A CARAVAN BACK ON THE SCENE

Once upon a time there was a girl..she spent every weekend being dragged around the southern countryside in a vintage lorry with various tractors, tool & other such whatnot strapped to the back & a caravan bobbing along behind…Most of her childhood was spent in this way. She learnt to ride a motorbike aged 7 & then her first driving lesson was in a 3 tonne market garden truck at the age of 10. By the age of 12 she had mastered a routemaster bus, fordson tractor, various cars & other such wonders of times gone by…..she had also fallen in love with the humble caravan, although she didn’t know it at the time!

Then she left home and missed her travelling ways & bought & fell in love with a Type 2 VW camper, painted a fabulous purple shade & more adventures were had….unfortunately beyond repair the latest love of her life trundled off to that great vw scrap heap in the sky….

We tried our hand at camping in a tent which was embraced with a passion of sleeping out doors & then another camper van but alas with the arrival of Violet meant that we passed our latest home on wheels to the next happy wanderers and went back to camping….

Last week was Mother’s Day & this lovely lady arrived at the farm….now she is not destined for galloping around the countryside & indeed will be a stay at home Kitty but just walking through the door & sipping a cup of tea surrounded by her caravan loveliness is enough to drag me off into a world of wonder.

Stanley is making himself at home already……

Obviously I am itching to get painting & stitching her a new inside & out but I thought it would be nice to record here the arrival of Maude x

A ‘CRAFTY DAY’ WORKSHOP AT HOPE & ELVIS

Tif and Rachelle (panini & bernina) are delighted beyond all delights to offer 2 ‘crafty day’ workshops this summer in old blighty. If you have a crafty soul and a granny chic heart, then perhaps you may wish to spend quality time with 2 crafters whose love for handcrafted and second-hand goodness knows no bounds.

Tif and Rachelle (dottie angel & ted and agnes) will spend the workshop wisely wearing their rose coloured specs and showing you how to make a lovely piece of ‘handmade whatnot’ you may then proudly hold in your hands and return to your clan with tear of joy in your eye, exclaiming

“me and my crafty soul made this today!”.

Teaming up with the ‘ever~so~peachy’ Louise of Hope and Elvis at a wonderful setting in Nottinghamshire, the day will comprise of a morning and afternoon class, a ‘most delightful’ lunch and heaps of vintage textiles, trinkets and treasure to rustle around in.

 

Both days are offered over one weekend, so if you are a Saturday folk or a Sunday folk, hopefully one of those days will suit you nicely.

This lovely event is a ‘one off happening’ for this year!

Tif and Rachelle are more often than not, separated by a large pond, so to have their crafty granny souls together in one place is a rarity indeed.

Spots for crafty souls on these workshops are limited, so in the pursuit of fairness, places will be reserved on a first come basis only.

Very important thing to note:

Booking will OPEN at 7.30 am Monday 19th March UK time

And not before!

All nitty gritty about the workshop, including booking is handled by Louise,

So to find out more, to see how, what, where you book your ‘crafty day’ place, before you set your alarm for an early Monday start, please look over at this very nice page

Yes, it is quite true to say, Tif and Rachelle, along with their little vintage suitcases will be most thrilled to be travelling to meet so many lovely crafty souls this summer in Nottinghamshire.

HOMESPUN STYLE EVENT

I am rather excited about attending Selina’s event with a selection of my wares to sell…not only have I not been down to the Old Smoke for a fare few years but I shall also get to meet some of the lovely folks I get to chit chat with online most days…

If you are attending do come and say hello & if you mention you read my blog then I am offering a discount of 20% on all my items for sale….

Look out for another post next week & I shall give you a sneaky preview of some of the one off pieces I am taking along…x

OH HOW SPRING HAS SPRUNG

The view from my workroom is lovely at the best of times but early this morning I started my day glancing from the window to see these wee chaps had arrived over night….heralding that spring is most definitely here…

Have a wonderful spring filled day x

WANDERING THROUGH THE WEEKEND

My weekend pottering in pictures…..

 

SMITTEN BY TURQUOISE ROSE CROCKERY

Well now its not often that new china gets my heart a fluttering but as I flicked through April’s edition of Country Living these pieces caught my eye.
They are part of Rachel Ashwell’s Shabby Chic collection at House of Frazer and I will be making some purchases very shortly infact they have gone straight the the top of my Mothers day list…



I wonder if she makes fabric in this print it would be perfect for my sofa……

FINE & DANDY 70’S BEDLINEN

Now I know for sure that I am not alone in my liking for these rather gaudy 70’s prints that adorned out bedrooms as children and I always grab them when found on my thrifty travels but more often than not they end up in a pile on the shelf whilst I ponder how to use them.

Obviously with king size living they are usually single or double sized and don’t fit the beds, so that makes all but pillow cases redundant. I have made a few into pinny’s & several cushions but they just don’t seem to sit well in my mind out of the bedroom…

So I decided that if I couldn’t dress the beds with them then I could make myself some rather fetching night attire….I think it uses the sheets rather well don’t you…..

THE TALE OF LOVELY VERA

I have been hoarding a very lovely Sanderson fabric for a while now just waiting for the right project to come along that was worthy of its most loveliness…enter Mrs Scoops, dearest Hayley.

She had spotted Vera, a bag design that I haven’t made for a while now & asked me if I would make one for her and left it to me to decide colours fabric etc and if possible a summery ice cream vintage feel….the Sanderson was perfect!

I love making bags to order especially when I know I have a perfect fabric for the person ordering…I always feel there is a little bit of me in each bag so its good to know they will be treasured…and I know Vera has a super new home…x