Are You Thready?

My crafting mojo has finally come back, and yippee, just in time to get going on a lovely craft project from White Stuff. The Are You Thready campaign invites White Stuff customers to get creative and help raise a goal of £16,000 via the White Stuff Foundation which supports local community charities. They are asking all crafty (and non crafty) folks to design a fabric patch and hand it back in store or you have the option of posting it. For every patch received online or in store White Stuff will donate £5 to the shops local charity. 

You can either design one of their pre-cut patches, or be inventive and make your own. What is particularly inspiring is that up for grabs is a wonderful crafting holiday for two in Italy and which I think sounds utterly divine and right up my street. Also up my street is this gorgeous personalised apron White Stuff sent as a surprise, wearing it certainly got me in the mood for crafting :)

The patch I was given to decorate was lovely just as it was with the dramatic owls and cute design, I had to think really hard to decide how to decorate it.

If you happen to need supplies, for every sewing kit sold, White Stuff will donate all the profits from each sale to help the foundation reach its goal. 

They really are the cutest kits, and so, so pretty!

Finished patches are to be handed in by the 10th March, where each store will hold a lovely tea party (I'll be there) whilst store staff do a little judging of entries. A store winner will be announced and that winner shall receive a £50 White Stuff voucher. All winning patches will then be judged at White Stuff HQ for an overall winner who shall get to fly to Tuscany for a fantastic 6 night luxury artistic retreat Having never been to Italy, but so wanting to, also loving textiles and creativity, I of course was eager to get my entry in. 

Firstly I gathered some of my fabrics.

Then I thought of a design for the patch, I knew it had to be something inspiring, that would bring a smile to my face and pretty, oh yes, it has to be pretty. 

   Soon I started cutting out my little inspiring shapes for the patch. Then I cut some more. 

I soon realised this was actually quite a fiddly job, but was enjoying every second.

What is so lovely about this campaign is that every single patch entered will be used in either a cushion or quilt, and which will then be donated to each of the 104 charities White Stuff support. I think that this is the real magical part of the project and am so happy the patches will go on to be used in this way. 

So here's a little peek at my finished patch which has a definite 'Home Sweet Home' vibe to it.

I shall look forward to handing it in, and am also looking forward to that little tea party - good luck if you join in and get thready with your patch! 

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Iconic Lights - Retro Telephone Lamp

I'm veering away from the very pink, girly look I post about so much and offering up something a little bit different from me today. As part of the home interiors ambassador programme at Iconic Lights I get to preview their new lighting designs, trends and, even on occasion, get to try out one or two of their stylish lights at home. 

Of course, there will always be a vintage, retro vibe to anything that makes it's way through my front door, and this table lamp is no exception. I am testing out the fantastically cool Retro Style Telephone Table Lamp and I have to say it looks stunning! In fact I think it's the first black table lamp that I have ever had at home, and it works really well against my white brick effect background. 

It arrived with the large black lampshade rolled up and you simply velcro the two plastic hoops provided onto the flattened out shade, remove the self-adhesive strip and stick the end of the shade in place. 

It was so simple to do, and perfect for home delivery as because the shade is rolled up there is very little chance of it arriving with any dents etc. Here is a photograph of one of the hoops being rolled onto the shade.

The black telephone base is so authentic and creates a very quirky vibe to the room.

Next, it was time to attach the lampshade to the base. As this is a vintage/retro style lamp, I really wanted to have a vintage style bulb too. I found this one when I was out and about and thought it perfect for the lamp.

The bulb, with it's squirrel cage filament, is really big and works so well with the table tamp, almost like they were made for each other.

I found the perfect spot for it in the corner of the dining room, I have already had lots of comments from visitors how lovely it is. Its quite an oversized lamp so a real statement piece!

I think it stands out really well on the drawer unit I painted, and with our "Just remember: As far as anyone knows we are a nice, normal family" hanging sign on one of the drawers - how I love that sign!

 When the light is switched on in the evening, it creates a lovely warm glow against the black shade.

I love this black and white image I took of it - very film noir.

Iconic Lights really do offer some amazing and quirky lights that are perfect for both vintage and contemporary interiors so if you're looking for new lighting, or some inspiration, I'd say their website is well worth a look.

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Disclosure: As I am part of the Iconic Lighting brand ambassador programme, I was sent the Retro Telephone Lamp for the purposes of this blog post. All words and opinions my own.  

Trespass 'Ladna' Long Jacket - Review

As this cold weather has me well and truly reaching for my hat, scarf and gloves, I was more than happy to offer a review of a very cosy looking long jacket from Trespass The jacket in question is a faux fur trim down jacket and is from the Ladna collection. It comes in Wildberry, Black, Khaki and Parchment colour ways. I thought the Parchment a little different and a nice fresh colour to choose this season so I chose that colour. The jacket has many features, including an adjustable zip off hood, removable faux fur trim, two zip pockets (with one internal pocket) and a two-way zip. 

When the jacket arrived it was a very cold day and I couldn't wait to wear it on my next venture out into the world. As soon as I tried it on, firstly I noticed the fit, neither too big, nor too small but true to my size. I'm a small 10 and the size small fitted me perfectly. The quilted design creates a very luxurious touch and I really felt like I was walking around wearing a mini duvet, it felt so cosy. Teamed with a casual pair of jeans and a light jumper, even with it unzipped, I still felt so warm.

For me, I love the longer length, I'm around 5'4" and the coat reaches just past my knees. On wearing it you really can feel the difference from wearing a shorter style coat. I thought I may have felt a bit constrained, or hemmed in with it being a longer style but I didn't have that feeling at all, especially with the two zip function. There is plenty of space to move around and my legs definitely felt warm and protected. Also, as it is water resistant if I'm caught out in a shower wearing it, then lucky me as the longer length keeps most of my body nice and dry.

With its array of features it really does become quite an adaptable coat, perfect for those cold wintry walks in the country and then when the weather has warmed up a little, you can start to peel layers off the jacket. 

Firstly, the faux fur trim can be unzipped off.

Then, when the weather warms up even more you can unzip the actual hood off altogether.

I have to also mention the quality of the coat. In my opinion the coat is priced very reasonably with it already at a much discounted price. There are some similar high end branded coats and jackets out there, and having tried some of those jackets on myself, I believe this Trespass jacket more than matches, and perhaps even beats the quality of those but for a fraction of the price. It really is very light too, so it never feels heavy or weighted down on me. Also, one thing I notice about hooded coats is often the hood's are quite big for my head though with this jacket the hood is volume adjustable via a toggle at the back of the hood, so I can now see where I'm going. 

Without doubt this is a fantastic coat, not only in terms of the reasonable price but I think the performance is top notch and I can't fault it. I am yet to wash it but pleased to see it is machine washable, so far any little marks on it I have just been able to wipe clean which has worked out fine. As someone who feels the cold, when I wear this jacket I can honestly say I have never owned a coat that has made me feel so warm wearing it. With the cold snap in store I have a feeling this jacket is going to get rather well used....

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Disclosure: I was provided with the Trespass Jacket for the purposes of this review post. All words and opinions are my own.