swoon.

last weekend was delicious. cue the jealousy because, hold.the.phone...i spent it with sophie, yuhuh, you heard me right.... 'her library adventures'. after realising we now lived only a hop, skip and a jump away from each other, it was time to reunite like the old blogging friends that we are. i've missed this girl, she's a real treat and our saturday morning spent wandering west end's market, art shed, coffee/book/op shops and discovering the cutest boutiques and new favourite read was swoon worthy. chatting into the evening about future plans, blogging goals and more thrifting adventures just assured me that this one is a keeper. after a super delicious saturday,  my sunday was spent in my makeshift axminster adorned studio screenprinting to my heart's content. 3 teapots and 3 cupcakes later, i'm officially besotted. a few of my prints are already on their way to new homes, i'm humbled. this weekend sees the screenprinting happening all over again, this time working on a couple of special projects for two very special people and a bit of eames lovin'. it's only 40 days until i'm off and although torn with conflicting emotions, i'm ready. i'm following my heart no matter the cost. no matter the cost. 

 a market find.

the couch at 'two trees'.

saturday's goodies.

baby pineapples mean only one thing...photo shoot!

sunday's colours.

poppin' the kettle on.

i'm in love.

a sweet treat.

super lekker.

with only 3 weekends to play with whilst in europe i had to make sure my plans were pre-organised to make them as fun packed as possible. the first weekend would be my london weekend spent with family and my best friend, the second my extended weekend with my girls in paris and the third spent in beautiful holland. with my two best friends in europe, it was important for me to spend some valuable time with them, sharing in their daily lives and getting to know their friends and surroundings. never having been to holland but living through trudy’s beautiful photos, i was excited to get to know a place i’d heard so much about. of course i expected to see windmills, tulips, clogs, drink delicious beer, bike everywhere and meet handsome dutchmen…well, i can safely say that it delivered all that and more. i flew into amsterdam from copenhagen on thursday evening, making my way to rotterdam as soon as i had landed. i arrived at trudy & tom's just before 7 and it wasn’t long before we were chatting over a home cooked meal in their gorgeous central rotterdam apartment. before i knew it we were out cycling around town. designated cycle paths and the bike friendly atmosphere had me in bicycle heaven. here we were, cruising the streets of rotterdam at 9pm at night without a care in the world. friday morning saw me sleeping my copenhagen exhaustion away and then meeting trudy for a wander around her local opshop and late lunch at her favourite cutie pie café spot, picknik. it was a chilly but sunny rotterdam afternoon spent catching up over chicken & coriander curry soup and coffee. as this was the last leg of my europe adventure, i could feel the tiredness setting in. saturday morning saw the three of us wandering the local markets with coffees the size of our heads and saw me stumbling across vintage fabric heaven. a 2 euro retro teapot and several floral pillowcases later, i was slowly but surely falling in love with rotterdam. trudy and i wandered the local shops buying ridiculously cute stationary and gathering ingredients for a big chicken curry i’d be whipping up for our last dinner. a few beers, curry and some lounge room dancing later and we were heading out to meet some of their favourite dutchies. i was onto my second belgian beer (my new favourite) and i soon found myself surrounded by a group of gorgeous dutchies. my crappy attempts at the dutch language (except for lekker and dank je wel) were smiled at and soon i couldn't get enough of this captivating crowd. after what can only be described as an incredible night, i was cursed with the hangover from hell, so our amsterdam plans were pushed back to later in the afternoon. a mid morning brekkie date with trudy’s nearest and dearest dutchie brought girl talk over plates of eggs, bread, juice and coffee. we were soon on our way to amsterdam where i would fly back to london later that night. as soon as we arrived in amsterdam we made our way to the quaint canals and strolled through the decorative neighbourhoods. sadly at this point I was a slither of my former self with what would turn out to be the first stages of food poisoning. in my sorry state i was unable to really appreciate the beauty of the city, but knowing i will be heading back next year has me comforted that i will get to revisit and discover all it has to offer. i left a piece of my heart in rotterdam. my favourite souvenir of the trip? a little piece of someone else's.

the obsession for hagelslag has begun.

market wanderings.

rotterdam.

the two euro teapot.

amsterdam decor.

beautiful canals and bike culture of amsterdam.

hitching a ride.

houseboat heaven.

street art, rotterdam.

vintage heaven.

with a girls weekend planned in paris and a 4 day weekend in denmark and holland on the cards, i was only left with one weekend to play in london. arriving early thursday morning i soon got into the wandering mindset and set off to explore. the next few days would see me vintage clothes shopping in covent garden, wanting to spend far too many pounds in orla kiely, beginning a love affair with liberty, reuniting with my old love anthropologie, visiting vintage heaven that completely blew my mind, conversing over scones and devonshire tea, impressed by incredible looking brownie stacks at the borough markets and eating some of the freshest british strawberries, ever.

it wouldn't be fair to overload you with a million photos, because let's face it, that's what instagram is for....so i'm going to spend the rest of this post sharing my love for a little place called 'vintage heaven'. if you've got yourself a copy of 'spaces' (if you haven't, then please, your life will be richer for it) then you may just know where i'm talking about. my new favourite companion 'london style' describes VH as 'a hoarders paradise, where every possible surface is packed with vintage glass, china, cutlery, books, fabrics; you name it, if it's from the 1940's- 1960's, chances are you'll find it here'. as it's only open on weekends to coincide with the infamous columbia road flower markets, my best friend and i hit VH around 3.30pm on my first saturday in town. as soon as we turned the corner onto columbia road, a collective of secondhand homewares stacked neatly out front had my eyes popping. inside staffordshire potteries were nestled comfortably with meakin, above mounds of vintage floral fabric and decorative teapots. crockery was stacked in colours and even themes, this place soon became my most favourite place on earth. london style says 'it may be hard to take it all in, but it will be harder to leave without buying at least one thing', my thoughts exactly. i could only surrender to the beauty and let my eyes devour the delights stacked before me. it wasn't long before my name was being called to a mound of vintage linen. a large purple floral curtain grabbed my attention first up so as any vintage lover scrambling madly amongst layers of treasure would do, i bundled it under my arm at the speed of light to ensure it would be mine.

i could have easily bought everything i saw, but with a 20 kilo limit, a holiday budget and a little voice of reason, i behaved myself. half of me rejoiced in the thought that i would most probably be returning to london next year anyway. sneaky. a cake plate and vintage curtain piece later and i was sold. vintage shopping is hungry business so it was soon time for afternoon tea in a little nook ajoining the shop called 'cake hole'. vintage florals, kitchenware and crockery had overflowed into this cutie pie hole in the wall and for a few moments i was wishing it was mine. devonshire tea and scones were on the menu for us, after deliberating and drooling for several minutes over the incredible looking victoria sponge. chats over vintage china, milky tea and clotted cream ladened scones was an experience i know i'll still be talking about well into my late 80's. this little treasure with a big and beautiful vintage personality is somewhere i'll be heading back to as often as possible when my feet next land on london turf.

i was in love before i'd even entered.

scenes from inside. uh-maze-ing.

many, many stack-o-plates.

perfect combo.

the view from our afternoon tea possie.

there is nothing quite like a british scone.

hello.

the tapestry wall.

my curtain prize.

treasure.

a budget was set and promptly kept to. surprised? i still am. it's time to share some of the treasures that the coast unearthed for me yesterday. one or two of them will be gifts, perhaps a couple for sale and then the rest, the johnson, are mine to love. i was reminded just how happy these pre-loved goodies make me whilst neck deep in floral fabrics and up to my eyeballs in retro crockery. thank you to the grandmas whose life long collections are now treasured by a very grateful, freckle faced, rainbow cake baking young lady (me, if you were wondering.) sharing the love over at sophie's too. get on it gorgeous people.

pretty pansies.

there was squealing involved.

high pitched screaming ensued when discovering this gorgeous johnson family.

my new florals.

more mismatched j-love.

a set of quaint english metal placemats. perfect.

just when you thought the j-love had ended....

the quirkiest johnson piece i've discovered. cheese and wine night anyone?

westminster love.

pretty turquoise pyrex, enough said.

another apron for the collection? hell yeah!

a beautiful bessemer platter.

a villeroy & boch beauty. i literally bowed to this one.

this still makes me smile. the perfect little tea and cake platter. 50c? you bet.

saturday wanderings.

what a beautiful sunny saturday! my market date with two of my favourite ladies was the bright start to my much awaited weekend. pork dumplings, lattes to go, pastel macarons, fresh banana bread and gorgeous company was the perfect fix. afternoon tea at the pattern palace meant the champagne praline tea was brewed, macarons were devoured and many, many bubba snuggles were had. i so enjoy watching this lady grow before my eyes, and i am in constant awe of her beautiful mama. holding little lady for 5 minutes makes my muscles sore and my funny faces don't always help ease her tears. watching her mama work her magic and share bucketfuls of love so effortlessly is an education i one day can only hope to experience, but until then i have a total pro to learn from. a mother's love is something that cannot be contained or measured, but from what i saw today, i was reminded how wholeheartedly i treasure it. a blissful saturday, i sure hope yours was too.

the afternoon tea spread.

we snuggle a lot.

little legs at the market.

coffee from a kombi at the markets. oh the love.

she is one hot mama.

blue skies.

she sleeps. x

s**t got done sunday.

after one of the laziest days ever yesterday (i seem to have said that a bit lately but this one takes the cake), i knew it was time to turn up the heat (the out of nowhere humidity helped) and get some s**t done. today was one of the most efficient sunday's i've had in a while, helped along by my motivated roomie and a trip to our local shops for kitchen and studio storage solutions. an hour later we were home putting flat packed furniture together and acknowledging the importance of having an electric drill in the house (of which we had none.) a good arm work out, several swear words and a few instagram pics later and we were done. my studio is looking super fly, the johnson/staffordshire/outcasts have their own homes and it's looking like a place i really want to spend some time in. my new bed side lamp has pretty much reaffirmed that christmas does come twice a year and i'm as proud as punch about our sunday efforts. the fabric sorting will come next weekend (as you will be aware due to the size of my fabric collection it really COULD take all weekend), so for now i'm off for a cuppa and will be back with some midweek baking pics. have a great week beautiful people.

the johnson collective.

the beautiful (much loved) outcasts.

my staffordshire potteries loot.

my bedside table. hello christmas.

some studio inspiration ready to be framed.