friday

 It's Friday already, this week has just flown by. The weather has been great, so I've been picking, eating and giving away courgettes and beans from the allotment, making handmade cards using bits of vintage wallpaper, creating a mess in the process, making the most of the light evenings playing tennis after work, or at least trying to. 

Tomorrow I'm at work, but I'm looking forward to a barbecue with friends in the evening, I'm planning to make a potato salad with dill and cucumber. It's so simple, but tastes delicious.

wedding weekend

 The weekend has been and gone. The wedding was lovely, the sun was shining and everybody was happy celebrating the couples big day. (sorry no photos, very busy day, but thank you for the nice comments about my dress.) Champagne flowed and we all danced into the night....

On Sunday morning after a hearty wedding breakfast at the hotel, we spent a lazy day in the sun at my parents house. It was a prefect day for a long walk across the fields and flowers meadows around the village. It really felt like summer, with butterflies, bees and swallows drifting and darting through the sky. 

wedding

 I was up early this morning, finishing off some little purses before going to work. Don't you find it's easier to get out of bed on a sunny day.

I'm looking forward to the weekend, we are off to my boyfriends brother's wedding. I hope the bride will like this drawstring purse I have made for her, I just need to wrap in pink tissue paper.

I have a lovely dress to wear (any excuse to buy a new dress) I fell in love with the antique style bronze lace on it, I'm still deciding on which necklace and bag to go for.  

Hope you have a wonderful weekend....

teacups & roses

I treated myself to a bunch of roses from the farmer's market, they won't last long, but I couldn't resist their beautiful butter colour and they smell amazing, plus with this autumnal weather we are having lately, it reminds me that it is still summer! 

What is it about vintage china that is so appealing, I love the rose patterned plates, but amazingly I managed to walk past without buying anything!

a year of blogging

 I can't believe I've been blogging for a year now! I've really enjoyed sharing my ideas, inspirations and finished work with you all. I love receiving your kind comments, which are always so encouraging. Thanks for taking the time to visit me here at found and sewn.

I've been looking back at some of my favourite posts....here are a few of them. (Click the titles to see the post.)

 books and butterflies

 vintage lace

bright and breezy

Embellished

old and new

vintage lace bag

 As you know I love to collect pieces of vintage lace and when I designed this clutch bag I wanted to make lace a real feature.

There are some really beautiful pieces which I have mixed with buttons and beads. I wish I knew more about the techniques and types of lace that I've used..... I think some of it's crochet and tape lace.
 Finding these special pieces and incorporating them into my designs is a really important part of my work. 

This lovely bag is now on sale in the Gallery at Waterperry Gardens along with some other pieces of my work.

the sewing box

When I open up my sewing box, I'm never quite sure what I will find. Buttons and cottons I've forgotten about, sparkling beads and broken necklaces, zips faded pink, cream and grey, tins with all sorts of little treasures in, all waiting to be stitched on to a piece of fabric which will become a bag or purse.

lavender

 Summer seems to be here this week....I've been picking lots of lavender which I have bunched together with string and hung up in the kitchen to dry. Hopefully I will have enough to make some lavender bags with, if not it looks lovely strung up on display.

On my way over to the allotment, the cows and horses were cooling off in the river, and this little horse had found a cool spot under a tree.

I'm looking forward to spending some time outside in the sunshine tomorrow. Have a great Sunday