all in days work

 What I've spent my morning doing is all in a days work for Sarah.  Although I've seen Sarah whizz up a load of cushions over the years, and I've been present during our workshops when she has demonstrated how to make them she  still makes cushions a lot faster than I can.  I've also realised that some initials are a lot easier to applique than others, sewing around curves is not my strong point.  However,  I'm feeling quite satisfied by my achievements. 


I seem to have a flurry of 8 year old girls having birthdays and was stuck on something original to buy them.  Sarah suggested I made them all initial cushions, piled me up with a load of her fabrics and trimmings and sent me off to spend the morning in front of the sewing machine. 

The fruits of my labour have paid off though and now I'm off to the Post Office to send the presents, if you would like something similar you can always buy them direct from Sarah's website.

a little art show

I never really get the time to sit down and paint, and it was one of my new years resolutions last year that i would find the time, but i haven't.
so it is with some trepidation that i am admitting to agreeing to take part in the 'art in and around amberley' show in september. i don't know what possessed me to think i would have enough works of beauty to put in to a selling exhibition!
i thought in view of the fact that time is short, and i seem to be incapable of starting anything , i would go back to my roots and think small is beautiful! so i am going to do all of my exhibition pieces on postcard, small canvas' and blocks, and if i admit to doing it here, i will feel honour bound to actually making a start and showing you how i am getting along, so with that in mind i have scoured pinterest for some lovely inspiration to get the creative juices flowing!

lily moon

lily moon 

vanessa cooper

anne smith

shelley kommers

maxine sutton

vanessa cooper

tiddly pom pom

I've always had a bit of a thing for pom poms and I've been hearing a lot about pom pom makers recently so the other day I treated myself (last of the big spenders!).  I now have a kit that enables me to make pom poms in 4 different sizes in minutes. It's fantastic, no more cardboard circles and hours of threading wool through an ever decreasing hole.

I know I'm not the only one with a penchant for fluffy balls - a fellow pom pom admirer has just had her birthday so as  a gift I made her a pom pom garland. A bit of  a change from the standard bunting, but there are so many fantastic wools these days you could create a pom pom garland for any occasion.  I'm now thinking Jubilee, Christmas I don't think there will be any stopping me - apart from the children stealing my pom pom maker for themselves!

don't forget to switch on the tv!

don't forget to watch DIYsos tonight at 8pm BBC1 and you will see some of our lovely fabrics.
The team who create the show are amazing and put so much effort in to changing the lives of the families they help, it really is a joy to be able to help in a small way, i can't wait to see the show and see how the fabrics look together - as it has all been top secret so i haven't seen how the room looks yet.

a bit more new

I still seem to be obsessed by shades of grey and taupe, and french grey polka dot, pompadour toile and chinoiserie chalk are some of my best sellers at the moment.
so while we were in france I took advantage of the beautiful location of la pauline and took some shots of our lavender pillows, made from our new fabrics.

seen here are pompadour toile french grey
smart stripe french grey
and forget me not french grey
available soon via the website 

visually beautiful

a feast for the eyes - masses of tulips !
via pinterest

exciting news

drum roll and trumpets.............. we are going to be on the TV on weds 16th may 8pm BBC1

the new series of DIY SOS the big build starts on weds and we are honoured to have some of our fabrics featured in this very special family's home. if you can't catch it on weds catch it later on bbc iplayer.

provence

 we were thrilled to go back to Aix en Provence in the easter hols while we were on a client visit.
we stayed in Aix for part of our honeymoon many years ago! and it is still as beautiful as it ever was

There a little squares hidden around every corner, and the colour of the buildings seems to radiate sunshine.

 We were lucky enough to stay at the fabulous chamber d'hôte La Pauline.
it belonged to Napoleons sister (who had something of an insatiable appetite for the boys!)  and has a fascinating history, however now it is a luxury b&b run by the truly delightful Sylvia.
there are only 5 rooms and each one has a private terrace to sit on. I feel slightly shamed to say we had a picnic on our terrace instead of going out for dinner as the view was to die for and the sun was still shining at 8pm! i would love to be there in the summer months when the pool is open, and it is definitely a hotel i would recommend to friends as it is only a 5 minute drive into Aix .
Anyway enjoy the pictures of this lovely place....and take a look at their website it will make you want to hop on a plane tomorrow!

a little sneak peek

while we were in provence at easter we took advantage of the beautiful location of la pauline and took a few pics of our new collection.

we will launch in the summer, but here is a sneaky peeky of some of the finished fabrics. 

we have done a reverse version of our polka dot and printed it onto 100% linen, we have some very pretty new florals including florence and florence grande and recoloured vintage paisley to go with.

there are several more designs and i will post some photos later in the week.

We will be adding lots of accessories to our website soon as well, currently we have done eiderdowns, lampshades and lavender pillows as special order items , but we have been having lots of requests to be able to buy them on line so they will be available soon on our website, and we will keep you updated here with lots of other exciting changes to our web offer.

cool chick

We've just come back from a lovely weekend in Pembrokeshire with one of my god-daughters, who was sporting her Easter gift from me, despite a lack of sun.  As usual I had shunned the chocolate option having seen some rather nice children's sunglasses cases in the Boden catalogue.  I bought some sparkly pink sunglasses - they always seem to go down with little ones - and then started to make the cases.  Half way through making it I realised that little girls probably need to be able to carry their glasses case somehow and they always love a handy bag so I added the shoulder strap.

 

Of course I had to make it tie in with Easter somehow so I made little 'cool chick' labels, just to let people know that my god-daughters are the trendiest girls around!