Inspire in Vanity Fair

What to read Meanwhile for enchanting home-craft ideas, it's about Willow Crossley's new book Inspire. The stitched spine and pretty hardback cover hints at the treats within. Fifty projects to bring the outside in, include making tea light holders from globe artichokes, weaving whispery ferns into delicate wreaths, making edible flower filled ice cubes and creating spectacular hydrangea pompoms. Alongside shop bought flowers, where possible Willow encourages using foraged feathers, beach combed pebbles and hedgerow treasures. Willow's career started after she moved to France and began writing a blog.  An agent spotted the blog and soon after Crossley published her first book -The Art of Handmade Living. She has since moved to Oxfordshire with her husband and young boys, from where Willow works as an interior dresser (she'll spruce up your house with fresh fabric and furniture ideas) as well as writing and trying out new design and creative ideas. For crafting novices or young families, Crossley's is the perfect starter book. Simple ideas, well explained with the prettiest of pictures. Inspire is a must for the Easter holidays. Inspire by Willow Crossley, £16.99.  Published by Cico Books. Exclusively stocked instore and online at Anthropologie, to buy click here. www.willowcrossley.com

Career Meltdown

I'm having a bit of a career-mid-life-crisis. I woke up on January 1st, excited.  Excited about my work and what I was going to do next.  My second book is about to come out and I was determined that this would be the last year of earning so little I don't have to pay tax. And now I've hit a wall.  We went away last week to Canouan, a heavenly Caribbean island, where I was sure I would come up with a game plan.  I would come home clear headed and sorted, raring to go.  Instead, I feel more disillusioned and confused than ever.  My brain has frozen.  Hence no posts for the last two weeks.  

My problem is that there are too many things that I want to do and I can't decide what to commit to.  I flit in and out of love with the idea of each one on a daily basis.    I feel the time has come to make an actual decision.  So the choices are; interior styling or floristry.   Or completely changing tack by starting up a shop or cafe.

Ideally I'd like to combine everything. Ideally, a nice billionaire would back me and I'd rent a beautiful, white-washed, airy, light filled space and set up an all in one cafe, gallery, shop, florist and office- where I'd work on interior projects.  And  write book number three. And ideally, it would be a success. Chaz tells me it's impossible to make money in retail these days. Unless your name is Philip Green. And this is where the problem lies. Maybe an accountancy course might be a better place to start.  

On that note, I think it's time to go back to burying my head in the sand…

  

Dreamy shop inspiration

Good Homes Magazine

Very excited to be featured in this month's Good Homes magazine.

My new book

It's not out until March but here is the cover of my new book!

Inspire 

The Art of Living with Nature

 is published by CICO books

 and out in March 2014

Ta Daaaaaaa!

Friday could have been one of the top ten best days of my life so far...

Mr Postman delivered an advance copy of my book.

 It's actually happened!

The Art of Handmade Living

The Art Of Handmade Living

I'm feeling quite over excited today - I've just seen the final front cover of my book - which is coming out in precisely

three months and three days.  Not that i'm counting or anything...  I never thought this day would actually come.  It's been about two years in the making and I thought I'd share some of the pictures from the shoots to give you more of an idea what the book's about.

The front cover 

Mama, Queen of Wreaths

Summer wreath

Me hunting for trims for the paniers

Straw baskets

Clare and Amy in action

Organised mess on the first Welsh shoot

Working out the layout of the magnet pages

My faves - Nautical napkin rings

 

Planning the wreath ingredients shots

Pretty pegs

Cushions in the green house

Final day of the shoot in Oxfordshire

The final shot of the book!

www.cicobooks.com

Pompoms and Panamas

If I was a car, the red light would have been on for the last week. The Cub has been ill since thursday and now Chaz is tucked up in bed too. All thanks to the delightful builders who have kindly passed on their man flus.

I'm not allowed to be ill until at least friday. We are shooting part two of my book, 'Pompoms and Panamas' this week, so I have to be on my most sparkling, clever, full of ideas behavoiur. I am dosing myself up with everything I possibly can. Not a lot of choice when you're this pregnant. Hot honey and lemon being the most potent...I thought I'd perk myself up with my heavenly This Works Energy bath this morning. Even that's not allowed so I had to empty and re-run one without the magic energy burst. Good start.

I think adrenalin and excitement of the shoot will get me through and come the weekend I can collapse.

Until then, wish me luck, I'll be back on friday!

xx