About Me

My photo
antrim, antrim, Ireland
Hello and welcome to my blog. If you like flowers and gardens, housey stuff, food and banter, then this is the place for you. I am a decorative artist, florist and maker of things. I sell painted furniture, plants and crafts, through a local retail shop, in my native Ireland, and wedding flowers from home. I am married to a lovely patient man and have a smashing little girl. I blog for the fun of it. Thank you for listening.

Monday 27 May 2013

A long day in the garden.

On Saturday we had a really beautiful day. I wasn't working, Paul wasn't working and Lois was off school, so we spent it in the garden, and it was glorious. I felt as if I had been given a gift. I did'nt come in until 11.30, and went to bed tired and happy!















 Lots of work got done....weeding, planting, staking, brushing, cleaning, dead-heading and loads of moving. Then there was feeding, watering, re-planting. I even managed to paint some more pots for the shop. There was also some eating, drinking, admiring, sitting, talking, relaxing. A very good day was had by all!

The next little gift I receive will be spent fence painting, hopefully I won't have to wait too long.
I hope you had a lovely weekend, and managed to have a little time in your garden or in the park, or on the beach, and if not, then it's your turn next! Much love to you all, and thanks for stopping by, Linda x.





Tuesday 21 May 2013

It's the simple things in life....


On my way to the shop  I walked through the park and couldn't resist taking a couple of snaps, the cowparsley and bluebells were drawing me in!


Toadflax in a crack in the wall...I love it, I love the name of it! It seems very English to me, but it's probably not.




I painted some terracotta pots and planted them out, for the shop.



My hubby planted some salad leaves a while ago and they are ready to eat, don't they look good?
You can't beat a walk in the park, a session in the garden or some home produced goodies...it's the simple things in life that please me.

Many thanks my dear readers for all your lovely comments on my last post. I will have some more things to show you soon, but didn't want to go on too much about the shop this week. All is going well, and I have another Furniture Painting Workshop this Friday, so it's pretty hectic around here...but there is still time to smell the lettuce! I wish you all a very happy and productive week, and I look forward to catching up with you all. Love Linda xx

Monday 13 May 2013

More stuff!

Hello my dear readers, I hope that I am not boring the pants off you, with my latest adventure, but it is so prevalent in my mind. Some of you expressed interest in seeing a some more details of what I am selling in 'The Potting Shed'. These are little felt brooches, for adults or children. The Westie, although named Wesley is based on our dog Sparky, a flower has landed on his nose and he's rather startled!

Some tags I made out of clay that air dries. I thought the teapot might make a good fridge magnet, but I will need to source some magnets.


Excuse this dreadful photo of my middle area,but it was to show you what the above items are. I have called them 'handy holster's', and they are pockets made out of tea-towels that you tie around your waist. I made one for wearing in the shop, as I always misplace my specs, scissors etc., and thought they would be good when cooking, cleaning or gardening.



These are tissue packs for the car or your bag, made from Tilda and Cath Kidston fabric.

I will let you see some more pics next time of my little area which has altered from the last time you saw it. If you remember, there was a table from the tea room in the middle of my space, which although very pleasant for those having tea, was kind of cramping my style, and stopping customers from looking at my stuff. It has now been removed and so I have more space to fill!
There are plans to add extra space on to the tea room by covering in an outside yard, so things are evolving all the time.



A couple of pieces of furniture that |I painted are in the window at Nanabelle's. The pink chest was an ugly brown 1950's dressing table. The top which sadly you cannot see is painted with strawberries. The potting bench was also dark brown and has been painted with the chalk paint, rubbed back and then waxed with a dark wax to age it.



Paper bunting on wire. I have had various types of bunting and it has all sold, so I am busy making more tonight. Those of you who have visited my blog for a while will know that I love to make all kinds of different stuff, so it is lovely to have found somewhere where I can sell it.

Thank you all for your lovely, lovely comments, you are all so very kind. I apologize for not having replied to you yet, but I will get to you soon. I am looking forward to reading your posts and seeing what you have been doing . Have a wonderful week, with love, Linda x.

Monday 6 May 2013

@The Potting Shed


Hello and welcome to my old friends and new ones.
 Last week was a very busy one for me, as I am embarking on a new venture. I obtained a little retail space within a giftshop (Nanabelle's) in my home town. It will be somewhere for me to sell plants and flowers, hand crafted items and small pieces of furniture.Together with the owner of the shop we will also be offering workshops on painting furniture, flower arranging and crafts.

Saturday was very exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time. I had set most of it up on Friday evening, and just finished off on Saturday. My space is small and I have a table and chairs from the tea room in the middle of it, so it was a little tricky to plan. It will need tweaking, but I was  pleased with how it looked.

I painted the old churn with the chalk paint and added a blackboard paint panel.



I have bunting and handmade brooches here, but I will need to get some closeups.



A wreath made from Baby's Breath.

Tulips and blossom from my garden.

I made my new business cards on Picmonkey.



A cute couple enjoying tea in 'the potting shed!'

Some of my older readers may recognize these, my mum's tea towels, made during the war from flour sacks, they have been recycled once again into laundry or shoe bags.

A handtied arrangement.

I hope you like the look of it too? I had a good day, the reception was very positive, and quite funny sometimes, as customers in Nanabelle's are used to silk flowers,  I could hear them tell their friends,'those roses are real!' It will take a little while for word to get around, but it was a good start.

I couldn't resist showing you this little picture of Sparky, that I edited on Picmonkey.
Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead. A very big thank you to all who were kind enough to visit my  website and leave comments. I found them to be most helpful, and although I haven't acted on them yet, I most certainly will. With love, Linda x.