Little Christmas Pud!

This is an unashamedly promotional plug for my mum!

She is a knitter extraordinaire and has kept all three of my children in hats, cardis and blankets for the last 13 years. In fact some well loved items have been saved and passed from baby to baby, like my fave lime green cardi that little Rose now wears- it was knitted for her older sister Kia 13 years ago, how green is that ?!

Mum has finally bitten the bullet, overcome her technophobia and created a folksy shop to sell her Beanie Baby Hats. She uses beautifully soft cotton yarn- just right for little noggins.

I wanted to share with you her latest creation, a fab Christmas Pud- the perfect gift for a little one!

Take a look at: http://www.folksy.com/shops/BeanieBabyHats

Hee Hee, there it is, family promotion finished,

Jemma x

GreenLeaf Press Christmas Boutique

It is December already! Unlike the highstreet, we don't allow ourselves to get in the festive spirit until this month begins, however now that it is here we won't hold back, woohoo..

To prove it we are pleased to announce the opening of our Christmas Boutique, our first venture into selling directly online, eek!

This year our Holiday cards have been inspired by everything from hand knitted jumpers to Nordic folk art.
Take a look at our store and let us know what you think of this year's designs:

http://greenleafpress.bigcartel.com/category/christmas

We will also be posting up some of our favourite christmas decorations and gifts from across the internet over the next few weeks, starting with this little selection, enjoy!

Clockwise: Cute mushroom candles from Heals, Fab christmas pud rubbish bags available from Nigel's Eco Store. Elizabeth Cook reclaimed wool robin from The Natural Store, plantable seed decorations, recycled glass baubles and recycled card crackers- all from Nigel's Eco store. Stackable fair trade santa dolls and growing grass christmas tree are both available at The Ethical Superstore.

Summer, weddings and berries..

It's June and the bumblebees are buzzing around our lavender bushes, we are dreaming of pick-your-own-berries and outdoor events!
Our friends' blogs, too, seem to have drifted off into hazy day dreams of picnic weddings and rustic British country charm- we have pulled together our favourite images to share with you, with some great links to be found below:

{images courtesy of Country Living via The Natural Wedding Company,

Not Mass Produced, Not On The High Street and GreenLeaf Press}

Felt Corsage from SevenSeventyOne Design, available in several colours on the Not Mass Produced Website: www.notmassproduced.com

Personalised hanging wedding signs by Delightful Living on Not On The High Street: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/delightfulliving/product/personalised-hanging-sign-for-weddings

A6 Flat Invitation on straw paper with recycled cotton rag envelope available from us! (Please get in touch to find out more)

{images courtesy of Emily Quinton Photography}

The stunning engagement shots above were taken by Emily Quinton with styling by Charley of London Bride. Find out more about working with this talented duo:

http://emilyquinton.com/blog/

{images courtsey of Green Wedding Shoes, iDIY, The Traditional Flower Co,

Not On The High Street and Cox & Cox}

For similar hand painted wooden signs and personalised flower crates, follow the link to Not On The High Street above.

Seasonal flowers arrangements and accessories available from The Traditional Flower Company, http://www.traditionalflower.co.uk/traditional/

For these flower petal confetti cones and other lovely gifts check out Cox & Cox http://www.coxandcox.co.uk

The 'upcycled' flower caddy is a DIY project on the iDIY blog (please follow the link in our right hand bar)

{images courtesy of GreenLeaf Press, Ruffled, Style me Pretty and Milomade}

Our current season range of stationery is available to view on the main GreenLeaf website, www.greenleafpress.co.uk.

The beautiful handstitched love token was created by a bride whose wedding featured on the fabulous vintage wedding blog, Ruffled: http://ruffledblog.com/

Finally this recycled paper garland and recycled confetti are handmade by Evie Milo in Scotland. Milomade recycled paper goods and jewellery are available to buy from; http://www.makers-online.co.uk/artist/milomade

Make and Do!

On the subject of DIY we love the fact that most of our green brides do have that desire to be creative and get stuck in. Not for you the 'off the peg' wedding or keeping up with the Jones'!

We see some great projects when looking for inspiration and we will be sharing these with you along the way. To begin with we have found some great workshops, both locally, and in the capital, where you can learn valuable new skills to make your wedding your own!

{images courtesy of The Make Lounge}

http://www.themakelounge.com/ The Make Lounge, London N1, hosts fantastic crafting workshops on a one-off basis, making it easy to pop along and pick up fab new skills on anything and everything- think frilly knickers, cupcakes and everything in between!

They take private parties and have already hosted many hen parties, why not get your girls together and make your table centres, favours or fascinators?

To find out more about future workshops or booking a hen party contact:

create@themakelounge.com or tel: 020 7609 0275

Closer to home for us is the lovely Landbaby at the Bluecoat, Liverpool. This beautiful craft shop is set in the courtyard of the Bluecoat Arts Centre and not only sells some stunning handmade goods from a wide range of local designers, but Claire also runs some fantastic workshops, from making your own corsage to making wax paper flowers- as Amanda mentioned in the last post, these would be a great alternative to cut flowers! A gallery of past workshop work and info on upcoming workshops can be found on their facebook group page (apologies for the huge link):

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Landbaby-at-the-Bluecoat/89408539268?ref=nf

{images courtesy of Landbaby at The Bluecoat on Facebook}

For a great opportunity to take a look at local craft designers' work and demonstrations, Leaf Tea Shop & Bar are hosting 'Make Sundays' in Liverpool on three Sundays this Spring, again details can be found on their facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=324850372152&ref=mf, we look forward to seeing you there!