Christmas Decorations (part one)

1. Vintage chocolate moulds £6.95 for 5 2. Angel (£9) 3. Angel (£2.50) 4. Telephone box (£15) 5. Tree and stars (£8 for 3) 6. Felt snowflake (£2.50) 7. Vintage fabric (£7.50) 8. Christmas bells (£2.95). I think some of these would look pretty tied on to a parcel, too.

Tea of the week: Amy Blackwell

The New Forest (£10) by Amy Blackwell.

Coming up this week: Christmas decorations, a Christmas craft project, a winter excursion and gift guides for £10 and under, under £20, under £30 and £30+.

Wednesday workspace and more: Milly Goodwin

A different angle than normal - how lovely to have a daybed in your office. This office belongs to Easy Living stylist Milly Goodwin, whose home was recently featured in the Observer (see more pictures here.)

I'm extending this Wednesday workspace edition to feature a few other photos from her flat - these appeal to me a lot because it looks very similar to my home (I also live in a maisonette), and I've been wondering if I should paint my grey living room one shade darker. I'm also intrigued by the hemp sacking on the floor. Check out Milly's account of how her home came to be featured in the magazine.

Photos by David Cleveland.

London Clay Birds

London Clay Birds are made from London clay (very special, apparently) and represent one of the city's native little wrens, bluetits or robins. Ranging from £8 - £10, they would make a perfect stocking filler. There's a blog, too.

To Dry For

I met Sally and Dave from To Dry For a few weeks ago at the Midcentury Modern Fair. I was able to have one of few 'blog' moments - as I told them I had just seen their wedding (and cool M&M wedding cake) on Conversation Pieces.

Their shop sells only one thing - tea towels! I think it's a brilliant concept (and name), and as they are pretty light to post, their shipping charges are really low. I can say with conviction that there is a tea towel to suit everyone. Here are some of my favourites...

Beetroot (£10), Butterfly love (£10).

Big Breakfast (£8.50), Birdsong (£10).

Dishy (£8.50), Mr Tea Towel (another inspired name) (£8.50).

Don't fancy drying up? See these alternative uses for tea towels.

Your Willing Skin

A selection of photos available at Dublin-based Eadaoin's Etsy shop, Your Willing Skin. Find her work on her blog, and on Flickr, too.

Tea of the week: Present and Correct tea print

Tea print (£17.50.) Thanks Mel for the tip-off.

Five Friday Faves

*Oversized origami.
*Love these bright shutters.

*A giveaway from one of my sponsors, Boutiko. I've been pleased to see this blog has started posting again!

*Grown-up forts.

*An easy DIY spool advent calendar.

Photo by nonesuchthings, via Wee Birdy.

Wednesday workspace: pinned up images

I'm honestly starting to look at workspace pictures and wonder if I've featured them before, especially when they feature neutral colours and a casually pinned collage. This one doesn't just have soft images, it has soft textures too - is that small pieces of suede I spot?

via Skona Hem.

Dee Beale

New limited edition prints from artist Dee Beale; Winter Doves (grey) ($25) and Winter Doves (gold) ($25).

Plantabox

I'm a fan of anything personalised, so it's no surprise that I love these crates from Plantabox.

Any bright ideas of something to stencil other than my name?

Advertiser post: Hello Lucky

Welcome to new advertiser, Hello Lucky. Hello Lucky sells a large selection of personalised luxury Christmas cards and social stationery and are offering 10% for Tea for Joy readers spending £99 or more (using code TeaHol09.) Their ranges are also available as non-bespoke options - I'm seriously eyeing up the skating card. Don't you just love the ear muffs and cosy tights?

Check out their blog for details of their Christmas partnership - they are donating 3,000 chicks to homes in need from the proceeds of their Christmas sales.

Tea of the week: tea Polaroids

From Birdsnest's Flickr.

Five Friday Faves

*Bunting ribbon.

*DIY fabric made from plastic bags.

*I really want to go - fabulous photos of New York's High Line.

*A great proposal story.

*A frequent visitor to our London streets - foxes galore.

Weekend events: Midcentury Modern, Country Living Christmas Fair. Have a cosy weekend.

Mary Kilvert

1. Colourful sheep ($25), Blossom ($20), and Lost in the Wood ($20) by London-based illustrator Mary Kilvert.

Wednesday workspace: industrial shelving

via We Heart It, source unknown (please let me know if you know who it is.)

Advertiser Post - The Copper Swallow

Copper Swallow is a cute Folksy shop selling handmade paper goods such as these swallow gift tags, photographic cards, and cards made with that win-win combination of stamps and typewriter font. Artist Serena has a blog, too.

Pastel prints

($25) by Brighton-based Etsy shop, Lola's Room (blog, here.)

PS Want to see more of this house? I'm guest blogging today again at SF Girl By Bay - see if you can spot the differences between the location agency shots and the subtly styled magazine shots.

Tea of the Week: Le Chandelier

I found these photos on the 1st Option site, and a quick Google search (tea shop + SE22) revealed it to be Le Chandelier. Has anyone been? I'm going to be in the vicinity when I go to the Midcentury Modern fair next week and wonder if it's worth a visit?

Five Friday Faves

*A brilliant way to ask friends to be your bridesmaid.

*A very stylish vintage outfit.
*Lovely product packaging.

*A fabulous M&M wedding cake you must see, belonging to Sally from To Dry For - they also had sticks of rock made with their names in it!

*Amanda's Polaroid selections always make me happy.

Have a lovely weekend. I'm helping a local shopkeeper decorate his windows for Christmas - well, let's just say it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Photo by Buttonmoon, a recent discovery whose photos I love - and you will too (blog, Flickr.)

Sunbury Antiques Market + Guest Blogging at SF Girl By Bay

Last week I followed in the footsteps of bloggers Artemis and Leigh and visited Sunbury Antiques Market at Kempton Park Racecourse. It was the perfect week to go, as the clocks had just gone back, and so it wasn't too much of a chore to get up at 6am.

It was a fun morning out, and there were tons of stalls, but I didn't see anything too original and not much in the way of bargains. However, I did buy a cake stand for £6, and when I went to my local antiques shop in the afternoon, theirs were selling for around £14, so I suppose mine was not too expensive. There were some stallholders who had come from France, and theirs had the most interesting items (old suitcases, vintage letters and shoe lasts, for example.) And Artemis seems to find amazing things there, so it may just have been an off day.

Today I am guest blogging at SF Girl By Bay, where I have shared better photographs of the items I nearly bought, so please go and have a look...(in case you were wondering, it was the old lockers in the bottom photograph which caught my attention, I never said I was much of a photographer!)

Ist Option

Even at first glance I think you can tell this house is not owned by your average man on the street.

It's represented by locations agency 1st Option and is full of amazing lounging areas such as an attic sleeping nook and a garden house. I am seriously in awe of this space.

It is owned by photographer Paul Massey - (thanks, Sammy and Glen) - if you'd like to see his home styled for a magazine, take a look at this Living Etc feature.

Time to go and tidy up I think...

Photos by Paul Massey.

Ticktocklers

Ticktocklers is based in Wales and is a collaboration between Fizzy Popov - who creates clocks from vintage tins and old records - and Knottyburr - whose clocks use more traditional materials such as wood and slate.

A cool tobacco tin clock ($20.)

Lovely pastille tin ($16) - but could I tell the time from a distance? And does it matter?

A more traditional - but very appealing - slate clock, made from reclaimed Welsh slate ($25), which to me looks perfect for anyone trying to connect with their Celtic roots...

Ticktocklers have individual shops on Folksy (Fizzy Popov and Knottyburr) and a blog, too.

I'm fascinated by clocks. I'm not sure why - I don't own one. Perhaps it's because my dad made clocks (including a grandfather clock) - but I think it's because I'm convinced that simple versions must be quite easy to make. The above clocks are reasonably priced, but I did see an £80 vintage plate clock in Liberty (in a similar style to this - which also has instructions on how to make your own) which really made me question their mark-up....

Wednesday workspace: an inspiration line

I have always wanted an inspiration board. As much as I love these collages, I don't like to cut up magazines and I don't like putting pins through any treasured photos or postcards. I take a long time to throw away magazines, and with good reason - I have just realised I was keeping that November 2005 newspaper for a reason, a month after I threw it away...

This doesn't mean I don't love this 'inspiration line' because I really do. And perhaps those little clothespegs do not cause much damage. I've recently been thinking about seasonal art (dreamy prints for summer and rich, nature-inspired prints for autumn), and an interchangeable display seems the perfect way to achieve it.

via The English Muse and Oh, hello Friend.

UPDATE: this is Cynthia Warren's studio. Thanks, Jane.

A sneak peak...

...into what I was doing last week.

Update: added to my shop here.

Photo by Polly Eltes.