COOKING IN THE KITCHEN WITH HELLOFRESH

A few weeks ago I was invited to London for a super fun blogging event that involves one of my favourite things...food! Good food at that! I headed over to the very trendy HelloFresh HQ office in London with some other fab bloggers to whip up a storm and put our my limited cooking skills to the test – Masterchef eat your heart out.

Apart from delivering goodness to the nations doorstep with their recipe boxes, HelloFresh have just launched their new range, a tasty affordable takeout style bag called HelloFresh GO. I love the concept of this healthy hybrid that sits somewhere between take out meets homemade cooking.

BODEN SPRING BLOOMS TOUR IN BRISTOL

If you're a Boden fan girl then you may have noticed a big green bus making its way around various cities last week over on their social media! Yes the Boden Spring Blooms tour with Bloom & Wild hit the streets of Bristol last Friday and I couldn't miss a chance to say hey to the lovely Boden peeps and Bristol bloggers, while checking out a few select pieces from their Spring collection.

Did I mention the amazing green double decker bus?! Yes parked in the heart of the city centre Boden has teamed up with beautiful concept florist, Bloom & Wild, to create a flower workshop on the lower deck while transforming the top deck into a mini Boden showroom, complete with changing room.

POP UP DINNER WITH DELA & MADE.COM

Before I went into hiding with the Flu, I was very excited to have been invited along to dinner by one of my favourite interior stores, Made.com, at their new Bristol pop up showroom. Ah yes an evening of social mingling with other bloggers, fantastic food by Dela and a general ah-ing and co-ing over their current range *swoon*

BLOGGER MEET UP AND A CLIFTON COLOUR PHOTO WALK

The great thing about the blogging world is the wonderful community of creatives that you can share your passion with, and yesterday I did just that. The lovely Laura from Cardboard Cities recently got in touch suggesting it could be fun to host a photo walk in Bristol. As I'm always up for fun, I immediately said I would help out and we pulled together a date and released it on twitter. The next day I was both equally surprised and thrilled to see that in less than 24 hours all the spots had been filled and we officially had a photo walk to plan!
Yesterday our plan came together and we met up with a fab bunch of ladies who had travelled from Wales, Bristol and Oxford to join in, and the weather could not have been more perfect. For those who aren't familiar with the concept of photo walk, it's pretty much what it says on the tin. 

We planned a rough route with some visually appealing destination points along the way and made some goodie bags filled with confetti, heart balloons, street chalks and other small pieces to have fun with. It was great to see everyone take photos, be inspired and network, and it's always great way to finally meet up with virtual friends in real life!



We created a #cliftonphotowalk hashtag for Instagram and twitter so people could see what we were up to and most of the ladies were sharing their day on snapchat too. We spent a good four hours out and about, and the kiddo even joined us for ice cream towards the end. Here are some of my favourite Instagram pics from the day.

Top left: Lucy from Capture By Lucy / Top right: Natasha from Candy Pop / Bottom left: Laura from Cardboard Cities / Bottom Right: Gemma from Hello it's Gemma

You can check out more images from everyone's Instagram feed here: Being Little / Cardboard Cities / Candy Pop / Capture By Lucy  / Golden Pulse / Hello It's Gemma  / Mermaid Gossip / Oyster & Pearl / Oxford Rosie /  Tigerlilly Quinn oh and me Wild & Grizzly

Go check out their feeds and follow them, they're a great bunch of ladies. We're hoping to do another one, as we didn't expect it to be so popular and we'll hopefully try a new location in Bristol to discover some hidden gems. If you're interested in coming along do let me know and Laura and I can send you an email when it the date is released. It would be lovely to see you there!

A CHRISTMAS WREATH WORKSHOP WITH LAURA ASHLEY

Even though it's still November, Christmas is so close that I can almost smell the pine needles and warmed mince pies, and I'm embracing every minute of it. I normally wait until December before I get festive but F has written his letter to Santa – which I'm trying to decipher – and his enthusiasm for all things sparkly is definitely infectious.

So I was super excited when the lovely peeps over at Laura Ashley asked whether I would like to host  a Customise Christmas Wreath workshop with some of my lovely blogging pals; Fritha,  Jessica,  Lottie, Adele, Laura and Laura for some Christmas fun, coffee and a catch up. Perfect!

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STYLING A SMUG SHELFIE

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend a super fun bloggers breakfast co-hosted by the lovely Tiffany from Curate and Display and beautiful SMUG in Islington, where we were asked to take part in a little styling challenge. Ran by owner and founder Lizze Evans, this wonderfully curated lifestyle and homewares store is like a little slice of heaven if you're into pretty things. Filled with some gorgeous designers wears, I cooed and ahhed as I passed the threshold, mentally making my Christmas wishlist to take back to Paul.

We were met with the smell of coffee and pastries which is by far my most perfect way to start any day, and after a quick catch up with some lovely online ladies we were set our challenge: to create and style a SMUG shelfie in 30 minutes using products from the store. Always one for a challenge and eager to get my hands on the beautiful ceramics, I browsed the shelves and shop corners collecting pieces as I went along.

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FANCY A BLOG HOP?

What is a Blog Hop?

When I was first invited to be part of a blog hop I wasn't really sure what it meant, but I soon found out it's a great way to share some of the beautiful bloggers out there and spread creativity/inspiration, while giving a little insight into the people behind the blog. Effectively you are tagged by a blogger to answer a set of questions and then you tag bloggers to hop on to afterwards, and so it continues, pretty cool ay. I was tagged by the lovely lady Katy Orme over at Apartment Apothecary, where you can discover the delights of interior design, along with a good dose of Liberty prints and DIY projects. Katy's eye for detail is fab and I love her London home.

My Answers

1. What have been the doings/makings/scribblings at your desk/making table in the last week? 
As the sun has been shining down, I've been taking advantage of the light and spent most of my waking hours outdoors, only to return as dusk settles in. But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. At the moment I have been focusing on photography, taking my Nikon D90 Digital SLR, iPhone 5c and Lomo Diana F+  out with me wherever I go, in the hopes that something magical might happen. My desk is piled high with magazines, interior design books and scribbled notes for projects, alongside some freelance work I've been commissioned for. At the moment I have found this Pom Pom garland I want to and recreate, and thanks to my lovely friend I have plenty of wool to get me started.

2. Where are you currently finding your inspiration? (influences, heroes/who, sources of inspiration, paths exploring)? 
My love of films and books are high on my inspiration list, not to mention freshly cut flowers and the hours lost to Pinterest. As I mentioned above I have magazines galore piled high on my desk and blogs bookmarked to read, I love to flick through the pages and drink it all in. Some of the things I'm reading at the moment are: Oh Comely, Frankie, Lionheart, Cereal, The Circle and my new Jane & Serge. A Family Album book. I am totally in love with this book and the photo's capturing their life together, it's all so dreamy – I feel a separate blog post coming on. Tonight I'll be settling down to watch The Great Beauty and all the wonder that it holds.

Another big change in the last month has been my diet and general well being. After a huge health scare and many tests and hospital visits, I have recently been given the all clear for cervical cancer after finding high grade pre-cancer cells had spread to the glands. I can't begin to express my relief, however this has given me the jolt I needed to look after myself in a way that I hadn't been before, so I have been trying to 'eat clean' which means to eat food as close to its natural state as possible, jacket potato yes, chips no. So all my cooking has been from scratch, creating my own sauces and I have avoided processed foods where possible. I have also given up wheat and have been eating a mixture of organic and vitamin rich foods to give my immune system a natural boost, as well as practising Yoga Nidra, exercising daily and seeing an amazing acupuncturist.

Image source

3. How important is being creative to you & how do you blend this with your work/life/family balance?
For me creativity, whether it's through words, images, crafts or even the music my feet moves too, is the essence of life. To see and discover new things, to create and imagine is to feel alive and always gives me a buzz. If I stay stagnant or stuck in a routine too long I start to get stir crazy, and due to this I try to be creative wherever I can in my day to day, be it taking photos on a walk, trying new recipes, playing new games with F and discussing topics that have captured my imagination. The small window of 'me time' is cherished beyond measure, where I can really let my hair down and get the creative juices flowing, but until then I am constantly juggling and looking for the extraordinary in every day life.

Now Meet My Hoppees

My first hoppee is the lovely Abigail from Abigail and the Future, a space filled with found treasures, Montessori crafts and wonderful photography documenting her adventures with Theo. I recently fell in love with her posts on Barcelona.

My second hoppee is Victoria from The Owl and the Accordian, I love her sweet and simple style of home, adorned with crotchet throws, plates, pots, prints and love. But mostly I love her Found series, which always introduces me to new reads and beautiful creative communities.

Both wonderful ladies will be posting their Blog Hop posts on Monday 7th July, so do stop by and enjoy. I'd love to hear what has been inspiring you recently?