To celebrate the Chelsea Flower Show, The Conran Shop in Chelsea have invited me to host a workshop on 26th May from 3-5pm, guiding you through creating a set of your own hand-drawn greeting cards. All materials, from drawing ink to traditional dip pens, will be provided, including some bubbly to help the imagination flow. You will leave with a set of beautiful cards and your own dip pen and ink set.
Click here to book your free place
Read The Conran’s interview with Caroline here
March is the month many of us celebrate the women who gave us life (and some of the best years of theirs!) My Mother's Day gifts to you are a reminder that it falls on Sunday 27th March this year, two sweet new card designs, and a collection of present ideas which I hope will give some inspiration. Thoughts always with those for whom this is a day marked more by sadness than by joy.
Did you know that many countries celebrate Mother's Day at different times of the year, from Norway in February, to Malawi in October?! American readers have until Sunday 8th May...
The lead image is of artist Vanessa Bell, with her sons, Julian and Quentin. Our collection of notecards made in collaboration with Charleston, Bell's extraordinary home for many years, features some of her favourite flowers to paint, and makes for a lovely gift. She is also the namesake of my first gift idea below...
If you're a regular reader, you'll be familiar with my flower bias by now, so I make no apologies for their dominance in this selection - but feel free to buy your Mum a Harley if that's more her jam!
Vanessa Bell bare-root rose, £21 from David Austen Roses - a very dear friend of mine sent me this for my birthday earlier this month, with a note explaining her mother's philosophy that every garden should have a yellow rose, even though - or perhaps especially because - they are unfashionable!
Lazy Baking, £16 - written by Jess, the owner of our brilliant stockists Elliot's in Edinburgh.
Host Home x A Petal Unfolds Paper Anemone £39
Ikebana rose workshop hosted by Wax Atelier at The Garden Museum £60
Online flower drawing workshop with Still, £12.50 - a treat for your mum, or a means by which you could make her a beautiful card with our Scribble it Yourself Kit!
Velvet cushion by Toast, £42
Wild: The Naturalistic Garden, £26
From Seed to Bloom by Milli Proust, £18.60 - everything you need to grow armfuls of beautiful flowers at home
Sunflower seeds for Ukraine from Hedgehog, £7.50
Finally, a dream Mother's Day treat - a ticket to the new exhibition at the Garden Museum, Fashioning the Rose, and afternoon tea with Lili Vanilli.
Parties start with the invitation… Such an honour to be included alongside some very talented artists & illustrators in Rosanna Dodd’s piece for the Financial Times How to Spend it Magazine on the Art of the Invitation and the vogue for artist-designed bespoke stationery as we move into what she hails as ‘a new age of festivities’ - click here to read the article in full…
