With the Jubilee weekend fast approaching and the preparation for the weekend parties beginning, why not make your very own crown table decoration for your street party and celebrations. It's the perfect activitiy for kids to help you with too. Make them in exciting colours for a beautiful display. Or if you're feeling really ambitious I even tried my hand at creating an origami Corgi in homage to the Queen and her love of the breed. I made mine with Union Jack paper to keep it beautiful and British. Check out these links to try it for yourself. http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-crown.html http://www.mycorgi.com/profiles/blogs/origami-corg i Enjoy the celebrations! Candice

Creating a bespoke bed is equivalent to buying fashion couture, while a standard fabric is lovely with a bespoke bed, made in your own fabric, it allows you to create something entirely personal and unequivocally beautiful. An upholstered bed is a piece to be treasured and crafted to become an heirloom. Beautiful and British, Feather & Black’s upholstered beds are hand crafted in our Northumberland workshop, created using British materials, and constructed with traditional craftsmanship ensuring that the quality is the very best and it is British through and through. William Morris famously said “If you want one golden rule that will fit everything, then this is it. Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Thankfully the golden rule is incredibly fitting for a bed, as it is both useful and our bespoke upholstered beds are entirely beautiful. Here are some inspirational ideas for you… Choosing a bed with a tall headboard creates a hotel luxe look. By keeping the colour simple and dark it means that the wallpaper doesn’t overpower the room. Decorating with pattern is always a bold move but dark colours add a dramatic antithesis to...

Junior Magazine showcases the best and most beautiful products in a child’s life from fashion to interiors, and everything in between. We are so proud to have won the Junior Design Award for ‘Best Furniture Collection’ with our lovely Noah Range . The Noah can be styled to be a little girls dream as a pretty in pink princess bed. And it can be perfect for boys too – the solid white design is perfect to be used as a basecamp and styled with boisterious blues. I will let Junior Magazine take over from here: Love Holly x

Today we have been in London to see Harrods Jubilee celebration windows and the beautiful 31 uniquely designed crowns. Designed by the most iconic designers in the world, from Paul Smith to Wedgewood - the designs are equally as diverse ranging from archaic and classic to the fun and fabulous. I love Lanvin literally flying the flag for Great Britain. If you visit Harrods windows, the Don Perignon crown is one to look out for, looking exactly like a crown version of its iconic vintage green bottle. This is definitely one to visit, it is sure to make you feel proud to be British. We love all the flags up and down Oxford Street and we were lucky enough to get a picture with an iconic red bus in it. Have a look at our pinterest board showcasing The Best of British and follow us on Facebook for more pictures. Love Holly x

We are really excited to announce that you can now find us in the social sphere. Click the links below to ‘like’ us and ‘follow’ us. We’ll try to be really interesting, and post our latest news, competitions, promotions, exclusive previews, new collections, inspirations and behind the scenes of Feather & Black. So many exciting things are happening we would love for you to join us! Love Holly x We are @FeatherandBlack on Twitter and can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/featherandblack see you there!

If you weren’t already aware, you’ll be delighted to hear that this week is...(Drumroll please)..British Sandwich Week, and us Brits certainly do know how to make a good sarnie. Our iconic sandwich was aptly named after the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu. Being such a keen gambler, rather than stop for dinner, he once asked to have bread and meat at his gaming table. He threw them together and this convenient new way of eating soon caught on becoming a British tradition. Of course the news of this national event sent a wave of salivation around our office as we all started discussing our personal favourites. After much deliberation, here are our top 5... (Image courtesy of simply-delicious.co.za) 1. The iconic BLT – Enough said. 2. Coronation Chicken – The perfect mark of respect for the jubilee. 3. Marmite – The ultimate British classic. 4. Cucumber sarnies – Crusts off and cut into fingers of course. 5. Mature Cheddar & Branston Pickle – Just yum What’s your favourite filling? Whilst researching this blog I did also come across this amazing idea for a sandwich that will never perish. I don’t know about you but this has given me a...

What a change after two days of clear blue skies and 30°c heat. Saturday was torrential rain and 5°c. I fell off my bike after2 miles and couldn’t have been more wet if I have been dipped in a bath. That evening, once we had finished for the day it took two hours to stop shaking. This was one of the hardest days…a combination of the wet and cold. On paper this was expected to be the toughest day, but the end was in sight. After a 158km big climb we finally left Switzerland and arrived in France, briefly travelling through Luxemburg and Germany. My clothes / shoes were still wet from the day before, and all I looked forward to was a day without lycra, pasta and sudocream. The exhilaration of the end overtook the pain of saddle sores, scabs and mild bronchitis. Richard Branson joined us for dinner, and I was honoured to give the toast on behalf of all the riders. It’s safe to say that Cycle Slam is one of the most fulfilling events I have completed in my life to date. If anyone sees me anywhere near a bike in the next 6 months they...

For us white bed linen is calm, ethereal, and entirely romantic. It creates an effortlessly classic and sophisticated look. It doesn’t have to be boring either, choose from high thread count luxe, beautiful textures or delicate jacquard weaves to create a beautiful bed to sink into. The stylish way to create the covetable ‘all white’ bed is to add texture through your accessories, think cashmere throws , indulgent silks and a high thread count cotton bed linen for a tactile and sumptuous style. I have put together some ideas for you to try. . The Vienna Bed Linen . Opulent and indulgent, the Vienna white bed linen will envelop you in luxury as you sink into the 600 thread count fabric. The Vienna looks beautiful teamed with creamy accessories for a classic and elegant look, and for hotel luxe we love the Vienna on the Fulham bed. The White Waffle. Choosing a textured bed linen like our waffle adds a contemporary twist to white. Soft and subtle it is perfect in any bedroom. The Frances Leave unironed for the ultimate in shabby – chic style. The Frances linen is effortlessly elegant and the epitome of vintage. The mix of linen...

Two down/ two to go. Stiff, sore, sleep deprived and sunburnt...and ever so slightly hungover. There was rain today and a lot cooler and only 90kms to do - which feels easier given the 135km yesterday. Adam

A nightmare day. We've climbed two huge Alpine passes and I have now realised that scaling Goodwood Hill on the odd few occasions wasn't that great of a preparation for the Alps. The climbs were both at 15 degrees - so for every 6 feet forward, it's 1 foot up - not a lot of fun. I did manage to get the bike up to 40 mph on the way down. On the flip side the scenery was stunning. There is not a cloud in the sky and it's 30 degrees. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Adam

From April 23 rd , Lawrence Dallagio and Freddie Flintoff have undertaken the ride of their lives hoping to cycle the 2872 km across Europe from the original birth place of the Olympic Games to this year’s venue London. Riding to raise money for the Dallagio Foundation which supports Cancer Research UK and Great Ormond Street Hospital, the AF Foundation & Virgin Unite I am one of the many riders joining them on their journey and it all starts tomorrow for me at stage 4. So, today we arrived in St Moritz and most of the bravado has gone. There has only been one heart attack on the 'Cycle Slam' so far and given the distance, and climbs being attempted over the next four days - all of the new riders are a little nervous. There is a rumour going round that the pass we are supposed to tackle early tomorrow is closed, and so our 80km day is now 150km…we all hope that the rumour doesn't prove correct. The money raised so far is approaching £1.6m, there have been 583 punctures so far and 975,967 meters climbed. Have a look at http://www.dallaglioflintoff2012.com/ to keep a track of our progress....

Over the last few weeks we have been rushing to the vegetable aisle of the supermarket impatiently waiting for the appearance of this season’s British asparagus. Finally, the new spears are here, beautifully British and a vibrant green colour - we couldn’t be happier. I have been enjoying lots of asparagus this week and thought I would share some recipe ideas with you for you to try. I don’t know why, I am no chef, but asparagus and egg is the most beautiful partnership, it’s the Wills & Kate of the food world, a perfect pairing. This is really simple my favourite way to enjoy asparagus-. The trick ( so I am told) is to wrap the asparagus in pancetta before it is cooked so it stays in the right place. Then it’s as simple as baking it in the oven with some butter. Poaching your egg et voila…serve on a pretty plate (it makes every meal look more delicious!) Classic and lovely if you enjoy creamy, rich sauces. The asparagus acts as the soldier to your egg. If you don’t fancy Quail egg, this works with ordinary eggs too, and is just as delicious. Let me know how you...

This month we are getting very excited for the upcoming Jubilee celebrations. Here is our lovely list of beautiful British inspired things we love for May… This is no ordinary afternoon tea, from the 29 th May to the 9 th June; you can celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee in majestic style. The cakes are created to resemble the most memorable hats worn by the Royal Family. I am most excited about nibbling on Princess Beatrice’s extravagant hat that she wore to the Royal Wedding last year. Combining my love of fashion, with cake and the royals sounds like my idea of heaven. This is our must read for May. An award winning romance it is described as a trilogy which will ‘Obsess you, possess you and stay with you forever.’ I have heard it’s quite racy, but there is a queue in the office to borrow the book. I cannot wait to get stuck into it… I was lucky enough to enjoy a glass of Ridgeview’s Limited Edition Victoria Wine at dinner over the weekend, and it was delicious. Located in the South Downs of England this British wine is perfect for jubilee street parties and enjoying throughout the...