Friday 29 June 2018

Historic Josselin and its Castle

Earlier this month we decided to visit the historic town of Josselin as it's only 30mins away from where we live and we've always heard such good reviews about it! It was a little bit overcast (and windy!) but we enjoyed it anyway and I tried to take as many photos as possible. Well you know me, I take photos of everything and then I have the terrible task of deciding which ones won't make the cut ;)








It's such a lovely place with a great atmosphere and a very dynamic old square. Everything feels authentic and we were lucky enough to be visiting during a small local event so we sat and enjoyed our coffee and crêpes with some live music in the background!

The church was very interesting in its architecture and the way it was decorated. First of all, I was surprised to see that it still had a wooden roof, which is really rare now as it usually doesn't last very long (a lot of them get burnt unfortunately). And also, it was surprising to see that so many decorative elements were painted! I couldn't take many photos but the details and colours were really good.








We, of course, visited the castle because come on you have to! You can only visit the castle at certain times of the day and with a guide as it's still inhabited by the descendants of the Rohan family (the Rohan-Chabot families) and because of that, it's forbidden to take photos inside. I was very sad. So I took plenty of the outside of the castle and its garden!

The tour was actually super interesting as we learnt a lot about the history of the building and how it got restored in the late 19th century to become what it is now thanks to the Duc Josselin de Rohan. The only problem is that I couldn't help but think about LOTR every time I heard this name haha. We also learnt a few interesting facts about the descendants still living there, one being that every first son has to be called either Josselin or Alain, so that both historic names will stay in the family!

I'm loving discovering so many nice places in Bretagne and we still have so much to see! We're actually going back on the 14th of July for the Medieval Festival that will take place the whole day in the centre of Josselin. Can't wait!



Monday 18 June 2018

Etsy Sales!

Yep, you heard me right! From today until the 22nd of June, I'm celebrating Etsy's 13th birthday by running a discount on ALL my products in the shop!

You can purchase all the cards and posters with 15% off, which is pretty cool really, so don't wait too long as it only lasts 5 days! Head over to the shop and take your pick :)

I'm not too sure I'm going to print out any new stock so I guess once they're gone, they're gone! With Etsy changing their fees, I'm definitely considering not staying with them (they're going to charge fees on the shipping cost which I think is absolutely ridiculous as we NEVER make profit on shipping costs). So yeah, I'm thinking about it all lately and I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do, but I thought that a little discount can't hurt anyone and I would be so happy to see these cute cards and posters leave for a good home.

I of course still have some Christmas cards left so don't worry, I won't be gone anytime soon ;)

Thanks for you support as always!


Thursday 14 June 2018

Life Lately...

Well, half of the year is gone and I just can't get my head around it! I love Summer and everything, but time is going so fast! I guess this is what happens when you're busy with work and everyday life. Next thing you know, you haven't posted on your blog for a few weeks, it's suddenly much warmer outside and bumble bees are making a noisy nest under your house (true story)! So I thought I would give you a little update on what's been happening around here...

First of all, yes, I've been quite busy with work and although I'd love to share more, I'm at the stage with a few projects where things aren't quite finalised so you're gonna have to wait a bit! I've been working again with TeamAuthor UK and I've got a couple of books on the go that I'm SO excited about! I've also been working on a few t-shirt designs for different clients, which is really cool, and I'm pleased to say that I now have THREE French clients, woohoo! Make sure to have a look at some of the sneak peeks I'm sharing on my Insta stories and grid ;)

One thing I'd love to share with you though is this book: The Contest, written by Melita Cyril (Yep, the same author that wrote Quinn's Socks!). If your kids or any of your family and friends love football, then this book is for you! With the World Cup starting today, it's a good excuse to get it. You can even personalise the child's name in the story and change his/her appearance! Make sure to check out Q for Quinn for more :)



Other than that, life is basically just carrying on! Although it's been quite warm lately, we've also had a lot of thunderstorms, resulting in weekends being more inside than outside unfortunately. I literally have a list of places that we need to see and so far we haven't been able to cross off that many... I'm really hoping that this weekend will be nice so that we can get out and about. I love sharing photos of places we've discovered on the blog and I miss it. Fingers crossed I'll be able to share a lot more in the months to come!

We're officially less than 3 months away from our wedding, which is super exciting! I just need to get my shoes (we're waiting for the sales as I've been eyeing this gorgeous pair from Minelli) and Jason needs a new belt. That's about it! We're so chuffed with the fact that we kept it as simple and cheap as possible whilst still being happy with everything. I know that for a lot of people, our tiny wedding would be a joke, but for us it's just perfect and definitely stress-free.

I know it's a bit early to talk about it, but we've just purchased our flight tickets to North Wales for Christmas! It's kind of a big deal for me as it's the first time I won't be spending Christmas in France. Even though I lived more than 5 years in Wales, I would always come back to stay with my family during this time of year. It's going to be great I'm sure, but definitely a change for me. I think I'm mostly sad about the delicious food I'm not going to have this year. I mean, there's no doubt that I'm going to eat well with Jason's family, but come on, French food at Christmas is just the best.

Anyway! Things are going well, money is a bit tight, but we've got a few things planned soon (like a day out in Futuroscope, yay!) that makes me happy. Lately I've been concentrating on the little things in our day to day life that make me happy and keep me in a positive mood. You don't need much sometimes :). I hope you're all doing great and that you've planned some exciting Summer trips!