Farmopolis @ Greenwich Peninsula

 

One lazy Sunday afternoon my mother decided it was appropriate to force me out of the house for something other than work. Considering I'd finished work at around 3.30am that same morning and had about 3 hours sleep, it took a lot of persuasion to encourage me to want to get out of bed and do something. Farmopolis is a new site, based on the old jetty along the riverside of the Greenwich Millenium Village in the Peninsula area. It's a new 'recycling' based concept and fairly unique in many ways. Essentially an urban farm and organic restaurant, at the moment it is incredibly aesthically pleasing with hundreds of scattered plants and flowers surrounding the buildings having been transported from the Chelsea Flower Show.

The reason for going was because my mother has actually booked us in for a jewellery making course, although not the regular kind... Instead of using traditional jewellery making materials, such as stones or beads we were using dried flowers. We each made a ring using a glue gun, a 2 pence piece and real flowers, (a mixture of dried and fresh) and were given the freedom to design the ring however we wanted. I loved the brightly coloured flowers and even the thistles, but somehow I ended up with a foresty green set of florals, a more natural choice of colours. Completely different to what I expecte, but I actually really enjoyed taking part in the workshop and would like to try this technique again as the rings are all so unique but so beautiful. The downside is that they don't last forever, unfortunately.

The ladies running the workshop were from Electric Daisy Flower Farm and often make flower based creations and decorations for weddings and I have to say that my favourite pieces are the floral hair crowns which would look lovely at a summer wedding or festival. The jetty was a nice venue to hold a jewellery making workshop as the balcony flowers from the Chelsea Flower Show were places all along the riverside and made for some lovely photos against the floral rings. Plus as you will all know by now how much I love walking along the riverside it was so relaxing to just sit and take in the view and be inspired by nature. Not a bad afternoon considering how little I wanted to leave my bed, let alone my house! It's a shame that summer is almost over, really. Until next time :)

Jo's Hen Sleepover Weekend!

This blogpost is a little different, I suddenly realised the other day how terrible I am at managing to post when I'm at work or university and so I'm trying to force myself to find time whenever I can! Last weekend, I attended a Hen Party Sleepover as my friend Jo's house in Farnham, Surrey along with 3 other bridesmaids (2 weren't able to make it) and had an amazing weekend off work as well as a banging headache for a few days! ;)

Therefore, how better to begin a weekend in the country than with a garden picnic?!

As the photographs demonstrate, we had strawberries/raspberries and cream, fruitshoots, coca-cola, fanta… As well as muller corners and doughnuts and chocolate… Perfect for a weekend off the diet! They have SUCH A LARGE GARDEN! Messy, but beautiful, it even had a steam, which for me as a Londoner is just unbelievable, ugh I'm jealous, except the lovely couple are moving to London very very VERY SOON! I adore the photo of the Bride-To-Be and teenage Sister-In-Law, it just is so so so so cute and really emphasises the feel of the whole weekend. Fleur is an adorable girl and really beautiful, Jo has found herself a good family there ha!

…Finally the other two maids arrived after getting stuck someone on the motorway, so we all had a bit of a selfie moment, as you can see, the weather is simply crazily hot at the moment, and the attic room didn't do much for the heat… In fact I think it was even hotter inside than out, but hey. Various games were played and sensible me decided to wear a white lace dress and sparkly silver heels to get in the mood to watch Frozen although I eventually missed it by falling asleep after having a few! Fleur and I wanted some chips and they were lovely but considering they were supposed to be a large portion, not enough and more like a small/child's portion from where I come from - rant over!

As the theme of the wedding itself is Rainbows, the rainbow balloons was a fabulous idea too, Rebekah should definitely become a Party Planner, never mind a vet! Overall the weekend was successful and it was great to meet the only maid I didn't know from years ago and spend some time with my favourite blushing Bride-To-Be; now I'm really geared up for the wedding as I can't make the next Hen as I'm working (boo hoo hooooooo) and fingers crossed I'll document the wedding on my blog too! Hope you enjoyed this post and stay tuned, Rach x x x

Summer Loving!

Hello everyone, apologies it has been a while once again since my last post! This features an element of my love/hate relationship with summer. I love the flowers and my garden but at the same time the humidity consistently gets to me and I'm simply one of those people that gets really flustered and overheated. These photographs were all taken in my garden, of my garden and featuring my baby dog Star...!

For the hot weather I can't help but dig out a pair of cool hippy pants in varying colours and patterns and a plain black or white t-shirt for a relaxed look. Make-up wise, I do rely on concealer, eyebrow pencil, blusher, eyeliner, mascara and an SPF lipstick for a bit of coverage and obviously sunglasses are a must. I bought these lovely Birkenstocks at a bargain price from my local TKMaxx and I was a convert literally straightaway, I love the bright pop of colour too, and they are study and stylish. Although this outfit isn't the most beautiful or stylish, I felt really confident, cool and comfortable in it, and for me, that's what summer dressing is really about.

I do appreciate a beautiful flower/plant although I must admit I'm not keen on the long watering/caring for plants at the end of the day but its annoying seeing Star rip up/play with/eat various plants that my nana grows! Talking of my nana, she made me these gorgeous camera earrings for my 21st birthday and I've worn them so so often ever since, they seem to work with everything and add a bit of my personality to everything I wear, they're a little quirky too which I adore. Do any of you have a specific piece of jewellery or outfit you immediately run to when you need a quick inspiration fix? Let me what you thought of this post via the comments too! See you soon, Rach x x x

[Sunglasses - ASOS; Crop T-Shirt - ASOS Petite; Hippy Pants - Doodah at Greenbelt Festival; Sandals - Birkenstocks @ TKMaxx; Leather Bracelet - Pandora; Earrings - Handmade by my nana.]