Grandma's - Gothenburg, Sweden

Another one of my favourite shops in Gothenburg was Grandmas's. Originally the store was based in Kinna, which is about 6 miles from Gothenburg. In 1995 they moved to Gothenburg and under took renovations to make the "back alley" small shop there home. Over the years they have been able to extend the once small shop into a large two storey stylish place it is today set amongst the charming cobblestones street in beautiful Vallgatan. Two stories full of romantic, inspring decor from brands such as Lexington, Englesson, Heaven, Mateus Stock and Greengate. Here you will find things for your hall, kitchen, bedroom and nursery. You will find lots of things that you need but also a lot of goodies you did not need but just have to have - things that brighten your day.



Have a sweet day!

Balders Hage - Gothenburg, Sweden

One of my favourite shops in Gothenburg was Balders Hage. A family run business that was started in 1973 by Eva-Lis and Christer Andersson in Alingsås. The store which is now in Gothenburg is run by their daughter and the online business by their eldest son.
A wonderfully light airy store with canal-views is full of beautiful treasures for the home all displayed in such an inspring fashion. They stock a large selection of textiles, household utensils, clothes, beauty products and toys all with a romantic and rustic touch. My favourites included the new Spring 13 collection from GreenGate and the oodles of glass candy jars! I couldn't leave the store empty handed...

Now I have pretty matches to light my candles with!

some pretty Washi tape to craft with

and some pretty jute string, just because I loved the colour!

Have a sweet day!

My House & Home shopping guide to Gothenburg, Sweden

Today on shops i love I wanted to share with you my House & Home shopping guide to Gothenburg, Sweden. I visited the beautiful city of Gothenburg last week for a long birthday weekend away and had a lovely time! As always, before I visited the city I put a little map together on google of my must visit shops that stocked GreenGate, Lisbeth Dahl, Rice Dk, Bungalow and Miss Etoile!

So this week I will be sharing with you my favourite shops and a few of the treasures I treated myself to.

Visiting Gothenburg yourself? Just simply click this link and you can see my Torie Jayne's Gothenburg shopping map.

Have a sweet day!

No 16 - Mobile Phone

101 ways to get pretty organized

No 16 - Never lose your phone again in a sea of crafts! The Command Clear Smartphone Station provides a handy, stylish way to keep your phone safe and out of the way, but still close to hand. It is a great little phone holder that can be hung almost anywhere. The station itself is made from sturdy, transparent plastic and is hung using the Command Clear Adhesive Strips supplied. These clever little sticky strips hold your station securely onto a variety of clean, flat surfaces – including finished wood, tile, metal and painted surfaces however, aren’t suitable for use on wallpapered surfaces. When you want to move it, the strips are easily and cleanly removed without damaging the surface underneath – no cracks, holes, damaged plaster, sticky residue or stains.

My iphone Blossom Avant-Garde cover in Mint and pink is from BoxyTech

Have a sweet day!>

No 15 - Neon pink labels

101 ways to get pretty organized

No 15 - Keep your space organized with customizable DIY labels. "The OH MY Motex Embossing Label Maker is an easy to use, compact, handheld, high-quality label maker which is perfect for organising both the home and office. To quickly produce robust adhesive labels, all you have to do is turn the wheel to the appropriate letter and click the lever to emboss the character. This simple manual mechanism means no batteries are required and anyone can use the label maker to create cost-effective labels anytime and anyplace." I love neon pink and have pops of it in my craft room so when I saw that the OH MY Motex Embossing Label Maker had neon pink label tape, I snapped it up and used it to organize all my crafts...

Have a sweet day!

No-14 - Craft knives

101 ways to get pretty organized

No 14 - Store your craft knives in a pretty pencil case. Mine is from Cath Kidston.

Have a sweet day!

No 13 - Craft scissors and tools

101 ways to get pretty organized

No 13 - Store your craft scissors and tools in clear acrylic drawers from Muji, making it super easy to find what you need and keeping them clean. I have had some of my Muji drawers for over ten years now and aside from the odd scratch or two they still look as good as the day I bought them, so although they are a little pricey I see them as an investment. You can tell my old ones from the new ones as the old ones have a slight curved edge at the top where as the new versions are super straight!




Have a sweet day!

Shabby Chic Inspirations & Beautiful Spaces by Rachel Ashwell

This week I'm reviewing Shabby Chic Inspirations & Beautiful Spaces by Rachel Ashwell, from illustrated lifestyle publishers Ryland Peters & Small and CICO Books. Rachel Ashwell is a self-made business woman who founded the iconic brand known as Shabby Chic in 1989. Rachel's love of vintage and flea-market finds is comfortable, relaxed and reassuringly achievable. I chose to review this book as I love Rachel's style "the beauty of imperfection".

Shabby Chic Inspirations & Beautiful Spaces is a lovely insight into Rachel Ashwell's world that is beautiful as it is comfortable, as inspring and spontaneous as it is practical and personal.

The book is split into fourteen sections, starting with an "Introduction" into Rachel's world. In this chapter Rachel talks eloquently and fondly about her inspirations from Beatrix Potter's Hill Top house to movies like Wuthering Heights. How she is open to exploring new ways to express her stories with darker palettes that our richer in depth and with a beauty she would not have been open to in the past.

From there Rachel's interior story begins with "Texas Belle" in which Rachel tells how she transformed The Outpost into The Prairie. Here Cowboy country frills sit perfectly side by side with Marie Antoinette inspired delicate French gilded wood. All of course which is accompanied by pages and pages of beautiful images showcasing the beautiful "Prairie".

Next up is "Timeworn Elegance" which shows the stylish London home of her friend, interior designer and stylist Sera Hersham Loftus. It's Where rock 'n' roll meets comfortable family home with shimmery floorboards, shabby frills and tarnished bits of bling.
"My Year in Notting Hill" covers Rachel's time in London when she opened her store and made a temporary home in the same neighbourhood. "The Brighter Shades of Pale" is a glimpse into her top director of music videos and childhood friend Sophie Muller's house that has pops of faded raspberry tones and turquoise walls.
"Glamour and Bling" is a sneak peak into Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne's Californian home that is a blend of rock 'n'roll and Hollywood glamour that shimmers with diffused light.
In "Bliss on the Beach" we go back to a Rachel Aswell property, this time it's a quirky beach shack in Malibu that is furnished in a washed out colour palette with unexpected hearts, pearls and beads. In "A Life that Designed a House" Rachel visits the home of Brendan McBreen who designed and built a minimal meets country barn in Malibu. Brendan and his wife Jeanne have worked with Rachel at Shabby Chic for over 20 years so inevitably there house is full of a lifetime of Shabby Chic fabrics and bed linens. In "Handmade with Love" Rachel returns to London to share the unique houseboat home of crafty designer, photographer and stylist Emma Freemantle who makes customised bicycles wrapped in scraps of fabric, feathered headdresses, banners and corsages. Remaining in London Rachel then shares the authentically vintage home of artists James Russel and Hannah Plumb who live in a delightful "Petit Palace". From there Rachel heads out into the countryside to visit "Pearl's Place" which is owned by fashion designer Pearl Lowe and her Supergrass drummer husband Danny Goffrey. Then Rachel returns to London in "Shabby Man" to visit designer and stylist Huw Griffiths artful London townhouse. Rachel then heads back over the pond to share the tiny romantic gingerbread cottage on the edge of a wood in the New York Catskill Mountains in the "The Shabby Shack".
In the last section "Living Art" Rachel shares her inspiring moodboards.

Shabby Chic Inspirations & Beautiful Spaces by Rachel Ashwell is an awe inspiring hardback book full of beautiful photographs of some of the loveliest unique Shabby Chic homes. At a recommended price of £25.00, I think this hardback book is a must have for all of us that love the iconic Shabby Chic style!

Some of my favourite shots:

Lily's room

Bliss on the Beach

Mood boards

Inspirational collection

Please note that my opinions are my own and I am not paid for these reviews (apart from receiving a free book, of course!).

Have a sweet day!

Mini gluten free strawberry trifle

Last Christmas I made mini gluten free raspberry trifles that went down a storm, so this year I have made mini strawberry trifles.

Strawberry Trifle (makes 10 mini jars)

Ingredients

10 amaretti biscuits (make sure they are gluten free)
10 tsp Amaretto liqueur
5 strawberries
1 packet of strawberry jelly made up as instructions
1 pint of fresh custard
150 ml double cream
1 tbsp toasted flaked almonds

What you will need

• Small glass jars

Cooking instructions

• Place an ameretti biscuit in the bottom of each jar and crush with the end of a wooden spoon until you have a flat surface
• Pour 1 tsp of Ameretto into each jar
• Place 1/2 a sliced strawberry on top of each crushed ameretti biscuit
• Divide freshly made jelly between the jars, place in fridge until set
• When jelly is set, pour cooled fresh custard over the jelly and leave to cool
• Whip double cream with a pinch of sugar until you get stiff peaks
• Fill piping bag fitted with a star nozzle with whipped double cream and pipe a star on top of each trifle
• Sprinkle top of each trifle with toasted almonds
• Keep in fridge until serving

Have a sweet day!

House Doctor Spring 2013

This weeks Spring 2013 interior colour palette is inspired by all the new loveliness at House Doctor, one of my favourite Danish brands. I am especially loving there enamel storage trunks in pretty peach, duck egg blue, pale grey and steel blue with rose gold hardware. Oh! and how cute are those ice cream cups in the geo prints that also come in matching serviettes, paper plates, cups and stationary!

Have a sweet day!

Groupon -A Review

A couple of months back I was invited to review Groupon.

"Groupon UK is a city guide with a twist. Since 2009, our team has taken pride in handpicking deals to direct you to the best things to do, see, eat and buy at spots on your very own stomping ground, as well as unearthed gems further afield. Think of Groupon as a tool of discovery - like a compass with impeccable taste."

It’s free to join Groupon, a daily deal website where you buy online vouchers for goods and experiences.

As a member, you receive a an email each day with what is on offer and you have a limited time to buy that 'Groupon'.

It was quick and easy to join and after a few days of looking at all the great offers they had, I immediately knew what I wanted when they had a special offer on the Vax steam mop. I had borrowed my Mums a few weeks before and loved it!

So I chose to spend my £50 voucher plus £14.99 on the Vax S2S-1 Steam Mop With Detergent, saving up to 35% on the RRP £95.

"Banishing dirt in a cloud of hot air, this steam mop is made by iconic vacuum masters Vax, and aims to leave carpets and floors looking whistle-clean. 1600 watts of power are used to steam away muck, while the 0.5 litre capacity provides 10 minutes of cleaning time. The mop comes with 500ml of detergent and a mop head. "

I ordered the voucher code on the 5th October and received the voucher code on the 6th October. I then easily placed my order with the merchant who sent me a confirmation e-mail and a second e-mail letting me know that it would be delivered on the 17th October. As soon as it arrived on the 17th October I quickly went to work on my kitchen floor. I love how quick and simple it is to use and how quickly the floor dries. As you all know I do a lot of baking and it makes such light work of cleaning all the sticky sugar etc from my tiled floor. It has also been brilliant at cleaning my tiled floors in my porch and cloakroom.




Seconds later...




Please note that my opinions are my own and I am not paid for these reviews. I was given a free £50 voucher to spend at Groupon for the purpose of this review. As always, my opinion is nothing but honest.

Have a sweet day!

Daisy Park - store visit

Today I want to share with you some photos of my lovely sponsor Daisy Park's beautiful store that I was delighted to visit just before Christmas when my elder sister and I went to visit our little sister in north Devon. Upon entering the wonderful store I was greeted by so much pretty eye candy from my favourite brands like Cath Kidston, Pip Studio and East of India all of which is wonderfully styled. Emma the owner, buyer, seller and everything in between welcomed me with a big hug and we hit it off from there. My nephews Samuel and James were kindly treated to some Christmas chocolates which they were delighted with as were me and my sisters! I am now looking forward to my next visit as there really is nothing like seeing the array of gorgeous products up close and personal.









Have a sweet day!