Come on in....!

 A brief tour of a few moments in my home....

Welcome to 'The Office'. We call this 'The Office' with a wry comedic smile because we are sooo funny and ironic in my family.

 Most of the Living Room is, in fact, completely taken over by my life, my business.

I feel immense GUILT that you might not even know a child lives here. I have pushed out all domesticity from our cosy abode

 And me.... sat at the LapTop trying to get my business back on track...

(should I cut my hair again? I hardly recognise myself)

Meanwhile, this pile of Cememt Mix and Ballast is all i have of my *real* office / studio.

Sat in bags on the drive, it feels like a long way off right now.

 And life waits.... stacked up against walls.... waiting for the business to move out of our home and into a place where i can shut the door on it when i need to.

I never thought i would miss looking at my pictures soooo much! Strange, the pictures of our life that we come to rely on seeing, day in / day out. maybe a shake up is what we all need now and again?

 Knick Knacks of life and living seem to be sat,  shelved,  waiting for 'the time' to begin again.

I have been most amazed at how much junk i can quickly amass... and how little i actually need in my life to get on.

 A wooden Memory Box, salvaged from my deceased Great Aunt some 10 years ago.

Yet another thrifted suitcase... ( i swear, they breed in my house)

Upcycled cupboard unit. Was a white GPlan and is now a vintage-y Sage colour with pretty glass-look handles. This was a quick job that made me so much happier.

I spy... oh yes, ANOTHER vintage suitcase, balanced upon boxes of unpacked stuff and stock for the shop....

i was really looking forward to moving in and starting my new life...

Moving OUT was fairly swift in all it's practicalities.

Moving IN seems to be taking forever.

This is for you my dear x a sneak peek.

Felt Balls - Sharing the stories...

I don't know how Other online shops feel about 'product photography' but for me it is a process of sheer frustration and total joy!

Joy that it is "another job ticked off the list"

Joy that the process can be fun and creative.

Frustration at creating just 'that look' you want...

Craft products, handmade and supplies to sell on, are a constant joy to me. I only make, buy and sell items that make me happy and INSPIRE me. What an immense amount of hard work it would be if i didn't love what i sell?

All photography, Art, Craft - it's all about telling a story and even simple Felt Balls or Buttons have a story to tell. As i am the photographer, i suppose it is only my own story i can convey in a picture.

How can i best suggest the warm, tactile pleasure of handling these fuzzy spheres - how they roll around in your fingers?

The colours and what they remind me of (usually food related, tut tut) but sometimes i think i can even smell the story - These pink balls like pefect mouth sized portions of Strawberry Ice-Cream, and in turn, a memory a Summers Day and my daughter with a sticky ice-cream mouth.

Large green peas and a hazy flash of childhood as i remember picking fresh peas from the garden with my dad... wow, he was so young back then and i thought he ruled the world! (he is still King of mine)

Lilac... it isn't a colour i like. I don't wear it or use it often...ever...? But i had been picking Blackberries the afternoon before this shoot, so maybe these are the two reasons i felt this photo needed a Blackberry Pom-Pom to the side.

Red. Red. Red is the colour! My favourite colour.... i even added more red in this pictures background. And, like the silly sausage I am, i love the fact that the background red basket holds masses of balls of wool. It fits with the wool felt beads. You don't know that as a viewer - but i know that. Somehow that knowledge makes this image complete.

A real photographer wouldn't get caught up in their own stories though. I think a great photographer leaves doors open in their images, for you to see your own stories.

I expect, if you are shopping on the internet, the images that catch your eye are the ones that tell a story you recognise...

Hey - just a quickie!

I love colour. I love to surround myself by it. Colour makes me feel happy and positive and alive.

I don't do 'matching sets' and i don't do 'dull'

I am not funny or quirky or 'like being different'... do what makes you happy people!

This stool is a typical example of what i love to do in my home.

The stool was found at the back of a Thrift Shop. (I forgot to get a photo of it before i sprayed the wood part Hot Pink) It was a wooden stand with a yellow top. I liked the yellow top actually but i have a need for pattern and a great stash of fabrics.

I lightly sanded off the legs and frame before spraying the whole thing with a Gloss Spray Paint. I didn't bother using Primer on it first at the paint looked like it would adhere well without it - and i do love to cut corners (impatience)

The Top has fantastic little bars that easily allowed you to remove it from the base.

So then, i found a square of Cath Kidston fabric in the boldest design and stretched it over the top. I borrowed my dads staple gun to keep it all in place and really pulled it tight to get a good stretch and fit.

With the fabric added it was now a really tight fit into the painted frame so i used a soft mallet to whack it back into position and then turn the bars underneath to keep it in place.

Stool = £8.00

                                       Spray Paint = £1.00 - (from a large 400ml can costing £6.00)

                                 Fabric = £2.00 - (from a £12.00 per metre piece)

               Staples = £2.00 (at a guess?)

The photo doesn't do this justice but i was really chuffed with how it turned out.

Colour + Craft + Thrift = Love my Life xxx

My Chum Sally said "it's too early for Christmas"...

What is she like.....?

Thrifty Home...

For all Thrift Fans out there - i have had a few bargain finds over the past month of house renovation. As i get a spare 5mins to share them, i will try.

This is my ebay 1950's pantry - amazingly it was being sold by a gentleman very close to my new home so it saved all that ebay hassle of "HOW do i get this from ebay land into MY home?" type debates.

The case and wooden trug on top, a few of my many TIP finds!

The bottom is stuffed with my Girl's Art and Craft bits (yes, it's hard to share!)

And in the top sections i have stacked my fabric pieces

Ahhh, tea, chocolate brownie, slobbery dog = bliss

Annoyingly blank walls awaiting picture hanging

And our only 2 comfy chairs! so no visitors allowed at present.

One for Mummy Bear & one for Baby Bear

Thrifted Brown cord Pouffe.

I bloomin' lurve a good bargain and a bit of recycling xxx

A Pretty English Country Wedding....

I thought you ladies might like to see a few of these?

I happend to be passing through the preparations for an 'English Country Wedding' in my local village. My mum was there hanging the bunting so i popped in.

What an overwhelming array of amazing tea cups - i so wish i had found the time to photograph each one. They were all begged, borrowed and stolen from local villagers - many sets having been wedding gifts to those ladies some 50 years previously.

I could have taken quite a few of these pretty little sets home in my basket, had it not been for the fact that i do know the bride and the ladies who donated the tea cups, so i could have lost a few good neighbour points. But it was a moment of bliss.

I feel the need for a Jumble Sale and a Car Boot rummage coming on.... despite the fact i have a few boxes of tea sets sat wrapped in my garage.

There are so many amazing chintzy designs to discover *sigh*

And this was the official - wedding Breakfast! You're right to hate me for not getting any shots of the tea pots that arrived and triple tiered vintage cake stands... the sugar bowls and milk jugs.

Yes, this IS the sort of village where a man walks his Shire Horse every morning and people talk about breeding bullocks over the shop counter, collecting their morning paper.

(we don't just buy "local eggs" round here, we can practically name every hen they came from!)

So, moving house has been a somewhat hellish experience in many ways - but how could i ever complain? This is the sort of village i have arrived in, and it rather suits me, don't you think?

Notice me, sat, with the teacup in hand whilst my poor 'ole Mam is struggling up a ladder in the background. teehee xxx