I have always loved fashion and had a keen interest in it since I was a child in the 60's and when I was about 11 years old designing my own dresses for the dressmaker to make loving to incorporate 'Kipper ties' in the design ..much to my Mother's dismay ..and nowadays mine wondering what on earth I was thinking about !!!

Loving all of this especially the shoes ..but still wondering how anyone could possible walk in them ..what we do for fashion 

Such great beach wear ...you can't beat classic blue and white for a day by the sea ..very cute ..love the hat ..don't you??

Love the shoes and easy to wear and who wouldn't love the Michael Kors Satchel Bag ...I have a nice pair of Michael Kors White Jeans that would go great with it 

I have included a few great ways to tie a scarf ...when I first came to America I seemed to be the only one wearing one down here in the South ..I have always worn one ..they are like adding a piece of jewelry and interest to your outfit ...but now they have been embraced by most women , young and old ...I am so glad that they are enjoying them now ...so many cute ones out there and if you have been wearing them for as long as I have you accumulate quite a collection 

Loving these watches ...so cute and modern ...great watches in the stores this season to boost your outfit

Thanks for joining me on Fashion Friday ..hope I have given you some ideas ..try something out of your comfort zone and it will be sure to make smile 

Happy Friday ...Happy Fashion 

The one above and below are just samples of my own flags that I made for my own personal use 

Only one available in my Etsy.com shop only www.etsy.com/shop/Maisonvogue?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Thanks for popping by and taking a look ....

Tons of pomp and circumstance today in London, UK at the State Opening Of the Houses of Parliament.. the Queen was joined by her husband Prince Philip as they travelled from Buckingham Palace to Westminster in a horse drawn carriage attending the opening also were their son Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.....Prince William, Princess Kate and Prince Harry were not in attendance

The Imperial crown has.... 2868 diamonds, 273 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 5 rubies .. it weighs  2.3lb's
The Robe of State that the Queen wears weighs a whopping 15 lb's
Her Majesty wore her Angela Kelly dress that she wore in the Jubilee portraits 
Her earrings were Queen Victoria's Crown Pearl Drop ones and Jubilee Necklace 
Also worn were a pearl bracelet watch and pearl bracelet with a daisy diamond clasp

These photo's are of the Queen today ....those cloths and the very long train were very heavy .. but the Queen never let's it show 

It was announced just yesterday by Buckingham Palace that the Queen will be scaling back her duties (she’s sending Prince Charles in her place to the Commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka later this year, the first time she’s missed one of these meetings in 40 years) I think it's a great idea as Her Majesty is now 89 years old ..and incredible for her age ...

The Houses of Parliament , inside and out 

The State Opening of Parliament is an event in the United Kingdom that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament ( the house of the Government of the UK ) and includes a Speech from the Throne , known as the Queen's (or King's) Speech. The State Opening is an extremely elaborate ceremony showcasing British history, culture, and contemporary politics.

The State Opening takes place in theHouse of Lords Chamber and, before 2011, was usually held in November or December or, in a general election year, when the new Parliament first assembled. In 1974, when two general elections were held, there were two State Openings.

Since there was just recently an election that is why it has happened today on July 28th May, 2015

Queen Elizabeth II has opened every session of the Westminster Parliament since her accession, except in 1959 and 1963, when she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward respectively. These two sessions were opened by Lords Commissioners 

Here is the Willow Pattern bowl I inherited from my Grandmother ..I have no idea how old it is but it's going back a long way ...

There is a lot of romance about the Willow Pattern and here is a small bit of history , a romantic tale and a very cute poem 

The White flowers are some of the Wild White Hydrangea's I blogged about in our woods ..so fragrant and beautiful ..I am so glad I bought some in as the heavy spring rain storms we get here in Alabama have just arrived and they would be ruined by the heavy beating of the rain 

A Cheeky duck vase my Son gave me when he was younger ...I just love it ...very English ..don't you think

Thrift store finds , dried hydrangea's and a mangle of little fabric flag buntings I have made 

More bowls from Staffordshire, England ..my Myott Meakin bowls ..called Oriental Garden ..thrift store finds too ..I have six of these dessert/cereal bowls

This wooden box is a recent addition also from the thrift store ..it is a very old tongue and grooved Borden Milk Deposit box that would have held 6 half gallon glass bottles of milk ..what a great find for just $2.99 ..selling for $75 on the internet shops ..really useful too ..such a great color and in perfect order ..the big brown pottery butter churn came from my Husband's Father

Just another view of my Hydrangea's which I have enjoyed ..in the background an oil painting I painted in 1996 of a very victorian Guernsey ...the Town Church that I have featured in earlier blogs and there is a green Prince Albert which if you have read in one of my previous blogs Prince Albert Statue in Guernsey, Channel Isles, UK gets a face lift ...it's amazing !! you will know, is no longer green but back to his original copper color 

Enjoy these super cute FREE downloads for you to print to make cute cards, journal pages, thank you cards, gift tags whatever you can imagine for them ...please 'comment' and let us know what you did with them we would all love to know and you may inspire someone else !!

After doing several hours work in my favorite place our garden, I went down to the wood pile to put on lots of tree boughs that I had cut down as they were just over hanging too much over the grass and saw that this year there are an abundance of gloriously large fresh pinecones that have fallen to the ground 

I love to use them in many ways including my crafts, for Christmas decor, and I like to put them around the base of trees that I have in large pots on the decks instead of boring old bark chips or mulch ..they look so much nicer ...so I collected some and put them on the base of the cable reel table we have down in the woods for when we have family over and sit around the bonfire making Chocolate Smores etc .

I love to look straight into our woods and see what might have changed ..there are seasons for all sorts of flowers that love to grow amongst the trees and sometimes a large tree has fallen and makes an interesting play area for the raccoons, cats etc ...

When I am on my own I don't go to deeply in just incase I come across a snake or something and can't call for help ..if you look closely you can just about spy our house in the back ground 

It's been so dry that there are no mushrooms but there are large amounts of wild snowy white hydrangeas ...all the flowers are unspoiled as they have not been bruised by any falling rain 

I love these hydrangea's they can be seen all over Alabama at this time of year ..these were particularly beautiful and had found a small clearing all to themselves 

This is a path way that was in our woods when we purchased them but it leads to nowhere ...we haven't cleared it of leaves yet this Spring and seems like we will have to remove a fallen branch as well ...Come on lets walk down there and see what we can find !!

Having gone down the path to nowhere we now turn up and can see the used cable reel tables that we used for our Daughter's Wedding's reception I am hoping to find a way to use them before they are burned on the bonfire but I just haven't any other room for a table I will have to think hard as they seem to be on death row at the moment 

We are walking up another little path that leads to behind the swing deck ..we used this deck for our Daughter's Wedding Ceremony in 2013 as you can see we kept a few of the benches our Son in Law made for their Wedding ..I couldn't bear to get rid of them all                                                                                                                            

Now we have come out of the woods and have come around the front of the house to show you the Blue Birds in their nesting box ..can you see him clutching tight on to the front of the hole bringing food to his darling babies ..that are very vocal at the moment ..they should be flying the nest in about two weeks ..a bitter sweet moment for us all 

It was so lovely to have you share a few moment with me ...I love having company whilst I enjoy my beloved garden in my Sweet Home Alabama 

Have a Wonderful Day and enjoy your surroundings 

At the end of last week I mentioned I would be looking for a little pot to put a cacti in at the thrift store 

Well this is what I found ..unfortunately I forgot to go and pick up a Cacti to go inside of it ..but I will 

It is so gorgeous that I am hesitant to put a cacti in it now ...isn't it great ..I paid 0.99c for it and I found it for sale at 18 British Pounds on eBay that is roughly converted to $28.00..so that made me smile 

I may have mentioned that it's a big birthday for me this year ...well I am having a whole birthday weekend in my beloved island of Guernsey and I have about 50 family and friends coming to an afternoon tea and chat where there will be lovely high tea goodies to eat so I thought I would make some little cake bunting flags made from all the lovely fabrics I have from making pillows for my customers 

I had such fun today making them ..I have made two in all and intend to make at least one more ..I am also making matching larger bunting to hang from the garden fence's etc ...I am working on them 

I am thinking of making these in lots of different colors to sell in my shops for $20 ...if you are interested before I have listed them, please let me know by either leaving a 'comment' or contacting me through my shops and I will reply to you 

Thanks for popping in today 

Here is the bunting I made for the baby shower and it now hangs in baby Emeri's nursery 

As you can see I also made her a set of pillows with the letter's of her name on so they can be used as a visual aid when she is being taught how to say and spell her name ...I was very pleased with them

This makes me smile and it's memories of happy, happy days ...down at the Gulf of Mexico at the beach