The Year of Living Gorgeously

January Project 3: Funky/Glamorous Placemats

When Paola and I first started discussing Gorgeously, we wanted it to be a place with inspirational craft projects, beautiful interiors, tried and tested online tutorials and a glamorous lifestyle to boot. In this post, we have achieved all four!!

When I saw this tutorial on the recently redesigned One Hour Craft, it went straight into my 'Projects to do' pile. I wanted glamorous placemats for winter, and will no doubt be moving on to gingham and florals come the summer. Here are the step by step photos of my progress, but if you'd like more detail to work with, have a look at Mia's post.

I decided to use sumptuous mink coloured duchess satin and a heavyweight brocade with the similar mink colours in it. Utterly decadent but not a little impractical as neither are particularly well known for their washability. Ah well!! That's living gorgeously for you!

I will show you the finished article in a placesetting next week.

Book of the Month - A Year in Marrakesh

I just stepped out of the train and allowed myself to be carried on the bosom of the crowd that was already milling towards the exit. In this manner I arrived into my new world this morning: no pain, no cutting of the umbilical cord, no cries. I could see the sun shining at the end of the sortie passage. I supposed that the porter had my luggage and I certainly had my ticket somewhere but no one had timeto ask for it as the flood burst through the final barriers.  I stood there exultant in the station yard, and all about me djellabas, veiled women, babies who could fill their lungs and scream now that the ordeal was over. I was silent and alone in the knowledge that this was the very moment of rebirth.

A writer travels to Marrakech alone in the summer of 1952 to seek inspiration for his latest novel. The journal that he keeps while living in a rented room, learning Arabic, forming tentative friendships with his neighbours, accidently getting high on hashcakes and experienceing the mysteries of a city unsullied by the onslaught of Easyjet, gets published instead.

This is it.

Bought by accident online (thinking it a modern tourguide) and inhaled at speed at least four times over since last year, this book evokes a world long-since disappeared. I have never travelled to a distant city with no bearings, plans or knowledge of the language. I live my life, instead, vicariously through Peter Mayne and learn about Islam, Arabic, haggling and hashish in a city of alleyways, dust and distant Atlas mountains.

This book is one of 69 published by the fabulous Eland Books, which is a small publishing house in North London offering a treasure trove of historical travel books ranging in subjects including Vichy France, East Africa and Lancashire! They even offer their entire list at a discount rate: the perfect wedding or housewarming gift in my opinion. Start the new year with a headlong dive into the past and I promise you, you'll never look back again!

January Project 2 - Thank you

January is of course a month of 'thank yous', particularly if, as I do, you have a tiny daughter who was absolutely inundated with presents for Christmas and whose birthday is also this month.

So, inspired by Rebecca, I decided to put the Minx to work on a largish sheet of watercolour paper with her washable dotty pens and markers.

We then both attacked the paper with some damp cotton wool pads until it looked like this.

I then had to wait several days because the Minx kept picking up her artwork, admiring it and squealing, 'Wow! Lulu! VERY clever!' every time she saw it.

After about three days of this, I waited until she was fast asleep and then set about slashing at her precious artwork with a knife (Please email all 'world's worst mother' awards to the address above.  See also here.) and attaching strips of painted paper to ready-made white cards with double-sided sticky tape.

 So, if you're one of the lucky recipients, just remember that she hasn't yet noticed that her 'painting' is gone, and don't say anything. Please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Greens - well, getting there!

At the start of this month the blog began "you'll see a stirring in the soil and know that spring is just around the corner...."  so it is with great joy that now (albeit a bit into the month), that I am delighted to report that not only is the soil breaking out in bejeweled swaths of crocus and daffodil - but today I saw my first tree breaking into leaf - hurrah!   The first of the cherry trees are now in blossom along with flowering quinces, whilst magnolia buds everywhere are just ready to burst - how wonderful.  Meanwhile, two of my favourite flowers are doing their stuff in the garden right now:  snowdrops and Hellebores, of which there are many wonderful colours as you can see here: 

 

 

 

 

 

There are however two problems with hellebores; 1)  They flower now when realistically you don't venture or linger into the garden that much and 2) Their flowers 'nod' so you need to lift them up to really appreciate them, unless... pick the flowers and then float them in coloured tealights or a bowl and problem solved - decoration and appreciation in one - and they last for ages - weeks infact as a great table centerpiece -especially if you add some tealights. 

Back outside, if you have a garden then now is the time to be taking stock of your garden or windowsill and to look in particular at its overall structure… are there any major gaps where there is a boring fence or an unsightly view?  If there is, now would be a good time to put in something evergreen, maybe even some topiary if appropriate – although please not the piece I recently saw that is shaped as a  motorbike...!  

Other jobs to do are to prune late flowering summer plants and evergreens and give everything a good feed - yes, plants appreciate a bit of food too at this time of year, although unlike us they prefer a good sprinkling of dried blood, fish and bone (available together in powdered form from any garden centre), followed by a thick topping of manure.  Delicious and quite unlike any other recipe here on 'Living Gorgeously! 

Having done all that - you deserve to reward yourself, so do so by buying British. This supplier grows their plants so can supply you with a hand-crafted creation filled with freshly picked blooms and foliage direct from the English countryside.  A cheaper alternative of course would be to go and lightly prune a local cherry tree or camellia that are all flowering now ... although if it does not belong to you I am not condoning plant vandalism!     

Down at my allotment I am now sowing broad beans and peas for an early crop and 'chitting'' my potatoes ready for planting in March.  I have also just bought some wonderful hazel pea sticks and hazel poles with which to support my peas and then make an archway for sweetpeas - watch this space.  So much nicer than bamboo poles and since they are sourced from a locally coppiced woodland I feel I am doing my little bit... I'm sure the peas will taste all that sweeter too!  If you want to source your own bean poles then find out where through those that are trying to preserve this forgotten tradition.    

And finally - take a look at my best  houseplant - a Strelitzia, the Bird of Paradise plant which has now opened 3 flowers of which this is one.  Easiest plant of all to  look after - you can forget about watering it for ages and somehow it forgives you and produces this terrific flower.  Bloom on!

Photo Competition - January

Here's announcing Living Gorgeously's  first monthly photo competition.

  

Vodka in Seattle                                                                    Wind in London

 

The theme, amazingly enough, is 'January'.

Amusingly, both Helen and I have gone for a take on wintry trees, but it would be lovely to see images of January from all over the world.

To enter, please either post your photo on your own blog and send us a link or just email us a .jpeg.  If we get more than an embarrassingly small number of entries we'll also set up a Flickr group. (Editing to say that details of the Flickr group are now available here). The closing date for entries is Tuesday 30th January.

We have secured the services of the fabulous Lottie to be our guest judge - she's got a great eye for a photo, as evidenced by her glorious London Flickr album and her own January photo below.

 

 

Lottie's decision is, of course, final and not much bribery will be allowed.

The winner will receive a very gorgeous Hanging Tree of Life by Atelier LZC (we should have more stock in by then!) and their photo will be in featured in our final post for January 2007.

 

 

By the way, if you're a thinking ahead sort of person, the theme for next month's competition will, incredibly, be 'February'.

January Birthstones - Garnet & Rose Quartz

January is a very fortuitous month for the gorgeous to be born in, with both Garnet and Rose Quartz to claim as a birthstone and amazing feats of healing and goodwill in each one.

All reddish based stones are said to exercise a calming influence, taking away anger and discord. Garnet is no exception, claiming enhanced creativity and understanding, and bringing success in business. They also are said to strengthen willpower and increase self-esteem and popularity. Garnets are also said to help in the treatment of infectious diseases, blood poisoning, and heart & lung diseases.

Garnet is traditionally best set in gold but I love this example of many stones working with silver in an utterly wearable design. Thinking laterally this beautifully dense garnet candle is perfect for creating immediate wintery warmth.

Far more popular to lovers of stone healing, rose quartz is said to, amongst other things:

• balance the emotions, thus giving inner peace and harmony,
• enhance one's sensitivity to beauty, art and music and one's capacity to love others and yourself
• help treat depression and assist in weight loss. It is said to give a clear soft complexion and to prevent wrinkles.
• aid the proper functioning of the kidneys, adrenals, genitals, liver, lungs and heart, and to increase fertility and protect against radiation.

Cripes. And we thought it was just pretty! This rose quartz bracelet with eyecatching clasp is embellished with a polished turquoise briolet. Any other finds, readers?

Happy Birthday to all those celebrating this month! 

Notable notebooks

It's a New Year and the pages of 2007 are waiting to be filled. 

What better time to make or buy a beautiful new notebook full of lovely blank pages to be filled with intelligent musings, new projects, and perhaps the outline for your latest bestseller.  At the very least it will make To Do lists and shopping lists seem more bearable.

Here are some of the best notebooks and journals we've been able to find from around the Web.

adellelouise has a different beautiful journal for each season in her Etsy shop ($55 each).

Slightly cheaper is this set of mini patterned notebooks from Denyse Schmidt Quilts at $14.95.

 

Also found on Etsy, this is my absolute favourite - apparently interleaved with fancy textured and patterned pages to make you happy when you're writing in it.

Surely such happiness is worth $90?

Rania takes Moleskine Cahier notebooks and prints silver leaves on them with her Gocco - a steal at $10 each.

Whereas if money is no object, why not indulge in the awesome Zac Posen-designed Smythson Fashion Diary, which comes in at an equally awesome £225?

Finally, we can definitely identify - as I'm sure can all of our readers - with the sentiments on the cover of this Pamela Barsky-designed journal, available for $13 at www.seejanework.com

 

The Home Spa: 1938

Cleaning and Nourishing the Skin

It constantly needs the first; it may require the second. If the skin becomes rough and does not take powder and rouge smoothly, the chances are that it is starved, and in that case it will require a nourishing skin food to restore it to a good condition.

Cleansing is of course an essential, not only to remove powder and rouge, but also to rid skin of its accumulation of dust.  Now here is how a good cleansing cream acts.  As soon as it is put on the face, it dissolves and becomes a liquid which penetrates the pores and cleanses them. In order to do this properly it should be left on the face for a few minutes.

And that brings us to a problem. The bride wants to look nice for "him" at all times and it would be a distinct error in tactics to be seen with a greasy, shiny face. But there is a way out of that dilemma. Kep a jar of cleansing cream and some skin tonic in the bathroom.

While you are drawing your tub, put a generous coating of cleansing cream on your face, and leave it on while you are having your bath. Then, before you leave the bathroom, wipe off your cream with a piece of cotton wool dipped in skin tonic, and you emerge fresh and glowing, with a skin innocent of grease and shine.

The Bride's Book, Edited by Dorothy Stone, March 1938, Chapter 7: Beauty Culture

I purchased this book 10 years ago as a teenager, knowing it would make an amazing wedding present for a friend at some point in the distant future. I have since fallen in love with it, and will be sharing with you little gems once a month from the pen of Dorothy Stone, acclaimed authoress of Making the Most of Your Looks, who for years has answered women's written questions for help, not only on their dress problems, but on matters pertaining to their homes.

Deal of the Month

Each month Gorgeously will aim to bring you news of the best deals on the internet, maybe even using our contacts in high places to get you special reader discounts! There may (if you're very gorgeous) be free gifts from some of the many fabulous online boutiques that there are about.

In the meantime, though, it's January, it's sale time and we thought we'd do the *leg* work for you in the online sales. Toast always has good deals. My faves include these brown boots, half price to £98, unusual basket stitch cardigan down to £62, and this silk chiffon skirt (right) down to £85 which would see you through the spring and summer.

Hush starts on 22 Jan, so you'll have to wait and see what delights they will unleash... I've got my eye on the scrummy angora knitted overnight bag.

The only time I would be able to view Net a Porter with anything other than wanton lust and price denial is during the sales. I'm loving this brown leather belt with gold buckle, from £170 to £85 as a wardrobe classic - utterly justifiable, whatever the weather. This berry sequinned jersey kaftan is delicous now under a chunky cardi, great for a beach side coverup come summer, and is disgustingly cheap at £45 down from £135. If you've yet to hit puberty, it may even double as a dress with the dreaded leggings underneath! Best of British to you if you dare. Pictures gratefully received at addresses to the right.

On a final note of whimsy, there is very little holding me back from this rather delicious specimen to the right. Form an orderly queue at Cath Kidston, down from £95 to £45...

Epiphany

It's not made terribly much of in the UK and US, but in Catholic countries the 6th January or Epiphany or Twelfth Night is still a big deal. 

When my Italian mother was young she didn't receive presents at Christmas.  Instead sweets and small gifts were brought to her on Epiphany by la Befana, a witch-like old woman who is somehow entangled in the story of the Three Kings.

When I was living in France, I was fascinated to see the 'galette des rois' (cake of the kings) appear in every patisserie at the end of December, complete with gold paper crown and lucky charm baked inside.

And yes, I know that we've all made resolutions about how much weight we're going to lose this year, and yes, we've all eaten far too much cake already, but this galette is made of puff pastry filled with buttery, almond-y frangipane and for me buttery, almond-y anything is completely obligatory eating.

This is the recipe I used (which I cross-referenced with this one)and here are my ingredients, including a small dried bean (with, in the background, my extremely gorgeous Christmas present).

The bean or feve is a critical component.  The person who gets the 'feve' in his or her slice is considered to be king for a day, will have a year of good luck and gets to wear the paper crown. 

Nowadays in France the 'feve' is most likely to be a small plastic or ceramic charm.  Ceramic charms are often handed down through families and are highly collectable.

In the absence of anything either charming or collectable I decided to go back to basics and incorporate a dried bean.

I creamed up the filling in my lovely new KitchenAid.  Rolled out the puff pastry inexpertly (can anyone explain how to transform rectangular pieces of ready rolled pastry into two circles without rolling too much?) Assembled my galette, washed it in egg wash, put in the oven and then realised that the 'feve' was still sitting on the worktop.

 

And so no one in the Thomas family got to wear a crown (which is lucky since we didn't make one) and no one will be lucky this year.  But we did get to eat an extremely delicious cake.