Scenic Sundays - Beata Garden Centre, Lagos

My mum has a plant nursery in Lagos, Nigeria.  She has turned her gift for growing plants into a business. For almost 4 years she has nurtured and grown all manner of tropical flowers, shrubs and trees, turning a barren patch into a veritable oasis.  She also uses her knack for organising to create calm and beautiful spaces for her clients. So if you're in the Lagos area and in need of some greenery (or know someone who is), then why not call or visit?

Scenic Sundays - The Woodland Waterfalls of Pontneddfechan

Pontneddfechan - Waterfall Country

Folksy Friday - Textile Art

One of the blogs that I read, decor8, which is all about decor and style, led me to another lovely blog - 79 ideas, which deals with everything from design to fashion to crafts - where I was lucky enough to come across the work of Yulia Brodskaya (artyulia.com).

Her stunning illustrations made using paper really struck a chord with me and inspired me to seek out art created using different mediums for this week's Folksy Friday selection.  All of today's choices are examples of textile art. I hope you enjoy the selection.

 

 

 

"Dad's Poppies" by Sheila Blakemore - needlefelted, with some beading and embroidery. I was drawn to the vibrant poppies.

"'Lovebirds' Wall Art" by made by lolly - I love the print on this fabric, which has been embellished with beading, buttons and hand-stitching.

"Butterfly Textile Wall Art" by Dizzy - the backing fabric is painted, and the butterflies are made from pink felts and floral fabrics and hand-stitched on to the backing.

"Field Poppy" by Odette's Shop - the background has been hand-dyed, and then embroidered using a mixture of machine and hand stitches.

"Hand-painted Lavender Lady" by Gracie's Garden Bazaar - lovely, whimsical hanging decoration, hand-drawn and painted on tea dyed vintage cotton, embellished with vintage lace and glass pearls, and filled with French lavender. 

"Wedgewood Flora" by Bird's Eye- charming, embroidered canvas with felt and beads.

Ingredient Insight - Rice Bran Oil

Rice Bran Oil is an excellent oil for skincare.  Extracted from Rice Bran, which comes from brown rice, it is rich in Vitamin E and Gamma Oryzanol, both potent antioxidants.  When applied to the skin it encourages skin renewal and has some UV absorption properties, making it a good oil for helping to prevent premature ageing.  It is light, with good spreadability and is easily absorbed by the skin.  Overall, rice bran oil is mild and softening with excellent moisturising and protective properties.  

Internally, rice bran oil also has many benefits being high in Omega-6. Gamma Oryzanol has also been shown to reduce cholesterol.  It is stable up to very high temperatures, which makes it an excellent oil for frying and cooking in general.

We use it in our Body Butters, Hand Creams, Rejuvenating Facial Serum and Restorative Body Oil.

Surviving the Barren Creative Wasteland!

January has been a strange month for me.  My head is usually bursting with ideas - new formulations, changes to exisiting formulations, new products, ideas for events, blog entries, personal projects that I would like to undertake, interesting things that I have seen and so on, and so on... - so much so that I had taken to carrying a little notebook for my "Ideas & Inspiration" to help keep track of any ideas before they got pushed out by new ones.  But last month, I was strangely quiet, and my little book has been sorely neglected.  For several weeks I didn't even know where it was.  However, I'm pleased to say that I'm back! (Or at least on my way back.) My little blue book has a few new entries, there are scraps of paper in various places around the house with jottings on, and I've even been back in the kitchen experimenting with a new idea :-)