Really, winter doesn't truly arrive until the solstice on 21st December, and for my other seasonal switch arounds and celebrations I wait for each equinox or solstice to begin to ground myself in the new season ahead. But, I always celebrate winter a little differently, and earlier than the other seasons, because we also love to celebrate advent and Christmas as well as the solstice. I confess that I got sick of dried leaves and pumpkins covering the house too, so recently cleared Autumn away and have been making way for winter. I know, I know, it's still too early for some, but I'm feeling ready to welcome the frost and sparkle of winter.

Imagery is the MOST important element in any business selling goods or services online. However, in light of COVID and with the busiest trading period just around the corner, many businesses are having to adapt to a very quickly changing market. Many are focusing their efforts onto online selling, and are finding that they need to create imagery that really stands out.

Unless you are planning on working with a photographer throughout the year, you will probably need to learn to take decent photos of yourself and your wares.

In collaboration with Habitat.

I think gathering and eating delicious food in winter is the very best tonic to winter misery/political woe. The dark evenings make them perfect for candlelit meals and fires. I had a lot of fun pulling this shoot together for Habitat a few weeks ago, and then also enjoying the table afterward with my family.

My house is often full of foliage for styling, floral and wreath workshops. Dave says it’s like living in Jumaji and I love it! To get the best out of the flowers I need for workshops, I will often plan a photoshoot the day before using all the material. It’s rare that I get so many flowers in my home to play with! So, in light of a house that has recently been particularly stuffed full of foliage and flowers, I decided to create a flower cloud. My flower and foliage cloud is made from foraged bracken and grasses, wild thyme, Gypsophila, Statis and a few other stems of loveliness I found on my studio floor!

In this setup, I have put into practice my tried and tested styling rules to create a warm sumptuous table. It’s a winning formula!

My styling work stays mostly on my portfolio page, however I occasionally share projects here on the blog that I think you would enjoy, and this is one of them. Who doesn’t love a good before & after story?!

This project is a bakery and cafe space in Whitstable called Grain & Hearth. Carmen and Adam got in touch with me last year to ask me to help them realise their long held plans for the bakery. I worked with them to develop concepts, moodboards and sourcing lists. I helped them style the space and worked with other suppliers, and at the end, Dave and I came and did a photo shoot for them too (me styling, Dave shooting)

The space was a rather dilapidated garage in Whitstable.

Last weekend it was The Nature Sessions, a 3 day retreat held at my favourite place, Elmley nature Reserve on the island of Sheppey in Kent (yes, there is an island in Kent!) . I helped to found the retreat last year, and this year ran two sessions; a styling with nature session, a beginners guide to journalling session and styled the meals. It was full on from a work perspective but utterly wonderful too. We were blessed with glorious sunshine the whole weekend so everything felt like it was bathed in gold.

The basis of The nature Sessions is getting back to nature, and the focus, unlike lots of other retreats, is not about deprivation. Yes some guests sleep in tents; but they’re 5 meter bell tents with proper double beds and mattresses complete with fluffy towels and bathrobes. Food is served regularly, mostly healthy but definitely decadent too and wine is plentiful at meal times. There was yoga, wild swimming, beach bonfires, picnics, creative sessions, and lots of free time to explore the reserve and be alone. We created our ideal retreat, basically! Below are some photo’s.

Last week, I visited Peckham Craft Show. I first discovered the show the previous year and eagerly followed along, and found a lot of the makers on Instagram. I had arranged to visit one of my best friends, and realised the dates worked, so we went along last Saturday. It represents many of my favourite techniques, crafts and makers, and it was a veritable feast of ceramics, textiles and paper. I was in heaven! I harbour my own secret itch to make tactile work with my hands, and this show really ignited that wish! The space itself is beautiful and light, and I loved the way the exhibits had been curated. There was an emphasis on still life, with satisfyingly styled tableaux’s and collections. There was also a heavy natural influence in the curation too- inspiration from Peckham’s history as an orchard. Here are some of my favourites in the show.

t’s half term here and Frankie-Rose’s school bunches all of its inset days together so we get a second sneaky week off, and boy are we ready for it. Both kids are so tired! Auden has a permanent cold and Frankie-Rose really needs some quiet days after a busy term and SAT’s (ugh). Our plans are still materialising, but we are certainly planning to do some holidaying at home (actually one of my favourite things to do) and generally take it verrry easy.

We have been busy in our garden lately, half planting, half slug fighting, and are spending more and more time outside. I decided to throw a simple celebratory tea party for our family to celebrate the imminent end of term (YES), the gorgeous weather and just because I fancied it. I like getting the nice glasses and crockery out just for us, it elevates things and the kids love it too, they feel the specialness of it somehow. I worked with Hobbycraft in creating this post which is a bit of a dream for me. Hobbycraft was one of my favourite shops as a teenager (I know, I know I was so cool). I really remember my excitement at the prospect of a trip to the Bolton branch of Hobbycraft trip with my cousin and aunt. What can I say, I’m just a stationary-and-craft-shops kinda gal.

Ok, so the details!

I was recently going through some old files and came across a load of work that I have never really shared, so in in a bid to find my blogging mojo again, I thought i’d share them here. I also realised I dont talk about my work on my blog very often at all, something I would like to change.

As well as being a blogger and Instagrammer, I’m an interior stylist and cover editorial, real homes, events and product styling. I work 1: 1 with people to offer help with their homes, businesses or retail spaces; things like space styling, press breakfasts, help with home styling, etc. My year has started with a great retail styling project in Whitstable called Grain & Hearth for example; I’ve loved sourcing and pulling together ideas and inspiration for a bakery and cafe space. Here is some more of my work.

I turned 34 a couple of weeks ago. It happened on a Monday amidst the usual family bustle, and also as it happens, at the beginning of a bad stretch of anxiety. A serendipitous meeting the previous month with a PR led to me booking a solo hotel stay at The Gallivant for my birthday, and it ended up coming at the most perfect possible time. It was heavenly.

The experience of being alone was just bliss. I simply pleased myself. I had a pedicure, ordered room service breakfast, journaled in the window seat. I made liberal use of the toiletries kindly gifted by the hotel; the body oil, foot cream and face mask. I journaled some more. I went for a walk at golden hour and was moved to tears by the sunset reflecting off the wet sand which placed the sky beneath me and above me. I was aware of my family and thought of them, but I just knew deep in my guts that I needed this. (Truthfully I needed 2 or 3 nights of it, but we couldn’t spare me for that long!)

To read part one, covering our accommodation, nature safari around the reserve, energy cleansing session, opening feast, morning yoga and candle making workshop click here.

Following the pack lunch and some free time, our guests convened in the coolness of the barn, for a "Styling with Nature" session led by me, in which I talked about the importance and power of the spaces around us and the benefits of using natural finds in your home. I then demonstrated two different wreath making techniques, using primarily dried or fresh ingredients.

Last Autumn, I was given the opportunity to co-host a retreat. Initially, I was keen to take the role I was most used too; a background presence making the space beautiful, warm and inviting. But the request was explicit; that I actively head it up, a Seeds and Stitches live, so to speak. At that point in my maternity leave I had no idea what I wanted to do so, in the spirit of taking things lightly, I agreed, and thought i'd test it out. I am generally trying to be "a trickster, not a martyr", as Elizabeth Gilbert puts it. I'd made a commitment to stop working for free, to find work in Kent or London, and heavily limit travel elsewhere and this ticked all the boxes. So I went for it. I began to create my dream retreat along with yogi Kim Hill, and it finally happened last week. 15 women gathered at my favourite place on the planet. The weather was glorious, the setting flawless. We ate incredible vegan food. We stretched, we meditated, we journalled. We created and chatted and laughed. We slept, and connected and created much needed space for ourselves.

I have split the retreat up into 2 posts because there are simply soooo many photos and details I want to share with you. So here is part one, up to half way through the retreat.

One of the things that swung our decision to move to this house was the potential to turn the biggest bedroom upstairs into a studio space. We had made peace with living in a small house and the discipline that went along with that and were happy in our little space. However when the opportunity came up to move to this house we jumped at it; mostly because of the potential studio space upstairs and room enough downstairs to host workshops. For the first few months, the studio was our dumping room, then it was hastily cleared (/things shoved in corners) to work in. Over the last 6 weeks we made the time to properly sort through it, and make it into the functional beautiful space we have been dreaming about.

My design brief (to myself!) was to create a functional yet beautiful space mixing warm vintage and sleek minimal. We kept the base colour pallet simple: Grey and White, with forest Green as the accent colour. I wanted to mix vintage furniture with contemporary White furniture, plants and art.