plants, places and lemon drizzle

...two gorgeous things have happened to me today, the first was being handed a lemon drizzle cake - deliciously homebaked by my friend Fiona as a pick me up (been working long long hours!!) - I would show you a photo but unfortunatley it was too late it was devoured by The Hunter Household (Mrs Hunter (aka me!!) may have had a couple of slices)...

The second was to receive a postal surprise from my mate Catherine - Plants & Places by Angie Lewin arrived today as a little thank you and I have only just opened it - I cried (blame it on exhaustion and lack of fresh air!!). Not only because I have been wanting (needing) this book for so long but because it was such a wonderful and unexpected gift.....

...what have I been up to today??? - pinking with sheers, stitching, embroidering and mending linens (with the help from Mum) making more invitation booklets, preparing signs before embellishment and selecting the linen square pieces for these pretty little favour seed pouches that we are making for Lauren. We have printed the name of her grandmother 'violet may' on the front and each little linen pouch will contain violet seeds - wrapped in tissue for her guests to plant in memory of her grandma. We think this is such a simple and beautiful way of remembering a loved one on such a special day...

armchair journeys #5

I love trees.

particularly the silver birch.

I can sit quietly,

on the top of a hill,

or by a lake,

or in my garden,

and listen

to the whispering of the leaves

and the lodging birds.

my favourite sound.

so...on this little armchair journey,

I am taking you to visit the beautiful illustrations of

Eva Magill-Oliver

...on location in dorset...

...I am always saying that my work is far better travelled than myself...place cards in Venice, invitations in Melbourne, order of the day in Brighton, reception signs in Idaho, menus in Northumbria...well at the beginning of this month a little box of excited samples went a travelling down the M1 to Dorset, to the clutches of beautiful stylist 'Hannah' of Sweet Dream Events...

Thanks to Hannah and Photographer Carrie Bugg I think the stationery looks pretty bloomin marvellous....what do you think??? I love the vintage drawer name ties around the terracotta pots with hyacinths and the sweetie jars with 'love is sweet'..... some of the signs are available to be purchased by new owners. So let me know if you are interested in a particular sign featured here in the photo shoot...... you can contact me by emailing me at info@vickytrainor.co.uk

Hannah has been working on a few of these showcase events where she brings together 'the professionals' from make up artists, to dress designers, to stationers like moi, to caterers, to the wonderful Carrie (mentioned above) and many more in and around the Dorset area - I am also sure she will be lured further afield. You can contact Hannah to see where her next event will be held or indeed have your day styled by the gorgeous lady herself...... or your day beautifully documented by wedding photographer Carrie......more images from the event can be seen over at Hannah's blog...

pretty invitations all in a row

...just completed our first invitation order since the launch of the vintage drawer in February...
thought you might like to have a peak. Off to invest in a few more thimbles before stitching together the next set of booklets tomorrow...

a tea pot and some statice

...on Saturday, I escaped to outside these four walls for a day of pure indulgence - from vintage finds to food.... Took a trip north to the wonderful 'something different' in West Auckland (below) for a feast of layering net frills, printed 50's dresses, layerings of brooches, landscapes of chandeliers, the smell of beeswax, hats for all occasions, an absolute visual feast...... seriously, if you live within a 3 hour radius it is worth the drive. I am revisiting in the next year or two with a very large van, as their collection of period furniture is wonderful...

The next stop was to Corbridge for a pub lunch, a stop off at RE (see above - check out the web site if you haven't stopped off already!!).... the purse was finally brought out from the dark depths of my hand bag and a small 60's tea pot, tea light stands, turqouise candles, a map of great britain, olive soap, a quarter of toasted teacake sweets, and a bunch of statice was pur-chased......now back to two months work so I can go and play out again........I have such a crap boss - all work and certainly no play!!!!!!

lisa hannigan - pistachio

...can you tell I've been to Blog School and can now insert a
video into any post - only taken me three years to work it out!!!
so I thought I would feature lisa hannigan's pistachio as I have just ordered an album of hers (an early mother's day present) 'sea sew'
as my last copy was drawn on by a three year old -
and they say cd's last forever.........
ps I need the dress she is wearing
in my wardrobe...

hoop day

...a collection of pretty hoops for a very exciting project....