Hannah Turner Ceramics

The Hedgerow Collection

Dear readers, today I would like to introduce you to a ceramicist whose lovely tableware, playful patterns and cheeky birds are bound to cheer up the gloomiest of November mornings. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Hannah Turner! (To view sharper images, please click on them.)

Owl Eggcup

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of playing around with some of Hannah's items for some lifestyle photos, and with characters as charming as these, I could sit back and watch as they practically styled the session themselves...!

Owl

Owl Creamer Jug

Owl Creamer Jug, Owl Tall Jug & Owl Teapot

Every item in Hannah's different collections has its own unique personality, SO full of character, and you may think I am losing it now, but I could have sworn I heard one of the owl eggcups scorn the other for dropping its egg...

Birds

    

Peacock Eggcup

Some of you may be surprised to find this rather commercial blog post in what is normally an "ad-free" blog. However, I thought some of you might be curious to see one of the things that has kept me busy in the past few weeks, and if this means drawing some extra interest to Hannah Turner's funky ceramics, well I am very happy to do so!

Birdlife Collection

Birds & Birdlife Tableware

Should you feel your bird nerve twitching at the sight of these beauties, 

you may browse Hannah's webshop 

here.

 

Birdlife Collection

Again I would like to thank all of you who visit The Swenglish Home and 

an extra warm thank you to those of you taking the time to leave such kind comments. 

You make my day!

Wishing you a great start to the new week!
Helena

Remember me...?

(Lovely mini bird cage from a flea market in France for € 1 (!!) and a sweet 

little tea light holder from a sweet blog reader - thank you Claudia!)

Well, since I hardly remember myself... (!), or at least "whether I am coming or going" as the expression goes, I thought it would be about time I reminded myself, and those of you who might still be stopping by here, that I am still alive, even if ridiculously busy with this, that and the other...

A stroll in the rare, but oh so lovely, sunshine a few weeks ago, after a rainy week that made for some - shall we say - challenging terrain around the back of Lacock Abbey. But worry not, a stile a little further to the left (out of sight here) enabled us to not have to show off our swimming skills that day.

There is something so wonderful about skipping, strolling, or in any way moving across these great green farm fields, and to see the children take full advantage of the vast openness before them to run, run, run until they can run no longer, or until they stumble over a sleeping sheep - whichever comes first... We only use public footpaths, of course, and luckily there are a lot of them around here!

So what else have I been up to in the last few weeks, except skipping across green pastures, humming Sound of Music tunes? Well, a few very exciting things, of which two have involved my passion for styling an environment or image that is - hopefully - pleasing for the eye. In one case, it involved helping a client with some finishing touches in an already beautifully renovated and stunningly decorated old cottage. In the other case, I had the pleasure of working with some of the gorgeous and wonderfully cheeky bird personalities that characterise ceramicist Hannah Turner's decorative items and tableware.  Very soon, when Hannah's new collections are available in store  (and on her website), I will show you more of the photos from my chirpy day in the company of her funky ceramics!

Having no new vignettes to show you, I will, again, recycle some from last year. I feel these really capture well "who I am" at the moment. The colours, the materials, the shapes...

I just realised that perhaps that goes deeper than just my taste, 

perhaps it reflects quite literally who I am...? 

A little rusty, a little scruffy, a little round... ☺ 

 

But now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time for... CHRISTMAS!

Drum roll.....

Norwegian interior styling, writer and photographer Franciska Munch-Johansen has just published her new book, Sanselig Jul (Christmas For All the Senses) and it a very beautiful compilation of her own photos and ideas and those of a number of bloggers. To find out where you can buy it if you are interested, click here.

To tempt you , here are some pages from the book (click to enlarge):

... a few photos from an - unusually snowy - England from yours truly...:

***

Mummy's Own is a lifestyle and inspiration site for Mums - created by Mums, aiming to offer inspiration through for example blog recommendations, recipes, fashion and articles about well-being. The ladies have just relaunched the blog in English, and a couple of weeks ago The Swenglish blog was their blog recommendation - thank you so much, Camilla!

More blog love has come my way through no other than the lovely Henrick Eriksson (with the informative and inspiring blog Kråks Stuga - formerly known as "Henricks Tankegångar"), whose styling skills,  knowledge of interior design trends (and much more!) make for very pleasant reading indeed! Thank you so much, Henrick, you made my day! Yes, I know, to some of you this may sound a little like a ping-pong game of reciprocated back-scratching, but I would happily have written this completely unprompted and I believe spreading some blog love is spreading good vibes, and good vibes are great fuel for the soul, whether blog related or not!

***

Phew, there we are. Are you still there? If you did not give up half way through what in the end became a very eclectic and very long blog post, then let me finish by wishing you a  lovely last few days of October!

All the best,

Helena

Bring on the sprouts...!

However, just as I am no friend of a cabbage-inspired cuisine, 

nor are you likely to ever catch me munching brussels sprouts... 

But who says you have to eat them?!?!

So, true to my motto "Play with your food!", and inspired by something I remembered seeing in Minna's stunning blog Blomsterverkstad last year (read her blog post here) about how to turn these little greens into flowers, I ventured into the garden a few weeks ago...

... to set a small winter table with hints of the festive season...

... but this blog post does not end here... so, are you ready...?

Drum roll...

Here we go...

***

Announcing a small birth...

Dear readers,

Some of you may know that my "day job" is as a Communications Consultant and University Guest Lecturer in Intercultural Communication. I enjoy this work very much and find it hugely interesting!

However...

I am also - and this may come as no surprise to you - passionate about interiors and how you feel and live in them, as well as how to try to recycle and upcycle old items and use nature's own treasures when decorating, to aim for a both personal, soulful and sustainable home.

Having had such kind and encouraging response from you (the world's loveliest blog readers!), and having been contacted through my blog by professionals showing an interest in my ideas and photos, I have for some time been pondering if I could pursue this path too...

So today I invite you to witness the modest birth... of ...

Helena Bernáld Interior Styling & Photography

You are welcome to visit my website at:

http://www.helenabernaldinteriorstyling.co.uk/

With a lot of lecturing work lined up, I may have to take baby steps here at first, but I look forward to exploring what is possible and how to combine the two jobs! I hope you would like to join me on this exciting  journey too!

Now, stand back, here comes the champagne cork!

...and there is more....:

***

Published in A Mi Otthonunk

Some of the images above, together with some of my other winter and Christmas-inspired photos and ideas can be seen in a six-page feature in the Christmas issue of A Mi Otthonunk (= Our Home)  (http://www.amiotthonunk.hu/), which is out in the shops in Hungary today. I feel very honoured - thank you Tímea for contacting me!

To those of you who may have found your way here from the magazine feature, welcome to my blog! For those of you who may not have access to the magazine, but would like to see the feature, I will try to show it to you in the next few days.

So, having shamelessly blown my own trumpet and also a tune for brussels sprouts, 

I will let the final note today be an encouraging fanfare to play more with your food!

(It need not be wasted, as in most cases, it can be eaten after having been used as decoration!)

Wishing you a playful weekend!

Helena