Pretty prints and greeting cards from Shepherd Illustration

Shepherd Illustration specialise in wildlife illustration, art prints, screen print tees and greeting cards. They have a pretty, quirky, contemporary and unique style which is pleasing to the eye and looks great in any home. It’s always nice to send cards and gifts which you know are pretty unique and special. Something not mass produced and something which a small artist has produced and developed with care. This week I’ve been looking at the beautiful cards and gifts on Etsy made by Shepherd Illustration.

Shepherd Illustration is owned by Lauren Shepherd who is a motion graphics designer and illustrator based in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Her illustrations are predominately drawn in black fine liner pen with some gold detail. Most of her illustrations are of wildlife and wildflowers with others featuring anatomical drawings of parts of the body.

I was very taken by this goose print. The three geese tied together reminded me of our three-person family and I have plans to frame it nicely and have it on the wall of my office at home. The description on her Etsy store does suggest that this print would be great on a nursery wall, especially if your family of two has recently become three and I quite agree.

I like both the simplicity and the detail of this A5 print which has been printed on high quality 300gsm recycled white card and individually signed and numbered. This print costs just £7.50 and would make a lovely gift for a new baby.

Pretty prints and greeting cards from Shepherd Illustration

This cuddly baby sloth is really detailed, even down to his claws. This would make a lovely gift for a first wedding anniversary (which is paper). This sloth print is also available as a greeting card.

I love giraffes and I was pleased to find the giraffe greeting card in my illustration package. Again the detail is stunning, even down to the little gold heart on the neck of the giraffe.

Lauren Shepherd describes herself as a “dachshund mom” so it’s not surprising that they do feature in some of her illustrations. Again these are drawn in black fine liner pen with accent details highlighted in gold.

Pretty prints and greeting cards from Shepherd Illustration

The greeting cards from Shepherd Illustration are priced at just £2.50. I always think that if you’re sending a card then it’s worth sending a good quality one. I often keep good cards I receive and keep them on my desk because they make me smile. These are the kind of cards which will make me smile.

Shepherd Illustration have a good range of art prints, screen print tees and greeting cards available in their Etsy store and on their website. Something for all occasions, from new baby, birthdays and bereavement, all in their unique, understated style.

Note: Shepherd Illustration sent us these prints and greeting cards for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Interiors: Melody Maison – Shabby Chic furniture & accessories

Like many people, spring is the time I tend to look around my home with fresh eyes and start to think about re-decorating, decluttering and re-organising things. It’s also a great time to really ring the changes and invest in new furniture or accessories. In recent years, vintage and shabby chic furniture has been one of the key home interiors looks. Specialists in vintage, French and shabby chic furniture, Melody Maison are one of the leading companies specialising in this style. I’ve been finding out a little more about them.

Melody Maison was started in 2004 a small spare bedroom in Yorkshire. The company grew into a leading retailer of shabby French Chic and vintage style home furnishings.

Vintage & Shabby Chic Furniture from Melody Maison PLUS Giveaway

Melody Maison is a real family business, with cousins, brothers, aunties and daughters all working together. They pride themselves on exceptional customer service, with everyone striving to provide the very best service every step of the way.

They design, manufacture and distribute French style furniture all over the world. Their range of furniture is either designed by and made exclusively for Melody Maison, or sourced from selected suppliers.

“French style” can mean so many things in interior design. From the understated pale aged shabby chic look, to the ornate and grand rococo style, to boudoir style chic using jewelled colours paired with gold. French style furniture is rarely modern in design. Vintage and shabby chic styles are full of character and can give your home a bespoke one-of-a-kind look.

Their website is full of so many gorgeous pieces of furniture and accessories for every room in your home, including clocks, lights and mirrors. I’ve quite fallen for this White Wooden Window Pane Mirror which I think would look fantastic in a conservatory, or in a sheltered spot in the garden perhaps.

Vintage & Shabby Chic Furniture from Melody Maison

This Window Pane Mirror is made from wood to look like a rectangular window with 2 sides and panes of mirror where glass would be. It is painted white with a washed finish to look aged, and it can be wall mounted. Its dimensions are 49cm wide x 58cm tall.

Visit the Melody Maison website to see their full range of vintage and shabby chic furniture and accessories.

Review: Home Fragrances from Quinn Lilly

Like many people I love to have scented candles around the house. I like different fragrances at different times of the year. Right now I’m all about fresh zesty scents to liven up my home. Now I’m a parent I try not to have lit candles around my son, so candles are reserved for after his bedtime.

A few years ago I discovered reed diffusers, which are ideal if you enjoy home fragrances, but without the worry of burning a candle around children or pets (or if like me, you forget and accidentally leave it burning all night long). I always have at least one in the house these days. I’ve recently been introduced to Quinn Lilly, a luxury home fragrance brand based in Scotland. They specialise in reed diffusers, glass candle jars, travel tins, fragrance oils and car air fresheners.

Quinn Lilly started making candles and other home fragrances in 2015. They work to create high quality soy wax candles and other natural fragrances which are sourced from different parts of the world. They strive to ensure their products are environmentally friendly and use combinations of natural soy wax and oils to try to create cleaner products. Soy wax is free from pesticides and herbicides, which make the wax eco friendly and cleaner for the environment and your home too.

They have four signature fragrance collections to choose from – Grapefruit & Mimosa, Lavender & Rosemary, Lime Basil & Mandarin and Pomegranate. Plus a range of other fragrance products available.

Home Fragrances from Quinn Lilly PLUS Win a Reed Diffuser

Quinn Lilly’s luxury reed diffusers last for around three months and cost just £12.99. They’re stylish, elegant and are ideal for discrete fragrancing in any room of your home. With a range of beautiful fragrances available, which would you choose?

To view the full range of Quinn Lilly candles, reed diffusers and other home fragrance products, visit their website.

Home: Giving my kitchen table an update for spring

Note: I was sent this tablecloth for review purposes from Wipe Easy Tablecloths. All images and opinions are my own.

Like most people, the heart of my home is my kitchen table. We eat together around it, we do homework and our work at it, we paint, we draw, we sew, we argue and we make up. Our kitchen table gets a lot of action and it shows. Our beautiful wooden table is scratched and worn. Three years ago when the boy was a toddler we got a wipe clean tablecloth from Wipe Easy Tablecloths and it was a godsend and a real game changer.

Home: Giving my kitchen table an update for spring

This spring I decided it was time to give my kitchen table a little update. So I turned once again to Wipe Easy Tablecloths. I wasn’t sure what to go for, my kitchen is light, airy and neutral. Virtually any pattern of tablecloth would work well, I wanted one that wasn’t too busy, but with a bit of a pattern.

I went on their website and managed to narrow it down to just a few choices, after giving it some thought I plumped for the confetti oilcloth tablecloth. It has pretty pastel polka dots on a neutral background. I had hoped it would look lovely in my kitchen and brighten the place up a bit for spring.

Home: Giving my kitchen table an update for spring

The tablecloth I liked is 135cm in width, so I just had to measure our table and order the length I needed. It was really easy to order using the website and a roll containing my tablecloth was delivered the next day.

I love my new tablecloth. It looks really smart and it’s brightened up the room a treat. I don’t think you can beat an oilcloth tablecloth for everyday use. With a house full of messy boys and the constant rigours of family life, it really protects the table underneath. Cleaning up after crafts, painting or just a messy dinner is so much easier too.

Home: Giving my kitchen table an update for spring

Wipe Easy Tablecloths have a huge range of oilcloth, PVC and vinyl designs to choose from. You can easily find a tablecloth to suit your style and they’re really reasonably priced. Ours cost just £33 which is great value, especially as I’m expecting to have it on the table for several years.

I’m very happy with the design I’ve chosen. I think it’s light, bright and just the right amount of informal for our busy family kitchen. What do you think?

Review: Pick n Melt Christmas Gift Set

Scented candles are something I use a lot at this time of the year. To me there’s nothing better than filling my house with festive fragrances in the run up to Christmas. I’m a little bit fussy about what I choose though, too often cheaper candles can be quite sooty and not scent my home effectively. I’ve been trying out the Pick n Melt Christmas Gift Set and I’m impressed with these little wax cubes.

Review: Pick n Melt Christmas Gift Set

The Pick n Melt Christmas Gift Set comes with a stylish ceramic wax warmer and 16 little packets of scented wax. The wax warmer is really contemporary looking and I’ve decided to put it in my whiter than white bathroom, because it blends in really well.

The wax warmer comes in two parts, the bottom is open on two sides and has a place to put your tealight. The top part of the warmer fits on top and you just put the wax cubes in the small basin on the top and the melt pretty quickly, releasing their lovely scent.

The Pick n Melt Christmas Gift Set includes two little packets of each of the following festive fragrances –

Christmas Time
Christmas Spice
Robin Red Breast
Cocoa & Log Fire
Frankincense and Myrrh
Mistletoe & Wine
Festive Tree
Snow

Pick n Melt Christmas Gift Set

I melted one little packet and it was enough to fragrance the upstairs of my house. The “throw” on these little wax cubes is quite impressive. The throw of a candle or a wax melt means how it smells when it is lit and how far the scent travels within the house.

I think they would make a lovely present for candle lovers (I ordered one last night as a gift for someone). I think the little wax cubes are very sweet and there are probably hundreds of different scents to choose from on the website. So whatever fragrance style you enjoy, there’s bound to be something to suit you.

Review: Pick n Melt Christmas Gift Set

I’m very taken with my Pick n Melt Christmas Gift Set and I will enjoy using it over the next few weeks, before thinking about changing my wax to something fresher and more spring like.

The Pick n Melt Christmas Gift Set is currently available for £12 on the Pick n Melt website.

I was sent this gift set for review purposes. All images and opinions are my own.

Five ways kitchen towel can keep your house clean

Kitchen towel is a real household essential. It’s great for mopping up spills and for cleaning up after children and pets. It’s so essential, a roll of kitchen towel is one of the first things we pack when we go on a self-catering holiday. Here are my five ways we use kitchen towel to keep our house clean – it’s so versatile we wouldn’t be without it!

Five ways kitchen towel can keep your house clean!

Damp dusting – I’m allergic to dust, so when I do dust my house I have to damp dust. To me damp dusting makes more sense than just moving the dust around. To damp dust, just dampen your kitchen towel and wipe over the dusty areas, then you just dispose of the dusty kitchen roll. No dust has been flicked up around the house, I’m not sneezing and everything looks clean and tidy.

When I’m cleaning windows – Kitchen roll is great to use for cleaning your windows with. Just damp them and use with some window cleaning spray – there will be no streaks just shine.

Fat fighters – Tipping cooking fat and grease down the sink is a big no-no. If your sink or drains get blocked it can cause all kinds of problems. To combat this problem, I put a couple of sheets of Plenty Kitchen Towel in my pan (once it’s cooled obviously) and leave it for a few hours, the towel soaks up the fat. I then just put the soaked kitchen towels in the bin. No fuss, no mess, no blocked drains.

Condensation killer – If your windows suffer with condensation in the winter, one old fashioned but excellent tip is to dab of washing up liquid onto your kitchen towel, wipe it all over your dry window and that will help to prevent condensation build up.

Bye bye cobwebs – If you’ve got high ceilings or hard to reach places to dust; slightly dampen a piece of kitchen towel, put it on the end of a sweeping brush and carefully dust the cobwebs off your ceiling or hard to reach corners. The damp towel will stop the dust from floating down onto your face and your corners will be cobweb free. Result!

Five ways kitchen towel can keep your house clean!

= This is a collaborative post =

DIY: Painting tiles – How to freshen up your home

Christmas is fast approaching and it’s the time of the year when many people are looking at their homes and thinking about a quick fix to spruce it up ready for filling the house with friends and family over the festive period.

THinking about painting tiles?

If you want to refresh your kitchen or bathroom, but re-tiling seems too expensive or time consuming, painting tiles can be an easy and cost effective solution. If done correctly, it can produce some impressively stylish transformations – here’s a guide guide to show you how.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT TILES

The majority of tiles can be painted, however there are some which cannot. For example, it’s not recommended to paint tiles which will be exposed to running water on a regular basis. The high levels of moisture in showers or directly above baths means these aren’t the best environments for repainted tiles. However, if you’re simply trying to refresh an old splash-back on your wall, then painting tiles is the perfect solution.

painting tiles

PREP your TILES

Before you put a paint brush anywhere near your tiles, they need to be squeaky clean. A bit of elbow grease may be required to deep clean and de-grout tiles, because paints adhere better to surfaces which are spotlessly clean. Slightly abraded surfaces are also ideal for painting, so go over the tiles lightly with sandpaper before you start.

CREATE A GOOD BASE

Using the right primer, such as Johnstone’s “Any Surface Primer”, is key when it comes to the success of your paintwork. It’s quick drying, it sticks to even the trickiest of surfaces to create a base for both gloss and satin finishes.

ADD A POP OF COLOUR TO THE WALLS

Here’s the fun bit – painting tiles in the stylish colour of your choice. Johnstone’s kitchen and bathroom paint comes in a range of shades, from pastels to bolds, which will completely transform the space.

Top tip: use masking tape to protect the surfaces next to your tiles – or the newly painted tiles themselves if you decide to re-grout.

Or if you’re looking to spruce everything up quickly with minimal fuss, you could look into getting a new acrylic splashback.

Have you ever painted tiles? How did it work out for you?

How we brightened up our home with a Litecraft Floor Lamp

It wasn’t until the clocks went back at the end of October that I really appreciated how dark my living room was, and that first night of early darkness was a bit of a shock to the system. Clearly we needed to make improvements to the lighting at home. Our old table lamp just wasn’t cutting it anymore, so we opted for a new floor lamp from Litecraft.

We wanted something stylish and contemporary without being too avant garde and challenging. I also wanted a light I could work under. Our old lamp had always been too dark to use to read by, or do any close work like sewing. I’ve known for a couple of years we needed something better, a light you can’t really see with isn’t really that helpful.

There were lots of different styles to choose from, but we thought this chrome tripod lamp with the mocha coloured shade would fit the bill. I think it strikes the right balance in my living room. It blends in well and looks at home, but it’s still an aesthetically pleasing lamp.

litecraft floor lamp

Ordering online was easy, the website was easy to search and navigate and my lamp arrived really well packed and wrapped in bubble-wrap. All we needed to do was screw the leg pieces together and put the lamp shade on. It took no more than a couple of minutes.

The mocha shade really works well with the colours in my living room and importantly, you can see what you’re doing of an evening. The shade is well made, it’s not flimsy and it’s obviously made with good quality materials.

You switch the lamp on with a foot press switch, a chunky switch which lives on the floor. It is 151cm tall and the shade is 44cm in diameter. It’s a lovely, bright, clean and contemporary looking lamp and a fine addition to my home. I’m really pleased with it.

litecraft floor lamp

We’ve had the floor lamp in our living room for a little over a week now and the difference it’s made to us in the evenings is significant. We are no longer sat there with the “big light” on, the room feels much cosier, but it’s now much lighter, so much so I can now sit and read and sew if I want to.

This beautiful floor lamp from Litecraft was £179, but I’ve noticed on the Litecraft website that it has been reduced to under £81 and delivery is free. I think £81 is a really good price for such a good quality light and lamp shade.

I’m as pleased as Punch and I know this will be a part of our living room for many years to come.

Note: We were sent this lamp for review purposes, all images an opinions are our own.

Review: Voluspa Maison Candle

As autumn turns into winter I like to fill my house with festive smells. Cinnamon and spruce are my go to scents at this time of the year. I think scented candles, especially in the run up to Christmas are a simple way of creating a cosy and festive atmosphere in the home. We were sent the Voluspa Maison Candle scented with spruce cuttings to put to the test, but what did we think?

Voluspa Maison Candle

The two wick Voluspa Maison candle comes in a beautifully decorated tin, so you can take it wherever you go. The “Spruce Cuttings” candle is made from royal Colorado blue spruce cuttings, so when you light this candle the room is filled with an authentic spruce fragrance. The tin is also useful for keeping your candle dust free. I always find you can never adequately dust your candles, so a candle with a lid or cover is always welcome.

All Voluspa scented candles are made with without phthalates, parabens and sulfates. This lovely two wick scented candle is made from 11oz of coconut wax and has a burn time of around 50 hours.

Voluspa Maison Candle

The “Spruce Cuttings” Voluspa Maison Candle would be a lovely candle to have in the same room as your Christmas tree, enhancing its natural tree fragrance. The candle has a good throw – meaning that it fills the room fairly quickly with fragrance. I’ve had it lit downstairs this morning and I can still smell it upstairs. A good throw is generally an indicator of a good quality candle.

Voluspa Maison Candle

The Voluspa Maison Candle costs £20 which compared to other high end candles of this quality is good value. It’s made with high quality ingredients and the tin looks lovely and is the kind of thing I’d keep and keep bits and bobs in afterwards.

The Maison “Holiday” range includes several different festive fragrances including Cinnamon Ceylon and Copal and Visions of Sugar Plum, as well as a selection of different candle types including gift sets.

Voluspa candles are available on their website and from a range of retailers including House of Fraser.

Review: Finding Dory Bedding from Character World

This summer, one of the big kids movie hits was Finding Dory. We’ve had a lot of chatter and excitement in our house about this forgetful fish since the film was released. Imagine his little face when I handed him some Finding Dory Bedding from Character World!

Back when I was a child there was no such thing as character bedding. My bedding was plain and fairly unexciting. Now I really love character bedding and I really enjoying picking out new sets for my son. I always think that new bedding is a quick and fairly inexpensive way to give a bedroom a fresh look.

This new Finding Dory Bedding really works well with my son’s bedroom. We painted it last year with a dark blue feature wall which we stuck glow in the dark stars on. The blue works with most things and this aquatic themed bedding is no exception.

Finding Dory Bedding

The Finding Dory Bedding is brightly coloured and good quality, the bedding feels soft, not stiff like some bedding can be when you first take it out of the packet and it is made from 100% polycotton. This bedding is also reversible so you are able to choose one of two designs to have as your bedding, which the small boy loves.

One side has got a picture of the Finding Dory characters and is mainly a blue colour. The other side of the cover is a white background with different coloured fish. I’d actually have the shoal of fish side as my bedding. It’s colourful and fun.

The pillowcase has “Making a Splash” written on it and it works with both sides of the bedding.

The boy couldn’t wait for us to make his bed up with the new bedding and got into bed as soon as he could so he could enjoy it. I was delighted with this accidental side-effect – an early night!

In addition to the Finding Dory Duvet Set, we were sent a Finding Dory Hooded Towel (which is perfect for round the swimming pool on holiday) and a lovely Finding Dory cushion to go on his bed with him.

Finding Dory Bedding

The Finding Dory bedding from Character World has been a big hit. I’ll be looking out for other character bedding from them, because the quality and colours are excellent and it washes really well. You can’t really go wrong.

Disclosure: We received the Finding Dory bedding for the purposes of writing this review, all opinions and images are our own. Contains Amazon affiliate links.