Giving and Receiving

Decided to finish some jobs that had been hanging around quite literally tooooo long!


Take this shade for example, which has been hanging above me from a beam in my workroom for about 2 years!

You see it was out of site out of mind!


The funny thing is you get used to the weird shape hanging above you and added to that the poor lamp stand that I bullied my husband to restore and paint has stood with out its shade equally as long and that was in my bedroom, so I had enough signs.





















Anyway here is the finished lamp with the shade made with a pretty vintage German fabric.
Also finished off a favourite cushion with bobble trim. I LOVE bobble trim!

The light that it kicks off is really pretty. Anyway off to find some more unfinished jobs.

But in the meantime let me show you this fab rag bag that has been made to a high quality by Ragged Roses - yes everyone at Ragged Roses it was me who moved in there like a cat on a hot tin roof. Sheer luck and good timing - no special powers honest:o)


Half the fun of shopping is the special little goodies that come as a thank you and I have to say that Kim at http://raggedroses.blogspot.com/ has not disappointed.

I got the sweetest little corsage ornament a long with the bag and pom pom, a lovely card and all wrapped up in crepe paper and lace.

My daughter whisked the bag off to her room before I could say jiminy cricket. Well I did buy it for her but she's not getting the pom pom or all the other goodies - they're all mine.

Now continuing with beautiful things arriving through the post . Last month I arranged with Becca of http://bluebirdroses.blogspot.com to do a private swap. She sent me a selection of beautiful bluebird tags - but not any old tags these were 3d with the bluebird appearing like it was about to fly off into the sky.
They are so beautiful Becca, thank you.

In return I sent Becca a heart ornament.

Becca was an easy customer to please she wanted anything pink - well she had come to the right place.




I made her this little heart ornament with a ruffled frill from vintage 1930's eiderdown fabric and added another little heart attached within the larger heart and then embellished it with vintage costume trim.
Of course I made sure that it lived up to its name -

Twinkle Pink :))

Well all I can say is Dis may at the weather. Mind you the garden is saying thank you so what will be will be.

We have a pair of doves nesting in our tree, they take turns sitting on the eggs - they know I'm there and seem happy enough about it.

I go to great efforts to have a no fly zone over my garden for the crows and magpies and they always flap a bit faster when they see me coming:0)

The doves seem to enjoy this spectacle, but I am sure one day I'm going to fall flat on my face.

Hanging in the tree below is this wind chime ornament - it is made from vintage spoons and forks with large glass marbles. They say wind chimes that tinkle all the time means there is love in this place. Well these lovebirds seem to have chosen well.

I must tell you about a great website of shabby chic style to shop at http://frenchgardenhouse.com/ . I bought some gorgeous things from this lovely lady and the little gifts you see below were not the items I bought but a thank you for shopping with her. I was so thrilled with the little birds nest with eggs and some roses for collage. Can't wait to create with them. Thank you so much and I will return!
A lot of you have asked if I sell my boots and hearts that feature on the sidebar - well I do - although the ones shown have been sold or even swapped (but they can give you an idea of what I like to make) and at the moment I make to commission and word of mouth. I plan to put some on Etsy and would love to get a website sorted out - maybe in the near future.

I love making ornaments and sachets that have meaning behind them.

It makes them even more special. The lucky victorian boots make great Wedding tokens, the hearts are a sign of love and friendship as with the hand shown in the pic above (haven't tried to make that one though) and the ballet style boots are a big hit with dancers and the younger generation or anyone who likes the delicate ballet style.

Everything is made using vintage and antique fabrics usually English and French. However the ballet ones are made from vintage German roses cotton (my favourite at the moment - the quality of the fabric is great) and I use a modern linen from Cabbages and Roses too.

The logo is an idea that came from http://elfieandme.typepad.com and we are free to use it on our blogs as a way of promoting handmade items.

Lets face it many of us have a lot of mass produced in our homes but to prevent it turning into a catalogue home a little bit of handmade can inject warmth and spirit leaving us with a home and not a sterile living space.

Well ya know that's just my opinion :0))

Ye Hay It's May!!

What a beautiful day this 1st of May!

The birds all merry, what do they say,

Do they know it is the season for nesting,

resting and then rejoicing!

Well that's all the prose I can come up with.... yep I know it needs some work.

Went to a car boot sale on Sunday and came back with a few bargains.

Totally surprised to have found 17 ceramic little drawer knobs and matching ceramic discs all for £5.00, I could have got the seller to come down on the price but was so pleased to have found them I didn't dare.

I also found some great 50's beads for £1.00 to add to my jar.

The book was a real find at only £1.00, it is embossed on the front with beautiful birds and serpents, florals and scrolls.

This lady is on the inside cover is protected by a page of tissue and the page opposite her is entitled The Drawing-Room Album and Companion for the Boudoir.

and this ..... To the intelligent and intellectual ladies of Great Britain, the best patrons of the elegant literature of their country....... why thank you kind sir .... oohh arrr:))

Well hey then what do you say about this page - How eloquent - is this Darcy??

How I would love to have spent a day in the life of these ladies, the dresses, the hair do's, the corsets ...... hmmmmm...... not the corsets! ......

Anyway, anyway back to reality, I received some lovely goodies from Etsy just recently. I found these ladies through blog. The collage pack has some gorgeous old wallpapers and other papers, bits and bobs and came from Jen Duncan http://jenduncan.typepad.com/

and these scrap work goodies came from http://littlepinkstudiio.typepad.com/

Can't wait to use them all!! Now I have to put my thinking cap on and see what I can come up with using all my new scrap work goodies. But rest assured there will always be a bit of TWINKLE in my creations, now lets see what I could use.

This storage container is original 60's Tupperware. My mum used to use this for all my parties when I was a little girl, who would have thought I would be using it for all my vintage embellishments. My mother definitely got her monies worth out of it and so am I.







Oooooooooooooooooo bling bling Twinkle Pink!

The Kitchen Swap PART 2

I am so relieved that today I can finally hold my head up high and say that my swapping partner Angie from http://norththreads.blogspot.com/ had received her parcel from me, and I can now share the pictures with you.

I have to say that I didn't send half as much for the swap as many others have including Angie who sent me such big collection of wonderful things. I have a lot to learn about the swaps I suppose. But I did spend a lot of time designing and making some things including this heart shaped Kitchen Plaque with a banner across the front saying 'I love my Kitchen'.


There is a PINK lolly pop.
Cupcakes, yes pink ones.

Ice cream cones.

I loved choosing the vintage fabric and especially creating the ice cream cones with the vintage jewels, then deciding where it was all going to go.

The finishing touch, well it had to have a twinkle heart!

Then there was the pinny - my theme was glamour for the kitchen and I decided on using this picture from a 1935 magazine. It is an advert for a cooker entitled 'and she can cook'

(even with a ballgown on?). I have to have one too!!

I transferred the picture on to some vintage french linen and then used some pink spotty ribbon to frame the pinny.
The final touch was a corsage brooch that can be removed if need be and is made from vintage millinery and pink vintage swans down.

I sent some china and candles too, including this little teacup and this really yummy smelling candle -if only you could smell it. If you are in England you can get them in Waitrose. I had to get one for me too, my one was called Fairy dust!

Well that brings the Swap to an end now. Thank you to Jenny from 'Everyday is a holiday' for hosting it and to Angie for being such a great swap partner. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part.

Wash away the Winter

It's still only April and yet we have had the most gorgeous few days. It has been as warm as any summer day.

Loads of jobs were done outside.

The summer slipcovers were washed and dried on the line along with a huge quilt.

The garden table and chairs were power sprayed clean and hubby even finished the little shed that we have nicknamed the dunny because it looks like an outside loo.

For any of you international fellow bloglanders you may or may not know but as soon as the sun is out most of the British nation make a mad rush for it, sunblock in hand - the expression - mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun - comes to mind. Well forget midday - ALL DAY!

Yes a good weekend was had by all. I just hope that it keeps up for this week at least cos I have loads more quilts I could wash!!

It doesn't bear thinking about.

Just call me the washer woman, well it will take a few years to get through this lot and that's just the start of it!! So I guess I am hoping for quite a few sunny days then?

Kitchen Swap

I took part in a Kitchen Swap back in March which was hosted by Jenny at Everyday is a holiday. My swap partner was Angie from Norththreads http://norththreads.blogspot.com/.
I can't believe how much Angie has sent me, she is so generous.

The chenille sac was made by Angie. With the yummy pink and mint colours it proved irresistible and was commandeered by my daughter almost immediately and hangs pride of place in her room.

Hey Niki - look at that rag dolly - so that's where she ended up hmmm..... what else will I find in her room!

Included with everything is this lovely card with the sweet verse:-
Patterns of friendship- stitched with kindness, lined with understanding,hemmed with patience,trimmed with laughter.
There are some lovely candy coloured textiles here in the shape of pot holders, pinnies and an embroidered bag holder. Plenty of sewing notions to keep me busy, and a collection of kitchen linens too!

This sweet embroidered piece of linen with a Crinoline lady on is going to be made into a lavender filled cushion straight away.

A great collection of kitchenalia, including a vintage US cup measure ( I have always wanted one of those and it will sort out some of my US recipe's) and this handy cake sieve which I have never seen before. Can't wait to use it.

THE OWL POMANDER IS SO CUTE AND SHE'S PINK TOO!!

2 adorable tins that fit in very well in my workroom

Many of the participants for this swap have added their pics to the kitchen swap flickr on Everyday is a holiday blog.

I am itching to show you what I sent out, but Angie has not received it yet.:( I'm always the last one at the party!!

I have a pic in the side bar of an ice cream cone .... I wonder what that's for ? Here's another taster - yes I know its a heart - yes I like my twinkle hearts but it is kitchen related I promise.