Blog - Page 2 of 18 - Blake & Taylor

Everything Is Better When It Is Vintage!

Ellie Ramsay2019-05-14T03:53:38+00:0013 May 2019|About, Blog|

Ok, I must digress, not absolutely EVERYTHING is better when it is vintage. I much prefer my smartphone to the twist-it-all-the-way-around rotary dial of my youth. Though, to be fair, it did help me practice my memorization skills. Many things that were fashioned in the past give me great excitement. The love and care infused into each item is second only to something that has been hand-made. Both of which I have in spades at the Blake & Taylor shop! It is as if these items are filled to the brim with the very appreciation of time that went into [...]

Handmade Scented Hearts

Ellie Ramsay2019-05-13T17:38:04+00:0013 May 2019|About, Blog|

Does anyone remember your youthful excitement at the prospect of a grab-bag? They were those bags full of random candy and surprises you might have received at the end of a birthday party like these handmade scented hearts. You might spy them sitting on a table at the beginning of the event and wonder for those two hours what magic was in store if you did indeed receive one. The possibilities were endless and amazing! Your imagination would run wild. Well, we are all grown up now and that feeling is few and far between. But in one small way, [...]

Chair Makeover

Ellie Ramsay2019-05-14T03:55:25+00:0013 May 2019|Blog, Furniture, On My Design Bench|

Here is the next project that has arrived on my design bench, a chair makeover! You might not believe it, but this fabulous chair frame is not an antique! The gorgeous wooden frame with beautifully carved floral detail was designed and crafted overseas. This chair was commissioned by one of my client's for their bedroom (another project that I am involved with for this clients bedroom - see On my Design Bench' 8 January 2019.)Yes, you all know how enamored I am with antiques; how I like to imagine the stories that weathered old items would tell. However, in this [...]

Sonya Bag

Ellie Ramsay2019-04-15T02:40:44+00:0011 April 2019|About, Blog|

New in my web store is the Sonya Bag which I worked on for over 12 months. This stunning bag has been lovingly created by moi, Ellie, using a collection of vintage fabrics from France, vintage glass buttons and hand stitch techniques. The stitching technique used to create this bag is the Japanese Boro stitch. The term "boro" comes from the words "boroboro" meaning something tattered or repaired. Historically, as hemp was more widely available in Japan than cotton, the two kinds of fabrics were woven together for warmth, birthing the term "boro" as one type of fabric was often [...]

Doll House Makeover

Ellie Ramsay2019-04-11T05:33:08+00:0011 April 2019|Blog, On My Design Bench|

One of the very first blog posts to ever make it on the Blake & Taylor website was of a custom painted doll's house for a customer. It was such a treat to bring new life to an item that was made with quality in mind. Similar to our own homes, the foundation may have been built to last generations but the decorating needs a spruce up every few years. On today's blog post, we walk you through how we freshened up a recent doll's house that was brought into the shop by a customer who was inspired to give [...]

Oilskin Shoppers

Ellie Ramsay2019-04-11T05:44:09+00:0025 March 2019|Blog, On My Design Bench|

If you are heading out to a local market or taking a walk through some beachside shops, one of our Oilskin Shoppers is the perfect accessory that is both beautiful and functional. Featuring a duck egg blue and white floral pattern on an oilskin cloth, each bag is lined with vintage French cotton floral fabric. The straps of the bag are made from woven linen and are the wide enough to make this bag comfortable to wear, even when full of little treasures. One of the best parts of this bag is how easy it is to care for. Simply [...]

Mason Jar Makeover

Blake and Taylor2019-03-26T16:22:23+00:0019 March 2019|Blog|

A quick and easy way to liven up your space is with a pop of colour. Committing to a large project like painting a desk or a table can be intimidating when you are low on time and find yourself worried about taking on a large project. We love painting smaller items that can be placed on a shelf in the bathroom for your cotton balls, on your kitchen counter with utensils or in your dining room with fresh flowers picked from your garden. In this mason jar makeover, we use the Blake & Taylor Chalk Furniture Paint that brings [...]

The History of Potpourri and Why we Love it

Ellie Ramsay2019-04-11T05:34:16+00:008 March 2019|Blog|

Fragrant potpourri has been around for centuries, adding the lovely aromas of dried herbs, flowers and spices to all the places around your home that required a fresh scent. Potpourri, as we know and love it today, is not always how it was made. The history of potpourri is quite interesting… The word ‘potpourri’ comes to us from the French word pot-pourri. Translated, this means ‘rotten pot’. That is probably not the beautiful definition you were hoping for! As we look to the history of potpourri, we learn how potpourri received this name and how modern-day potpourri takes all the [...]

Easy & Delicious Lentil Soup

Ellie Ramsay2019-03-08T22:34:20+00:008 March 2019|Recipes|

As the summer season is starting to transition to autumn, I have been thinking about how the seasons affect the food we eat and the comfort they bring us. One of my favourite autumn meals is a good hearty bowl of soup and a slice of crusty bread. This lentil soup is so easy to make, takes very little time and effort and is incredibly filling. All of the ingredients are easy to find and we usually have the ingredients in the pantry left over from other recipes. Lentils are low in calories, high in protein and are filled [...]

Wicker Basket Makeover

Ellie Ramsay2019-03-04T13:45:46+00:003 March 2019|Blog, On My Design Bench|

Materials 2 x Wicker baskets Blake & Taylor Chalk Paint French Linen and New White Blake & Taylor Clear Top Coat Satin Finish Blake & Taylor 25mm flat brush Blake & Taylor 25mm Round Brush These wicker baskets were in need of a lift with some new colour and so I decided to use some French Linen for the main body with a New White trim using the 25mm flat brush. Soon after starting I changed my mind, as I often do, and decided the New White trim just wasn’t working for me. If you find the same thing happening [...]

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