*My Lovely Birthday*

Thank you all so much for your wonderful birthday wishes in my last post!

I had a lovely day, it started the night before when we went out to a lovely country inn for a meal with friends, and then when I got home I was allowed to 'see' my present from James!
He had made me this lovely huge gift box with lots of delightful presents in. He had wrapped everything in brown wrapping paper and tied each pressie with raffia and then filled the box with raffia!
I didn't open it until the next morning though, but obviously I could see a few of the lovely gifts peeking out!!!



Here are a few of my lovely gifts, I got one of these wonderful pink cake stands and a cutie of a pink teapot to match, which I have wanted forever!!!

One of the boxes was extremely heavy and I was sooooo excited to find out it was Turkish Delight! I absolutely love Turkish Delight and James had bought it from a fab sweetie shop in town called Fairylicious ~ just how cute is that name!!!!



I also got lots of other fab pressies in my gift box, which included a Basher print, which I think will have to have its own post, a couple of Charmed boxed sets as I love Charmed and have loved it since seeing the very first episode, but never actually got around to buying the box sets after I bought the first season!!!
3 bottles of pink bubbly!!! Mmmmmm ~ one of which we transferred into my pink teapot and then poured into our champagne flutes, and I actually think it tasted better this way! Tee hee!
I also got the new Harry Potter DVD & some beautiful Lene Bjerre cushions ~ although I actually got these before my birthday!



I received this beautiful vintage glass plate stand from my mummy, who amongst other things also got me a wonderfully huge white cake stand and a wooden clothes airer ~ I've wanted one of these for absolutely ever!!!



I had a wonderful day shopping around all 'my' shops ~ shabby vintage lovely shops and we picked up some lunch from a cute bakery/deli in town called Angel Share (another sweet name) and then we had all these goodies to look forward to on the evening, well a girl has to have french fancies and tunocks teacakes doesn't she!!!
We also had smoked cheese and oat biscuits along with some wonderfully yummy double hot pepper jelly that we picked up whilst in Somerset from *The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company*
Mmmmmmm it is absolutely dee-licious!!!!
So I had a really *cute* birthday and it really doesn't end there as I'm off out tonight for another meal with more friends! Lucky me!

*I *heart* Gok!*

Oohhh have you seen this book? I need need need it!
How to Dress by the wonderful Gok Wan.

I absolutely love Gok and his wonderful style sense for all shapes, I wish he was my bestest friend and would pop round to cheer me up when feeling mimsy, well enough of that day dream this is what the book is about ...


'Sartorial superstar Gok Wan from TV's How to Look Good Naked is every girl's favourite style guru and confidence booster. His fantastic new guide has all the advice and inspiration you'll ever need to look and feel totally fabulous, whatever the occasion. Packed with Gok's advice on how to look good at a party, wedding or on the beach, How to Dress is like having your very own personal styling session with Gok. Loved for recognising that women are beautiful whatever their shape or size, Gok Wan understands how women can work their assets and minimise the part of their bodies they dislike to maximum effect. Every woman deserves a Fairy Gok Mother to help them look their most gorgeous. His new book is packed with fashion tips to help you stay on the style highway and not stumble off into fashion faux pas territory. Choosing the right outfit for a wedding or looking your best on the beach or at work can be stressful and in How to Dress Gok simply unravels the rules of style so every woman can look their best all the time. How to Dress shows you how to look great throughout the year, whatever your lifestyle and regardless of what life throws at you.'


How fun & obviously useful too for those horrid times when you just don't know what to wear, and really with Christmas coming up oh and my birthday in November (yes I know it is a long time off yet but I do get excited) I think this little beauty will be wriggling its way onto my wish list.
I *heart* you Gok.
mwah

*I'm so excited*

*Squeal*
I was filled with a range of emotions when I found out that our very own Queen of deliciousness & all things lovely Rachel Ashwell has actually started a blog!
*Faint*
Our Shabby Chic mistress has taken that wonderful leap into the blogging world and about time too I say, don't you!
Now really what more can I say and I am sure you are eager to get there so go *here* and visit her gorgeousness for yourself.
*Swoon*
x

*I'm so Hollywood*

Oh my goodness if I didn't have a husband I think this would be my bed!

Just how glamorous would I be to wake up and get out of this each morning, of course I would be wearing something long, silky and pale pink and I would sit on the side of the bed and find some pink fluffy kitten heeled slippers for my perfectly painted pretty toes to slip into, I would brush my silky, shiny perfectly waved hair from my face and with dewy eyes, deliciously blushed cheeks and glossy lips would welcome my new day with a sweet smile.

This utterly deliciously glamorous bed is from a company called *Art For Kids* which has the most amazing collection of furniture for little ones, you really must take a peek, and before you say I can't have it as it is made for children I am only 5 ft 2" on a good day and so it is more than likely that I will fit perfectly in it and so I can have it, I can!
Oh wait I do have a husband ...

*Lollipop Shoes*

Last week whilst feeling a bit mimsy (I word I use alot and all you Lewis Carroll fans will surely know what it means and as Humpty-Dumpty explains to Alice in Through the Looking Glass, its meaning as being a blend of flimsy and miserable) I thought I would cheer myself up with these pretty 'Lollipop Shoes'!

I had seen them a few days before and then couldn't stop thinking about them and so on a particularly mimsy day, off we went to get them. I did want a lovely green pair too which were slightly different with a 'wooden' heel but the 5 was a bit tight and the 6 was too big so I had to settle on just the red pair ~ well I can't be too greedy can I?

I just love how super cute they are with their big button.
Now they are not as vibrant as Zozie's lollipop shoes in Joanne Harris' new book which I finished reading last week, but I love them and they are my lollipop shoes!



I loved this book, it is the follow up to Chocolat and so Vianne and Anouk are back although with different names, and not to give too much of the story away for those that haven't read it yet I was slightly disappointed in Vianne as she had changed so much and it was odd that Anouk seemed so grown up now albeit at the tender age of 11, but this didn't deter at all from a great read and had its purpose in the book of course.

It took me a few weeks to read this wonderful book but that is because I loved it so much ~ odd I know but when I am really enjoying a book I read it in tiny portions generally a chapter at a time. I am like Charlie with that Wonka bar, unfolding the corner ever so slowly! I don't know why I do this, I think it is because I want to really make it last and linger over it and think about each tiny part ~ literally like eating a chocolate bar! One thing I do hate is coming to the end of books, I wish they could go on and on forever.

As with Chocolat this book had lots of lovely characters visiting the Chocolaterie and you could just smell that wonderful aroma swirling it's way out of the book making your mouth water, oh and it has the exciting & mysterious Zozie with her lollipop shoes, what more can you ask for in a book ~ Magic, Christmas, the lovely Roux perhaps? Well yes it has all those things too!
Let hope they make this one into a film with the beautiful Juliette Binoche and the ever handsome Mr Depp ~ fingers crossed girls.
x

*Cath Kidston Bags at Tesco*

Have you seen the news that Cath Kidston has designed a range of eco-shoppers for supermarket Tesco?
Mmmmm pretty cute!
The bags are truly eco-friendly, being made entirely of recycled plastic (PET) bottles.
The range has been launched to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Neither Tesco nor Cath Kidston are profiting at all from the sale of these bags. They will retail at £3.50, with 50p from each purchase going to charity.

The first two designs of the collection, a multi floral fashion print and Kidston's classic blue spot print - will be launch next month. Four more classic prints will be rolled out over six months up until Christmas, with the number of each design available limited!!!!

Eeek I have a feeling I will fall in love with the whole collection ~ but we don't have a Tesco in our town! Boo!
I am guessing they are going to be v. popular too, so you will have to get in there quickly for them ladies ~ good luck!

*Lots of new yummy goodies*

Well the website update is complete and there are lots of new yummy goodies to buy!

I absolutely love this metal 'vintage style' Ice Cream above and it is a really good size too measuring at 17.5 inches long by 6 inches wide! Just fabalicious!




These zinc t-light holders are just super cute too and complement the zinc heart pictured in the last post.

And who doesn't love a pretty cushion cover???

Anyhoo, there are lots of other goodies up for sale so pop on over and take a peek!
Click *here* for a quick look all the new items or *here* to browse the whole shop.

Oh and before I forget as a few people have asked, yes we do sell to international buyers all you need to do is at the checkout pop your country in the little box and the shopping basket will sort itself out for you and quote you your postage.

Have a great weekend everyone & I hope the sun shines for us all.

*Pink & Blue Chalkboard Hearts*

I have these cute heart chalkboards for sale on my website now if anyone wants to take a peek!






Each is handmade and they hang with white string with a cute little ribbon bow at the side.
Ideal for litte girls and big girls alike methinks!
They are £6 each.

Pop along *here* to find them.

*Pink Teapots & Birthday Cake*

Well seeing as James' birthday fell on Bank Holiday Monday this year we knew everywhere would be pretty busy but decided we still would have a day out and decided on Helmsley as this is one of our favourite places, a wonderful town nestling on the edge of the North York Moors in Ryedale, which is filled with the prettiest houses & cottages ~ so off we headed!

The day was glorious and we had a lovely drive over there but unfortunately when we got there it was absolutely jam packed with people!!! We couldn't find anywhere to park all the parking was full and people were actually waiting to park, and we thought it was pointless sitting in the car for an hour waiting for a space on such a hot and sunny day, so we decided just to head off again! Boo!

We thought about going elsewhere but decided everywhere else was bound to be just as busy, we thought about finding somewhere lovely to have lunch, but we decided to head home and have a late lunch outside in the sunshine!
James and I are very lucky as we both work from home, James as an artist and obviously I have Vintage Amethyst, so not having the Bank Holiday as a day out isn't really a problem for us as we can generally have a day out whenever we wish, we just decided to pop out somewhere nice as it was James' birthday and the weather was lovely ~ I know we are very lucky to both work from home!
So anyhoo with our thoughts full of a delicious lunch & wine ~ well it was James' birthday after all, we took a scenic route home through lots of delightfully pretty villages, choosing which houses we wanted to move into.

Once home again I threw our blue polka dot table cloth over the garden table, popped a baguette in the oven to warm up, filled our pink teapot with a bottle of Rosé, popped two wine glasses outside, lit a tea light & popped it in a homemade candle holder, then filled our baguettes up ~ Bacon & Bree for James & cranberry & Bree for me.

So with the sun shining, the wine flowing (albeit from a pink teapot) Nick Drake softly singing in the background we finished our perfect lunch off with a slice of birthday cake! Yum!

Perfick, just Perfick as Pop Larkin would say!

*The Winner*

Thank you to everyone who posted a message to enter the 100th Post Giveaway, and using a random number generator, the number picked was number 7, and so the person who won was the lovely *Tracy from Pink Purl*

*Congratulations Sweet Pea*

As soon as I receive your address I will be sending the little bundle over to Norway!!!

Love Alison x

*Lovely Treats for a very sleepy Friday*

Oh my goodness what a sleepy head I was yesterday!!!
We had to get up early (very early) as we were taking my mum & dad to the airport as they were flitting away for the week to a sunny island, and so we had to get up at 4.50am ~ eek! (I don't actually drive so James has to do the driving but of course I have to show support and go along too!)

So ok that time of the morning is bad enough to be waking up isn't it, so why my body decided to wake up at 1.15am after just under 2 hours sleep I have no idea!?!? I managed to get about another 30 mins before the alarm went off, so I had about 2 and a half hours sleep, which didn't bother me at the time really but once we had dropped them off and said our goodbyes and took the 45 minute drive back home I was getting quite sleepy, but could I go back to bed ~ well no of course not because I had a hair appointment to go to at 9.30am! So after that I quickly got a bit of work done and packed up some orders and then we were just about to get some more sleep when a friend dropped by ...
Anyhoot I managed to squeeze a 2 hour nap in, seemingly that was all my weary body wanted! But for the rest of the day I felt absolutely dreadful, I mean just awful, I'm not as young as I used to be you know!

My lovely mummy had given us lots of pennies to treat ourselves with (for being lovely kind children & getting up at a ridiculous hour of course) and so later on we decided to head off to *Borders* to buy us some magazines!!!! I needed lovely home magazines with their delicious photos to cheer me up!
So after popping in and seeing another friend and having a cuppa and a biccie (oh did I mention how many biscuits I had yesterday ~ well really I'm not going to because it is just embarrasing, I needed the sugar badly!!!!) we headed off to a nearby retail park for a spot of late night shopping!

Laura Ashley & M&S shopping and a host of other shops and then off to find me some magazines! I love this Borders as they get all the imports from the US too, so loads of lovelies to choose from including the lovely *Martha Stweart Living*, although I do find the US mags to be full of ads ~ does anyone else? Anyhoo, I just decided to get the lovely *Period Living*, and then off I went to explore the books and I found this lovely book which of course I immediately wanted *The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Build, or Manage a Business* anyhoot cutting a long story short I decided not to get it and get it from Waterstones as I had some vouchers for there but then got home and bought it on e-bay!!!

So with only my magazine in my hands, off I went to the counter where I found the lovely *Joanne Harris* (who I just love) with a lovely big half price sticker on it! Yay!!! So I grabbed it quickly as the shop assistant was shouting 'who's next'. *The Lollypop Shoes* is the sequal to *Chocolat* which I just love as a book and a film. Just lovely! I can't wait to read it and see what happens next! *Squeal*

So at the end of a very very sleepy day I managed to crawl into bed with my well deserved treats and snuggle down at last!

*Rustic Country Style*

Here are the lovely new products that have arrived and are available on the *Vintage Amethyst website*

I just absolutely love this cute trug with a little heart detail, isn't it adorable?




And here is a lovely rustic country letter rack or utensil holder, again with a cute little heart cutout.
Anna from 'all things lovely' may recognise the letter in this photo!
This was a beautiful letter Anna wrote to me to thank me for the items she had bought from the website. As you can see it is beautiful Cath Kidston stationary, so lovely ~ so of course it had to be featured in this photo.




And finally this is a wonderful large trug with 3 compartments.
I have one of these sitting on my kitchen window sill as they are ideal to pop little kitchen herb pots in like basil, coriander & mint.
Our Chalk Heart Tags would be ideal to wrap around herb pots so that you can label each herb.
This trug would also be lovely for out in the garden too, to pop some plants in.

***

Each of these lovely new items is made from reclaimed wood, and they just look so lovely and rustic!

We have a *New Item* section on the website you can find it on the shop home page, so that is it easy to find newly arrived goodies.
Find it *here*.

Toodle-oo for now
x

*Cupcake Tree*

Here is another of the wonderful Martha Stewarts lovely things!

Cupcakes don't grow on trees, but they do make a fabulous display when presented as one. Plant this collapsible, white-coated metal stand on your table and fill each branch with your favorite frosted treat, ripe for the picking.

This is the Martha Stewart Collection Cupcake Tree which is available from Macys for $24.99.

I think this cake stand is so adorable, well I think most cakes stands are lovely so this isn't any real surprise is it!
I just loved this photo and the little write up about it, so cute.
I only wish cupcakes did grow on trees, don't you?
*Sigh*

*New Goodies*

I have some new goodies that I will be adding to the Vintage Amethyst website this next week, so keep a look out for them!

Just to tempt you here is one of the new products, a lovely Shabby Chic Rose Clock which is just so deliciously pretty and ideal for anyone who loves the romantic Shabby Chic look. It is so wonderfully English country, don't you think?

***

I have been kept very busy since launching the new look website with lots of orders which is great, and I am also loving all the lovely feedback I have been getting from people ~ people taking the time to drop me a line to say how lovely the website looks, or that they love all the products is just too wonderful and I appreciate everyone one of them.

Also don't forget the *Vintage Amethyst Competition* ~ it is open for anyone who signs up for the newsletter until the 30th of April which is when the winner will be drawn at random!

Ta ta for now and I hope everyone is having a deliciously fun weekend.
x

*Vintage Amethyst Competition*

I have a competition running on my website and the prize is this lovely vintage style wirework set which comprises of a cream heart memo holder and a cream hook with heart detail.

All you have to do is sign up for the Vintage Amethyst newsletter to enter.
The winner will be drawn at random and announced at the end of the month.

The *Competition Page is here*

So why not go and get signed up!

*Good Luck*

*Mollycupcakes Goodies*

Look at the lovely gifts I received from *Catherine at Mollycupcakes*!
These were my prize for her name the bunny competition!
As you can see I received one of Catherines lovely painted polka dot spoons with a little cupcake on, some pink spotty hearts and a cute little polkadot pin badge!
A very cute little bundle of joy I'm sure you will agree. Thank you so much Catherine you sweety pie.
Now if you like what you see, why not pop on over and visit her adorable website selling lots of really cute things just like these.
You can find *Mollycupcakes here*!

*Lots of Shabby Chic, Rustic, French Country Style Homewares for Sale*

I have just added lots of new items for sale on e-bay.
I had some stock left from when I used to do the craft fairs and I thought I may as well pop it on e-bay!

So here are a few of the items I have for sale.

Above is a matching Shabby Chic 50's style cake slice & pastry brush.



Here is a English Shabby Chic style picture in a pink distressed frame.



This is a cute small heart chalkboard, which I think would look lovely in any french or primative style home with a little welcome message on!



2 rustic french country style hanging hearts filled with lavender which of course smell lovely!



And a little cute 'joy' heart picture!


There are lots more things for sale too so pop on over to have a quick look ~ you can find me *here*
x

*Gifts galore for a lucky girl*

Hallo everyone, sorry I have been gone so long, but I had a pesky chest infection & cold and felt just absolutely rotten for over a week! I am now feeling much better and I just want to thank everyone who left me get well messages, thank you so much, you are all just too lovely!

Anyhoo I thought I would share with you my wonderful Valentine gifts that I received from my lovely husband! See the photo above, yep that's right I got me one of these. I have been wanting one for ages & ages and with the price tag of over £30 in the shops I had never dared treat myself! So what a lovely surprise it was as I certainly wasn't expecting it!



I also received this huge heart box of chocolates, mmmmmmm just want I wanted, and look can you see it, yes that's right Hart to Hart complete first series on DVD! Now some of you may remember my absolute love of Hart to Hart from a previous post, so I just loved this gift and how cute to receive it on Valentines day!



And look!!!! My wonderful James also got these too, our initials!!! Too cute!
(I also got a new yoga dvd & a dance workout dvd too, that I had my eye on!)

All my gifts were presented so beautifully all piled up like a gift basket in the housekeepers box, it was just too cute!

I also got a lovely 3 course meal made for me too, we had the roasted red pepper roulade from a few posts ago and it was just scrummy!

So really am I just the luckiest girl in the world? I think so!
Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day too.
x