Something Old Something New

In my last post I said I'd DEFINITELY post more on my blog.
I lied.
Sorry.
Failed miserably.
Best laid plans of mice and men...etc. etc.

Where do people get the time to blog, run a business, design, make things, sell creations, run a home, shop, sleep... It's a juggling act, too many balls in the air I fear.

The shed got too much for me (again) so I've gutted it, put up more shelves and started all over.
I've been nicknamed Gadget Girl by the family and am the proud owner of a  proper tool box with every gadget and tool you could possibly require. The only tool Mr Jujuandbubba bought was an adjustable spanner from Ludlow Market whilst on our honeymoon many years ago.

I don't know if you're like me but I'm always inquisitive (let's be honest - nosey) as to what other designers studios look like.
Anyway for what it's worth here's a tour of mine post re-jig. It hasn't been this tidy for months. I'd be too embarrassed to let you see it messy ...well, not until we get to know each other.

My trusty tool is this Makita drill on my work table.. TWO drills in one box -Heaven for someone like me.



Noddy on a new shelf -he's in charge of the sharp pointy things

I've put up some new shelves using the wood left over from building the shed a few years ago and I told Mr Jujuandbubba that one day it would come in handy and was worth storing in the garage - at the time he was unconvinced but wearily complied. He knows that I'm a hoarderholic so there's no point in putting up a fight.

Set of glass shelves from the attic -kept for when they 'might come in useful' - now installed in the shed.

The vintage alarm clock was a bargain from VINTAGE in Shrewsbury. It's got the loudest tick I've ever heard and I'm afraid it's been banished to the shed. Apparently it could be heard above a Captain Beefheart Album!

New shelves filled with all my knick-knacks - you can never have too many lovely things around you.

I know, I do like a basket or two or three and I'm collecting old mirrors.

The brown anglepoise lamp is an original - also rescued from the attic!

Comfy chairs for the odd visitor or two and for when I need to count to ten after the machine thread has broken for the umpteenth time! And I LOVE my 1950's wicker  basket bought for 50p in a charity shop on the Norfolk coast.

1950's plates at 50p!

And finally a beautiful handthrown jug bought at VINTAGE in Shrewsbury for a fiver!

The  pair of fabulous double-sided curtains at the french window cost a mere £3 from a charity shop in Bishops Castle.

I do love a bargain!



A Day of Rest

After what seems like sewing non-stop for two months, I have seriously neglected my gardens.

I do not profess to be a ‘gardener’ as such; I like to think of myself as a custodian of the green stuff with a few pretty flowers for good measure.

I have more gardening books than I care to mention; all bought on a whim in the hope it would transform me into a Pippa Greenwood or that very pretty one that does the Chelsea Flower Show with Alan Titchmarsh. (Incidentally she has the most  beautiful nails-how?)  I’m embarrassed to say many of them lie unopened and worse still, lost in the attic – but I get by on a wing and a prayer.

So it was this wild, windy, morning I awarded myself a treat – a day in the garden.  The shed (studio) remained firmly locked and Noddy stared at me statue -like through the window.

My shed straddles a tiny pond which my daughter, at the tender  age of 7, insisted on digging, as she wanted to own some fish! Like mother like daughter…

Usually, by June, I’ve managed to wrestle with the garden and get it into some semblance of order.

 April and May passed by and no garden implements were looked at never mind touched and the garden grew and flourished and grew almost to a wildness.

It took an hour or so for me to realise, once again, the many health-related benefits of being at one with nature. Six hours in the garden was as good as an aerobic workout in a stuffy, sweaty, artificially lit gym (not that I go to a gym or have ever been in one, but I’m told that’s what they are like by health conscious friends)

Amazingly, the stress seemed to leave my mind and body like a gossamer thread caught on the  warm breeze and I worked through the day, only stopping for a light lunch and the odd cup of scalding hot tea, taken whilst leaning on the rake and admiring the progress I’d made.

Although every day of the week I walk up and down the garden numerous times to and from my studio, I've  failed to notice the beauty silently developing in the borders.

So out came the camera and in a gale force  wind I managed to take some half-decent photos as a way of apologising  to all the extraordinary plants that have been ignored for too long.

Incidentally – my handmade all-weather bunting I have around the garden has been up for nearly two years! It is as good as new and hasn’t faded or torn despite what the best of the British weather has thrown at it! 

 So if you would  some I’m doing a couple of custom orders and I’d be happy to make you some too.  Just email me your requirements and I’ll give you a quote.  

I made some tri-coloured bunting for my stall at Waddesdon Manor!