Playing Hooky...

..and not the crochet kind (if only...).

Mr B and myself took this week off work to decorate our bedroom, however if you're in the UK you'll know it has been very hot. Our bedroom is south facing with a wall of windows so it would be foolish to decorate in there at the moment, really...it would.

Therefore, we have been forced to do other things! We have visited Chichester, and visited The Eternal Maker where in the name of politeness I was forced to buy these

(not the cherries - delicious, grown in Sussex & bought at the farm shop on the way home, some may have already been eaten)

 Mr B (who you may remember) works in Chichester wanted to show me a couple of shops he's recently discovered and thought I'd enjoy visiting. So we had a mooch in here

The Carousel 

and here

Clothkits

then treated ourselves to an ice cream and then made our way to Fishbourne for an exciting purchase that I'll blog about soon!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!

A Friday Smile and a Birthday

Just a quickie post today to join in with Annie's Friday Smiles and to wish Eldest Boy a Happy 19th Birthday. The two link very well because my 'smile' this week is that after 18 years and 364 days (ie yesterday!) my eldest has done his own laundry and pegged it on the line - what a shocking mother he has for letting him get away with it for soooo long!

This seemed the most appropriate card for a 19 year old lad (or mine, anyway!).

Happy Birthday - love you lots XX

 

Have a fab weekend everyone!

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot...

Hello All,

How was your weekend?

Here in the UK it was reported to be the hottest weekend of the year so far, I don't do well in the heat and spent the weekend inside in my north facing craft room and kitchen trying to keep cool!

Hearing that it was going to be a scorcher of a weekend I decided to decorate my craft room as I knew I wouldn't want to be out in the heat for long.

The first project was my large white cupboard, very useful for storage but very uninspiring to look at.

I've been collecting wallpaper samples for a couple of years now, originally I was going to paste them onto the wardrobe in our bedroom, but then we inherited different furniture. Instead I thought they'd look colourful on these doors. I made the decision to do random placement, which is really hard for me to do as I am a bit obsessed with symmetry to put it mildly! It took a lot longer than I anticipated but I eventually finished it Sunday morning. There are a couple of bits I'm not mad about but I'm sure I'll get used to it!

 

The frame will eventually be painted with Cooking Apple Green paint.  I also painted one wall with Green Ground. I've decided to do one wall at a time in here. 

I wasn't sure about going with a darker colour as we had white before and it is a dark room, but so far I'm really pleased with it. The small door will be (hopefully) papered with left over wallpaper from our bedroom and the radiator cover will be painted in my favourite green for woodwork, Calke Green.

We (I) also decided that as we'd had to empty the kitchen for work to be done on the ceiling we'd paint the walls in there too! For this room I chose Soft Sunlight paint and I am going to wallpaper one wall in pale yellow polka dot. The roman blinds need replacing due to water damage from the leak but I've yet to find a fabric I like. This does now mean we have three rooms 'in progress' so I really need to get moving, especially as in a weeks time Mr. B and myself have the week off to decorate our bedroom!

Have a great week!



Stuff

Recently, I have been feeling overwhelmed by the amount of things we have in the Bramble household. Inheriting my mother-in-laws furniture and other bits hasn't helped but I have to say we were pretty packed before.
I've never considered myself a hoarder but in the last few years I have acquired lots of 'stuff' and put more and more things on display, and not hidden away in cupboards as I used to do.
I mentioned previously that we are having work done in the house and today I had to clear as much as possible from the kitchen.
Looking at it cleared I realised how cluttered it had become!

And, I also realise how much I like it less cluttered. Of course, I live in a little house with Mr B and the boys so it's not practical, or possible, to keep it this clear.

Every weekend recently I have been sorting more and more bits to give to charity or dump and it feels really good!

My challenge here is to not put as much 'stuff' back in the kitchen after the work is completed!! (I also need to give it a MASSIVE clean - how does it get that dirty? I THINK I keep things clean...)

Sadly, I only managed three days of a clear craft room - this is how it is now!

Any tips on keeping things under control would be very welcome.

Have a lovely day!

 

Catching up...

No crafting has come out of my craft room recently, but we have managed to relocate the two wardrobes, other assorted furniture and bits and bobs inherited from Mr. B's parents.

We are currently having work done in the house, repairs mainly (the joys of an older property!) and then it will be on to decorating the kitchen and our bedroom so it may be a while before I can get in a good crafting session!

And then, of course, there is the lure of the garden in summer! Inspired by Bobbie Lynn who writes one of my favourite blogs, I had to buy these two roses
 
Rosa Mundi, an old cottage garden rose
and

Peter Pan, a patio rose.

I'm not sure where I am going to put them in my rather full garden!
Do you have a favourite plant?

Itching to get Stitching! WOYWW 213

I have recently treated myself to some new fabric, all fat quarters, that I plan to use to make things for the next craft fair (in November, Emma - I hope you're impressed by my organisational skills!!). I am longing to make something with them but, sadly, this is the state of my craft room

 

Full of furniture we've inherited from Mr B's parents, we need to do a lot of jiggling about to get it to fit into our little house, but as Mr B's parents have had it since new (late 50's) he didn't want to let it go out of the family.

The dressing table is already in situ and I'm using this to do my crafting, mostly stamping (and I'm thinking Christmas cards here!).

Yes, I have covered the mirror - who wants to sit in front of a triple mirror for any amount of time?! Certainly not me!
If you are wondering why I'm showing you my dressing table see here

 

It's going to be a challenge decorating our bedroom to go with the furniture as I've only ever decorated around pale wood before. I'm enjoying the research though!

 

What is your decorating style?

Any tips for decorating choosing colours to go with  dark wood?

Have a great day!
 

 

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Feeling Crafty

Mr B and Youngest Boy have gone away for the weekend, I knew as soon as I'd waved them off what I was going to do today....CRAFT!

It seems so long since I've had a decent session due to the seemingly never ending decorating!

Recently, I bought some new stamps and was itching to try them, so the first thing I decided to make was cards - all the same design but finished in different colours.

The stamps I used are from

Crafty Individuals (tea pot), Dovecraft (bunting) and Clearly Besotted for the sentiment.

I was lucky enough to find this next stamp set by chance, I have been looking for a nice doily stamp for some time and now I have a whole set!

I used it to make a card to attach a magnet to, the idea is you get a card and a little gift in one.

The next project isn't quite finished but I thought I'd show you anyway and do a big reveal when I have finished (if I remember).

These are wooden tags to attach to little containers of buttons to sell at the next fair, I plan to add a little button and of course some twine or ribbon.

How are you spending your day?

 

 

Friday Smiles

This week, for the first time, I am linking with Annie for Friday Smiles.

This is what has made me happiest

my beautiful, scented rambling rose,

that despite being blown down in recent high winds is flowering prolifically. It does make getting to the end of the garden a challenge but really, could you cut this back?!

Yes, there is a path in there somewhere!

And, a treat for today...

Raspberry Ripple Cupcake.

 Eaten with one of my new vintage cake forks.

Delicious.

What has made you smile this week?

Have a fab weekend.

The Wanderer Returns ....yet again!

Oh yes, you can't get rid of me that easily, I keep popping up!!

I have a good reason for being absent...really, here's a clue...

the dreaded decorating!

It's still not quite finished but we're nearly there.

We have an old house and several things cropped up that needed fixing so it's taken longer than anticipated, you know what it's like...

Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of where we're going

wallpaper

 

pictures ready for framing.

 I LOVE these!

Mr B and myself both work in libraries, these are printed on old dictionary pages so, as well as being gorgeous they also seemed appropriate. I got them from here and the only problem was choosing as I loved everything!

I'll be going back for more.

 

We did have a break from the decorating when our next door neighbours held a garden party as part of the Big Lunch event. Sadly, us (including Youngest Boy) and one other couple were the only ones to turn up. It was a lovely spread (all the more for us) and M had worked so hard.

Here is our contribution

 

Yesterday, I popped in to town to meet a couple of friends that I don't see enough of. After a lovely lunch I had a look around the charity shops and here is my little haul

a jelly mould, I'm collecting them to make 'Kitchen Candles' to sell at the craft fairs, the sugar tongs and little teapot are also for the CF, we're collecting vintage china for the tea room. The tiny candelabra is just the right size for birthday cake candles, I'm planning to spray paint it and use it on birthday cakes. Only two of the cotton reels are wooden but great value anyway as I get through a lot of thread.

Then I popped into M&S to say a quick 'hello' to a friend who works there, saw this cardigan and bought it on impulse.

It's got to be the perfect summer cardigan, surely. Stripes, dots and bunting!! However, I'm not 100% sure I'm keeping it because A) I have many, many cardigans and B) I'm hoping for a summer where cardigans won't be necessary!

Finally, I must show you these

that I found here.

I had planned to give these away with a cupcake from a recently opened bakery a few minutes away from us, for birthdays etc. As soon as I saw them I knew I wouldn't be doing that, they are just too lovely to part with and I do always eat my cake with a cake fork...

 

I hope you are all having the super weather we are here.

I'm off to work shortly and the garden doors will be open for sure!

Just time to catch up on a few of your blogs...