~C & R interview & giveaway part II~

Happy Friday everyone!!

I really love Fridays......

the kids are done with school for a couple days....

Mr. T & T is home for a couple days....

Ya know it amazes me how each Friday

every single week.....feels so

hopeful & exciting!

what are we doing tonight.....

watching a movie as a family?

going out to dinner w/ Mr T & T?

getting take out for family?

go watch airplanes take off from the airport?

{we are strange like that.....}

go to the mall & browse around

go on a bike ride? weather permitting of course...

don't you just love the feeling of anticipation?

kinda corny I know but.....

I bet you're ready for part II of my

interview w/ Christina Strutt

Founder of Cabbages & Roses??

let's do it then!

Ticking and Toile: What is your housekeeping routine, Christina?

Christina: Bicarbonate of soda (I think that's just baking soda right guys?) is my housekeeping routine.  I use it to clean the baths and sinks, in the laundry, in the potting shed.  It is the only cleaning material I have in the house along with copious quantities of white distilled vinegar...which I also use in the laundry, and to disinfect chopping boards. (wow....have us Americans really been snookered into buying all the stuff we buy?? We don't need softscrub, bleach, comet, windex?? ) I can get quite boring about housekeeping so it is probably best for you to buy a copy of Cabbages & Roses Guide to Natural Housekeeping, which is the only way to make me stop droning on and on about how easy it is to use natural products for all your housekeeping needs!  One of our cabbage girls spotted it for sale in the new Anthropology shop in London at the week end.  It might be available in Anthropology in the USA ~ it is certainly available in all good book shops via amazon.  {is she so fun? ;) }

 { I think that must be baking soda in that little jar there on the counter!}

T & T: Where do you look for inspiration?

Christina: Strangely, to my youth!  Unconsciously my designs always seem to slip back to the 60's and 70's both clothing and home designs.  I think people were braver then and happy to use colour after the drabness of the 40's and 50's.  It seems that minimalism is the antithesis of Cabbages & Roses style, where life becomes neat and beige and streamline.  Give me wobbly lines and faded roses, stripey t shirts and wellington boots every time!!

I am also inspired by music and films.  And Paris!  It is always such fun putting the music together for our fashion shows, that now I tend to fall in love with the music, and then design clothes that go with it! (that's what you call creative, huh guys?) For home inspiration there are many designers that inspire me.  Particularly Colefax & Fowler, and Jean Monroe, who produced beautiful floral chintzes with timeless qualities.  Their interiors had such impact and warm inviting coziness that even the keenest elk hunter wouldn't notice he was surrounded by flowers, but would immediately feel warm and welcomed!

T & T: And lastly, you have truly followed your life's passion in founding Cabbages & Roses.  What advice would you give someone who wants to fulfill a similar dream but is unsure of where to start?

Christina: Start by asking yourself if you are ready to devote 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for the next 10 years to your dream.  If the answer is yes, then go for it!  Be prepared to do everything yourself from designing to answering the telephone to hand writing address labels through the night, and into the morning.  It is also important that your family understand that it is better to join in than wait in the wings for your attention, because unless they can wait for 10 years, they won't get it.

Once the above is established, follow your dream.  Make sure that your dream is your passion, and that you are prepared to stick with it through thick and thin.  It is not unlike getting married or having children.  Once you embark on it, it is very difficult to get off.  Secondly, do thorough research.  Make a one year, two year, and a five year plan.  Be realistic and budget very carefully.  There will be pitfalls, and low times, but keep your eye on the bigger picture and you will get there!

wow! 

that is serious dedication isn't it?

well she would certainly know what it takes....

given Cabbages & Roses enormous success!

Her latest book is sure to be a huge success as well....

oooooh the color of that bench......yummy.....

I really enjoyed this opportunity

to interview Christina....

what an amazing woman~

and an amazing company she has built~

I hope you all enjoyed it as well!

If you haven't entered my giveaway for

her new book

"At Home With Country"

You can leave a comment on today's

or yesterday's post,

follow,

blog about it

grab a button

4 opportunities to enter!

{drawing will be April 14 in the morning}

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

xoxo,

Shellagh

{all photos are from the Cabbages & Roses website, with the exception of the very last photo which is the cover of "At Home With Country" by Christina Strutt, photographer Edina van der Wyck, http://www.cicobooks.com/, $29.95}