Bake it! Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake Recipe

As you can imagine, this was a pretty exciting discovery with the Ellie Ellie girls. We are all avid bakers and are always on the look out for something a bit different; its Lindsay's turn to bake this week and we can barely contain ourselves! Will be eating this by the wedge, with a nice cup of tea on Monday!

tweet us a photo of your cakey masterpiece @ellieelliecouk

Ellie Ellie Wears

Going a bit '80s here folks. Acid washed/high waisted denim teamed with this madly floral top from Jolie Moi is a match made in heaven. We love the bat wing cut and the style of this top, which in our minds need no accessories, except from these gorgeous little music sheet studs handmade at Ellie Ellie's HQ in Sussex. Each pair is totally unique and made from recycled music sheets! Dress your feet in these beautiful tan loafers from Rocket- classic but yet oh so stylish these shoes are a certain investment!

Acid Denim- Warehouse
Floral Bat Wing Top- Jolie Moi
Recycled Music Sheet Studs- Ellie Ellie
Tan Loafer - Rocket

Facts on Recycling

Ellie Ellie in the Press!

Ellie Ellie has been featured in a number of national publications- there really is nothing better than seeing a product that you've made or designed in a nice magazine or newspaper! Here's where Ellie Ellie products have been spotted over the last few months!

Ellie Ellie's Personalised Computer Key Cufflinks were seen in VOGUE!

 

Ellie Ellie's Letter Tile Sign was seen in The Sun on Sunday!

Ellie Ellie's Romeo and Juliet Necklace was seen in The Sunday Express in February!

Nice tweet from Gino D'Acampo who's loving Ellie Ellie's Personalised Map Cufflinks!

Ellie Ellie's Building Brick Studs were seen in Mizz magazine!

Ellie Ellie's Building Brick Cufflinks were seen in notonthehighstreet.com Gift for Him!

Ellie Ellie's Letter Tile Necklace was seen in Cosmopolitan Bride magazine.

Ellie Ellie's Sisters Before Misters Card seen in Marie Claire

If you would like to feature any of Ellie Ellie's products please contact press@ellieellie.co.uk

Ellie Ellie Wears

This week's Ellie Ellie Wears features a Joules vs Cath Kidston mash up. That beautiful blush pink from the blouse, plucks the feminine colours from the country styles high waisted skirt. Tuck your top into the skirt and pop on a pair of these cute little floral pumps to finish your outfit off. Ellie Ellie's Personalised Map Cluster Pendant is an ideal accessory- you can personalise each charm with a location from around the world that you hold dear. You can have between 1 and 6 charms, and of course it's a great piece to add to over time as the memories are made!

Pink Blouse - Joules
Country Skirt - Cath Kidston
Floral Pumps - Joules
Personalised Map Pendant - Ellie Ellie

What we're listening too

The girls at Ellie Ellie HQ are known throughout the office block, for singing rather loudly, attempting harmonies and free styling lyrics (obviously as well as being extremely hard workers and highly professional).

This week Danielle brought us the most beautiful retro radio to have in the office, so naturally we all took turns to pick albums and songs that we wanted to share with the gang. 

Our new radio in all her glory! What a beauty

If you're music lovers like us here are our fave songs that we wanted to share with you, if you do one thing today give these a little listen- drop us a comment to let us know what you think!

The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love

Ben Howard - Keep Your Head Up

 James Vincent McMarrow - If I Had A Boat

  Kodaline- Love Like This

 The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way

  Nina Simone- My Baby Just Cares For Me

If you're music lovers like us, these may tickle your fancy. Handmade from original music sheets, these are perfect for any festival goers or musicians (or those who just love a good ol' fashion sing song!)

Ellie Ellie's Music Sheet Studs - find them here!

Ellie Ellie Music Sheet Mirrors are perfect for sorting out those fly-aways. Find them here!

Ellie Ellie's Music Shore Heart Pendants are perfect for a festival outfit! Find it here!

Ellie Ellie Wears - Glasonbury Outfit

Glasto is just around the corner, so we thought we'd dish out a bit of festival outfit inspiration this week! Totally in love with these super cute denim hot pants- they have the most beautiful floral detail which is ideal for the festival scene! Tie die is obviously bang on trend, and the pink from this crop top brings out the shade in the shorts. The straw hat finishes that festival look out perfectly and will be essential come rain or shine! Ellie Ellie's Romeo and Juliet pendant is a quirky piece of jewellery for the occasion, it comes on a 23" so an ideal length for the outfit!

Hot Pants, Crop Top & Straw Hat - TOPSHOP

Romeo and Juliet Pendant- Ellie Ellie

Campfire Cupcake Recipe - Perfect little treat for Father's Day!

We just had to share this recipe as it brought back so many amazing memories of huddling round a bonfire toasting marshmallows! These bite sized cakes make a perfect 'little something' for Dad's this Father's Day, especially if he fancies himself as a bit of an outdoors type!

Campfire cupcakes complete with scrummy toasted marshmallows! Oh the memories!

Here's what you'll need-

140g light muscovado sugar
100 self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g cocoa powder
3 eggs
125ml vegatable oil
3 tbsp milk
30g milk chocolate chips
Pack of mini marshmallows

12 bun baking tray
12 bun cases!

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tip the sugar, flour, cocoa and baking powder into a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil and milk, then stir together with the dry ingredients until well combined. Add the milk chocolate chips. Place cupcake cases into a 12-hole bun tin. Divide the mixture between the cases, then bake for 20 mins until risen and cooked through. You can now leave to cool and store for up to 2 days in an airtight container.
2. Just before serving (either warm from the oven or cold), arrange marshmallows over the tops of the cakes. Heat grill to medium and pop the cakes under it for 30 secs, watching all the time, just until the marshmallows are lightly browned. Remove and eat straight away (as if you could wait!)

Father's Day- Where do you start?

Father's Day is swiftly coming up on the hard shoulder- blink and it'll be here (it's the 16th June for any of those out the loop!) We've put together a little inspiration for you all, whether you are looking for a card, token gift or maybe something cool for his home. We've got it covered.

GIFTS FOR THE HOME

If he's in to his music he'll love this piece of artwork. Each piece is made to order at our Sussex based HQ on beautiful vintage music sheets. You can personalise them with a lyric from his favourite song, making it

a totally unique talking point for his home! Why not add one of our beautiful reclaimed wood frames t'boot? Each frame is totally individual and handmade in Kent- just the ticket to add that finishing touch!

Ellie Ellie's Personalised Music Lyric Artwork make a perfect gift for Father's Day!

Let's face it Scrabble is the root of a lot of family fun. Over the years millions of families have spent an afternoon battling it out for triple word scores. If your Dad is into his board games these Giant Letter Wall Tiles make a fantastic and and innovative gift! You can buy each tile individually, so you can be as creative as you like! We love the idea of having the family surname in the hallway, but you could also go for room names e.g 'Games Room' or 'Office' or even a word that reminds you of a comical inside joke to put a smile on his face!

Ellie Ellie's Giant Letter Tiles are a great way of adding some nostalgic charm to a home

These genius cork boards are all handmade from recycled wine and champagne corks and are a perfect gift for the Dad who likes a tipple and  loves being organized..or who could do with learning to be! Each board is totally individual and are mounted inside an A3 reclaimed wood frame. Great for pinning photos, letters or not-so-subtle reminders!

Ellie Ellie's Recycled Cork Board is a great addition to any study or kitchen! He'll have no excuse for forgetting now!

THE TOKEN GIFT

Okay, so you don't want to go the whole hog. Just a little something to show you remembered? No problem. A keyring is such a good gift idea, not only is it useful but with a little help from us you can now personalise them with something that will not only look cool, but will be priceless in sentimental value too! Each one is double sided, meaning you can now add two personalised map locations. The personalisation ideas are endless - how about where his children (or grandchildren)were born? World is your oyster. 

Ellie Ellie's Personalised Map Location keyrings are perfect for the globetrotting Dad!

New in this season at Ellie Ellie are a house keyring to our collection, perfect to show their hometowns!

Ellie Ellie's super hero cufflinks have been a huge hit. Each pair is individually made from original comic books. Cosmopolitan magazine favourited them last year for the working chap and they make great Father's Day gifts for any vintage comic lover! 

Ellie Ellie doesn't just do Batman cufflinks, head over to the website for Superman, Spiderman and even Where's Wally cufflinks!

CARDS

Our cards all have a great retro feel to them, we use old school Polaroid-style photos which we then mount onto recycled card. We've also launched a new service whereby we can personalise the inside the card and send it direct to your Dad! Easy, peasy and totally hassle free.

You can add a personal message inside any of Ellie Ellie's cards an choose to have them sent straight to your recipient!

Ellie Ellie Wears

 

 This weeks Ellie Ellie Wears features this fab Parrot print Dress from Instant Vintage! We love the bold and quirky print and when put with these turquoise office sandals it makes a perfect outfit for Spring/Summer activities (we don't know when Summer's meant to turn up either, but hey lets stay hopeful!) Alphabet bags have produced yet another lovely product. 'Dance All Day' is such a fun sentiment and frankly it's how we wish we lived! After all, nothing better than a boogie with friends to your favourite song. Our Sixpence Necklace is the perfect accessory for the outfit and to make life even sweeter, you can even customise the coin date making it extra special to you.  

Parrot Dress - Instant Vintage

Dance All Day Shopper- Alphabet Bags

Sixpence Necklace - Ellie Ellie

Turquoise Sandal- OFFICE.

Handmade little memories

Ellie Ellie is quickly building a reputation for handmade and sustainable products, which give a whole new take on personalised gifting! Our Sussex HQ is packed to the rafters with materials, such as our beautiful vintage maps which we use to hand make our jewellery and cufflinks.

We thought we'd give you an insight to what happens behind the scenes!

We have thousands of vintage maps and atlases which we use to make our products with! We are always on the look out for beautiful old prints, whether we're rummaging around jumble sales or riffling through a charity shop!

Is it slightly weird that we have favourite maps? These are our 'old faithfuls'. This title is given to any map that never lets us down, having almost impossible locations in beautiful colour palettes and the highest print quality!

This is Lindsay our Head Maker, selecting map segments ready for jewellery making! She hand selects each piece of map that we use, making sure each piece is as beautiful as possible. By producing them individually by hand, it allows us to give our customers the individual attention they need to make their product as special as the memory it represents.

Some of our Personalised Map Cufflinks ready to go out to our customers! You can see how unique each one is, which we feel add a whole new level to the personalisation- no two are the same but they are all as beautiful!

Enter Ellie Ellie's Father's Day Competition!

IT'S COMPETITION TIME!

WIN one of our best selling Personalised Map Keyrings plus your choice of gift wrap & matching card for your Dad this Father’s Day!

All you have to do to win is head over to the Ellie Ellie Facebook page, 'like' us and comment on our competition post telling us which TWO locations you would choose for your Dad and why?

The best personalisation story will be chosen on the 10th of June by a sophisticated panel of the Ellie Ellie team! So dig deep people, it’s all about the location & good luck!

For more information about our Map Keyring, check it out here!

The Great Gatsby Inspired Makeup

The Great Gatsby was one of the most eagerly awaited films of the past few years and unsurprisingly it's been immensely popular with ticket sales going through the roof. One of the best literary classics of all time written by the genius American author F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Set in the roaring '20s during the prohibition, the plot circulates around fortune, idealism, social upheaval and the lengths people will go for love. The novel spells the story of the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a young man of extreme wealth and status and his infatuation with the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby throws giant and luxurious parties, where 'men and women flock like moths' in an array of high fashion and glamour.

The 1920 is famous as the 'flapper' era- brimming with tassels, feathers, diamonds and head dresses. The makeup was bold, glamorous and seductive. Eyes were accentuated with dark smokey eye shadow to give a enthralling 'doe eyed' look that men just coundn't pass. Lipstick was bold, dark and classic - reds and plums that ooze a velvet texture.

The height of 1920 style - smokey eyes, dark lipsticks accompanying no-end of feathers and glitz

 

 

For smokey eyes look no further than Bobbi Brown's Eyeshadow Palletes. We love these dark, dusky grey colours complete with those professional brushes for high class application! Use the darker tones towards the outide of the eye to create that catlike effect, adding the lighter shimmer grey towards the inside towards your nose! Gently blend the colours over your eye with your index finger, just to create a beautifully smooth 'tie-die' effect, rather then a block finish.

Here you can see the effect of the darker shades, blending with the softer grey to open the eye and create that classic 1920 flapper look.

 You can't go wrong with a MAC lippy. They come in so many shades it can take hours to decide on 'the one'. For the 1920 look we vote in favour of 'Diva' a luxurious deep red tone, so typical of that era.

MAC Lipstick in 'Diva' screams glamour and should be a makeup staple! To soften the colour for day time wear, why not add a very slight base of concealer to the lip before application?