I hope you all had a wonderful and happy Summer. I’m not going to mention the weather….nope, not a single word about the weather. We spent much of the school holidays in France (which is why I’m not going to talk about the UK weather) where we scoured the brocantes and vide greniers to bring back lots of new vintage stock for the Curiosity Shop.  We also tried our hands at welcoming our first Airbnb guests to our little Cotswold family cottage while we were away which was a huge success…..and quite a learning curve. I’m going to set up a separate page on here dedicated to “The White Cottage” and share available dates for those who might be interested in a short stay or more during the school holidays. Christmas is all booked up but we may have a few nights over New Year and early January so please do email me if you might be interested. 

In other news the Curiosity Workshop is looking fantastic (and very full) and I’m excited to be planning our first OPEN WORKSHOP WEEKEND in September. There is a whole load of stock in the workshop which isn’t listed in the online shop so it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. If the dates don’t work for you please do contact me and I can always arrange some drop ins. Jay will also have some pieces of his artwork on display which will be for sale and so between us we have more than enough to browse, buy and hopefully inspire!

After my brief hiatus from teaching, I’m delighted to be joining the JCA London Fashion Academy this month as a Senior Lecturer on their Ba Hons Fashion Design with Entrepreneurship. I’m going to be part time so still lots of days to spend in the workshop and to continue growing Splash. I have so much stock to share over the coming days, weeks, months and will keep uploading as much as I can to the website and also via Instagram so please keep an eye on the grid.

If you would like to be added to the MAILING LIST to hear more about the open weekends and new stock news, please send me your email and I’ll make sure you’re up to date. I don’t send very many newsletters as I know how annoying they can be so I promise to only send them when I’ve got something really interesting to tell you!

Thanks to you all for your continued support with Splash and I hope very much to welcome you to the workshop one day soon.

Mel

Spring is finally here…at least so says the calendar; we just need the weather to catch up and we’re off! I’ve been spending much of the past few weeks trying to find my energy and getting going again. I underwent surgery just before Christmas which set me back more than I’d realised it would and has changed my life in ways I never imagined too. Some of it wonderfully positive and some not so much. I’ve had to step back from my full time job as a Course Leader in Fashion Marketing at Bath Spa University which was a job I adored but which was sadly unsustainable in terms of life and family and logistics. I was worried my energy might never come back but just like the buds on the trees, I can feel myself waking up after a winter of hibernation. I’m not terribly good at staying still but sometimes you need to be forced to stop and take a breath and re-evaluate things and so for that I’m hugely grateful.

My little Curiosity Shop has been the most wonderful distraction and focus and I’m excited to see it grow over the coming months. I can now give it my full attention which it most certainly deserves. We are currently looking to find a little space to work from (rather than the kitchen dresser and storage container!) and where we can invite customers to visit us here in the Cotswolds. We have so many wonderful pieces to share and to have a space dedicated to all our curiosities would be a lovely thing indeed. Keep an eye on Instagram and our occasional newsletters where I hope to announcing our new home very very soon. The online store is always open so please do come on in and have a look around.

Mel

It’s been a chaotic couple of years to say the least but my little Curiosity shop has continued to be a source of fun and happiness! It’s been rather neglected of late due to family and work and travel and moving house and storage nightmares and, well, so much more I won’t bore you with. But now we’re back and Splash has a new HQ and I’ve been reunited with my beloved dresser and so normal vintage home business will resume immediately.

I’ll be updating the shop over the next few days / weeks and hoping to do some little “virtual vintage fairs” of my own via Instagram. For all news and updates and all sorts of anything, please sign up to the very occasional newsletter. Making the most of the ever so gentle Spring in my step and looking forward to sharing lots more.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPLASH

and welcome to our

FRENCH ADVENTure

For those of you who follow us on Instagram you might have noticed an awful lot of packing and not much shop news over the past few weeks. We’ve had an incredibly busy and strange few months and after moving out of our house in Gloucestershire and packing everything in to numerous storage containers, we are now off on a winter adventure to France. Along with our two boys, the dog and a whole lot of lego and action figures, we are heading to Jay’s family home near Albi in South West France to see out the year. There will be homeschool to manage as well as our own work (thankfully our “proper” jobs can also be done online!) and we know that our Curiosity Shop can only flourish in its new surroundings too.

2021 has thrown a lot our way and it hasn’t all been good by any means BUT with sadness and loss often comes opportunity and adventure. We love our little Curiosity Shop and it has been something of a tonic through the last 12 months. It was born from our love of French vintage homeware and a desire to share our discoveries from the brocantes and markets and Vide Grenier we’ve been visiting for years.

Whilst leaving the UK for a couple of months means we are unable to run our online Curiosity Shop as we would like, we are hoping very much that you will join us on our December FRENCH ADVENTure! Throughout December we will be posting new French treasure and seasonal inspiration which we are able to post directly from France to anywhere in the world. We will of course keep you updated on postage costs and times and as demand grows we are also looking to use an international courier to ensure speedy service!

The UK Curiosity Shop will be taking orders up until WEDNESDAY 24TH NOVEMBER and all orders will be sent with HERMES. We will be leaving the UK on Friday 26th so if there is anything you need before then or questions you might have please do email me on mel@splashofcuriosity.com

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and thank you for all the support you’ve shown us over the last year. We really hope you’ll join us for the ride…..

Mel and Jay Jay

Ooh and as promised, scroll down for the recipe for our first birthday chocolate cake. In our humble opinion, this is the greatest chocolate cake you could ever make / eat! We tried it with this incredible pistachio cream which they sell in our local supermarche! I may have to put that up in one of our Adventure windows!

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s

Dark Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 250g dark chocolate (around 70% cocoa solids), broken into chunks

• 250g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

• 4 medium eggs, separated

• 200g caster sugar (or 100g caster mixed with 100g soft light brown sugar)

• 50g plain flour

• 50g ground almonds

• You'll Also Need:

• 23cm springform cake tin

Method

• Grease a 23cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.

• Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and place it over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the base of the bowl. Stir occasionally until the butter and chocolate have melted.

• Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until well combined.

• Stir the melted chocolate and butter into the egg and sugar mixture. Combine the flour and almonds and fold these in, too.

• In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they hold firm peaks. Stir a large spoonful of egg white into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, then carefully fold in the rest of the egg whites with a large metal spoon or spatula, trying to keep in as much air as possible.

• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Place in an oven preheated to 170°C (gas mark 3) and bake for about 30 mins, until only just set.

• It should still wobble slightly in the centre – this means the cake will have a divinely sticky, fudgy texture once it’s cooled down. Leave to cool for 10-15 mins before releasing the tin.

• Serve warm or cold, on its own or with a dollop of thick cream, creme fraiche or Greek yogurt. For a more adult version, you could stir a slug of whisky into whipped cream sweetened with a little icing sugar and serve it spooned over each slice of cake.

Welcome to our Splash Journal

We’re going to be using this page to share shop news as well as style ideas, recipes and bits and bobs related to current collections .

We hope to keep it predominantly image led and somewhere to come and browse and scroll and hopefully take away some inspiration and ideas for your own home.

Right, let’s get going!

Kitchen Supper

Our first ever collection for Splash Of Colour involves some of our favourite pieces of blue and white vintage tableware mixed with classic design staples and clever curiosities!

Everything we feature on Splash are pieces we love and we’ve sourced for their story, their character and their design. The must have modern classics such as the French wine and water glasses, felt place mats, pie funnels, coffee cups and more are things we use constantly in our own home and cant live without. Good design is at the core of all these hero pieces as well as functionality and longevity. These are not throw away items, these are things you’ll use day in day out and will only bring happiness!

Weekend Brunching

We love brunch. You could say it’s our favourite meal of the day….followed closely by breakfast. I think its the hot bread, the steaming coffee, the home made jam, the juice, the boiled eggs and soldiers, the fresh fruit, the yoghurt…..I could go on.

Our favourite weekend brunch and breakfast staple is home made SODA BREAD. It is without a doubt the easiest and most delicious bread to make and is literally ready in 25 minutes, start to finish. It’s also a brilliant bread to have up your sleeve when you need something to serve with hot soup or just as an accompaniment or side to just about any meal you can think of. Basically, it’s never a bad idea.

As we can’t really pop it in the post - it’s better eaten on the day you made it - we thought we’d share the recipe so you can make it at home. So here goes…and if you have any questions at all please email me as I’mm probably be making bread when you do and I can talk you through it step by step.

Mel x

SEEDED SODA BREAD

This recipe makes a small loaf so if you want a bigger one just double the quantities and cook for a further 20 minutes or so.

250g Mix seed bread flour. I use Shipton Mill flour as they’re local to me and I just love every single variety

200ml Buttermilk - you can also use yoghurt but I think buttermilk gives it a lighter texture

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

A pinch of sea salt

So here’s what you do….

Heat the oven to 180. Measure out your flour in to a large mixing bowl and add your bicarbonate of soda and salt. Give it a stir so it’s all mixed together. Then add your buttermilk and stir together to combine until you have a sticky dough. It’s the reaction with the buttermilk and the bicarb that makes the bread rise so you need to be quite quick with this bit so you can get it in the oven. Put a bit of flour on your hands to help the stickiness and form the dough in a rough ball. Place it on a floured baking sheet or one lined with greaseproof paper and with a sharp knife, cut a cross in the top….make it quite deep but don’t go all the way through the dough. This is what gives it that “look at me I’m a home made soda bread” look. Dust the top with a bit of flour and get it in the oven.

Cook for around 20-25 minutes until turning golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom. Take out of the oven and let it sit for a while on a cooling rack.

Eat when hot with lots of butter and jam or whatever you fancy. I particularly love it for breakfast hot from the oven with butter and lemon curd. It’s pretty good toasted the following day but it won’t last much longer than that so best to eat it all in one sitting.

Lavender Shortbread Biscuits

We love biscuits, in fact I make a lot of biscuits…and cakes…and all sorts of baked goods! It’s been really lovely to hear how much you’ve enjoyed our little packs of home made biscuits we include with your orders. I’m going to continue sending bags of biscuits with all the orders in the run up to Christmas but I’m going to play with flavours and so expect some orange spiced shortbread and festive ginger snaps in the coming days.

I wanted to share the recipe for the Lavender Shortbread Biscuits as it’s a really great one to have up your sleeve and is quick and easy and delicious. You can use the basic recipe without the lavender and just have plain shortbread with a hint of vanilla or try with some lemon zest for a touch of zing.

Ingredients :

160g Plain Flour

100g Cold Butter cut in to cubes

75g Soft Light Brown Sugar

1tsp Vanilla Extract

1tsp Dried Lavender - crumbled up and without the stalks!

1 Free Range Medium Egg Yolk

Method :

Set the oven to 180. Whizz all the ingredients ,except for the egg yolk, in a food processor until you have a fine bread crumb texture. Then add the egg yolk and pulse to combine in to a soft ball of dough. If you need a drop of milk to bring together then you can add that too but be patient as usually the yolk will be enough. Take you dough and roll it out on to a floured surface about 0.5cm thick or thereabouts! I quite like a chunkier shortbread so I often roll the dough a little thicker. Using a round cookie cutter or a glass will do, just cut out your biscuits and put on lay on a greaseproof paper on to a baking tray. You may need to do them in batches but they don’t tend to spread when cooking so just leave a couple of cm or so between each and you should be fine. Cook for around 8-10 minutes or until they are starting to brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack until they are firm and have a lovely crumbly SNAP! Now make a cup of tea and eat as many as you like. They never last for long.

A french love story

We have had a long standing love affair with France. I’ve been visiting for family holidays since I was born and Jay Jay’s father has lived there for more than 20 years so we have a shared reason to keep going back! I worked in Paris for a few years when we first met and we were married near Nimes back in 2006 and so all in all, we don’t seem to be able to stay away.

We have spent time in all corners of the country….on the coast, in the capital, in the mountains and in the middle…and it never fails to inspire. Our biggest shared love is the markets and brocantes which we religiously visit every time we’re there. We make a list of all the local brocantes and marches aux puces in the area and try and visit every single one, terrified that the one we miss might be the one which has THAT ladder or THAT enamel pot or THAT collection of vintage school posters all in impeccable condition…. You can see it’s a pretty tense situation. Every year, without fail, we come back with yet more treasure stuffed in to the back of our old creaky land rover with our two boys and dog packed somewhere in amongst it all.

I thought I’d share some pictures of some of the things we’ve found along the way. on the journal - I’ll do it in bits and bobs as I find more rather than all in one post. Most of this isn’t for sale but I’m going to attempt to keep the shop stocked with similar items over the coming weeks which I think you’ll like.

Our main collection of homeware, both new and vintage, is very much inspired and rooted in French cafe and home culture so you’ll always be able to tap in to our style and find some of your own treasure.

If there’s anything in particular you’re on the hunt for and which we might be able to help with, please do drop us an email.