Hares, spaniels and pugs cavort with labradors, dachshunds, cats and chickens across mugs and jugs.

‘I love to make beautiful, well-made, home-grown objects that make daily life that little bit more delightful’ says Fenella.

Made in Stoke-on-Trent from best Cornish clay, her strong, slip-cast tableware combines good old-fashioned quality with modern practicality. It’s also irresistibly collectable don’t you think?

Greece has always held a place in my heart.  I think the Aegean is possibly the bluest sea I’ve ever seen and the contrast with the white of the traditional buildings never fails to set off a longing for hot sun, beaches and long days just doing nothing.

This white villa is on Santorini and is a converted wine factory from the 15th Century. Restored very sympathetically by its architect owner it consists of four housing units on two levels and is available to rent.

It has high vaulted ceilings with thick masonry walls and the exterior spaces have panoramic vistas of almost the entire island.  Some machinery parts and other elements have been kept and are integrated into the space as reminder of the past use of the building.

I think it’s absolutely beautiful and I doubt I’d ever want to leave.

Available at Welcome Beyond.

Seriously, I could order the whole collection!

Is it too early to be thinking of spring?

All it takes is a few pretty pictures in my in box and I’m planning a weekend of cleaning and sorting.  And I never could resist anything pretty and pink. 

And if I needed another reason to post these gorgeous shots – my niece has been fitted this week for her first pair of points.  There, what more reason did I need?

Have a lovely weekend all.  I hope the sun shines.

All photos from Nina Broberg/IKEA Livet Hemma

And they might go down well with the ladies too!

Sources: Extendable wall lamp (also in main image). Delightful. Shoreditch bus blind, Pedlars.  Armchair, Conran Shop.  Hound cushion and chunky knit poufs, cB2. British Isles type map print, Rose and Gray. Utility red pendant lamp, cB2. Table Lamp, Conran Shop. Sideboard, cB2.

She started printmaking in 2002 when she was living in Venice and she was fascinated by the dark inky print studios.  She learnt etching, mezzotint and woodcut before returning to Devon in 2005 where she continued to print.

Peter Pan Wallpaper

Her own prints incorporate monotype drawing – she loves the smoky loose lines and incorporates them with screenprint as this enables the use of flat colour, delicate patterns, drawings and repeat designs on fabric and paper.

Peter and the Wolf Acrylic Box

Much of her work is inspired by papercutting and silhouettes, particularly the papercuts of Hans Christian Anderson and I absolutely adore these story-telling designs straight out of my childhood.

Peter and the Mermaids Bauble

Emma also works with groups outside of the studio who wouldn’t otherwise have access to printmaking equipment – schools, prisons, hospitals, galleries, festivals and community groups.  You can read more about her work here.

Image Credit: Etsy

Oh, to return to the days when women were feminine.  When you didn’t have to be a size zero to be considered beautiful and when the female shape was moulded by beautiful lace undergarments and not hours spent at the gym.

I can remember my grandmothers bedroom as being a haloed place from where she would emerge freshly powdered and smelling of Chanel No 5.  Her dressing table was a temple of glass jars and beguiling trinkets, hair brushes and sweet-smelling potions.  Her lipstick was always blood-red.    

So let’s try to replicate some of that intrigue and return the bedroom to a place of romance and secrets and womanly allure.

• A dressing table is de-rigour, with a chair on which to perch and a mirror in which to primp and powder.  Decant your creams and perfumes into pretty glass jars and surround yourself with family photographs in sparkling silver frames.
• Display your jewellery, don’t hide it away.  Hang it from mirrors.  Pile it in dishes.

• Surround yourself with sensuous fabrics.  Satins and silks, fur and velvet.  Be generous with curtain fabrics.  Let it pool on the floor.  Celebrate an abundance with swags and tiebacks.  Forget minimalism.  We are looking for plumpness and hushed silence.
• Consider mirrors and reflections your friend.  Hang mirrors but also use mirrored furniture.  We all look good by candles and lamplight and twice the reflections means twice the allure.

• Swap the modern task lighting for lampshades and chandeliers dripping with crystal droplets.  There’s nothing more feminine than sparkle and shine.
• And remember that tomorrow is Valentines day.  Light the candles, fill the room with roses and celebrate with some old-fashioned glamour.

Sources:1 Colefax and Fowler 2 The Gloss 3 Tumblr 4 Ralph Lauren Home 5 Black Orchid Interiors 6 Tumblr 7 Ishka Designs 8 Raines and Willow 9 Felix Lammers 10 Lauren Conrad 11 Tumblr 12 House of Hackney 13 This is Glamorous 14 India Jane 15 The Sartorialist 16 Architectual Digest 17 Butik Sofie 18 Flickr

 She graduated from Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2007 and has since worked in both the fashion and interiors textile industry and continues to work as a freelance textile designer.  She also runs a programme of craft workshops which she hopes will inspire more people to get stitching.

All of her products are hand crafted in the UK and each piece is individually silk screen printed making it truly unique.  Her fabrics are either locally sourced or vintage.  She supports small UK businesses.

The designs themselves are inspired by her love of paper cutting, printing, drawing, sewing and making.  Birds and hearts feature prominently.

Well, as you can see, she has stolen my heart.

But then again, I wouldn’t say no if a certain someone were to surprise me with one of these next week.

 Aren’t these little sugar hearts from Cox & Cox a sweet idea for morning coffee?

And I’m loving these white letters from Bottle Green Homes.

And if he wanted to slip this little ceramic heart from An Angel at my Table into my pocket, I wouldn’t complain.

 Three times love in magenta flock from Johnny Egg would be enough I think.

I’m also quite taken with the subtle heart on this china from Reiko Kaneko.

Failing that, I’m always a sucker for roses!