sunny side up

Have you been enjoying the beautiful weather? Here are some sunny moments from my week; pretty flowers in bloom in the house and the garden, planting more sweet peas in pots, wishing for this beautiful bedlinen from Toast and dinner outside in the cool of the evening. 

My new favourite drink is elderflower cordial with lots of ice and fresh mint, perfect for a hot summers day.

Have a lovely Monday!

sunday sketchbooks

 On Sunday I packed up all my sketchbooks, patterns, fabrics, samples and buttons and headed off to Waterperry Art gallery, where I spent the day chatting to lots of lovely people about my work and what inspires me to create my handmade accessories. One kind lady offered to send me some of her vintage handmade lace which I am very excited about.

 I have a collection of my bags and purses on show as part of Artweeks along with five other artists until the end of May.

 

 

lovely things

A few nice things from my week...I've just subscribed to Selvedge magazine, and this 'souvenir' edition dropped through my letter box the other day, lots of inspiring articles inside....

I have a bit of a thing for china birds, this one was a present from my very lovely friend 'Candy Pop' Thank you, I love it! It now looks happy in it's new home by my jars filled with vintage lace.

...bits and pieces from around my work room; a beautiful reel of pale blue taffeta, part of a diamante necklace, a piece of lace waiting to have beads stitched on to it, a lovely old tea spoon case and stamps from the market....

What nice things have cheered you up this week?

a week of ...

Here are some more photos from my show.....thanks for all your kind comments, it's wonderful to have your support. I've really enjoyed this week, meeting all the lovely people who came to visit me and my work, being tempted by homemade cakes, stitching and sewing through the day and spending time in the garden. My little vintage lace pins have been very popular, I love making them,  just a few left for Sunday, the final day.

exhibition weekend

I spent Saturday morning finishing off the final touches to my show, I always really enjoy setting up my exhibition adding a few of my vintage possessions that have inspired me in my designs. 

The doors to my summer house studio opened at 12pm, the sun was shining and lots of visitors came out to see my new collection, including two of my lovely friends Natasha and Clare. 

Natasha, also know as Candy Pop took some great photos of my work which you can see on her beautiful blog - here. We all enjoyed cups of tea and slices of homemade cake and chatted about our favourite vintage finds, a perfect afternoon!

My Show continues until May 13th, details can be found here. I hope you can make it.

summer house studio

Every year in May I take part in Oxfordshire Artweeks, I set up my exhibition yesterday in a summer house studio at my parents house. This photo is from last year and I'm hoping for some of that sunshine and less rain! I have a new collection of handmade bags, purses and accessories, as well as handmade cards and lavender bags for sale. Our little garden cafe will be open too, serving tea and cakes using our collection of vintage china. The exhibition runs from May 5th - 13th. 12pm -6pm.

Please leave a comment to let me know if you would like details for my exhibition, I would love to see you there.

nice and tidy

My work room doesn't actually look this tidy now, this was taken before I started work on a new design, now the jars of lace have been emptied out, sketch books open and buttons everywhere. It's hard to keep the space tidy when you are in the middle of making, but I hate to start work in a mess. I find the best way is to have jars, boxes and tins to pack it all neatly away afterwards. 

I bought some great fabrics yesterday, I really love the red flower piece, very 1940's, I'm going to make some little lace and fabric lavender bags with them later.