Queen & Country

2012-03-06T17:09:00.000+01:00

Tiny prefab homes

This is my favourite

Loftcube

See the full article on www.inhabitat.com

Fine cell work

These are incredible cushions, bags and quilts embroidered

by prisoners serving time across Britain.

Some examples

Find the full list of things in the shop, the prices and to hear stories from the prisoners creating these beautiful items go to www.finecellwork.co.uk

Sensory deprivation skull chair

Sheepskin!

To read more about this beautiful, incredible chair go to www.chairblog.eu

Lollipop house

This incredibly imaginative, eco friendly house in is South Korea.

To read more on this house go to www.inhabitat.com

Well, that's it for now my lovlies.

2012-01-24T23:20:00.001+01:00

Hellooooooo there!

Thank you so so so much for being so patient, I've been busy and the computers been broken and I've been DYING to post!

I didn't willingly abandon you. :)

So I've decided to do a post about baking.

We can't escape words like "recession", "deficits", "economic climate" and "budgets" from the headlines recently and I've found the ultimate cure for recession blues!

Baking!

Baking instead of buying!

Everyone's having to make compromises at the moment but cooking doesn't have to be one of them.

Investing time instead of money could work in everyone's favour, especially when it comes to baking and craft making. Not only can it save you money when buying birthday cakes but there are so many makeable and bakeable gifts out there!

I'll be posting more craft and home made gift related posts later in the month, and other tips and tricks I've found for saving.

So, whether you're a seasoned baker, or just starting out I have a few helpful bits and bobs to get you on your way!

I get most of my recipes or dinner ideas from the internet, most of which are posted by those lovely people across the pond, and the one thing that always catches me out is the american measurements as all my equipment is kitted out for metric. So as the helpful little person I am, I have created a table of cup to metric conversions.

There are 2 charts, the first is for flour and icing sugar and the second for honey and syrup,

so make sure you're using the right one!!

And now I also have a few translations. I occasionally struggle with American names and their terminology of ingredients, so here are a few of the ones I use the most in baking.

I've included how to make Buttermilk as this can be another way to save money. Please note that this is an alternative as opposed to the real thing. Recipes will taste better with the bought stuff but it isn't always readily available.

The reason you can't use normal milk is to do with the acid and alkali balance in the recipe/cake, if you use normal milk this will make the recipe less acidic/more alkaline and the amount of baking powder or bicarb would have to be adjusted. In short, it's better to use the method above or use a different recipe!

And finally as sport relief is coming up and everyone goes bake sale mad, I'll be posting a recipe at the end of every post until the big night!

Thank you all for reading!

Please continue to follow me on twitter @queencounty.

2011-12-27T23:19:00.000+01:00

Hello pretties!

I hope you all had a magical Christmas, I know we did!

Just thought I'd check in as I dashed off so quickly and forgot to say goodbye! Sorry!!

I have lots to share but I have just got back and need to unpack and fling on some PJ's.

I'll upload photos and update you all shortly.

2011-12-10T19:52:00.000+01:00

For this post I thought I'd do an Interior special for you all.

I've chosen a relatively festive theme of Morocco.

Key points to a perfect Moroccan room:

Floor cushions
Use many textures, patterns and materials (best done with soft furnishings i.e curtains, rugs and cushions)
Lots of candles
Use one or two main colours like Raspberry and Teal for wall paper, bedding etc, then use the other colours to accentuate.
Make a colour chart and decide on the 5 or 6 colours you'd like
You don't have to go all out Moroccan, you can use a few pieces from the ones I selected below to accent or inject any room with colour.

Think jewels, luxury, silk, sparkles and texture.

I've made a colour and texture chart to help give you a bit of an insight into Moroccan colour combinations.

This is my Inspiration board. This shows quite clearly how layering textures, patterns and colours is the key to authentic, vibrant looking moroccan themed rooms. These are far more traditional looking rooms where my colour and texture chart shows a more modern approach.

This is my collection of interior pieces available to purchase online.

Gemstone lamp, handmade by Lemonlu London from Not On The High Street for £90
Arabesque wallpaper from Wallpapers direct for £15.98 per 10m roll
Moroccan eteched tray with stand from Yellow Sunrise for £57.75
Amber chair in Teal from Asda Direct for £150
Moroccan Pouffe, eco friendly and handmade by Bohemia from Not On The High Street for £85 (colour) and £89 (metallic)
Moroccan tea set from Moroccan Bazaar for £42.80
Moroccan tea glasses from Moroccan Bazaar for £16.80
Raspberry rug from Homebase for £16.99
Teal butterfly cushion by Sheen May from Not On The High Street for £35
Plain large silk cushion in green by Fabiia from Not On The High Street for £45
Round embroidered cushion by Marylyn Larkin from Not On The High Street for £80
Matthew Williamson Bedding range (Lola set shown) from Debenhams, price varies

Thankyou, as always, for reading

2011-12-05T23:50:00.000+01:00

Okay, okay I just can't resist doing another gifts post!

I'm going a bit Christmas mad and keep finding the most beautiful things.

I should really have more presents organised by now but I'll get there in the end! I've managed to compile everything I need to get from here (Spain) to take back and the rest will be bought online or in the UK. (sounds more planned than it is hah)

So I'm going to post my favourite things and then my foraging adventure with Joe!

I don't know anyone who doesn't love cute animals!

So you better love this lot!

To do list by boygirlparty from Etsy for $8 (£5.24)
Little fox calender by Gingiber from Etsy for $21 (£13.74)
Bird chalkboard from Urban Outfitters for £12.00
Sleeping fox locket by birdsoforegon from Etsy for $32.50 (£21.27)
Brown Bear head wall hangin by Herman Marie from Etsy for $40 (£26.18)
Rabbit slippers with fluffy tail from Urban Outfitters for £7.00 In the sale! (Other animals available)
Paper Elephant garland by Artsdelight from Etsy for $6.25 (£4.09)
Illustrated bear brooch from Not On The High Street for £8.00
Cooperative racoon cardigan from Urban Outfitters for £55.00
Collecting wood screen print by nicholasfrith from Etsy for £35.00
Bear Illustration jumper for women from Not On The High Street for £43.00 (T-shirts and Men's available too)
Holiday reindeer plush by Gingiber from Etsy for $18.50 (£12.11)

Who can say they don't love a bit of face fuzz?
Everyone's gone Moustache mental recently so I've cobbled together a collection of my favourite facial hair inspired gifts that are on the market.

Munchstache cookie cutters from Firebox for £7.99
Moustache wine glass charms by AWineTwist from Etsy for $12 (£7.85)
Hand painted false nails by truelovewayvintage from Etsy for $12 (£7.85)
Moustache plasters from Urban Outfitters for £8.00
Moustache pillow cases from Urban Outfitters for £30.00
Large chalkboard moustache by TheSquareNail from Etsy for $39 (£25.52)
Mr. Moustache tote bag by sirenaconjersey from Etsy for £14.10
Little moustache gift box by theinklingsofttess from Folksy for £4.00
Moustache egg cosy by Colette Moscrop from Folksy for £4.50
Bonjour moustache rug from Urban Outfitters for £12.00
Moustache necklace from Etsy for $15 (£9.82)
Moustache Watch from Urban Outfitters for £28.00
Moustache ring (sterling silver) by littlebirdlove from Etsy for $40 (£26.18)
Moustache gentleman straws by LibbyLooParties from Etsy

My Foraging walk with Joe and Dotty!

Originally this started out as a nice long walk but turned into a foraging frenzy!

We found oodles of wild rosemary growing all over the place and I got so bloomin' excited. We were lucky too, as Joe had asked me to make him a roast dinner, as his anniversary tea, and I really needed some rosemary for the chicken and the roast potatoes.

I also found some lovely pinecones to decorate the house with for Christmas and some nice acorns (I'm yet undecided for their use!)

Rememer you HAVE to wash and soak the rosemary so that you don't end up eat animal wee with your roast potatoes (wild rosemary only of course!)

The flowers I got for our 1 year Anniversary! I'm an extremely lucky girl!

Well that's it for now, thank you as ever my lovlies for reading.

2011-11-23T01:54:00.000+01:00

Today's been relatively eventful/productive. Dotty's been to the vets and been spayed, as well as getting her microchip and rabies jab, which means she's got a passport! Yay!

She's extra dopey now she's home and not all together herself. I'm sure she'll be fine, she may be a wimp but she seems pretty brave when she needs to be!

I've also bought all my Christmas cards and written about half, as well as Joe's anniversary card!

I know, and it's only November!

So, for this post I'm gonna share a little of my personal recipe book with you all, show you my latest kntting projects aaaaaand put a little collection together of my favourite interior styles at the moment!

So, lets crack on.

My little black recipe book doesn't look like much but it's full of goodies that I will share with you lucky lot.

Well, only a couple, I'm not THAT generous!

(Please note that I've gathered these recipes over time, and although I've tweaked them myself I probably didn't come up with them to start with. I can't remember where these originally came from so, regretfully, there is no original source.)

My homemade black pepper bread

(use white or brown bread flour as you wish)

My Brown loaf

My white loaf

Ingredients

500g strong bread flour

7g fast-acting yeast (sachets are normally 7g)

300ml warm water

1 tbsp clear honey

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp cracked black pepper (optional)

2 tsp salt

Method

1. Mix together the flour, yeast, salt and black pepper in a large bowl.

2. Make a well in the centre and add the honey, oil and warm water.

3. Stir until the mixture comes together , it should be a bit sticky.

4. Flour a clean surface and pour out the dough.

5. Knead for 5-10 mins, I needed to add a bit more flour to make it non-sticky.

6. Place on a greased tray (I just use a good baking paper).

You can now shape this how you want, into rolls if you like.

7. Place a clean, damp tea towel over and place in a warm place for 1-2 hours to rise, I put this in an oven (switched off).

8. After it's completely risen preheat the oven to about 220 degrees, all ovens are different, most recipes say between 200 to 250 degrees celcius.

9. Bake for 25-30 mins for a loaf or 15-20 for rolls.

You'll know when it's cooked when you can tap the bottom and it sounds hollow!

Best ever banana loaf recipe

Ingredients

6oz Sugar

(I use half caster, half dark brown sugar, the dark brown sugar makes it more toffee-ish)

3 Ripe bananas, the riper the better, mashed with a fork

4oz Butter (marg will do but butter is better)

8oz Self raising flour

2 Eggs

Add 100g's worth of nuts, if you like. I don't but people like them apparently.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180-200 degrees celcius

2. Grease your loaf tin

3. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth

4. Add eggs and mashed bananananana

5. Sift in flour and mix until combined

6. Put in the oven for 1 hour, turning the oven down to 150 degrees after 30 mins

Take it out and eat it warm with a cup of tea!

My latest Knitting projects

My little antler hat!

Original pattern from the beautiful Tiny Owl Knits

It was relatively easy, as I'm not that expert! It's a basic hat, and as I can't use DPNS or do the felting, I basically winged it. I made the basic hat and knit the others accordingly.

Finger-stache!

Original pattern from Crafster

Get 2 different coloured wools, black and another colour, skin colour preferred.

Cast on 17, do 9 rows, the follow pattern, do 9 more rows.

Should create a rectangle with a moustache in the middle. Sew the edges together!

I will edit and add a picture tomorrow, when I'm not so cold-filled.

My favourite Interior pieces and styles this week!

Moroccan

Floating beds

Incidentally, these can be bought from The Floating Bed Company

Refurbished industrial cabinets

All lovely, right?

Well I'm off now to watch The Walking Dead, hope you were inspired in some way, by something!

Please do try and make your own bread it's much easier than you think! You don't need no machine!

Lots of lovieeees

2011-09-26T23:50:00.024+02:00

For my very first post I've decided on a Christmas special!

Christmas is my favourite time of year. Although I'm quite the traditionalist and have
spent every Christmas at home with my family, this year I'm spending it with
my Boyfriend's family for the first time and I'm really excited about it!
I seem to get the best of both worlds, a long weekend with my family
(who I haven't seen in a year!) and Christmas with the family that have looked
after me for that past year.

It's also a really exciting time because next week (November 25th) will mark mine and
Joe's 1 year anniversary and a year since I moved out here.
Also it's Joe's birthday just before Christmas and he hasn't enjoyed a Birthday with his
family for years as he's always been working!

I've decided to do a Martha Stewart style Christmas this year, trying to make, bake and knit most of my presents. I'll also be using companys like my friend Sophie's that does
homemade soaps and bath salts! Check out Sophie's Soaps Yum!
I'll be posting my projects on here in the weeks to come.

Here are a few of my favourite looks for Christmas.

I've chosen Reindeers as the Nordic designs currently out there are adorable!
I've been knitting lots of lovely nordic reindeers too. (Don't worry I'll be sharing
patterns soon!) I love how versatile these designs are, so whether you're looking
for slippers, tree decorations of cardi's there's something for everyone.
And my they make me feel Christmassy!

Fair isle reindeer slippers from Monsoon £20
Felt reindeer stocking from Not on the high street £33
Reindeer paperweight from Not on the high street £12
Reindeer Wall Sticker from Not on the high street £30
Rusty the Reindeer bauble from Not on the high street £14.95
Tanned Reindeer hide from Not on the high street £80
Reindeer tree decorations, pack of 12 from Play.com £7.99
Reindeer Gift tags, Set of 3 from Not on the high street £1.95
Vero Moda Reindeer Cardigan from Asos £45
Fair isle Reindeer cushion making kit (available in 3 colours, snow shown.) from John Lewis £29
Large plantable Reindeer card, has Christmas tree seeds inside! From Not on the high street £5 each
Reindeer bauble from House Of Fraser £4

I've chosen Peacock patterns as they give a really glamourous look to Christmas,
using deep purples, golds and turquoises it makes the festive season seem ever so much more fancy and fabulous!
Plus, unlike Reindeers this pattern will see you through to the new year without letting you feel like you're hanging on to Christmas a bit too tightly!

Peacock bauble from Travelling Souk £4.50
Plum Peacock wreath from Next £14
Peacock cushion from F&F at Tesco £9
Peacock jumper from New Look £14.99
Peacock bauble fron Bents £2.99
Peacock Fascinator from Folksy £20
Kookai Jumper from John Lewis £63
Adjustable Peacock ring from Folksy £8
Hand printed Peacock shopper from Not on the high street £6
Peacock feather embroidered clutch from Not on the high street £55
Peacock wallpaper from Inspire my home £33.99 per roll

My final choice is Retro Classics for children. Retro gifts are becoming more and more popular, and although they're seen more as big boy's toys, more and more brilliant gifts are emerging for children.

So if you fancy reliving your youth and sharing that with your kids then get some of these goodies for Christmas! I may be a bit too grown up for most of these, but this retro sweet hamper is definitely on my wish list!

Retro children's 9 piece baking kit from Liberty's £18.50
Retro harmonica by Wild and Wolf at Heal's £6.50
Wooden stacking robots by Schylling at Scarlet and Jones £14
Paper animals from Not on the high street £12.95
Soft toy sewing project from Not on the high street £17.95
Pinhole camera kit from Not on the high street £19.95
Deluxe retro sweet hamper from Retro sweet hampers £29.99
Retro lunch boxes from Not on the high street £7
Rubik's cube from Play.com £9.99
Sooty hand puppet from Hawkins Bazaar £10

Thank you very much for reading my very first post!

I hope you've found something to add to your Christmas wishlist!

I'll be posting more about Christmas in the next few weeks.

Lots of lovieeees!