We HEART Liberty!

A trip to ye olde city of London isn't complete without a visit to Liberty - the building is beautiful & oozes history, the window displays (especially at Christmas) are a joy to behold & inside is a rabbit warren emporium of wonderfulness.

For me though, Liberty is epitomised by the fabrics - there is just something quite special about those delicate prints, sophisticated colour palettes and drape & quality of the fabric that I find almost mesmerizing. I have been collecting bits of Liberty fabrics now for many years - they are not that easy to come by & are usually a bit pricey, but hey, the FEEL of them is so worth it! I recently made a series of paper organisers featuring a Liberty fabric covered button so that it added a touch of quintessential British vintage glam to my desk & all those mundane bills & invoices that needed tackling. I guess the aim is to one day have enough to incorporate into a divine patchwork quilt.

Talking of which, I am so very tempted to book a flight back to London just to feast my peepers on this new exhibition at the V&A (that's Victoria & Albert Museum for anyone that isn't sure - my most favourite place in the UK). Quilts 1700-2010 runs from 20th March until 4th July 2010 and features this beautiful Liberty Jack quilt (above) by Janey Forgan. *swoon* I need to see this exhibition!

Fabric lovers & patchworkers take note; to celebrate the Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition, Liberty Art Fabrics and the V&A Shop have collaborated on a limited edition collection of 18 printed cottons featuring designs from quilts in the V&A’s collections. All fabrics are 100% cotton and sold by the metre making them perfect for quilting, dressmaking and patchwork as well as homewares and many other craft projects. Prices start at just £3.50 for a fat quarter and can even be ordered online Yay! The V&A totally have this covered & you can even follow the behind the scenes action of the exhibition at the curators blog.

The big news of the moment is that Liberty have collaborated with US giant Target to offer an affordable range of fashion & homewares launching on March 14th. Luckily for us Brits the range can also be bought online from Liberty.co.uk and will be in the store itself from April. The designs will feature the Liberty's iconic micro-floral prints on bedding, gardening items, piggy banks, lamps, candles, storage boxes, ceramic and melamine dishes, and even a bicycle! Hello summer, riding through the park! And as for the dresses, well, check out the sneak peak video clip here... be warned, they are exceptionally gorgeous!

"I am thrilled by the way Target has interpreted the flower power of Liberty by mixing, in a very modern way, our heritage prints with the widest ever range of products from lingerie to design chairs to bicycles," said Geoffroy de La Bourdonnaye, chief executive of Liberty, in a release. "The collection is a very youthful interpretation of the love and rebellion values that Liberty of London stands for."

Confused & bemuddled at the choice of prints to get your mits on? Try the Patternality test on the Liberty of London & Target Facebook page. I took the test and they decided my pattern of choice is Mark. Personally I think I love the Sixty print most.

"You are a little arty and a lot delightful. Hopping into the convertible with your three-ring binder and your shoes off—it's splendid
And so it is with pride that Liberty of London can lead you to the fab paisley wonderland that is Mark. Dive in—it's wonderful in here."

The top snapshot of the Liberty building was taken on my last trip back to the UK at Christmas, down Carnaby Street. How delish is that!? I'm not sure if the building is always like that or whether it was part of the 60's vibe they had going on down Carnaby Street but I'm so glad I got to see it with my very own eyes!

Did you know that Liberty offers craft workshops? No, neither did I! But you can sign up a week ahead of each class and learn about sewing, knit, crochet, colour theory. Their current schedule can be found here

And finally, here's a little history...
Arthur Lasenby Liberty first opened his Regent Street store in London in 1875, selling ornaments, fabric and decorative objects from Japan and the East. In 1885 he expanded the location and added carpets and furniture. In the 1890s, Liberty built strong relationships with leading English designers of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements and incorporated the styles into the shop. Over the decades, Liberty of London grew into a destination emporium for eclectic renderings of contemporary and traditional designs in fabrics, homegoods, furniture, accessories, gifts and apparel.

Get Smitten's Giant Spring Clearout Sale!

 As it is now officially Spring I thought it time to have a huge stock clearance sale at Get Smitten. There are lots of fab new summery handmade goodies ready for the Spring Summer collection & quite frankly I need to make some room for them here at Get Smitten HQ!

And so (drum roll if you please........) for a limited time you can grab yourself a whopping 50% off your online order by entering the discount code BIGFAT50 at the checkout!

but wait there's more. Mother's Day in the UK is March 14th and so I will be giving away a FREE handmade Mother's Day card with every order. Yep, that's right 50% off all those gorgeous handmade Get Smitten goodies AND a free Mother's Day card. I know, I'm too good to you. (if you're not from the UK, hold on to the card for later in the year - you have Mother's Day too right?!)

Here's a sneak peak at some of the bargains you can bag and don't forget that all purchases are beautifully wrapped & tied with a Get Smitten printed lace tag

 

Birds & Bees silk cushion in grey & yellow was £45 now £22.50

Esme Flirty Scented Sachet to make your undies smell divine! Was £25 now £12.50

Truly, Madly, Deeply one-off necklace was £20 now £10

Offer applies while stocks last & the 50% off does not apply to postage costs. You need to enter the discount code at the checkout in order to receive the reduction. Happy shopping!

Peachy Keen - some Monday eye candy

I had a bit of spare time this afternoon to catch up with a few of my favourite inspiration blog sites & this delish colour palette just seemed to be calling out my name everywhere I looked.

1. Hair Candy by Get Smitten. I love this product shot, the Beautigloss yarn is just divine but I ended up using the shots with the vintage dress patterns on the site for continuity
2. Birdcage print by Lovely Pieces as seen on The Bright Side Project. This gorgeous print is part of their daily give-away; pop over to the site, answer the question "do you believe in love at first sight?" & hope that you'll be picked as the lucky winner!
3. Floral display by Saipua as seen on Design*Sponge. I totally LOVE everything that the peeps from Saipua do with flowers
4. Sweet Nothings diy project by Halligan Norris for Design*Sponge. Love the cute styling on this shot

Chocolate Hot Pots - with a spicy Valentine's twist!

In my dreams I gorge on chocolates, I roll in chocolates, and their texture is not brittle but soft as flesh, like a thousand mouths on my body, devouring me in fluttering small bites. To die beneath their tender gluttony seems the culmination of every temptation I have ever known.

JOANNE HARRIS, Chocolat

hmmmmm chocolate; considered throughout history as an aphrodisiac, an indulgence and a delightful gift for the one you love (although take note chaps.. a box of mass produced choccies from the petrol station on your way home does not a sensual Valentine's gift make!)
If you've ever read Joanne Harris's wonderful novel, Chocolat (or indeed seen the movie of the same name - hello Johnny Depp!) you may have wondered, as I did, what that combination of chilli & chocolate is really like? I experimented with this recently when we had an impromptu dinner party & I needed to whip up something delish for dessert. My best 'last minute but looks like you're a kitchen goddess' dessert recipe is form the Domestic Goddess herself - Nigella Lawson
Her chocolate hot pots ( I think she calls them Choco Hoto Pots) are so easy to make, without any tricky ingredients & really do have the wow factor - sometimes I garnish them with raspberries, or mint leaves & I once served them up with orange slices that had been soaked in Amaretto. On this particular occasion I added a cheeky teaspoon or two of chilli powder - and this is how I'll be serving them up for Valentine's Day tomorrow
Here is the run down of the recipe, taken from the video clip below - pouting & sensual licking of the spoon is optional!

• 3/4 cup / 100g  of dark chocolate (70% or above) broken into chunks
• 1 stick / 4oz / 115g softened unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup / 5oz / 150g of sugar
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tsp chilli powder (with this much you can taste it but it's not too hot!)

Set oven at 200 degrees C. Melt the choc chunks with the butter in a bain marie, add the chilli (vary according to taste) & set aside to cool a bit. Whisk the eggs & sugar together & add in the flour.  Fold in the cooled choc mixture. Pour into four greased ramekins & put them onto a tray in the the oven for about 20 mins



And here is the lovely Nigella at her sensual best... enjoy!
Think I'll get my sugar fix this evening by watching the movie, have a great weekend xx

Wear the Colours of Your Country

February 12th sees the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which I'm strangely excited about for some reason?! I'll confess that I'm not your greatest sports fan and, unless it's on the Wii (I'm a legend at the Ski Jump!), I'm not that good at playing them either. Although I'm happy to cheer my Nation on in sports events - {flashback to yelling myself hoarse on the Sydney Opera House steps watching the Rugby World Cup Finals in 2004} - you'll certainly NEVER catch me wearing any of those hideous team shirts or painting my face red, white & blue. So when I saw these cute ballerina flats by Pretty Ballerinas on Daily Candy this morning, it made me smile. This is how I would be wearing the colours of my country - with style! Love the nod to the punk movement with the addition of the safety pin detail. Go Team GB Go! The pumps come in a number of other Nationalities too.

Valentine's Wish List (hint hint!)

It's Wednesday afternoon & Valentine's Day is this coming Sunday, so I've left it a tad late I know! But, for what its worth, here is my little wish list...

 

Paris: Made by Hand by Pia Jane Bejkerk

First is this book of hand selected places in Paris to find wonderful hand-made lovliness. It is by the amazingly talented Pia Jane Bijkerk - a stylist working between Sydney, Amsterdam & Paris and is basically an all singing, all dancing, full colour version of her stylist's little black book (we all have one you know!) Her blog is both beautiful & inspirational, you have to check it out! Jez & I are seriously overdue a trip to Paris & I ain't going without this baby tucked into my weekend bag!

 

Flea Markets of France by Sandy Price & Emily Laxer

Second is another little book, again on the Paris trip theme but this time covering all the best flea markets & Brocantes to find vintage treasures. I stumbled across it while searching for Pia's book & well, while you're at the bookstore you may as well get both! This covers the whole of France so it will be invaluable in hunting down wonderful new bits & pieces throughout the year as we travel around on photo shoots

Third is the box set of Flight of the Conchords - Series 1 & 2. These guys make me laugh so much, I never tire of watching them. I would love to catch a live performance & had actually watched all of their live clips on YouTube before I had seen a single episode of the series. Pure genius



So many clips to choose from, but here is a live version of "It's Business Time"

Finally, and most unlikely (as they have all already sold out), is one of the totally incredible, limited edition Rob Ryan Valentine lasercuts. Swoon. Image from the Rob Ryan blog. Oh if only I had seen it earlier!

To be honest, we rarely exchange gifts on Valentine's day - for us it's more about sharing a day together & usually revolves around food! (I'll be posting my fave Valentine's dessert recipe later.) This year we plan to take the cable car up to the Aiguille du Midi (it's right behind our house) and catch the adjoining Helbronner cable car over into Italy for a high altitude coffee & ice-cream. Hope it's a sunny day - the views will be breathtaking!

Love is all you need

So as February is here (already!), it is the perfect excuse to revamp the front page of the Get Smitten online boutique with some new prettiness. I put together this graphic as the new opening page image - I'm totally loving grey & yellow at the moment

The "Love is all you need" graphic is one of 3 new FREE e-card designs, the flower necklace is "Sweet, Sweet Rose" and the final image is a detail of my thoroughly gorgeous "Boudoir Butterflies" textile artwork. All available online here!
There is a dedicated *Valentine's Gift Ideas" section to help you find the perfect hand made gift for your loved one & some flirty, vintage cards too. Enjoy xx