Tiny candle lamps

I so nearly ended up buying 3 candle lamp shades online, as I got carried away with wanting to get our living room sorted quickly! I looked on lots of sites and realised I'd have to spend about £70 inc p&p to get what I wanted....I realised I needed to have a word with myself, and what was I think BUYING lampshades, when that's what I do!! So ordered the fabric I liked- this peacock light cotton for £11, and rummaged around my shade collection to find some tiny shades. 

Then I use the following to make 3 shades- for under £10, a pretty big saving!!

Paper template of the lampshade panels.

Bondaweb

Scissors and and iron. 

Pretty pleased with the outcome, and the saving!! 

Post Christmas spruce up!

Stumbled across some old paintings I'd done of Caribbean scenes from years ago-whilst sorting out our storage- ready for demolition to start in January. They looked a bit tatty, so I've given the frames a lick of paint with some tester pots of emulsion I had.

It's amazing how you can really give something a new life with a coat of paint!

Scrap wreath making

All my art supplies have got a bit mislaid in the move, but I was desperate to make a wreath as we have lots of holly growing. We are still sorting lots of junk and scrap out from the old house, when I came across a silver hubcap...perfect size, shape and colour for my festive wreath.

The final outcome...I was waiting for our front door to be painted before I hung it up. Wrapped with ferns, holly then filled with last years decorations- and cost next to nothing to make. All you need is a circular frame (old bent wire coat hanger, willow, or scrap hub cap!) garden wire and greenery, then finish off with bows,dried fruit, pine cones or old decorations. 

Our little holiday house

We've turned this little place around in a few weeks and have now moved in!

Now for the exciting bit.... Interior design!!

We're going to eventually rest this out as a holiday let so its challenging my colour skills as I want to keep it fairly toned down compared to my usual bright style! I'll leave the flamboyant prints and colours for the main house. 

I've been choosing tonal calming colours such as pinks and blues, but keeping them really light to avoid the cottage feeling even smaller than it is. 

Here's I've gone for 'white mist' Matt emulation, with 'pebble' eggshell for the wood work. It's really subtle but this is a complimentary combination- and put together draws out the blue and orange in each colour. complimentary colour schemes always brings out the best in their partner (opposites on the colour wheel)

In now deciding on the soft furnishings- and looking into subtle oranges to complement the blue even more-

Although I have just seen a funky chicken/duck fabric which is greens and oranges, so I may go with my instinct and go with that rather than follow rules!! 

This is by 'prestigious fabrics' 

This room has got to suit my little boy until it's changed into a twin bed room for the holiday let- I'm thinking this can be the fun more bold room.

There are various wall lights that need replacing, and i stumbled across this character and thought he'd make a good feature task light-

The second double bedroom will be the subtle sleep retreat! For this I'm using oyster pinks and a gorgeous Sanderson fabric, with floral blues and purples, for the curtains which I picked up for only £9- pictures to follow. 

Trash To Treasure

After waiting for a whole year, we've finally bagged what we hope to be our dream home!! It's in the Derbyshire Dales and is the higgledy piggledy cottage we always talked about but didn't know if it existed!! It's been a tough old journey of uncertainly, but we're finally here, and with a bit of elbow grease we're gonna turn it around into somewhere we'll hopefully stay forever.

Parts of the property date back to the1760's, and there are many delightful little original features, inside and out. 

The problem was, the previous owner was a complete hoarder and left it in such a mess, we're only just seeing beneath the rubbish and dust! But its been a comical ride- I've discovered 1980's portraits of a topless Kim Wilde, vintage disco lights and really old slides and prints of Belper and the Peaks.  

To the side of the main property there a tiny sweet cottage, which is separate to the house- we have just spent 2 weeks gutting and transforming it to live in whilst the other cottage is being renovated. 

Toddler trousers

Just made another batch of colourful toddler trousers- I've been using up all sorts of remnants, I particularly like the pair with the African print tops!

They are really light weight, and perfect for potty training as they've got elasticated waists. 

Funky little legs!

Making a range of tiny pantaloons for new born boys or girls! I've been mixing and matching all sorts of bright fabrics to make your little ones really stand out!

They make a really unique baby gift!