Spring Blossoms and Pantone Picnics

As the coats come off, I feel a sigh of relief being able to swap out my winter clothes for springtime outfits, and here at shida we are really taking advantage of the lighter hours and sunnier days!

We’ve had a busy month with the launch of our pastel collection, featuring Blossom and Sakura, our Denim range and of course, Mother’s Day! We've been blown away with all the gifts you’ve been sending across the world & all of the lovely messages to your loved ones we’ve been handwriting in your gift cards. Safe to say, we’re really feeling the love at Shida HQ.

The new Blossom styling box blends tonal creams and pops of ice cream pastels with tactile feathery goodness ready to add texture to any room. We designed Blossom with all you DIY styling fans in mind. It arrives with 4 mini wreath rings, floristry tape and our handy styling guide. You can transform your Blossom vase arrangement into any combination of bud vases and mini spring wreaths! Personally, we can’t stop admiring our recent picnic shoot for our spring collection. Hands up for long, sunny afternoons with friends and family!

Behind the scenes, our stylist Helen brought along morning buns and the prettiest pink, rhubarb pastries from, local favourite, Woosters bakery in Bury St Edmunds. We noticed that these didn’t make it to the studio after the shoot... however, back at the homestead, we did get to sample some of the Ocelot chocolate that helped to take the picnic to the next level! Top marks for the Toasted Buckwheat! Matt and Ish behind Ocelot chocolate design and illustrate their eye-catching packaging themselves making it an extra special gift or treat. So much so, that we decided to include a bar of Ocelot chocolate in the first five orders of our Blossom styling box as a special surprise for our customers, enjoy!

Helen combined contemporary picnic-ware with our soft and fluffy designs to create the ultimate picnic of our dreams. Helen’s tip to help determine the colour palette is to have a think about the occasion, setting and the colours that tie them together. We’ve shared some simple ways to elevate your picnic:

• Raise the level: Create height and add an easy base to eat from with a plastic storage box under your blanket (great for carrying all your picnic essentials too!)

• Seat pads: We’ve all been enjoying a picnic when the dreaded dead leg hits. Bring seat cushions with you for that extra bit of comfort so that your picnic can last all afternoon...

• Grazing boards: Replace plates and bowls with grazing boards as an effective way of elevating your picnic spread. For a picnic between households, use compostable cocktail sticks or divide the food between households on separate grazing boards.

• Bring a parasol: A parasol brings welcome shade for when you’ve had enough sun for one day. Also making other fellow picnickers jealous from afar!

• Sweet music: A portable speaker or radio will do just the trick and if you don’t have one, don't forget a portable charger for your phone!

• Cosy up: If your picnic turns from late afternoon to early evening, don’t let that stop you! A selection of blankets will keep you cosy until you’re ready go to home.

• Decorate: Flowers are the perfect way to set the scene of your picnic and our flowers can come home with you to be used again and again. Take inspiration from how Helen has styled the Blossom in our picnic or experiment and use the mini wreaths as place settings for each of your picnic guests.

The bank holiday weekend is in sight and we hope that you all get at least one day of fun! I’m certainly going to be making my outdoor entertaining extra by and adding pops of colour with some flowers and grazing boards! Show us how you’ve styled your flowers this weekend by tagging us in your pictures on IG, you’ll find us cooing over them when we get back in the studio on Tuesday! Have fun, stay safe and enjoy the weekend.