pinterest pick of the week...

DIY and Image source HERE

Hello again Friday! And yes the sun has finally decided to show up! I'm hoping it will stick around until Sunday for Fathers Day and also an outdoor vintage fair in aid of a local charity. I went to the first one last year (see here) and it was excellent so hopefully the weather will be nice and I will have some photos to share with you on Monday...Back to today and these pretty papercut gems!

This is actually a little DIY (including templates) from the blog Mini-eco which I discovered through this pin, check out the DIY and blog through the links above. Hope you all have a fab weekend blog peeps! x

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littletree bakes...chocolate banana nut muffins

Hello all...I think everyone at some point during the week has a banana or two that has gone a tad past it's best, during the summer the solution is easy, pop it in a delicious smoothie! But seeing as the weather has been so rubbish I'm not really in the mood for a cold smoothie... so instead I trawled the recipes books for ideas and since I'm not the biggest fan of cooked banana what better way to disguise them with than chocolate in these fab muffins!

This recipe is adapted from my old faithful muffin book, Muffins Fast and Fantastic and I must say they have turned out rather well...I have been super naughty and topped them with Nutella and nuts but then I know you will all agree with me that there is no such thing as too much Nutella! Hope you enjoy baking them or just enjoy drooling over the pictures...yum x


Ingredients

• 9oz Self Raising Flour
• 4-5oz Caster Sugar
• 4-5 tbsp of Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3floz of Vegetable Oil or Melted Butter
• 8floz Milk
• 2 ripe Bananas, mashed
• Chopped nuts and Nutella (optional)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 190-200c and line a 12 hole muffin tin.
• Weigh out all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, stir to combine together.
• In a jug first measure your oil and then the milk, they will sit separate from each other but just whisk before adding to bring them together.
• In a separate cup whisk the egg and vanilla until fluffy.
• Mash the bananas.
• Make a well in the dry ingredients and add in all the liquid ingredients and the banana.
• Stir until just combined, no flour should be visible but the mix will look lumpy.
• Spoon into cases and pop in the oven for 20-25mins.
• Once cool top with Nutella and sprinkle with chopped nuts if you wish...if you prefer you could add the chopped nuts (or chocolate chips) into the mix before baking.

all pics taken by me x

chicken update!

'we're a bit fed up with all this rain!'

Hello blog peeps, I thought today I would give you all a little update on our clan of cheeky chickens! As you can see from the picture below they have had a rather grand extension on their coop, complete with waterproof panels to keep them dry. So they now have plenty of room to flap about or just scrabble in the gravel...this is by far their favourite past time, sometimes it looks like a small bomb had gone off in the run, the size of the craters they dig!
And as you can see from the pic of Aggy (below - top right) she has been attempting to tunnel out and got herself covered in mud!

 All pics taken by me!

Do you like my red Crocs? The choocks certainly do...they like to see if they can get my toes through the holes in the front...this is what is going through the minds of Abigail and Aggy in the bottom left picture...'mmm yummy toes!' Most of the time they are just interested in food or escaping...they are now allowed out in the evening before their bedtime and they love running around the garden, they look so funny when they run! And they can really move...you've got to be quick to catch them! Hope you have enjoyed this little catch up, do any of you have chickens? I would love to hear some of your stories!x

colour inspiration...'stamp happy hues'

image HERE

Hello again blog peeps, today I have an all in one colour inspiration/stamp DIY/new blog crush combo! First of all how cute is this picture of all these little stamps?! So pretty I had to make a colour palette...I found the pic through pinterest so I followed it back to the source and found this great DIY to make the stamps... plus the blog the diy came from is just beautiful!

Minna May's blog is just packed with pretty pictures, fashion, interiors and updates on her own work. She actually runs 3 shops on Etsy (!) floret letterpress, eatpraycreate - rubber stamps and Minco - a beautiful jewellery shop...Phew...she's one busy lady! I have given you quite a lot of links to go off and explore today, hope it doesn't distract you from work too much! Enjoy x

Etsy...Nell & Mary

Hello Monday and hello to a new week! Hope you all had a good weekend even if you were trapped in because of the weather. Today I am sharing the work of Nell & Mary, a recent 'favourite' of mine over on Etsy...I just love the simple but detailed line drawings highlighted with pops of tomato red, turquoise and mustard yellow...plus the products are so beautifully styled and photographed, doesn't it make you want one of everything?

I have picked a few of my faves to share with you below but I urge you to pop by their shop and explore more. Have a great week everyone...less rain please this week...it is June!x

A selection of beautiful Tea Towels

Left: Feather Cities Placemat/Napkin Set  Right: Umbrellas Placemat/Napkin Set

A pile of yummy Pillows and a rather cute dog!

Left: Turquoise Aztec Triangles Pillow  Right: Feather Cities Pillow Coral

All Photos and Designs Copyright Nell & Mary.

All images from Nell & Mary's Etsy shop. x

pinterest pick of the week...

image HERE

Hello all and hello Friday! First things first...a HUGE thank you to everyone for their lovely comments on my new Etsy products, so great to hear all your love, it has put a massive grin on my face for days! And I will of course let you all know when they are up on my virtual shelves!

Second things second...As many of you may or may not know I LOVE Hayao Miyazaki and many other Studio Ghibli films but one of my favourites has to be My Neighbor Totoro...it is the sweetest story ever...two little girls move to the countryside and discover a spirit that lives in an enormous tree, a rather big, furry, rain loving spirit called Totoro, with whom they have fantastic adventures. Plus there is another creature..a catbus, yup a cat the size of an actual bus, all furry and everything...who wouldn't want that to be real?! So when I saw this Totoro 'digital cut-out' by pronouncedyou I had to pin it so I could look at it all the time! Find it here on my pinterest board Prints, Patterns and more...

If you haven't seen this film I urge you to give it a watch...especially if you have little ones, they will love it!
Have a Totoro-ific weekend everyone!x

*NEW ETSY PRODUCTS* retro kitchen...

Today the Retro Kitchen has returned...and in two colourways! I loved this design so much I decided to make not only a print but recipe cards and hopefully tea towels! I'm having the fabric printed through Spoonflower so if you want to buy a yard and sew-it-yourself then that will be available once I have had the test swatches through...otherwise I will be making the others myself and selling the finished product in my Etsy shop. I'm still tweaking, print testing and (like I said before) waiting for fabric swatches, but once they are ready you guys will be the first to know!  Hope you are excited as I am about all these new products, I would love to know whatt you think! x

All images and designs Copyright Littletree Designs

*NEW ETSY PRODUCTS*

Hello lovely blog peeps! Did you all have a lovely long weekend? Here in the uk, as I'm sure most of you know, it was the Queen's Jubilee...although I had to work some of it I still got to enjoy the festivities and there has been bunting galore, which is enough to keep me happy!

Today and tomorrow I have some new products to share with you... Today is all about what I'm calling 'minicards', notecards and magnets. I said I had been busy last week!

Minicards - A7 in size and perfect for that little message to pop in the post...sold in a pack of 6 for £5, 3 of each design and available in two colourways.

Notecards - A6 in size for a real good catch up note...sold in a pack of 4 for £6...available in a variety of designs.

Magnets - Based on the little speach bubbles designed for my minicards...add to any photo for some extra fun and humour!

All images and designs Copyright Littletree Designs

I'm still print testing and tweaking a few things plus I am waiting on a delivery of envelopes, can't really sell cards without the envelopes...didn't think that one through...so I am hoping to get some products up in my Etsy shop by the end of the week! Fingers crossed that the weather perks up so I can take some nice pictures...What do you think of the new stuff? Hope you like them!x

littletree's blog crush...my concrete sky

Ok so I just couldn't wait until tomorrow to share this Blog Crush! Yet another find through the amazing  Rachael Taylor Design's blog...My Concrete Sky. As you can see from the blog header below My Concrete Sky is a real visual treat, filled with beautiful photos and inspirational words it is the kind of place to visit when you are in need of a virtual pick me up. I guarantee it will put a smile on your face...x

image from my concrete sky

pinterest pick of the week...

Sketchbook by Jantze Tullett

Hello again Friday, phew! It has been a busy week, got a lot of stuff done which is always good, but there will be more on that next week...yeh I'm being a bit mean by not telling you so I guess you'll just have to pop back next week to see what I have in store...

Back to today's pinterest picks though and this amazing sketchbook page by Jantze Tullett. Umm...can't remember where I found her work now, a late night find...but I pinned it straight from her flikr site so you can hop along and see more of Jantze's gorgeous work...find this pin over on my board 'Prints, Pattern and more...' also if you are interested Jantze has an Etsy shop here...

Hope you all have a great Jubilee weekend (if your here in the uk) we have 2 bank holidays next week so I won't be back and blogging until Wednesday...have a good one guys and see you soon!x