Before and After

I had wanted a new chair for my sewing table for quite a while when I came across an old, battered, wooden one in a reclamation shop which for some odd reason, I liked. A fiver later, I was trying to squueze it into the back of my little Corsa :-).

It stayed in the garage for ages until the summer holidays arrived and I had a bit more time than usual to give it a little TLC. Someone with woodwork knowledge very kindly made it sturdy again and sanded in down, in a much better way than I could. Here is what the chair looked like after the first couple of steps.

 

 

From here, I gave painted it with white undercoat, and then two coats of my chosen coloured emulsion. I had my paint mixed but it's still not the ideal colour. I'd have preferred it to be a bit more green.

Once it was dry I used a decorating knife to scrape off parts of the paint to reveal the wood underneath, giving it an old, battered effect. Finally, I painted it with quick drying emulsion and upholstered a drop in seat pad with some nice, new fabric.

 

The photo isn't the great quality and you can't see the colours very well but hopefully, you get the idea. I must admit, it was quite a bit of work to get the chair to this point, but I'm happy that it's completely individual and it does look lovely in my sewing room :-).

 

Thanks for reading.

Rachel xx 

 

Sensational Scandinavia

After returning from Tenerife, I was home for a few days before going away again! Although trips to Tenerife are lovely, I was desperate to see somewhere different this Summer, and so I booked a short, five day Scandinavian cruise. It's difficult to find a friend who can afford the money and time to be a travel companion in the summer holidays, so my Mum kindly joined me.

 

 

I had never been on a cruise before and didn't really know what to expect! However, I must admit that I experienced the best, most professional and personal customer service. The food was also exquisite, with a wide range of choice and tasted far better than any Michelin starred food I have eaten. Evenings on the ship were really lovely.

 

I visited Norway as a teenager and fell in love with its cleanliness, outdoors way of life, stunning scenery, traditions and politeness. This time, I came away loving it even more! We went up mountains, discovered the spectacular fjords, ate in Bergens famous fish market and explored the cities gorgeous wooden buildings.

 

 

The Orkney Isles were equally as gorgeous, but unfortunately it poured with rain while we were there. Of course, it wouldnt have been a holiday without doing a spot of shopping. We bought some real traditional Norwegian goods!

 

Overall, it was a fantastic holiday and I would love to do it all over again!!

 

Thanks for reading.

Love Rachel xx

Liberty Love

On my little trip to London, my main aim was to go to the fabric department in Liberty's. I have visited Liberty's a few times, but never actually gone to the fabric department.

Usually, I can't get past the florist.

 

 

It's such a gorgeous display at the entrance to the shop. Inside, the shop is also stunning, with an old and intricate woodwork structure. 

 

 

I was blown away in the fabric department, it was so hard to decide what to buy. In the end, I got a bundle of fabrics in blues and greens. I also bought a cute mouse pin cushion, and a jar of liberty fabric covered buttons. My big treat was a new sewing box. Again, it took me ages to decide which one to get, but I'm pleased with my decision. I had a lot of fun filling the box when I got home!

 

 

It's safe to say my bank balance was a lot lighter after my wonderful trip to Liberty's!!

 

Thanks for reading.

Rachel x

 

 

Farbic Shopping in the City

The day after I did the lampshade making workshop, Mum and I went to London. We booked our train tickets a few weeks ago and managed to get quite a good deal. It only takes us a couple of hours to get there, so perfect to go just for the day. We go to London a couple of times a year, sometimes to shop, sometimes to see a show. This time, we wanted to only visit fabric/sewing shops and Liberty.

I did a bit of research before hand to find which fabric shops were worth visiting and where they were. We didn't want to spend all day zig-zagging our way over London, so had to decide not to visit some shops that were too far from central London. I found that Berwick Street, which is just off Oxford Street had a few shops worth visiting, so we headed there first. A few of the shops were very pricy, but great for browsing, but when I walked into The Cloth House, it was stunning!

 

 

The fabrics were gorgeous and really reasonably priced. They were all quite muted and were from all over the world. The natural coloured fabrics standing up behind the table in the above picture were all embroidered - gorgeous!

 

 

They also had ribbons, threads and trimmings galore. A lot of them were vintage too.

 

 

If you want somewhere special to go to buy fabric, this is it. The Cloth House is not only full to thr brim of gorgeousness, but it islaid out beautifully with stunning furniture and storage.

 

Thanks for reading.

Rachel x

Polish Pattern

This week, I've been to Poland on a work based visit. I think the weather was warmer there than it is here! Although I spent most of the time doing 'work' stuff, I got a couple of hours in Krakow. I managed to visit a couple of gorgeous Polish pottery shops where I was overwhelemed with an array of pottery painted in patterns of rich royal blue, green and yellow.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough room in my suitcase to buy everything! To be honest, I think I would have struggled to choose what to get!

I got a packet of paper napkins which look like they're hand embroidered, a beautifully painted wooden spoon and a tiny heart dish. I think the spoon might need some nice ribbon around the top and hanging in my kitchen.

If you do get chance to go to Krakow, save some money for some pottery. It really is lovely and a lot cheaper than the very few places that sell it in England.

 

Thanks for reading.

Rachel x  

 

 

 

 

A Trip Away

This week was half term. I was lucky enough to have a few days away at my parents house in Tenerife and it was lovely to see some sun! It wasn't too hot, but warm enough to go out without wrapping up in hats, coats, scarves etc. I managed to get a fair bit of sewing done while I was there, but I'll show you that another time.

 

One day, we drove further up the mountain from our village, to another small town called La Camella. There is a shop/workshop there called "Absolut Patchwork". I had been before and am always amazed at how beautiful and quirky this little shop is. I wish I had photos to show you.

I had followed the owners blog for a while now and knew she followed mine. Unfortunately, there is a little bit of a language barrier, but I gave her one of my blog business cards and the lovely lady was overwhelmed when she realised who I was. My Mum and I bought a few things from her. These were mine.

The gorgeous pin-striped linen is for the back of the cushion. I bought the paisley fabric just because I liked it and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the charms. The embroidery scissors were given to me (and Mum go a pair to) by the lovely lady who owns the shop as she said we had made her so happy.

 

If you ever visit Tenerife, "Absolut Patchwork" is definitely worth a visit. If not, you can see some of the beautiful makes and items from the shop at http://absolutpatchwork.blogspot.co.uk/

and  

 http://absolutpatchwork.blogspot.co.uk/ 

 

Thanks for reading.

Rachel x

Bedding Excitement

Today, I very naughtily stopped at the shops on my way home from work. I wasn't looking at anything inparticular, just 'browsing'. The department shop I was in had an extra 20% off their sale prices. Whilst looking in the Joules section, I noticed that they had their bedding reduced. I already have the bright turqoise set of Joules bedding and love it!

So...yes, I ended up buying this.

I do think that good quality bedding is worth spending a bit of money on. I find that bedding that is a mixture of polyester and cotton doesn't wash well and the colour fades in the wash. This is why it's great that this duvet cover is 100%. Of course, as soon as I got home, I just HAD to put it on the bed!

Unfortunately, the photo is a bit dark but the bedding really is lovely. I do like Cath Kidston bedding, but the colours are just a little too sickly sweet for the style of my bedroom.

Anyway, after a relaxing and Friday evening, watching T.V. and keeping warm with cups of tea, I am excited for getting into bed with my new, clean, pretty and oh-so-soft bedding.

 

Sleep Well!

Rachel x

 

Sales Shopping

Has anyone else got themselves some good Sales bargains?

I usually go to the shops on Boxing Day but wasn't bothered this year. However, I did get to the shops on the 27th. I got quite a few things in Monsoon as I usually find their clothes expensive, but with 50% off, they're a great buy!

I ALWAYS end up buying some things I don't need, and these two are examples of that - but I love them both!

I don't need any more Christmas tree decorations and these don't really go with my other traditional decorations. But this box of 100 baubles in Papercahse caught my eye because of their huge rainbow of colours!! The photo doesn't do them justice but each bauble is a different shade. For only a fiver - how could I resist!?

 

The other bargain I got is this very cute little sewing basket from John Lewis. I think the brightly coloured pattern makes this basket differ from a lot of the 'grannyish' sewing baskets available and the BEST BIT is the cute love hearts pattern used on the inside. I got a tape measure with the same heart pattern.

 

I'm not going to the shops for a while now!!

 

Anyone else got themselves some 'pointless' bargains?

 

Thanks for reading.

Rachel xx

Paper Baubles and Country Living

At the beginning of December, the Country Living show came to the North of England (Harrogate) for the first time. I was very excited when I first heard about it as it's always just been in London and Glasgow. Mum and I ordered our tickets months in advance!!

We were there for the opening of the doors at 10.00am and had a really lovely day. I bought lots of Christmas presents and a few treats for me!

 

 

 

One of the small things I bought for myself were 4 paper pom poms/baubles from the Petra Boase stand. They caught my attention as they were hanging from the ceiling above their stand in many colours, shapes and sizes. The 4 small ones I got were on an offer 4 for £10.00. I originally got them as Christmas decorations but have since strung them together with beautiful stitched ribbon and hand painted beads to create a mobile for my bedroom - which will stay up all year!

Since the Country Living show I seem to have seen them being sold in other places and think I might be hanging a few more from ceilings and windows in my house!

 

 

 

Another stand I loved browsing was the Ness stand. I have always loved their stuff but it's a bit too pricey for me to afford. However, the stand at the show was only selling reduced items! Not only that, but since I visited the show on the Sunday, which was the last day, I got an extra 50% off the price!!

I got this coat which is grey cord with gorgeous cherry red buttons in the shape of flowers. The shop price was £99.00 which had been reduced to £70.00 for the show. But then, I got it for £35.00!! Real bargain. It's also got a beautiful red and white spotty, silk lining. Definitely a perfect buy!!

My bank balance has suffered slightly since I visited the show - but I do hope it comes up North again!

 

Thanks for reading.

Rachel x 

 

 

Nice bits.

I'm sorry it has been soooooo long. The Autumn term at school is always the most hectic and it seems after the long Summer holidays it takes extra long to do everything! With that, a broken toe and various other disasters, I just haven't got round the writing a blog.

 

I've got much more to write about, but this is just a quick one, showing a few new things I've bought recently.

The first is a lovely RICE make-up bag which I managed to find in a little shop in Tenerife of all places. I struggle to find RICE things in the UK, so if anyone has any good stockists, please let me know! I love this little make-up bag and it seems it is that perfect size for whatever you want to keep in it!

 

 

The next thing I've recently bought is these gorgeous Christmas cards by ARTWORK BY ANGIE, the same lady who designed my blog header and background. Aren't they lovely? They came tied beautifully with bakers twine and I don't really want to give them away!

 

 

The last thing for the moment is this quite little tin I got from Little A Designs. It's by Maileg, and again, their stuf is really difficult to get hold of so I was pleased when Marna was selling these. She also has loads of gorgeous Maileg ribbon you can buy from her.  

 

That's all for now. I'll be back soon!

 

Rachel x

 

 

 

Craft Kit

A little while ago, this amazing box arrived in the post.

I had been looking forward to recieving one of these since I knew that Marna from Little A Designs was going to be selling them.

I wrote a blog a while ago about Little A Designs after I attended one of her rosette making workshop. Her work is gorgeous and Marna is lovely, kind and generous.

Inside the box is everything needed to make a family tree cushion, in the same style that Marna uses. Here is what is inside.

There is a piece of linen to use as the base fabric for the cushion. The tree itself has already been cut out by Marna and then there is a selection of different fabrics to use as the leaves (leaves have been drawn on the back and just need cutting out). There is also a packet of various buttons to use as embellishments.

What I wasn't expecting was the selection of sewing equipment, scissors, threads, pin cushion, thimble, pins, needles, tape measure and glue! You can literally take this box anywhere and not need anything else to create the fantastic cushion! So that's exactly what I intend to do. I am going to Tenerife in August and this is the perfect travelling project.

Hopefully I'll have a complete project to show you soon and *hopefully* it will look something like this.

Photograph and cushion by Marna Lunt, Little A Designs.

Visit Little A Designs Facebook page here.

Books

Just a short post today. I know a few other people have been blogging about these, but I got two lovely books through the post within the last week and wanted to share them with you.

The first is this one by Selina Lake.

For some reason I was really reluctant to buy this book, but had seen some good reviews. All I can say is WOW, it is absolutely gorgeous, full of wonderful ideas and stunning photographs. I could frame each page and put it on the wall.

The next book is this crochet book which was advertised in Mollie Makes.

Again, this book is full of pictures of projects made in spring coloured yarn. It has three sections of varying difficulty, so I'm hoping some of the patterns will be OK for me.

I've picked this circular cushion as my first project from the book. I've ordered some 100% cotton yarn in shades of blues and greens  and can't wait for it to come to get started.

Anyone else got any good craft/housey books to recommend?

Thanks for reading.

Rachel. x