Lazy Sunday Mornings!

Sunday is the one day of the week when I am not rushing around, like the proverbial headless chicken, trying to get everybody else organised and myself off to work on time... oh, and usually failing miserably!  Sunday is my day for relaxed breakfasts in the company of the Archers Omnibus.  Yes, I know it doesn't start until 10am - when I said 'leisurely', I really meant 'late'!

As if by wonderful coincidence, my latest delivery of culinary loveliness arrived yesterday from Jamsmith, a 'preserves by subscription' business run by clever foodie Vicky Smith.  This month, the ever so retro, brown paper parcel, tied up with string, contained a little jar of sunshine - Seville Orange and Juniper Marmalade to you and me...

Vicky cleverly adds tasting notes as well as innovative recipe ideas and serving suggestions.  Feeling that it was a tad early for the decadent cocktail recipe, I plumped for two thick slices of wholemeal toast with, yup, you've guessed it...

Supporting British Designers

When I re-designed the layout of the shop, I planned an area for showcasing the work of British designer-makers who do not, normally, have access to the high street or a wider customer audience.  A constantly changing showcase filled with an eclectic mix of work, including textiles, jewellery, printed artwork and mixed media - in fact anything that we had discovered and loved and were sure our customers would enjoy discovering too!

Don't get me wrong, I am no philanthropist!  It was vital, particularly in this current economic climate, that the pieces selected for showcasing were unusual and unique, professionally finished, would work well with our store's other one-off, vintage pieces for the home and, most importantly of all, would appeal to our customers!

One of the first designer-makers to be featured is Nicky Tudor, a lovely mixed media artist working primarily with paper.  This 'recycled' element fitted perfectly with our own design collection, Angel Linens, which recycles vintage linen into luxury home accessories.  The textural nature of Nicky's designs also appeals to me as a textile designer.  Nicky takes beautiful objects, mostly vintage, and uses them to create paper sculptures with an amazing level of surface detail.

Vintage frames, jelly moulds, engraved silver hairbrushes and other heirloom items are used to create truly unique pieces of wall art.  A selection Nicky's work is now available to view in store.  We are sure you will love her work as much as we do!

Jacks, Jacks Everywhere!

I really love designing our Vintage Jack range.  Individually handmade, using a different combination of vintage fabrics and antique buttons, each one of these iconic union jack designs is completely unique!  I never get tired of trying out different fabric mixes to see how they work together.  Surprisingly, it isn't always the most obvious combinations that work the best.  Now, wouldn't that be a great philosophy for life?!

Busy Doing Nothing...

I don't know about you but I find it impossible to sit doing nothing, even when I'm watching TV, so this is what I have been working on lately.  The pattern was a devil to get the hang off, initially, but now I can do it in my sleep [well at least without the pattern anyway]!

I love the retro design and the colours, which I have chosen for my sitting room, work well together too.  I am already planning another version, in bright, citrus colours [possibly for the Lloyd Loom chair in our bedroom].  Just need to finish this one first!