Love From Kew

Bringing together messages from vintage Kew postcards with new prose reflections, Love from Kew is a one-of-a-kind look at the enduring needs for human connection--with each other as much as the natural world. In 2020, the United Kingdom recognized the 150th anniversary of the official introduction of postcards. At the peak of their popularity in the early twentieth century, more than two million postcards a day were mailed in the UK. One could view postcards as the texts or tweets of their day: brief communiques that provide glimpses into the lives of others, with stories that are often as funny or poignant as they are cryptic. These messages were often sent to family or friends back home from a site of special importance--like, for example, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ​Love from Kew is a valentine to these missives of the past, placing vintage Kew postcards--and the messages written on them--alongside new prose reflections from multi-genre writer Sophie Shillito. The decades-old correspondence and Shillito's wonderstruck contemporary reflections offer a meditation on how these Kew postcards speak to the eternal human need for both personal connection and communion with the natural world. In today's world of environmental precarity and increased isolation, these themes are just as relevant as they were when these antique postcards were first penned. Love from Kew is a fascinating and heartfelt blend of social and visual history, observed through the singular lens of Kew Gardens.

In the Kew Book of Sugar Flowers, sugarcraft specialist Cassie Brown teaches you how to craft stunning, authentic-looking flowers and foliage using flower paste (gum paste). Learn how to create beautiful bouquets and stunning sprays, from the early stages of germinating your ideas - taking inspiration from nature and making moulds from real flowers and leaves - to creating floral cake decorations with an exotic or wild flower theme for a special occasion. Through clear and concise step-by-step instructions, Cassie explains every facet of crafting sugar flowers, from gaining an appreciation of the flower itself, to preparing the flower paste and colouring it to wiring the flowers into an attractive and realistic bouquet. There is a veritable garden of delights to choose from, from ornate orchids to delicate daisies. The method for crafting each individual flower is demonstrated in stunning detail beginning with an 'exploded flower' photograph that illustrates each of the individual components and working through the techniques and tricks that Cassie herself applies to create her stunning floral displays. The Kew Book of Sugar Flowers is the perfect book for the established sugarcrafter looking to develop their skills and take their cake-decorating capabilities to the next level. Readers with a particular interest in flowers and plants will also love this book for its painstaking recreation of flora in flower paste (gum paste), and the book is endorsed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew giving extra credibility to the stunning realism of the flowers that Cassie Brown has recreated. Foreword by Eddie Spence M.B.E. Eddie Spence MBE has enjoyed an illustrious career in confectionery and cake design and his superior skills have earned him the opportunity to decorate many cakes for the royal family, including Her Majesty the Queen herself.

A heart-warming novel inspired by real life events, about the brave women during WWI who worked in the historic grounds of London's Kew Gardens. Can the women of Kew keep the gardens alive in the midst of war? London, 1916. England is at war. Desperate to help in whatever way they can, Ivy and Louisa enlist as gardeners at Kew, the Royal Botanic Gardens, taking on the jobs of the men who have gone to fight. Under their care, the gardens begin to flourish and become a safe haven for those seeking solace--but not everyone wants women working at Kew. The pair begin to face challenges on the home front. When a tragedy overseas affects the people closest to them, can the women of Kew pull together to support themselves and their country through the darkest of times?

"Doesn't one always think of the past, in a garden with men and women lying under the trees? Aren't they one's past, all that remains of it, those men and women, those ghosts lying under the trees... one's happiness, one's reality?" A family of four is walking around Kew Gardens in London, lost in their thoughts. The husband thinks of the girl who turned down his marriage proposal in this very garden many years ago. When asking his wife if it upsets her that he's thinking about this other woman, she reasons that one's past is like ghosts lying under the trees. Only Virginia Woolf can write a short story about completely ordinary things and people and make you long for more. With exquisite prose, she invites you along as she examines the beauty of normal summer's day. Adeline Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was an English writer who, despite growing up in a progressive household, was not allowed an education. When she and her sister moved in with their brothers in a rough London neighborhood, they joined the infamous The Bloomsbury Group, which debated philosophy, art and politics. Woolf's most famous novels include 'Mrs Dalloway' (1925) and 'To the Lighthouse' (1927).

This fantastic resource book contains over 70 of Trish Burr's fabulous embroidery designs on easy-to-use iron-on transfer paper. This fantastic resource book contains over 70 iron-on designs from world-renowned embroiderer Trish Burr's best-selling embroidery books, plus 6 new bonus designs. Project instructions for each design are available in Trish's inspirational books Needle Painting Embroidery, Colour Confidence in Embroidery, Miniature Needle Painting Embroidery and Whitework with Colour. Choose from a wonderful range of inspiring designs, including flowers, birds, figures, animals and small vignettes. The book contains a short section at the start which gives colour inspiration for every design plus advice on using the transfers; the rest of the book consists of iron-on transfer paper. Using the iron-on transfers is very simple, and each design can be used, stored then reused multiple times. This book gives embroiderers a bumper selection of designs to choose from - it will provide embroiderers of all abilities with the confidence they need to get started creating their own masterpieces.

'A masterful exploration of love, loss and the healing power of the natural world. Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure' Observer LONGLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2018 Jonah roams Kew Gardens trying to reassemble the shattered pieces of his life after the death of his wife, Audrey. Weathering the seasons and learning to love again, he meets Chloe, an enigmatic origami artist who is hesitant to let down her own walls. In the gardens he also meets ten-year-old Milly, and Harry, a gardener, both of whom have secrets of their own to keep – and mysteries to solve.