Perfect day at Pebbles

Having filled the car with gazebo, lawn mower... for Dad to fix ... sewing machine, jewellery, buttons, and 3 large children, the sun shining, clear blue sky, we set off for another visit to Pebbles.  Mum and Dad have moved in now and are working really hard to get the house ready to be able to offer Bed and Breakfast by the beach from June 20th. Come and have a small peek inside.. not too many pictures at the moment, but more when it is ready I promise....

First of all a cup of coffee sitting in the garden....

Time for a chat with Dad before he takes Josh.. my oldest.. to pick up plants for the conservatory, a bookcase, fridge.... etc... Note the yummy chocolate cake in his hand.. If you do go for a visit Mum always has cake in the tin and its gorgeous.

Just time for a peek over the wall at the beach and the sea....

  

Doesn't it look amazing? View to the right...

 

... and left...

Harriet and Rosie had a lovely time looking for pebbles and dipping their feet into the sea... it was 'Freezing' according to Rosie!!!

So here we are.. come on in..... 

 

This is Mum's new baby!! She has waited so many years for an Aga, and it has finally arrived. Dad had to underpin the floor as there is a basement underneath, and then it was time for it to be put into place. It looks amazing and is so warm in the kitchen now... I noticed Mum wiping off finger print marks from where I had been fondling it... she is very very proud of it...

 

Beaming from ear to ear with her new 'Baby'...

 

This bedroom is called The Sail Loft. When you walk in you cannot help but be bowled over by the amazing view.. it really takes your breath away and you are instantly drawn to the window. Notice the two comfy chairs that you can snuggle into to read a book whilst listening to the waves gently lapping up onto the shore. This would be the room that I would love to stay in. 

    

Meanwhile, back in the garden, there is yet another cosy spot to sit and read...

Just tome to introduce you to all the family before tea time....  Rosie, Harriet and Josh.

 

And of course, tea was ... roast chicken, roast potatoes and vegetables, all cooked to perfection in... yes you guessed it... the 'baby' Aga!!!

The Great Create

This post comes with a warning... it's rather long, so you may want to grab a cuppa before embarking on it... !

The day finally arrived. Many hours of preparation, inspiration and making came together in this one event... The Great Create. I was relieved that the day finally dawned and I was going to be able to see the end result and hopefully have a fruitful time. We packed up the car the night before.. it was literally groaning under the weight... and then tucked in for a good nights sleep. 

Saturday morning came and the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and we set off on our way to Greenway House on the banks of the river Dart. The journey there was idyllic... crossing the dart on the lower ferry ... I will have to post some pictures of that one day as it is so beautiful looking out to sea beyond all the colourful boats bobbing up and down in the water.... and then trundling down the leafy Devon lanes, catching glimpses of the Dart through the trees, to Greenway.

I don't know about you but I love doorways... the wonder of what might be behind and what will  open up to you as you enter... a world of possibilities! ... and this was the door that was awaiting being opened for us to enter and set up. Inside was the most amazing walled garden. It was such a quiet, peaceful, beautiful place to be..

 

Once we were in and our ideal spot chosen, we began the task of unloading the car and setting up. I was so thankful to have  borrowed my parents gazebo -  it's one of those eze up ones which really are so easy to put up... grab a corner each and pull and hey presto... it's up!! I felt a little mean ( or was it smug!!) as I heard the other stall holders muttering about number 5 poles fitting into number 6 poles and then standing back to scratch their heads whilst the poles lay scattered over the ground! Anyway, as you can see the girls, Harriet and Rosie were real stars... they worked really hard at helping to set up, and as you can see were experts at putting up the bunting - just as well really as we had to dismantle the whole stand every night and then put up again the following morning!

 

Still looking a bit of a mess but getting there...

 

Setting out the jewellery.

 

Done!  I was so pleased with the final look. All the planning and thought really paid off. I had so many lovely comments about how people were drawn to the stand because it looked so colourful and bright....

I love this windbreak... it's a great background for the table... and doesn't the bunting look good with it too???

We set up two tables for people to sit at if they wanted to have a go at making either a button bracelet or a beaded memory wire bracelet... as it was, not many people took the opportunity to sit and make, which was a little disappointing, but it meant that the girls and I had somewhere to sit and wile away the time making jewellery. 

 

I was so pleased with the way this looked...

Yummy buttons awaiting their turn to be made into button bracelets...

 

Remember these?

 

 

Here are some of my bracelets displayed on the handle of an old wooden trug that I re-painted...  credit goes to Harriet for taking this photo!

 

This is the green glass jug that I was telling you about.. it really shows the earrings off well

 

Caught on camera.. Harriet snapping again!

 

Most amazingly coloured buttons...

 

The bit I enjoyed the most.... meeting new people, chatting and teaching...

By this time I had already met some really lovely ladies. One particular group of ladies were having  girly weekend in the South hams and were enjoying their visit to Greenway and especially visiting my stand!!! When I met them I was wearing a particularly beautiful necklace that I had only just made that week and was really pleased with it... I was asked it if was for sale... well.. what could I say? So that necklace was sold to a very happy customer. I put on another necklace, only to have another of the ladies from the group ask if that one was for sale too!!! Well, by this time we were having a great banter together and I asked if she wanted my dress too!!!! Needless to say that I sold that necklace to her and others to the rest of the group... if you are reading this ladies... thanks for making my day, it was a real pleasure to meet you and I hope that you had a brilliant weekend... keep in touch!

 

A small, very quiet person making a button bracelet...

As I said before, the event was not as busy as I was expecting so harriet and Rosie and I had plenty of time together making jewellery.... this is just a few of the 13.. yes 13.. button bracelets that Rosie made over the weekend

          

Harriet was inspired to make a necklace and matching pair of earrings..

 

 

Some quiet time at the end of the day to do some posing... the garden was full of sculptures..

 

All packed up, feeling weary at the end of day two, waiting for our lift home...

Home to the sunshine in the garden and a jug full of cool, refreshing homemade lemonade... perfect ending...

 

Rosie obviously still did not feel tired at the end of the day as she had the energy to have a bounce on her trampoline!..

 

As for me....   well, I was content just to have a wander around the garden and drink in the colours, and sounds of a summer evening....

...... followed by a snooze on the sofa!!!

It has definitely been an interesting weekend. The setting was stunning, the weather was perfect, the people I met were really lovely, I had some amazing encouragement and feed back, however, the numbers were very low and I was a little disappointed in the turn out. I now have buckets of buttons and beads... workshop anyone??

One of the most enjoyable parts of the weekend was spending time with Harriet and Rosie, chatting together, laughing together, making memories, being creative together and working together as a team. It was such a privilege to have that special time with them, so I am very thankful for that.

I hope you all had a great sunny weekend

xx

Blossom and buttons

This week has been a week of frantic preparations and last minute deliveries for The Great Create this weekend. I feel like my head is exploding and cannot contain anymore information. Even holding a proper conversation at times is hard.. I tend to trail off at the end of sentences....................  without finishing them!! Know the feeling?? I found that popping off to the hairdressers for  bit of pampering works wonders!! However, when I got home, thinking that I would put the freshly washed washing on the line... I discovered that the little ball with the washing liquid in it ... you know the one.. was still sitting on top of the machine... I had 'washed' the clothes without the washing liquid.. DOH!  Oh well...

Anyway, I do feel that I am getting there now and will be relieved when it all starts on Saturday and I can start to do what I really love doing which is meeting all you lovely people and sharing my passion.

I was thrilled to receive this parcel this week.........

All those amazing colours and shapes... lots and lots and lots of  gorgeous bags of buttonny heaven!! 

I also had these brilliant boxes come this week. I store all my beads in these and now my buttons. It means that I can see instantly all the colours and .... they just look fab.

The other evening I decided that I should really have some business cards to hand out to people.. I have had the cards from Vista Print before, but I really wanted something that would express me and be a little more interesting. I remembered that I had 1000's of white luggage tags and surely I could do something with those. I printed labels with my name and address etc.. on them. Stuck them onto these tags and then decided that I could make them look even more interesting. So I spent a happy evening sticking buttons and ribbon onto the 'cards' and this is what I ended up with...... 

I am really pleased with them... I don't think these are likely to end up in the bin do you?

Would you like another sneek peek of some new jewellery designs for the weekend?  

This time the inspiration for the colours has come from all that gorgeous apple blossom that is exploding in all its pinky gloriousness at the moment

I think these beads look like space ships.. 

Putting the new buttons to use straight away..

I love this one... so flowery and girly..

More inspiration...

Ring 'o' ring 'o' roses....

Beautiful flowery earrings...

I am hoping that my 'jelly head' will sort itself out today. If not, I may just have to make the most of this gorgeous sunshine, make a cup of coffee and potter around my garden quietly muttering to myself... am I going mad?

Sending love and sympathy to those of you who, like me , have 'jelly head' syndrome today!! xxxx

Piles...

I don't know what it is about Monday mornings, but there are always piles of things to be done... ironing, washing, paperwork, phone calls... they seem to spill out of one week and land with a thump on a Monday morning!! 

Having attacked the washing and paperwork... notice the ironing still didn't get done, actually it is the one household chore I hate doing.... I love washing and having my line full of billowing clean sheets and clothes.. but the ironing... no! I often say that I'll get in the habit of ironing things as they come off the line but the resolution is short lived!! Oh well... back to much more important things... as I said before I rambled off in a different direction, once the other piles of jobs were done, I could turn my attention to this gorgeous pile.....

This is just a small part of my ever increasing fabric stash. I love fabric and always have to touch and feel it and buy it!!  I especially love pattern and colour, it really does lift my spirits and give me a huge amount of pleasure. As I looked through this stash today it reminded me of so many things... a skirt I made two years ago for the summer, the umpteen bridesmaids dresses that I made for my sisters wedding over 13 years ago, thrift shop finds, my table top tents (see www.joharo.co.uk )  I love it!  It does always eventually have a use, and today was no exception. I decided that, when I eventually find a gazebo for the event this weekend , I would like to string some bunting around it to make it look really colourful and inviting. So, I set to, cutting out lots of triangles with my pinking shears - I usually make my bunting double sided but, as I wanted to make about 16m of it I decided to go for the quicker option.  This is the next pile that I had made.....

Lots of lovely , pinked, little flags...

Once the flags were all attached to the ribbon that I just happened to have had for a few years, I was thrilled with the result. I can just see the flags dancing and waving in the wind - not too much I hope - and looking delightful.

As the weather was not at its best today, I strung the bunting over the shelves in my lounge, just so you could get an idea of what it looks like.... Isn't it just so pretty?

OOOh... and you can also see some of my beautiful china... I have a real soft spot for floral china. I have been collecting it now for a long time and I find it really hard to walk past thrift shop windows without scouring for my next exciting find... the shelves are groaning now but the collection keeps on growing. The set on the shelf above was some of the first that I bought. It came from The National Trust, and, as you can see, I treated myself to an 'afternoon tea' set. 

Here is more of the bunting... what do you think?  On this shelf there is the pale green glass jug and tumbler set that I brought from  thrift shop in Torquay. I really like this coloured glass, it's so unusual. I will be using the set as part of my display this weekend as I find that earrings look great displayed hanging from the edges of the glasses- it sets them off well. The other cups and saucers are from a new set of china from Portmerion called 'Crazy Daisy'. The vase on the left hand side was a present from Harriet for mother's day... she took herself off to China Blue in Totnes and painted this vase especially for me.. isn't it sweet?

Even better was the fact that Rosie picked me some daffodils for mother's day and the two were perfect together...

Wishing you piles of happiness xxx