Fabric Art

(cupcake love - fabric art canvas)

I have been playing about with my fabric stash and some little box canvases this week. As well as furiously stitching brooch pins to corsages, and finding vintage buttons to sew onto my fabric hearts (which don't, sadly, smell of lavender I have to add, and are purely decorative) I realised this morning that all the printing I intended to do today for my stock of cards etc would have to be postponed as two of my inks had run out!

Hmmph!

So I twiddled my thumbs for half an hour, wandered about trying to decide what to do instead of printing and card making and eventually, after a strong cup of coffee (and several Balsen biscuits) I had a whim to get the sewing machine out and top up the heart stash and also make another little fabric picture!

I used little swarovski crystals to decorate the cupcake, like sparkly hundreds & thousands...

Ive got plans for some more pictures of this nature, although Im still deciding whether or not to take them to the fair - there's only so much room on my table!! :)

Anyway...I have to tell you Im still having withdrawal symptoms for sea and sand, thatched cottages, villages that sit snug on twisty-windy lanes under the towering ruins of old castles, seagulls calling, hot fish and chips with salt and vinegar on the harbour, hot sunshine (its disappeared practically since returning north and today has taken on a rather autumnal feel which is very disconcerting!)...

So, to remind myself of some of the nice bits, and I do hope Im not boring you I hasten to add, here are a tiny handful of holiday snaps...ahhhh, them were the days!

A cottage of delights at Lulworth Cove, ice-cream, fudge and sweets - isn't that the prettiest sweet shop you ever did see?

Sunny cottages adrift with flaming red roses

...and the serene beauty of Lulworth Cove - shaped like a scallop shell when seen from above, the water is glassy green and cool, just right for a hot day paddling with a little girl, who still demands to wear her 'whimhoot' everyday despite being back home for almost a week.

Im having a relaxing evening tonight, no crafting or anything like that, just a big glass of wine and perhaps an episode of Ashes to Ashes (still got withdrawal symptoms for that too ha!)
Tomorrow we are going to the Art Show - I dropped my 3 paintings off last night as today is hanging day and we are all looking forward to having a look around the exhibition.

I'll try and pop back next week with another post, but I know its going to be all systems go in order to be ready for Saturday...but Im looking forward to it, I seem to thrive on challenges and Im always happy when Im making or doing, although to some of you it must seem like I never stop!

I hope you all have good weekends, sending you love and see you soon

J x

A wonderful time

Hello Lovelies! :)

Well, here I am again, thanks to all who left me messages during my holiday, I'm looking forward to relaxing and reading some of your blogs during the week to see what you've been up to so you haven't been forgotten!

We had such a great time in Dorset, the weather was dead on and the sun shone furiously every day! There were cream teas, days on the beach, visits to little farms, meals at lovely pubs (The Smugglers just five minutes from our cottage at Osmington was my favourite), meeting up with old friends from Devon in Lyme Regis, and lots of other treats, like finding the vintage Famous Five book (above) in a grand little bookshop in Bridport.

This is our little holiday house, right next to a dairy farm so we would go to sleep of an evening with the soothing sound of moo-ing in our ears :) The little daughter, since coming home has announced that our house is 'rubbish' and wants to go back to the 'pretty one'. Well, I have to agree with her there - coming home can be such a downer cant it? Im now trying to acclimatise to life without the sound of seagulls calling, the scent of salt breezes coming in off the sea, and the old favourite - fish and chips!!

Still, we have some lovely memories....


...miss those evening beach walks though (with the odd football match thrown in along the way).

I decided on the 8 hour car journey home (it was atrocious!) that instead of drifting into the old routine when we got back, I would make little changes here and there to make life less predictable. A holiday usually reminds me that sometimes I can be a bit habitual - and yes, in some ways this is good - but its nice to shake things up a bit and our little family have vowed to allow more spontaneity into our little world (like sunday breakfast being taken in a village cafe instead of the same old cereals at the breakfast table, and tea being a picnic in the park instead of in the house). We are also saying 'Yes' more, as interesting and magical things usually happen when we do.

So here is Monday. And here I am, working hard on projects for the craft fair. I made a list of things to do and I quite horrified myself at the amount of stuff I need to get through in less than two weeks!! Luckily, Nannie Mum has agreed to have tot twice this week and next to give me some extra time to get prepared - phew! I can see some late nights in the not too distant future but Im looking forward to it all the same.

This coming weekend is also the Great Sheffield Art Show, so we'll be pootling along en-masse to that too. Anyway, here's what Ive been making today, decorative hanging hearts!

Only a few more to go :)

Have a great week all of you - sending love,

J x

Flowery goodness

'Fiesta'
'Strawberry Sundae'

'Citrus Twist'


Hello dear souls. I have managed to find a few spare minutes to drop in and share my latest crocheted goodies with you all - I couldn't resist letting you all have a sneaky peep at what Im making up for the fair in July and there they are, three of them all finished and ready to be put on little display cards.

I managed to get hold of some delicious ceramic buttons for the centres (which you can see on the corsages above in the pics), so Im making some with those, and some with little clusters of vintage ones which hail from my Mum's old tin - me and the Little One spent ages looking at all the shapes and colours, making little piles of our favourites and every now and then you'd hear me 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over long forgotten ones, that once found suddenley conjoured up faded memories of a pretty sundress or a hand knitted cardigan by Nan all those years ago when I was small myself.


As usual Ive been busy beetling away in the evenings but on Sunday, fatigue or something caught up with me and I surrendered to the most shocking tiredness Ive experienced in ages and was in bed fast asleep by 8pm! I think it was my body's way of saying slow down...well there's a big dose of Slow Stuff as of friday when we are officially on our hols - hurrah!!


We actually spent most of Sunday in York, I lived there for a while a few years back and now and then we all like to go and have a wander round. Despite the forcast being depressingly overcast, the sun shone all day and it was gorgeous. We had a picnic in the park watching the boats race and then wandered round the shops a while...I accidently stumbled into Cath Kidston and found myself sometime later with a little blue carrier bag in my hand...(chuckles wickedly :) How did that happen I wonder!! I treated us to a white enamel soap dish for our kitchen (which Ive had my eye on for an age now) and a pretty floral bowl which will suit a heap of strawberries or at present, a pot of home grown basil.

Anyway folks, thats all from me for now. I look forward to seeing you all after my week away, when I will visit all of your blogs to catch up with what you've all been up to.


Lots of love, thanks to all of you who visit my blog and leave such smashing comments - they really do mean the world to me. I know that most of you lead busy lives and that you take the time to come and read my ramblings let alone leave me a message...well, it just makes my day! :)

Sending love to blog friends old and new,
Love Julia xxx