Never grow up. Growing older is inevitable but growing up is optional. I like to think I'm maintaining a relatively satisfactory balance at this. It's a toughie, isn't it, when you think back to how your parents or grandparents or even great grandparents may have been behaving at your age. I can say with absolute certainty that none of them would have been wearing this dress in their thirties. As a teenager I thought people in their thirties were old, in the sense of maturity. The more the years creep by the younger my thinking gets. Make up-schmakeup; if you can't handle my natural face then we're probably going to have trouble getting along. Yes, I love to pop a bit of eyeliner and mascara on, but no, I'm no longer painting myself into looking like someone else. It's been around a year now and hand on heart, I feel more comfortable with my skin than ever before.
My hair is wilder than ever after a two year skive from the hairdresser but in reality I really ought to get it trimmed as the ends are so so so dry. But as a general style, every day manangement and the overall appearance is one I am over the moon with. Wild suits me. I'm rustic.



This Dress! A charity shop find a month or so ago. It's Henry Holland and such a delight in all respects; bold summer floral print, almost saintly crochet peter pan collar while verging on being indecently short. The cut is a miraculously flattering one, giving a fitted bodice, a bit of flare to the skirt and styling to the capped sleeves. An instant favourite.

I'm making no compromises on how I choose to dress.
Sophie

Once in a while I'm lucky enough to discover something of a gem. I was introduced to an etsy shop called Woodpecker and Weasel (which is such a great name, adorable!) which sells a wonderful range of lovingly handcrafted pieces using Cornish oyster and scallop shells. Above is the gold scallop ring dish, it's beautiful!
The range of gifts particularly suits my taste as I'm very much an outdoors-y person so it's a pleasure to be able to display some stunning natural pieces round the house.
Clare is a gifted illustrator and also sells a cute collection of cards, I suggest you take a look, especially if you like cats.
Just look at the patterns and colours on the oyster shells, so striking. I'm not sure I've actually held one before and studied it up close. They make excellent candles; these two are in almond coconut scent which is divine, they've made the hall smell delightful as I pass through. They're 100% soy wax which gives a good burn time, although I'll be reluctant to light them at all as they're so lovely to have around.


The oyster ring dish has clever little feet to keep it sitting sturdily. The gold painted inside gives it such a luxurious look. These little limpet shells are perfect for making a co-ordinated display, they're sweet and dainty.
Thank you so much to Clare for sending me these to review. All opinions and content my own, as always.
Sophie

Once in a while I make a real gem of a discovery; recently I was introduced to Uncommongoods who are to date the very most inspirational brand I've had the pleasure to find. What's so special about them? Well as well as having an amazing selection of nature based jewellery (you have to take a look here) they have hearteningly high ethics as a brand; committed to increasing sustainability and working with suppliers to continue raising 'green' standards. None of the products sold contain any fur, feathers, leather or pearls and instead the emphasis is very much more on including recycled, reclaimed and handmade pieces that have a story, a purpose and that radiate beauty.

There are not all that many companies that impress me on an emotional level but I was honestly quite touched to read all about the way they work, ethical is the way forward and Uncommongoods are leading from the front. There is a lovely introduction with each product about it's background and about who makes it, I spent ages reading and thoroughly enjoyed finding out how concepts for individual pieces were conceived.

What's tickled my fancy? Well, plenty! I'm somewhat smitten by their range of necklaces, in particular this lemon balm leaf impression pendent by Neena Jhaveri as well as this love birds locket by Britta Ambauen.

There are so many necklaces that are exactly my cup of tea; like this beautiful locket and my favourite – a perfect one for me at the moment, pendent with strawberry leaves pressed into clay.

How delightful are these Starfish and Bird lockets by Catherine Weitzman? This simple silver necklace handmade by husband and wife team Rhonda and Elijah Wyman is something I would wear all the time.

Nancy Nelson believes that jewellery should evoke an emotion and tell a story; this leaf birch cuff in brass is so natural, in sweet aesthetic juxtaposition Lisa and Sean Reico have created a cuff which fuses modern minimalism and pure nature together by sandwiching fern leaves between two panels of eco-friendly resin. Remarkable!

You can explore the full range of bracelets here.

I don't know about you but I'm blown away by the creativity on offer. This set of 7 bracelets representing the Story of the Earth by Lis Giròn is absolutely me; simple yet meaningful.

Having a quick peruse around the rest of the site I was drawn to this beautiful forest birds mobile and this raindrops mobile but there are literally hundreds of things I'd love to make mine (don't mention the stationery section!).

Are you as bowled over by Uncommon Goods as I am? What catches your eye?

Sophie

This is a sponsored post put together by myself, all opinions my own as always.

I'm such a country girl. My favourite thing to do when the weekend comes is to head out into the countryside for a few hours and just absorb all the neutralising peacefulness that it exudes. Camera in hand, I adore to just wander slowly down well walked paths or off the beaten track and take in all there is on offer; be it the big open skies, rolling scenery, animals or insects and trees, plants and weeds.

Sometimes it makes perfect sense to go out in a simple pair of denim shorts, a cami top, oversized comfy jumper along with my favourite bag and boots. No make up, hair 'as it falls' and just a few favourite bits of jewellery. It's liberating, I must do it more often.

The lingering warmth and sunshine has allowed the jumper and bare legs to carry on for a few weeks so I made the most of it before the inevitable call of warm tights proves irresistible. Good old vitamin D does make such a difference to me, I'm going to miss dosing up.

Do you ever ditch all the extras and just live?

Sophie