thimbles and crumbles

✴ the unintentional vase, part two

2011-05-26T10:27:00.000+01:00

I really can't resist looking out for unusual, or unexpected, vessels for pretty florals.

There is something so charming and quirky about filling an old tin can or bottle with a bunch of delicate blooms.

And such nifty, thrifty chic to boot.

I found this decanter {cut glass, or dare I wonder, lead crystal, perhaps??} in the local charity shop the other day.

I only nipped out for cat food.

It was missing it's stopper which I think contributed towards its very respectable price tag of £1.

I gave it a good clean in hot soapy water and tied a scrap of pointe shoe ribbon around the neck, filling it with the prettiest rose tinted lisianthus.

Keep a look out in charity and junk shops for anything imperfect. That is, missing a lid or a stopper, or a handle or perhaps even has small chips and cracks. They make the loveliest and thriftiest of vases.

In case you are wondering, part one was these pretty milk/cream jugs which I filled with bluebells. Although these are perfectly perfect and are also used for their original purpose, they sometimes like to moonlight as flower vessels!

Who can blame them?!

Taking part in Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

✴ to sleep, perchance...??

2011-05-19T15:30:00.000+01:00

It would seem my little princess has a pea the size of a 'waterlemon' {her word} under her mattress judging by the amount, or lack of, sleep we have been having this week.

We have been awake all night. No, really, ALL night! I managed to sleep for one hour before the princess awakened from her sleep of disrupted enchantment and decided enough was enough, why bother waiting for morning...

I know I should be napping now, while she {finally} is. But the problem is I just can't;

{1} a couple of hours just won't cut it and I'll feel even worse, I know it,

{2} the chance of some quality time on the stitch with glorious peace and daylight far outweighs the bliss of sleep. Really. I know. I'm bonkers.

I made this 'Princess and the Pea' for her the Christmas before last, her first ever one. I'll admit, it was initially met with an expression of what am I supposed to do with this...?

However over time she learned the simple pleasures of flinging the mattresses to the far corners of the living room, or even at a passing cat. And now, we are almost a very grown up two and a half, we have fun with tucking the princess up into bed and kissing her 'night, night'.

It's not even finished {gasp, shock} I had wanted to embroider 'the princess' on the blanket and I was never that happy with how my princess turned out! We have seemingly lost the pillow and a couple of the mattresses {probably under the sofa or hidden by the cats}.

Despite this and although it took a little while, she loves playing with it now. I think children adore to sort and stack and this seems to fit the bill perfectly. There is nothing worse than spending time and love with every stitch of a handmade toy for it to be pushed to the side in favour of some cheap plastic tat!

{'princess and the pea' pattern from More Softies }

✴ the torment of inconsistent raisin distribution...and winners

2011-05-17T16:27:00.000+01:00

I don't know what it is with baking with my little one that turns me into a highly strung, perfectionist mumma.

Fanny Craddock crossed with Hyacinth Bucket, but there it is....

"Noooo.....Let mummy pick that up....now, careful, ooopsss...we'll do that bit again.....I'll finish that bit off........shall I do it??........"

I'll happily sit back and let her paint splodges with carefree abandon.....squidge play dough into mounds of nobbly wonder and dig up parts of the garden with a stick {ok that last one, not that happily...}, but I come over all wobbly when I see a gingerbread leg ripped mercilessly from one and pressed onto the tummy or head of another. And don't get me started on raisin distribution....

I need to get over myself....obviously, the one legged, 3 {raisin} eyed man is going to taste just the same as the others...! Maybe even better!

And so, as we happily scoff our gingerbread walking wounded for afternoon tea, we had a moment to scrunch up some names on paper {including those names wiped from the comments by the mischief making of blogger!!!}, tip them in a small mixing bowl and pulled out three at random.

The winners of Ediths Brooch giveaway are...

Tracey :: Seaweed and Raine :: Lyndel

Well done ladies, I will be in touch.

Apologies to everyone else and thank you all for entering and for indulging my ramblings with your sweet comments aplenty.

Check back here as I hope to offer up a bit of a freebie for all in the next week or so.

✴ happy monday

2011-05-16T10:04:00.000+01:00

I've been flower mad recently. Dismayed at the lack of floral prettiness in my garden I've been researching the diy option and along the way have discovered a vast array of paper and fabric flower tutorials on t'internet.

I'm normally crafting fake fabric flowers and twirly, ruchy, frilly bits for hats and headdresses so it was quite pleasing to find some ideas of the paper variety and the larger and more decorative the better.

So on friday afternoon me and the little lady sat at the kitchen table and buzzed away in our little creative spaces, me with cutting and pleating these petals while she got messy with paint and brushes.....

{we are still trying to comb dried paint out of her hair...}

This giant poppy was made from a Martha Stewart tutorial. I changed it slightly, using fabric as well as paper and stuck a large vintage button in the centre. I must say it was a sheer delight to make and pretty simple and quick too.

This one ended up as a gift for a birthday girl. It was such a calming and relaxing pastime that I'm sure I'll be making more, watch this space....

Happy flower filled week. x

✴ green living

2011-05-15T17:44:00.000+01:00

I'm loving the green that surrounds us. Everything is thriving from the fabulous sunshine and although the garden is lacking in colourful blooms {must do better next year...} I'm learning to love the green and the leafy.

Jasmine leaves in a tiny glass bottle and small ribbon-tied bunches of ferns are making my heart sing this week.

The botanical greeneries and crisp white linen make me think of an Edwardian parlour, I'm not sure why but there it is.

So gloriously glorious and springy are the green and white hues, a perfectly elegant and cheap way to decorate a room and so very weddingy too!

There I go again, obsessed with all things weddingy....

All things green....

ferns and jasmine from a shady nook in the garden,

transferware sauce boat from a nearby charity shop and a gift from a thoughtful friend

{thank you Miss S.}

Burleigh chinese style bowls {x 2} in pale green 'Asiatic Pheasants' pattern, local charity shop £3

home grown and home made pea shoot and walnut pesto, recipe here.

{I used old baby food jars, which are a perfect size for pesto and improvised jampot covers with fairy cake cases!}

More Flea Market Finds here

Also, still time to enter my giveaway I will draw winners next week.

Sorry if you have had trouble commenting, blogger was a bit disturbed last week and I fear I have a lost some comments in the process. Hopefully now normal service is resumed {because wasn't it a pain?!!!}

✴ happy monday

2011-05-09T19:25:00.000+01:00

At B orough Market on saturday. Ashamed to say I have never, ever been before.

Delighted to say that I will most definitely be going again!

It was packed. But just so lovely to be amongst crowds who just have such a thrill for food and freshly grown produce. Everything is just so delectably delicious. The smells of baked goods, freshly squeezed juice, bubbling pans and sizzling grills of cooked delights! Ahhh....bliss.

I am always drawn to the pretty and unusual at these sorts of markets and find myself needing to buy items that you just can't find in the tesco 24 hour garage....globe artichoke, ostrich fillet, elderflower and gooseberry jam, spelt bread, ludicrously long cinnamon sticks.......

All the traders are just so very friendly and helpful there too, from the man who helped me choose a selection of flavoured turkish delight {my one weakness...!} to the lovely chap who gave me a demonstration of how to brew the perfect pot of darjeeling tea!

Have a delectable week. x

✴ edith's sweet treats::giveaway

2011-05-08T18:22:00.000+01:00

Today this little blog is celebrating it's 3 year....ermmm...and one week birthday!

Ok, so with all the excitement, festivities and bank holiday relaxing of last weekend I completely forgot about my little blogs special day. I'm sorry little blog.

Anyway, to mark this momentous moment....ahem....I shall be doing a little giveaway.

A short while ago I started to stitch some button brooches from a raggy old bit of unfinished embroidery. And so, although progress has been a little bit slow - blamed solely on my infatuation with watching The Killing almost every night and as we all know, evening craft and subtitled viewing do not mix well - I think I may have a few of these little vintage embroidered brooches to giveaway to a few lovely readers...that is you. Details below.

Someone asked me if I had ever thought about the stitcher of this unfinished embroidery, and let me just say, OH YES, I HAVE......! {Warning! Long ramble approaching...}

I imagine she is a lady who lives in a house similar to mine, in a London surbarb.

Her name is Edith and it is spring 1939.

She spends her day consumed with duties of a busy housewife. In the morning she cleans out the grate of last nights blackened ashes from the stove, washes the windows with newspaper and vinegar solution. She exchanges pleasantries and discusses the delightfully clement weather with the postman and visits the grocer for cabbage for the evening stew she'll spend the afternoon preparing.

She is a stocky, middle aged lady with greying pincurled hair. She never leaves the house without her hat and her best coat, even when the sun is warm and always wears her crossover pinny when home. She's a bit clumsy and heavy handed but she works hard and is meticulous in her chores.

She worries that she cannot keep up with the local housewives and their 'domestic goddess' like ways.

Having visited them all for afternoon teas and congratulated them on their lightness of scone, selection of perfect china and beauty of their delicately hand stitched and co-ordinated table linens.

Realising it will soon be her time for an 'at home' and she sets about with a 'stitch it yourself' small tablecloth.

Oh how she wants to impress those opinionated ladies.

The stitching is harder than she thought, the threads become tangled all too often and the embroidery takes many months of stitching.

She works on it in the evening while her husband sleeps off dinner in the armchair and listening to the wireless she trys to shut out news of the impending troubles in Europe with colourful threads of periwinkle blue, peach and magenta, slowly creating a bouquet of flowers on the cream linen cloth.

The tablecloth will never be finished because with the outbreak of war comes far more important chores than embroideries and afternoon tea. Edith carefully places the unfinished embroidery in her sewing box.

She now wears overalls and sturdy lace up boots, she rolls up her sleeves and heads off to the local garage to take up her job as a mechanic.

Now the men are all off fighting for their country it's down to the strong and sturdy women like Edith to keep things going. This was what she was born to do. The 'domestic goddesses' are appalled at her dirty oily hands and disheveled hair but are secretly just a bit in awe too.

Edith finally feels important and worthy, she never takes out the embroidery again, such delicate tasks are not for the likes of Edith. Neither does she worry about her failure in baking or spends too much time on making her windows shine. Instead she is Queen of the engine and all is good.

{not factually based....obviously - ramblings of a daydreamer!!!}

These two little birds {£3 each}, picked up and subsequently sprayed in white from the local charity shop the other week, were just a bit chuffed to be asked to carry the banner to announce the giveaway. I can't help but notice how lovely these are in a weddingy sort of way. A brilliantly cheap way of decorating a venue.

I'm wondering about giving them gold painted beaks...what do you think?

So if you would like to enter, just leave a comment below with an email address/blog link so that I can contact you should you win.

No need to be a follower, or mention this on your blog, or tweet or bleat or whatever else about this. It's just a simple gift from me, and I am happy to send these little lovelies wherever in the world you may be.

I will, in a blindfolded sort of way, draw three winners from the proverbial hat {well, in actual fact, probably a real hat...} the week after next so you have until midnight {GMT } next sunday {15th} to enter.

Brooches will be selected randomly and I suspect a few other bits of craftiness will be added to the giveaway package!

Bonne chance, mes amis!

{Swinnertons 1950's cake stand from my sister-in-law}
Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures.

P.S Please do not reveal the ending to The Killing, I have not finished watching it yet!!!!

✴ start of the season

2011-05-05T15:14:00.000+01:00

I think we can now most definitely say that wedding season is upon us. As someone who works with beautiful brides and spends most days looking lovingly at wedding inspirations I think there can be no better kick off with all things weddingy than with the recent nuptials of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Did you watch? I spent the day with two lovely hat wearing ladies and we supped bubbly and ate breakfast and supped bubbly and ate lunch and then just supped bubbly.

We gasped and we oohed and we ahhed at the sublime beauty of Miss M in her beautiful gown.

Imagine how hit-the-roof excited I then was to discover that my dear, and oh so talented friend, had been a special stitcher of that most famous frock. She was one of the embroiderers from The Royal School of Needlework. How gobsmacked was I?? The BEST KEPT SECRET bar none!

You can read all about it here.

So, buzzing with this knowledge and therefore reckoning that if I spent the weekend congratulating and stroking the arm of said friend and royal stitcher {ok not the whole weekend, that would be weird} then indeed I could conclude that I am only one very petite person away from that most famous frock......that's how it works in my head anyway....

Not surprising then, that my space is of the bridal kind this week.

With finishing of some pieces and the beginnings of others. Working on new brass pieces with vintage lace and quartz crystal, ideas brewing for these teeny tiny brass lockets, baby blue grosgrain ribbon, cinderella style tulle bows and finding inspiration in delicate forget-me-not flowers.

I feel compelled to doth my feathery fascinator style cap in awe to the brit style front cover of Grazia and the utterly brilliant headline "Arise McQueen Kate". Well done Grazia.

More Creative Spaces at Kootoyoo.

✴ royaltea

2011-04-28T21:49:00.000+01:00

The past couple of days, me and the little lady of the house have been 'at home' to friends calling round for afternoon tea. It has been most delightful. We have supped tea and fine bubbly {for those of age} and dined on delicious savories and home baked nutmeg scones with strawberry jam and fresh cream. Yum.

We have been a bit impressed with our oh so last minute afternoon tea styling with antique embroidered tablecloths and thrifted vintage jugs holding bluebells and wild {or weed?} flowers picked late one night from the 'jungle' before the gardeners mowed them all away the next day.

We found old rocks, shells and pieces of coral gathered long, long ago from beachcombing trips and now scattered around the garden and thought they'd make pretty good tablecloth weights against the blustery winds that swept though our gloriously sunny days.

I had forgotten about the heart shaped lump of coral and thought it quite apt and just a bit pretty.

We watched children play and tickled new babies toes, we chatted about new loves and remembered past high jinks and nights of hilarity, we discussed wedding plans and preceding hen do's and special birthdays soon to be celebrated.

And with bellies full, glasses drained, teacups gathered and sleepy children heading to 'bedfordshire' we decided that love was most definitely in the air and exciting times are ahead.

I'm wondering if Kate has been scoffing cream tea and laughing with her gal pals and I'm doubting she has a dishwasher to empty and reload...

✴ happy monday {on a tuesday}

2011-04-26T15:36:00.000+01:00

Did you have a lovely Easter? Ours was very quiet but delightful nonetheless.

There was much pottering to be had, a bit of stitching, a fair amount of baking, a grand egg hunt {or two} and an aching excess of weed pulling and seed planting. I am aching...! What a workout!

I planted celeriac, tomato plants, radish, spring onions, cucumber, lettuce {lollo rosso and iceberg} and an abundance of salad leaves.

I harvested {yay!!} a bountiful bouquet of swiss chard that was planted last year and hasn't been tended to, weed controlled or even thought about since last harvested and is still growing strong having survived winter and deep, deep snow... It was delicious {washed, chopped, sauteed with olive oil, chopped garlic, lemon juice, toasted pine nuts and a knob of butter! Easy as!}. I also took the first cuttings from the pea shoots planted a couple of weeks ago {easy, easy, easy....how to here} and added them to a salad, and I'm eyeing up my flourishing rhubarb and reckoning it maybe time to cut...having waited so patiently and resisted cutting in it's first year {Oh, the torment}.

And the best thing....knowing we get to do it all again next weekend with another 4 day lie in!!! {well, not so with a toddler, but you know what I mean!}.

Happy 3 day week all! x

✴ retro teatime

2011-04-19T15:07:00.000+01:00

I'll admit that I'm not usually drawn to 1960's and 70's retro patterned pottery. Which is odd as I love Orla Kiely and her designs are clearly inspired by this era.

Anyway, this little teapot sang to me from it's box of donated goodness in the corner of the charity shop.

It whispered to me that in it's state of lidless perfection, it would make a wonderful planter.

I agreed and instantly began to imagine a flurry of trailing vinca pouring over the pot and through the spout.

And really, what else could you do with a lidless teapot?

Anyway, then the lady found the lid and when I asked the price she sucked her teeth and said.."Oohh...well it is Sadler.....better make it £2.50" and I knew then it was probably sacrosanct to fill it with earth and leave it out in the rain.

And don't you just love thrifty shopping when something seemingly so revered can still only cost £2.50!

{crocheted pot holder from a pattern in Kyuuto! Lacy Crochet}

Flea Market Finds here.

✴ happy monday

2011-04-18T18:40:00.000+01:00

Goodness, I haven't been here for a whole week. I hate when time runs away like that. Especially when you look back and wonder what on earth you managed to achieve.

It's been a tough week with a little tearaway monster in tow. 11 years too early for the teenage chatback and stroppy tantrums so I assume we are not quite finished with our teeth growing and am blaming the wide awake nights and hissyfits on sore gums and irritation.

Not just a toddlers wild ways I have been trying to tame, but with the recent sunny weather the overgrown ~~jungle~~ garden has been crying out for some pruning and a stern talking to.

Last year I eagerly planted some ranunculus bulbs....a year later there has been not even the merest hint of a bloom. At the same time I planted some anemone bulbs and a year later...the same sorry tale..or so I thought.

However the other day I spotted in amongst the weeds, a couple of beautiful purple/pink anemone.

How utterly thrilled I was. Delighted pride and joy in the small miracles of gardening, the pleasures, the pains, of successes and failures, the thrill of new discoveries and that life will always find a way....and then bewilderment, and subsequent devastation that those two brave little flowers had somehow found themselves unearthed by small toddler hands and were being thrust in my direction, roots attached and stems bent,

"Here you go, mummy".

It's so very difficult to get cross with the gift giver {flower thief} when she smiles so sweetly!

Happy week and roll on those bank holidays!! x

✴ happy monday

2011-04-11T20:51:00.000+01:00

It always makes me chuckle, that no matter what kind of paint brushes, rollers, stamps, sponges and other fancy schmancy painting tools we have....there is nothing quite like swirling your finger in a dollop of paint and daubing it on the paper!

It takes literally seconds for the paint to come out that little keen toddler fingers {hands...elbows...toes...} get completely covered and, as we all know it's a short hop, skip and a jump before everything else within toddler reach gets covered too.

And so, with warmer weather we are doing our painting outdoors. And how lovely it is too...

"I like painting..." the little voice says..."I like hands..."..."I like cats..."

Watch this space, it's only a matter of time before I find a grumpy purple cat {or two} on my doorstep...

Happy, colourful week! x

✴ we will repair to our rooms...and consume our fruit in solitude

2011-04-10T09:55:00.000+01:00

One of my favourite scenes in Cranford {the BBC adaptation, it only merits a few lines in the book} is the evening when, by candlelight, the sisters Miss Matty and Miss Deborah together with their guest Mary Smith, sit around the table to eat the oranges that Mary has brought for them. They discuss their preferred ways to eat an orange {which seems such an exotic treat for them all} and after much debate, Miss Deborah decides that the act of sucking juice from such an altogether messy fruit is far too unladylike and vulgar and that they had best eat their oranges each of them in their own rooms out of sight from one another. Brilliant.

What on earth would Miss Deborah make of us ladies today. Constantly eating on the go. Shoving a sandwich in as we nip round the house with a hoover....I'll admit to often having a packet of crisps open in my pocket while out shopping....an utter disgrace, I know.

Anyway, I spotted these transferware pieces in my local charity shop during the week. I have a bit of a weakness for transferware and I'm starting to gather an eclectic mish mash of pieces, like this blue, and this green. It's just lovely don't you think? I can so imagine the Jenkyns ladies eating their oranges off such a plate and dish as these. In their own rooms, of course.

Having just had a few weeks of a cough and cold I've been eating a lot of oranges, and Miss Deborah is so very right..."Consuming them is a most incommodious business".

{ red transferware dish £2 and plate £1.50}

more Flea Market Finds here

✴ hanging around, shooting the breeze...

2011-04-08T20:43:00.000+01:00

The temperatures are soaring here. We've been getting rather hot under the collar, me and the little lady. So much so that it is actually quite nice to rest a while indoors and enjoy some shade, some quiet and have a bit of a cool down.

And so, I've been covering wire hangers with selvedge trim. As a 20 minute wind down {or wind around?} and the calming qualities of hanger covering are really quite surprising....honestly!

Give it a go...turn something destined for the dump into something Mr Morris would be proud of {practical and beautiful?}...

I used selvedge because I have piles of it and really, what else can you do with it? I also love the dual recycling purposes of the ugly wire hanger and the scruffy unloved selvedge, a perfect partnership, methinks!

But you could easily use ribbon or cotton tape. Just wrap it around the hanger, no need even to sew, I just wrapped a small piece of double sided sticky at the beginning and end of each piece. Job done.

Kirsty has got everyone hanger crazy!

✴ all around me...

2011-04-06T22:45:00.000+01:00

China cups of tea on a ribbon strewn desk...

Liberty, lavender, love and luck...

Vintage milk glass earrings...{tick}

Hearts and kisses and little girl summer skirts...."Oo... like dat, mummy..."

Can't help but feel all pinky and peachy on this tropical and sun sparkled day. And all about my space are hints of Summer. I've also become smitten with the world of the podcast. To add to my old lady style I'm rather loving, Desert Island Discs, Gardeners' Question Time and, wait for it {and no, smug, "told you so" laughing, mum and dad...} The Archers!!!! Although I have no idea what on earth is going on I just snuggle in to the west country accents and 'trouble at mill' storylines.

And really, did David push Nigel off the roof..? Hhhmmmm........

My Creative Space at Kootoyoo.

✴ happy monday

2011-04-04T20:07:00.000+01:00

I'm so loving these lighter evenings. And todays sunshine and blustery winds meant that for the first time this year I was able to hang the washing out on the line. Hooray! I do love washing on a line.

Did you have a lovely weekend? I did. I had a day to myself to potter on saturday and a sunday in Windsor by the river, and a lovely dinner, which I didn't have to cook, or clean up after. Brilliant!

I made earrings and necklaces and brooches galore. I made fat quarter skirts {for a small person} and played around with pretty fabrics for dresses {for a big person}. I spun around in circles with Miss Ella in a giant teacup and I watched my beloved Boardwalk Empire, with a lovely glass{es} of red.

I didn't do any paperwork or serious businessy stuff or tidy the house. I'm still very behind with getting in touch with people and am late with some birthdays.

Oh well, I'm only human...!

Have a good week. x

✴ sea nymphs

2011-03-29T23:50:00.000+01:00

I've been making some new headdresses inspired by the salty sea. The things that are washed up by the shoreline, natural organic garlands of seaweed, kelp and shells are just so very pretty in their rustic briny ways. And glittering sands on a sun dappled beach could so easily be crystals, don't you think?

These enchanting nymphs are, Morwen, Coralie and Ione. They are made with brass wire and are so delightfully light and easy to wear. They have no combs or pins but two wire loops at either end for placing hair grips or perhaps a narrow ribbon or hair band could be threaded through for wrapping around a bun or updo.

I'm loving working with brass at the moment, a nice change from silver and gold. Brass has a vintage appearance that I find so very charming and develops it's own natural patina with age.

We don't live on the coast but a winter retreat to Cornwall last year, with blustery walks along the sand and shell seeking in rock pools provided just the inspiration for creating these pieces.

✴ happy monday

2011-03-28T16:38:00.000+01:00

Cough , be gone, I will have no more of thee...

Yesterday, I managed to drag my weary and still slightly poorly body out to the Country Living Spring Fair. Never to let a dose of illness prevent a day of shopping! The little one and the mr headed off to London Zoo after dropping me in Islington. It was a perfectly balmy day, the first official day of Spring now that we have given up an hour {a precious hour to someone with little sleep...} but it was worth it for a beautiful fresh day and lovely light evening. Wasn't it warm?

I trudged through the crowds and managed to keep my consumptive coughing to a minimum thanks to a big bag of wine gums. And bought some lovely lovelies.

Hankies {no surprise there...} and tea towels from Thornback and Peel, pretty little girl dresses from Bread and Jam, wooden toys from Croglin Designs, and a vintage jug from Garden Brocante, plus some cakey bits and fabricy bits.

The best bit was bumping into an old friend from the north! Fancy seeing you here, Mrs A...Such a lovely surprise!

Today I'll be mainly playing with the little one in the garden and filling in the census form - have you done yours yet?

✴ the tale of the fish and the bird

2011-03-27T21:50:00.000+01:00

Once upon a time, in a distant land called 2010, there lived, in a musty old - although surprisingly treasure laden - charity shop, a fish and a bird.

Alone and unloved, there they sat. The fish hidden from view in the large window display, the bird even more so at the back of a dusty shelf, next to a toast rack, behind the shop counter.

And so they waited. In the dead, dark loneliness of night they recounted their past days of glory, the fish as an ashtray, the bird as a sideboard ornament. Would they ever again feel so cherished and worthy.

They feared the worst. And then one day, a rather harassed looking mother pressed her nose to the window of the shop {as she was often inclined to do} and she spotted the fish. Dragging her small child inside she asked to see the fish more closely. The fish could hardly believe his...ermm...ears?

"Two quid? I'll take it" said the mother. She thought it might make a pretty trinket dish for her 'Nemo' obsessed child. And then on paying she spotted the bird.

The women of the shop were used to the harassed mother. And her strange ways. They couldn't quite fathom her penchant for kooky old nik naks {not to mention crocheted doilies} for someone so relatively young. Then the harassed, but much happier mother left the shop, with the fish and the bird. And the child, of course.

The bird cried out to be painted, "Oh, cover my chintz and transform my old fashioned-ness...", the mother thought she heard it say. And so she obliged and a new creamy coat with porcelain hues the bird now wears. It occurred to the mother that with his newly painted coat, the bird might just make a perfect mannequin for displaying her handmade jewellery. The bird was delighted, as he had always fancied himself as a bit of a model and had perfected the art of keeping positively still.

The mother wondered if the fish would like to have a go, but he was more shy than the bird and really couldn't make his mind up whether he should be painted or not......and neither could the mother, she had begun to grow fond of his brassy ways......The end.

{ brass 1950's fish ashtray, £2 :: china bird, £3 :: embroidered linen pillowcase £4 }

Jewellery made by me, yonks ago, forgotten by me, then discovered by me, yesterday!

Flea Market Finds for more tales of treasure.

✴ meringues

2011-03-25T16:00:00.000Z

At four pm everything stops for tea. Ok maybe not a stop as such but a slight pause, a quiet second to refuel and take a moment. I'm a huge fan of the afternoon tea. In every job I've ever had, there has been a call out for 'tea?' at four, and a packet of biscuits is ripped open, or if really lucky, a piece of cake, or sticky bun.

I've decided to get organised with all of my scraps and cuttings of this and that, pretty things and inspirations, and start sticking them all into a journal. I was never that good at keeping a written diary, but cut & paste {the old fashioned way} I think I can do. I already have 6 files of recipe cuttings!

I came across these cuttings on my desk and with some new {old} supplies currently holding my interest, I can't help but think of an afternoon tea of delectable prettiness.

I'm imagining scoffing a raspberry meringue with lashings of fresh cream from a china dish on a crisp linen covered table scattered with periwinkle blue petals. Of course, I'd be wearing this tulle frock by Marchesa, and perhaps an olive green feather coquette in my hair....There would be an infinite calm to my surroundings with the soft playing of a piano and gentle background chatter....

Hhmmm....the reality is not entirely parallel to this daydream and is likely to involve a chipped mug, mr kipling, tatty jeans and peppa pig....So there you go!

It's nearly time to put the kettle on. What will you be having for afternoon tea?

{ps. In a completely blushed way of blowing a trumpet, that is mine.... I am so thrilled to be a winner of the Straw Styling Competition as hosted by Tea for Joy! How lucky am I?! I have the delight of a voucher to spend a papermash, and I'm already thinking, journals!!!}

✴ post

2011-03-24T16:38:00.000Z

Isn't it just so fab when a bundle of packages arrives on your doorstep, all at once. Like Christmas.

Recent purchases of vintage lace and beads have winged their merry way to my humble step all the way from California and Hong Kong.

Sometimes, in a dreamy state of yearning for an antiquated and rustic way of life, I do have to sit back and marvel at the wonder of the internet. And internet shopping. I do still find it just a wee bit amusing when buying vintage online. It's a paradox of shopping delights. But one I quickly come to terms with!

Last week I was a lucky winner of a giveaway hosted by Traci of My Handmadehappiness. I won 4 vintage sewing patterns. I love old patterns, although sometimes they can be a bit tricksy to make up due to sizing and different body shapes. I think with a bit of creative tweaking I can probably rustle up something pretty pretty with these, so watch this space.......

{Ummm....but do go off and make a cuppa though, I may be a while...}

✴ light & space

2011-03-23T21:05:00.000Z

I'm still milking this sickness with a hacking cough which is keeping me awake most nights. So not good. Especially now the weather is turning a rosy pink and sunlight blue of springy perfection. Today was glorious, although perhaps less so with a bad nights sleep and a morning meeting to discuss pensions...followed by a meeting to discuss building plans { the trials and tribulations of which are a post in itself which will have to wait for another day - yay! lets talk building regs.......Zzzzzz......}.

Did I mention I have a new desk...? I can't recall........maybe I mentioned it just once.....?!!

Anyhoo, I'm just loving my new space the light around which is just divine and makes me wonder if BD {before desk} I wasn't just stitching away in a little gloomy cave in the dining room. Like a hobbit.

Note to self~ check quality of stitching in new well lit space on work done BD.

I'm finding in my current state of 'below par' that the simple and quite relaxing task of glueing resin flower cabochons onto hair grips is about all I can muster. But I'm loving in nonetheless.

My Creative Space at Kootoyoo.

✴ happy monday

2011-03-21T14:11:00.000Z

On a morning wander around the garden with the little lady, watering the new trees recently planted. I noticed that the pear tree seems to have grown significantly already. I was quite pleasantly surprised and started to imagine all sorts of pear based culinary delights I could whip up in the kitchen...I know, waaaay too early to be thinking of a bountiful pear crop! Of course, I may have imagined any sort of growth spurt, I've had so much cough medicine in the last few days I could very well be hallucinating...

No matter, there is so much of spring about the day today, glorious sunshine, blue skies and blossoms fluttering on the breeze. I have onion sets to be planted but that will have to wait until there is more of a perky bounce to my step.

Meanwhile, back on the new desk {yay!} I've taken delivery of several recently ordered supplies. It's always so exciting to open packets of pretty bits of this and that and leads to creative making dreaming and possibilities. I'm just a bit in love with tiny resin flowers, especially these little roses.

So pretty and kitsch.

Have a Happy Monday. x

✴ the straw that broke...me

2011-03-20T12:38:00.000Z

{ down the ale }

Morning. I am having a very poorly weekend. I feel as rough as onions {?} and generally a feeling of 'yak' has descended on my poor achey bones. I'm trying to make the most of being able to stay in bed, but am all twitchy with things I want to do and get done.

Having left things to the very last minute {so not like me!?...ahem....} I spent most of yesterday taking piccies for the straw styling challenge as hosted by Tea for Joy. The theme was the Royal Wedding.

I had loads of ideas but I'll be honest I do have a problem with keeping things simple. I get a bit carried away with the story telling aspect of an photograph and so find it hard not to crowd the image with tons of 'props'! Oh well, it was all good fun and such a lovely theme, made me itchy to arrange a street party, although probably not on my street.....

Also, my new desk is now in place {hooray!} and I spent a few hours on friday morning in a brief break from feeling yukky, to start tidying and sorting all my bits and pieces and stitchery wot nots into neat little piles. It is truly smashing to have my own little space again I must say and as it is nestled in the bay window, the light is amazing. Also it's pretty nice to be working next the mr of an eve. It's cool to be sharing an office, although his corner is neat and tidy and full of proper grown up worky stuff and my corner is, well, not, but rather looks like a haberdashery department that has been 'turned over' by some very untidy thieves....

Things I have learnt;

Cats have absolutely no regard for a perfectly set up 'shot' when looking for a place to curl up and go to sleep.
Kate may be marrying a different prince, according to this company.
An addiction to shopping on etsy is heightened when ill
Probably a good thing, but a two year old doesn't appreciate the sadness of the 'Bambi's mum is killed' scene in said film and actually gets bored after the first 10 minutes of any old Disney film, dismissing them all in favour for the preferred and watched often, 'Finding Nemo'.
Hot elderflower cordial with a spoonful of honey is a lovely alternative to hot lemon.

Hope you all have/had a lovely weekend.

Check out the straw styling over here.

✴ a place for everything...

2011-03-16T22:05:00.000Z

...and everything in it's place.

On saturday I had a much longed for day on my own. I had looked forward to it all week and had many plans and grand ideas of lovely things I would spend the day making, away from yoghurty toddler fingers.

Of course, it didn't quite work out as planned. Once laundry had been sorted, the dishwasher emptied, the table tidied, a quick {ok, not so quick} peruse round t'internet, materials and trimmings fussed over... and so on and so forth.....it was lunch time already!!

I had that much whirring away in my little head I didn't know where to begin. Don't you hate it when that happens?

I did bits of things. A bit more of the tatty linen brooches. A bit of silky yoyo stitching. A bit of flower stitching. A bit of this and a bit of that. But nothing finished. No ticks on the To Do list.

When the mr and the little one returned home I was feeling a wee bit sorry for myself. In that a whole day had passed and I had achieved very little. And that was that day, gone.

I had a little rant. Yes, I did.

Waaa....it's not fair I don't have any space to call my own....why can't I use your office too, it's not fair.....Waaaaa, woe is me.......me, me, me, me, me.....Waaaa........ etc etc.....

To which mr h replied a calm, Yes, of course. We'll buy you a new desk, we'll get rid of some bits of furniture, I'll clear a space......No problem.

Gosh don't you just hate it when men respond to your wailing in a positive and productive manner?!

So I have a new desk {ok still in it's box but we're getting there..} and a new space to create a mess and not have to eat dinner around...Don't get me wrong, it'll be tight in there, but it'll do until the house is done.

I picked up these little baskets and old utensils tray which has been 'shabby chic-ed' in a rustic painted sort of way, from my local antique market on a quick shop late on sunday. They are just so perfectly pretty for storing all my unfinished bits and pieces and I've spent a few stolen moments today sorting and tidying all my creative mess. I'm going to make little basket inserts out of the spotty fabric which was a bargain buy from the local charity shop just before christmas. But I think I'll save that for another day!

Apologies for the ridiculous length of this post but I'm a bit poorly with a horrible chest infection and can't be bothered to cut and paste images together in a montage way so just put them all in as are - sorry!

My space has taken on quite vintage vibe of late and so I'm linking this post to both Flea Market Finds and My Creative Space. This week is all about multi-tasking!

I'm off for an early bed, night night {cough...splutter...}x

✴ happy monday

2011-03-14T14:48:00.000Z

Warmer days...woodland walks with the wee one...wellies stuck in mud puddles...cherry blossoms on the trees...sunday lunch with friends...supplies shopping on etsy...Boardwalk Empire...stitching yoyo's from colourful silks...winning prizes...digging out old forgotten treasures...pineapple cake....

So many delightful distractions from the horrors and tragedies of the news.

With constant reminders of how lucky we are.

My sympathies and thoughts to those affected and those who grieve.

Have a positively distracting start to the week all. x

✴ unfinished embroidery

2011-03-09T21:31:00.000Z

Quite a while ago I bought a mixed lot of vintage linens and doilies. In amongst them was this embroidered cloth, unfinished by the stitcher and now a faded brown colour from many years of storage. Even several dips in biotex couldn't revive it's former pallor. It was doubtful I was ever going to finish the embroidery, and really, would it even be that pretty if I did? What to do.

After much deliberation, constant digging it out from my vintage linen stash...and then putting it back again, I eventually decided to take the plunge and just do something, anything with it.

Those with a nervous disposition should turn away now because I went at it brazenly with a pair of scissors and cut it into many tiny circles for covered buttons. There, done, breathe.

I hope the stitcher doesn't mind. I thought it should start a new life as some pretty brooches and finally get to see the light of day and possibly enjoy some small adoration for its embroidered beauty.

Most people would probably refer to this as a musty bit of old tat, this antique linen, once a treasured pastime and which for some reason was abandoned in its stitchery completeness.

Maybe now at last, it can be moved to the pile of finished projects.

Erm...when I get round to finishing the brooches.....which I will, I will, I promise.........

{...coughs sheepishly...}

More finished and unfinished loveliness can be seen over at Kootoyoo.

✴ well, i didn't expect that...

2011-03-08T10:41:00.000Z

...and how pleased am I that I am just a bit behind with planting and sowing this year.

Because, after picnics in the garden yesterday, digging out summer jackets from beneath the mound of winter woolies, and searching {in vain} for misplaced {read: moved by toddler} sunglasses, you just wouldn't expect to see frost the next morning...oh no, you wouldn't. You would probably find that just a wee bit surprising....yes indeedy....it's March for goodness sakes!!!

Although I have to admit to being just a bit in awe of the beauty of it all.

Sparkling sugar dusted leaves, twinkling in the sunlight and the fresh {oh so fresh...Bbrrrr....!} frosty air.

Of course it'll all be melted soon enough, and good thing too, as quite frankly, we were promised spring, so, off you go frost, see you at the end of the year...!

✴ happy monday

2011-03-07T15:09:00.000Z

Oh! What joy, to be able to get out into the garden. The feeling of spring is finally upon us and the bitterly cold freeze has at last turned to an amiable chill, and lets face it, as stalwarts to the cold and the rain as we are, here in blighty, a little chill isn't going to put us off getting outdoors after a long miserable winter.

I have now the task of fixing up the garden, which remains in a bit of a hapless state. The vegetable plots need weeding and soil turning ready for some onion, garlic and shallot plantings.

I have new things to plant too. Trees and plants of the edible kind.

So far, me and the little one have planted an apple tree {cox's orange pippin} and a pear tree {conference} and a little quince bush is waiting for me to decide on the perfect place to plant it. I have a big list of other lovelies I'd like to plant but more on that later.

What's going on in your little plot/ acreage/ windowsill?

Happy monday. x

✴ precious metals

2011-03-06T02:00:00.000Z

{silver card tray, £5}

{pearl knot clip earrings, 50p}

A magpies haul of shiny metals from the local charity shop this week.

The brooch and earrings will be fashioned into new vintage style headdresses and I had hoped that the silver tarnished card tray might well prove to be a precious metal of sorts.

I had been practicing my 'pleasantly shocked' face and picked out an Antiques Roadshow appropriate outfit. I think I may have got a bit carried away.

It clearly isn't real silver. There is a slight copper tone over the pattern which would hint at years of exuberant Brasso scrubbing by an eager maid, I'm guessing that if you owned and used a card tray, that you probably had staff...It's such a piece that depicts a bygone era, don't you think?

The custom of 'calling' in Victorian society and the etiquette of leaving a calling card for the lady of the house.

Texting just seems so crass in comparison!

{goldtone pearl brooch, 50p}

Here is the method I used for cleaning the tarnish from the silver tray. It should work well for silver, silver plated and EPNS {but not best for gemstones and pearls} although care should always be taken when cleaning antique treasures.

Even though this is an eco cleaning method, there is a slight sulphurous odour during the cleaning process so it's best to do in a ventilated room or even better outside.

Line a large bowl with aluminum tin foil.
Sprinkle over 3 tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda.
Place pieces to be cleaned on top.
Pour over freshly boiled water from the kettle to just cover pieces.
Leave to soak for 10-15 minutes.
Remove and buff gently with a dry clean cloth, tea towel or silver polishing cloth.
See your silvery bits sparkle in the sunshine....or, under a very bright light....

Flea Market Finds here

✴ all things...wish you were here

2011-03-04T15:26:00.000Z

I've just recently ordered a bike from here. I'm quite excited and have been imagining all sorts of 1940's/50's style cycling. Probably getting a bit carried away as usual.

I can't help but think of Emily Lloyd in Wish You Were Here.

The floaty summer dresses, retro sun glasses, with just a dab of rosy tinted lip gloss and balmy summer breezes through your hair....Ahh...sounds lovely doesn't it?

Of course this is probably NOT how it is going to be {imagine, stuck behind a lorry with Sainsburys carrier bags dangling precariously from the handlebars...} but for the moment this is the daydream and I'm not parting with it for anything!

{ Hollander Bike; £169, made.com :: Cherry Print Satin Hair Bow; £6, Johnny Loves Rosie ::

Benetint Lip Balm; £14, Benefit :: Winter Rose Saddle Bag; £68, Cath Kidston ::

Peacock Retro Lucia Liberty Print Sunglasses; £130, Liberty :: Polka-Dot Cotton-Poplin Dress; £815, Miu Miu @ net-a-porter.com :: Strappy Python Flat Sandal; from £180, Alexandre Birman @ style.com }

image via

✴ apples and plums

2011-03-03T01:06:00.001Z

Last year when I was making a beautiful silver tiara for a lovely bride and then cufflinks for her groom, I gathered lots of different leaves for imprinting into pmc. I practiced with a fair few different varieties to see which ones worked the best and looked the prettiest in all their silver glory.

My favourites were the young baby leaves from the plum tree. I just recently found a little stash of these 'practice' leaves and so turned one of the better ones into a long necklace, with a faceted amethyst bead and a creamy pearl.

Today was surprisingly sunny and pleasant {although still bitterly cold, Bbbrrr....} and me and the little one managed to sneak into the garden for the afternoon. We had blustery spring fun on the swings and the slide and I even managed to do a spot of gardening {much needed and long overdue tidying and soil turning} ready for new planting. Whenever I do any garden work I am usually joined by a small chattering assistant {...What you doing,Mummy?}...and two excitable and frisky cats.

Together we worked as a team {me doing all the hard manual labour...} and we planted the first of the new fruit trees I have planned for the garden. An apple tree. I've wanted an apple tree for so long I don't know if I can cope with the three or more years of waiting for an apple to grow!!

I suppose I'll just have to make do with plums until then.

She looks like a sugar in a plum.... plum, plum...

My Creative Space over at Kootoyoo

✴ happy monday

2011-02-28T13:54:00.002Z

This monday morning feels a bit like someone has forgotten to turn the lights on. It's so dark and gloomy, cold and drizzly. Bbbrrr......Just when you think spring isn't far away, it's beginning to feel a lot like winter!

This week, I have lots of things I want to get done. Stitchery things, tidy sorty things and better living ways to achieve.

With all the unfinished projects on the go {as always} I can't help but reach for the cosyness of crochet and a pile of grannies started long ago have been lovingly stroked, counted, laid out, counted again and pondered and perused... before finding their way back into the sewing basket and with the pile of things to do.

I have decided I need to have early nights {again..}. I need to drink less tea {gasp...} I'm reaching instead for one of the many boxes of herbal tea in the cupboard {left over from many visits from Aunty Lulu} I'm not really a fan of herbal tea. I like the idea of it and I admit to be a little bit obsessed with the pretty packaging that you just don't get with a packet of builders. But I'm going to make an effort with it.

It seems so much more elegant and grown up to drink an exotic and calming blend of tea.

This afternoon I'll be mainly chasing around after the only girl in football class and watching with bewilderment as she turns from a shy and wary little lady to an unruly and disobedient little monster....ahh...

But until then, where's that calming tea....

Happy monday.

✴ winkworth arboretum...

2011-02-27T20:21:00.000Z

...on a cold, wet sunday afternoon.

Starting with a very welcome pit stop for hot soup and cheese toasties in the cafe and deciding that the rain was probably not going to stop any time soon, we braved the cold and drizzle of the great outdoors.

Suitably attired in wellies and waterproofs it was evident that it really wouldn't take too long for the littlest member of the group to end up with soggy and mud splashed trousers after a good session of puddle jumping.

Despite picking probably the worst afternoon to visit this idyllic National Trust spot, everything still looked beautiful and spring like. Patches of daffodils and snowdrops carpeted the mulchy earth and raindrops clung to budding branches like crystals, catching small rays of light through the dark ominous clouds above. Delicate pale green lichen hung from branches looking like clusters of seaweed washed up and left behind by the salty sea. So pretty.

After a bit of wandering and a lot of pondering over a damp and just slightly bit confusing map we eventually came across an old, weather worn boathouse. Believed to have been built around the turn of the century, the National Trust have kept it quite untouched and rustic inside with a few oars nestled in the rafters, a slightly crumbling wooden canoe on the floor and fish trophies on the walls. A couple of comfy whicker settees and chairs have been placed by the open doors leading to the small balcony over looking the lake and on a side table, an old chess set, perhaps to while away the long tedious wait for a bite { I don't really get fishing...}. The perfect place to hide out from the rain with a hot flask of tea....um...if only we'd been so prepared..!

A walk in the woods on a rain soaked day which holds such romantic captivation for lovelorn couples can be tantamount to trauma with a toddler in tow. For many reasons;

one, a small person will positively insist on holding the map/umbrella/camera... in fact anything other than your hand... two, a small person is incapable of walking along a designated path choosing instead the most muddiest embankments, deepest puddles and steepest verges and any other route with a slight element of danger, along which to tread... three, at some point, and maybe even more than once, a small person is guaranteed to 'step out' of a wellie boot and will therefore require carrying the rest of the way back to the car while bemoaning the "wet sock..." they are now sporting.

Happy weekend.

✴ at the bench

2011-02-23T22:38:00.000Z

I've spent the last week or so 'at the bench'. When I say this I mean the jewellery bench but in actual fact I don't have one of those so picture me instead brandishing a soldering torch and cursing slightly slipped soldering on the tiny bit of workspace next to the kitchen sink. By the dying Aloe Vera plant. Next to the tin jug with the cat food forks in. Not very glamorous. But then silversmithing isn't.

I have rough grated fingers and thumbs blackened and course from so much wire brush cleaning of silver and brass. A manicurists nightmare....or dream, whichever way you look at it.

I've been firing lots of little brass leaves, with a notion to turn these into a beautiful autumn inspired tiara and with several february birthdays I've been making jewellery gifts with silver snowhearts and recently fired copper hearts.

I always end up with odd little bits of precious metal clay when I roll it out into heart and leaf shapes. Because the clay dries so quickly, these scraps never quite make it back into the pack while still soft and malleable. This time I thought I'd try and make something with these scraps. Something organic, twisted and strange.

I think they turned out a bit like ferns or seaweed. They may end up in a new life as a botanical style brooch. For me. Because I'm quite attached to my strange little sea ferns!

Some dazzling creative spaces over here

✴ happy monday

2011-02-21T11:18:00.000Z

I think to call this a happy monday may be a bit of an overstatement. With a bad nights sleep thanks to a wide awake toddler, a croaky and disappearing voice and a desperately gloomy dark day, this is not a great start to a hopefully happy and productive week!

My friend gave me this lovely bunch of narcissus flowers at the weekend. So beautifully delicate and heavenly scented they are, sitting innocently and unassuming on the mantlepiece. I keep catching wafts of their perfumed loveliness as I walk past and it is indeed lifting my spirits and sending a message that spring is just around the corner.

I wish you all a happy monday. x

✴ weekend crumbling

2011-02-20T14:58:00.001Z

{tea lights in vintage brioche tins and lace doily}

You know when someone is a little bit poorly by looking into their eyes, glazed over, perhaps a little pink and with a droopy lidded tiredness that sums up the overall feeling of being run down. I saw this on the little lady over the past few days {a lot better now but for a bit of a cough} and I saw this in my own eyes in the bathroom mirror last night.....Eughhh...lurgy has at last got me. It was inevitable but nonetheless annoying and totally unwelcome.

{brioche tins, wire basket, 1920's ash butter bats and rolling pin and embroidered tablecloth}

Not helped that I was solo parenting all of yesterday and last night and had planned to prepare a lavish dinner for a dear friend who had a special valentine birthday. When cooking for friends I usually plan the menu for days, pouring over the cookbooks and cookery magazines but yesterday, struggling with a general feeling of Hhhmmppffff I ended up completely and utterly making it up as I went along, and actually it worked a treat... to the point that I wish I'd paid a bit more attention to what I was throwing into the cookpot {or tagine..} so I can recreate the tasty dish which magically appeared on the table last night! Chicken and squash tagine followed by rhubarb and strawberry crumble. Yum. I think I just about got away with it! Or maybe I was feeling so poorly that anything would have tasted sublime and warmed the cockles?!

{vintage lace and trims currently being used for headdresses and accessories}

{a bundle of french linen pieces and assortment of cross-stitch monograms}

Although I' haven't been blogging as much as I'd like to recently I have been shopping, oh yes. Thrifty vintage shopping, my absolute fave! With recent visits to Kempton, Kingston and Farnham I have gathered quite a few lovely things. I'll show you just a small selection now and hope to get round to photographing everything else soon.

{glass dome with blue and white china dish and 6 small cocktail glasses}

Anyway I think it's time for more honey and lemon to soothe my croaky throat. Or perhaps a hot toddy?!
Tonight I'm making a completely-made-up-as-you-go-along* sausage stew and blackberry and pear crumble. A gloomy dark and damp day such as this {where are you spring???} deserves a warm and cosy evening of stodgy comfort food and something good to watch on the tellybox {where are you Lark Rise???}.

* although completely-made-up-as-you-go-along several times before so practically a bona fide recipe.

Taking part with Flea Market Finds

✴ feeling delicate

2011-02-17T16:56:00.000Z

We're feeling very delicate today. My little Tinkerbell has had her fluttery fun filled wings cruelly clipped with a very high temperature, a runny nose and a bit of teething thrown in for good measure.

There has been much Cbeebies watching, with glazed eyes, not much eating and a lot of cuddles and forehead stroking. And a regular dose of Calpol!

It's most definitely a quiet stay indoors type of day. For me there has been much tea drinking {so what's new?} and monitoring of sick child. It's a horrible feeling of helplessness and inadequacy of not really being able to do that much to ease the misery. But for the cuddles, lots of cuddles and whispers of shhhhhh......it's ok......

I've been finding time, during a welcome break of a proper nap, to do some more twiddling of gold wire and embellishment of crystals, pearls and beads on a new headdress. We have been watching Boardwalk Empire in the evenings, oh my, something new to get my teeth into and I'm just loving those 20's costumes, so very stylish and spangly. I'm thinking of maybe doing some 20's style headbands or some feathery frou frou of sorts. Ooh la la.

Joining in with My Creative Space.

✴ frozen dinners

2011-02-15T15:20:00.000Z

We have just about finished eating the homegrown produce from last year that I squirreled away in the freezer. It's so great to be eating runner beans in January that were harvested last August!

This year I managed to successfully freeze courgettes, runner beans, turnips and blackberries {picked abundantly from nearby woodland walks}. The small and pretty purple skinned turnips harvested in October were a delight as 'tatties and neeps' for a new years dinner.

I blanched most things before freezing and more information on that can be found here.

The blackberries I just washed then laid them out onto trays to open freeze in the freezer before then popping them into freezer bags. Open freezing them first helps avoid them sticking together in the bag.

Berries freeze brilliantly. I often buy raspberries when on offer in the supermarket and freeze the excess. They work very well in muffin, cake and pancake batters, just add them to the mix while still frozen and bake as as usual. I have one last bag of blackberries in the freezer which I think will make a lovely sunday crumble to shut out the cold and miserable rain that seems to be darkening our days at the moment. Bbbrrrr......

✴ nothing but love

2011-02-14T13:12:00.000Z

I've been caught up, bogged down and up to my eyeballs with this, that and a bit of the other...
I have issues with the real life versus creative life equilibrium and find myself always the first to blink during the daily stare contest with time. Curses! Doesn't time always have the last word on the subject!! Hate that! Why can't we all just get a few more hours in the day, I mean really, who came up with the 24 hour thing anyway!? Actually, the way things have been recently I'd probably use the extra hours to sleep so I'd be no better off and just as behind as I am now so there it is!
This is my poor excuse for my terrible absence from this blog.....again......
I like to think of myself as the Caroline Arless of the blogging world.....not drunk, in prison and with an enormous bottom... but, even though not always around and often found to be a bit unpredictable and unreliable, a little entertaining when she does turn up and cherished and forgiven by all the other Lark Risers...hopefully...
Speaking of which, I am still just a bit in love with last nights final episode and am not sure how I'm going to cope without my sunday dose of Lark Rise to Candleford.....perhaps I'll finally get to spend a bit more time here.....!

I promise to do a proper catch up but until then I wish you all a loved up, heart filled day, especially to my own special valentine and little valentine. x

✴ wintry tones :: golden brown

2010-11-19T16:50:00.000Z

{vintage finds::dewy mornings::mince pies with the mamas::baking gingerbread::sleeping pusscats::

displaying treasures::nightlight hooking::richmond park::dead leaf bundles}

This post should probably be called silence is golden because after a traumatic tearaway toddler afternoon, the little lady of the house finally relented to a long overdue nap...phew...

I'm packing for a little Cornish getaway. I'm hoping that todays bright blue sky and golden afternoon colours continue into next week. I'm imagining blustery beach combing days, afternoon teas and cosy, toasty evenings spent curled up hooking by a log burner...bliss.

I've packed all the unfinished projects, I wonder how many will still be unfinished on our return...?

Have a wonderful wintry weekend. Wrap up warm. x

✴ my creative space

2010-11-18T20:06:00.000Z

I haven't taken part in My Creative Space for ages. Even now I'm joining as the 169th person...sheesh it's popular, but we love it so. I love visiting other peeps and having a bit of a nosy at the wonderful things they have all been up to. It's a great motivator....or a good kick up the crafty bum...

This week I have mainly been skirting around the issue of the unfinished projects and have instead been tackling the task of the unkempt house { brownie points to me } and enjoying evenings with Kirstie and Turn Back Time while stitching a little zip corsage brooch { the reward }.

I've spotted lots of these in high street shops recently but of course decided I'd make one because all it is really,when all's said and done, is a zip, a brooch back and a little bit of stitchery...job's a good'un!

✴ speaking of weddings...

2010-11-17T11:57:00.000Z

{ jasmine tiara }

Yesterday it was announced we are to have a Royal Wedding. How very exciting. I wonder if we'll all have a day off and celebrate with union jack bunting and street parties like we did when Charles and Diana got married. And yes it gives me palpitations that I can clearly remember that Royal Wedding even though it was 30 years ago.......{sharp intake of breath...}

I wonder what look our Royal Bride to be will go for...

{ rose adagio corsage comb }

A dear friend of mine is also getting hitched next year, and just when you think the levels of excitement that seem to exude from her every pore couldn't get any bigger.....yesterdays news of sharing a wedding year with the Royals....well...you can imagine!!!

{ cherry blossom corsages }

Here are a few images of the headdresses I designed and made this year for two lovely brides, each of them princesses in their own way.

I was quite busy with bridal, bridesmaid, mother of the bride headdresses, not to mention horseshoes and grooms cufflinks. All good fun and such a joy to do. I love the different styles the two brides went for.

{flower fern brooch and comb}

I'm still trying to sort through images for a new website to hopefully get some new commissions next year. I have one booking. With everything getting packed away for next years building extension it will be tricky working from home next year. I doubt I'll be able to take on too much creative making...

... But I'd make an exception for you, Kate.......!

{flora corsage combs}

✴ crochet cosy

2010-11-15T14:08:00.000Z

In a desperate attempt not to sound too much like a bit of an oldie...I have to say that I simply can't believe where the time is going at the moment. Can you believe it's already mid November...I can't! Every year Christmas seems to appear to be ages away and too early to think about then all of a sudden it creeps ever closer and surprises us all into unreadiness and disbelief.

Trying not to sound like an oldie may already be a case of locking the door after the horse has bolted {or something like that} as I have spent most evenings these last few weeks, cosying up with some crochet and Autumnwatch......yup! Definitely not 'down with the kids'...all I need now is a big bag of Werthers and a blue rinse...

And to add to my granny chic, I've been vintage shopping.

A pressed glass plate {£1.50} which on closer inspection appears to be the base of a butter dish rather like the one back here, and a Grindley jug/sauce boat {£2.50} in a lovely 1950's mint green glaze. Both from the local charity shop.

Also, couldn't resist {who possibly could?} this gorgeous 1950's Arthur Wood jam pot {£10} from the local antique shop. Quite a good haul I think.

These long winter evenings are getting very cold in our draughty 1930's house. Bbrr... heating on!

Lots of cake baking, this one in particular was a big hit all round, yummy Bonfire Parkin.

More Flea Market Finds over here.

✴ pumpkin head

2010-11-01T14:43:00.000Z

This cold has taken over my weekend. Resulting in a bout of sinusitis which has been dreary beyond belief. It feels a lot like having a bowling ball for a head....or more aptly, a heavy pumpkin head.

I had to cancel a girly day out and resorted instead to a day in bed....made only slightly more bearable by a tankard of tea, a hot water bottle and the Cranford box set.....bliss! I could watch it again and again...actually I have....and will do again no doubt.

Lovely Mr H has entertained the little one all weekend and allowed me to rest and wallow. The cats, as usual did nothing to help....not even a cup of tea....lazy.

I'm not sure whether to feel relieved or saddened that there was only one small timid little trick or treat-esque type knock at the door.

The little one marveled at the pumpkin heads {or 'potatoes' as she likes to call them} and the simple cut out mice silhouettes from Martha were a triumph of wonderment and awe.

And we were so glad of the extra hour.

Happy All Hallows.

✴ it's a wrap...

2010-10-26T23:18:00.000+01:00

Tonight I should be supping cocktails with Mr H at the wrap {or almost wrapped} party for this.

But for this nasty flu/cold, pouring rain and lack of babysitter, here I am sat at home thinking of the other, more festive type of wrapping...

Being poorly, and with a little poorly poppet to boot, has meant the 'make' to do list has remained firmly unmade and undone...anything stitchery has been dumped at the first hurdle. A head cold doesn't make time for pattern cutting, counting stitches and threading needles...oh no, forget that.

So instead I've turned to the next best thing....a bit of crafty retail therapy.

And some simple festive gift tags....made with mini tags from Ryman, snowflake stamps from Muji and blue & white bakers twine from Shabby Pea Designs.

Festive crafty supplies I've spotted;

Stamps @ Cox & Cox :: Noolibird :: Billet Doux

Tape @ Dots and Spots :: Papermash :: Prettytape

Stickers @ Creative Flourish :: Cavallini & Co :: Moo

Doilies @ Packagery / Sweetie Bags @ In The Clear / Ribbon @ Knot and Bow

❄ ❄ ❄

Handmade Christmas Challenge at Knicky Knacks

✴ small gatherings

2010-10-22T23:26:00.000+01:00

Me and the little lady are still suffering with our autumn colds. It's so much worse for a little person who hasn't yet learnt how to blow her little nose. Poor thing.

I find it almost impossible to completely switch off when I'm ill. Obviously I have no problem with switching off from housework...euhh...any excuse.

I've been cooing and ahhing while sorting some new and old vintage buys.

Lace, hankies, buckles and beads.

✴ my creative space

2010-10-21T14:08:00.000+01:00

My creative space is below par today. With me and the little lady both coughing and sniffling ourselves through this beautifully sunny day there is little energy to get on with any of the numerous unfinished projects and ideas in the making....

As we are meeting to discuss our extension plans tomorrow it seems like a good idea for more sketching and measuring and thinking of what will go where and how...

In true 'me' style though I seem to have leapt straight from work in progress plans and scribblings to picking out colour schemes, fabrics, furniture and all that is pretty...

I'm sipping hot lemon and honey with;

The World of Interiors

Homes and Gardens

Country Living

Shabby Chic Interiors

✴ a quiet sunday morning...

2010-10-17T11:15:00.001+01:00

...positively never happens in this house any more!

Good morning! I've been early {relatively} morning cleaning, tidying, sorting and hoovering with a reasonably loud Radiohead accompaniment without a considerate care towards the loud whooping, into wee hours, wii playing exuberantly joyous neighbours !!!

Although I get nervous about being annoying and so it probably wasn't that loud at all....!

Anyhoo, it feels like a day for sorting - I'm going to tackle my wardrobe {or lack thereof} now.

Earlier this week, Ella pointed at the Queen on a ten pound note {NOT pocket money!!!} and in a quite determined way said, 'Mummy'. I feel a wardrobe sort out is long overdue...and possibly a cut and colour....and a manicure.............

These three little books seem quiet and calming, even if the house isn't. They are little Observers books of

House Plants :: Music :: Birds.

They are just so retro and sweet and cost just a few pound from the local charity shop. I think it might be quite nice to try and collect them all.

Happy Sunday. x

More Flea Market Finds here

{edited to be kinder to apologetic neighbours}

✴ accessorized

2010-10-16T14:50:00.000+01:00

{snowheart silver earrings}

I love making pretty girly things like earrings, bracelets, scarves, bags, belts, etc...Perfectly lovely things to give as gifts or keep and wear over the festive period.

I made these silver earrings for a Canadian friend as a much belated birthday gift. I think I'll be making some more as gifts, the snowflake pattern is obviously just perfect for Christmas!

The stash of Liberty fabrics I recently ordered is now being made into tie belts with vintage buckles.

And some crochet with a notion for making wrist cuffs, which I'm still working out a pattern for.

{I'm finding the Mad Men box set perfect viewing for sewing/knitting/crocheting to}

Some good books for accessory inspiration;

In Stitches

Making Vintage Accessories

Bead Handmade Style

Christmas inspiration over at Knicky Knacks.

✴ dough balls

2010-10-15T20:38:00.000+01:00

On cold days indoors needing entertainment for my little teenage toddler there is no finer distraction for little fingers...umm..and big fingers.....than play dough.

Play dough is easy to make. My mum made it all the time for me and my sis and now I make it for Ella.

She loves it. Of course you're never going to distract a toddler for very, very long, but it just about keeps her quiet and creatively focused for me to have a breather. Although actually I usually spend that breather moulding and sculpting said play dough and then getting a bit carried away with my dough sculpture and imagining that the Tate might just call offering me exhibition space....

Finally, daydream broken, Ella grabs whatever I've been making and lobs it across the room. Children really are the harshest of critics.

Here is the recipe I use;

½ cup of plain flour

½ cup of water

¼ cup of table salt

1 tablespoon of cream of tartar

1 tablespoon of oil

food colouring

{double ingredients for a larger quantity of same coloured dough}

Mix the flour together with the tartar and salt in a saucepan {preferably old pan}

Add the water and mix until smooth.

Add a tsp of food colouring {or more if deeper colour required}

Then the oil and stir until combined

Put the pan over a medium heat and keep stirring until the dough comes together to form a ball.

Allow to cool, then play!

Keep dough in a zip lock or freezer bag and place in a box or tin to prolong it's life.

Play dough will dry out and it's highly likely that in a very short time, your lovely neat coloured dough balls will end up looking like this....

✴ seed heads

2010-10-13T10:57:00.000+01:00

Autumnal walks on bright crisp days collecting seed heads. Always amazed at the beauty in the dead and dying flora at this time of year.

I think these spidery seed heads just look so beautiful in their dark skeletal form simply placed in a pressed glass vase on an off white vintage doily and rare October sunlight casting delicate shadows. So pretty, so simple.

I'm so in awe of the beautiful prints by Angie Lewin, of seed heads, feathers, grasses and other natural forms. Love the fabric from St Jude's. I'm dreaming of cushion covers and framed prints in a bright new kitchen destined for next year....

Always inspired at this time of year for it's design inspirations, colours, textures and influences.

✴ i love the postman....

2010-10-12T15:06:00.000+01:00

....for many reasons. Most importantly because this particular postie acknowledges our ridiculously petit 1930's letterbox as useless and so, unlike the others who try to squeegee a large catalogue through the narrow silver flap, he politely knocks on the door and with a very pleasant 'Good Morning' he hands over our post. How lovely.

I especially love him this morning because he came bearing pretty gifts such as this pile of Liberty fabrics - yum......such Liberty Love possibilities.....

...and this gorgeous Big Love print and two Christmas cards from Lisa Stubbs of 'Lil Sonny Sky.

You should go take a peek at her Etsy shop.

Go on....Christmas is coming.....

✴ spicy

2010-10-09T14:39:00.000+01:00

Today the house is filled with the warm spicey smell of Christmas.

With a poorly poppet sleeping away a fever and a complete lack of 'second summer' as promised by the weather experts {Hhhmm...}. Today has become a quiet day indoors. A day of sorting, tidying, maybe a bit of sewing, definitely some knitting and a lot of creativity in disguising the thrice daily dosage of yukky yellow medicine.

Maybe the spicy smells of Christmas can override the authentic taste of yellow.

Soaking the dried fruits for the Christmas cake with a generous drizzle of brandy and sherry.

Gorgeous winter spices just warm the cockles of your heart, do they not?

Cinnamon, Cloves, Star Anise, Juniper Berries, Nutmeg....Mmmmm.

These lovelies remind me of mulled wine and spicy pomanders which can make nice gifts.

I'm also thinking of cosy warm knitted gifts and getting inspiration and free patterns here.

More Christmas warmth here.

✴ my creative space

2010-10-07T08:39:00.000+01:00

There was a little girl

Who had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good

She was very, very good

But when she was bad

She was horrid.

There are few things that can ease the misery of a terrible toddler tantrum filled day. For me it's curled up watching a funny film {meet the parents} and a little bit of calming cross-stitch and a LARGE GLASS OF WINE!

{film and cross-stitch negotiable but wine essential}

My Creative Space

✴ mon petit potager

2010-10-06T21:36:00.000+01:00

This summer, my little kitchen garden has done me proud.

To this novice gardener the bounty of fresh vegetables humbly produced using the wing and a prayer, 'just bung it in and see' approach to creating a vegetable plot {for the very first time} has been triumphant, nay a small miracle.

I wouldn't say we can give up the supermarket and live gluttonously from the land...um, no...definitely not. But it has certainly been a while since I had to buy salad leaf, courgettes and other bits of veg.

Disappointing :: Strawberries, Carrots, Garlic, Spinach {first sowings}, Blueberries, Rhubarb {because I couldn't touch it in the first year of sowing!}

Harvested :: Onions, Shallots, Baby Beets, Gooseberries, Whitecurrants, Radishes, Swiss Chard, Rocket, Mizuna, Cos Lettuce, Mini Cucumbers, Greengages, Tomatoes, Pea Shoots

Picking :: Courgettes, Runner Beans, Spinach {second sowings}, Peppers, Chilli Peppers

Growing :: Turnips, Spring Cabbage

It's a learning process. Some things will flourish, while others will fail.

It's not all down to following the directions on a packet of seeds....wildlife and weather can play a big part in determining a successful crop. At first I was a bit upset that the majority of my carrots were eventually ruined by carrot fly infestation, but then in a 'les miserables' sort of way I pulled myself together and thought..."next year, I'll build better barricades..."

If you only grow one thing, grow...

Pea Shoots!

Here's how;

Go to the supermarket and buy a pack of dried peas {I used Batchelors 'Bigga'}

Fill a pot with compost.

Scatter a good handful of dried peas over the compost.

Press down each pea into the soil.

Water and wait...

About 2 - 3 weeks later..

Cut pea shoots and eat...

in salads, risotto, pesto......etc....

Watch the shoots grow again and cut and eat again.....!

Thanks to The Edible Garden for introducing me to the easy peasy {!} way to grow these little lovelies {and sooo pricey in the shops don't you know!}

A selection of peafect recipes here...

Bon Appeatit!

✴ shop in haste...

2010-10-05T14:14:00.000+01:00

I've been looking out for a vintage pressed glass butter dish for a wee while now. Last week, to break up the drive home from the seaside we stopped off at The Packhouse. I love this place I really do although you're never really going to find bargain basement bits of tat there, it's a bit more shabby chic home there than charity shop cast off. Anyhow, there is so much to see in this vintage emporium that I'm always stuck for choice. As was the case yet again this time and so when they announced the shop was going to close I grabbed this 1950's dish and headed for the hills....um.. obviously via the pay desk....

I didn't do my usual glass stroke - to check for chips.....and there you go, the very next day when I unwrapped the dish from the tissue, I discovered a couple of chips around the plate. So sad, slightly annoyed, but still just a bit in love with this dish.

The flaws are barely visible and it can still be functional despite the damage so it will get used, often. The good thing with slightly damaged pieces is that you never have to feel precious with them.

Have you ever bought anything too hastily? I tell you something else I do, I spend ages looking at certain items in a shop and then right at the last minute I'll pick up something completely different and just go buy it....What's that about?

More flea market finds here.

✴ felt like christmas

2010-10-03T01:01:00.000+01:00

So, it's the 12 weeks of Christmas, officially, today. That is, 12 weeks until Christmas, in other words, 12 weeks to get busy.... 12 WEEKS!!!! How did that come round so fast...?

So in a bid to get organised and share in a bit of Christmas making & baking cheer, I'm joining in with the Handmade Christmas Challenge.

Today has been a thoroughly miserable day, constant drizzle outside and constant grizzle inside. We seem to be on our third toddler sniffle of the last month or so.....So, in between games of peepo and tickle monster, I managed to sneak a peek through a few crafty books for a bit of inspiration.

I'm loving all things Scandinavian at the moment and Swedish design just seems to work so well for Christmas decorations. Love this little bird garland in Scandinavian Needlecraft {and so many other lovely things in this book} so I started to scribble a similar pattern and delved through bits of felt and such and came across a pile of felt balls I bought last year in Australia. I haven't really had a clue what to do with these and suddenly at that point it seemed logical to thread them onto some embroidery floss and make them into a lovely colourful garland. Which cheered us up no end. I think it looks a bit Swedish, a bit Eames. The little lady loved this garland so much so, she felt compelled to crayon around it and run around the house with it immediately. So, it turned into a big tangled mess.....

After braving the rain to gather some spinach from the garden for lunch I eventually got to string the garland up in the bay window. There it remains....Can I keep it there until Christmas...is it too early for decorations? As the fairy lights from last year are still wrapped around the staircase...I would say No!

If you wanted to make a felt ball garland you could probably find some felt balls here.

✴ snow ballet

2010-10-01T11:34:00.000+01:00

{Image here}

There is nothing like a bit of ballet to get you feeling festive, no?

Although occasionally the repeated playing in department stores of the Sugar Plum Fairy, from August onwards can leave a bitter not sweet taste in the mouth!

I love these christmas cards from the V&A.

So apt for me with past histories in mind. It used to be that this time of year for me was all about getting ready for the big tour and then the Nutcracker overload at Christmas.

Will get my ballet fix instead at the Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes exhibition at the V & A.

Yes....it's time to start thinking about Christmas....

✴ my creative space

2010-09-30T13:21:00.000+01:00

{ Wild Plum & Sage Leaf Cufflinks }

There has been much of the precious metal in my space for quite some time now.

With bridal commissions creating lovely silver pieces and much experimentation with leaves.

Now the leaves outside are starting to turn brown and wilt or crumble I'm in a race against time to create some new pieces.

I made a lovely tiara for a lovely september bride with jasmine leaves and am hoping to create some other pieces. It's a long and slow task, painting silver clay slip onto a tiny fragile leaf, layer by layer...

I have some other design ideas for bramble, wisteria, lavender, sage....I'd better get a move on...

Winter's only round the corner...

My Creative Space

✴ not so square

2010-09-29T20:02:00.000+01:00

I am envious of the expert knitter. The sort of knitter who can shove her knitting under her armpit and produce a perfect piece of woollen wonder while doing the ironing, changing the baby and putting the bins out, you know the sort {may include some slight exaggeration...}.

I am not that sort of knitter. I have to remind myself each time I start {which is often} how to cast on and which is knit and which is purl...and don't even think of asking me a question while I'm knitting. I have to concentrate so hard that I'm pretty sure I have one eye closed and my tongue sticking out.

It's something I've always wanted to be good at and have tried for some years with many frustrating hours of dropped stitches and bad tension and I've never really produced anything that could be considered a 'garment'. When Mr H innocently asks what I am knitting the answer usually screamed back is "..A SQUARE!.." or sometimes with a particularly good run of wool, "..A RECTANGLE!.."

Alas the rectangle never quite makes it to the desired outcome of a scarf, not even a teddy bear sized one...

So now I am trying really hard to go beyond the square. I'm increasing and decreasing for the very first time and I finally, after much unravelling and starting again, achieved some rows of ribbing. It's not perfect, but then here's the charm; when knitting for an almost two year old, you're unlikely to hear any fashion protests and comments of ill fitting. Any dropped stitches or wonky bits can be blamed on snagging a bramble bush during a hearty walk round the park on the very first outing in the brand new jumper...would you believe.....ahem...

{ I'm knitting a square hooded jumper in 'Parsley' organic wool

using a pattern from Cool Knits For Kids }

✴ out of season

2010-09-28T10:18:00.000+01:00

There is something enchanting and a little bit magical about a British seaside on a grey blustery day, out of season.

Ghostly, with remnants of Victorian architecture, dilapidated and rusting from the harsh salty sea. It saddens my heart to see the deterioration and loud, tacky intrusion of the rides and the games arcades.

Why is no money invested into the restoration of these British treasures?

Once, amazingly grand and beautifully ornate. Now, run down and slowly crumbling into the sea.

Promenade :: Pavillion :: Esplanade

Candy Floss :: Peppermint Rock :: Fish & Chips

{Sunday in Southsea}

✴ joy in the task of coffee

2010-09-27T09:23:00.000+01:00

A couple of months ago we took a drive out to Dorking one sunday afternoon. It wasn't so much that Dorking held any captivation or interest but was more of an exploratory drive out to see what we could find.

Dorking is pretty much closed on a sunday it has to be said. Except for the usual 'open all weathers' like Costa Coffee shop {phew!} and Marks, I also stumbled upon The Quilt Room and although that too was sadly shut on a sunday I was able to spend a few minutes ogling the fat quarters with my nose pressed to the glass of this quaint little shop, yes, a bit like a weirdo...

I was lamenting the loss of a fabric shopping spree when we walked past a rather busy and bubbling leisure centre {obviously the place to be} with a bit of an antiques fair going on inside...

It was right at the end of the day and the stall holders were starting to pack up. I spotted this coffee set straight away and instantly fell in love. I'll admit I'm not much of a coffee person but what's not to love with pretty vintage china? The pattern is just so pretty and the shimmering gold leaf and jade green and tangerine flowers makes my heart sing, yes it really does!

The entire set - 6 coffee cups and saucers, coffee pot, milk jug and sugar bowl I got for £30.

Royal Staffordshire bone china and about 1950's I think.

So dainty delicate and I'm reckoning not at all dishwasher safe....and I don't drink coffee....

Will these ever get used and does that matter?

William Morris famously said,

'Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful'

But he didn't say anything about them having to be both, right??

Playing along with Flea Market Finds.

✴ the goldfish ate my homework and other lame excuses...

2010-09-24T23:58:00.000+01:00

I have been away from here for so long now that I suspected I would login to my blogger account and see a big sign reading 'No longer available - this blog has been taken away due to neglect.....'.

Of course it didn't say anything of the sort. Gosh, I can be so melodramatic sometimes...

I could tell you that I have been unable to post because I was daintily dipping my toes in the rippling warm waters of the Indian Ocean whilst flip flopping along a golden archipelago shore while a turtle carried my Louis Vuittons up to my granny square {surprising} crocheted hammock, and the sand plays havoc with Broadband, don't you know...........

But alas, that is sadly untrue.

The simple truth is that I've just been caught up with stuff. Some of it boring - take the bins out and feed the cats - kind of stuff. Some of it creatively stimulating - paid commissioned work - kind of stuff.

But most of all and most importantly, day to day mama - tear my hair out tantrums but melt my heart hugs and kisses - kind of stuff.

I will get myself organised and post some images of the things I have been making and doing in any scraps of free time I was lucky to get {not including the time unashamedly reserved for slumping in front of Corrie after a long trying day} but in the meantime I'm going to ready myself with a reservoir of builders tea and spend this, oh so cold and wintry, weekend catching up with all my favourite blogs...Oh how I have missed you.

Care to join me in a cuppa?

xxx

✴ my creative space

2010-07-01T12:20:00.000+01:00

Something Blue.......

I'm just popping in to play along with my creative space because it's been yonks!

Yonks since I was even here......Here's a brief update.....

The little lady has been teething....of epic proportion! Nearly two months of nights screaming and griping. Tantrums and tears....and that's just me....

I know now, more than ever, that unless you get a decent uninterrupted nights sleep, well, forget getting anything done the next day....

I'm running very behind and am constantly playing catch up.

There's a tiredness and exhaustion that I remember well from the early weeks of motherhood.

Anyway, this time will pass, eventually I will get belated gifts in the post, I will finish new baby gifts - before new babies are teens....and I will have a home that looks like it has leapt from a page of Homes and Gardens.....I will, oh yes I will......probably.......

In brief but welcome moments of calm creativity I've been busy with bridal commissions.

The wedding headdresses, and then subsequent bridesmaid headdresses were worn with style at the weekend! Hooray job done and huge success. Congratulations to the Bride and Groom.

I'm eagerly awaiting the photos.......so will post soon.....

I also worked on this commission from the Bride's mother (all top secret) to make the bride a wedding horseshoe with fabrics from the mother of the brides wedding dress....how sweet.

I added some blue stitching with the initials of the bride and groom and the date, and of course a dainty blue silk bow.

I loved working on this for many reasons. The obvious sentimental meaning of the gift, the up-cycling of the wedding dress fabric and just the general prettiness.... diamante, ribbons, beading, fabric rose making loveliness of it all.

Three out of four Somethings, ain't bad?!

✴ a pea souper

2010-06-14T00:05:00.000+01:00

I love transferware pottery. Especially coloured patterns like pink, brown and this gorgeous pea green.

I'm still buzzing at this latest discovery in the local charity shop. Two soup tureens and six soup bowls, perfect condition. Made by Johnsons Brothers. I actually think these pieces are not that old but have used an old transfer pattern called "Old London" which depicts the Horse Guards parade in St James's Park on the bowls and Big Ben on the tureen lids.

Love the London images. Sometimes I'm staggered at what people will leave at the charity shop but I guess, 'one mans meat...' and all that!

More fabulous finds at Sophies...

✴ swan lake

2010-06-09T21:34:00.000+01:00

English National Ballet's production of Swan Lake in-the-round opens at the Royal Albert Hall, this evening.

I was lucky enough to work for this company as senior wardrobe assistant for 8 years! 8 years of stitching tutu's and tights and finding lost earrings in slightly untidy dressing rooms! My last show was Swan Lake in Versailles, how very grand!! I then went on to freelance for them (because you never really leave ENB!) almost up until bump arrived! I had a feeling Ella was going to come out en pointe she'd heard so much ballet music whilst in the womb!

How well do I know those tutu's..? Very! Such memories and such friends. Hearing the music now sends a shiver down my spine...In a good way!

Swan Lake

Royal Albert Hall

9-19th June.

✴ she says...

2010-05-30T22:10:00.000+01:00

It's turning chilly, she says.... Not so. Today was glorious. Oh, bank holiday weekend weather, how I doubted you.

At Wisley today, because, well, we thought the weather would be rubbish and didn't plan anything spectacular. Hooray for RHS membership and only a hop skip and a jump away to the gardens of loveliness!!

There was much walking running after an energetic toddler, quack quacks and dribbly chin ice-cream eating, yum. Hello Summer!

I was just in love with this gathering of purple alliums outside the glasshouse. Just shrubbery last time we visited, and now look! I love their fuzzy pompom-ness!

I love that Wisley changes every time I visit.

✴ chilled

2010-05-30T10:42:00.000+01:00

Just when you think it's time to paint your toenails, don your flip flops and sup a lovely chilled glass of rosé, the weather turns nasty. Bbbrrrr....woolly socks on , rainy day indoors (it's bank holiday weekend, what did we expect?) and instead I'm reaching for a warming glass of red!

I picked up these two lovelies at my usual charity shop around the corner, one of two that I frequently haunt, to the point that I should be given a loyalty card...

I'm sure these glasses have been on the shelf waving at me for some time but I've ignored their dusty loveliness until the other day. Maybe there was nothing else of any interest there that helped me zone in on these two small crystal goblets. I have an inkling that they are crystal for several reasons; they are reasonably heavy for their small size, there is no mold mark, for instance where two halves of glass have been joined and most importantly, there is a beautiful melodic ding (which is a different pitch on each glass) when tapped. I'm usually a bit wary of anything that hasn't got a price on it (yes, even in a charity shop!) but these were a 'bargain basement' 25p each!!! Joy!

Bottoms up!

More fleamarket loveliness at Sophie's...

✴ my creative space

2010-05-26T23:58:00.004+01:00

Hello my name is Sarah and I am a vintage chinaholic.

It's true. I can not stop buying random (but beautiful) pieces of old crockery from the charity shop.

My parents had a Wedgwood set of the Willow pattern dinner service as a wedding gift.

Not one piece remains...all of it lost or broken. All of it? What were they doing? Smashing it into the fireplace, Greek style?

Anyhow, I remember it, well I think I do. I'm pretty sure I ate sausage and chips off a willow plate as a nipper. So it's a very nostalgic bit of old china for me.

I want to hang these on the wall with these adhesive plate hangers as seen a while back on Kirstie's Homemade Home.

I think I might want to do something stitchy too or a print of some sort inspired by the Willow pattern. It's so beautiful, don't you think? As is the little tale...

Whilst we sit around the table, Please allow me to relate, The entrancing ancient fable Of "The Willow Pattern Plate."

Every picture tells a story, Like the Willow Pattern Plate, Where two lovers dwelt in glory, And defied paternal hate.

By elopement from the castle You observe upon the ridge, Where the violent old rascal Chases them across the bridge.

Tries to catch the rogue and whip him, 'Ere he steals the daughter fair; But the loving pair outstrip him, Let him languish in despair.

Thrown upon their own resources, In a junk they emigrate, To a splendid little oasis, Near the margin of the plate.

Dwell in peace, whilst unmolested, In most perfect harmony; Till at length they are arrested, by his Nibs' gendarmerie.

Then the tyrant lord appeals to Law and lucre, with their pow'r; Caught, confined, they have their meals too, In that horrid little tow'r.

When the pair are executed, To appease their lord irate, To a pair of doves transmuted, Still they fly upon the plate.

Every picture tells a story, Like the Willow Pattern blue, And true love will reign in glory, To infinity! Adieu {B.L. Bowers}

My Creative Space at Kootoyoo

{ps. Sorry for the gazillion times this was published but something went awry with spacing....Hhmmmmm}

✴ sleepy dreaming...

2010-05-26T11:43:00.000+01:00

I want to sleep, a deep satisfying 'during the day' kind of sleep. I want to sink back under the duvet and forget about crayon monitoring, tumble gym and picking crushed raisins from the carpet.

I don't want to get back into my bed....I want to sleepy dream away on a freshly laundered bed of crispy clean and adorably patterned bedding, such as the new organic range from Amy Butler.

Oh yes, can always rely on Amy to lift ones spirits out of the gloomy blues and into majestic majenta, tangerine, lemon and emerald green.... and how lovely an idea is that yoyo cushion cover....yum!

I also want to lie in bed and sip an undisturbed cup of hot tea, peruse pristine magazines with pages intact and I want to watch something on telly which doesn't involve a super agent bear or talking trains....

Is that too much to ask...??

Love from Grumpy Mama. x

{ All images from Amy Butler }

✴ a good vintage

2010-05-23T20:21:00.000+01:00

Last night we had a lovely dinner with some even lovelier friends who met just over two years ago at our wedding.....and are now engaged! Awww... don't you just love a well thought out seating plan..!

So I managed to show off some recent vintage finds, a few actually bought that day!

A square patterned plate {Diamond China Ltd} £2

Two tureens with a blue transfer pattern {Crescent China - George Jones and Sons} £4 each

A small blue and gold rimmed jug {Colclough} £1

A "Manchu" blue and white fan jar, missing the lid {Mason's} £2.50

Apart from the Colclough jug, which I think may be 1950's/60's the other items appear to be a bit older, possibly before 1920. I've been doing a bit of research into china back stamps, it seems the term 'Made in England' was used after 1920, beforehand it was just 'England'. Quite fascinating really and good to know when searching the shelves at the charity shop!

More fleamarket finds at Her Library Adventures...

✴ heavenly scents

2010-05-23T15:33:00.000+01:00

The lilic tree in the front garden is positively blooming. So much so that it was beginning to cut out light through the front window. As if I needed a reason to pick these beautiful blossoms.

I love to fill the house with these scented lovelies. There is nothing quite like handpicked flowers from the garden.

✴ my creative space

2010-05-20T01:24:00.000+01:00

Today, I love that the sun has shone brightly even if just for the morning and for the hour spent on the swings. I love to see the little one's beaming face as she flies through the air (er.. not literally..) with the wind in her golden hair and and a beautiful blissful smile on her lovely face.

I love that I keep finding treasures for pence in the nearby charity shops and antique fairs, and the promise of more loveliness to be yet discovered...

I love that during baba nap time I made time for a little fabric printing with some lovely bright pink ink and a favourite stamp, inspired by this book, which I love to browse through...

Tonight I loved curling up with a glass of wine while watching Waitress which is a truly lovely film and just loved discovering the kitchen cleaned and tidied by a much loved husband (mine...)

I don't love that, as always, time has flown, it is far too late to still be up and I will especially not love getting up in the morning...in far too soon a time......sigh........

More creative love at kootoyoo ...

✴ full of grace

2010-05-16T19:43:00.000+01:00

I spotted this Italian silk scarf a few weeks ago in a charity shop on the high street but didn't buy it. Then I thought about it, in that way that you do when you wish you'd just got your purse out and given in to temptation. So on friday after a runaround in the park and and on the swings, I popped back into the shop and was delighted to find it still in there, at half price....a delectable £2.50! Yay for waiting - doesn't always pay off but big cheers when it does! It looks like it may be 1950's or 60's and totally reminds me of Grace Kelly, if only I could look so chic wearing it!

More Fleamarket Finds over at Sophies...

image here

✴ safe and sound

2010-05-15T21:39:00.001+01:00

Today I got together with a couple of mamas and nannys and we learnt some skills that all of us hope we will never have to use again...

Child First Aid.

It's one of those things, isn't it, we all know we should know the basics but the thought of imagining a situation in which our child or loved one is in pain, or unconscious or even worse, (palpitations at the thought of this ) not breathing.....is such an unbearable and unimaginable concept that most of us would rather file it away in a box labeled 'Things I'd rather not think about'.

But if an accident occurs, the immediate care and even resuscitation that may be given by a parent, grandparent, friend, neighbour, aunt, sister etc, etc, can be crucial and may even be life saving while waiting for the emergency services to arrive.

Personally, I want to know what to do in a situation like that. Don't you?

There are many first aid courses, we did ours with Safe and Sound.

Here are some more...

St. John Ambulance

British Red Cross

And here is something I had no idea about....Do you know that you can even make an appointment with your local fire department for a home fire risk assessment, in which they will identify any fire risks with in your home and will even help you put together an escape plan in the event of a fire.

Good to know.

Anyway, lecture over, as you were...

✴ my creative space

2010-05-13T15:54:00.000+01:00

There is much about the wedding in my space this week. And keeping shh...

Successful headdress fittings on monday which now, after a little tweaking and finishing off, will be packaged in tissue paper, nestled inside an ivory box and sent to an excited Bride (and bridesmaids!) to be. All to be revealed at a later date...

A new secret commission leads to some more sketching...

And a few new potential clients have instigated a sort through of images...

Sorry for the cloak and dagger but they're a secretive bunch these Brides, and woe betide anybody that spills the beans before the big day!!!

All together now, 'Daaa, da da daaaa...'

Catch the bouquet of creativity (sorry....) at Kootoyoo...

✴ ahem...ahem...without further ado...

2010-05-12T16:22:00.000+01:00

It's been a bit hectic and sleep deprived around here, hence the slight delay in picking a giveaway winner. Anyway at last I can reveal that Little Ted Canvas was picked out as the winner and will receive a collection of handmade goodies, including a 'Tickety Bow' brooch, vintage button hair grips and a 'Union' pin/lavender cushion...

My eager assistant also picked out three runners up who will be sent some vintage button hair grips;

Cupcakes and Biscuits

From little Things

Melbourne Epicure

Be sure to email me with your addresses so I can get your goodies in the post...

{sassybats@hotmail.com}

Thanks to everyone who entered and all who stop by here and comment. It means so much to me and I love to read your comments and visit your creative worlds.

Thank you. x

✴ votes for cake

2010-05-09T21:56:00.000+01:00

After dragging my weary and slightly confused head out to vote on thursday, imagine my delight to stumble upon a garage sale right across from the church where the polling station was.

Not such a bad day after all....

I like that the old couple had seized upon the opportunity of passing voter trade to host the sale...clever.

There wasn't much there to tug at my purse strings, except these three cake tins/jelly moulds. Fab find. £2...Sold.

Kugelhopf (made in the largest of the tins)

and a vase of Cow Parsley ('thrifted' from the nearby fields on a walk home from the pub!)

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

By the way, I've been sooooo busy and have another hectic day tomorrow so I will pick a winner for the Giveaway on tuesday, so if you haven't done so already, you still have time to enter.

More fleamarket finds over here...

✴ my creative space

2010-05-06T11:08:00.000+01:00

Vintage buttons and Liberty fabric binding is all about my space, making pretty button/bow hair grips.

I can't seem to get enough of Liberty fabrics at the moment. They seem to be everywhere and so very much epitomise those very British 'Famous Five' style summer picnics of lashings of ginger beer, bike rides and rain...

Lashings of creative spaces at Kootoyoo...

There is still time to enter my giveaway here...

✴ {french} fancy a change?

2010-05-04T21:02:00.000+01:00

I'm fussing about with layouts and the dreaded html again!!!

I should be sorting the laundry, making dinner, that sort of thing...Hhmmmm....

Once you start fussing....

Anyhoo. I'm not sure yet. I like the look of large images as seen on lots of other blogs but I'm wary of that 'I'm really SHOUTING at you' sort of thing. I don't want to scare anybody off.

I helped out one summer, before starting Uni, at The National Library for the Blind. As well as all of the braille books they also have a selection of large print editions. I used to borrow the odd book to read and it was a bit like the author had been shouting very loudly at me once I'd finished the page...

It was a bit exhausting!

✴ très chic, grandma!

2010-05-02T19:48:00.003+01:00

This week I have grabbed for myself, from the local charity shop, a beautiful stash of granny chic loveliness; doilies, tray cloths, tablecloths and antimacassars. Oh and some lovely screen printed fabric that has a look of some Sanderson fabric my mum covered the settees with in the '70's.

I've already got several ideas for the re-modeling and up-cycling of these.

I'm thinking cushion covers, aprons, bags and general 'shabby chic'ing!

One is already so perfect for a vintage pinny it's like it was meant to be.

More Fleamarket Finds at Her Library Adventures.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here.

✴ may day, may day : GIVEAWAY!!!

2010-05-01T11:17:00.000+01:00

It's two years ago today that I started wittering away here to anyone who would listen.

Ok, so I maybe took a bit of a sabbatical for ... erm....one of those years but I was away, busy creating my biggest and best project to date......and she thanks me by calling me Daddy!!!!?
Thank you for all your comments, for stopping by and having a cup of tea (metaphorically speaking) and cheering me up and boosting my confidence with your lovely sentiments and words of wisdom.
So, to say ta, I'm having a bit of a giveaway. My very first (about time...)!
A bag of magical mysterious delights......
Well.....not literally magical....or that mysterious.....but delightful none the less.
A goodie bag of handmade goodness, from me, to you.
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here, telling me about your May Day weekend pursuits. What are you up to or what have you done this weekend? What does May Day mean to you?
Perhaps you're heading out to a good old fashioned village fair and a dance around the maypole?
Or maybe you like to spend the bank holiday weekend nestling under the duvet and slouching around the house (hmmm...if only).
This weekend I'm hoping to fit in a visit to a farm, sunday lunch with friends and hopefully a long overdue visit to the V&A (Quilts - finally!). All, as always, dependent on weather.
Oh and I'm sending much love to a May Day Bride.

Anybody, anywhere can enter. I'll draw a winner out of the proverbial hat in a weeks time.
Until then, have a fabulous weekend.
xxx

✴ all the way from...

2010-04-30T09:28:00.000+01:00

...Oregon, USA!! My pincushion has arrived from Kellie at Eclectic Chica and I just love it.

So beautifully crocheted and sewn. Thank you Kellie, and for the extra lovelies, a packet of pins and a granny square necklace. Oh and such a sweet message in the botanical flower print card.

Loved taking part in this swap.

✴ my creative space

2010-04-29T10:11:00.000+01:00

Now that the baba has discovered her legs my time is mainly spent on trying to control the mayhem that often ensues...

Such daily pursuits as; falling in/out of the toy box, climbing over the furniture, chasing fearful cats, pulling the books off the shelves, throwing rice cakes/blueberries/peas into random corners of the house/ironing basket/my pocket, and graffiti style crayoning.

This all requires careful monitoring ignoring and controlling tea supping....

It's futile to try and control a determined toddler who has new legs, and shoes.

Consequently my list of unfinished projects is deficient of triumphant ticks and so I have decided to focus on things I can actually achieve, which has led to picking the wildflowers in the garden.

Bluebells, forget-me-nots and ...er... crushed daisy heads...(thankyou Ella...).

Aren't they pretty though? And so delightfully fragrant. I love that there is at least one tidy, beautiful and, perhaps a little stylish space, on this unreachable mantlepiece, that helps me stay positive and focus on the creative.

My creative space at Kootoyoo.

✴ weekend gardener

2010-04-26T18:35:00.000+01:00

lovage, fennel, chives, black peppermint and catnip

spinach, lettuce, rocket and runner beans awaiting planting

hello garlic!

gooseberry bush blossoms - hopefully enough for jam this year

and taking it easy!

As weekend gardener I found myself taking a leisurely relaxing approach to getting jobs done in the garden.

In other words, I didn't really get my hands dirty but there was much wandering, admiring and patting of one's back over small accomplishment so far ( in that things do appear to actually be growing, yay! ) and of course much tea supping.

There is still so much to do though. For example, is it possible to over chit (careful..!) seed potatoes?? As mine have been merrily chitting ( again..!) away in the kitchen for a few weeks now....Hhhmmm....

What's happening in your garden?

✴ the woman in must

2010-04-25T15:31:00.000+01:00

I live in a 1930's house, surrounded by other 1930's houses an an area which still hints at this homely and iconic era. From the quaint parade of shops and the deco style train station to the croquet lawns, allotments and the abundance of parklife.

The local charity shop, nestled within the quaint parade, is often a treasure trove of this time. Many 1930's pieces can be found there. Often tea sets and serving dishes and tureens with a crackled glaze and a pretty floral pattern.

This time I picked up these two lovely romantic ladies,

Ilka The Captive Maiden (print edition 1922) and The Woman In White (print edition 1933).

The first book struck charity shopping gold with the handwritten inscription on the front page;

To Greta Campbell Betty Millar

from Jean Robertson.

Mission S.S. "Jan. 10th 1932"

Oooohhh....Mysterious, no? Why was Greta's name crossed out? What's Mission S.S? And why was the date in quotation marks?? Curiouser and curiouser, I thought as I peered through my imaginary Miss Marple style half-moon spectacles....

I love the smell of old books. That musty damp sort of smell. I know it's not everyones cup of tea but for me it's so synonymous with old costume departments and theatres in which I have spent rather a lot of time over the years.

It particularly reminds me of work experience I did at the Royal Exchange Theatre costume hire dept when in my first year at uni. The musty old smell of the cramped rails of costumes, fresh coffee brewing in the corner and classic fm on the radio, such a sensory delve into the past!

Must noun. Mustiness, dampness, or mold: a pervasive smell of must.

More hints of must over at her library adventures.

✴ my creative space

2010-04-22T09:36:00.000+01:00

My poor bride-to-be is stuck in L.A thanks to an erupting volcano so had to miss our first headdress fitting on monday.

Which has meant extra time for titivating!

In the meantime, someone much closer to home commissioned me to make them a headdress...

It's years since I've made a daisy chain. What memories of childhood!

If anyone is interested, a daisy chain circlet for a fairytale princess of 15 months takes approximately 14 daisies and 10 minutes make.....And about 20 seconds to rip apart and strew across the garden!

Daisy chain to Kootoyoo for more creative spaces...

✴ knit one pin one

2010-04-19T19:45:00.000+01:00

I think by now my 'Knit One Pin One' Pincushion as part of the great pincushion swap, should have reached it's destination. I hope the recipient enjoys my pincushion as much as I enjoyed making it.

What fun this swap has been. Almost 120 of us taking part all across the globe.

Bring on the next swap I say.....ahem... well maybe not too soon...need a breather......sighhhh...

I'm off to go have a looksee and an 'ahhh' at all of the pincushions, here.

✴ a holey plate

2010-04-18T11:48:00.001+01:00

Last week I happened upon this lovely plate in a local charity shop.

I have to admit that I had a bit of a 'Homer Simpson' moment and it took a few seconds for it to sink in what this plate actually was.

You see, at the moment I have my eye out for pretty vintage side plates to go onto a spare bit of wall above the front door and I thought I'd stumbled across another lovely to add to the collection.

Hooray, I thought, and then looked closer with dismay. Oh no, there is a hole in the middle of the plate, what a shame....

Yep, wait for it.......wait a few more seconds......probably a few more... (image of me still staring vacantly at plate hole...), and then....

AAAaaaHhhhhhhhhhhhhAhhhaaaahhhhhhhh....(choir of angelic voices can be heard, ray of light from above shining down on....ok am I going too far with this??...........) and then the penny dropped....

A cake stand plate!

Just what I have (completely forgotten about ) been looking for.

A couple of months ago I noticed a large crack in a glass plate cake stand that had been given to me as a hen party gift by a lovely friend who presented it to me laden with yummy cupcakes....Mmmmm.

The plate had to be turfed but I kept the metal stand in the hope that I would be able to find a replacement plate. And here it was staring me in my (slightly slow on the uptake) face.

I'm no pottery expert but the plate is relatively old, perhaps 30's /40's/ 50's? And has the makers mark, 'HT & sons made in England' but so far I have not been able to find anything out about them.

No matter, it's a lovely plate, fits so well onto the Laura Ashley plate stand and was only £4!

I'm so happy to fix something treasured (and used often!) but broken and mix the old with the new!

More Flea Market Finds over at Sophies...

✴ done and posted

2010-04-17T11:12:00.000+01:00

Pincushion made ~ tick

Pincushion posted ~ tick

Ok, here is the confession. There was a slight necessary late addition of a drop of glue yesterday afternoon and the decision had to be made to wrap and post immediately to make the deadline, or wait several hours for the glue to dry properly. So to avoid any sort of glue malfunction, I chose to wait.

It went first thing this morning. Hope you don't mind.

My swap partner should receive it monday, fingers crossed.

I'll post pictures then so as not to spoil any surprises.

And we all like a good surprise, don't we?

I will just say that the quirky side of my brain stepped up to this challenge and kind of took over...

And thanks to Cadbury for sponsoring this project...( he, he!)

Thanks also to Kate for organising such a fab swap.

✴ my creative space

2010-04-15T10:08:00.000+01:00

It's all about deadlines!!

The pincushion must be posted tomorrow! And the first headdress fittings....Monday!!!

I'm not sure how it happens. I always start out with such good intentions of getting things done immediately.

But I invariably end up at the last minute, frantically working against the clock.

I actually think I thrive off pressure. It's the freelancer in me.

I have so many memories of stitching and glueing, ironing and bejewelling at some ridiculous hour in the middle of the night...

It'll all be ok on the night, as they say. It always is (touch wood!).

Pop along to Kootoyoo for some far more time conscious creative types!!

By the by, if you have commented here recently and I haven't popped along to yours yet, I'm soooo sorry and will do very soon, I promise. Can't wait to see what you've been up to. x

✴ learning how to walk (and other minor incidents)...

2010-04-14T20:22:00.001+01:00

I've been elsewhere, preoccupied, caught up with stuff, you know how it is...

I don't know where the time goes I really don't! There has been a lot of stuff happening.

Like walking for the first time (not me, I grasped that a wee while ago, although there is still room for improvement...)

I'm feeling a bit like Dee Wallace (the mum) in E.T. Most specifically the scene in the kitchen when she is completely unaware that a small hobbling alien is following her around everywhere she goes...Well a bit like that...Although my alien is much cuter than E.T and of the girly toddler variety.

Here is what I have learnt recently;

Never leave the buying of a husbands birthday gifts to the last minute, (likewise, the last minute rule also, and possibly more importantly, applies to impending deadlines...)
Avoid bragging to friends and family of the 13 hours of sleep your child is currently having, because it's bound to put a jinx on this run of good sleep fortune, and then you'll be sorry, yes you will...
Don't even bother thorough vacuuming of carpets during breezey cherry blossom blowing season (yes that is a real season...)
When offering your small child a tiny taste of chocolate cake for the first time try to be aware of the incredible similarity in looks to the freshly laid compost in the garden...
Obviously, a never worn before white dress, new shoes, an unsteady walk and a polished kitchen floor is bound to end in tears, and a cut lip, and a bloody mess.... (again, I don't mean me...)

And the most important thing, when all this other stuff is going on?

Never ever skip afternoon tea.

It's ok really to forget about breakfast (despite what all the nutritionists say...)

But it really is quite bad to not have that 4pm cuppa and big slab of cake, or muffin, or biscuit...

Honest!

✴ my creative space

2010-04-01T09:58:00.000+01:00

Bunny- "Oh my, thank you kind maker for my oh so pretty (but practical) cheesecloth dress with the gathered sleeves and the ric rac hemline......."

"......And for the delightful petticoat with the frayed fabric frill ( err...for rustic charm....) and the very useful itty bitty pocket......."

"...But please, if you will, just tell me one thing, dear, darling and oh so busy maker......"

"......WHERE ARE MY FLIPPIN' EARS?????......."

My creative space at Kootoyoo.