Competition Time!

I think that Spring may be my favourite time of the year.  Daffodils are my favourite flower so when they start popping up in people's gardens everywhere, it always makes me happy.  

When the sun is shining and the flowers are all coming out, it always makes me long to live on the coast.  To be able to go to the beach on a sunny day or just take a walk around the coast line whenever you felt like it would be just wonderful.

I visited Cornwall as a child many times during Spring and Summer and I always thought that at some point, that may be the place that I might finally settle.

It is from Cornwall that I bring to you today a competition to win a vintage style,Cornish art print from the wonderful John Dyer Gallery  

The John Dyer Gallery is predominantly an online gallery which is run by husband and wife team John Dyer and Joanne Short.  Clients are also able to book private appointments with the artists to view their work or alternatively attend their public exhibition openings.  The gallery represents the work of three of Cornwall's most established and acclaimed contemporary artists.

The John Dyer Gallery was established in 2005 and has had working relationships with The National Trust, The National Maritime Museum, the Eden Project and many more around the world.

The prize today is to win a framed vintage style A3 print from any of the pieces featured in the link here  The competition will run for two weeks and the prize will be forwarded direct to the winner.

*Competition rules
UK entries only
The prize must only be chosen from the link as mentioned above and not from any other part of the site.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Trip to Grassington

Today I wanted to tell you about a 1940s festival weekend that I went to in Grassington last year, one which I am intending to return to this year!

Every year the town of Grassington holds a 1940s weekend.  There are live bands, wartime re-enactments, vintage market stalls and much more.  I went last year with my mum and we had such an amazing time.  I thought that I would share a few photographs that I took on the day here.

Walking about Grassington that day felt like I had truly stepped back into the 1940s.  The pubs were serving war time ration food, live music was playing and people were dancing in the streets; everyone had a smile on their faces and the atmosphere was fantastic.   There was even someone dressed up as Winston Churchill standing in the middle of the square saying his famous speech.

The main thing that struck me about the day is that everyone had made the effort to dress up.  I would have guessed that at least 90% of the people I saw, both locals and tourists were wearing 1940s garb and you really did feel like you were living in that time.

I did not have much time to find an outfit to wear last year and ended up just putting pieces together from my current wardrobe.  This year however I am on the hunt to find a real 1940s style outfit, vintage if at all possible.

Here are some of the vintage clothing items I have been looking at from Rokit:

1. Pink Midi Dress 

2.  Hawaiian Print Dress 

3. 40s/50s style Leather Handbag

4.  Red Motif Dress

5.  Green Midi Dress 

I will be definately buying the vintage handbag as that is perfectly my style.  I love all the different dresses and will be using them as inspiration of what I should be buying when the event rolls nearer.

I think my favourite is the Hawaiian print dress, which is yours?

Wall Murals for the Home

I am a planner.  Always have been.  I like to plan things in advance so I know that whatever event I am going to, whatever task I am going to complete or decision I am going to make is as well organised as possible.

One plan that I have ongoing is the plan to move out from my mum's and into a flat.  This plan is going to probably take a couple of years to achieve, paying off outstanding debts and saving for things like rent and furniture.  But the timescale does not stop me from planning how I will want my new space to look like.

One of things that I have been thinking about is decoration.  Putting your own stamp on a place can be hard when you working around someones else's choice of carpets and wall coverings.  You cannot do anything about the carpet other than to make sure that your furniture does not clash, but the walls are something different.

Even if your landlord will not let you paint the walls and you are worried that too many nails in them will relieve you of your deposit, there are things that you can do.

I have been looking into wall murals.  I have seen a few of them around people's houses, my sister has one, and it made me wonder if that would be the way forward.  Here are a few of my favourites so far:

This is a very bold piece which would work well if you wanted to make a statement.  If you are working with a mostly white area as shown above, this would be a wonderful focal point.

This image makes me relaxed just by looking at it.  It would work wonderful on a large wall in the kitchen, or perhaps a small version in your bedroom for calming influence

This is an example of how you can use a huge piece, making a statement of the entire wall.  You could lie in the bath and pretend that you were on a beach!

This is my favourite, and one that I will keeping an eye on for when I move out myself.  I adore the way you can look over and thinking for a second that you are actually living in Paris.

All of these wall murals can be found at PIXERS  You can choose the exact height and wide of any piece that you want and some are also washable, perfect if you have a certain family member with sticky hands!