A fun day out recently where I got to visit some amazing places and see some incredible things… always with my eyes open for beading inspiration…

We began at The Armoury of St James where we got to see some fascinating artefacts and learn about them before heading to Amir Mohtashemi where we saw beautiful handmade items including ceramics, woodwork, stonework and embroidery.

Then we headed to David Messum Fine Art to view some beautiful & colourful paintings and learning the history of the artists.

After lunch we moved onto Fortnum & Mason for a private tour which began in the boardroom and continued down through each floor (finishing in the wine crypt) where we learnt the history of the store and its owners and discovered so many details which you'd probably not spot at first glance (see the candle hands on the clock they use which reference Mr Fortnum starting out selling leftover candles from Queen Anne).

As we moved through each floor and department it was fun to see all the things I'd never spotted before such as the musical automatic and the pool-style game played by the Prince of Wales sitting on the shop floor for anyone to play.

We got to see some many beautiful pieces of art here too including 500-year old embroidery, paintings and woodwork right up to their new stunning double-helix staircase (inspired by one designed by Leonardo DaVinci) and one of only 3 on the world.

Fortnums is covered in intricate detail and hidden-in-plain-sight touches so do visit if you can and see what you can spot (and don't leave without some of their incredible biscuits!)

You can see more photos I took here on Instagram or here on Facebook