the palest white xx

my treasury on etsy
here for all the details

xx

happy christmas xx

dreaming christmas
by kristybee via etsy

wishing you all the most lovely christmas
hope your day is all you wish for
xx

eat, drink & be merry x

there's something so nostalgic about christmas food.....i suppose only to be expectedwhen so much of people's christmas is to do with traditions, whether they are general seasonal traditions or familial.

my mum always makes her own christmas puds which i absolutely adore and wish would last longer than they always do......i love turkey, but could quite happily skip it in favour of a big plateful of roast potato's and lovely veg & the ubiquitous stuffing.......leaving lots of turkey for my very very favourite turkey sandwiches, which have to be on the freshest of white bread with lots of homemade stuffing......mincepies - can happily take or leave them.....

i might start my own tradition this year, giving christmas cookies along with christmas cards.......i am quite taken with baking at the moment, and just love these christmas cookies from *canelle-vanille*

favors by canelle-vanille
via flickr

what a lovely treat to recieve
xx

dear santa.....x

letter to santa by embem30
via flickr

.....i've tried my hardest to be good this year, and whilst i havn't always succeeded the intentions have been there. my list this year is short & sweet.....
*a year free(ish) of aches and pains for my mum & especially my dad
*a lovely long hot english summer
*time spent at home with friends & family

oh, and if it's not too much trouble & you have room in your sack, a few gift vouchers for *anthropologie* would never go unappreciated or unspent......

love from me xx

a cluster of glee x

after yesterday's "lost" post here's something that i hope will make you smile as it did me......

*a cluster of glee*
from
dottie angel

silver bells
*snowballs* of yarn
felt snowflakes
lace
shell buttons

makes me want to rush home & find out what bits of glee i can find to make my own cluster of gleefullness
thank you to dottie angel for the wonderful inspiration

wishing you a happy start to the week
xx

lost x

lostdeer by danske via flickr

ever have those days where you feel you don't belong, where you feel out of place everywhere you go, days when you feel your world has slipped on it's axis and is spinning at a slightly different speed to everyone else's?

today has been one of those days......

here's hoping your weekend has been lovely xx

lazy days x

enjoying a rare saturday off in hong kong......had a quick stroll around sham shui po this morning (ok, so that was a little bit of work!) followed by lunch and then a little more shopping.....back to hotel to make my christmas cards and then a little more (internet) christmas shopping...

baubles & pj's from *toast*

...isn't that just one of the best ways to shop - curled up in cosy pjs tucked up on the sofa?

have a lovely saturday
xx

joyeux noel x

these would make a really simple but classy christmas card or a lovely extra touch to christmas wrapping.....

joyeux noel fabric covered button
from *notonthehighst*

xx

christmas fairies x

i think there must be companies in hong kong whose sole purpose is to design the wonderful christmas decorations in hong kong. how else could you explain the amazing displays in the hotels and shopping malls around the city? what a wonderful job?

outside harbour city shopping mall is a huge flight of stairs with a canopy overhead, it's the greatest space......last years theme was a christmas railway station with the canopy filled with suitcases with angel wings, clocks of all shapes and sizes, i loved it.....this year it's a shimmery sugar plum coated vision of christmas fairies in pink, cream and lilac.....so cute x

photo by me
more here

&
more tomorrow
xx

lilac reindeers x

as promised.......lilac reindeers, with chandeliers for antlers, strewn in pearls and christmas decorations..........x

photo by me
see more here

hope your week is off to a wonderful start
xx

fairy birds x

arrived in hong kong yesterday and had a lovely girly night out with lots of gorgeous tapas and cocktails......the christmas decorations here are as lovely as ever, ever so slightly over the top in a wonderful way that just stops short of tacky!......amazing lilac reindeers and cherubs in the foyer of our hotel which have to be the highlight so far!

for now will leave you with this sweet christmas fairy bird.....another of my wishlist christmas decorations......

christmas fairy bird from cottonbirddesigns
via etsy

have a lovely weekend
xx

ps
will post photos of the lilac reindeer soonish
xx

calling birds x

i'm practising the art of procrastination at the moment.....i should be packing for one last trip before xmas and instead i'm looking for christmas decorations on various lovely websites.....

i love these painted tin birds......have seen them lots of places but these are from the wonderful *cox&cox*....

i am now going to pack

well
maybe one more quick look before i go

goodnight
xx

advent x

the start of christmas.......

did you open the first door of your advent calender yesterday?
do you think that branded & character chocolate advent calenders are now so commonplace that they are now the traditional calender, or, as i'm hoping, with our return to handmade & homemade values they might slowly diminish in popularity? i'm not sure, but if i was to think about having an advent calender this year, this one is top of the list......

advent buckets by sage
via *notonthehighstreet*

buckets to be filled (and then refilled next year) with small treats

have a days holiday from work today
(hurrah)
to be filled with xmas shopping
baking cupcakes, lemon shortbread & mini mincepies
a little more cleaning
making xmas cards

a busy but fun day
xx

auntie peggy has departed x

lovely art installation of crochet doilies hung in disused telephone booths at london's aldwych tube station........

doilies are like dreamcatchers
each knot holding a thought
a memory
xx

auntie peggy has departed
*soundtrack*

found via pia jane bijkerk

my sunday
a morning of shopping for wool for a cable knit throw
&
lots of new fairy lights
sunday lunch with mum & dad
afternoon of tidying
quiet evening curled up on sofa
surrounded by tea lights
&
a few sneaky baubles have magically appeared
(i know, i know, it's not even december yet, & i'm not usually like this at all but just feel very xmassy very early this year!)

enjoy the last moments of your weekend
xx

figs & espresso x

one of my favourite parts of my job is putting together mood boards, searching for that one image that is just perfect to sum up everything you are trying to convey......i really love the colour boards on 100 layer cake; their colour combinations are gorgeous, the images really simple but just right....here's one of my favourites from earlier this year.......

*modern fall* from 100 layer cake

and
a few complimentary lovelies from anthropologie

fluffy floral beret

smoky petal necklace

head in the clouds cardigan

always a lady skirt

pizzazz tights

stacked smoke heels

hope you're having a lovely & not too chilly week
xx

tidy x

most weekends cleaning & tidying are the very last item on my *to do* list, but this weekend marked the start of my christmas cleanup.......i get to the point where i can't bear any mess and clutter and go through the house like a whirling dervish......so today, downstairs got the full tidy treatment, and i'm now sitting in my very tidy living room, with tealights & candles lit, enjoying this sunday evening....

gorgeous tealights on stairs
from
*weheartit*

i hope you have all had a lovely weekend
and enjoy your sunday evening
xx

(only) 5 and a bit weeks to xmas..... x

.....and i am absolutely in love with this tree from john lewis......

hope your week is going well....only 2 days till the weekend.....
xx

treats for a tuesday x

a few favourites from etsy today.....

gorgeous round travel case from sadieoliver

flowered mohair shawl by elde

seam series bottles by taylorceramics

divine tapestry clutch from sadieoliver

(one for my xmas wishlist)

leather ruffle bag by stacyleigh

true fairy stories from sadieoliver

handmade round bud vases by chezdanisse

have a truly lovely tuesday
xx

odd molly x

i love *oddmolly*.....their website alone is just so much fun and lovely to look at.....and the clothes are joy, unashamedly girly, beautifully embroidered & embellished, gorgeous colours & detailing you find on only the most considered of clothing ranges.....my wishlist this season would include....

butterfly embroidered smock dress

indy dress

in
khaki rose print
or cream butterfly print

pink smock blouse

all images from *odd molly*

have spent an incredbly quiet sunday thinking about xmas
about cards.....handmade or bought ones?
about decorations.....save & use last years, or splurge & buy new ones
xmas trees.....real or artificially kitsch
and
fairy lights.....how many are too many

hope you've had a lovely weekend whatever you chose to do
xx

sleep x

over.the.hills from we heart it

my sleeping patterns are a little haywire......not quite still on hk time, not really on uk time, in some strange halfway house between the two.....i have a great knowledge of early morning telly, and do you know the hours between 3 and 7 in the morning seem so much longer than hours you have during the day? then i can't keep my eyes open after about 7 in the evening......having a very cosy couch is not helping at all, as i snuggle further and further promising myself i won't shut my eyes & failing miserably....!

today i'll leave you with a lovely collection of images found on *we heart it*......roses, teacups, cupcakes & those dear little deers....

all images from *we heart it*

have a lovely saturday
xx

it's cold x

i am back home
& even though it's colder, wetter, greyer than china, i am so so so pleased to be home.......

i love the autumn and the winter....
i love the early dark nights (you can sing to your hearts content in the car without everyone thinking you're a complete nut)
you have the perfect excuse for curling up on the sofa (well if it's raining out, why go out?)
and you can wrap up in cardi's and scarves and gorgeous winter coats

i love this coat from *cabbages & roses*

a soft puffball dress & opaques - just add oversized cardi

all from *cabbages & roses*

oh
and another great thing about the autumn
it means it's nearly
xmas
xx

still here.....not there x

going the wrong way

by ianton via flickr

a beautiful foggy picture of china which completly sums up my feelings at the moment......i was hoping very much to be home by now, but work commitments mean i should stay an extra week. feel very torn between wanting to be home amongst family & friends and feeling the need to stay to finish a job properly......i hope you are all very well and forgive me for neglecting you a little longer.....i miss not being able to chat every day & am so looking forward to sharing new finds and thoughts on a more regular footing from next week

crossing all fingers & toes

xx

sunday again x

a thousand lanterns by irenes via flickr

still in hong kong....the weather is warm but the sky is dark and looks suspiciously full of rain, though i wouldn't be completely adverse to a great big humdinger of a thunderstorm if we had one....

i'm in a quandry today, whether to venture out and explore or just to sit still and enjoy the peace & quiet? sometimes i feel as if i should be out seeing everything hk has to offer, then i remember i'm not exactly on holiday here, and the normal thing to do after a long week at work is to take time out for me, enjoy the simple pleasures of reading, eating good food, indulging in tv watching and doing very little, and why should it be that different here?

i'm back in china for another week next week, & then hopefully back home in the uk sometime next weekend, where more regular blogging should resume (fingers crossed xx)