Jul
31
Vintage Dreamy Wedding Photographs
Filed Under Inspiration, Photography, Weddings | 5 Comments
I love photography that evokes a feeling of nostalgia and combines a dream like quality with a sort of vintage charm but I never really knew how this type of imagery was achieved. And then I came across a post on flickr called Dreamy Vintage Photoshop Action by old underthewaves. So, I followed the instructions and started to experiment with some of our wedding photos and here are the results…
Jul
30
Best Wedding Entrance Ever
Filed Under Weddings | 2 Comments
I came across this on Youtube today via Facebook (thanks for the link Shirley) and I just think that it’s the best Wedding Entrance I have ever seen. It’s just so original and entertaining…
Jul
30
Inspirational Images
Filed Under Banter, Inspiration, Photography | Leave a Comment
I’ve been feeling very uninspired of late, hence the noticeable lack of posts, but I came across this post today by Naomi from inspire*inspire and I just find these images really calming. I have so much going on at the moment – seemingly endless lists of things to do and I just don’t feel like I’m getting anything done, you know how it is. Anyway, I managed to draw some inspiration and give myself a well deserved kick in the backside to add a post to my blog after seeing these images so thank you Naomi. And I’ll replace the tumbleweed blowing around here with some of the aforementioned beautiful, inspirational images from the cheshire smile – available to view on Flickr here and to purchase on Etsy here.
Jul
15
Spot Our New Favicon?
Filed Under Banter, Shop Stuff | 2 Comments
Ok, for those of you who are not techie nerds – and lets face it few of us are, although admittedly I have been referred to as being one on occasion, favicon is actually short for Favourite Icon. As if you didn’t know! It’s the little icon that sits up there beside the url and is all about branding dahling! I’ve been meaning to add one to the site since day one but it’s always been shoved to the bottom of the to do list, never mind the fact that I didn’t even know the proper name for it back then anyway. So after stumbling across it on Lorna’s blog yesterday, I decided it was time for Mabel & Violet’s very own favicon to finally make an appearance.
I was initially going to ask my wonderful web designer to do it but after some careful research, lots of faffing around and a few forum searches later I managed to pull something together myself and…ta daaaah…isn’t she a beauty! Just look at her go. She’s so teeny tiny and pretty up there. If you’re a regular reader, you might not be able to see her unless you clear your cache and I haven’t tested Internet Explorer yet, which is apparently a bit pernickity about favicon settings but it works perfectly in Firefox. Whaddya think?
Jul
15
An Interior Design Expert No Less
Filed Under Affordable Interior Design, Furniture, Gifts, Kitchen, Textiles | 2 Comments
I received an email yesterday from a lovely man enquiring as to whether I design and fit kitchens, having seen images of our recent kitchen overhaul here on my blog. Unfortunately, the answer is no – I am merely a novice playing around with Ikea’s wonderful design software not Autocad or any other such technical wizardry. So there you have it – I am not an Interior Designer, nor do I claim to be but I know someone who is…in fact I know quite a few.
One such person is one of my blogging buddies Lorna from Garrendenny Lane Interiors – yep the one who tagged me recently giving me the opportunity to shame myself into answering those questions so honestly thus revealing that I am far less erudite and cultured than I try to appear.
Lorna has dedicated three whole rooms of her house to display beautiful collections of fabric, wallpaper, bedlinen, furniture, lighting and accessories in a most unique way giving customers the opportunity to see how these items work in a real home as opposed to a brightly lit shop floor. She also has an online shop, where a lot of these items can be purchased and delivered direct to your door. As if this isn’t enough to keep her busy, Lorna also provides a curtain making and fitting service as well as Interior Design consultancy. And when her busy day is done, she has two young children, herds of cattle and sheep, not to mention a few goats and acres of land to look after. She recently appeared on RTE’s programme “Not Enough Hours” – surprised? No, neither was I.
I just love the Designers Guild bedlinen range available from Garrendenny Lane Interiors…
Designers Guild Bedlinen from Garrendenny Lane Interiors
Jul
13
Wedding Meltdown
Filed Under Banter, Weddings | 2 Comments
Still recuperating here after attending two weddings back to back – one on Thursday and one on Friday last week. Obviously that meant that I was away from work for two days, which is not cool when you’re self employed but I was so glad to have the weekend to do the majority of my recovering, otherwise I would not be capable of all that much today.
My delicate state can be blamed almost entirely on two things: 1. whiskey (ideally Clontarf or Knappogue – shameless plug on behalf of himself, miniature versions of the latter formed our wedding favours for the boys and obviously went down a treat) mixed with white lemonade, which has quickly become my new favourite drink. I reluctantly moved on from G&T because it proved to be the common denominator in any late night disagreements, so yes in my case gin does make me sin, just a little. The ball and chain is keen to prove the other age old theory that whiskey makes one frisky but so far it has only proven to provide endless energy reserved purely for the dancefloor, which brings me to number 2. AC/DC at full pelt giving rise to some serious leg guitar from moi while the men sported their ties on their heads and rolled their trousers up to the knee for some obligatory air guitar knee sliding – oh how an Irish wedding wouldn’t be the same without a bit of AC/DC! Photos to follow pending permission from offending parties…
Jul
6
I’ve been tagged!
Filed Under Banter | 6 Comments
I was tagged last week by the lovely Lorna from Garrendenny Lane Interiors, which basically means that I had to answer a list of questions so unless you really have nothing better to do than read about me, you should probably toddle off somewhere else now. If you’re still here and you plan to keep reading, thank you but please bear in mind that you will not get the next five minutes back ever again so don’t hold it against me for snatching them from you, ok?
So here are the rules:
1. Respond and rework: Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people.
Here goes……………
What is your current obsession? I usually have more than one obsession at a time because I’m a woman, so my current obsessions are renovating and decorating our 1970’s Dublin apartment, running my online shop and hunting down a rather elusive (cheap) vintage Chesterfield sofa.
Coffee or tea? Coffee first thing in the morning – cappuccino is my favourite but I usually settle for ground coffee because I have to make it myself.
What’s for dinner? Bugger, thanks for reminding me I’d better go sort something out, back in a minute! Just checked the fridge and it will have to be something with chicken in it but my husband doesn’t like chicken so we call it pork so that he’ll eat it.
What would you eat for your last meal? I’m a complete carnivore so it would probably be fillet steak with my Mum’s special steak sauce, dauphinoise potato and no vegetables because they’re evil.
What was the last thing you bought? A birthday present for my soon to be one year old god daughter Alice. I bought it at the Crafty Market in Newmarket Square yesterday and it’s the most adorable handmade dress by redpossum
What are you listening to right now? Listening to the radio and Journey are belting out “Don’t Stop Believing” – love that song.
What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe? A grey silk top given to me by one of my best friends who owns a gorgeous boutique in Greystones called Ashanti Gold. She knows my style so well that she always gives me something that I will love.
What is your favourite ice cream flavour? Cookies & Cream or Strawberry Cheesecake from Haagen Daz although it’s been a while since I splashed out on those, it’s HB vanilla until I’m rich again.
What do you think of the person(s) who tagged you? She has so much energy and she thinks she’s a poor timekeeper but anyone who can do as much as she does couldn’t possibly be! I met her through the blogosphere and consider her a friend and a great source of support and inspiration.
If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? I’d go to a Paris flea market with a french phrase book, a wad of cash and an empty shipping container!
Which language do you want to learn? Well if I need a french phrase book just to buy a few bargains then french definitely tops my list. I can ask for directions to the train station and the swimming pool but I falter at “Are you mad? I’ll give you twenty quid for the lot, now would you like cash or cheque?”
What is your favourite colour? I go through favourite colour phases that change pretty frequently. At the moment I’m having a love affair with white and pastel shades.
What is your dream job? The one I’m doing now comes pretty close but I’m just waiting for the remuneration package that I was promised to kick in.
What is your worst habit? Same as Lorna, I spend way too much time surfing the net, reading my favourite blogs and finding new ones. If it wasn’t for my husband I’d have my laptop permanently attached.
If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on? I’d put it towards the purchase of a vintage Eames RAR rocking chair.
What book are you currently reading? Dipping in and out of Sea of Poppies by Amitar Ghosh and Junkstyle by Melanie Molesworth (thanks to Mise from Pretty Far West for introducing me to the latter).
Describe your personal style? I’m a jeans and t-shirt kinda gal and I live in flat pumps and flip flops. I love scarves and accessories for the way they add some colour and transform an outfit. I do occasionally like to glam it up and love vintage style dresses and gorgeous high heels or as I prefer to call them – car to bar shoes.
What are you going to do after this? Collect my husband from work, meaning I’d better leave now or I’ll be late!
What are your favourite movies? Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, Pulp Fiction, Atonement (love James McAvoy).
What is your favourite fruit? Watermelon.
What inspires you? Blogs, fabrics and prints, travelling, photography, fresh flowers, friends and my Mum.
Do you collect something? Dust. Between living in a building site and my sedentary lifestyle sitting at my computer all day, I continuously feel like I’m wearing a layer of dust. Sorry no I don’t collect stamps or miniature model horses.
If you could change your name to anything, what would you call yourself? I’m too long in the tooth now to go changing my name, I’d never remember to answer to anything else. I still haven’t taken my husband’s surname because changing my name just seems so weird.
What is your favourite smell? garlic and onion frying in olive oil, firelighters(!), freshly laundered sheets, suncream.
What’s your favourite item in your home? I am in love with my Smeg fridge, it’s baby blue and is visible from the couch so I often find myself looking at it instead of the TV.
How many times do you press the snooze button before you get up? At least six.
Cats or dogs? I love dogs and if we didn’t live in an apartment, we would definitely have one.
What’s your biggest fashion mistake? Oh god, a green leopard print top, an illuminous green zip up cardigan, a pair of Argentinian high heeled riding boots, oh I can’t go on there are too many painful memories.
What is your guilty TV pleasure? The new Beverley Hills 90210 but don’t tell anyone.
What did you want to be when you grew up? An artist, a pharmacist, an interior designer and a graphic designer in that order but I eventually became a hotelier followed by a shopkeeper!
What is your biggest regret? I do regret not completing a college degree but there’s still plenty of time.
What is your worse decorating disaster? Not sure if this counts but I recently bought 53 sq. yds of walnut flooring only to discover when it was delivered that we couldn’t lay it due to restrictions set out in our lease. The joys of apartment living.
Victorian Terrace or contemporary new build? Victorian Terrace please, with period features in tact.
So that’s all from me folks and here are the people that I will be tagging although eight does seem like a lot so I’ve tagged seven:
Jul
3
Mabel LOVES this Grey Velvet Cosmetic Bag…
Filed Under Gifts, Mabel LOVES, Shop Stuff | Leave a Comment
and that means that there is 40% off for the month of July! Darlings, it’s Mabel here and I have decided to create my own section called “Mabel LOVES” where I will highlight my favourite products and absolute must haves from the shop. This month I have chosen the Grey Velvet Cosmetic Bag because I know it so well and love it so dearly. It is so practical because it holds so much, yet so devilishly handsome that I can unashamedly display it on my dressing table and even carry it in public. It just so happens that a friend of mine even uses hers as a handbag!
Lisbeth Dahl Grey Velvet Cosmetic Bag 40% Off, €25.95 €15.57
