littletree loves...the lumineers

Hello lovely blog peeps! Today is my birthday so this is just a quick post before I'm off out and about! Now I have never done a music post before but my good friend Sara introduced me to this band a few weeks ago and I am totally smitten! If you haven't heard of The Lumineers then I urge you to give them a listen, especially if you like stuff by Mumford and Sons, they have that folky, stamp your feet, clap your hands vibe...so get up and jigging to my favourite track 'Ho Hey' x

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spot the chicken and the worlds tiniest egg!

Hello everyone! Thank you for all of your lovely comments on Friday, my spa day was amazing! I hope you all had a good weekend to? I'll tell you who did...the choocks! With the sunshine finally shining the chickens have been having a glorious time rooting around the garden for insects and general running about...they look so funny when they run! We have this large planted area of the garden so often if you look up and they seem to have disappeared this is where they usually are...most of the time you only see a bottom or the rustle of a bush like in the picture above!
 

Left: This is Abigail pretending to be a shrub...the red comb gives her away a bit! Right: Aggy and Annie sitting still for once...I love their little fluffy bottoms, I think they look like little victorian ladies in their bustles and bloomers!

With all of the cavorting around the garden there has been less laying than usual, but we did find one egg nestled among the shrubbery...look how TINY it is! It only measured 3cm high and the yolk was smaller than a fingernail!
And yes I did eat it...

Hope you have a good week friends, I may be around a bit less as it's my birthday week, so I have a few plans but don't worry I will still be posting! x

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pinterest pick of the week...

Stretch Greeting Cards by Steven Lenton - No3 - From my Prints, Pattern and more... board

How cute is this little fella? And look below..there's a whole series of them! These cards by Steven Lenton have really made me chuckle, if only I had found them sooner I would have gotten a 2 and a 7 for my friends birthday next week! Who says they're just for kids?

I'm off on a spa day today (ooh... I hear you say) which is an early birthday present from a friend, I have never been to one before so I'm very excited! Hope you all have relaxing weekends and I will see you Monday!x

Stretch Greeting Cards by Steven Lenton

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colour inspiration...'worn out hues'

image HERE

How lovely is this image? I found it over on the wonderful sfgirlbybay blog last week and loved the soft vintage colours of the picture so much I had to make colour palette from it...x

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littletree discovers...good ideas magazine

I actually bought this magazine whilst at the airport on my way to Spain last month, it's just taken me this long to photograph it to share with you! The magazine, called Good Ideas, is made by the same people that do Good Housekeeping so it does in fact have some very good ideas within it's pages!

I was drawn to it because of the beautifully styled images inside...dreamy interiors, amazing looking food, shopping, travel, life, beauty etc...all the usual stuff just laid out in simple, clean sections that were a joy to browse through! And if your a digital reader it has been specially designed to be easy to read on a tablet too! Pretty nifty huh?

I'm loving the neon orange paint in the top pic here, such a lovely room...

Great ideas for mix and match holiday packing...

And last but certainly not least, some gorgeous food! This is just a few of the beautiful food pages...

I hope you have enjoyed this little sneak peek, if you do see this magazine around I urge you to pick up a copy!
Don't worry it's a quarterly magazine so you still have time to purchase the summer edition before
the autumn one is out the end of August.x

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littletree loves...positive inking

I LOVE this site! I found it last week through Rhiannas blog Rhi-Creations and just loved the idea behind it...run by illustrator Alyssa Nassner, Positive Inking is a place for designers to submit positive messages and inspiring words...great idea! And guess what? I submitted my 'Big things...' print last week and it was accepted! So hop on over here to check it out plus all the other great words of wisdom...here are a few of my faves so far...x

Marisa Seguin

Anika Starmer

Anika Starmer

Why do cat's love a paper bag or box? So funny to watch them...

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littletree discovers...another cute caravan!

Hello lovely blog peeps, I hope you had a nice weekend...today I have some super pretty pics of the cutest little caravan / vintage shop on wheels! This beauty belongs to blogger Beth over at Parsimonia and is called Holly...hasn't Beth done a wonderful job of turning the inside of this caravan into vintage heaven?! I am loving the chevron seat with all of the cushions and crochet blankets, I could curl up there quite happily with a book...and just look at all those goodies...learn more about Holly and her travels HERE. Hope you all have a good week and big thanks to Beth for letting me use her pictures! x

All pictures taken by Beth from the Parsimonia Blog

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pinterest pick of the week...

find this pin HERE on my random stuff board...

Well it seems Friday has rolled around yet again! Where are the weeks going? And where is the summer for that matter? I know us Brits are always moaning about the weather but seriously it seems summer has just been forgotten about this year! I'm mainly annoyed because I haven't been able to wear any of my new summer clothes...still in my cosy hoodie and thick socks...*sigh*

Never mind...this amazing piece of graffiti, or street art as I prefer to call it, has made me smile. I love the way street artists turn everyday mundane things into something beautiful. I would love if this happened in our local Tesco car park! Have a lovely (hopefully sunny?) weekend xxx

PS - Ooh I also found out that Louise, my giveaway winner, had never won a giveaway before and it was her birthday this week too, so it's extra nice for her to win!

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best of the web feature...

Just a quick message to say thanks to Pocket Change for including my blog in their Best of the Web feature today! There are plenty of other amazing looking blogs to check out too so stop on over here...x

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e-course update...end of module 2!

Can you believe that module 2 is almost finished!? I know I missed the first week and a half but these 5 weeks have just flown by...so you might have noticed a few changes around here (again? I here you say!) but this is all to do with the 'branding' part of the module and I mainly wanted to re-do (again!) my website.

I felt it didn't reflect me or my style, was a bit boring and plain...so I have now added colour and hopefully a bit of fun with these cute new buttons! And so if the website changes the blog has to change and the Etsy shop so it all matches and works as a 'brand'...complicated stuff this...

 

Now for the fun stuff! These below were my three favourite projects from the past module...this first one was a brief for stationary and after initially posting the first pic on Flickr everone loved the black and white so it stayed that way with a fab injection of lime green! I have decided to call the range 'Limonochrome'...very clever I thought?

Next we had a brief for a geometric pattern range that would be suitable for swimwear yet A/W colours...not so easy...some of these I think would work but others I'm not so sure...either way I love the collection!

And last is my favourite of all...a collection based around upcoming trends for S/S 13 the Fifties! Infact I have entered the bottom right one into the recent Spoonflower competition (pop by here to vote...please x)

If you want to see any of these patterns in their larger sizes all you have to do it click here to take you to my Flickr photostream...

I hope you have enjoyed this (rather large) round-up post...I cannot wait until Module 3! x

All Images in this post are Copyright Littletree Designs.

Please do not reproduce/re-blog. Thank you x

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and the winner is...

...Louise of the blog Love Print Studio! She has chosen the 'Big things, Small beginnings' print, which a lot of you liked...so sorry to everyone else who entered but thank you so much for re-blogging, tweeting etc I now have another 6 followers who joined in the last week! Hello to you all, thank you for joining me!

I know these days people use the random generator number thingy but I prefer the old fashioned pull a name out of a hat...or in this case an Orla Kiely box lid...it just seems more exciting this way! Anyway, Louise I will e-mail you to get your address, well done once again!x

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blog crush...Pepper + Buttons

I haven't done a Blog Crush in a while and this one is a winner! I found Pepper + Buttons through someone who had left a comment and it was in their blog list...can't remember who now...sorry if it was you! I just LOVE this blog! Lovely pictures, interiors, design and inspiration (plus how cute is the blog banner!?) It is a real treat...go check it out!x

image from pepper+buttons

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PS - Don't forget to pop back later to see who won the giveaway!

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littletree's wishlist...birthday goodies

1//  2//  3//  4//  5//  6//  7//  8//  9//

In exactly two weeks today it will be my birthday! Eeep! I will be turning the grand old age of 27 although my head still thinks it's 17...and considering the daft conversations I often have with my friends maybe you never feel any older than 17...apart from all the grown up stuff you have to deal with like insurance, dusting and buying food etc...

Anyhoo I have compiled a little wishlist of pretty things I would love to own from amazing shops across the globe...if anyone wishes to purchase these items for me (hint hint!) then just click on the links and they will whisk you away to the sites they came from! x

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PS - Don't forget today is the last day to enter my 100 followers GIVEAWAY!

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littletree loves...ikea picnicware

Images from the Ikea blog Livet Hemma HERE

Hello all, I thought we should have something pretty and summery to start the week, even if it isn't so summery outside! I saw these pretty picnic goodies at Ikea on my last visit and instantly fell in love with the delicate Liberty's print style paper plates, cute pastel checks and retro floral picnicware...now all we need is the weather, a nice bottle of something and gorgeous food...Have a good week everyone x

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pinterest pick of the week...

image source HERE

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! Is anyone out there superstitous or do you think it's a load of old fooey? Either way if you are having a good or bad day I hope you enjoy this little guy! He is a very dapper chap with a super cute quiff...I found him here on little doodles blog and pinned to my board birds and more...

Have a good weekend everyone and don't forget you still have until Tuedsay to enter the giveaway! x

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colour inspiration...

image copyright littletree designs

image copyright littletree designs

So as briefly mentioned last week on my e-course update these are two new colour palettes I have put together...the task was to take a magazine/photo image that we liked the colours in and develop a palette from them. I loved the picture for 'Pretty Carnival'  but my favourite palette is definitely 'Fresh Pastels'...what's your favourite? x

Both images came from the Good Homes magazine July issue.

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PS...Thank you for all of your lovely comments yesterday and to my new followers!
If you haven't done so already don't forget to enter my 100 followers GIVEAWAY!

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100 fabulous followers and a giveaway!

Big thanks to everyone this morning...thank you for reading, following and commenting over the last 18 months since I started writing this blog! I have found great 'friends', discovered amazing blogs and won some fab giveaways which I had never imagined would happen when I first started blogging...but most of all it's the support I get from all of you who visit me here and leave your encouraging words , especially on my own design work, which keeps me going even when things get tough!

*GIVEAWAY!*

As a thank you I am giving away one A5 print of your choice from the seven below...it's simple, just leave a comment telling me which one you would like! If you want the opportunity for your name to be entered more than once all you have to do is promote the giveaway anyway you want to (facebook, tweet, re-blog) then just pop back here and leave a separate comment with a link to the promo...Good luck everyone and Thank You again! xxx

Oops! Forgot to say when the giveaway closes! You have until midnight (GMT) Tuesday 17th July and I will pick the winner on Wednesday! x

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littletree discovers...graze

Have you heard of Graze? They are a great little company that will deliver healthy snacks once a week to your home or office for you to 'graze' on when you're peckish! We signed up here a few weeks ago and I'm loving it...there is over 100 sweet and savoury snacks, nuts, crackers and fruit. I particularly like the flapjacks, ideal with a cuppa to sort that 4o'clock sugar slump!

They cost £3.89 a box (inc. delivery) and you can set up when and how often you want them delivered to suit you...plus if you recommend someone they get a free box and you get money off of yours! Sound to good to be true? Hop on over to Graze to learn more and browse their snacks, I guarantee your tummy will be rumbling in no time!x

ps - how cute is the little illustrated leaflet?!
and the Chocolate Orange Granola was awesome...


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