We Love...Tempest Apparel!

Hello Everyone! I'd love to introduce my new favourite fashion label today to you all ...

''T E M P E S T      A P P A R E L ''

Maybe you know and maybe you don't - previously I studied a fashion design degree in Winchester, and while I was there I lived with Daisy, who is just this amazingly talented, creative girly. She has set up her own design label 'Tempest Apparel' which features her absolutely fab print designs - they are both vintagy but modern looking and oh so, so unique and individual.

In her own words.......

''The signature of the company is to liven up the plain white tee; like a blank canvas cries out to be painted, a white tee craves to be embellished, decorated and printed on''

My favs are the 'Bowie-Tee' (Here in the nest we are secret David Bowie fans - and we like vinyl, not CDs, teehee)

And this lovely 'Alice in Wonderland' Tee

Gorgeous, aren't they? And by buying from Tempest Apparel not only will you have a very unique T-Shirt, but you are supporting British and Handmade! Yay! (Whats not to like about that?)

For you Londonites you can catch Daisy on Sundays at the Sunday Upmarket (The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane)...or if you live out in the country, like me, you can pop over to her website to browse.

I recommend you pop over to Daisy's website anyway actually - she has the most fantastic, inspiring blog full of wonderful images and she really deserves some more followers .

Heehee...heres something Daisy might not thank me for, here we both are grooving at the Lattitude Festival but we do both have Tempest Apparel T-shirts on so I think its justified! Just look at that blue sky - where has summer gone hey?

Ooo, and I've been working on some more embroideries (its lions and foxes at the moment!) ...stay tuned for a peek next time :)

Bunnify Your Life!

Hi Folks! Have you seen this new website yet?

A little while ago I was approached by Anna from Widget & Friends. Being a bunny lover, she had this fab idea to help real - life rabbits, by raising money for the The Rabbit Welfare Association.

To do this she decided to make a completely non - profit website promoting fantastic bunnified handmade things. All the sellers featured on the website make a donation to the Rabbit Welfare Fund rather than pay a membership fee.

Of course I had to support such a wonderful idea!

Go check out all the fab bunny things featured on

THE     HANDMADE     BUNNY!

Over there you can find my curious carrots....

Anna's gorgeous sock bunnies ... ( I have two now - have to restrain myself from buying more!)

Bunny artwork ...

This is by Mimilove on Folksy

And lots of general animal loveliness...

This is by Sarah Birt Jewellry on Etsy (Yes I still have a thing for foxes too!)

So get yourself over there now! And follow the Bunny Blog!

Well done to Anna - she has already raised £277.00 for the RWF, yay!

Love, Love, Love!

This weekend I went to my cousins wedding. It was absolutely fantastic - my cousin and his wife have known each other since childhood! I created some wedding mice for them - the groom is a bit of a surfer dude so the little groom mouse has a little Hawaiian print waistcoat.

I thought you might also like to see the cake - it was made by the bride's aunt so it was a complete surprise to both of them - look at the little icing hearts all over it! Such a shame to cut it up really!

Anyway this got me thinking about the nature of love. I know everyone talks about love as something that you find - but I guess its the other way round - when your ready and open to it, love finds you. And we need love in our lives - as much as its good to be alone, its the best to know that you are loved and there are people that you can turn to when the going gets tough.

As I like giving you things to watch too, here are two of my favourite love songs. The videos are very amazing too - so sweet and inspiring. This one I love for all the little glances the people involved give eachother -




And this one would not let me embed it but go and watch it on youtube if you fancy - you need to watch until the ending!




I think love is like that - like a release, if you hold yourself back, you can't fall in love - you can't hear the music or see the colour. Love never dies - even if that person we love is no longer around, we still keep on loving them - its such a strong emotion. The world would lack colour without love.

'Supose I keep on singing love songs - Just to break my own fall'

'Dance Like Nobody's Watching'

I absolutely love this quote from Mark Twain - the full quote goes like this:

“Sing like no one's listening,
love like you've never been hurt,
dance like nobody's watching,
and live like its heaven on earth.”

I guess it inspires me to take each day one step at a time without worrying about the past or future. It reminds me that each day is precious, limited and unique, that I need to make the most of each moment. Something, that when I feel all stressed about bills or work - is easy to forget.

My fabulous friend Daisy sent me this little video -
Its a film called

'How to be Alone'

by video and filmaker, Andrea Dorfman, and poet/singer/songwriter, Tanya Davis.
The poem has the line 'Dance like nobody is watching' too.
I found this so inspirational - because often I find myself alone - and wonder if it's a bad thing. We all need time alone, I think. We need to figure out who we are and be happy with our own company. The video also has some pretty little illustrations of birds, I had to share it with you all.






Other people can put it better than I can - Brett Dennen sings...

''I wish to sing as if no ones listening
I wish to dance as if no one is watching
And i, give thanks for my dreams
You can rob me of my sight
And you can poison my blood stream
But as long as I can dream then life is worth living ''

Sometimes I feel like giving up - and sometimes I feel lost, but this reminds me to always have hope.

Illustration : 'Lost in the Forest'

Festival Fun & Folics!

A week ago I left the Bunnies and Mice in charge of Nat's Nest - knowing that generally they are a very responsible bunch - and went off to Latitude Festival .

Its a music festival a little like Glastonbury - only a bit posher - and is near my original hometown in Sunny Suffolk. Along with all the fun and folics and blurry photos of Florence and the Machine, I actually managed to take some rather arty pictures too, which I thought would be good to share.

Sign Post Tree

Fashion by Central Saint Martins Graduates - this was actually really amazing - on a runway over the river!

Peace Tree

Brolly Tree

A rather spooky lamp in the middle of the woods....feeling a bit like Alice down the rabbit hole...

An NSDF production of Wind in the Willows - Toad at the top, he was fantastic.

The moon - reminds me of the Mighty Boosh!

And men with guitars -these were rather a lot of these!

Hmm...I did find some little festival mice at Latitude too - the rest of the nest are rather wary of their bohemian ways, but I'm sure they will fit right in.

Hope you enjoyed them!

After retuning from the festival, I was exhausted, but finally have recoved now after almost a week and am feeling ready for some creativity again :)

Wedding Bells Ring!

Today the Mice and Bunnies have been all excited, as the first ever Wedding took place in Carrotby ! The pirate mice supplied all the food (cheese and carrot cake mostly!) and were very nearly late as their boat hit a small whirlpool and almost capsized - but Captain Jack being the experienced pirate he is managed to navigate through it and thankfully they still arrived on time (the cheese being just the tiniest bit soggy). Here are the blushing Bride and Groom, available now in my Folksy Store...

And the rabbits of course decided they would like some Bunny - themed stationary for their wedding, and stealing the laptop, went undercover to browse through Folksy. They loved this fabulous card by Under the Stairs Studios...

And also found these rather wonderful Fortune Cookie Wedding Favours by 2 Green Monkeys

Isn't that a lovely idea?


Little bridesmaids and pageboy bunnies will be hopping their way into the nest shortly. And the mice want to get in on the wedding action too...


Nat's Nest blog will be moving shortly...please watch this space!

Normal Service to Resume Shortly....

Hello!

Nat's Nest completely disapeared for a little while, and we are very sorry about that. The Buns and Mice were getting very disgruntled and needed a summer holiday so we took a short break - and took some time to reorganise the Nest - but we are back now and promise to start blogging again and reading all your blogs too!

We'll show you all what we've been up too shortly....

Marie Curie Cancer Care Charity Auction!

Just a quickie post today -

the auction for Marie Curie is being held online tomorrow - as well as my Marie Bunny there are many lovely items up for auction, some handmade by Folksy sellers and some donated by celebrities!

A lovely lady called Angie Heaney has organised the auction - you can read her story HERE

And if you click HERE - you will go straight to the auction (not live till tomorrow!)

So please visit the auction tomorrow and bid if you can - this is a charity close to my heart and I'm hoping lots of money will be raised :)

Yellow Bunnies!

What have I been up to lately?! Well, as it is nearing Easter, I've been busy designing some Easter Bunnies using some gorgeous new fur I bought on my recent trip to London, and some yellow velvet : ) ! These bunnies are ment to have chocolate with them, but someone keeps eating it all up...I wonder who ?

Pascal the Easter Bunny

 

Flora Bunny

Marie Bunny

Marie has been donated to an auction for Marie Curie Cancer Care, which is why she is holding a daffodil. I'll let you know more details when I find them out!

And Flora can be Won ... yes thats right Won , by entering the Folksy Treasure Hunt

 

More details can be found HERE - on the Folksy Blog

The task is to find 11 eggs of the same colour ( the words 'treasure' and 'easter' may help!)

Ooo, and I have been doing some painting again, only of a picture I drew ages ago...

Next I think I want to make some new animals...I'm taking part in Spoilt Pigs Cat Swap so I think a cat is on the cards, although what sort of cat I don't know yet , a lion maybe, or a leopard? Or just a cute little kitty? Time to get thinking!

Here comes the Sun...

''Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves''
James M. Barrie

Many, many appologies for posting this late! I was awarded a Sunshine blog award from Marices World and Hotdog and Me! Thank you so much you lovely people - I was very happy to recieve this award as its fantastic to know my blog gets read occassionally :)

These are the rules of accepting this award -


Sunshine Award Rules

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world.
To accept the award:

Place this award on your blog or in a post

Pass the award on to 12 bloggers

Link the nominiees within the post

Let the nominiees know they have received the award by commenting on their blog

Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.


It nice to feel the sunshine in these soggy times!

So without further ado here are my nominated blogs -

1. Alexandra's Wishes
2. Amelie's House
3. Antii Sullivan
4. Cherish Me
5. Cole and Josephine
6. Dawn Bevan's Design
7. No Fen Just Ned
8. Hazel Fisher Creations
9. Moonlight & Hares
10. Noodlebubble
11. Niche Handmade
12. Tea, Babies & Beads

Please click on the links for some good reading! Many thanks for writing such good blogs ladies!

(oo, I must add I was really spoilt for choice among all the good blogs I follow! Please don't be offended if I didn't choose yours - next time , teehee :)

The Best Ever Banoffee Pie Recipe - Gluten/Wheat Free

I thought it would be nice to share this recipe with you today - it was given to me by one of my friends at uni. It makes the most delicious banoffee pie, can easily be adapted for coelics (like me!) is simple to make and very, very sweet!

Equiptment:

Mixing Bowl
Whisk
Saucepan
Pie Dish ( approx. 30cm across 5cm deep )

Ingredients:

1 Pack Digestive Biccies
(For Gluten Free version use gluten free biscuits - Morrisons do nice fudge shortbread ones that work well, or you can use another gluten free variety)
2 - 3 medium size bananas

Small amount of butter (about a spoonfull)
1 Carton of Double Cream
A few Squares of Chocolate
1 Tin Condensed Milk

To Make:

1. First place the tin of condensed milk into a saucepan of gently simmering water (1 - 2 temp. on the hob) - fill the water just to the top of the tin - but NOT covering the tin completely. You need to simmer the tin for about 3 hours - this turns the condensed milk into toffee.

IMPORTANT : Do not let the tin boil dry - it may need topping up every 40 minutes or so. Do not let the water boil. Do Not pierce the tin as the condensed milk will not turn into toffee. ( Be careful as there is a danger of the tin exploding - this has never happened to me and I've made this recipe many times - just follow these instructions and you will be fine. However I think you can buy Condensed milk toffee now if you are nervous!)

2. While the milk is simmering , you can make the base. Bash up the pack of biscuits so they resemble breadcrumbs - its easy to put the biscuits in a sandwich bag or mixing bowl and bash with a rolling pin. Melt the nob of butter then mix the biscuit crumbs and butter together. Press this mixture into the bottom of your pie dish.

3. Slice up the bananas to about 5mm thick and place on top of the biscuits. (Do this just before the milk is ready otherwise the bananas will go brown).

4. After 3 hours, take the condensed milk tin out of the saucepan and open it carefully. (It should feel heavier - be careful the toffee is hot and sometimes it squirts!) Pour toffee into a bowl and give a quick mix - some bits thicker than others and this just makes the consistancy more even. Pour this mixture over the bananas and biscuits.

5. Leave in fridge until the toffee is cool and set. ( Probably about an hour but I usually leave overnight) .

6. Pour double cream into mixing bowl and whisk till thick.

7. Place cream over the toffee (making sure toffee is cold).

8. Grate a small amount of chocolate over the cream.

9. En Volia! Your banoffee pie is now ready to enjoy!

Please let me know if you make this up what you think!

PS. The fab poloroid pics in this post are thanks to the excellent Cole and Josephine's Blog - check out this post to get some for yourself! Thank you Nicole, I love it!

Front Page Excitement!

I very proud to announce my little Bunny was on the Folksy front page! Can you spot him among all the other lovely stuff?

He is the White Rabbit - my tribute to the Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland which is out on the 5th March. I based him on this illustraton by John Tenniel -

I love these gorgeous illustrations and am in the process of making a Sleepy Dormouse and Mad March Hare too.

I'm thinking about a more typical White Rabbit with a little waistcoat and watch too - but unsure how best to make a watch from fabric at the moment - any ideas!?

I love Tim Burton movies and am very excited about this one.

 Have you seen the trailer yet....

Popcorn and flask of tea ready for the cinema!

'We are the music makers & we are the dreamers of the dream.
Wandering by lone sea breakers & sitting by desolate streams.
World losers & world forsakers for whom the pale moon gleams.
Yet we are the movers & shakers of the world forever, it seems''.
Arthur O'Shaughnessy

Shhh…Can you keep a secret?

I have a confession.

I have suspected for some time now that I have an addiction.

Well, several.

I also suspect these things are not quite normal to become addicted to but here I am…



This is the first…

1.Tea

This is the tea wall.

Hmm. The tea wall is becoming a slight safety hazard, it needs one of those bright yellow warning stickers. You see the tea wall usually lives in the cupboard (it only came out today for the photo shoot) and tends to fall on all those who dare to open the cupboard. The only way to get round this is to go for the

a) grab and run approach ( quickly open cupboard and select random box while closing cupboard as quickly as possible) or

b) don’t open the cupboard at all - buy new tea when necessary.



Neither of these options are really a solution. The problem is I’ve never met a type of tea I didn’t like. My absolute favourites are Yumchaa and Yogi. Yogi tea even send me emails but unfortunately only send free tea samples to people living in America. (PS. Since taking this photo I have bought more tea -help!)



2. Fabric

This tiny (almost) organised corner of my fabric collection is a ruse to hide the larger, messy, disorganised collection of fabric in boxes, in drawers and underneath the bed. I pretend to be buying fabric for crafting purposes when I just really love a pattern or design. I love fabric a little too much, I feel.



3.Vinyl Records

I know I can buy any single I want on amazon or I-tunes for about 70p. I know that these are bulky, unreliable, outdated, have a tendency to skip and need turning over about every 20 minutes ( or less) yet I love them. I have far, far too many for someone with a small amount of space to call my own. I also love them for the artwork on the covers. I have a pile of these outside the bedroom door which I trip over and that one day are going to be listed on ebay...I can't bare to part with them, just yet!



Now I’ve confessed I feel I might be able to get down to the task of organising these things. Then again, maybe not…

All You Need is Love...

''Please know I love you more than anything else in the world. Being with you makes me feel so happy. Ever since I met you, things are looking pretty good''

'Love Bear' Notebook by Artbox

How was your Valentines ? I had a fantablous Valentines day - I went to visit some friends in London and saw lots of culture, bought lots of fabric and drunk rather too much wine. (More of that later!)

I recieved some lovely things in the post - I took part in a Valentines 'Heart Swop' on Folksy - organised by the rather fantastic Noodlebubble (check out the vast swop list on her blog!)
I got this beautiful heart from Little House -

Check out this tiny mousie stitched onto the back of it ...

This heart is absolutely beautifully stitched and has been hanging up in my bedroom! Aww!

Also I won a giveaway from the beautiful 'Alexandra's Wishes' blog...and got this little heart brooch in the post too...

 

As well as a crochet hair bow and tiny needle case  - so cute! This talented lady sells through Folksy - check out her store by clicking here!

Here is Rose Bunny trying to steal the Hairclip - Rose, bring that back - it's too big for you!

And I got a beautiful turquoise-y top, necklace & gloves in the post from a special lady, and this cutie from my housemates (pictured making friends with Milly Mouse)....

So lots of post - love this weekend! Thank you all for the parcels - I love them :) (much better than bank statements or bills!)

Oh - for the swap I sent out Peach

See how she got on at Pink Milks blog...

Lots of Love xxx