Welcome to My Journal
How to naturally dye eggs for Easter
How to naturally dye eggs for Easter Every year I have been meaning to put my natural dye skills to use on some eggs to decorate my Easter Sunday tablescape, but have never quite got round to it. But this year (for obvious reasons!) I have had slightly more time on my...
Eco-friendly Christmas gift wrapping ideas
Eco-friendly Christmas gift wrapping ideas If you're anything like me then you have just as much fun and excitement around the Christmas gift wrapping part of the festive season as you do about the actual receiving of presents. Every year I try to think of a colour...
Organic, fairtrade, vegan and peace silk alternatives for your wedding
Organic, fairtrade, vegan and peace silk alternatives for your wedding An increasing desire to be kinder to the environment and the animals with whom we share this planet has led to an increasing number of requests from brides, florists and wedding stationery...
Living Coral – Pantone Colour of the Year 2019
My colour palette ideas for Pantone's Living CoralEvery year Pantone announces its colour predictions and trends for the year ahead, and this year we have been gifted 'Living Coral'. It's actually the first shade in a few years that I genuinely love. As with all bold...
Allotment 17: Day 1
Allotment 17: Day 1 This week we were thrilled to discover after several months on the waiting list that we finally have our allotment! After successfully growing some of our own vegetables and fruit in our garden we wanted to expand our produce and grow more of our...
Top 5 tips for having a greener kinder Christmas
my top 5 tips for having a greener kinder Christmas As we head into the season of festivities of eating, drinking and buying and wrapping and giving, I thought it would be a good time to chat about some really easy ways to have a more environmentally friendly and...
The story of a spatula by natural dyer Kate Cullen
The story of a spatula by natural dyer Kate Cullen This is the story of a spatula. This wooden spatula once belonged to my mother over 20 years ago. As an avid and talented cook she had a great many ‘not quite perfect’ tools ready to assist me on my adventure at...
Silk ribbons and modern calligraphy
modern calligraphy book Modern Calligraphy & Hand Lettering is written by Lauren Cooper, owner and calligrapher at Oh Wonder Calligraphy and is published by Haynes. This book takes you through the journey of calligraphy from the basic foundations right through to...
My Handmade Paper Making Journey Part 2
My Handmade Paper Making Journey Part 2 This week I have finally launched my signature collection of handmade papers, created from cotton rag, the remains of my plant dyes, kozo and lokta fibres, which are suitable for printing and calligraphy, as well as decorative...
New plant dyed silk ribbons – the Cottage Garden Collection
New plant dyed silk ribbons - the Cottage Garden Collection I'm thrilled to bring you a new range of hand dyed silk ribbon colours this week. Delicate shades of lilac, lavender, mauve, pinks and blue all made from natural botanical dyes - and all reminiscent of my...
My Handmade Paper Making Journey
My Handmade Paper Making Journey As I'm sure you know I use plant dyes to make my silk ribbons and fabrics. For some time I have been thinking of ways I can reuse the leftover materials (all the grungy twiggy bits and residue dyes), and then I came across a great book...
Introducing the Patina Collection – new hand dyed silk ribbons
Introducing the Patina Collection - new hand dyed silk ribbons Today I'm excited (and a little nervous) to introduce a new concept range of hand dyed silk ribbons. I have been developing these for some time, trying to get the patina look I...