Prints Charming at Liberty

I love Liberty - everything about it, from the timberframed building enclosing all the goodies to the careful lighting to the tiny lifts hidden in corners to whisk you to the next section of joy.

Yes, I love Liberty. So I cannot believe I've missed this for so long! They are of course most famed for their gorgeous prints and fabrics which have been picked up and used a lot lately (remember those pretty Topshop underwear sets, or the Kate Moss dresses?), and have decided to celebrate their "Prints Charming" with a whole new range of beautiful, beautiful things for August, in store (Regent's Street - where they've also decked out a whole wall in the pink floral Betsy print) and online.

I know we do have a bit of a thing about teapots, but we won't stop... this gorgeous one is £89:Or what about this peacock printed umbrella to shield you from the late summer showers for £35?And I particularly love the unusual print on this cushion for £69:


The Prints Charming celebration lasts for another few days - you've got until next Wednesday to snap up your favourite pieces. Go! But make sure you leave a teapot for me...

Jammy Dodger pearl necklace

Those words shouldn't really work in a sentence together but you have to agree that this is one pretty special necklace.


I want it! And considering its just £13 from Lunacy Boutique, and its pay day today, then I reckon I can justify it. Sadly its not a 'real' jammy dodger but to compensate the 'jammy' heart has been glittered up for that extra glam factor. Does that make it a Glammy Dodger? No, that just sounds wrong! There are also Bourbon and Custard Cream versions too. Its got me thinking about biscuits now, what are your favourite biccies readers? I'm partial to a dark chocolate hob nob me!

We're going to tea at Betty Blythe - who wants to come?

Wow - we're being spoiled this week! We've been asked by the lovely people at Qype if we'd like to go down to the quite wonderful Betty Blythe "fine food pantry" in West Kensington next week, for a ladies-only evening of tea, sweet things, gossip and chat with a glamorous special guest. Naturally, we're very excited. But the best part of all is that we've been asked to bring two very special guests along to join in the fun. That means two of you, darling readers!

This glorious get-together will be taking place next Wednesday, 2nd September from 6.15pm onwards. It's completely free - you've just got to be able to get down to west London on the day. Do you think we should pick you to join us?

Let us know who you are and why you think we should ask you to come along in the comments before 6pm today (that's Friday 28th, folks), and we'll pick the two lucky ladies out soon after. Naturally, we'd love to bring you all, but Betty Blythe is too perfectly formed to fit us all in...

Folksy Find: Waterlilly dishes

If you are anything like me you will regularly find little piles of nic nacs* scattered around various rooms in your house. I am most guilty of leaving little piles of jewellery all over the place so I am on the hunt for a few little dishes that I can scatter around so then at least my glitter litter (as I like to call it, Mr Sharon has another name) looks like its meant to be there.

These pretty little lovelies caught my eye. They come from Prince Design on Folksy. They also brought us the fabulous Love Bird Bowls (which I am so very much in love with) that we featured back in May!

*not Nik Naks, We're not that kind of house.

Cocktail Hour: Whisky Sour

You guys know that I'm not a fan of whisky, but you guys seem to like it so I can't discriminate just because a bit of a wuss when it comes to the hard stuff. I've never been one for sipping drinks on the rocks - it seems like an easy way to get into a great big mess. But, the whisky sour does at least have some more ingredients in it so maybe I'll give it a try.

You'll need these things:

• 25ml Whisky
• 25ml lemon juice
• 25ml sugar syrup
• Ice cubes
• Lemon rind

And you'll need to do these things:

Shake the ingredients with the ice, then strain and pour into an old-fashioned glass. Sip, and try not to drink more than three. I'm guessing this tipple isn't the most forgiving the next morning.

Flickr image from Never Cool In School's photostream.

Folksy flowered jar cover

I would love to have one of those houses littered with fancy vintage jugs overflowing with fresh bouquets of flowers from the garden that you see all over home magazines. Sadly I live on the 6th floor of a modern flat which is mostly working the Ikea 2009 look so its just not going to happen. Plus if I am honest, I am a tad klutzy when it comes to pottery. Which is why I love this slip cover from The Cotton Potter on Folksy. Just grab an old jam jar, fill with water and pop this over the top! Then just add a nice little bunch of flowers from the garden/balcony/florist! I love this idea!

Sew much to do necklace

Us Domestic Sluts know that craft is totally where.its.at. We've told you about the amazing Craft Guerrilla and the fabulous Make Lounge and you know just how much we love Etsy and Folksy. It seems like the rest of the world is catching on too, with sales of sewing machines and all sorts of other crafty paraphenalia going through the roof right now. Why not show just how much you love a bit of make do and mend with this brilliant sew much to do necklace from Eclectic Eccentricity on the marvellous Hannah Zakari's website.

Tasty Tapas: Ajillo Mushrooms

I never thought I'd say it, but I've got a little bit bored of baking cupcakes. Sometimes it really does seem like that's aaaaaaall I cook. But, I've got a bit of a savoury craving at the moment. After cooking tapas for a dinner party yesterday, I whipped up a very simple mushroom aljillo (very handy for the vegetarians amongst you). The dish is full of flavour and so easy to make. And here's how:

You'll need these things:

• 1 pack button mushroom, quartered
• Four cloves garlic
• 3tbsp olive oil
• Lemon juice
• 1/2tsp paprika
• 1/2 chilli

And you'll need to do these things:

Pop everything into a pan on a low heat, continue stirring until the mushrooms are cooked through completely. Takes about 15 minutes to really get the flavour to come through, but they're very tasty indeed. You can put sherry in the pan as well if you have any, but I've never noticed a huge different with or without it.

A lovely, simple dish that's well worth taking your time over.

Design Porn: Andrew Tanner

His latest designs just popped in Lifestyle Bazaar and Elle Decoration are telling everyone to watch him. Andrew Tanner is making a bit of a name for himself. And it's easy to see why when you feast your eyes on this little lot from the Designed in England website:


This nifty little bowl uses wallpaper designs from Cole & Son. Genius idea.




This collection is called 'A Stitch in Time', inspired by an old textile archive.



But it's the silhouette pieces that are really attracting the attention. This cut-out lovebirds motif is my favourite.

Elle Decoration might be right about this guy.

Keep the festival spirit alive with camper van eggcups

So here we are. The August Bank Holiday weekend is looming, a chilly breeze is whipping up the leaves outside, and we've FINALLY got all the mud out of our washing machines.

And you know what that means. Festival season is over. Sigh.

But you can keep the festival spirit alive through the winter with these camper van egg cups from Urban Outfitters (£9). They come in a selection of colours, and you could perhaps drive them up and down this Bodie and Fou UK map print, reliving your happy summer memories of driving to Glastonbury, V, Green Man and Reading.

Or, you know, eat eggs out of them. Whatever.

Shop in the spotlight: Darlings of Chelsea

Darlings of Chelsea are quite literally in the spotlight this week because they've just turned up in Greenwich (where Domestic Sluttery HQ is based). Unfortunately, they've turned up in place of my favourite vintage shop. What happened to the great vintage shop with all the 60s dresses?! Where did it go? I was a bit mad, until I saw this chair:


I really like that chair. It's even got a handy little table for your cuppa. And it's in the sale! So it's now only £470. And then I spotted this chaise lounge thing:


And this red one is pretty cool too:



It's harder to be annoyed at the shop when they have such nice things.

Don't panic! It's the test card clock

My best friend has set the "BLARM BLARM BLARM" nuclear warning-type noise as her morning alarm on her iPhone. Why an earth would she do such a thing? Because, apparently, when you wake up thinking the world is ending, everything is a step up. Even a rainy Monday.

With that in mind, here's the brilliant test card clock from Urban Outfitters (£35), with that classic colour-block TV test card design. The test card was meant to flash up when programmes had gone off the air, there was a fault or, presumably, full-scale nuclear war had broken out.

But, 'spretty. And though it comes with a certain illegibility, who needs a clock that you can actually use to tell the time?

We all have iPhones for that now, right?

Folksy Find: Celebrate the changing seasons with See The Woods

We're into the last week of August, which probably means summer will finally kick off properly in a matter of days. But if you still believe in the old-fashioned concept of seasons, now is the time to start thinking about golden leaves, ripe fruit and dusky autumnal shades.

Folksy seller 'See the Woods Designs' can't wait for the smell of bonfires to permeate the air, and has already filled her shop with seasonal goodies to embrace the coming autumn. Her enthusiasm is catching, and I love this chain of falling leaves, which is on sale for just £7.50

Design Porn: Cissy Cook Butterflies

I don't know why you'd need a box of butterflies either. But Cissy Cook has made me want one. It's really rather wonderful. Whether or not I'd pay £250 for a box of butterflies I'm not sure, but I really really would like one.

This popped into our Twitterfeed from Hunkydory Home. Follow Domestic Sluttery on Twitter and share pretty things with us!

The winner of our 'I love cake' earrings competition!

Drum roll please....

The winner is Heidi! For this little story...

"A couple of years ago I was having some friends round to supper and I'd planned a very impressive rolled pork loin with apricot and herb stuffing all tied together with bacon, home grown vegetables - I was out to impress. I'd gone to the local farmers' market and bought the pork loin, then left it in the kitchen under a gauze umbrella thing ready for me to begin my creation once I'd got the veg. I went out to the garden (in my floral dress, of course) collecting mange tout, carrots and fresh herbs - impressive...but I was married to a farmer - none of it was my doing - I spent my days reading books and drinking wine!
So, there I was, Lady Bountiful, returning to the kitchen with my veggie haul, only to discover the large black farm cat had dragged the pork loin onto the floor and eaten half of it! It was still raw!

I cut off the chewed bit, rinsed it under a tap and carried on with the recipe, adding some more bacon and pretended it hadn't happened.
Later that evening once my guests had drank half their body weight in wine I told them - they don't talk to me anymore."

Oh dear. I'm not sure if we should let Heidi cook for us, but we will send her some snazzy earrings if she emails us and tells us where to send them. And the rest of you? We promise to create excellent recipes from whatever it was you were trying to make. So you hopefully won't have any more disasters.

Hannah Turner teapot at Hunkydory Home

This is the teapot that might make all other teapots obsolete. I knew those lovely folk at Hunkydory Home were plotting something, but this teapot by Hannah Turner is really special. It kinda looks like some kind of 80s cartoon which I definitely approve of. It's a really unsual bird print, and let's face it they're getting harder to find these days. And just look at it! It's adorable! It'll cost you £30, but you'll use it forever.

Cocktail Hour: Singapore Sling

Around this time, I kinda hit a wall with work. I know I still have stuff to do, but it's just so hard. it's nearly the end of the day, the sun is still shining. I want to go and play! But, instead I have to sit and work. Bah. Alright, if I have to do that, I'll share a lovely new cocktail recipe with you. Here's one for the Singapore Sling, which looks very summery indeed.

You'll need these things:

• 50ml gin
• 25ml cherry brandy
• soda water
• Juice of 1 lime
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• dash of sugar syrup
• ice cubes

You'll need to do these things:

Shake all of the ingredients together (except the soda water), strain into a glass and top up with the soda water. Then stop working and go and sit in the sunshine. I'm going to do that right now.

Flickr image from mupke's photostream.

Baking for Beginners: White Chocolate Cheesecake

I've never made a real cheesecake before. Because faking it is so much easier. Like that recipe Jane posted which is the easiest berry cheesecake in the world. But here's a little secret: Real cheesecake is no more difficult than baking a cake. Although it does contain every single type of fat there is, so I don't suggest making it very often. But, when you do, your friends will love your for it. I made it for Domestic Slut Gemma and some friends, and it's safe to say that she's a big fan.

Serves 6-8 people.

You'll need these things:

• 55g Butter (unsalted)
• 150g dark chocolate digestive biscuits bashed and crushed
• 300g white chocolate, broken into pieces. I used a supermarket brand, but Green & Blacks might work a better.
  
• 400g full-fat cream cheese. I used Mascarpone.
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 150ml Soured Cream - see?! All the types of fat in the world!
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• about 225g strawberries or raspberries
  

You'll need to these things:

• Preheat the oven to 160 degrees/gas mark 4.
• Melt the butter over a warm heat, and then stir in the bashed up biscuits. Press evenly into a 20cm baking tin. A springform one will work best so you can take it out of the tray easily.
• Melt the white chocolate. I always do this in the microwave, but you can do it over a pan of boiling water if you prefer.
• Mix the eggs and cream cheese together. Trust me, you want to use an electric whisk for this. Add the soured cream and vanilla and whisk again.
• Mix with the white chocolate until it's all smooth.
• Pour the mix on top of the biscuit base until it's almost at the top of the tray.
• Make sure you don't pour any lumpy bits in. No one likes a lumpy filling.
• Pop in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes.
• It probably won't be set in the middle, but it will set when you pop it in the fridge so don't worry about that. (I left this one in the fridge for about four hours, but it was done after two).
• Serve with strawberries.
  
• Accept lots of compliments and listen to yummy noises.
  

This post did have a Flickr image from Mike_Fleming's photostream. But then my cooking companion Cate sent me this photo. Your cheesecake will look like that.

Win! 'I love cake' earrings from Love Hearts and Crosses

Our friends at Love Hearts and Crosses are being very kind today. You see those lovely 'I love cake' earrings in that photo? Well they've let us have a pair to give to one of you! Hurrah! After much insistence that I'm not allowed to keep them, I promised to make you all answer a silly question, and then we'll put all of the answers into a hat and pull out a name.

Just tell us what your biggest baking/cooking disaster has been.

I've almost burned down the food tech building in my old school while trying to make chocolate mousse, and Miss Cay had food tech disasters as well (before she became like Nigella Lawson with a Northern accent). All of us have had a rubbish cooking moment at some point or another. And most of the time, as long as no one gets third degree burns, they're pretty damn funny.

You can answer in two ways. Either leave a comment here for everyone to read and giggle at or drop us an email. Whichever way you decide to enter, we can't accept anonymous entries to this comp (how will we know who to send the swag to?!) and you're agreeing to sign up to our forthcoming newsletter which will be brilliant. You'd be quite right to sign up for that anyway while you're here. No Twitter entries for this competition though.

Of course, if you don't win, you can always pop over to Love Hearts and Crosses and buy the earrings yourself...

UPDATE! Whoops! I meant to tell you when to get your entries to us by! By 6pm today please! Sorry, I clearly got over excited by sharing presents and forgot that bit. Santa never has to worry about blog posts, does he?

Lipstick and Curls at the Clerkenwell Vintage Fashion Fair

If you're after a splash of excitement with your vintage shopping in London, you might want to pop along to the Clerkenwell Vintage Fashion Fair on September 13th. I spotted a post about it over on Retro To Go and it sounds great fun.

The standard vintagey stuff will be there (naturally). So expect cupcakes and an abundance of tea dresses. But I'm more excited about the retro hair and make-up classes by Lipstick and Curls. If you've ever wanted to learn how to get that 50s style hair, or make your eyes look all Twiggy-ish, then pop along and they'll show you how. You can pre-book a 2 1/2 hour appointment with them for £35 which guarantees you entry for free into the rest of the fair.

You'll find us there twirling about in vintage dresses and being silly with kirby grips, but you wouldn't expect anything else, would you?

When? 13th September 11-5
Where? The Old Sessions House, Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R ONA
Nearest Tube? Farringdon/ Old Street.
How much? A bargainous £3 for entry, free if you book a Lipstick and Curls class.

See you there!

Preening like a peacock

Hidden Art is still one of my favourite online shops. Especially when they come up trumps with little brooches like this. The little peacock brooch is from Heidiart and I'm a little bit in love with it. Everything with peacocks is always very showy (not that there's anything wrong with that). But this is cute. Just a little peacock in the corner, doing its thing.

Oh, and on the back there's a little inscription that reads "one day I'll fly away" which increases the cuteness ten-fold.

If the Domestic Sluts created wallpaper...

I've got a bit of a love for unusual wallpaper. An obsession, some might call it. But the power of wallpaper is a bit like buying a brilliant new dress that no one else has. Just on a much larger scale. But, there's some wallpaper that try as I might, I just can't find. I think I've imagined it and it doesn't really exist, but here are some things I'd really like to see on wallpaper:

The seven deadly sins: Greed, envy, pride and the rest of them all get thrown about on anything. Apart from wallpaper. A decent font and you've got yourself a really unusual print.

Giraffes: I love that penguin wallpaper in the photo, but I'd really really like to see giraffes on wallpaper. Can someone fix this for me?

The Alphabet: There's all sorts of numbery paper around, but I'm yet to find a wallpaper with the alphabet on. I'm a word geek, it's not fair.

So those are my top wallpaper wishes. If you know where I can get any of those, please let me know. And if there's something else you want to see papering your house, tell us in the comments. Who knows, maybe our wishes might come true...

Shopping Heaven: Cupcakes & Polka Dots at Cloth Ears

cupcake-patterned cushions to ceramic butter dishes and sugar bowls in the shape of cakes, these folks have got it all. Granted, you couldn’t have more than one or two statement pieces, otherwise your home would look like that of a senile, nostalgia-obsessed grandma. But frankly, that’s a risk I’m willing to take if it means I can own beauties like this set of three red polka-dot storage cases for just £18.99:

I could spend a small fortune on the Cloth Ears website. From bunting patterned with cowboys and

They're definitely not elegant or under-stated, and they'd do you no favours in the unisex bedroom battle, but there's a child-like romanticism about them that I love (maybe because they make me think of old-fashioned train stations, and travelling to exciting, exotic places). If you kept the kitsch accessories elsewhere to a minimum, they'd look fab stacked on top of a wardrobe, or lined up in a hallway.

Cocktail Hour: Wu & Wu Happy Hour Kit

I know it’s a little early in the week to be thinking about cocktails, but this Wu & Wu Happy Hour Kit is so kitsch and colourful that it just makes me want to reach for the cocktail shaker and the most sugary, syrupy, gaudily-coloured liqueurs I can find in my local supermarket. The cherry-blossom patterned presentation tin contains coasters, flamingo swizzle sticks, cocktail parasols and decorations, as well as a booklet of oriental cocktail recipes (including such obscure delights as the Shanghai-tini). Priced at just £15, it’d make a fun gift for your favourite cocktail-loving lush without breaking the bank.

If you’ve still not quite recovered from the weekend, and Monday morning just isn’t the time to be salivating over kitsch cocktail accessories, then there’s also sewing and baking kits which are just as garishly-packaged and could be more your thing. But I’m not convinced by the pigtail kit, which seems a bit weird to me.

Etsy Pick: Animal Print Playsuit by Luminia

There are many things that I don’t have, but want so badly that I find myself obsessively daydreaming about them. Hours of idle internet browsing will do that to you; from comic-patterned shoes to tattoo-inspired prints of pirate ladies, there’s many an item in my humble abode that I had no idea I needed until I stumbled across it on the internet.

And this animal print playsuit, by Luminia on Etsy, is one of them. Until I cast my peepers upon it, the idea of any patterned playsuit would have probably filled me with horror. But this little item is so playful and feminine that I can’t help but change my mind. And when I say ‘animal print’ I don’t mean your standard, common-as-muck zebra- or leopard-patterned fare. (Not that I don’t love leopardprint, mind. I’m not messing when I claim that my wardrobe could easily be mistaken for that of Bet Lynch, but I’m not sure even I’d be brave/idiotic enough to wear a leopardprint playsuit.) No, this number is printed with safari animals, including elephants, ostriches, kangaroos and rhinos. It’d be perfect for holidays or festivals, and the details such as the oversized buttons and the lace on the straps and sweetheart neckline give it a vintage, homemade feel that the high street versions just can’t match. It’ll set you back $55USD, and Luminia is based in the UK, so the shipping is a steal compared to some of the other Etsy finds we’ve featured. Want!

Cocktail Hour: Apple Martini

Alright, so the purists amongst you will insist that this isn't a real martini, but you know what? Apple martinis are yummy so I don't care. As long as they taste nice and come in a martini glass (the prettiest of all cocktail glasses) then who cares what's in it? Oh, right, you do. Well then here's the recipe:

You'll need these things:

• 25ml vodka
• 25ml apple juice (apple schnapps will make this drink a bit too sweet for my taste, but if you want to use it, who am I to stop you?)
• 25ml dry vermouth
• apple slice
• Ice

And you'll need to do these things:

Shake everything in a cocktail shaker and then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with the apple slice and ignore anyone who tells you that this isn't a real drink.

Flickr image from *Micky's photostream.

Soremi necklace

Yes, this is the second jewellery-based post of the day, but this personalised pendant is so special, I couldn't wait to feature it. It's from Soremi and it's completely unique. You decide what names or phrases you want on each bar, and then it's designed to suit you. The length of each bar depends on the overall aesthetic of the necklace so they'll vary but the silver one featured will cost you £50. The perfect present for your very best friend.

All you have to do is decide what you want to write on it...

Ask the sluts: How do I refresh my bathroom?

Hayley from Punlimited has asked us for some help with her bathroom and we'll be honest, the bathroom isn't an area that we focus on very much. This might have something to do with the fact that the bathroom in Domestic Sluttery HQ is roughly the size of a postage stamp. But, if you're looking for ways to refresh your bathroom so you can while away the hours with a relaxing bubble bath, here are some tips.

• Don't start any kind of sea motif. Because then you're stuck with it. Everything you buy will have mermaids, boats, shells and before you know it your bathroom shelves will have pieces of coral on them for no reason.
• Bubbles! Everyone should have bubble bath and fancy stuff in their bathroom. Anything from Jo Malone or The White Company will do nicely.
• Don't be afraid to use colour. This stripy bathmat from John Lewis is a pretty good place to start.
• Want something fresh? Green is always a better option than blue. If you go for blue, that afore-mentioned sea motif will be far too tempting.
• If you're happy with the fixtures and fittings, simple little touches will add a bit of luxury. It's always going to be cheaper to update little things than re-fit a whole room.
• I've always wanted one of these bath racks. Somewhere to put your wine and rest your book. Perfect.
• Candles, lots of candles. Scented ones, tealights. They'll make it look like you've put some effort in, when you've really just bought some tealights from Ikea.
• And while you're at it, those old perfume bottles won't look out of place either.
• What's in your bathroom cabinet? Keep all the unsightly bottles hidden away, but make sure those ornate bottles are all out on show. Even if they are full of cheaper lotions and potions. No one has to know that.
• Making sure your bath is big enough for two is always a pretty good idea as well.
  

Got any other tips for revamping your bathroom? Tell us in the comments! And if you've got any questions you want to ask, then just send an email our way...

Flickr image from Dustpuppy's photostream.

New Plumo Range

Plumo launched their new Autumn range today (I am not happy about the mention of Autumn, frankly Autumn can go away). But I am happy about nosing about at some new stuff. Plumo doesn't seem to change its range very often, so it's nice to see something fresh available.


Really like this little floral table. It's unusual but still practical.


I'm not entirely sure I'd get any use out of these scissors, but they sure are pretty. Great shape to them.


The rest of the stuff doesn't interest me, but the stripy milk jug in the background has really caught my attention.

This range isn't exactly groundbreaking. In fact, the cynic in me might suggest it's the Summer range with a few added bits and a darker lick of paint, but if you're a fan, then you'll love the new stuff and you should check it out.

Sexy stationery: Pedlars' Penguin Pencils

Are we going to get sick of the Penguin Classics motif any time soon? It appears not. These lovely Penguin pencils are from Pedlars and they're £6.95 for a set of six. Perfect for writing shopping lists I'll leave at home, and writing down phone numbers that I'll lose. See? I need these.

Roll with it - the best jewellery rolls

If you've got as much jewellery as I have (I'm a jewellery designer after all), then you're going to need somewhere to put all of your trinkets. Adorning your dressing table is all very well, but if you go away for a few days, you don't want to spend half an hour in your hotel untangling your favourite necklaces.

So here are the prettiest jewellery rolls to make sure your beads and baubles travel safely:


This lovely embroidered silk creation is from The Lavender Room.


Graham & Green have come up trumps with this pale blue taffeta number.


If you're looking for something extra girly, this one from Laura Ashley is perfect. It comes in pale pink too!

Spotted any more lovely creations we should know about? Tell us in the comments!

Cocktail Hour: Sangria

This weekend I'm cooking dinner for some friends, so I've decided to use my lovely lemonade jug and make a pitcher of sangria. There's nothing more summery than pitchers of cocktails and sangria is the best one. It's a great colour, and it reminds me of living in Spain when I was a teenager.

You'll need these things:

• Red wine, Rioja works really well.
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• 1 orange, cut into wedges
• 25ml Brandy,
• Soda water
• Sugar
• Ice

You'll need to do these things:

Pour everything apart from the soda water together into a large jug and chill for a few hours. Then top up with soda and some more ice just before serving. Simplest cocktail recipe ever. I could get used to making pitchers of stuff.

Flickr image from Alaskan Dude's photostream.

Design Porn: Lucie Pritchard

Lucie Pritchard takes simple postcard prints and turns them into beautiful things. Like this postcard purse:


Or these scarves:


Or this placemat, which is my favourite:


Sometimes simple really is best.

Reader Recipe: Grapefruit Sherbert

A little while ago, we asked you for your recipes and photos, and our goodie bag winner Pamela Guyatt sent us this lovely concoction which she says is her "favourite, foolproof, delectable and instant pudding..."

You'll need these things:

• 1 large tin grapefruit segments
• 1/2 pt double cream
• 3 or 4 oz. caster sugar
• squeeze of lemon

You'll need to do these things:

• Turn the grapefruit segments with juice into a large bowl. Chop the grapefruit segments if they're large.
• Pour in the double cream and mix.
• Stir in sugar and a squeeze of lemon.
• Chill until required.

Serve with little almond biscuits. Even people who don't like grapefruit adore this, and it takes, ooh, all of five minutes to make! And it can also be made with raspberries if you prefer.

Yum! And simple! Thanks, Pamela!

Got a recipe you want to send us? Email us!

Shop in the spotlight: Blueberry Patch

Don't let the annoying website put you off, Blueberry Patch is a really great little shop with unusual homestuffs all hidden away. Like these lovely things:



I don't eat boiled eggs very much, but I would like some little bunny egg cosies. They're £5.99 each. Look! A little fluffy bunny tail!


I'm really not a fan of felt flowers, but these fabric flowers are really lovely. Different, but still pretty. And, you know they'll all be unique. They're £4.50 for three.

P&P is free in the UK too! Hurrah!

Etsy Pick: Rocking Chair by alicoandco

There's something about rocking chairs that make me smile. Whilst some of them might not be the comfiest things in the world, they're fun. And they reminding me of The Wishing Chair books I read as a kid.

This rocking chair from Etsy seller alicoandco is really lovely. It's been beautifully restored and the mix of paint and decoupage gives it a more modern touch. I have to say that I'm really temped to splash out $200 on this. The seller is UK based so you won't have to worry about getting it shipped over here. And maybe it'll be just like the one in the book and sprout little wings...

Design Porn: Bridget Davies

Bridget Davies has such wonderful designs. Yes, I know every shop everywhere is adorning things with teapots and cupcake stands and other things of cuteness. But they don't look as good as these. Bridget Davies does it right. Cute, without being annoyingly twee. Luxurious, without costing a fortune. Adorable, without looking like something a six-year old would get for her birthday. In short: The perfect present, should you feel like buying me something.



I really want this passport holder. Much more interesting than the ones from Aspinal that I can't afford.


I wouldn't say no to this eye mask either. Which will come very handy on my jet setting flight with my passport holder.



OK, this might be the most expensive cushion I've ever written about, but don't you want to live in that house?!