Shake Rattle and Stir

If your mum likes a side order of gin and giggles with her evening, then we can thoroughly recommend Shake Rattle and Stir. They offer gift vouchers for various chauffer driven tours around London’s finest cocktail bars, including the ‘Gin Journey’ and ‘The Rum Ramble’. Dubbed the ‘Willy Wonka of Gin’, founder Leon accompanies each tour and makes sure it’s an educational evening with a difference. With rave reviews from the likes of The Guardian and Time Out magazine, Shake Rattle and Stir will have you thinking about liquor in a whole different light.

Ragdale Hall Health Hydro and Thermal Spa

If you feel like splashing the cash gift vouchers for Ragdale Hall in Leicestershire, which has to be the ultimate spa experience, cannot fail to delight. Set in beautiful rolling countryside it’s one of the best in the country and an experience not to be forgotten. Now I’m not really one for beauty treatments but I love the place. There is an indoor and outdoor pool and of course a gym, and lots of exercise classes, should you be feeling energetic. The thermal spa area consists of 12 unique and luxurious heat and water experiences that really are fabulous, which is where I spend the day on my occasional trips – imagine spending the whole day in a white fluffy dressing gown, sheer bliss.

Audenza

Audenza gift vouchers have to be a winner – but I would say that wouldn’t I? Starting from £20 they are the ideal way to show your mum that you know she has great taste, but daren’t choose her something yourself, but she’s definitely a little bit picky! I know it’s the gesture that counts, but none the less, a gift voucher just ensures she can choose exactly what she wants. They last for a year, so there’s plenty of time for her to make her selection- from pretty vases to garden lanterns the choice is hers to choose a special and oh so gorgeous treat.

Sarah Raven

Whether it be gardening, floristry or cookery, a gift voucher for Sarah Raven has to be a special treat as there is so much choice, from seeds to plants to cooking utensils and floristry items. Sarah Raven is a truly inspiring gardener and cook and runs regular day courses at Perch Hill Farm in East Sussex and also some special days at Sissinghurst Castle (now a National trust property), formerly the home of Vita Sackville-West. As a passionate amateur gardener I regularly buy from Sarah’s website and I am inspired by her use of colour and informative advice videos and blogs.

Bettys Café Tea Room

We love Bettys tea room and what could be nicer than to receive a gift voucher for Bettys. They start from £5 so mum could order from their selection of goodies. They have a big range of gift boxes and hampers online and not only does everything taste delicious, and we can vouch for that, the packaging is very lovely too (I am a sucker for pretty packaging). They also do specific gift vouchers for afternoon tea which is a lovely idea for an afternoon out if you are not too far away. Another lovely idea is the special luncheon days with a guest speaker that are available to book throughout the year, and evening events with dinner included. I really fancy the swing evening – should any child of mine be paying attention!

Jacqui x

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‘5 Gift Voucher Ideas for Mother’s Day’ written by Jacqui Brooks

Kimberly from Swoon Worthy has excelled herself with this one, well there are 3 posts actually and they are all fabulous. Scented room spray, scented soap and scented candles, all made from essential oils, and the icing on the cake is that Kimberly has designed gorgeous labels for these home made products that are free to download from her blog. They make such fabulous presents and look so professional with Kimberly’s labels.

Image credit: Swoon Worthy

If you are looking for a more unusual floral decoration for your Christmas table then Si from the French By Design blog has a guest post by floral artist Kiana Underwood who gives a step by step tutorial for creating a sumptuous floral extravaganza using soft hues that that can be tailored to suit your colour scheme. I like the idea of using softer colours but you can use anything that takes your fancy.

 Image credit: Cindy Loughridge for French By Design

I’m not generally a great fan of poinsettias but after seeing the ideas on MyGardenSchool blog I’m a convert. I love the small poinsettia inside a glass bell jar, simple but very pretty. There are lots of ideas from Andy McIndoe on how to make Christmas wreaths and table decorations and ideas for filling pots with seasonal pot plants that would make great presents.

Image credit: MyGardenSchool

Jacqui x

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]]> https://blogs.audenza.com/blog/3-ideas-for-a-crafty-christmas/feed/ 2 https://blogs.audenza.com/blog/emma-bridgewater-for-persephone-books/ https://blogs.audenza.com/blog/emma-bridgewater-for-persephone-books/#respond Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:03:55 +0000 http://www.miafleur.co.uk/blog/?p=886 Hands up who likes Emma Bridgewater?  Now who likes Persephone Books?!  Good news.. these two fantastic British companies have joined forces to do a limited edition jug and bowl, designed and manufactured by Emma Bridgewater, specially for Persephone Books!  We love Emma Bridgewater and Persephone, so we were really excited when we found out!

Persephone Books have 100 in their collection, they are all resurrected ‘forgotten’ novels, both fiction and non-fiction “by women, for women and about women.”  They are all published in their signature grey covers, which make them a gorgeous addition, or indeed feature for your bookcase.  My Mum has quite a few of them and displays them proudly in her living room.  You will also notice that we use them quite regularly in our product shots for the website– their neutral covers make them great for styling with things.  I’m not much of a reader myself (not anything with any literary note anyway), but I will certainly be looking to buy some Persephone books for my own bookcase soon- don’t you think they look lovely?!

I particularly love them styled with these Swan Vases.

The design on the limited edition bowl and jug is based around a pomegranate, which is actually a symbol of the Greek Goddess Persephone and on the inside is written- ‘One hundred books’, which of course is the number in the Persephone collection.

They’re not available to buy online, but you can get hold of them from their shop on Lambs Conduit Street in London- or like my Mum did, you can call the store and they will take your order over the phone and ship it out to you.  I have also recently learned Persephone offer ‘A Book a Month’, which means that you can buy a subscription for either 6 or 12 months and they will send you a new book every month, which you can choose before hand and they can even gift wrap each one too for an extra charge.  I think this is such a lovely gift idea for book and house lovers!

So what do you think?  Will you be rushing out to start or expand your Persephone collection… or has the Emma Bridgewater ceramics tempted you?!

Audenza x

Emma Bridgewater For Persephone Books! By Hollie Brooks