Maker of things

A pretty pink angel, with moonbeams in a little jar.

So sorry for my absence dear friends, I have been having too good a time as the 'maker of things'. The shop where I have a little booth, had a couple of Open Days and I had to get my act together and get some stuff made. I do buy in some things, but try as much as possible to make a variety of things, so that my space is ever changing and different. It is labour intensive, and frustrating at times, but I love the variety of it.

Hand painted stockings.

A rosy wreath.

A hessian wreath complete with toadstools, and a very tired Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

A little nutcracker decoration, minus the scary teeth!

The hessian wreaths, I have been admiring for a while on Pinterest, so I thought I would have a go, they are really quite easy to make, and are a change from silk or fresh ones. I added my own little touch with some toadstools and dried hydrangea.

Irish Blessing Cushion.

You have seen this little fella before, but now it's finished!

These are brushes which I painted and then decided to add a tea towel and mug and package them for a domestic
goddess.

There are going to be another 2 Open Days next week, so the pressure is on again. I have been doing various Workshops on painted furniture, flower arranging, and various crafty things, and although they are at night, they have been taking a lot of my time, in their preparation. I am enjoying it all though, it is good to be creative.

I do feel a little unhappy with my home , it has been neglected, and now that Christmas is coming, my nesting instincts are kicking in. I do realize that you can't 'do it all',but I will certainly have a crack at it. I know that once Christmas is over, things will be very quiet in the shop, so I can concentrate on my home then, but I kind of would like it to look cosy and lovely for the holidays. We shall see. I am certainly not going to stress over it.

I am very behind with my blog reading, but am looking forward to catching up with you all and seeing what is happening in your lives.Wishing you all a happy week ahead, and less of this awful weather we have been experiencing.

                                              With love, Linda x.

A busy little bee!

Time has just flown in for me this summer, as I have been a busy little bee. Things are picking up for me at the shop and so there has been a lot of making, painting and planting going on.

vintage style bunting.

hand painted scrubbing brushes.

slightly mad looking rabbit cake to make, for a certain someone's 11th birthday.

hanging baskets to plant.

furniture to paint.

cotton bunting in various colourways.

Bespoke bunting for a wedding.

The 'Tweed' family rabbits.

Decoupaged nest of tables.

A One Direction movie to watch, and photographs to be taken with cardboard cutouts, of Lois's favourite boys.

So you see,a busy bee. I do hope I will be forgiven for not posting?

Then on Saturday, there was 'the wedding', which has been taking up a lot of my time too.

It was a lovely wedding, the couple Leigh and Stuart, had very clear ideas of what they wanted, something vintage, something fun and something different. As usual my photographing was forgotten about until the last minute, and so some of the details were missed, but you will get an idea of what it was like at least.

The venue was a lovely old stone barn in the middle of the countryside called Breckenhill. 

Romance was definitely in the air.

Everything was so well thought out, with lots of  items homemade by the bride, such as the order of service.

Beautiful blue hydrangea in an old cart.

The bride broke with tradition and sported a top hat!

vintage details.

My lovely Lois in her high heels, and me in my 1940's get up, ready to serve the vintage tea, which was lovingly prepared by the Bride's mother, Kathleen, and mother-in-law Kathy. Friends also chipped in with their delicious scones and traybakes, and the staff from Nanabelle's Vintage Tearoom, served the team with great style. I loved the friendly message on the blackboard too!

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A very poor picture of the Bride's bouquet.

More vintage details.

The seating plan, pretty plates on an old stepladder.

There were 8 deep window ledges, which we decorated with various vintage themes.

The tables set for tea. Each table had a classic book as it's name, and a romantic quote from each book was printed unto parchment and glued unto the table centre, which then had bunting attached, made with little mini books and hearts. It is difficult to get the detail with my camera.

Everyone seemed to really enjoy the day, and there were loads of games to play and things to do. I wish the happy couple every happiness.

I hope to be back to blogging once a week from now on , and I have a lot of catching up to do, to see how busy you have all been. Much love, Linda x

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.

@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.