Return to the Country

Hooray! I'm back to the mud and rain from the concrete jungle, damp air, forsythia blossom and muddy cat paw prints all over the clean washing. I did enjoy my city living for the week, but I am very happy to be home. The spring is in its happy creation all over the garden and I am in mine.

It was very nice to meet some blogging Friends and to put some faces to the inquiries I receive, we put on a good show and had many appreciative comments about the look of the stand, so thank you all our customers for supporting our venture. The china seemed to fly of the shelves and earrings were very popular too. Amanda's bags went down well and Amelia's glass cupboard much commented on, in fact we could have sold it 20 times over if we had a supply.

I feel the spring fair is generally much more of a creative fair than the Christmas one, where there is endless Christmas decorations made in China.

Janet Bolton had her stand with her awe inspiring hand stitched pictures, if you haven't seen her work I thoroughly recommend it.

Sadly this will probably be our last stand at Country Living Islington, costs have risen so much it is becoming unviable financially, however we will be doing small one day fairs across the country so stay in touch and news of where and when will be posted.

Louise x

COUNTRY LIVING WEEK

Well Country living week has arrived, ironically I will be living in London for a week selling Vintage Inspiration wares made in Devon, so for me it's City Living!

I do enjoy the contrast though, I will be driving up to London tonight to set up Tuesday, ready to begin on Wednesday morning, you wouldn't believe how much work goes into this, I have spent the whole week-end finishing, gathering, packing, painting and preparing and I still think there are things I have forgotten, there always is, there are always things I think I should have made/done and always more to do but at a certain point I just have to surrender, let go and trust that all will be well.

There is a certain excitement in anticipation of being able to wear my favourite dresses and jewellery, and not get mud on my shoes for a week, this may sound strange but its true, I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time with muddy footwear whatever I'm wearing on my feet. My hands are also a give away if I have not got all the grit out from beneath my fingernails, it doesn't look good selling jewellery with dirty fingernails. So I'll scrub up and be clean for a week, my version of the glam gardener, wonderful.

Louise x

P.S the sweet peas are doing well they have their first sets of leaves.

NEW CREATIONS

Firstly I want congratulate my ticket winner, "cross the pond" who has won herself the two free tickets to the gala evening at the country living spring fair next week, I'm looking forward to meeting you. I am in full swing making and preparing for this event, it is a very big show for us and means a week in London staying with family and working all hours, I'd like to say if it wasn't for my parents and sister who all live in London this show would be an impossibility so thank you to them. I look forward to seeing other family too, my brother and his family, you could say it really is a family affair!

Here are some things that have been made in preparation as a little taster I have been sewing and making jewellery, painting mirrors, cupboards, a child's bed and lots of other things have been collected, so it would be great to meet some fellow blogers.

Louise x

FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE

I have two free tickets available for the Gala evening of the Country Living Spring Fair, at the end of March in Islington London (running from the 24th of March to 28th, inclusive). The Gala evening is on Wednesday the 24th from 6.30 to 9pm in the evening for those people who are work during the day, this is a perfect opportunity to get to the event and enjoy a relaxed look around the fair with a glass of wine and a friend. All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this with an email address and I will put all the names in a hat and send out to the lucky winner, so don't be shy and leave a comment, and you never know you may be the lucky one. We will be at Stand C30, so you can come and visit and say hi.

Sweet peas are showing.....I also just wanted to do an up-date on my sweet peas, there are a lot of little shoots now appearing out the top of my card board toilet roll planters, it is very exciting they really have come to life and are peeping out into the world. I'll just have to keep watering them.

Louise X

SPRING FLOWERS

Well here I am on a gloomy Sunday morning wondering what I'll blog about today, the best part of this is a purring cat on my lap, she really doesn't care. Hearts and flowers and spring is actually peeping its head into this new season, the snowdrops are fully here and I've seen the odd primrose, this gives me such joy, the breaking out of life from the depths of winter always fills me with new hope, expectation of more to come and excitement for what can be created. I have planted my sweet peas, they have pride of place on the window sill and all I have to do is remember to water them, then watch the miracle of life appear before my eyes. Actually I fully recommend it, I save the inside cardboard tube in a toilet roll, they are perfect for planting sweet peas as when you want to plant them out you don't have to disturb the roots you can just put the whole thing in the ground. Then the cardboard rots away and feeds the soil, very ecological too.

So see how many tubes you can save, buy a packet of seeds and try it.

Louise x

OLD CHAIR /NEW CHAIR

Last week I set myself the project of revamping an old chair I had picked up at the recycling center, it had been sitting in my house for too long waiting for it's transformation. I knew it had potential as it has some lovely detail in the original design. Firstly I had to strip it of the old rank cloth on its seat and take out old staples and nails in the wood, (the worst job ever, luckily I'm not allergic to house dust yuk! ) After sanding it down I then painted it duck egg blue/green, (already looking better) and left it to dry for 24 hours. Then I had to make the cushion for the seat and cover with wadding. Choosing the right cloth (Cath kidston) to cover the seat was important as it gives the final impact of "beautiful chair". This all took quite a few hours as you can imagine, but I am very pleased with the result and welcome any comments.

(This chair will be available to buy from the web site soon)

Louise x

VINTAGE AND HAND MADE FAIR

I'm pleased to say that we have been accepted to show at "The Vintage and Hand Made Fair" on the 1st May in Chipping Sodbury. I for one, am looking forward to meeting lots of the faces behind all this blogging, very exciting. This also means lots of creative activity needed, well winter is good for that. I woke to deep frost this morning, a field of tiny diamonds, so beautiful, I had to go out and appreciate it.

So today "paint chair" is at the top of my list, I found a lovely old chair in the market, it needs a new seat and a coat of paint. I love finding old things that can be given a new lease of life, one of my favourite haunts is the recycling centre, where this chair came from. (pictures to follow) the before and afters will be posted soon. I'm off to paint.

Louise x