Buttercups and Lavender.

DRESS FROM MOTEL* | SUNGLASSES FROM JEWELLERY BY JAYMIE* | SHOES FROM TOPSHOP

So many pretty things to share in one post! First off, I would like to talk about Paige Joanna's beautiful zine, Buttercup. Paige has been keeping me updated with all things Buttercup since the zines inception - and I modeled for her beautifully style 'Playing Dress-Up' spread - so seeing the final copy is rather exciting indeed. It's a delightfully nostalgic piece of light reading, complete with poems, stickers, a paper dress-up doll and a perfume DIY. As fate would have it, today is also Paige's birthday, so why not make her day even lovelier by heading over to her Etsy shop and picking up a copy; it's available in A4 and A5, and is the perfect Sunday evening treat to yourself.

Secondly, I would like to talk about my perfectly girlie lavender ensemble. For years as a child lavender was my favourite colour; I wore lavender jumpers and painted my bedroom walls lavender, and even attempted to grow lavender in a scrubby, overgrown strip of flowerbed just outside of my wendy house. That love was forgotten throughout my teenage years, as I went through awkward surfwear/grunge/emo/scene phases, however now that I'm older I'm falling for it again. It's the grown up pastel shade, and it's rather lovely to wear.

My 'Briar Rose Tinted Glasses' - yes, that's what they're called! - are from Jewellery By Jaymie, and have appeased my infatuation with the embellished glasses trend. Jaymie makes and sells all manner of wonderful embellished sunnies, in all different shapes and colours, so if you've been intrigued by this awfully pretty turn in eye-wear aesthetics, be sure to check her out! 

P.S. A big round of a applause for my big, fluffy, half-badger of a kitty, Bailey. He was on top form for the opening photo of this post, and purred all the way through!

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes.

It's been a while since I last shared a recipe, but by no means have I stopped baking, so I thought it was high time I allowed you another peek into my favourite hobby. White chocolate cream cheese icing was one of those things that took me a while to figure out - I was too used to making traditional butter-cream, and wouldn't let my margarine go without a fight - however now that I've fine tuned a recipe that suits me, I could honestly eat the stuff by the bowlful. Fresh, whipped cream toppings used to be my favourite on cupcakes, but cream cheese has definitely overtaken. It's so creamy and yummy, but still fresher and lighter than stodgy butter-cream.

White chocolate and raspberry has always been a favourite combination of mine, and since it's a flavour I consider quite summery, I couldn't think of a better time to share this recipe. It's very straight forward - the most complex part is melting the chocolate!

Ingredients for 12 cupcakes -

110g/4oz self raising flour
110g/4oz caster sugar
110g/4oz margarine
2 large free range eggs
1tsp baking powder
A splash of vanilla extract
60g/2oz white chocolate

170g/6oz cream cheese
110g/4oz white chocolate
1-2tbsp icing sugar (to taste)
Raspberries to finish


Method -

Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3, and line a muffin tin with your choice of cupcake cases. Sieve all of the dry cake ingredients into a bowl, then add the butter, eggs and margarine. Melt the chocolate - either in a microwave or bain-marie - and add it to the mixture. Either use a mixer on full speed for a few minutes to beat the mixture until fluffy, or use a wooden spoon and do so by hand. You want to get the mixture as light as possible, in texture and colour. Dollop heaped teaspoons into the cupcake cases, and bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, until slightly golden in colour. Leave on a wire rack to cool.

Melt the rest of the white chocolate, and add it to a medium bowl with the cream cheese. Beat them together until well combined and fairly stiff. Add icing sugar to taste (personally, I tend not to over-sweeten, but it's all down to personal preference). Once the cupcakes have cooled, spread generous spoonfuls of icing on top, and finish with a fresh raspberry. Enjoy!

Wedding Diary - Etsy Wedding Event.

Some of you may remember that last year I started a spin-off 'Wedding Diary' blog. Originally I was planning on making it a separate venture from Briar Rose itself, however I began to realise that I'd rather just focus on the one blog, and that there was no harm in redefining Briar Rose as fashion and lifestyle. Since this blog is now far more lifestyle orientated that it was last autumn, I've decided that the 'Wedding Diary' will instead take the form of a series of posts on this blog. After all, I'm assuming that if you're a regular reader you must be somewhat interested in my life, and my wedding is unquestionably going to be a huge part of that. Besides, wedding planning ties in quite nicely with general fashion and lifestyle! Over the next few days I'll be adding a 'Wedding Diary' button so you can filter these posts.

On Saturday I met up with Steph and Chloe in London to attend the Etsy Wedding Event. Etsy has been a huge part of my wedding planning thus far - both my wedding ring and registry office dress were bought from vintage sellers - so when Steph suggested their wedding event I snapped up a ticket. They were £5 each, and included a refreshing elderflower cocktail, a goodie bag, and a number of crafting workshops. It was great value, and I would absolutely consider attending other Etsy events in the future.

None of us are what you would call competent crafters, however the workshops were all very extremely beginner friendly, and we made kissing bride and groom clothes pegs, big doily pom poms and air-dry clay decorations. I liked that it wasn't so much about individual vendors shoving their business down your throat as some of the other other wedding fairs I've attended, and despite my general DIY-aversion I came away with a few crafty ideas for my own wedding - watch this space!

After a parting Starbucks with Steph - who was off to an evening wedding reception! - Chloe and I headed over to Covent Garden for a bit of browsing. I stopped off in Lush to stock up on my favourite hair products, and Chloe took her first trip to Laduree and bought her first macarons. I treated myself to a Rose Raspberry Saint-Honorés, since it was a special occasion. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I wanted another Laduree bag to add to my collection...

Our next stop was the V&A, for a bit of lazy wandering. It was the first time I'd ever visited, and I must admit that it's an incredible place. A bit of a labyrinth, but amazing nonetheless. If anything that added to the intrigue! If I ever happen to find myself in London again with a few hours to kill, I'd definitely be inclinded to return.

Before I jumped on my train back to Bath, we treated ourselves to a McDonalds. We bonded over our shared tendency to dip our chips in our milkshakes - chocolate for Chloe, Strawberry for me - and earned a few bewildered looks from the people sat around us. As you may know, Chloe is a photographer, and she's going to be shooting my wedding alongside Lily from Red Brick Lipstick. It's going to be lovely having friends capturing our special moments instead of someone we've only talked to briefly, and I can't wait to see what magic they both create!