Sweet Treat Of The Month...

This month has been so freaking cold that you'd think it was December. That's why our sweet treat of the month had to be something stodgy and homely. Something Brilliantly British... The Flapjack of course! These bad boys have seen us through some hard times. We've been working hard on redecorating a flat which has taken up many of our hours, meaning we needed a treat that meant business. There is nothing the flaper-jacker cannot do, hee hee! These are as easy to make as they are to eat; oats, butter, sugar, golden sirup and some yummy raisons. Good, honest and not a wholly unacceptable breakfast option.
We owe March to you Flapjacks; thanks for being there through thick and thin :) Yum yum!

Royal Mail Postage Price Increases, 2013

As many of you will have heard, Royal Mail has announced they will be increasing the prices of postage as of the 2nd April.

This seems to be due to a new sizing system for parcels, where there will now be small, medium & large pack / parcel sizes, with the pricing relating to these. This in some instances mean the prices will rise by over 130%! In addition to this, the compensation levels for lost mail will be more than halved from £46 to £20, meaning a higher cost for insuring large orders.

Unfortunately these changes will have a direct impact on owners of small businesses like ours. Whilst we will be doing everything we can to minimise the costs that we pass onto our customers, sadly this will affect our postage costs and a result our P&P prices will be increasing at the beginning of April 2013.

Please help your favourite small businesses by signing this e-petition against the changes. It'll only take a few difference and it could make a real difference for everyone!

Thanks so much for your support!

Vicky & David
xox

Wordless Wednesday

Giveaway With Peaches & Pebbles!

It's giveaway time!
This month we thought we would go all out and spoil you with an extra special treat! We're giving one lucky bean a £10 / $15 giftcard for our favourite shop on Etsy Peaches And Pebbles and one of our most popular prints too! Excited? Us too!

birdhouse necklace      love letter ring     fox in a jar

Peaches and Pebbles has so many pretty things to choose from. My particular favourite is the bunny in a jar necklace. It was the first of many Peaches and Pebbles pieces that I got and he always gets a lot of attention when I wear him out!

 nebula earrings     dinosaur necklace    hobbit house necklace

What I love the most about this shop is the variety of things available. Sometimes I like to go for the galaxy trend and with the nebula earrings you can't go wrong! There's a dino skull necklace too and a tiny hobbit house one ... seriously, you'll want one of everything :D

spectacular print

We've also got one of our 10x8 inch I Think You're Spectacular prints included in the prize... that means a gift for your wardrobe and for your home too! Good Times and Happy Days :)

So, fancy getting your mitts on these goodies then? The giveaway is open World Wide and it's crazy easy to enter... 

The competition closes on the 9th April at midnight and the winner will be contacted on the 10th....

Ready? Set... Go!

blog: a blackbirds epiphany shop: peaches and pebbles twitter: @peachesandpebbles

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DIY: His 'n Hers Pac-Man Pillows Using Posca Pens!

Everybody loves Pac-Man! I've been spending a lot of time looking for some quirky new bedding recently and couldn't resist finishing off our new bedspread with some extra special his and hers pillowcases! Don't they look awesome? And thanks to some handy work with a posca pen, these took less than 30 mins to knock up. If that's not brilliant, I'm not sure what is!

To make your own set of his and hers pillow cases, you're going to need some ... pillowcases. Make sure to wash and iron them before you start. These pens work on all kinds of fabrics, so you can use the same method to customise t shirts and whatnot if you'd prefer...

I'm going to be illustrating Mr & Mrs Pacman using a plate and a small jar lid, but if you're wanting to use a more sophisticated pattern, you can print out your image and trace through the pillowcase. A light box will help you see the lines better if you're lucky enough to have one :)

Whatever method you choose, start by using a pencil to draw out your picture. It's much easier to work with a template and you can rub out any mistakes along the way!

 

Once you're happy with how your design looks, put some scrap paper inside the pillowcase (you don't want  the ink to go straight through) and start drawing over your pencil markings using the Posca pen.

These special paint pens are great as they will draw on any material really easily. In the unlikely scenario that you find you're getting flecks of material on the pen nib, you can easily wipe them off with a cloth too. Shake them before you start and lightly press as you draw. If you press really hard lots of paint will come out so make sure to practice before you start.

When you're done give the whole thing a good iron! This will fix the ink on the material and stop it from running when you wash them. You don't even need to turn them inside out. Brilliant!

*Ta*Da*

Don't Pac-Man and Mrs Pac-Man look great? When they're on our bed they lay out so that they are heading towards each other too ;)

The best part of working on this project is that you can use any colours or even metalic Posa Pens to colour your design... and there are so many to choose from :D Fantastic! 

I've already had requests for his n hers glasses pillowcases and even boy and girl pants! Hahaha :) The fun never ends here at Vivid HQ ;)

We hope you like our little DIY - we'd love to hear how you'd customise yours!

New Products! Wooden Brooches, Cards & Engraved Pencils

Woohoo! We've just added a whole load of new fun products into our shop and we are over the moon! A new set of engraved pencils to add to our collection, several new wooden brooches and a set of killer cards inspired by our obsessions. These items have been on our minds for some time now, so it's lovely to finally show you them in all their glory. Whaddya think?

Our wooden brooch has been especially desperate to say Hello!

You'll always be on their mind with these pencils!

You're outfit will be complete with this teapot and teacup set of brooches. 

Time for a cuppa?

We think this brooch is the perfect accessory to finnish off that knitted scarf we've been working on! Nothing say's you're loved more than handmade :)

Just because you rock, doesn't mean you're made of stone!

This set of cards is bound to bring a smile to someone far away :)

I've always wanted an I "heart" MOM tattoo!

She'll be glad I'm wearing this wooden brooch as it's not permenant!

Finally, we couldn't resist creating a new gift set out of our favourite pieces!

You're best friend wont forget to write you back when you send her this care package :)

Tamagotchi's forever!

We hope you like what we've been working on! We'd love to hear which is your favourite piece or who you would give to ... if you could bare to part with it that is ;)

Don't forget there is only a few days left to get FREE SHIPPING in the UK!
If your order is over £12 we'll post it to you for nothing... That means a little extra treat for yourself :)

Code: FREEMARCH13 
visit shop

Wordless Wednesday

We Won An Award!

As you may remember, we entered Blog And Buy Sale's last wish list and we are beyond excited to share that we won an award for our stationery! 

Our "Make & Do" stationery set with engraved pencils and lined post it notes got selected by the awesome Guest Creative Judge, Kate Treggiden from Confessions Of A Design Geek. With so many awesome entrants we never expected to make such an impression and we are absolutely thrilled to hear that our design work is so appreciated!

We're participating in this Spring's Wish List awards and would love it if you could help support our work :) We've entered our I Pugging Love You card, Good Things Come To Those Who Make print and finally our new cards, pencils and engraved wooden brooch gift set. If you love our work please visit the links and tweet / pin your favourite item :D

Thanks so much for your support lovelies! Fingers crossed our little buisness becomes a big one soon ;)

xox

Style Me Friday...

brit pop

           jeans: gap                             necklace: kate spade
           umbrella: brolly bucket          rabbit: night light
           wallet: accessorize                 nails: models own

The Making Of The Artwork For "Born & Raised"

The Making of John Mayer's 'Born & Raised' Artwork from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

This beautiful video shares how the album cover for John Mayer's "Born & Raised" album was made. If you love those old engraved windows that have gold lettering this is for you!

Wordless Wednesday

DIY: No Sew Teacup Pin Cushion

Like most tea addicts, teacups are everywhere in Vivid HQ. Beverage usage aside, there is something totally consuming about their small but delicate shape. We often discover the prettiest cups whilst out thrifting -- too good to leave behind even though we have so many already! Today I thought I would share a quick project with you to make use of those teacups that are too adorable to leave on the shelf. 

Say hello to the no teacup pin cushion!

1) All you need is a teacup, some soft toy stuffing, and a rectangular piece of fabric!
2) Lie your fabric flat and place your ball of stuffing in the middle.
3) Fold the shorter sides of the material to meet in the middle.
4) Tie a knot in the middle using the longer sides of the material.
5) Now it's almost a ball. Gently shape it using your hands and tuck in any extra bits of material
6) Place inside your cup and tuck in the sides...

That's it!
It takes two seconds and will forever save you from loosing your pins. Pretty great, huh! Now you won't feel so bad adding to your absurd teacup collection :D

This is a great last minute gift for Mothers Day too. Eco friendly, practical and oh so pretty...

Happy Making!
xox

Pug Me! New Prodcuts: Wooden Brooches

Check out our brand new line of wooden brooches! 

We've been working hard at expanding our accessories range and are really ecstatic with how these little guys all turned out :D

Our favourite pug has been reincarnated into a brooch buddy, meaning you'll never be alone when you go out for walkies ;) And we've created some cute Oui and Non brooches for those of us who can never make up our minds (I'm a fickle lady!)

Our new puzzle piece brooch has been created especially for your missing part ;) It's customisable, making it a great gift for your bridesmades or as wedding favours. Our ship in a bottle was inspired by our dads and we think they look rather dapper on a collar too!

Last but not least, we have our lucky goldfish and great bear brooches. We're loving all kinds of animals at the moment and think these look awesome carved out in wood. The natural grain looks so beautiful we wanted to make a lovely feature of it!

Which is your favorite?

What would like to see made into a brooch?

We'd love to hear all your thoughts and we hope you like all our new products :D

Don't forget we're offering free shipping throughout March to all our UK friends!

Just enter FREEMARCH13 at the checkout...

Enjoy! x