Inspiration

It's been a busy couple of weeks for us with 91st birthdays...

and a brilliant Hen party for the lovely Vicki...

But whilst I haven't been eating cake and drinking far too much I've been getting all inspired by these gorgeous books that were rescued by the Taking the Plunge ladies from a local boot fair and are on display in the shop.

Such beautiful and amazing collage illustrations.

I think this girl with her umbrella is my favourite!

What's been inspiring you lately?

Peg bags and handbags

What a difference a week makes hey!

This time last week, here in Whitstable, we were enjoying an amazing Indian summer, blues skys and temperatures of 25 degrees and now we are back in the depths of Autumn - from sleeveless tops to winter coats in 5 days!
Blimey, no wonder us Brits enjoy talking about the weather!!

At least it's not raining at the moment and hanging onto this, I have been trying to catch up on the washing whilst the weather was dry and decided that I was in dire need of a new peg bag.  I am sure I could have sat down, found a pattern and made my own but with pennies to burn in Paypal I decided to have a look on Folksy and support another seller!
I found this little beauty and fell in love! It had to be mine.

Isn't it gorgeous - look at the amazing work that went into the embroidery!

Thank you Nana Marje - I love it and please go and have a look at her little shop.

From peg bags to handbags - I have been meaning to make some bags for ages. I wanted a bag with a zip as I find things always fall out of bags without zips! I'd worked out a while ago, a design and finally got round to making them.

I've kept one for myself  (although forgot to take pictures - will add some soon) and really enjoyed playing with the fabrics for these two that are in my Folksy shop.

My fabulous fifties fabric creeping in again!

My ticking obsession doesn't seem to be improving does it!!

I also had the idea for some personalised fabric envelopes - perfect for weddings, christenings, 21st birthdays, Christmas or any occasion when you might be giving cash or gift vouchers, to help personalise and make the gift a bit more stylish! A couple of these are in my Folksy shop too, so fingers crossed the idea takes off!

Right, I'm off to use my new peg bag before it starts to rain! Have a lovely weekend x



Cuteable.com

Just had a message this morning to let me know that my coasters have been featured on Cuteable - Hoooray!! It is a great little website, updated regularly with finds from Craft Juice, Folksy etc.Thanks for featuring me Lindsey!

A ticking chair cover

Yes I finally bloody did it!

After sitting looking at THE chair for weeks now wondering how the hell I made a new cover for it, I finally laid out the fabric and plonked the current cover on it and just drew round it!

I used the ticking for the front and a beige linen fabric for the back with ticking inserts to hold it in place (and yes it did take me a while to work out what way round they had to be sewn to flip over the back of the chair!).

I then sewed it all the way round, leaving a gap in which  I inserted the old padded cover and then sewed the gap up by hand.

It is really, VERY far from perfect, but it only took about an hour (I'm sure someone far cleverer than me could have tackled it in 15 minutes!!) and all in all I am pretty pleased with how it looks.

The poor old sewing machine has been working hard lately. I've been busy trying to make lots of new stock for my Folksy shop. I am also thinking of opening an Etsy shop so have quite a few makes on the go, and to give you a  little sneak peak they include...

needlecases

(using a mix of possibly all my favourite things! ticking, gingham, bakers twine AND free motion embroidery!!)

pin cushions

coasters

and bags.....

Phew, I just need to clear some more of the sale stock that is in there at the moment before this lot goes in there on the 1st October! So please spread the Sale word and I'd love to hear what anyone else has been making lately?

Scar update and neighbourly gifts

I was rubbing Bio-oil into F's scar the other day (which we have been doing religiously everyday after bath time) and I realised how amazingly brilliant his scar looks now - especially compared to how horrific it all looked back in June when he had the horrible accident.

I thought it was time for a little scar update!

The Bio-Oil has definitely made the scar tissue smoother and less raised and considering it only happened 3 months ago, we think it is healing really well. I still feel a bit sick looking back at the pictures with the stitches (Little Stitches post). Fingers crossed we don't have to go through that again!

From scars to fruit!  We are hugely lucky that my In-Laws have an apple and pear tree in their garden  - look at the huge bags of apples and pears they brought round the other day - the second lot we have had! They are so delicous and have kept us in fruit for the last few weeks. Any good recipies anyone can suggest?

It has been a week of gifts from gardens as our neighbours gifted me this huge sack full of lavender! Last year I caught them just as they were cutting back their huge lavender sack and although they thought I was a bit bonkers when I asked if I could have it all, they happily obliged and this year I didn't need to ask - they left this bag on the doorstep!

Thank you kind neighbours and sorry husband as I am going to stink the shed out now as that is where it is going to be hung up and dried - ready for some new lavender makes!

Roll up, roll up for a bargain

I hate to say it but Summer does appear to be very nearly over here in England doesn't it?

Don't be too sad though, the approaching Autumn promises lots of exciting events - Halloween, Firework night (friends weddings!) plus the chance to dig out those cosy hats, gloves and scarves.

But whilst we are clutching onto the very last days of summer (err...rain and wind here in Whitstable at the moment) I thought it was time I had a nice big sale in my Folksy shop.

Everything is reduced - yes EVERYTHING!

(Dare I mention the 'C' word and getting some shopping done early?)

So if you want to bag a bargain, including all of the following.....

Patchwork make-up bags - were £9 now £7

Mermaid dollys were £15 now £12

Baby patchwork quilts were £28 now £22

Cushion was £17 now £13

Lavender hearts were £3.75 now £2.75

Fishing boat cushion was £15 now £12

 Plus lots and lots more items that are all going at bargain prices (listed prices include P&P)  - ready to make way for lots of new season stock that I am working on at the moment (ticking, gingham, scandinavian stripes/florals and denim are all involved in the new stock so far!).

I would be really grateful if you would spread the word.

www.folksy.com/shops/simplyhdesigns

Thank you!!

Please feel free to link to any other Folksy/Etsy/NOTHS shops having sales in the comments section.

Summery days

My kids were back to school today.
I have to confess, much as I was looking forward to a little bit of peace...I really missed the noisy little monkeys!! I managed to keep myself busy by giving the house a HUGE clean up - I only managed to do upstairs as well, which of course meant a sneaky clear out and tidy of their bedrooms. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before they realise something they haven't played with or read for the last year is suddenly missing!

Tomorrow I tackle downstairs and I am hoping some time this week to put some sewing ideas into practice as I hardly seemed to have anytime to sew over the summer holiday. We did have lots of family fun together, which is what it is all about.

The photos in this post were all taken at Ramsgate (best ever fish & chips from Peter's Fish Factory - yum!) and Joss Bay where we went for the day in the last week of the holidays.

We finished the day off back home in Whitstable with another gorgeous sunset.

I'll hopefully dust of the old sewing machine this week and have some new bits and pieces for show and tell!