Cake Time

I baked a huge batch of cupcakes recently for a friend's birthday; vanilla with sugar flower decorations and chocolate/orange with sprinkles.  I highly recommend using a piping bag; not only does it enable you to add an obscene amount of butter icing, it makes the cakes look pretty good too:

I visited a friend recently and discovered Blue Ribbons Sugarcraft Centre in Hampton Court.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I stepped inside the shop.  They stock the most incredible range of cake papers, decorations, colourings, sprinkles and everything else cake related you can think of!  If you thought that edible metallic balls only came in silver, think again...  Make sure you check out the Cupcake Boutique section of their website. 

The staff were really helpful; they advised me which sized piping nozzle and bags to use, and didn't get grumpy when I was still deciding which cake papers to buy 2 minutes before closing time.

Check out these stunning cake papers (all available to purchase from their site):

 Images courtesy of Blue Ribbons Sugarcraft Centre.

Happy Easter!

More of my spring flowers

I suppose I could have saved the photographs of my spring bulbs and shared them in one blog post, but I got over excited. Here are a few more:

Daffodils:

Narcissi:

I can't wait for these Grape Hyacinths to flower:

The squirrel is determined to dig up my Garden Hyacinths, but I keep re-planting them:

French Revelation Blog Feature - Featurama Monday

I was kindly included in 'Featurama Monday' on French Revelation's blog this week.  I must say that Jane has the nicest blog banner I've seen in a long time.  Please do check out Sid's In Stitches and Milk and Honey Handbags, the other two artists featured in the article.

Jane selected my olive stripe mini-messenger bag:

and my orange tartan tote bag:

 Thank you!

Spring...

The first of my spring flowers:

Blog Feature - "Couture du Jour"

I had a really nice suprise this morning to find that one of my bags had been included on lillyella's blog as part of a "Couture du Jour" feature. Thanks!

Be sure to check out lillyella's lovely blog for the full feature and Zepur of ZionShore's Etsy shop, who selected the ensemble below:

  

More Vintage Finds

Despite having little space left in our flat, I can't resist adding to my collection of vintage finds...

A glass fruit/desert stand and two pieces of lace:

After giving various pieces of china as Christmas presents, I decided to start my own collection.  I found these tea trios on eBay (one of which is identical to a Christmas present I wanted to keep for myself). I think the mismatched pieces work really well together:

I'm also on the lookout for vintage birdcages, the bigger the better.  I don't consider that they count towards the clutter quota because I plan to put them in the garden.  They look beautiful just as they are but I plan to fill them with plants or outdoor candles.