Christmas cards and gift guides

It's nearly the first of December and we're in full festive mode, having worked flat out last week to get the Christmas gift guides up online. Check them out when you have time - I compiled the home and interiors ones which were thoroughly enjoyabe to put together (all in a week's work!). Some of my personal favourites on the list include Cox and Cox's squirrel nutcracker, teatowels from To Dry For and the Milkii milk jug.

But as a stationery addict, I have to say the guide I enjoyed putting together the most was the one I made for Christmas cards. It's way too easy to go for big boxes of cheap cards, and while I thoroughly appreciate the fact that a card is but a card, and it's cost-effective to buy a big box of 100 for a £1 in the discount store, sometimes it's so worth spending on something quality, that feels beautiful in your hands and, as the team at Blush cards says, to run your fingers over.

It felt pretty good to be able to feature some of the smaller independents along side the big names online - and I love English Design & Co's very cute and high quality "happy holidays" cards, and Hello Lucky's cute gingerbread men too. The sort of thoughtful, cheerful cards, perfect for writing a personal message in, that show you've taken care in choosing something special. Sometimes it's just nice to take that time to make it worth someone's while to send something special.

And on that note, I'll be back later on in this week with a thoroughly lazy and luxurious "How to" and a fun cooking feature come Friday. See you then - and in the meantime, why not check our my Christmas shopping suggestions over at the Guardian: there's something for him, her, kitchen queens, dressing the tree and those cards too!

What's cooking: the Hummingbird Bakery's chocolate chunk cookies

I love baking with no particular reason or event in mind, just for the sheer delight of it, but sometimes it's quite nice to have a reason for it too.

This week I've had two; firstly a colleague leaving, and secondly, Eid.

So with this in mind, I baked up a big batch of milk and white chocolate "chunk" cookies and sugar butter cookies, to wrap up in tissue paper and present in cardboard boxes tied with ribbon (yes, I'm such a girl, but, hey, it makes me happy!).

I decided to go with a tried and tested fast-becoming family favourite - the Hummingbird Bakery cookies. I first tried these for my eldest brother's birthday, with the darkest, most pure chocolate I could find (Green & Black's); he loved them but personally it was a little too bitter for me, so I substituted dark with milk chocolate for the first batch, followed by white chocolate for the second. I've also tweaked the original recipe - I don't think it needs the extra 2 teaspoons of bicarbonate soda which the book recipe has, so I literally just throw a pinch in instead. Without the soda, the cookies remain cakey and soft.

I'm slowly testing out each recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery book - I have to say, they all have far, far more sugar than any other cake or cookies recipes I've ever come across, but it's only an occasional treat after all...

Definitely don't try to crowd too many cookies onto one tray before you bake - they'll spread out into one conglomerate mass if you do. I do four per tray at a time and although this means you could end up waiting for ages for them all to be done, tray after tray, at least they're all perfectly formed.

The Hummingbird Bakery's cookies
225g unsalted butter
350g soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
400g plain flour
1/s teaspoon salt
225g milk, dark or white chocolate, roughly chopped*
Baking trays, lined with baking parchment

Makes 24

Preheat the oven to 170C. Whisk the butter and sugar with a handheld electric mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients down from the side of the bowl after each addition. Turn the mixer down to slow speed and beat in the vanilla extract.

Add the flour and salt and mix until a smooth dough is formed. Then stir in the chopped chocolate until evenly dispersed.

Arrange four to six equal amounts of cookie dough on each baking tray - they really do spread out something huge so make sure there's enough space between them and don't try and cram more than six on per tray (trust me). Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until they are golden brown around the edges and quite flat.

*If you are using white chocolate, keep an extra careful eye on them while baking, as white chocolate has a tendency to brown rather quickly in the oven

Don't worry if they look too pale and soft in the middle - as long as the edges are golden, the middle will go firmer and cookie-like when cooling. Leave to cool on the trays first for a few minutes before turning them out on to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Perfect cookies!

And here's what they look like all packaged up with my handmade gift tags. A pleasure to give and hopefully more so to receive also!

Behind the Scenes: afternoon tea ceramics with Timea Sido

I first saw photos of Timea Sido's beautiful ceramics when working on a piece on the Origin Craft fair for the Guardian. At that point, I fell for the delicacy of her work even just in photographs - and I couldn't wait to see her creamy, filigree pieces in person. Her tea set was quite possibly the prettiest one I've seen yet; simple and elegant.

The Central St Martins' graduate now works from her studio at Cockpit Arts London, where she works with her loyal companion, her kilm, and I asked her to share a little about how she makes her pieces.

Timea says: "My tangled pattern has become my signature style and embodies every element of my work. My collection features tea light holders, vessels, boxes and bowls but my newest work, the afternoon tea collection, really captured my heart and imagination. It's all cake stands, cups and saucers, spoons and sugar bowls - everything you would need for a quaint English tea party (the milk jug and teapot stand will launch next year).

"I've always been enchanted by the countryside with its picturesque villages and charming tea rooms - for me, a delicious home baked scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam with a cup of tea is perfection. It's this magic that i was trying to convey in the afternoon tea collection - old-fashioned charm meets contemporary design.

"I wanted to create a cakestand with a twist, to create a romantic and elegant table centrepiece for any occasion. This one has a hidden vase inside the stand, which looks beautiful when you place lovely flowers in the middle - it really sets the mood for tea and cake."

Each piece takes two weeks for Timea to make, after a series of days spent making the pattern, assembling each piece, drying and glazing.

"I love being creative and if I'm not in the studio getting messy with clay, then I'll be at home painting or knitting or making something for my home. Creating things out of nothing is what i'm all about; it makes me happy and complete."
(Sorry the pictures are so small but hope it gives a flavour of her style!)

Free entry for Her Little Place readers to the We Make London fair

Trying to plan your shopping and craft fair visits in advance? Here's a list of what's on, when and where - but please feel free to add to it if I've missed anything in the comments box below - I'm counting on your contributions so please chip in - doesn't matter if it's not London based but as long as it's in the UK, it's worth adding.

And, as if you needed any more added incentive, ten Her Little Place readers will be given free entry to the We Make London Christmas fair on Saturday 5 December (details below). To claim your free entry, email me at huma@herlittleplace.com before next Tuesday 1 December

Room 202,
Covent Garden Hotel
Wednesday, 25 November, 6.30-8.30
A select number of just 10 vendors, organised by Amma Gyan
£5 entry

Tea and Make,
The Honour Oak, 1 St German's Road, Forest Hill, London,
Saturday 5 December, 12-6
Free entry, free workshops

We Make London
Chelsea Town Hall, King's Road, London
Saturday 5 December, 11-5
READER OFFER!! The first ten people to email me at huma@herlittleplace.com will be put on the door list for free entry. Email me before next Tuesday to get registered.

Christmas art, craft and design market,
35 stalls, organised by Oggle Everything
Abney Hall, 73a Stoke Newington Church St,
Sunday 6 December, 11-5

Bust Christmas Craftacular
York Hall, 5-15 Old Ford Rd, Bethnal Green,
Saturday 12 December, 12-7

Of Cabbages & Kings will be at:
Abney Hall, 73a Stoke Newington Church St,
Saturday 12 & 19 December 10.30-5, free entry

Click on the "comment" button - I'm adding more fair details as they arrive in my inbox!

Shopping trips, plus coming up this week

(Photograph: Cox and Cox)

It's not even the end of November, but Christmas lights are up on Regent St which can only mean one thing: Christmas shopping time!

One thing I've not had a chance to do in previous years is really explore London's Christmas craft markets, so that's something I can't wait for - to meet new designers, see lovely handmade and unique products and feel a part of something that's different from the high street.

I'm going to my first fair this week and my diary is already filling up for weekends ahead - so I figure it's useful for us all to share what's fairs and markets are going on, when and where.

So from tomorrow, I'm starting a rolling "events list" post where I'll keep adding updates as I hear of more things going on - plus I've got special details of a special entry offer for Her Little Place readers. But if there's something I've missed, either email me with details at huma@herlittleplace.com, or leave a comment with a link to the Christmas market or craft fair so we can all find out more information about it too. Get your diaries open and prepare to block out your weekends!

Also coming up this week, I've got a detailed Behind the Scenes into the design studio of a ceramics designer who creates jaw-droppingly stunning pieces (watch out for that) plus another sweet treat to kick start the weekend come Friday. But that's a whole five days away, so for now, start racking your brains about any vintage-crafty-quirky markets coming up and enjoy your Monday!

What's cooking: Blueberry Delight cake with Butterfingers

I love a good old inspirational story, and Nadia and Kat, two lovely London ladies who make up baking company Butterfingers, are just that (inspirational, that is, not necessarily butterfingered in the literal sense).

This duo gave up their day jobs working in investment banking (Nadia) and at the NHS (Kat) to do what they love (isn't this always the dream?): bake. And boy, do they bake - but not the frothy cupcake kind. No, we're talking good old slabs of hearty lashings of sponge and home-baked traditional slices based on family recipes. Last night, after meeting Nadia, I cosied up with a big slab of carrot cake and frosting that she'd made earlier in the day - a ridiculously massive wedge of moist carrot cake - which tasted wonderfully fresh.

Nadia and Kat met at a pub, started chatting about their mutual love of cake (as you do). Nadia says: "A month later we found ourselves working side by side doing a two-day baking marathon for a music festival. We've not looked back since!

"By day, we serve indulgent afternoon teas served in vintage china at events and festivals. By night, we love the idea of midnight cake feasts, so we deliver bite-sized delicacies to peckish party revelers at nightclubs and parties.

"I spend hours upon hours trawling the internet for recipes, reading all the comments, and looking at all the pictures to try and get an idea of how it might turn out before I have a dabble. I came across this Blueberry Delight recipe last week; it had 313 comments, and I read every single one (loser, obsessed or weird- I'll leave that one for you to decide!). Once I made it, I absolutely loved it, so much so that it's only appropriate that I share it with you here."

Blueberry Delight
Makes 12 squares

250g plus all-purpose flour
1 tsp all-purpose flour (extra)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp table salt
227g unsalted butter, softened
165g light brown sugar
100g granulated sugar
3 large eggs
225ml buttermilk (or you can use whole milk, but buttermilk gives a real moist texture to cake)
100g blueberries (fresh or frozen - you don't need to defrost them)

Topping
100g blueberries (again, no need to defrost)
50g granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 160 C and grease and flour a 13-by-9 inch baking tin. Whisk the large weight of flour with baking powder, and salt in one bowl; in another, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy. Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down the bowl after each one. Reduce the speed and beat in one-third of the flour mix, give it a good mix and then beat in half of the milk. Beat in another third of the flour mix, then all of the remaining milk and then finally the remaining flour. In a seperate bowl, toss the blueberries with the extra teaspoon of flour. Then very gently, fold the blueberries into the main batter. Spread into the prepared tin.

Then, for the topping, scatter the remaining blueberries on top of the batter. Stir the cinnamon and granulated sugar together and scatter all over the cake mix (it will give a lovely crumbly texture to the cake). Bake for 40-45 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean) and leave it for 20 minutes before turning out and serving (topping side up!) - cut into slices, and eat warm for a lovely fruity bite!

If you'd like Butterfingers to bake cakes for an afternoon tea event, email nadia@butterfingerscakes.com.

Cartolina giveaway winners

Thanks to everyone who entered the Cartolina Cards giveaway last week! Picked at random (via Random.org) the lucky winners are:

Anna at Whoopsadaisy
Laura at Eden Rose (I do believe you've won twice in my giveaways now, clearly on a winning streak!)
and Alison who doesn't seem to be blogging though.

You'll each get a bundle of notelets, greeting cards, Christmas cards and a little notebook too which I wrapped up in pretty tissue paper and ribbon for you! (Royal Mail depending of course...)

My Favourite Place... with the Keep Calm Gallery

It's no secret that I'm a huge, huge fan of the Keep Calm Gallery and its quirky fun graphics and letterpress prints (the prints in my kitchen and bathroom are both from there), so when owners, founders and couple Lucas Lepola and Hayley Thwaites agreed to give me a sneak into their front room for My Favourite Place, I couldn't wait to see what pics they'd send in.

The couple live in and work from this small Victorian terrace in East Dulwich, London, which they share with their cats Maisy and Alfie. And true to form, their Favourite Place, the lounge, is undeniably cool. There's nothing not to love about their Victorian terrace living space - from the initials, the artwork (check the Tutti Frutti print by the fireplace and Carpe Diem on the shelves, among others) and the retro furniture. Find out more below:

Lucas and Hayley say:

"Working from home means that most of our living space is used up for work-related things, but we try and get away from that in the living room - although sometimes we take photos for the website in here because there's usually really good light. But it's the only real spot in the house where we can really relax. Since we're renting this house, we can't make real changes to things like the paintwork, but the scheme is simple which means we can bring lots of colour in with our belongings which we've collected and scattered all over the place. It's been a blank canvas to us, but this house is the first time we've really felt at home in a place together and this room sums that feeling up."

Style steal: copy the Keep Calm Gallery's retro look

I really like the way modern prints have been placed in vintage frames, and the way that aged little accessories sit side by side next to contemporary pieces, like the pair of worn bird models placed next to a modern twisty vase on the sideboard... create a mish-mash of age styles with some of the selection below:

Initials, Pedlars, £7.95
Bird vases, Graham and Green, £18.95
Russian dolls, Cox & Cox, £22
Antique gold frame, Heals, £15
Silhouette print, Keep Calm Gallery, £15
Loop vase, Lifestyle Bazaar, £28

Craftiness for children

The Ella Doran store on Cheshire St (Shoreditch - sort of off Brick Lane) is doing a very cute "Design your own tray" weekend this Saturday and Sunday (21 and 22 November) - so little ones can try their hand at designing.

They'll get to doodle away to their heart's content and the pattern will then be made into a tray for them to takeaway for £12 - nice Christmas gift idea for little ones to make for their grandparents, perhaps. (You don't actually have to be a child to do this; I think adults can join in too...)

Places are limited, so to book, email ruth@elladoran.co.uk directly to reserve a space.

In the meantime, here's a couple of cute shots of the event last year. Junior designers in the making!

Monday morning: creative business cards plus what's coming up this week

Welcome back after the weekend! Last night, while sorting my stuff out for the week ahead, I went through a collection of business cards that I'd swapped and picked up with other design bloggers and Etsy designers at a lovely little evening held last week, The London Design Bloggers Meet-up, organised by Ellie and Bethan at Home Shopping Spy and Lynne at Tea for Joy. They'd invited me with some trepidation that I wouldn't come, after I announced my fear of networking on the Guardian, but it was so informal it felt like meeting old friends. Except for the fact that we swapped business cards.

I wouldn't normally blog about business cards in particular detail, but everyone there had such gorgeous ones, which I guess just goes to show there was a lot of creativity in the room. My favourite has to be the Little Cake Parlour's (bottom right), with its shocking pink fair ground font. It also says the least business-cardy thing you can expect which is: Mmm How Delicious. Brilliant business-card speak. I felt quite chuffed that people commented on how pretty my own calligraphy-esque card which Sarah at Truly Smitten designed for me.

One girl mentioned she got her cards done at Moo which is a good place to go for affordable but fun and artistic cards (you can order Studio Mela through Moo's UK page - her utensil cards are super cute for any budding cooks). These days, I'm really loving all things simplistic and Kraft (I've started doing brown Kraft cardboard boxes of cookies for birthdays) and I recently came across these cards too; classy and subtle.

(Photography: Ready Go)

Coming up this week
Cards aside, I can't wait to share a brilliant My Favourite Place with you on Wednesday with my favourite shop owners (can you guess?) of the moment: the pictures of their favourite room in their home are absolutely gorgeous and guaranteed to inspire some room envy, and I've scouted around to find buys to help recreate their style... I'll also be announcing the winners of the Cartolina Cards giveaway (there's still time to enter) plus there'll be more baking treats in store come Friday for another sugar rush (did anyone dare try out the Chocolate Mayo cake below?!).

Have a good start to the week!

What's Cooking: Chocolate cake with The Cake Committee

Thank you everyone for stopping by this week to read Her Little Place, I hope it's given you a nice taste of what's to come! Don't forget that the Cartolina Cards giveaway is still open until the end of Tuesday, so if you haven't entered already, head back to the original post to join in. Coming up next week, I've got an exciting My Favourite Place with the owners of one of my favourite shops to share, an inspiring How To and more! Have a good weekend in the meantime and I leave you with my new Friday feature, What's Cooking. Enjoy!

There's nothing that I like better than baking on the weekend, so on Fridays, I'll be getting in the mood by inviting passionate bakers and cooks to share their favourite recipes with readers. If you'd like to submit a recipe and food photos for Her Little Place, email me (huma@herlittleplace.com); in the meantime, sit back and enjoy this week's contribution...

I'm not sure why, but it surprised me that renowned ceramics designer Peter Ting is a baking addict and one of the founders of the cake movement taking London by storm, The Cake Committee. But when you think about it, it makes sense: why else make beautiful plates, if not to eat cake off them? Here's Peter's contribution - and don't be alarmed - it's Chocolate Mayonnaise cake. Yes, that really does say Mayonnaise. But it still looks lovely.

Peter says: "Baking is at best a hobby, and at worse an addiction. I belong firmly in the addict camp. As a founder member of the The Cake Committee, baking is important to me, but what is more so is the real understanding of why things turn out the way they do, and how to improve on techniques.

"For my 50th birthday, I was given a copy of The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum; it has yo-yoed between the kitchen and my bedside table ever since. Now, I know that Chocolate Mayonnaise cake sounds very strange (it was invented by the wife of a Hellmann's mayonnaise salesman to help him boost sales) , but I read the recipe and had to make it straight away. It's simply one of the easiest cakes I've ever made! Mix wet with wet, dry with dry, mix wet into dry and then bake: it turned out beautifully moist and tasty. And once you realise that mayonnaise is just oil and egg yolks, it doesn't seem so strange to incorporate it after all."

Down-Home Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

28 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
8 fl oz (1/2 pint) boiling wayter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
160 g mayonnaise
200g plain flour (sifted)
200g caster sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Grease and line your cake tins (I used two, 8" tins) and preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 for a fan oven). Mix the boiling water and cocoa powder until it is smooth and lump free. Let it cool to room temperature, and then mix in the vanilla extract and the mayo. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the liquid mix to the dry mix, and beat together to give a good texture. Place in the prepared tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the tins for 10 minutes and then turn out and allow to cool. You can enjoy them as they are, or you can sandwich them together using my favourite sweet-tooth obsession of the moment - buttercream - which you can do quickly and easily by whipping ready made creme anglaise into whipped butter. Or for more indulgence, crumble Italian meringues into whipped butter. Just make sure you use unsalted butter and whisk for at least 15 minutes, until it is so pale it's almost white and the texture of thick cream.

Enjoy!

Photography: Peter Ting

How to: create a home spa

Feeling run down and exhausted? I know I am - this sudden chill in autumnal weather has left me with a rotten cold and in need of some of comforting. I asked the lovely Mel, owner of Green Therapies in London, for her tips and secrets on creating a home spa. After all, if she can manage to create a stylish mini-haven bang slap in the middle of central London (it's all exposed brick, white walls and dark wood floors - lovely), then she's bound to be able to do it at home in perfect style too.

Mel says: "When you're in need of some down time, keep the lighting gentle and soft. Turn off the main lights in the bathroom and place candles around the tub and the basin. Scented ones with lavender or lemon can really soothe and help you relax. When I'm feeling run down, my favourite is the Dermalogica stress relief candle which is made from a gorgeous blend of tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary, sandalwood and lavender oils. Make sure the bathroom is warm, but not hot, otherwise you'll really be wiped out afterwards. Add to all the lovely perfume of the scented candles with an indulgent dollop of bath oil - I like L'Occitane's ultra rich foaming bath oil or Kneipp's calming herbal bath oil.

"A salt scrub can really help detoxify your skin. I use Dead Sea Salts, and add lemon balm to it if I need uplifting, or a few drops of trusted lavender oil if I just want to relax. Most of us all have face masks to suit our own skin type in our bathroom cabinet, but if you don't, you can always ask your local salon for a few samples to try out. Once your done, slather yourself in your favourite body lotion (I use Sanctuary Spa's essentials body moisture spray) and step into some cosy pjs: the best part of a home spa is that you can sink straight into bed with a hot chocolate immediately afterwards!"

Create your spa at home

Cable bed socks, The White Company, £35
Diptyique candles, Space NK, £34
Classic robes, The White Company, £38
Ultra rich foaming bath oil, L'Occitane, £17.25
Hot water bottle, Row Pinto, £45
Lavender bath salts, L'Occitane, £13.75
Shealing throw, Toast, £995
Round bath brush, Toast, £25
White classic towels, The White Company, £7-£25

Photograpy: PR

My Favourite Place... with DailyCandy's Malika Dalamal

I don't know about you, but I love peeping at other people's interiors, so I've created My Favourite Place to share a peek into the living spaces of some of my favourite stylish creative types. This week, DailyCandy's London editor, Malika Dalamal talks us through her Favourite Place in her home: her airy lounge. And I have to say, I am loving that Anglepoise lamp already...

Malika says: "I live on the border of Notting Hill and Bayswater on the first floor of a converted townhouse - and my living room is definitely My Favourite Place in my house.

"The living room is the first room you come into when you enter the flat, and because it's east-facing, it gets a lot of sun in the afternoon, especially with the little balcony. I love my living room because it's the most spacious room in the flat, with high ceilings, big windows and lots and lots of light - and it's really cosy. It's quite a private living space, since I live alone, but it's also great for entertaining in.

"I use the lounge to relax in, hang out, watch TV, drink coffee, read and nap on the sofa, but it's also great for entertaining in. On weekends and evenings, I'm always in here. I work from home and sometimes I'll bring my laptop in and work from the sofa. The sofa is my favourite piece in the room, it's huge and feels a little oversized compared to the rest of the furniture; it's the kind of sofa you just sink into and never want to get up from. I got it from Andrew Martin, so this was definitely my big house splurge!

"I wanted my living room to be bright and cheery but not too overwhelming - so the colour scheme is quite neutral, but with colourful accents like the cushions, the rug and the painting. I'd call it a classic style with a contemporary twist."

Style Steal! Copy Malika Dalamal's London look:

Silver desk lamp, Heals, £82
Rug, Celia Birtwell for Habitat, £319
Box of fabric roses, John Lewis, £10
Perryman cushion, Habitat, £28
Stripey cushion, Ella Doran, £45
Bevelled mirrors, Next, £75

Behind the Scenes... with Cartolina Cards (plus a great giveaway too!)

Ever wondered how designers come up with their ideas? Find out how they get from concept to product with Behind the Scenes. Today, Fiona Richards, acclaimed graphic designer behind Cartolina Cards, takes us into her design studio to show us more - keep reading for a fabulous giveaway for followers too!

Who needs Santa Claus, mince pies and jingle bells on Christmas cards when you can get geisha girls in cherry blossom snow instead?

If the latter doesn't sound like your typical Christmas card imagery, it's because it's not. But that is precisely the point of Fiona Richard's artistic imagery in her magical, wonderland cards where almost anything goes.

"If I really love an Audubon bird, I see no reason why it shouldn't be combined with a Hokusai wave or a Victorian butterfly taken from an old vintage soap wrapper," she says. "By mixing up eras and styles, I can create an authentic look. Hence why I never really 'plan' a composition; to set out to deliberately design a birthday card would stifle the process altogether."

Although Fiona doesn't have a formal design process, she does still work loosely around a three step system. First comes the composition, then the card's occasion (birthday, Christmas, thank you) and finally the text, made up from original type faces and fonts from old documents, which is arranged manually on top of the artwork.

For the composition, Fiona turns to her very own image store, the result of years of foraging in flea markets for boxes of old dusty postcards, abandoned one-off sketches, eighteenth-century illustrations and Japanese wood block prints. Each image is then painstakingly scanned and stored in a massive digital archive. "The archive is my inspiration," says Fiona. "It's so exciting to see the character and imperfection of vintage imagery blown up on my computer screen."

The vintage images are artistically mismatched and layered with Fiona and her husband Doug's own illustrations to create a nostalgic and magical feel - and as an added twist to detail, the back of her cards always have an entirely different design to the front.

She describes her colours as "rich and sumptuous"; they look like deep velvets and inky satins on card - all the colours of an Indian silk stall. No wonder, really, since Fiona's childhood created something of an Indian palette for her inspiration. She grew up in her grandparents old Scottish stonehouse, which was filled with trinkets and treasures from their travels to south Asia.

"As a child, my dressing up box was stuffed with Indian gowns; vintage saris, heavily embroidered kimonos and sparkly veils," she says. "I'd play with an Indian silver tea service, cloisonne platters and engraved cake stands - things I rather took for granted then. But it definitely influenced my art - I've always been drawn to the richness of eastern and Asian art and its antique imagery."

Each card takes Fiona around three intense days to design in her studio, tucked inside her mountainside cottage in British Columbia. "I love the fact that I can do business for all around the world from our quiet cottage by the lake. Living in a small town has really let me slow down and nurture my art without being influenced by mainstream trends."

But living and working in the Canadian mountains isn't all fresh air and hiking - there's a whole business for Fiona and Doug to run (both work side by side in the studio from 8am sharp each morning) and when she's in design-mode, Fiona will work long months often forsaking sleep. Perhaps this goes some way to explain the dream-like quality of her cards?

"I can't go to bed if my head is full of inspiration," she laughs. "But I don't mind - I love my job."

- Cartolina Cards are now available in the UK. Stockists include American Retro, The Cherry Tree and The Barbican. Selfridges will be stocking Fiona's cards from January. Read Fiona's blog here.

Giveaway!
To coincide with the launch of the new-look Her Little Place, I have teamed up with Cartolina Cards to offer lucky readers a gorgeous gift pack, containing notelets, notepads, birthday and Christmas cards.
There are three gift packs to giveaway to Her Little Place followers. For your chance to win, become a follower (click on "Follow me") if you're not already, and leave a comment below with an email address or link to your blog so I can contact you . Winners will be selected at random and will be announced back at my blog in a week. Post your comment before midnight GMT on Tuesday, 17 November, 2009 (that's a whole week to enter!)

Good luck!

(Photography: PR)

Welcome to the new look Her Little Place!

Photography: Keep Calm Gallery


... and welcome to my new look blogzine, Her Little Place, for fresh ideas to create stylish and lovely homes.

After months of planning and hard work, I'm thrilled to finally unveil my revamped site to new and old readers alike, where I'll be sharing my love for all things interiors, design and homestyle.

Every week, I’ll bring you features, interviews, sharing tips, recipes, giveaways and much, much more.

And to celebrate the new-look Her Little Place, I've got a special bumper first-week line up.

If like me, you've marvelled over a piece of stylish design and wondered how on earth the creative genius behind it came up with the idea, then you'll love my ‘Behind the Scenes’ feature which goes into the design studio to find out all about the process.

Tomorrow, I talk to Fiona Richards of Cartolina Cards and find out how vintage butterflies and the Canadian wilderness have inspired her artwork designs - with a very hot giveaway on offer too.

Meanwhile, ever wondered how the cool ladies behind DailyCandy live? Find out later this week, when London editor Malika Dalamal talks us through Her Favourite Place in her house and learn how to steal her stylish city-living look.

Unwind later with how-to tips on creating a home spa, and then get ready for the weekend with What's Cooking – there's chocolate cake to be baked, courtesy of The Cake Committee. All this and more - all week, every week!

So add Her Little Place to your favourites, follow me, stay tuned, share your thoughts and don't forget to come back - you are always welcome - for your weekday doses. Enjoy!

Orchids everywhere!

(Photography: PR)

Orchids are one of my favourite flowering plants, and the UK's favourite plant too, so I was thrilled to be able to write about them for the Guardian, and even more thrilled that it turned into a four part special, with the "front page" slot on the Guardian's Life & Style website!

I've put together a blog on my experiences of looking after them, picked out a selection of gorgeous orchid products from the likes of Ella Doran, Mozi and Graham and Green, and also learnt how to make an orchid display which is something I might do for special gifts. Please have a read, I'd as ever love to hear your comments!

Stamps and strikes

Maybe Royal Mail could do with a timely reminder of its services, with these vintage prints.

And maybe then the gifts I ordered for two birthdays that have already passed might eventually arrive...

Prints from Printree

Anthropologie: heaven, or just a lot of hot air?

Photography: Stylehog.com

So: I finally made it into Anthropologie this weekend. It was Sunday, torrential rain down Regent St. There was a huddle of girls waiting under the door way. It was supposed to open at midday. It got to quarter past, and the staff were still only just arriving - nudging us quite abruptly with their sodden umbrellas. The lights were still off and the vacuuming was being done. Bear in mind this wasn't their opening weekend - the shop has been open for ten days now... but what's 15 minutes, hey, so I let all the frustration of being soaked go.

The store is pretty, that's for sure; you sort of can't help but run a finger across the old French dressers (for £10,000) and reach out to touch every quirky little thing. But did it blow me away?

Well, and I realise I might be risking the wrath of many a reader with this, my answer has to be: no.

I didn't, however, leave the shop empty handed - I bought two vintage playing cards with our initials on to frame (total: £7 - a lot for just two gift cards, but then again not a lot considering I bought them with the idea of framing-to-keep-cards-as-art in mind). But I didn't coo over the woollen smock dresses that cost £180 or the £200 cardigans covered in corsages. A soft coat with brass buttons and a frill front did catch my eye - but only in so much as I felt the need to take it off the hanger, not enough to try it on. I guess the clothes are just not to my taste - a little too whimsical, boho and (forgive me) old-fashioned for my liking and not nearly as pretty, or indeed flattering, as what I was expecting.

The New York Observer recently wrote: "Anthropologie is boring. Anthropologie is a knee-length floral print-skirt paired with embellished flats." It may sound a little harsh. But there were some truly hideous grandma knits in there, that I could only imagine Alexa Chung-types, with big glasses and brogues, wearing to be ironic. Or, as Washington Post's Hank Steuver imagines, women who "want to be Zooey Deschanel."

The homeware was certainly more charming - a polka dot green ceramic door knob to replace my bedstand drawer handle caught my eye, as did the Russian doll measuring cup, the happy bird place mats, and a gold key-shaped key holder - but not in a "must have" way. I marvelled at a golden Snow White-esque apple, but when I realised it was a candle, and a £100 one at that, the magic rubbed off.

I wouldn't go as far as some others who say they hate Anthropologie (many bloggers write of their "love hate" relationship with it) but it's just not me and while I love the Spanish style ceramic salt and pepper shaker, I also know that if you look in the right places, you'll find one more authentic that doesn't cost about £30.

Maybe the hype was too much, because I was really looking forward to it, but it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I did like it, I just don't necessarily love it, and I'm not sure I believe all the talk about how some people visit New York *just* to see Anthropologie.

I headed down the road and sought refuge from the rain and my Anthropologie-downfall, in Zara Home. And no, I'm not ashamed of my high street preference, no matter how "unoriginal compared to Anthropologie" it may sound. I instantly loved Zara's charcoal grey bed linen range in its warm soft wools and felts; its white towels edged with enough lace for detail, but not too much as to make it quaint; toyed with the idea of laying luxurious embroidered bolster cushions on my bed; bought a fabulous frame for those vintage playing cards I mentioned. It might not be as quirky as Anthropologie, and the website doesn't really do it justice, but like the clothes, Zara Home is more contemporary but still classic in style. I guess, I'd like to think, more my style...