Spring Update...

I haven't blogged at all this year, or in fact since way before Christmas, so I'll try and cram in all that I can.

It's a lovely light evening. I've been unwell recently and so taking up my previously successful 'self preservation' technique of coming upstairs early. Not intending to sleep straight away, but as the bedroom is north facing, we get the evening sun from the west which fills the room with a yellow glow. The house is empty over the Easter school holidays so I am making this most of this luxury. I've not been allowed tea or coffee for the past few weeks and today, I have much enjoyed the process of making a pot of tea again, as much as drinking it. So beside me is a large mug of rose tea, and a bar of Galaxy Caramel...

Firstly, a new candle collection was launched in February,as part of the new Country Folk Tale Collection which will include fabrics, ceramics, stationery and home fragrance. I have spent months designing pattern, putting together whimsical design boards of woodland flora and fauna, old English botanical prints and colour samples to piece together a folk-inspired collection, which I hope will tell a story.

The candles collection is made up of four 'Hedgerow' scents. I loved trialling these, and blending so many of our much loved wild flower scents. It really does take you back to childhood memories in the countryside, and making perfumes with posies of gathered flowers and water!

We had some photography done, and were featured in Deco Mag too.

The four fabulous scents are Foxglove & Lemon Balm, Wild Plum & Gorse Flower, Elderflower & Wild Mint, and Blackcurrant & Yarrow. You can buy them here, with FREE postage this week..

Also this week, I've been on Pinterest, pinning all sorts of wonderful images. I did actually join last year, but never quite got the hang of it, but gave it another go, and now have around 15 boards with a mix of Delphi Burling products, style, and 'Britishness'! You can follow us here

So, back to the new fabrics... I wanted to re-invent a few of the existing fabrics, and simplify the designs with more neutral pallets, as well as adding completely new designs. The two themes for these, are 'Country Folk Tale, which will be simple repeats, muted pastels and will coordinate with the candle collection. The second theme is 'Whitefield', which is our Edwardian home, and an absolute delight for Edwardian, 1920's-1950's block work and old wallpapers. I saved some of these to work on. To recreate and bring back to life...

Here are some of the raw repeats I've been working on. They are still very much work in progress.

This Easter weekend will be a rather busy one. We'll be in Romania next week where I plan on finding some more inspiration for the designs and exploring the beautiful castles and citadels. I have aimed big for the gardens this year with a rather adventurous amount of seedlings to transplant before I go!

So for now, have a wonderful Easter break, and I shall write again next week before I go.

Leanne xx

Festive Round-up, And Planning For The Year Ahead.....

First of all, Happy New Year!

The festive season was a special one for us in 2012, as it was my son, Harry's first Christmas; and also because Mr S was home this year. I'm used to spending every other month by myself, but it's always a little harder at Christmas if he's away, so we all had some lovely family time....

I had the added joy of creating a 'Christmas Mantle', as we'd finally had the fireplace and stove fitted in December. I received some beautiful gifts from Nicki, who writes the wonderful blog homebird
including some pretty candles, which were swiftly added to my display!

I also made use of the abundance of holly and ivy in the garden and made a few winter wreaths....

Christmas Box Success!

The Christmas boxes were a huge success, and thanks to everyone who purchased, we raised over £400 for charity.
Here's some snaps of the work in progress.....

Planning With Intent

So the first few days of 2013, I spent clearing away the remnants of last year, wearing some Spring florals to brighten up the drab weather, getting my work in order, and sitting down with my new diary, a cup of tea and a lit candle (this has always helped me concentrate), and turned straight to the back of the book, to the 'notes' section, to write my Plans/Resolutions for 2013.

Like a lot of people, I plan with intent. I enjoy the process and the quiet excitement of thinking about, and writing down wonderful things that I think I could achieve.... but also, like a lot of people, when the page these plans are written on closes, quite often, you forget about it. They are swallowed up by everyday life...

So this year, I'm doing it differently.

One of the things I used to do in my old job, was a form of Life Planning through Graphic Facilitation. This process involves an illustrated chart of your life, who you are, your qualities and also your weaknesses, where you are in life, and where you want to be. Then, you set about, through flow and process diagrams, how you are going to get there. What's more, is that this kind of planning makes you discover more about yourself, and realise that nothing is impossible.
Through everyday small steps, you can achieve almost anything....

So if you've made plans and resolutions for yourself, with intent, please do have a go, and keep it in view every day. As one of the worst things you can do in life, is lose sight of yourself.

Make 2013 about You

L xx