Before we’d even picked out a colour for Izzy and Jesse’s room, I knew I wanted to fill the freshly painted walls with interesting objects and art.

I do my best to surround the children with creativity, mainly because it’s a big part of what makes me tick, but also because I think a home filled with art and books and music is a beautiful environment for a child to grow up in. Does that sound terribly pretentious? Possibly. Oh well, it is what it is.

For the wall above their chest of draws I worked backwards, buying a selection of frames in different sizes from Ikea before sourcing the artwork to fill them.

‘Let the Wild Rumpus Start’, in case you don’t know, is a quote from perrenial children’s favourite ‘Where The Wild Things Are’. The poster by Deanworks on Etsy is available in a range of colours. I have to admit I was expecting a slightly sunnier yellow than the ochre that arrived, but as I wasn’t set on everything matching perfectly it didn’t really matter.

I adore this embroidery hoop by Etsy seller Little Grey Fox, so much so that I’ve already picked out the Birds on a Wire Trio for another part of the house! The fact I’m completely incompetent when it comes to sewing leaves me even more impressed by the craftsmanship involved in this piece.

The two smaller frames are filled with postcards from Paperchase. The images are taken from vintage Russian cigarette cards. Jesse loves the lion and Izzy thinks the showgirl is fabulous!

The final two prints are both the work of UK based Etsy sellers.

I came across Goldlion on Etsy via Pinterest one day and purchased the ‘Reading Makes Your World Big’ print immediately.

I couldn’t agree more with the sentiments behind this piece, and it is finished to an incredibly high standard. In fact, it’s almost too good for its cheap Ikea frame, but I do love the way the colours look together. I’m currently trying to talk myself out of buying the Sweet Dreams and Sunbeams print. So pretty.

The ‘Sunshine on a Rainy Day’ print by Littletree Designs reflects the room’s colour scheme perfectly once placed in its bright blue frame.

I used a colourful vintage parasol to disguise some of the junk we store on top of the children’s wardrobe.  

The slightly oriental theme continues on the opposite wall with some treasures collected on our travels a few years ago.

When Izzy was 16 months old we took an epic holiday to China, Honk Kong and Thailand. It was amazing, and I love having these reminders of our adventure on permanent display.

I’ve set my heart on finding a smaller, mini-globe to accompany the one I found in Exeter’s finest vintage treasure trove Otto Retro. The children love to pull this off the shelf and look at the distance between us in the UK and my sister in Australia. Jesse seems confused by my claim that it is a very long way indeed!

I suspect I’m not quite finished with this part of the project yet. I mean, there’s still plenty of wall space to fill! I’d like an alphabet print somewhere, and the children need a clock too. Any excuse to continue searching for pretty things…

{The Details}

Picture frames ~ NYTTJA by Ikea

Let the Wild Rumpus Start ~Deanworks on Etsy

Lion and Showgirl ~ Postcards from Paperchase.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day ~ Littletree Designs on Etsy

Reading Makes Your World BIG ~ Goldlion on Etsy

Sleep Tight {embroidery hoop} ~ Little Gray Fox on Etsy

Japanese parasol ~ Vintage

Butterfly kite and Isabel’s name ~ Souvenirs from our trip to China 6 years ago.

Vintage Globe ~ Otto Retro in Exeter

Robot money box ~ Gift {available here}

{You can read about the rest of the children’s room in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.}

Love Audrey xxx

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Love Audrey
🙂
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May in photos 🤳

1. Finally, some Franky weather. One of the best things about this month has been dusting off my summer dresses and being able to wear sandals ☀️

2+3. Coronation weekend. So many thoughts 💭 But the food was good! I made a vegan version of my mum’s famous coronation chicken and it was delicious.

4. Jesse staying upbeat during yet another trip to hospital. That steroid buzz though. IYKYK.

5. Some of the food served at the first meeting of Bristol Cook Book Club since 2020. It felt so good to get this going again. I can’t wait for our next feast!

6. Me among the cow parsley, snapped by Jesse.

7. I’ve been thinking about creativity a lot this month while working through the ‘The Artist’s Way’. 

8. Breakfast outside.

9. {Still} scrapbooking December. Fingers crossed I can finally wrap up this project in June 🤞🏻

10. Izzy’s final show at The Tobacco Factory. After tonight, she’ll be done with college {and compulsory education} forever 🤯

We packed a lot into this month. Enough to fill two carousels! This might explain why I’m so tired! I’m looking forward to June though. Everything’s better when the sun shines ✨
@_charlieswift has been raving about ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron for years. I finally caved, ordered the book and agreed to work through the course with her and some other artists. 

The book focuses on ‘guiding you through the process of recovering your creative self’ to ‘help you unleash your inner artist’. It’s early days {I’ve only read as far as week two and I haven’t even started my morning pages yet - IYKYK}, but I’m enjoying the process so far. 

Today I took myself on my first Artist Date - ‘a block of time… especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist’. I decided to treat myself to a solo cinema trip to see ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.’ The film was brilliant and taking time out midweek to do something just for me felt… kind of naughty? And fun! It definitely filled my creative well {again, IYKYK}.

Have you read ‘The Artist’s Way?’ Where would you go on a date with your inner artist?!
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Franky weather ☀️🌅🔆🌻✨

That’s it, that’s the caption.
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April in photos 🤳

1. Our trip to London over Easter was a definite highlight this month. Here’s the obligatory ‘flowers outside Liberty’ shot.

2. Finally! Some sunshine! More of the same please, Mr. Weatherman ☀️

3. Dressed for a day of sightseeing in my new favourite pink jacket. It’s Boden and I bought it in the sale 💖

4 + 5. Scenes from a trip to the big Waterstones in Piccadilly. This poem by @charlycox1 floored me. Crying in a bookshop. Not awkward at all.

6. I was proud of these steps, so I’m posting them here for posterity 🚶🏼‍♀️🥄

7. The Easter holidays also featured lots of lazy days 🎮😴

8. We bought a nutribullet and I’m officially in my smoothie era.

9 + 10. Dinner and drinks at @thecoconuttreeuk with our IzzyBee. Taking your daughter out for cocktails is a season of parenting I’m very much enjoying.

Not pictured: a family funeral and the chest infection I’m still getting over 🤒 How was April for you?
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Easter weekend in my hometown 💃🏼

No trip to London is long enough for me to see all the people and do all the things I want to do while I’m there, but we always manage to pack a lot in. It’s 17 years since I moved away, but somehow it still feels like coming home. Here’s some of what we got up to…

1. Being tourists.

2. Shopping at Westfield.

3 + 4. Hanging out and eating at Southbank.

5. Refuelling in Chinatown.

6. Enjoying the big Waterstones in Piccadilly.

7. Admiring the spring flowers outside Liberty.

8. Visiting the Imperial War Museum for the first time since I was a child.

9 + 10. Seeing Elton John at the O2 with my mama 👓🎹🎤🪩✨

I hope you’ve managed to enjoy the long weekend, whatever you’ve been up to! That sunshine though!☀️🤩
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March in Photos 🤳

1. How it’s going…

2. How it started.

3. My in-laws were involved in a terrible car crash earlier this month. They’re very, very lucky to be alive. It was a horrible time, so I’m grateful there was a happy ending.

4. My husband sent me this photo of a photo from our wedding day while he was visiting his parents. Turns out his mum carries it in her purse ❤️

5. While I was waiting for news from Derby, I took myself out on a walk and ended up in @thesmallcitybookshop. It was like my feet knew books would bring me comfort.

6 + 7. Just spring things.

8. Vegan lemon and almond loaf and a green smoothie from @theorchardcoffeeco 🍰🌱

9. I bought it 🌸

10. Other music? I don’t know her. 

How’s March been treating you? Personally, I’m ready for April and spring PROPER!
There is a past version of me who cannot believe I get to do this every day 💭📝💻

She’s around 12yrs old, working on her first novel in a little ring-bound notebook, dreaming up stories, devouring books and trying to imagine a life filled with words. Everything that makes my business possible now barely existed then, so even she’d struggle to conjure up  an image of what my life looks like now.

I’m grateful that I get to do this, for the clients who trust me to find the right words, and I’m grateful to that past version of me too. Without her, I wouldn’t be here now. Sure, she’d probably want me to hurry up and get back to that novel, but I think she’d be proud of the business I’ve built and the way I’ve managed to create a life filled with words.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
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Lockdown memories, three years on 🦠⏳

Very little of my life made it on to the grid in 2020, so this is the first time I’ve shared these images. They’re all from the first lockdown and most were taken between March and May. I think the arrival of spring will always remind me of this strange time.

When Boris made his announcement on the 23rd, our children had already been out of school for a week. Jesse, who was initially deemed clinically vulnerable, spent the next 6m shielding. He left primary school one day not realising he’d never go back. He did not see another child his age until the summer. Like many kids and adults in the same situation, the experience had a deep impact on his mental health. 

Izzy was in Year 10. As the pandemic raged on, she did most of her GCSEs online, celebrated her 16th birthday via Netflix Party, finished secondary school with minimal fanfare and missed out on prom completely. When she finally had a normal night out with friends in the winter of 2021, I cried quietly in the kitchen when she got home. Seeing her so happy and animated after a simple ‘cheeky Nando’s’ only highlighted everything she’d missed out on in the previous 18 months.

It’s easy to forget how little we knew about the virus in the beginning and how frightening that was for everyone involved. We had it easy in comparison to some, but I still marvel at the way we coped with it all. The way we isolated, home schooled and kept our businesses ticking over. My goodness it was hard! As my children often joke, I hope we’re done living through major historical events for a while.