3 Jersey gals with a love for all things fashion, music, photography, baking, vintage, kitch, crafts, love and laughter.

29 April 2011

The wedding of a lifetime...

Where can I begin to describe what an amazing wedding it was!  I, myself am quite a royalist and i've been counting down the days for the royal wedding and it's turned out far better than i had expected.  This morning I got up super early, not only to see all of the preparation but the fact that I was SO excited too.  And to get us in the mood, I went about hanging bunting, flags and balloons around my house to celebrate.  The afternoon te set made its first appearance in years and the atmosphere everywhere was brilliant...I couldn't wait to wear my new red skirt that i bought from hospice charity shop along with my white and blue accessories...

And Cate's dress!!!!  Could it be any more beautiful!



it's just a short one today, but well done to the happy couple!!

Hannah xxx

26 April 2011

I bet sunshine works better than any anti-depressant could.

Well, these holidays have been so lovely! The weather has just been so amazing, I really don't want it to end. In fact I've been to three beach barbecues! I've done a vast amount of...doing nothing, actually, and it's been great! Very chilled, but very enjoyable. Although, I have been filling my 'stay at home pyjama days' with plenty of little creative tasks, and I have almost ticked them all off my Easter holidays list! I still am yet to finish a photo album for one of my best friends birthday (which is on Saturday, and fear not I'm pretty sure she doesn't read this blog) but other than that and a few other insignificant things, I'm ready to be launched back into school! Although, don't make the mistake of thinking I WANT to...
These are a few of the creative things I've been getting up to:

So this little wooden box (bought it for 50p in the summer from a 'shack' in Portugal!) did obviously start off without a coat of red paint on its lid, but I forgot to take a photo before I started. Anyway, I use this box to store my earrings in, and I felt it needed a slick of paint!

This was the finished product! I chose the colours that go with my room, although saying that the white should really be beige, but never mind. (...the opposite side to the white was also white)

Took ages! A steady hand isn't unfortunately a trait of mine...

Sorry if you're one of those toe-phobic people, just look away now! I've never really tried 'nail art' because as I said I really don't have a steady hand OR enough patience, but for some reason I gave it go. I know it's nothing hard or complicated, just lining the edge of the nail in a different polish, but for a first attempt I'm quite proud.

The nail polishes I used: Gigababe and Everything's Rosy. I really like Orly polishes because they apply nicely, even if they are a little pricey.

I actually made this wall hanging in January but never got around to blogging about it. A family friend went to New York on holiday, and as my souvenir he kept and gave me all the iconic NYC shopping bags. I thought this was great, but what do I do with them? This was my answer, if maybe not very imaginative. (Unfortunately some of the collage pieces have slipped down, but after I realised I really couldn't be bothered to take another photo, ha ha).

Last but not least, here is a photo I took a couple days ago of the beautiful beach I live on, and the beautiful weather. Ahhh!
I hope you all had a lovely Easter, and everyone who lives in the UK is also enjoying soaking up the gorgeous sunshine.

Love Rosie xxx

P.S I recently finished the book 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult, I'd been meaning to read it for a while and I'd seen the movie- I'm so glad I got around to reading it. It's very sad, but brilliant. If you like books and haven't read it, I strongly advise it!

25 April 2011

Drum roll...

I have an important announcement! Seeing as it is the 25th April, our giveaway is now ended! 
...The winner is (chosen by random.org)... 

Mary Elizabeth! Congratulations!


We bought your MAC lipstick in the requested shade of 'Girl About Town' and your little extra surprise gift today, and Hannah will be emailing you a.s.a.p for more details on how to get it to you. Hopefully it will arrive to you soon!

Thank you for everyone who entered (yes, all 10 of you!) and thank you again to all our followers who take the time to read through our blog, your feedback mean a lot.

Rosie xxxxx

24 April 2011

Hazy days, April days and baking days.

Its been a while since my last post , i feel as if I've lost touch with the world what with all this April sunshine going through my system on a daily basis.
Its Easter Sunday Bloggers and you know what that means ....I CAN EAT CHOCOLATE . oh Yes . I'm starting to feel a bit sick of it now as I've had rather a lot today. Oh well im making up for lost time i suppose.
I went to the hospice barn on Wednesday , picked up a few lovelies there ,will blog about that as soon as i can get the photos up . I can't believe how quickly the Easter holidays have gone and hasn't it been a lovely one ? The days have just melted away in a haze of sunbathing ,swimming (oh yes), listening to music ,blogging ,some rather gorgy days out, along with a few evening barbeque's and baking and eating and maybe some more baking . Because i really have been quite a busy baker this Easter weekend , and because I'm nice i thought i might share it with you :

Okay so i started of on Friday with Hot cross Buns , what else? (it was good Friday after all ). I've never made these before and was apprehensive but exited ,they really are Delicious . Don't let the whole seasonal thing stop you they are divine any day of the week.

Great British Hot Cross Buns

For the buns
450g strong white bread flour (The recipe called for 350g of white and 100g of strong wholemeal bread flour but it worked out great with just white).
50g caster sugar
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp ground mixed spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 x sachet 7g instant yeast
50g unsalted butter
150g mixed fruit and peel (I only used mixed fruit as I can't find mixed peel here).
2 eggs
200ml warm milk
For the cross
4 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp water
For the glaze
2 tbsp caster sugar
4 tbsp milk
Method
Put the flour, sugar, salt, spices and yeast into a large bowl and mix well. Add the diced butter and using your fingertips rub it in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the dried fruit. Make a well in the centre, pour in the lukewarm milk and the beaten eggs and gradually draw the flour into the liquid to make a very soft dough. Turn the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes by hand or 4 minutes with a mixer on the lowest possible speed until silky smooth and very elastic.
I found that my dough was very sticky at the beginning and almost unworkable so I added a bit more flour. It didn't need much though and definitely be careful not to alter the ratio of ingredients too much. The dough shouldn't be sticking to your fingers, but you don't want a tough, dry hard dough.
Return the dough to the cleaned bowl, cover with a damp tea towel or put in a plastic bag and leave until doubled in size - about 1 hour.
Punch down the risen dough to deflate and turn out onto your work surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape them into neat balls. Set them well apart on a greased baking tray and slip it into a large plastic bag, slightly inflated so the buns don't come into contact with the plastic. Leave to rise until doubled in size again - about 45 minutes to an hour( you don't have to leave it for the full time if they look a good size after 15 mins put them in the oven). Towards the end of the rising time, heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
For the cross
Mix the flour with enough cold water to make a smooth thick paste that can be piped. I found that I needed a bit more water than the recipe states to get something loose enough to pipe. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with the smallest nozzle or use a plastic bag and snip off the corner. Uncover the buns and pipe a cross on to each one. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.
For the sticky glaze
Towards the end of the baking time, heat the milk with the sugar until dissolved. Boil for 1 minute, then brush over the buns as soon as they emerge from the oven. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.
And finally, enjoy with a cup of tea and lashings of butter.

My Hot Cross Buns ,they didn't last long.

But oh No i wasn't finished yet i still had another baking task to complete . I'dbeen asked to make a dessert for a family Easter barbeque and as i could eat chocolate on Easter Sunday I'd go with a chocolate themed dessert -White Chocolate and Vanilla Mouses served with shortbread hearts.
presentation wise i was very proud of my efforts . defiantly a recipe to try again. It was easy and looked good (for a change ):

Aren't they cute !
So that completes my Bakingtastic weekend -just a little tierd now .
I can finally settle down to a nice cup of tea . But before i do i have to blog about this song .Its from the matalan advert and afyer telling Rosie we both are in love with the band , that's ginghamandroses for you... Enjoy !








Have a good bank Holiday
Izzy Xx
P.S The recipe for hot cross buns came of a very good blog i only just discovered . She hasn't got any followers yet, i don't know why she has some lovely recipes please follow her !http://www.ateapartyinholland.blogspot.com/
Our giveaway ends TOMMOROW , you'd better enter quick this could be your last chance to win a MAC Lipstick of your choice.

23 April 2011

Something Good

I'm finally 15!!  and I can't describe in words how beautiful my birthday was.  It has to be the best birthday I've had ever and it was all down to Izzy and Rosie.  I feel like a new woman...
It seems like AGES since I last posted, sorry about that, but my 'relaxing holiday' hasn't quite gone to plan!  It seems as though my holiday has been packed full of things to do and time is flying away - as it does in the holidays and unfortunately I have been ill these past few days, but as I always say 'I'll live'.

It's another sunny week in Jersey, and I'm not letting it go to waste....Last night, my mum and I went down to st. Ouen's beach just as the sun was setting and we watched it go down with a cup of hot chocolate from El Tico after walking for miles taking photos along the way.  It was lovely watching all the surfer's and their family's setting up there BBQ's with sausages smoking away whilst the kid's ran around on the beach.  It was the perfect setting for a well deserved break from my revision.  Well, I say revision, more like catching up on facebook whilst staring out of the window wondering why the sky is blue.  I always find it hard to revise and I've always got other things on my mind at the time.

After me rambling on, I've got some sewing news for y'all...
A few posts back, I told you I was going to make a pair of shorts.  Well...it's a lot more complicated that I thought and so it'll be a few months before I probably get started, buy luckily the granny's on hand to help me...

I do have skirt to show you though.  I went to hospice the other day and I found a lovely white skirt!  I couldn't help but add my personal touches to it and although the skirt was down to the floor, it wasn't quite the style I was going for.  So, I took it up and gave it a good wash!

Topshop skirt - £130.00
My skirt - Jacques Vert - £4.00

Lots of love

Hannah    xxx

20 April 2011

Happy Birthday Hannah.

Finallly! Our Izzy and Rosie joint blog post, and what an exiting one.
On Monday it was Hannahs Birthday, a very exiting time for us at ginghamandroses, especially us as we had planned a very special secretive suprise for Hannah on her birthday.
The plan was for an unassuming Hannah to meet us outside coffee republic, where she would find an envelope adressed to her. Inside the envelop she would find clues leading her on a trail around town where she would eventually end up at Coppers coffee cafe (exclusive to Jersey!) where we had arranged a special suprise for her...
Everything seemed to be going to plan as we hid inside Topshop opposite coffee republic waiting for hannah to open the envelope and start the scavenger hunt. Unfortunately, Hannah chose that moment to wonder into topshop a little early in search of a birthday outfit. We grabbed the first thing off the rail and dived into the changing rooms, whilst Hannah completely oblivious continued browsing.
All went well from there and a very quick Hannah arrived at the Cafe where we treated her to a very delicous afternoon tea/birthday suprise courtesy of the lovely David Warr (we reccomend you jersey beans go there, the cake is amazing!)
So anyway we'll stop our exited ramblings and let the pictures do the talking, because it was quite a gorgeous day:

The one and only...

It was such a nice lunch, the floral and dotted china tea set is just the bomb. Apparently this photo may be used as a sort of advertising poster for Cooper's coffee cafe for people to receive the same afternoon treat- so Jersey beans keep your eyes peeled...
We slyly quizzed Hannah about a week before her birthday over what her favourite cake was, and this^ was our answer. It was THE BEST carrot cake you will ever find! The cream cheese topping had orange zest in, it made it so good.

Chilling in Hannah's beautiful garden whilst getting to grips with the self timer on Rosie's camera...


The first part of Hannah's presents included: A 'Kirstie Allsopp  sewing box that we knew she had her eye on, a pretty French floral vintage tin we discovered at the vintage fair, and a beautiful 'Kate Middleton' style ring from the vintage fair that we knew Hannah also had here eye on (even though it's too big, ha ha).

The other bit of Hannah's presents: a framed vintage poster, because Hannah is redoing her bathroom by decorating it with framed pictures, so we thought it was quite appropriate! ..and yes, you saw correctly, it is indeed a signed Usain Bolt photo for the Bolt herself.

Rosie's AMAZING *hint sarcasm* homemade wrapping paper, trying to show everything that makes Hannah, well, Hannah. It's not the full thing, but you get the idea.
the outside of Rosie's card to Hannah

          Unfortunately there seems to be  a 'service error' when we tried to upload a picture of the inside of Rosie's card, but nevertheless it said:

Hannah, you never fail to brighten up my day. Happy birthday! Lots of love, Rosie xxx

We also don't have any pictures of the card Izzy gave to Hannah, but on the outside it said 'Keep calm and think like Hannah', instead of the usual expression 'keep calm and carry on'. In the inside it had lots of nice photos of the three of us, and a quote saying:

Friends are like the chocolate chips in the cookie of life. Sometimes hard to find, but always make the cookie 10 times better. Thank you for being my special chocolate chip.'
Happy birthday Hannah! Love Izzy xoxo

...or words to that effect!

It was SUCH an enjoyable day, we know how much Hannah loved it too which made all the preparations very worthwhile. Although, I don't think we will be able to eat cake again for a while, we ate a ridiculous amount! ...actually, you can never have too much cake, or tea for that matter.

We hope you also have had a nice start to the week, love Izzy and Rosie xxxx

P.S gingham and roses are planning their bike ride soon as you have been previously made aware, but will be sure to make a good blog about too. So stay tuned...

P.P.S (!) Don't forget to enter our giveaway !

19 April 2011

...

Super sorry bloggers, I've been so busy today and am out all this evening, but my blog post will be tomorrow. Promise! It'll be about our fabulous day we had yesterday for Hannah's birthday, so it will be a goodin'!

Love Rosie xxx

17 April 2011

Travels with the Easter Bunny

Sorry about the late post bloggers ,i know Sunday is supposed to be our day of rest n'all but i only just got back last night and didn't get chance to post .
I've just got back from a lovely two days away in Brighton ,yes i know the gay capital of the UK but the shopping really is very good there and needless to say i picked up a few things. It really is the most amazing city and as some would say its ' London by the sea' . With its rambling lanes where i could of rambled all day soaking up the little shops , cupcake bakeries Japanese candy stores and vintage shops you name it they have it !
And guess who remembered their camera ...
Beautiful and Delicious cupcakes from  the Angel Food Bakery  ,must find out how to recreate their Banoffee flavoured cupcake.
Choccy woccy doodah ( yes that is how its spelt ) a bit like heaven in a chocolate shop really.
Some would say that only me ( and my obsession with Cinnamon buns) could seek out the only shop in Brighton selling imported American candy , and Cinnamon buns in a box.
Another pair of sunglasses i hear Rosie shout... Yes i know but they were such a good price...
Sorry for my ramblings bloggers ! This week looks to be an exiting one for ginghamandroses. Not only is it Hannah's Birthday tomorrow ( i think I'm more exited than she is ) , we're planning our gingham and roses cycle ride on Wednesday , and to top it all of i can finally eat chocolate on Sunday . What a week.
Anyway the jersey sunshine is calling
Have a good Sunday
Izzy X

P.s Don't forget to comment on hannah 's post about our exiting giveaway( titled Something to celebrate) you could win a MAC lipstick of your choice . Now that really is something to celebrate !

13 April 2011

something to celebrate...

I have been chosen as the bearer of good news...

WE HAVE REACHED 50 FOLLOWERS!!!  

Thank you so much dear readers! And do you know what this means, it's the Gingham and Roses giveaway to say thank you to all of you who are following us! We really do appreciate you guys that take time to stop and read our little blog, it means so much!
This mean there are at least 50 people in the world that actually find our babble slightly interesting, which is a lovely thought!
So what better way to say thank you than give one of you a little prize from us at g&r! If you're the lucky winner, you will receive a MAC lipstick (in the post) in a shade of your choice AND there will be a little surprise included as well.
We know it's not a very big giveaway, but to be brutally honest, unfortunately none of us have heaps of money lying around ;)

So, to enter all you need to do is comment on THIS blog post with:
  • Your name
  • The shade of lipstick you want - from MAC (it can't be anything but a 'lipstick' i.e nothing like a 'viva glam' or 'sheen supreme' lipstick)
  • you're email address
The competition and chance to enter will end on the 25th April, so you've got plenty of time to enter.
Plus, of course you MUST be a follower to enter, otherwise that would just be silly!

The giveaway is open to everyone, so international followers (do we have any?) can enter! Yayy


The winner will be chosen at random (random.org), so don't worry, it's not 'first come first served' as they say!
Also it would be worth mentioning that we are not doing any of that 'post about us on your blog to higher your chances' because we are simply doing this giveaway to say thank you to YOU and not to promote ourselves in anyway. Besides, this is really exciting for us too, ha ha!

Keep on reading our posts for more information on this little giveaway of ours...
Good luck!






Lots and lots of love Hannah xxx 

11 April 2011

A cute day.

So, today was pretty cute. I went into to town with the mama to get odds and ends, and then met up with izzy and hannah in coffee republic.
I'm pretty sure we've mentioned it on the blog before, but for a while we've been meaning to getting around to playing 'the business card game'. Okay, so maybe we just made it up...but still! Basically, the person who collected the most got a chai latte paid by the other two, and the loser had to go buy a pregnancy test from the pharmacy!!
We decided we'd give it a whirl, and we all set off on our john to collect as many business cards as we could in half an hour.
I can honestly tell you, it was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. The looks and stares you got when you asked at counters for them were horrendous, but the worst bit was when they asked you why you wanted one and you had no frickin' idea of what to say!
Anyway, that aside it was quite funny. Thankfully, we all bumped into each other in the market and agreed it was simply too embarrassing to do it alone and stopped our little game.
For some strange reason that I can't quite explain we still wanted to continue, so we went around together instead and took it in turns to ask at the counter. We decided to aim for 20 business cards...and 20 we got!
We then resided to 'Bean around the World' where we had a nice cuppa and swapped ideas for what other plans we had for the holidays.
But the gingham and roses troop don't stop there! We walked from town to Hannah's house (after having spent AGES in the fabric factory where Hannah wanted some material to make here latest project- a pair of shorts) where we read old magazines, listened to some good music and turned the sewing machine on. How perfect!
Hope you had a lovely day, even if it wasn't as weird as ours.

Just because every post should really have more than just writing, what do you think of this? I so want this to be my birthday cake...


Not sure if guys read  The Drifter and the Gypsy (it's a fab blog) but it's great for finding the cutest little pictures like this one.

Love Rosie XXX

P.S pretty please, just one more follower!

08 April 2011

The *Easter* Bucket List.

The sun is shining and i just had to walk about 5 miles to get home ,oh well nothing like a nice country walk (or sweaty jog) to clear the head. Theres only 2 more days till the holidays bloggers and i can't wait -sun ,sea ,and lots and lots of blogging ! We were all wistfully thinking up ideas of things we should do in Easter and thought why not write a bucket list ( being the organised person i am ....) see what you think any suggestions would be greatly appreciated I've tried to include a mixture of everything.
So here it is the ginghamandroses list of things I'm going to try and do this Easter .(aka The Easter Bucket List )
-  The Gingham and roses bike ride , oh yes we ride bikes two we've decided to ride to each others houses and round the island in the course of a day a bit ambitious ? We'll see..

- Do some baking -it is Easter so we do have some rather chocolate related recipes to conquer-oh and some hot cross buns of course

- Celebrate Hannah's Birthday ,one of the most important things . Hannah will just have to wait and see...

- Watch lots and lots of movies , we have a very long list to get through . If anyone has any other good movie suggestions they would be appreciated . Y'know just to add to the list..

- Make ,Make ,Make . I know I'll be popping round to Hannah's to use her sewing machine (with some help of course , my sewing skills are much to be desired) we'll keep you posted.
-Shop!, that's the local hospice shop and I'm sure I'll be picking up some bargains.

-Sunnnnnn, i know I'll be topping up my tan in the nice Jersey weather every ones hoping for .

- Swim ,i couldn't include sun without the sea part right ? I'm determined to go swimming and I'm not going to let the cold sea temperatures stop me .

- Pampering myself . A day of nothing is always a day well spent and I'm determined to recreate these nails:

-A picnic ! Such a country bumpkin thing to do , delicious food and lots of sun we just haven't decided where yet ...

-Photography : Ginghamandroses will be cracking out the cameras to capture Jersey at its nicest this Easter.


-Exploring : We'll be exploring Jersey from top to bottom . if your a jersey bean please tell us your best places to go -then we'll blog about it !

-Blogggggiinnggg  (of course) We've got some great ideas for posts,hopefully some joint ones you'll just have to wait and see...

-Music whichever beaches we (hopefully) go to we'll be taking the i-pod speakers with us.
If you listen to one song today make it this . It'll definitely be on my Easter Playlist . Tell us whats on yours !

Any other ideas to add to our bucket list would be appreciated along with some movie/baking/music suggestions etc
Happy Holidays everyone!
Only one more day to go
Love Izzy X

P.S Only 5 more followers left until we can do our giveaway -keep on following more on that to come :)

07 April 2011

Sun, and all things sweet...

So here I am in my garden soaking in the first of the summer sun whilst listening to a bit of Mumford and sons to put me in the mood...summer always puts me in a good mood, it gives me something to live for!  I am in love with summer and this year I'm determined to get a proper tan and scrap the fake tan bottles hiding at the back of my cupboard and the more I think about it, the more I crave for the summer holidays!!  And you know what this means, a summer wardrobe.  I have to admit I had an 'ebay' moment a few days ago, and couldn't help but buy a few things.  I managed to buy two pairs of blue denim shorts for only £5.20.  There's always a bit of satisfaction when you get something for  bargain!!!  But, I just couldn't stop there and I bought a gorgeous pair of vintage sunglasses!  But knowing me, the rain clouds and cold weather will be back by the time my beauties arrive...









Have a fab easter and enjoy the summer sun while it lasts!!!

Hannah       xxx

03 April 2011

Additions to my bursting wardrobe..

So I know I was supposed to post on saturday, sorry about that, but I just completely ran out of time! First of all me and Izzy went to the Spartans book sale which was pretty cute, and then we headed off to the st.aubins vintage fair and had lunch at a lovely little cafe. Me and Izzy shared a quasadilla (I probably spelt that wrong) and it was so yum. We also checked out some of the local boutiques around st.aubins, which I'd never been in to before. It was a such a great day, hopefully Hannah will be able to come next time too!


I bought this scarf from the vintage fair for £3. I really like it, and my other scarf which I bought from the vintage fair a while back is falling apart I've worn it so much! So I think my purchase is justified...

I thought I would share with you what I wore because I rather like this little outfit. I'm sure if you're one who likes to keep a check on fashion you will know how big block colours are this season, so I decided I would give the trend a go...
I'm not wearing any makeup, so PLEASE don't zoom.
Dress Topshop, Blazer New Look, Socks Topshop, Brogues Topshop,
Satchel Urban Outfitters, Sunglasses Vintage.

I was a bit naughty and bought this mustard coloured dress last week from Topshop, and I don't really have a good excuse for why I bought it...but I absolutely love it!


I also bought this sleeveless shirt from Topshop last weekend (just when I thought I was gaining control over my obsession with shirts) and I can't wait to slip on some denim shorts with it.

I hope you all had a lovely saturday, I now need to do some serious catching up on homework! ...and of course spend a lovely evening with my Mum on Mothering Sunday.

Rosie XXX

P.S today at athletics training we tried out using blocks for the first time. It felt pretty weird, but it's quite exciting at the same time. At gingham and roses we've all got a busy season of sport coming up, so you might have to be prepared for a few absences here and there...