Smelling of roses

You may have guessed from my work but I love flowers and in particular roses. I have about 15 different varieties in my garden from big frilly red ones to pretty white wild ones and just about everything in between. I don't know the names or really anything about them, I am not blessed with green fingers or the time to look into it but I still love there pop of colour and warm comforting smell. My current favourite is the huge pale pink roses that greet me at my front door, they have a slight yellow tinge to the middle and smell like heaven.



Of course the ones just outside my back door arent too bad either, such a pale pink that they are almost white. These hang over the balcony of the flat above us and are a real pain to look after as they grow so fast and weave round the railings. It is worth it though as they always look truely gorgeous.


I could moan that the weather has been rubbish, typical british summer when the sun can't decided whether to come or go but this year my roses are flourishing and this is due to the sun and rain so I am quite happy for it to continue. Of course a few more sunny days would be nice so I could actually go out and enjoy looking at them but for now I will just have to do with sitting in my living room looking out the window at these beauties.

fabric porn

This week I have been finishing off some new products and with all that sewing comes the need (yes the NEED) to buy more fabric. I know I rave about her work all the time but the talented Lu Summers of Summersville fabric is an absolute delight to work with. I have been finishing off some of these scrumptious clasp purses using her weave fabric yesterday to put in my shop today.


Whilst looking around the web for new fabric I found lots more supplies that really inspire me to make more new items. I have been browsing Fabric Rehab for a while now but never bought anything so this was the month. I got some beautiful turquoise seed head print cotton and one of her bargain buy mini fabric bundles too. Only to go back on today and spot more new gorgeousness in the shape of this beauty called The big E bundle pink amber which is now on my shopping list.




Another place I like to look for fabric is on etsy, its a great place to find textile print designers. Whilst searching I came across the shop of the amazingly talented Melissa Bombardiere. Her modern take on nature is really stunning, a simple but really eyecatching style. So I swiftly added her Mix pack of hand screen printed fabrics in red and pink to my favourites. Pink and red is possible my second favourite colour combo after pink and green.




Better go and do some more sewing then to earn some money to buy all this lot, and also use up some of my ever growing fabric stash before it finally spill out from under the stairs.

sewing in the sunshine

Warning this post contains the obligatory garden shots as I am english and there for obsest with the weather.


The weather is glorious here in the UK at the moment, im sure some of your have been lapping it up like I have. So today I decided to venture outside with my machine to do a bit of sewing al fresco. Turns out it is a pretty perfect way to spend the afternoon. I found myself a little bit of shade, being of the English rose variety I do catch the sun easily, and armed with my extension lead and folding table I set up camp. Hopefully my machine wasnt too noisy as to disturb my neighbors and I went right to the bottom of the garden so they couldn't hear my beautiful singing voice as I sang along to my Ipod.



I couldn't really think of a better place to work really, this garden is one of the places I am really going to miss when we eventually move out of London. Who couldn't be inspired being surrounded by all these beautiful flowers.




The temperature is supposed to drop off in the next few days so I might not get to do this again this week but hopefully this wont be our only glimpse of summer this year, last year we had about a week in September, and then I will be ready with my foldy table and machine in hand.

Finally!

So this last week I have finally got round to re opening my own online shop. Go and take a look, you will see many new versions of the old favourites, like the vintage button coin purse. I will also be putting up some exclusive items over the next few weeks too.



Laurafallulah started with all items being one off pieces and now it has grown that is impossible but with my own shop I am going to re introduce that one of a kind design back into my work. So keep an eye out if you are like me and like the thought of having something that no one else has.

April Flowers

This time of year is always very busy for me due to many many family birthdays. That means it is always filled with my favourite things, present giving, cake, food in general and just generally catching up with people I dont get to see as often as I would like.

Unfortunately it does not mean that I can catch up with my best friend as she lives on the other side of the world in Canada. Bless her sweet heart though when I came home from work one day to find these most amazingly beautiful and not to mention HUGE bouquet of flowers from her.


Abby you rule! I wish you could all smell them through your computer monitors as they filled the room with the scent of spring. With all this temperamental weather we have been having it certainly was nice to have a reminder that it is actually nearly summer here in the UK.

Anyway of course I was spoilt with lots of presents not to mention more flowers from another great friend who I did get to spend the afternoon with chatting away the hours. So thanks to everyone for a fab birthday.

Ps it isnt even over yet, I am going out with my oldest friend on Friday night to celebrate old school in a place I havent been to since I was 21.

My Sweet Heart

So sorry my long neglected blog, I always mean to visit you more often but alas you are so often last on a very very long list of things to do. Please accept one of these sweet smelling Sweet Heart Lavender Pillows as my apology and I will really try to come around more often from now on.

Your sincerly

LuFallu xx

Hey there doll face!

Look what arrived in the post for my Notonthehighstreet shop this week! I almost fainted from the cuteness that is these Paperfish doll face badges. I love how these remind me of those old simple childrens book illustrations that you used to get when I was young. Plus they have ribbon bows in their hair so whats not to like.


Also with them were these beautiful flora felt badges, slightly more grown up in feel but equally as delicious. Again they have added cute appeal as they have button centres, gotta love how Kirsty from Paperfish has a eye for those kinds of details.

So if you are looking to a healthier alternative to an easter egg or just fancy something to put a spring in your step now that the sun has finally shown itself, head on over to the shop to purchase these little darlings.

PS I am running low on both the Russian doll badges and the Teacup badges now so buy them now to avoid disappointment.

Heathly and delicious crab linguine

Recently I have been on a bit of a health kick and being a girl who does love her rich food finding healthy yet delicious dishes is a constant quest. Having just spent some time on the South Californian coast as well as some time in the lovely harbour in Baltimore I have a new found love of crab. Although I might sound like a bit of a jet setter this couldn't be further from the truth. I have only very recently taken my first long haul flight and hadn't even ventured onto a plane until I was 18.

Anyway back to this recipe. We are lucky enough to have an amazing farmers market in the village which we live in and the other week the fish monger was having a two for one offer on crabs, too much of a bargin for us to pass up. I have however since tried this recipe with tinned crab meat which is much cheaper and works just as well, especially if you prefer the gentle taste of the white meat. This is so simple anyone can cook it, seriously for the work to taste ratio this one is a real winner.


Ingredients.

The meat from 2 smallish crabs or 2 tins of crab meat
2 cloves of garlic
1 dried chili, I use Chile de Arbol but you can just use any smallish hot chili plus it can be fresh if you want but we just have dried so that is what I use
Large pinch of salt
1 Lemon, zest and juice
A good extra virgin olive oil
Linguine
A bag of watercress (seems like a lot but it wilts a lot)

Put on a pot of boiling water and add your linguine, the sauce mixture will feed 3 to 4 people so add pasta for that many. Crush the garlic, chili, salt and lemon zest in a pestle and morter to make a paste, add in the juice of the lemon and a very very large slug of olive oil (about the same amount of lemon juice). Add in your crab meat and mix until combined. In another pan add the crab mixture and warm on a low heat, just as it is starting to warm through add in your drained linguine and mix. Stir in your watercress and cook for a minute or two until the cress has wilted.



And that is it, well apart from eating it. Since I made this a few weeks ago it has become a weekly favourite, I can't get enough of the lemony crabby goodness.

If you try any of my recipes I would love to know what you think.

Trying something new

I decided at Christmas that I would like to make a completely different product this year, something that still goes in with the rest of my work but something new to me. I am one of those persons who makes lots of lists and constantly has to have a pen and paper on me incase I have an idea or remember something which I need to write down or I am likely to forget again. So this got me into thinking what sort of things I love and it was obvious, Stationery! So I began, as I always used to do, and made a fabric covered notebook for a present for one of my best friends for christmas. It turned out really lovely and then that was that my brain was full of ideas.

So off I went with spray adhesive in hand and as always metres of fabric and out of it all came these.




I made two different designs for my Not on the high street shop and then another completely exclusive design for Hannah Zakari, click on the link to see the cute cherry notebook. I think they came out really well and not only do they cure my need to use fabric but they also are handy for all those lists.

Blonde frustrated female searching for what is missing in her life

That is a new sewing machine within her budget to replace her well loved and slowly fading machine. Poor Elna how well she has served both me, and my MIL before me, but she is on her last legs. It pains me to hear her chugging away and no amount of oiling and cleaning will stop the progress of her deterioration. The light connections have gone too, hence the lamp in the photo, I got a quote to get her fixed up a bit but it was more than buying a new one.




I have been looking for a while to replace my machine but have yet to find the perfect one which feel as good to sew on as this one does. Well I have but really I need to find one under £700. So the search is still on, any suggestions are very gratefully received.

PS I want to spend under £200 ideally and it only need to be a simple but hardwearing machine.

These are a few of my favourite things

My mum found this article the otherday from a online magazine about Baltimore Style - Yarn stores in Baltimore


I know I have put this photo here before but it is the one they used for the article so it seemed to make sence to put it here again. It is about a couple of my favourite things, yarn and Balitmore. If you read the rest of my blog you will know that my partner and I have been to Baltimore twice and I also sell in a shop there called Doubledutch. I love it there so it is so nice to see my photo and nice comments about this blog as well as my work in an article about the place.

New year new start

The new year always brings new things but this year I have lots of things to look forward to. I have just booked my flights to go to the wedding of one of my bestest friends Sini in Finland, i'm so excited as not only will I see her on one of the most important days of her life but also as I get to see a bit of Finland as we have decided to drive from Helsinki to the wedding.

Also before that I have a exhibition to prepare for at the central kent library in my hometown of Maidstone, Kent. I am going to be showing some of my designs that you all know as well as making some special one off appliqued wall hangings. I used to do a lot of appliqued work on my purses so am really looking forward to seeing peoples responses to some larger pieces of work.


I am also in the middle of doing my lovely paperwork for my tax return as well as making new designs for the new season. New items will be avaible soon in my Not on the high street shop as well as in other laurafallulah retailers so keep an eye out.


So really this post was just to share a couple of photos of new things and work in progress so you can see what I have been up to, but as usual I have babbled on so dont mind me.

Theres no baking like snow baking

Being trapped indoors and freezing cold does make you crave comfort food doesn't it and what better way to to keep warm that a bit of old fashioned baking. As I have said before we get a fruit box delivered weekly and each week we have more bananas. Now I like a banana but there is only so many I really want and one a day for the rest of my life is probably a few too many. So I am always on the look out for ways to use up those brown ones which have been left to one side in favour of a juicy clementine or sharp kiwi.

This recipe is one that I found a while ago in my trusty 500 cupcakes and muffins book but completely forgot about. I made them just as a treat with a cuppa but they would be great warm as part of a fancy breakfast or taken to work as a replacement for that oh so predictable cereal bar. Its very easy and even the most messy throw it all together of bakers, like me, can't go wrong.

You will need a muffin tray, muffin cases, 2 mixing bowls and the following ingredients.
Muffins
225g/8oz Unsalted butter
225g/8oz Caster sugar
225g/8oz Self Raising flour or 8oz Plain flour with 4 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
225/8oz Mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
Topping
3 tbsp Granulated sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 tbsp Softened unsalted butter
4tbsp Oats
1tbsp Flour (SR or P)

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4/175C.

So in one bowl mix the butter and sugar until creamed, add in the eggs, flour and nutmeg and mix until combined. Add in the mashed bananas and again mix until combined.
In the other bowl mix together all of the ingrediants for the topping, it will be quite a dry breadcrumb like mixture, the smaller the crumbs the better.


Fill your muffin cases about 2/3 full. So here I divert from the books recipe as I find that if you add the topping here it just sinks into the mixture and you don't get much of a crunchy top. So I would cook your muffins for 5 minutes or until they are puffed up enough to fill the cases. Then quickly sprinkle on the topping mixture and continue to cook for about 20mins keeping an eye that the top isnt getting too dark.

Remove from oven and leave for 5 mins to cool in the tray and then cool on a rack, or if you are like me and impatient then tuck in taking care not to burn your mouth.


As modeled on my new cake rack which was a christmas present from my mum and dad, but better to keep in an air tight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Sale on hannahzakari. com

Just wanted to tell everyone to check out the amazing sale on hannahzakari.com for some great post christmas shopping. There are many laurafallulah items in there as well as some beautiful jewellery, art and many other lovelies.

A couple of my favourites are this really cute top by Pretty Raccoon, love the chandelier print and there is a pretty awesome ship one also in the sale.


Also some great grettings cards by Yee-Haw Industries. Being a cat lover myself I would go for the Magician Cat myself but if Decapitation is more your thing then there is a card for you too.

Out with the old

and in with the new! I am having a huge sale over in my Etsy shop with all older items reduced up to 50% off. Bags, purses, cosmetics pouches, brooches and lavender hangers all at great prices. This tote is reduced from $40 to just $24.


So go on over and grab yourself a bargin. I will be putting new sale items in through out the whole of January ready to start listing my new collection in February.