Nonnie

Moo!!!

I finally got my act together and put some photos on Flickr so I could order my lovely little Moo Cards. I wanted some for two reasons really. Firstly because they are just so cute, and secondly because they make a really great business card and now I'm starting to sell my work it's good to have a card to give to customers and potential customers.

I'm really pleased with them apart from the fact they are a little darker than the original photos. Not quite sure why that happened. I chose 10 photos featuring items of my work. It was difficult choosing which pictures to choose. But maybe I'll order some more soon?

Not much else to show this week as I'm busy getting on with things. I strange mixture of projects ~ Easter ideas and curtains for little sailing boats! Later in the week I'm going to be making a boom cover which is basically a cover for the sails and will be made of bright blue PVC coated fabric! Not my usual choice of fabric to work with and certainly a slightly unusual project for me but it needs to be done and hopefully will be very much appreciated by my intrepid sailor! George thinks there could be a market for made to order boom covers but unless yachty types don't mind a bit of Cath Kidston floral on the boats, I'm not sure I could cope with making many more. One batch of blue PVC is enough for now. The curtains have been much more of a pleasure to make as they're in one of my favourite fabrics, blue ticking. There will be cushions to match which should look very smart on the new plain blue seat covers which are planned for next month. She may be a rather small boat, but that's not to say she isn't going to be the smartest boat on Chichester Harbour!

A little egg shaped something arrived in the post today so I can get started properly on my Easter plans next week. I've already started on a few samples and am really pleased with how the ideas are flowing. Not sure but I think I might like Easter more than Christmas!

George has been cooking!

No, not my George. This George!

OK, so perhaps cooking is a bit of an exageration. More, making a cappucino (We're very sophisticated on our boat!). Don't you think he's clever? Of course he had to concentrate very hard so as not to spill boiling water on himself, hence the very serious expression.

We had a lovely afternoon pottering and getting jobs done as it was too windy to sail. I scrubbed all the decks which was very satisfying, although I managed to bump my shin on a corner so now have a huge bruise which is slowly turning a very nice shade of purple!

On Saturday we had a very relaxing day in Kew. We wandered to the shops where I was bought these gorgeous tulips. :-) We played tennis. (I won!) We made delicious food and watched a lot of rugby, and I started consulting my inspiration files and books for Easter ideas. I have a few lovely ideas in my head. Now I've got to start making.

I was also sorting and photographing some new vintage things for the shop that arrived last week. I'm particularly in love with these two pretty plates.

I should be adding these and a few more bits and pieces later in the week.

Well after such a lovely weekend, I'm full of energy and enthusiasm for the week ahead. It's going to be March on Thursday! Spring will soon be here! If that's not something to feel happy about on a Monday morning then I don't know what is.

Have a lovely day. XX

Pretty Tins

As I've previously mentioned, I've been going a little ebay crazy lately. Some of the reason for that was that I was looking for pretty items to go in my little shop. I've managed to find some lovely old tins and also some pretty glasses. So I've started adding them to the shop and there are a few more that I'll add tomorrow or next week, along with some lovely floral plates that arrived today.

I like this tin with it's rose design very much and am half tempted to keep it for myself to store my button collection in. There are a few age marks but I think that adds to the character of it.

This blue one is very pretty indeed. It matches my gingham rug very well don't you think?

I must admit that I find the idea of selling some of these items rather difficult. I like them too much myself you see. I have a lovely embroidered teacosy that I bought months ago with purpose of selling it on but now I'm really struggling to list it in my shop. It's silly really because I don't use it. It's just stored away ready to go but then I get it out and look at it and can't quite bring myself to let it go. I'm going to have to get over this problem if I've got any hope of developing my business!

I suppose the fact that I live in a rather small flat helps the process. I haven't got room for all these things so they really do have to be sold and I know that there are some lovely homes out there that are just waiting for a vintage tin, plate or glass, or one of my own creations.

I'm feeling rather excited this week about a little colaboration that is going to be happening in March. I don't want to say anything more just yet but hopefully I'll be able to tell you more in the next few days. All I can say right now is it's going to be fantastic!

I'll leave you for now with this picture of the detail of the blue tin. If you like either of these tins you know where to go. I'd love to see you there. x

'Flipping Good!'

A lot of pancake cooking and eating went on in our house last night. We decided that the only way to fully appreciate a pancake is to eat nothing else for dinner but pancakes! I made two batches of batter, one normal for George, and one with wheat free flour for me as I have a bit of a problem with wheat. So we had double the amount of batter I would normally make. I actually lost count of how many we each had, but there was a lot pancake flipping going on. Luckily all stayed in the pan or on the plate.

George chose lemon and sugar for his but I went for all out sickliness with Green and Blacks chocolate spread. Well, it looks better in the photo so what else could I do. I don't think George really bought the excuse that my chocolate eating was just for artistic reasons.

There's batter left so I think we'll be eating more pancakes tonight. Hmmm, won't be giving chocolate up for Lent then.....

Always the last

I'm wondering if I'm perhaps the very last person in the blogging/crafting World to buy this amazing book?

I can't tell you how many times I've picked it up in the bookshop or looked at it on Amazon and then thought 'no I shouldn't'! I think it had to do with the fact that I read so many blogs, I somehow couldn't justify buying a book by bloggers too. Don't ask what the logic in that was. I just don't know.

Anyway, I was browsing in Waterstones in Salisbury on Saturday and looked at it again. This time I just had to have it. My justification was that as George's rugby match had been cancelled and he was just practicing, I no longer felt compelled to go watch him but decided on a cup of tea and cake in the Cathedral coffee shop instead. Therefore, I couldn't possibly sit on my own with nothing to read so I had to buy the book. There, simple. I really did need it!

Am I glad I did. It's such a beautiful and inspiring book. The best thing for me is getting to see everyone's work spaces. Just lovely.

So I'm sorry to be boring writing about it when probably just about everyone else already has, but I'm so excited and inspired by it I just had to tell you.

I've been without camera batteries for the last few days so I'm hoping to do a bit of photo taking this evening if I can set up some half decent light. I've been buying a few lovely things for the shop that I've got to photograph, along with another cute little item that came in the post the other day. There's also a picture of George the Bear doing some very impressive mooring which is currently on George's phone and needs to be transferred if possible. So as long as I don't spend the entire evening stuffing my face with pancakes then hopefully I'll have more pics tomorrow.

Who else is having pancakes tonight?

Addicted to Ebay and another new mag.

I've been getting a little bit addicted to ebay lately. Actually, I think both George and I have. Only difference is that he's been buying things for the boat and I've been buying buttons and lovely little bits to put in my little shop. Above are some little lovelies that came in a mixed bag I purchased. It was one of those gamble bags really. You can see it's a mixed bag but you don't really know what's in it until it arrives. Needless to say, quite a sizeable bag will be going back for re-sale on ebay, but I did find plenty of goodies amongst the dull ones that more than justified what I paid.

I'm particularly keen on these three little cuties. I'm not entirely sure what I will do with them but I just think they're sort of sweet.

I also got another selection of pretty, new buttons in pastel shades. They're not terribly exciting but they're the sort of thing I use a lot when I'm making cards. The price was excellent as well which was the best bit.

I had another exciting parcel in the post yesterday.

I just couldn't help myself! Being a very big admirer of Alicia, when I saw she was featured in Romantic Homes Magazine, I knew I just had to have a copy. As far as I know, it's not available to buy here in the UK, so I went on their website to see if I could order a copy. I discovered that not only can you order the current issue, but you can order back issues too! Very dangerous for the old Bank account. Anyway, I showed restraint and just ordered the March issue. I have to tell you that it doesn't disappoint. It's a pretty long article with lots of gorgeous pictures of her lovely house. There are some other lovely things in the magazine too, although I have to say that it is perhaps the thinnest magazine I've ever purchased. But definitely worth it.

Well we have another reasonably busy weekend ahead of us. Off to Salisbury again tomorrow (I'm sure we should just go and live there, the amount of time we are starting to spend there recently!) then sailing on Sunday. When I say sailing, I really mean sailing. We are hoping to get the sails up for the first time and really see whether we can sail her. I think George the Bear will be pleased to see us as it's been a couple of weeks.

Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you all on Monday. X

P.S ~ Gemma asked me how to order the single issues off Romantic Homes website. I'm always happy to help other people spend money so here's how you do it. Go to the site, www.romantichomes.com, click on Subscribe from the menu at the top. Then, from the menu on the left hand side click on single issues and it takes you to an order page for all the back issues as well as the current issue which is at the top of the list. Simple

A perfect Valentines

What could be a nicer way to spend Valentines Day than not having to go to work. Spending my time pottering around the flat making it look lovely, and having these two gorgeous new magazines to look at. To top it off, a lovely card from George and in a little while he's taking me off to the Theatre in Richmond to see a play which is starring his very talented best mate Ed. I haven't been to the Theatre in ages so I'm really looking forward to it. We try to go to everything that Ed is in and it will be lovely tonight as his girlfriend is also going so we will join them both for a drink or two after the performance. George and I are hoping that Ed is going to be the next Hugh Grant! He's certainly got the talent and looks for it. I believe he's soon to be in something on TV so I'll let you know. Can't remember what it is right now.

So I've got myself all dressed up( I still have the probably slightly old fashioned feeling that you should dress up for the Theatre), I've got a plate of pasta almost ready so we can have a quick bite before we go, then it's off to the station for a quick one stop hop to Richmond. Lovely.

I hope you all have a lovely evening too. x

What a morning!

Well I hoped to have the shop open a lot earlier but didn't really take into account just how long it would take me to download all the images and write all my text. But it's open for business finally!

I really want to stress that this is very much a work in progress and kind of a testing ground really for the things that I love making. As I've said before, my plan is to have a proper website up and running by the the Spring (Easter!) so this typepad home is pretty temporary I hope. (Fingers crossed) I'm going to be including items hand made by myself as well as some vintage treasures. Today I've just got the hand made items up but I'll be adding vintage pieces over the coming days as well as more hand made items. I'll keep you posted as I add things. You'll see that some of the items are one off's and where that is the case I've let you know. So it'll be first come first served on those! Items that are not one off will take a few days to arrive as I don't have huge stocks of everything.

I hope you like the small selection I've come up with so far. I must admit to feeling pretty nervous. I know I already have items for sale on Cherry's Site, and infact a few of those items are now available in my shop too, but I still get very nervous throwing my work open to public scrutiny. 'Will they like this?' I find myself thinking. It's all a bit scary really. But this is the first tiny step towards a dream I've had for a very long time. I hope you'll take this step with me.

Finally I should say that I really do appreciate all your feedback. Even if you're not buying it's so encouraging to know that you all like what I'm doing.

Enjoy browsing! x

Very nearly there.

OK, so I know I keep hinting that the shop is going to be opening soon. Really it is. I promise. I'm hoping Monday for sure. I was hoping it was going to be today but the pictures I've taken this week were just not very good. I need weekend daylight to get some good ones I think. As you can see from the picture above, the electric light is making everything look a bit yellow. But this gives you a little hint.

The good thing about waiting until Monday is that it gives me a bit more time to get more things finished and in there. Gosh, I hope it's worth the wait!

I have the most lovely weekend stretching ahead of me. It's lovely because we have nothing major planned. No trips anywhere. Infact the furthest I'm planning on going is possibly Richmond as I have to sort out a new mobile phone but that's just about a mile away so not far at all. So the weekend is mainly going to consist of the following -

Having a lie in
Cooking delicious food for me and my lovely George
Sewing
Watching Jonnie hopefully do his stuff for England tomorrow!!
Getting the flat in order
Sleeping
Searching ebay for treasures (my latest obsession)

Actually that's sounding like I've got quite a lot planned! But they're all pleasant things, most of which require very little energy.

To top the weekend off I have Monday to Wednesday next week off work. Hooray! I booked the days when I came back to work after Christmas because I know how low on energy I can feel by the end of January. I actually almost forgot until I checked my work diary last week and got a very pleasant surprise. I have nothing inparticular planned other than pottering at home and taking things easy. Just what I need after this weeks cold.

So I'll leave you all to have a lovely Friday(isn't it the best day anticipating the weekend?) and see you all on Monday. Have a lovely weekend.

Nonnie
xx

Oh oh oh! I very nearly forgot to say. Thank you all so much for the lovely comments yesterday hoping I was feeling better. I feel a lot better now thank you. x

Back again

Today is going to be a very short post. It's really just to explain where I've been these last few days and to say that hopefully tomorrow I will be back properly with pictures to show and more interesting things to write about.

I've been feeling really quite pleased with myself that I've managed to get through winter without a cold and I was putting this down to the fact that I've drinking gallons of Twinnings 'Lemon and Ginger Tea'. But it seems that the power of Twinnings is not enough and I finally got a rather horrid cold at the beginning of the week. I've just about had the energy to lay snuggled up on the sofa reading a few blogs and watching rubbish day time television but as for writing anything myself or picking up the sewing that was sitting temptingly next to me, I just didn't have the energy for that.

But I'm just about back to normal now so hopefully can get on with things again with full energy and enthusiasm. I'm hoping to get my little shop up and running by the end of the weekend so keep your fingers crossed and watch this space for further announcements!