3 Sunday's Song

I haven't done a Sunday's Song post for a few weeks, but I have had this song stuck in my head all week, so I thought it deserved a spot on the blog! I think this has to be one of my favourite songs ever, and it's funny because the first time I heard it, I wasn't actually that bothered about it! There's been so many covers recently but you just can't beat Florence.


I wish the weather was a little better today. I think there's some form of Jubilee celebration going on tomorrow where I live, so I may go and have a nosey and see what's going on then, but today I am going to stay snuggled up at home. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, a long with Will & Kate are all visiting Nottingham on 13th June. I'm not exactly a royalist, but I am definitely going to go to the old market square and see them, if only to catch a glimpse of what the beautiful Kate Middleton is wearing! xo If you've enjoyed this post follow via Blog Lovin / GFC / Twitter

7 Best of British

I thought seeing as we are celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee here in Britain this weekend, there would be quite a lot of Jubilee themed posts around. Instead I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite items from a few of our wonderful and talented British designers....

1. Alexander McQueen // 2. Paul Smith // 3. Ted Baker // 4. Lulu Guinness // 5. Radley // 6. House of Holland // 7. Cath Kidston

How beautiful is the McQueen dress? Unfortunately it isn't the only item above that is completely out of my price range, but a girl can dream right? I also love the adorable Cath Kidston guard print skirt, and the sparkly red peep toes from Ted Baker.

Who's your favourite British designer?

I hope you all have a wonderful Jubilee weekend, eating scones, drinking tea and celebrating with family and friends.


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7 Hello handmade featuring Beau xoxo

Here's the third instalment of Hello Handmade! I hope you are still enjoying the feature - the last two posts got such a great response. Today's interview is with the lovely Georgie of Beaux xoxo. After you've read the post make sure you go and visit her store to see all of the beautiful items she has for sale!

Images credited to: Beau xoxo

Firstly could you tell us a little bit about yourself, and how Beau xoxo began?
Well firstly thank you so, so much for including me in your feature, I really appreciate it, and I think it’s fantastic that you’re dedicating posts to handmade artists. I guess the Beauxoxo story started, as clichéd as it sounds, ever since I was a little girl. I have always loved to make things. I was constantly, constantly making things. Even more so at college, whilst studying for my A Levels, as I would travel sites to do Art and it was there I was constantly surrounded by such innovative girls and guys who inspired me so, so much. They made a living off what they made and sold outside of their studies, and that idea really stuck with me, so I started making my creations as well. At the time it was jewellery, interior things and clothes, I was massively into customising. When I got to Uni I had to stop making as much due to the commuting back and forth, and the sheer workload, but whilst studying for a subject I absolutely loathed (I was a musician trapped in an artist’s body!), I constantly day dreamed about designs and sketched little pieces as often as possible. I think it was this period of time that I narrowed down what I wanted to sell, realising I was making entirely too many hair accessories for myself to wear alone! I have always felt there is an apparent lack of distinctive yet fun hair accessories available on the market at an affordable price, so I set up my Etsy in 2010 and only really put one thing up in a blue moon, but in 2011 I fell quite ill so I was unable to do much, so my shop really helped me to take my mind off how I was feeling. To be honest, had I not had this experience, I wouldn’t be here at all, so cheesy as it sounds, everything happens for a reason!


How did you go about getting people to know about your designs?
You know what, I really don’t know, this happened so organically! I am a very old fashion crafter. I cannot cope with social media, despite being fully aware of its importance. I guess I just took a table, a cute table cloth and got out there and sold stuff, or just through word of mouth! I believe ancient practices of market stalls really are the best! With this being said lately I am taking things like Twitter and Facebook a lot more seriously these days as of course they are a necessity in this internet age, and I find it amazing to connect with my customers. Connecting with bloggers is also fantastic, and it’s a wonderful community. I would still argue market stalls are truly wonderful to engage with your customers face-to-face. There is such a comradery between everyone, and it’s fantastic to network with other crafters and help each other out.


How would you describe your designs and what inspires you?

I think my designs could be described as cute, decadent, sweet, whimsical, playful, fanciful, chimerical, maybe even dreamy. I’m a little chaotic style wise, so many things I love inspire me, and that probably comes across in my designs! It’s kind of unpredictable. And truly everything inspires me; literally everything! It may be the colour of a bus, some beautiful flowers, perilously high heels, my favourite lipstick, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, street style, Betsey Johnson, Anna Sui, catwalk trends, magazines, Mcqueen, Harajuku girls, celebrities, and so it goes on! I live in a bubble of inspiration and my creative brain works 24/7 hours a day! This is good in some ways as it helps me to develop ideas quickly, but sometimes I get overwhelmed with how much I want to create and how there simply aren’t enough hours in the day!

Additionally, I do think being outside of any noticeable city helps, and this inspires me hugely as I’m kind of cut off from things in a good way. The beauty and the calm of my area are conductive to my being productive. While the items I design don’t make you think of sandy beaches and rolling countryside, I really doubt I could do this anywhere else. Moreover, I have been so, so fortunate, from as young as I can remember I have travelled the world and I know that shaped me, without a doubt, as I was constantly surrounded by amazing colour, music, art, culture and food.

Do you have a best-selling item, or a favourite design?

That would definitely be my glitter hair bows! I never ever would have dreamt when I first made them the reaction they would have. I created them about a year and a half ago but I could only debut them at the Clothes Show in December last year due to the schedule I was under, but now I make fresh batches every single day! My Disney items are also surprisingly popular, so anything with Bambi on or any classic Disney character. I guess so many love to tap into childhood nostalgia and I love that an accessory can bring back memories like that.

Do you have any advice for crafters wanting to take the next step and sell their creations?

Well like I said before, market stalls are a fantastic way to start, and so many stalls are as little as a few pounds and you will be surprised how much money can be made, and even if you don’t make much, you will learn so, so much. I do think cracking into the big wide web world is quite hard, but I would definitely advise anyone to join Etsy, Folksy or similar at first, so that you’re part of a community, so it’s kind of like one big market stall in a sense! I adore Etsy. I am so thankful to the community and I have met so many other gorgeous crafty ladies and that’s what it’s all about. Once you have built up a strong customer base it’s then good to look at places like Big Cartel, but this is just my personal opinion! Bear in mind some people will just shop on Etsy and so on. Most importantly though, be determined, be pro-active, network, have fun, be passionate, research your market thoroughly, have fun and never ever, ever give up! I truly believe this period in time is perfect to start a crafting business because interestingly there’s a massive crafting boom right now, despite the struggle for larger retailers in the economic climate. I guess that’s partly due to the fact people are really thinking about their spending, and crafting has the ‘specialness factor’ so it makes you stand out from the mainstream. And don’t be hard on yourself if you find it hard to sell much at first, simply take a back seat and evaluate what it is you adore about other stores, and make small changes. I find the best shops are the ones where I see an item and think, ‘ahh, that’s so, and so’s item!’. It’s really good to keep a scrapbook or simply note down how you want your shop to look from the start.

What are your hopes for the future of Beau xoxo?

Well Beauxoxo is my full time job now so I’m totally and utterly living the dream in that respect, I still can’t believe it! I don’t really plan a head much, I’m far too disorganised to do that, but I am currently working on my A/W12 range, doing summer markets, and generally making stock for the Clothes Show Live, which I am so excited for as it was incredible last year. But I guess it’s just about balancing things right now as you have to wear a lot of different hats from making to promotion to finance and so on! I’m so blessed to have an incredible family who are heavily involved. My Dad has always worked in accounts so he does all of that, my Mum has managerial experience so she just sorts me out in general as I’m utterly hopeless! My brother helps me pack and post my orders, and my grandmothers and Auntie help with the knitting throughout the year.

 I hope to have a baby range out late this year, an Alice in Wonderland and more themed collections, and one day I would absolutely love to have a crafting DIY book to encourage people to reuse, reinvent and reimagine things more, but otherwise, I’m just going to keep crafting, crafting, crafting!

Thanks to Georgie for that wonderful and insightful interview! I hope you have all enjoyed reading it. Pop over to Georgie's website to see more of her lovely items, and let me know what your favourites are in the comments below. I love her bow headbands, the pastel blue polka dot design in particular!


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11 New treasures: Megan Jane Jewellery

These are my latest little creations that are now listed on my jewellery website. They are quite vintage/retro inspired - I've had a lot of fun making them! Some of the pieces are one-offs, and others I will be making a few of, as I like to mix things up a bit. I still have lots of pieces to list including new birdcage necklace designs, so keep an eye out for those over the next couple of weeks.  

Rocking Horse Earrings

Hello Cupcake Necklace

Umbrella - ella - ella earrings

Tear drops in my eyes earrings

Hey Honey Bee Earrings

Mine's a tea necklace

I am keeping it short and sweet today, however I will be posting my Hello Handmade feature tomorrow, showcasing the work of the lovely Georgie of Beau xoxo, so pop back then if you want to hear all about her wonderful and whimsical hair accessories.

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11 I like to keep some things to myself...

Black top - Primark // Maxi Skirt - Next // Wedges - New Look // Sunglasses - New Look
WIWT // Chictopia

This is the outfit I wore yesterday to James's cousin's 1st birthday party. I did wear a cardigan though to keep my sun burnt shoulders and arms covered up. I know you can see that I'm burnt on the photos, but who cares - I thought I'd post them anyway! I really love this maxi skirt that my mum gave to me, it's the only one I have at the moment, but I do have a
gorgeous black maxi dress on it's way from Next, which again is thanks to my lovely mum for treating me.

I've spent the day making a few new jewellery pieces, some of which I will be listing on the website shortly, and will blog about tomorrow. They're quite vintage-y, quirky and cute, so I'm sure some of you will like them!

Oh and one more thing...
I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to my followers - old and new. I am so excited that I now have 90 of you following on GFC and gaining more and more of you on other platforms like Blog Lovin' and Hello Cotton. It means a lot to have you read my little blog, as I really enjoy sharing my posts with you all.



xo


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7 Weekly Wishlist...

1. Hearts & Bows Cream Blazer - Ark Clothing 2. USA Aubry Vest - Ark Clothing 3. Embellished Shoulder Bag - OASAP 4. Leopard Print Maxi Skirt - Select 5.  Lips in Idol - Topshop

So here's my wish list of the week! I absolutely love the bag from OASAP, I'm also in love with their petal edged shoulder 
bag in Watermelon red. I also really like the cream blazer from Ark. I definitely need to buy one as sometimes it's too hot to wear a jacket, but too cold for a cardigan, so you need something 'in between' like a fashionable fitted blazer!

Sorry there's been a lack of post, I've been chilling out and enjoying the sun! A little bit too much to be honest - I got so burnt yesterday after falling asleep in my parent's garden. Wear sun cream kids! Today I went to James's beautiful cousin Anna's 1st birthday party. She looked so sweet, and her mum and dad had decorated the garden so perfectly, with white heart
cut-out bunting, a tower of cupcakes, and hanging candles.

I am spending tomorrow making lots of new vintage-style jewellery pieces, so keep checking my jewellery store, as they will be listed soon.

Hope you've all had a fabulous weekend!

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14 Tea Room Treats

Today I went for lunch at the lovely White Rabbit Tea house in Nottingham! It is such a beautiful little place, decorated with floral wallpaper, cute table clothes and vintage crockery. I can't believe I've lived in Nottingham all of my life but hadn't even heard of this place before spotting Olivia's post on it, when she was visiting the city. I went with my friend Laura, who loves tea just as much as I do. It was our last lunch together in a while as she's moving back to her home village now that we've finished university. I am going to miss her lots, but we've promised to keep in touch and will no doubt be re-visiting the tea room again in the future. We treated ourselves to Egg Mayonaise sandwiches which were cut into triangles (my favourite), scrumptious chocolate malteaser cake, and two pots of traditional tea. It was so yummy, I definitely recommend you going there if you find yourself in Nottingham. They also do a traditional afternoon tea, which I think I'll be having when I visit again soon with my mum!

Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine!

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