ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR

Earlier this week we made our annual pilgrimage to the International Antiques and Collectors Fair at the Ardingly showground in Sussex. If like us you love nothing more than spending hours looking at all sorts of weird and wonderful bits and pieces then you will find this fair heaven. We took quite a few pictures so we've decided to split our post into two parts, firstly sharing with you some of the curiosities that caught our eye. Followed with a second post to share our new purchases.

 

THE TASTE OF SUMMER

 

The weather has been amazingly good here for the past few weeks, it really has begun to feel like summer. And what better way to indulge in this glorious season than with food. With some extra strawberries floating around in my fridge I thought I would treat friends to Eton Mess, possibly the simplest dessert you can make as it really can't go wrong yet super tasty - as one friend said "this actually tastes like summer!"

All you need is chopped strawberries. Couldn't help but fall in love with the striped pattern inside of them, something I've never noticed before. 

Take some meringue and crush it into bit size pieces. Whip some double cream until it thickens then mix in the crushed meringue.

I decided to serve my Eton Mess in individual portions, I had to cycle to meet my friends and wanted something that would travel easily and still look pretty when I got there! Here I've used old jam jars and spooned the meringue/cream mixture into the bottom, added a layer of strawberries and a dollop of white chocolate.

Finished with a little Clementine & Bloom ribbon and hey presto a lovely summery treat for all to enjoy!

KEEP ON RUNNING

On one of the hottest days of the year so far one half of this duo (the younger half) participated in her first organised race for charity. The British 10k London Run took place on 14th July and our chosen charity was Cancer Research UK. Sophie beat her personal best time and needless to say we are all really proud of her!

WEDDING BELLES

On the hottest day of the year our family headed to The Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey for a much anticipated wedding. Having only been at the Mehndi last week we were excited to see how it could top such a riot of colour and pattern.

Firstly the setting was stunning, then there were the colours of the flowers and decorations used for the reception and last but not least
there was the bride. Dressed in the most beautiful embroidered red dress, all the gold work, crystals and jewellery weighed so much but nothing (even the heat) could dampen what was a lovely family wedding.

MEHNDI

 
This weekend we were treated to a riot of colour and pattern. A member of our family is getting married next weekend and whilst the boys had a typical lads night out for their stag party, the girls were treated to the delights of a traditional Indian hen party or mehndi hosted by the bride's family.

Seizing the opportunity to embrace something new, a few of us decided to wear sari's (thank goodness for you-tube!) and draped in our metres upon metres of patterned fabrics we headed off to the party...
 

This was the surprise that awaited us when we arrived. It was held in the most magnificent marquee decorated on the inside with lavishly colourful textiles.

The main tradition of a mehndi is the application of henna to the bride's hands and feet; whilst hers was going to take 5 hours to complete we were all treated to a little henna of our own.

One of us did go slightly overboard and kept going back to get more done, but then what do you expect from ladies who love pattern? 

After such a wonderfully decadent pre-wedding celebration we can't wait to see what the big day holds. It is going to be a fusion of English and Indian traditions set in the beautiful English countryside and we'll be sure to take lots of photos. So now we're just keeping our exquisitely decorated fingers crossed for good weather!

OVER THE MOO-N

Slowly but surely our little flat is starting to feel like home. When we moved in a few months ago I thought it was a simple case of positioning my furniture and hey presto we would be settled. The problem is I'm a creative person and even worse than that I am a creative person who works with interior products, so whilst we have a whole new set of pillows to fluff and every surface has a lamp with one of our shades on it, I've still got that itchy feet feeling.

Currently we are musing over the idea of painting the walls (I want the same aquamarine colour we use in our silk Archive cushions, he wants green!). Whilst we battle this one out we are in the process of hanging pictures on every spare wall to bring some much needed colour into the place. I also have two chairs that I have begun to recover (blog post to come). And the final step in making our house feel like home comes from these kind of impulse buys. Normally I sneak my thrifted treasures in, telling the other half "we've always had it" or better still "my mother gave it to us" but this latest addition was just too big.

A few Sundays ago I popped into the Capital Car Boot in Pimlico for a little nosey around and happened to find this piece of treasure.

For a very long time the two of us have lusted after a big cow hide rug to grace our living room floor (we don't even have a living room yet!) so you can imagine how chuffed I was to purchase this mini version - the perfect size for the studio room. And the best bit, it was a complete bargain at only £7!

MOLLIE MAKES OUR DAY

This month we have been lucky enough to be included in Mollie Makes magazine in their feature piece called Winged Things. It's always lovely to see anything of Clementine & Bloom in the press and we were very excited in the magazine aisle of Sainsbury's rushing to buy it and having a quick flick through at the checkouts!

But best of all this time we even had a lovely lady at The Contemporary Craft Festival say she had just seen us in Mollie Makes and was delighted to find out we were exhibiting so that she could see our work for herself. As you can imagine we beamed with pride.

So a big thank you to Mollie Makes for featuring us and if you haven't seen this magazine before make sure you get a copy, not just because we are in it, but because it's always brimming with beautiful, creative ideas and projects.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

If you have been reading the blog for a while you may remember this post. That lovely journal accompanies us to all events and trade shows and is regularly commented on and admired. With this in mind and Father's Day looming I decided another handcrafted book would make the perfect gift for my dad (now in his 80th year) to record his plethora of stories.

The book is bound in dark brown embossed leather with plenty of pages for anecdotes and photographs and is available from these lovely people.

So here's wishing all those wonderful fathers out there, and especially this handsome man, a very Happy Father's Day!

DEVON DELIGHTS

Last Thursday we packed up our van full of stock and our trusty display boxes and headed off to The Contemporary Craft Festival in Devon. Despite being a longer drive than anticipated (and us turning up a little later than intended) we drove through beautiful rolling countryside and even passed by Stone Henge.

Of course we had to include our mandatory stand picture! The great thing about using these boxes is that no two exhibiting spaces have ever been the same allowing us to play around with how we display the collection.

The festival itself had such a good atmosphere - not only was there lots of beautiful work by very talented designer/makers there was also a tipi tent for talks, children's craft tent, Punch & Judy show, live music, storytelling and so much more.

 

As you can see from these pictures we had the most glorious weather, and to top it all off we stayed in a lovely B&B called Broadhayes in the small, picturesque village of Broadhempston. This amazing view was from our bedroom window. If you walked down the garden past the chickens and ducks and along a tiny lane you would find a fabulous little pub - the perfect way to end the day!

HOMEGIRL LONDON

We are just back from The Contemporary Craft Festival in Devon and whilst we try and get our heads (and hands!) back into studio-mode to make all the orders that have come in over the weekend we thought we would share a link to a recent feature about us on the Homegirl London blog.

It's wonderful to be featured on such an interesting blog, if you haven't seen it already pop across as it is brimming with home, lifestyle and interior finds. Special thanks once again to Homegirl London for profiling Clementine & Bloom. Enjoy!

INSIDE AND OUT

Despite having family close by we have never visited Kingston On Thames before but after the Designed Interiors exhibition in the Market Town Hall we know we will definitely be going back.

                                    

The town is beautiful with amazing architecture...

important historical connections...

and a balance of artisan foods and vegetable market stalls along with the usual high street shops.

Inside the Market Town Hall building was beautiful, with exposed brick arches, iron fretwork and industrial columns making a wonderful venue for the featured designer/makers work.

With a love for all things insects we were delighted to be showcasing our work alongside beautiful collages of butterflies by Emma Troy and this 'Birds and Bees' wallpaper by Smink Things.

And of course no blog post would be complete without a snapshot of our display from the weekend!