Flowers and Ribbons

What is it with ribbons, spools of thread, buttons, fabrics and general haberdashery that is so appealing to some of us? Well, even when I was a little girl I was fascinated by mother-of-pearl buttons, colourful silk threads and satin ribbons.

   

Many years later my love for flowers and gardening began and I now have the pleasure and enjoyment in combining the two.

The Statice flowers are from my local farmers market. It is one of those flowers that has not been very popular for a while. The late Jane Packer writes about the flowers in her last book At Home With Flowers. "Statice is a flower that all but disappeared from smart florists due to a its frumpy, old-ladyish image. However, it is becoming popular all over again, due to its longevity and huge range of colours. Statice is low-maintenance and dries well."

I agree with her - Statice comes in lovely colours and lasts for absolutely ages! You can also hang them upside down and dry them and they will last even longer.

The ribbons comes from Jane Means ribbon company. The three ribbons are some of her grosgrain stitched ribbons. From this month I very happy and delighted to be part of her Ribbon Stylist Blogger Team.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Jane on a few occasions. I always visit her stall at the Country Living Fairs in London and I would always come away with lots of her lovely ribbons. The next Country Living Fair is in November 2012. 

I have also attended one of her Gift Wrapping Courses. She will teach you how to nicely wrap a bottle of wine, a box of chocolate or a football! As well as making lovely bows.

Ever since I started blogging in 2009 I have often used ribbons in my posts. It has just become part of the styling that I do for my blog posts. Combining lovely flowers with colourful haberdashery - I love that word -  adding some old vintage and like here some folded up tissue paper and spools of cotton threads. 

Lovely purples - one of my favourite colours!

This is an old vintage brooch that I found at a London antique market many years ago. It is Art Nouveau and from around 1900. The purple stone is a bit of a mystery - I have never been able to find out what it is. Does anybody have any suggestions?   

Have a lovely colourful day!

See you soon.

xoxo Ingrid