Dotty About...Pretty Pastels

Is it the arrival of Spring which has turned on the pastel loving fiend in me?

I don't know what has become of me lately, but I used to wince at the sight of a subdued, muted pastel colour, and now, put enough of them together, and I just can't get enough. Subdued! Pah! Delightfully lively I would now say, with expressions used such as:

Candy Floss

Sorbet

Sugary

Icing

I was reading an article in Country Homes & Interiors magazine about ceramics designer, Julie Pettitt who likes to incorporate all these things into her ceramics to make them look good enough to eat! They sure do!

Here are some pastel inspirations to whet your appetite for all things peach, lemon and teal:

Images from my Pinterest board "All About Peach and Pastels" for links to original items

Dotty About...My Niece

Well folks, we have just spent a wonderful weekend back home with my family to celebrate the Christening of my gorgeous niece Beth for whom it was a great privilege to be asked to make the Christening cake.

Beth was christened in the gown Mum made for my Sister on her Christening day. With that, our wedding bunting and all the home made delicacies my Mum had put together, it made for a rather nice garden party...well it would have if the weather hadn't been so awful, but nonetheless, we were undeterred!

Dotty About...Bunting

Around the time of the Royal Wedding, my husband asked me what I thought about the Royal Family and all the wedding shinanagins. I don't really have much of an opinion on that other than if they weren't in situ, I am sure that through the media we would hear more about some other poor sods emulating royalty, far better to appreciate the real thing!

However, it has occurred to me of late that I rather like them for one thing in particular...the sense of British-ness they install in us around any special occasion. It's not like life grinds to a halt per say, it is just that we Brits suddenly seem to appreciate good values - enjoying being part of the community that is Britain.

One of my favourite things that made this sense of community much stronger for me was the amount of bunting that suddenly appeared! I am actually DOTTY ABOUT BUNTING! I love it. I think seeing those little triangles flapping about in a breeze is just heart swelling. It conjures up and symbolises so many things... celebrating, having fun, drinking pimms, chatting and laughter.

God bless the royals for bringing back bunting! And with next year being the Jubilee I am very hopeful to see even more, and may even bring out my own range of Dotty About...Bunting. Watch this (web) space!



1945 Victory celebrations
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1953 Coronation celebration
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Street Party in Leeds celebrating the Royal Wedding (2011)
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Even the PM get's out the bunting in honour of the Royal Wedding of William & Kate!
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Of course, bunting is a cheap but colourful way of jazzing up any occasion, and is an easy DIY project for any bride (or your mum ;-) ) All you need to do is create a triangle template, cut out lots of triangular (or rectangular) flags from your choice of fabrics, then sew the tops of them to some bias binding tape.

If you are looking for bunting and can't possibly think about making you own or wait to see my Dotty About designs, there are specialist bunting companies you can visit:

Country Bunting
The Cotton Bunting Company
Bunting Queen, a personal favourite as they are very active on marketing and you may also hire bunting from them as well as buy it.