Willow Crossley – Mademoiselle Aïa

Willow Crossley

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Meet Willow. Inspired by her love of nature, flowers, interior and antiques she wrote ‘The Art of Handmade Living’ and her new book ‘Inspire, the art of living with nature’. Let`s take a look in the world of this English flower and mom of two lovely boys!

Who:  Willow Crossley

Age: 31

Location:  Oxfordshire Cotswolds

What`s on your mind:  A shoot I’m working on for Jo Malone next week.

 Your perfect city to live in:  London

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Tell us a little bit about „Willow Rose Boutique”: It’s my business that i started about 10 years ago when i moved to the South of France.  It started as me making crafty bits and pieces – lots of vintage fabrics and baskets and now I’m back in the UK it’s moved full time into floristry and floral styling.

What do you think is the most interesting part of working for yourself:  I can pick and choose projects that I want to work on so i tend to work only on things that excite me.  There’s no chance of getting bored either as each event comes and goes pretty fast so there’s no hanging around for months working on the same project.  I love how I have to have my creative hat on at all times!

Who you dreamed to become when you was a child:  A police man.  Or to have a sweet shop.

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What`s the best thing about being a young mom:  They say you have more energy being a young mum – i dread to think how i’d feel if i’d done it any older!

What`s your favorite dish to cook at home:  Tamasin Day-Lewis Chicken Savoyarde.  It’s mine and Chaz’s absolute comfort food favorite.

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Your secret beauty tips:  I’ve just discovered a pretty hardcore but brilliant medical skincare range by Dr Zein Obagi.  I also drink Green Magma every morning.  DisGUSTING but I feel lost without it.  Elemis SOS emergency rescue for bad skin days.

What inspires you:  Everything and anything.  Nature, i adore going for walks, especially in Wales where I grew up.  Reading, cookery books, take out menus, Pinterest.  Covent Garden flower market..

What is your style signature?  Comfort is very important to me.  I’m not good at tight or restrictive. Hervé Léger is my idea of hell.  If you looked into my wardrobe it’s basically one big Breton stripe.  With lots of colorful paisley prints and Isabel Marant trainers.

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Five things you always take with you when traveling:  It’s rare that I travel without the Cubs so a lot of edible bribes.  iPad.  Big cashmere scarf.  More magazines and books than i can carry.  All in a straw basket.

 Tell us about your ideal day: I’d have a lie in after not being woken up at all in the night by the Cubs.  Have a huge breakfast – pancakes, yogurts, eggs, bacon, fruit salads, bircher muesli.  Go to the flower market and hang out there for a few hours.  Meet my girlfriends for a lazy lunch –  8 over 8 or Kurobuta in London or Worton Organic in the Country.  Take the boys on an adventure in the afternoon.  Probably to somewhere like the Cotswold Wildlife park.  Then Chaz and I would go out for a romantic dinner.  Heaven.

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Where do you go for a good lunch with girlfriends?  Worton Organic Garden near Woodstock in Oxfordshire

How do you see yourself in 10 years:  I’d love to have my own flower shop.  And it would  be so successful that i’d have bought a house by the sea.

You can find more about Willow and her work here

Interview and edited by Alice Simeonova

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