colors of march.

This month I have been traveling through south thailand and malaysia and everywhere I look there has been bursts of colour. Here are just a few snaps I have recently taken. Hope you enjoy
them.

traveling cambodia.

A little delayed but here is a selection of pics I took during my travels in Cambodia.

Descriptions are starting from top left.....

1. Wat a temple!
2. I feel like chicken tonight
3. A cycle in the countryside in Kampong Channg
4. A man I would have loved to have spoken to
5. Stormy weather
6. Lots of cheeky faces at the orphanage
7. Sailing at sunset
8. Living the high life
9. A tight squeeze

floating village.

In January I traveled through Cambodia, which is down as one of my most favorite countries.

One of the highlights was visiting a floating village in Kampong Channg. Despite their watery surroundings they were some of the best decorated homes I have seen whilst traveling!

These aquatic houses are open fronted, which enabled me to have a sneak peek into every home. Each house was painted in a bright colour with hanging baskets and recycled flower pots on display out front, often with a guard dog or pig asleep on the porch! Often at least one wall of the house was a patchwork of painted wood paneling that had aged over time giving it a beautifully rustic feel. The interiors were decorated with striking wallpaper accompanied by various nik naks displayed on reclaimed timber shelves and doorways were adorned with hand-painted wood paneling and hanging traditional fabric.

breakfast in bed.

Seeing as it is all about 'love' this month - I thought it was a great opportunity to day-dream my ideal valentines breakfast in bed!

I would be gently woken by the placing of a tray on the bed, which would be bursting with both edible and decorative goodies. Egg and soldiers, cooked perfectly (runny egg and hot toast with melted butter) would have to be my chosen breakfast and what better way to present it than in the beautifully bold love bird egg cup and saucer from PiP studio. A strawberrry smoothy would be the perfect morning refreshment, both delicious and healthy, and these heart straws make it all that more fun! No breakfast tray is complete without a bit of romantic charm, and some flowers and a personalised note does just that. If all that was not enough the heart balloon from rockett st george tied on with some 'i love you' ribbon is sure to put a smile on my face!

And who says I ask for much! hehe...

Here is a little illustration to show you what I had in mind.... and below I have detailed where everything can be sourced.

1. Sombrero sheet set, Anthropologie, 158.00. 2. Avoca charm throw, John Lewis, 80.00. 3. White tray, Ikea, 7.99. 4. Dieppe pack of 6 hi-ball glasses, Habitat, 6.00. 5. Spoon, Steamer Trading, 3.00. 6. strawberries, M&S, 3.99 7. Love birds side plate, Selfridges, 7.95. 8. Printed quilting circle napkins, Anthropologie, 6.00. 9. Jar, Jamie Oliver, 3.50. 10. Love birds egg cup, Selfridges, 3.95. 11. 3D love heart confetti, Not on the highstreet, 3.50. 12. Ceramic notepad, Not of the highstreet, 15.00. 13. Heart balloons, Rockett st george, 3.50. 14. Valentines love ribbon, Edamay, 4.50. 15. Polkadot wrapping paper, WHS, 2.50. 16. Heart wrapping paper, Paperchase, 3.99

Head over heals.

I have to admit that my boyfriend and I don't actually celebrate valentines day but that does not stop me loving all the valentine inspired gifts and cards. Here are a few that I have fallen head of heals for...

I am sure that everyone has made a cassette tape for a boyfriend in the past.. now you can personalise your own cassette print thanks to Hanna Melin.

do you remember these lollies from when you were little?!?! I used to LOVE them! I have not seen them around for ages - bring them back I say!

I adore these framed hearts from etsy sellers Sarah and Bendrix.

This ribbon would be the perfect finish when wrapping a gift for a loved one.

tuesday treasures.

I am not normally too fond of geometric patterns but I have fallen head over heels for the gorgeous purses from Pamplemouss - and they come at a great price!

when in bangkok.

I have just left Bangkok and unfortunatly I did not have time visit the well known Sirocco restaurant. So I am just going to have to use this as a reason to visit Thailand again and dinner at sunset on this beautiful balcony with the best view in town is on the top of my wish list.

how many bikes does it take to...

Whilst traveling in Asia I have been shocked by what is physically possible to fit onto a bike. I struggle to keep myself on a bike most of the time!
Here are some pictures of the sights I have seen - hope they amaze you as much as they did me.

A little bit of Christmas.

Seeing as we were away for Christmas I had to improvise to bring some Christmas spirit to our day by doing the following little bits...

I threaded some chocolate coins together and decorated our hotel room along with some 'clean' socks to act as stockings so that we woke up feeling like it was Christmas.I could not find any Christmas paper so I wrapped our Secret Santa pressies with fabric and made little fabric flowers to decorate each gift. It actually worked out quite well.
It was a rather untraditional Christmas lunch as I ended up having spaghetti bolognese - but we decorated each place setting by turning a small Christmas bauble into a vase with some leaves and a pretty flower. This afternoon we went down the beach for a Christmas swim so could not resist taking a picture on the beach!

Mhong Christmas.

Whilst I was trekking in Sapa, northern Vietnam, with the Mhong tribe ladies, I decided to do a small photo shoot incorporating some of their traditions to create a Christmas table set up. Here are some of the behind the scene images.

Mhong ladies, Tee, Sa and Chiang who inspired the idea of the photo shoot.

Tee, at the age of 52, cutting down some bamboo for me.

Here I am cutting the bamboo to the right length, it looked a lot easier when Tee was doing it!

Plaiting fern leaves to create a Vietnamese style Christmas reef.

Whilst breakfast was being cooked I sewed Merry Christmas onto some muslin, which is traditionally used to make clothes once it has been dyed. The young girl next to me also helped thread all the coins together.

Muslin drying after being dyed indigo, ready to be made into the traditional clothing.

Hanging the Christmas reef and threaded coins which are traditionally worn on the headresses of the Mhong tribe.

I will post the final pics of the set up shortly.