Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring

Friday 30 September 2011

ilovegorgeous loves... Sisters Guild


We get to work with some lovely people, it's wonderful to have stockists with beautiful stores, websites and blogs. To share their creativity with you, we're going to run an occasional series featuring some of our lovely stockists. And first up is Sisters Guild, a beautiful online boutiqe and inspiring blog.

We asked Bekka and Carla, founders of the company, to choose their favourite piece from our current collection - and they chose the Mauve Star Debbie Dress. Why? "Because it's such a unique design and the Mauve colour for the autumn and winter season is beautiful.  Also, the Debbie dress is a style we would love to wear to a party!"



A favourite product from elsewhere in their store is this quirky range of Felt bags from En Gry & Sif.


And in turn, we love the Monday Makery on their blog - creative ideas to make and do with your little ones, from recipes to sewing projects. Step by step instructions and clear photographs help every project become a success. Browse their blog and enjoy Bekka and Carla's flawless taste and incredible creativity!

Wednesday 28 September 2011

last few days of the French Bedroom Company competition


You only have until Friday 30th September to enter our fabulous competition with The French Bedroonm Company!

You can win £500 worth of vouchers to spend on their beautiful website... just visit our Facebook pages to find out more...


www.facebook.com/ilovegorgeousuk to win French Bedroom Company vouchers
www.facebook.com/frenchbedroomcompany to win ilovegorgeous... vouchers

Good luck!

Monday 26 September 2011

Junior Loves...

Linda McLean, fashion editor of Junior Magazine, has chosen her 'must-have' pieces from our Autumn/Winter collection. See what she chose on our website... click here


A beautiful treat for you...

Free when you place an order with us - an exclusive ilovegorgeous... pink iced butterfly from Biscuiteers. And you can get £5 off your first tin of biscuits when you order from Biscuiteers too - just type the code 'gorgeous' at the checkout!

Friday 23 September 2011

Make your own Biscuiteers-inspired goodies...


 
 
Feeling inspired by our delicious Biscuiteers tie-in? Here’s an exclusive recipe from their kitchen for you to try:

ilovegorgeous…  Fairy Party Biscuits

Ingredients (makes 24 biscuits)
350g plain flour
100g self-raising flour
125g granulated sugar
125g salted butter, diced
125g golden syrup
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Recipe 

  • Preheat the oven to 170c/350f/gas mark 4 before you begin.
  •  Sift the flours together into a mixing bowl, add the sugar and mix well. 
  • Add the butter. Using just the tips of your fingers, rub together the ingredients until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
  • When all the butter is evenly mixed in, make a well in the centre and add the syrup and the egg.
  • Mix well, drawing in any of the flour left at the sides of the bowl and stop as soon as a ball has formed. 
  • Place the dough onto your clean worktop. Divide into two and squash the dough into two even-sized flat discs. Cover and chill until ready to use, or roll out immediately.
  • Place the dough on a sheet of parchment and begin by gently squashing the dough down with a rolling pin or your hands. Cover with a second sheet of parchment and then use the rolling pin to roll out properly.
  • The top sheet of paper may crinkle from time to time, just peel it off and smooth it down gently before starting to roll again. 
  • Gently roll the dough until it is 5mm thick all over, then transfer the whole sheet of rolled dough still sandwiched between its sheets of parchment to a baking tray and place in the fridge to chill for at least 20 – 30 minutes before cutting. 
  •  Fairy party themed cutters are widely available online, or you can choose to make your own. To do this, identify the shapes you want to trace (crowns and butterflies work really well!) and lay a sheet of parchment on top, carefully tracing around the shape.  Remember that you can ice on much more detail than needs to be reflected in the shape of the biscuit. Carefully cut the templates out with scissors. You can find some of our favourite templates in the BiscuiteersBook of Iced Biscuits. 
  •  Assemble your collection of cutters or templates and start to cut. To use the dough efficiently cut the biscuits out as close together as possible. Lift each biscuit onto the parchment covered baking tray and make sure they are not too close together as the dough will spread a little on baking. Any trimmings can be re-rolled a couple of times. 
  • Evenly space the trays in the oven and cook for 14-18 minutes, depending on your oven.       When the biscuits are evenly cooked and just beginning to turn a golden colour remove the trays from the oven and transfer the whole sheet of parchment to a cooling rack. Do this carefully as the biscuits will be quite fragile and hot! 
  •  Cool totally before starting to ice.

 Fairy-Party Icing Tips
 To start, cut your piping bag straight across to achieve a clean icing line.
  • Always use a clean piping bag, so that your icing colours stay lovely.
  • Practice your icing techniques on a parchment sheet before starting on your biscuits.
  • Mix icing in girly colours – pink, purple and sparkling white.
  • If you are icing line-detail on top of runny icing, always wait until it is completely dry!
  • When filling areas with runny icing, use a sharp cocktail stick to burst any bubbles. This will help achieve a smooth and luxurious finish.
  • Stock up on lots of baubles and sugar glitter to give your biscuits a dusting of fairy magic.
  • Remember that sugar glitter will stick better to super wet icing (its dries pretty fast!)

 Happy baking -and click here to send us pics of your results!

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Brilliant Biscuiteers!



We’ve always been enchanted by the Biscuiteers' special iced biscuits, so when an opportunity came for us to work together, we couldn’t have been more excited!


We are very pleased to offer a lovely treat for all our UK customers – a very special ilovegorgeous… pink-iced butterfly biscuit, presented in a beautiful Biscuiteers box. And as if that isn’t enough, there’s also a discount code for the brilliant Biscuiteers website, you’ll never be stuck for a present idea again!

And if you are inspired to make your own iced biscuits, we'll be publishing an exclusive Biscuiteers recipe on Friday, complete with icing tips...

 

Enjoy!