show pet

No I am very much alive and glad to be back here in my little corner of blogland. I can't really say where I've been or why I didn't choose to post, I suppose I just needed a break. Sometime's you simply cannot 'do it all.' I hope I am not too late to wish you all a very Happy New Year, filled with good things. At the end of last year I was very busy with all my 'crafty makings and doings', here are a few pictures to show you what I got up to. Flower arranging, and drinking a little gin (well I needed the bottle). Furniture painting, and more furniture painting. Christmas decoration making, bag and brooch making, doll making, hat and scarf making, fabric designing, one-off orders and designs. Can you see my problem......too much variety. I like variety, it is the spice of life, but really come on. No wonder when it gets to Christmas I am worn out. This year I mean to simplify.....everything, my work, my home, myself. How about you, what are your thoughts...

I have a talented friend, Marie McMillen, who is a stylist, an Interior Designer, and now owner of an online shop Natural Calico, selling lovely things for the home. Her blog has lots of really useful tips and advice on setting up home,  how best to display things, as well as a 'look book' containing lots of snippets of some of the beautiful homes she has styled and her business partner Ashley Morrison has photographed. You may even have come across their work on Pinterest. You can find her website here:  www.naturalcalico.com . Here are some pictures of the sort of things she sells. Her shop has a certain cool, elegant look as indeed Marie herself has. I hope you will find the time to pop in and visit her. She also has a facebook page. I was frantically painting a large mahogany desk this week, which is now finished and in the shop, I was really pleased with the colour (Aubergine) which I hadn't used before, and it seems to be really popular with the customers too, as ther...

My newest addition to the shop is a beautiful mahogany tilt-top breakfast table and chairs. I know some of you will be horrified that I painted them, when they are antique. The thing is, the table had been refinished badly and was a bit unloved, so I caressed it and loved it and painted it!  For once in my life I actually remembered to photograph it before and after, but the quality of picture is not great...sorry! The chairs are beech, stained to like like mahogany, and although the velvet seat pads were in very good nick, I decided they needed updating and covered them in a natural linen. Apologies for my long absence....balance, balance, I need to find you! Wishing you all a happy week ahead, with love, Linda xx

I have been wreath making. I love wreaths, for every occasion and season. They signify the circle of life. I love circles, spots, curving lines, but I know people who love straight lines, symmetry, nothing flowery or fussy. I find it fascinating, also I find fascinating the thing about how you apply your lipstick. Mine is always rounded because I turn it round as I apply. My mum's was always pointy as she applied it the same way every time. What about you? How does your lipstick look, and do you love straight lines or curves? It must say something about us, but I am not sure what. I have been working on bringing in a little Christmas business by having wreaths in a few local shops . I have finally decided my theme for the Wedding Fair in February. I am going for the Classic Country theme, but with a period feel, think 'Tussie Mussie' bouquets and Empire line dresses, ribbons and roses. This is my inspiration collage, but I don't want to give too much away, so I will lea...