny holes, so gives off a really soft light which is perfect for the nursery. Again, I like how it's not childish and will last for years to come in the room. 

So there you go! The finished room! I've tried to keep it quite simple as it's a small room, but I'm sure it won't be long before it is filled with lots of baby paraphernalia, so it's nice to have a record of how it looks before the chaos takes hold! ;)

Just one more tiny thing to be added in a few weeks time! I'll be sure to give you an update when our little one makes her appearance!

xxx

DIY: Paper fans

Well, what a beautiful week of weather we've had in the UK this week, a mini heatwave some would say! The weekend looks set to be nice too, so if you've got some outdoor excursions planned then here is a great little DIY project for you to keep yourself cool in the heat. Oh and did you know it is National Picnic Week next week?! Pack your basket with some food and these paper fans and you'll be all set! ;)
 

You'll find my full tutorial and a template for making these on the AO at Home blog.

DIY: Liberty print luggage tag

So June is now upon us, and many of us will be looking forward to a few days away in the sun! We don't have any plans at the moment, as we have another big event happening this summer (only 5 weeks til my due date now!!) But if you are lucky enough to be getting away, make sure you can spot your suitcase on the airport carousel with this pretty handmade Liberty fabric luggage tag...

Follow the full tutorial over on my AO at Home page